A history of the colony of Victoria : from its discovery to its absorption into the Commonwealth of Australia

A HISTORY

OF

THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Crown 8vo, 5s.

THE DEVELOPMENT

OF

AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE.

BY

HENRY GYLES TURNER

AND

ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND.
With Portraits and Illustrations.

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.,

LONDON, NKW YORK AND BOMBAY.

A HISTORY

COLONY OF VICTORIA

FROM ITS DISCOVERY TO ITS ABSORPTION
INTO THE

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. II.
A.D. 1854-1900

HENRY GYLES TURNER

FELLOW OF THE INSTITUTE OF BANKERS, LONDON
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, LONDON, ETC., ETC

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

NEW YORK AND BOMBAY

1904

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT.

Summary of the gold discoveries — The Upper Yarra — Anderson's Greek,
Buninyong, dunes, Golden Point, Ballaarat, Mount Alexander, Forest
Creek, Bendigo, Heathcote, Mount Korong, Avoca, The Ovens district,
Omeo — The licence fee — Contemporary legislation and regulation — Diffi-
culties of collection — W. H. Wright, Chief Commissioner of Goldfields —
Sly grog-selling prosecution— Discontent of miners — Meeting of 2,000
miners at Bendigo — Deputation to Mr. Latrobe — Unsatisfactory results —
Police and military concentrated on field — Defiant attitude of miners —
Government practically capitulates — The Goldfields Management Act of
1853 — Sir Charles Hotham visits the goldfields — Well received — Number
and character of the mining population of 1834 — Presage of the coming
storm Pages 1-22

CHAPTER II.

THE REVOLT OP THE DIGGERS.

Ballaarat in 1854 — Miners and officials — The Eureka Hotel — A venal
magistrate — Murder of Scobie — Mob burn the hotel — Three of the crowd
arrested, tried, convicted and sent to gaol — The diggers formally demand
their release — Hotham refuses — Formation of the Ballaarat Reform
League — Its leading members — Mass meetings — Despatch of troops from
Melbourne — Some of them intercepted and assaulted — Meeting of 29th
November — Resolution to burn licences — Foolish order by Governor for
a revival of licence hunting — Diggers' organisation and drill — The Eureka
stockade — Details of the storming — The dead, wounded and prisoners —
Allegations of brutality against the police — Colonel Vern's mock-heroics —
Escape of Peter Lalor — Alarm in Melbourne — Stormy meetings to
denounce the Government — Hotham's preparations — New Radical Consti-
tution proposed — Eureka prisoners sent to Melbourne for trial — All
eventually acquitted amidst much popular applause . Pages 23-51

o

vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER III.
THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVEBNMENT.

Sir Charles Hotham's difficulties— Report of the Goldfields Commission —
Denunciations of Chief Secretary Foster— His resignation— W. 0. Haines
succeeds him — Friction between Hotham and the Council — The transfer
to the New Constitution — Ministerial claims for compensation — Attempt
of Mr. Nicholson to form a Ministry — Its failure — Great anxiety of the
Governor — His death on 30th December, 1855 — General Macarthur
assumes office temporarily — The work of the Council — The Ballot Bill —
The first election under New Constitution — Its results — Popular outcry
for further reform — Entry of Mr. Charles Gavan Duffy into Victorian
politics — Assembling of the first Parliament — What it had under its
control Pages 52-71

CHAPTER IV.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARELY, 1856-1863.

Character and antecedents of new Governor — The position of parties in the
Legislative Assembly — Duffy's Bill for abolishing members' financial quali-
fication— His Immigration Bill — Retirement of Sir Wm. A' Beckett —
Mr. Stawell appointed Chief Justice — The first O'Shanassy Ministry — The
first McCulloch Ministry — Death of Lady Barkly — Manhood suffrage
introduced — The Haines Land Bill — The second O'Shanassy Ministry —
Increase of members — Shortening of Parliaments — Quarrel between
O'Shanassy and Duffy — The Nicholson Ministry — Its Land Act — Eastern
Market agitation — The Heales Ministry — Character of the leader — His
Land Bill — Payment of members — The third O'Shanassy Ministry — The
Duffy Land Act — McCulloch in power again — The Governor's salary
reduced — Progress of railway construction — First railway loan floated —
Improved condition of Melbourne — Telegraphs — Mining industry —
Nomadic habits of the digger — Rushes to Port Curtis and New Zealand —
Population of colony — Growth of inland towns — The penal department ;
murder of Price — Exploration of interior — The story of Burke and Wills —
Departure of Sir Henry Barkly Pages 72-111

CHAPTER V.

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868.

Sir Charles Darling's character and antecedents — General election of 1864 —
The birth of Protection — Twenty-five years' experience of it — The opinions
of McCulloch, Higinbotham, Michie and Verdon — The Land Act of 1865 —
The new tariff — The tack — McCulloch's resolutions — Public payments
suspended — Conflict with Supreme Court — Scheme for making payments
— Tariff Bill rejected by Council — General election, 1865 — The Hugh
George fiasco — Colonial Secretary admonishes the Governor — Appropria-
tion Bill passed — Recall of Sir Charles Darling — Arrival of Sir J. H.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Vll

Manners-Button — Treasurer sent to London — Mr. Higinbotham's
characteristics — Darling grant allowed by Home Government — Another
tack — General election, 1868 — McCulloch resigns — The Sladen Ministry
unable to do business — Sir Charles Darling declines the grant — Close of
the contest — Sladen's Bill for widening franchise of the Council carried,
September, 1868 Pages 112-148

CHAPTER VI.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SUBVEY OF THE EARLY SEVBNTIES.

The visit of Prince Alfred — McCulloch Ministry defeated — Brief career of the
McPherson Ministry — The Land Act of 1869 — McCulloch returns to power
— Again displaced by Duffy as Premier — His arcadian proposals — Sir
George Verdon retires from politics — Knighthood of Sir C. G. Duffy —
Defeated on questions of improper patronage — The Francis Ministry —
The Education Act of 1873 — Its serious cost — General election of 1874 —
Mr. James Service returns to politics — His character and qualifications —
Mr. Kerferd succeeds Francis as Premier — The Local Government Act of
1874 — Mr. Service's proposals as Treasurer — Kerferd Ministry defeated
by Graham Berry — Progress of the colony, 1868-75 — Departure of Sir
J. H. Manners-Button — Arrival of Sir George Bowen — Their respective
characters . ^ Pages 149-179

CHAPTER VII.

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882.

Payment of members — Mr. Graham Berry, his character and methods — His
land tax — Restoration of McCulloch — His quarrel with Higinbotham —
Retirement of Higinbotham — The " Stonewall " party — The " Iron hand "
— McCulloch's financial proposals — Expulsion of James McKean — General
election, 1877 — The Reform and Protection League — Defeat of McCulloch
—Graham Berry's Ministry — Sir Charles Gavan Duffy elected Speaker —
The Land Tax Act, 1877 — Payment of Members Bill — Dispute with the
Council — Appropriation Bill laid aside— Black Wednesday — Dismissal of
Judges and other public servants — Panic in Melbourne — Sir George Bowen
vindicates himself — Secretary of State misled — Payment of Members
Bill passed by Council — Transfer of Sir George Bowen to Mauritius —
Legislative Council submits Bill for reforming its Constitution — Ignored
by the Assembly — The Berry Reform Bill — Rejected by Council — The
Embassy to England — Denounced by the Opposition and ridiculed by the
press — Secretary of State tries to stop the Embassy — Reception of Graham
Berry in London — His failure and return — Fails to carry a fresh Reform
Bill in the Assembly — Granted a dissolution — Retirement of Sir C. G. Duffy
from political life — General election, 1880 — Adverse to Berry — James
Service succeeded — His Reform Bill fails to pass — Another general
election — Service defeated and resigns — Berry returns to power —

VOL. u. 6

Vlii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Temporary measure for payment of members of Assembly renewed by
Council — The Berry Reform Bill of 1881 — Disputes and conferences —
Finally amended and passed by Council— Berry's waning popularity —
Defeated by Sir Bryan O'Loghlen and resigns — The O'Loghlen Ministry
— What Berry had cost the country Pages 180-218

CHAPTER VIII.

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY."

The International Exhibition of 1880 and its predecessors — Suppression of
bushranging in Victoria — Career of the Kelly gang — What it cost to
destroy them — Colourless character of Sir Bryan O'Loghlen's administra-
tion— Fresh anti-Chinese legislation — What led up to it — Session of 1882
— General election of 1883— Sir Bryan O'Loghlen and Sir John O'Shanassy
rejected at the polls — Death of the latter — Mr. Service called for —
Resignation of O'Loghlen Ministry — The Service-Berry Coalition — Public
Service Act — Railway Management Act — Mr. Speight appointed —
The New Guinea and New Hebrides movements — Condition of the
finances — General prosperity of the country — Mr. Service retires, Mr.
Berry becomes Agent-General, Mr. Kerferd goes on the Supreme Court
bench — Dissatisfaction of the Bar — Mr. Service defends the appointment
— Departure of the Marquis of Normanby and arrival of his successor,
Sir Henry Loch — Rumours of knighthood for retiring Ministers — De-
parture of Sir Graham Berry for London in the same ship with Sir James
McCulloch Pages 219-252

CHAPTER IX.

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE.

Reconstruction of the Coalition Ministry — Acts of Parliament passed — The
Irrigation Act, its reception and working — Governor's speech on opening
Parliament, June, 1886 — Decadence of mining — The Gillies budget —
Increased taxation — Timber and sugar duties — Heavy cost of Civil
Service — Lavish generosity of the House — Prodigal expenditure of the
community — Queen Victoria's Jubilee, 1887 — Great expansion of buildings
— The Centennial International Exhibition, 1888 — Its objects and char-
acter— Opening ceremonies — Income and expenditure — The Imperial
Conference of 1887 — Mr. Higinbotham refuses to take up duties of Acting
Governor on existing lines — Sir William. Robinson appointed— Resignation
of the Speaker — Appointment of Mr. M. H. Davies as his successor —
New outbreak of anti-Chinese feeling in 1888 — Conference thereon in
Sydney — Ah Toy v. Musgrove — Increase in number of members,
December, 1888 — Sir Henry Loch's departure — Earl of Hopetoun, his
successor, favourably received — The troubles of 1890 — Motions of want of
confidence — The Octopus Railway Bill — The budget — Reprehensible

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

book-keeping — The unemployed — The great maritime strike of August,
1890 — Its origin and development — A fight between Union and Non-union
labour — Mass meeting in Melbourne — A fight to the finish, stopped by
withdrawal of maritime officers — Collapse of the strike — Its official
report, finances and results — The fall of the Ministry — Mr James Munro
succeeds— Retires in February, 1892 — Mr. William Shiels reforms the
Cabinet — Return of Sir Graham Berry to office as Treasurer— Mr. Bent
elected Speaker — The Shiels Government defeated by Mr. J. B. Patterson,
January, 1893 . Pages 253-290

CHAPTER X.

DAYS OP TRIAL — THE LEAN YEARS THAT ENDED THE CENTURY.

Gloomy opening of the last decade — The land boom of 1888 a misnomer — The
seeds of disaster sown in 1885 and onwards — The antecedent causes of the
crisis — Summary of total borrowings, 1885-91 — Expenditure of loan
money by Government, Municipalities, Building Societies, Pastoral Com-
panies and Land Jobbing, Credit Dealing Finance Institutions — Building
Societies, perversion of the principles — Spread of bogus companies —
Responsive echo from London — The scramble for deposits — Deceptive
tactics — Change of names — The beginning of suspensions in 1891 —
Seriousness of position in 1892 — The Bank crisis of 1893 — The hopeless-
ness of liquidation— General acquiescence in reconstruction — Enormous
amount involved — Ineptitude of the Government — Comparison with
Government action in New South Wales — Suspension of the great
pastoral companies — The aftermath — Sir Graham Berry's budget of 1892
— Proposals for increased Custom duties — Unpopularity of the Treasurer —
Mr. Shiels and the Railway Commissioners — Ministry defeated by Mr.
J. B. Patterson — The new Cabinet — Character and antecedents of Sir
James Patterson — His weakness during the financial crisis — His drastic
retrenchment in the Civil Service — His Treasurer's budget unfavourably
received — Ministry defeated by Mr. George Turner — The new Government
and who composed it — Graham Berry made Speaker — A five years' tenure
— Restoration of the finances in 1897 — New land legislation — Bountiful
harvests, 1897-98-99 — General election of 1897 — Rejection of " The people's
tribune " — Proposals to pension him by the House — Final compromise —
Change of Governors — Temporary supersession of the Turner Ministry —
Restored to office, 1900 — Translation of Sir George Turner to Common-
wealth Ministry Pages 291-326

CHAPTER XI.

THE COMMONWEALTH — RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT.

Completion of the Federal Bond — Summary of its progressive steps from 1849
to 1899 — The sixty-five years' annals of Port Phillip, coincident with the
reign of Queen Victoria — Australian loyalty examined — Results of local

x TABLE OF CONTENTS

self-government — Experimental legislation in connection with land —
Object-lessons for English democracy — Manhood suffrage — Payment of
members — Railway management — Results of Protection — Hostility to
immigration — Hopeful outlook for future in development of natural
productions, meat, butter, wheat, wool and wine — Inadequacy of
present cultivation as compared with private holdings — Increased popu-
lation the great essential Pages 327-356

INDEX Pages 357-389

ERRATA.

Page 9, line 16, read sometimes carried it out.
„ 64, „ 22, for Perennial read Triennial.
,, 152, „ 25, ,, deliberate ,, deliberative.

CHAPTER I.
THE GOLDPIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT.

IN a previous chapter it has been shown that vague rumours of
gold discoveries in Australia were current long before 1851. As
far back as 1839 Count Strzeleoki reported, in a letter to Captain
Philip King, R.N., that he had found grains of gold in silicate,
and although he had been unable to trace the veins, he was satisfied
that they indicated the country to be auriferous. Two years later
the Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sydney, produced some pieces of quartz
impregnated with gold, which he had found in the ranges near
Parramatta, but he was urged by the Governor not to make his
discovery public. Again in 1844 Sir Roderick Murchison, on purely
scientific grounds, based upon his knowledge of the geological for-
mation of the country, predicted the existence of gold in Australia.
The reasons which delayed for ten years the development of so
important a factor in the country's wealth are not far to seek.
When the discoveries of Hargraves had plunged the Colonies into
wild excitement, it became necessary for the pioneering speculators
to vindicate themselves. The explanation of Count Strzelecki covers
all the others: "I was warned," he writes, "of the responsibility
I should incur if I gave publicity to the discovery, since, as the
Governor argued, by proclaiming the Colonies to be gold regions,
the maintenance of discipline among 45,000 convicts, which New
South Wales, Tasmania and Norfolk Island contained, would be-
come almost impossible, and unless the penal code should be amended
at home, transportation would become a premium upon crime, and
cease to be a punishment ". Therefore the Count, and others who
had like experience, deferred to the wishes of the authorities, much
as they were opposed to their private interests.

VOL. II. 1

2 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

The accidental discoveries of these earlier years had really little
value from the scientific standpoint, and none on commercial
grounds. They were not the result of intelligent research, and
in the ignorance then generally prevalent of mining processes and
the reduction of the gold-matrix could probably not have been
turned to profit.

The earliest authentic records in Victoria do not go beyond

1849, Dr. Clutterbuck, who resided in Port Phillip for ten years,
and went to England in September, 1849, says that three weeks
before he left there was a report of a discovery, in the Pyrenees,
which bid fair to rival the richness of California. And he adds :
" Captain White of the Berkshire, which left Port Phillip on the
25th of February, 1849, purchased 14 oz., at 80s. per oz., from Mr.
Brentani, who is said to be in possession of a large quantity, one
piece weighing 72 oz. I saw one lump of great purity, which
weighed 22 oz." In the importance of after events their inception
is apt to be antedated, but these dates are proved authentic by the
fact that Dr. Clutterbuck published his book in London in January,

1850, before any attention had been attracted to the subject.

It was not, however, until about the time of the offer of a reward
by the citizens of Melbourne that the local search began in earnest.
The meeting that resolved on that step was held on the 9th of June,

1851, and on the following day a statement was published by Mr.
Wm. Campbell, a member of the Legislative Council, referring to
specimens of gold-bearing quartz which he had found in the pre-
vious March on the station of Donald Cameron, near Clunes.
During the month of May a large number of men were fossicking
in the gullies of the Plenty Eanges, and on the 26th of that month
two of them arrived in Melbourne and exhibited a good sample
of fine gold-dust. On the 4th of June a rich specimen, reported
vaguely to be from the "Pyrenees district," was exhibited in the
window of a watchmaker in Swanston Street. On the 17th a piece
of quartz, studded with gold, was shown, and said to have been
found on the Merri Creek, quite close to Melbourne; and three
days later a few ounces of fine gold were exhibited which had been
gathered at King Parrot Creek, on the. north side of the Plenty
Ranges. A fortnight later, on the 5th of July, Louis John Michel,

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 3

a publican in Swanston Street, who had left his business for a few
weeks to prospect on the upper Yarra, arrived in town with a few
grains which he had washed out on the banks of the Deep Creek,
a tributary of that river, about sixteen miles from Melbourne. He
claimed to have discovered, and was ready to point out for a con-
sideration, the first profitable goldfield in the colony. The evidence
he could submit, and the immediate results attained, were certainly
very trivial. Continuous working in the midwinter season was made
impossible by floods and other difficulties ; while the phenomenal
finds reported soon afterwards from other districts induced the
withdrawal of the majority of the two hundred diggers who had
promptly followed up the footsteps of Michel's party. Yet it re-
mains a fact that the comparatively insignificant find of Michel's
has vindicated his claim for its permanence, by having been worked
with fairly profitable results for half a century, under the name
of the Anderson's Creek diggings. Its value as a discovery was
recognised by the committee which had the invidious task of allot-
ting the gold-finders' rewards subsequently voted by the Legislative
Council, for that body granted £1,000 to Michel, being the same
sum as they voted to the claimants for the opening of the Bunin-
yong and Clunes fields respectively. While the initiatory stages of
Anderson's Creek were receiving the attention of the Government,
the stragglers who were ransacking the gullies of the Plenty Eanges
found the " colour " in many places, and though they were gradually
attracted away by the rumours of successes elsewhere, the district
was afterwards, under more systematic prospecting, developed into
a permanent field, and, known as the Caledonian diggings, worked
with fairly profitable results until to-day.

On the same day that Michel disclosed his find at Anderson's
Creek, a coach driver of Buninyong, named James Esmond, who
had varied the monotony of his occupation by a resultless visit to
California, made public in Geelong his discovery of rich quartz and
alluvial gold in the district which came to be known as Clunes.
The locality of his find was on Creswick's Creek, adjoining the site
afterwards acquired by an English proprietary, "The Port Phillip
Mining Company," out of which that company, during the next
thirty years, took gold to the value of over £2,000,000 sterling. This

1*

4 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

discovery caused a rush to set in towards Clunes with so much
vigour that by the 1st of August between 300 and 400 diggers were
encamped upon the ground, notwithstanding that it was an excep-
tionally wet and stormy month. But there were no great individual
successes to keep up enthusiasm, there were no stores, and the diffi-
culty of carting provisions over the miry bush tracks told heavily
upon them. The gains did not seem to warrant the hardships, with
the added risk of starvation, and the numbers were speedily reduced
by one-half. The temporary desertion of the field was accelerated
by the announcement on the 8th of August that a man named Thomas
Hiscock had lighted upon another treasure-house in a gully on Mount
Buninyong, and had sent some rich specimens to Geelong for assay.
No doubt the value and extent of the initial find was exaggerated,
for Hiscock's Gully, as the place was called, was soon exhausted.
But the report of the Geelong assayer was very encouraging, and it
was declared that the quality of the gold and the richness of the
stone were far before anything yet seen from Clunes. It was suffi-
cient to stir up a fresh burst of excitement in the community, and
the Geelong Advertiser complacently annexed the new field as be-
longing to that district. In 1851 Buninyong was probably the only
centre of settlement in the interior deserving the name of a township.
It had the only church away from the sea-board ; a rather popular
elementary school, conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Wm. Hastie, at
which the children of the numerous station employees received board
and education for a very trifling fee ; a respectable inn, two or three
stores, and about a dozen cottages. Its site was high and healthful,
and the rich volcanic soil produced the finest fruit in the colony, and
furnished the pastoral tenants, far and wide, with hay and grain.
All the places hitherto rushed had been in the unknown wilderness,
but when the news of Hiscock's discovery was flaunted in the Gee-
long Advertiser, the people knew where they were bound for, and
within a few weeks the bright little town on Corio Bay was almost
denuded of its adult male population.

When this hurrying crowd, supplemented by an exodus from
Clunes, converged on the little hamlet of Buninyong, it was soon
evident that the area was too limited to find profitable employment
for a tithe of the invaders. Nor were the immediate results at all

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 5

encouraging. Hiscock had got a reef, but it required time, capital
and machinery to make its working profitable ; the alluvial deposits
were thinly scattered and soon exhausted. A goodly number gave
up the quest after a week or two of severe but unproductive labour,
and made for their homes. The more hopeful and energetic pushed
on, following up the creeks and gullies for a dozen miles round.
The result was to throw all previous discoveries into the shade. On
the 26th of August a prospecting party of six, led by a man named
Connor, unearthed the riches of Golden Point Ballaarat, and washed
out 30 oz. for the first day's work. There were of course rival claim-
ants for the honour of this important discovery, one party claiming
to have tested the ground on the 24th, and another to have begun
operations on the 25th. But the Commissioner, when that office
was established, after investigations, acknowledged the priority of
Connor by granting his party a double area in consideration thereof.
None of the claimants were eligible for participation in the subse-
quently distributed Government rewards, because this was not looked
upon as a new field, merely an extension of the recognised " Bunin-
yong Goldfield," as it was officially known. The name afterwards
given, that was to echo round the world as the symbol of auriferous
wealth, had not yet been adopted. Mr. Latrobe, in advising the
Secretary of State of the discovery, said on 10th October : " Early
in September I obtained most conclusive information that a very
considerable amount of gold began to find its way into the towns,
from the vicinity of Buninyong. It was ascertained that the origi-
nal working near the town had been abandoned on the discovery of
another locality producing the precious metal in far greater abun-
dance, in the valley of the River Leigh, about seven miles to the
northward, and a large conflux of adventurers was pouring into the
district." Within a week of the discovery the dissatisfied miners
from Clunes, led by Esmond himself, began to arrive, and many who
had set out on their return to Geelong were once more flocking
northward. The digging was shallow and very productive, and
when the news reached Melbourne that Esmond and a mate had
got 30 Ib. weight of gold in two days, the trouble in the Metropolis
took on an acute form. The musical native name of Ballaarat,
signifying a place of rest, was soon singularly inappropriate. The

6 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

undulating forested hills, the ferny creeks, the grassy slopes, and
the picturesque Yarrowee with its wattle groves and reposeful beauty,
were in a few weeks converted into an arena of physical wreckage
and human struggle and greed. The yawning pits around were
suggestive of the graveyard of some plague-infected district ; acres
were covered with heaps of disgorged gravel and muck; pools of
slimy, yellow, clay-stained water, sludge, dirt and disorder were
everywhere. Tents of canvas, huts of bark or slabs, and even the
primitive aboriginal mia-mia of gathered boughs, afforded indifferent
nightly shelter to the stalwart, eager workers, and the deliriously
exciting but exacting labour went on incessantly while daylight
lasted. Every man and every party was working then for his
or their own benefit, and the restriction of the hours of labour was
limited by physical endurance, and not by resolutions of trades
unions. By the end of September there were fully 2,000 people at
work on the field ; a month later the number had nearly doubled,
and it continued to increase until the middle of November, when
disturbing rumours of the marvellous yields at Mount Alexander
caused all who were only moderately successful to abandon their
claims and rush off to the new land of promise.

The Mount Alexander goldfield, under which title the whole of
the central auriferous district of the colony was for a time officially
known, was discovered accidentally on the 20th of July. A hut-
keeper, named Peters, on Dr. Barker's station came upon an alluvial
deposit in the bed of Barker's Creek, a tributary of the Loddon Eiver,
and communicated his discovery to three of his fellow-servants. They
managed to keep the fact to themselves for a few weeks, and panned
out some very satisfactory results, until roving prospectors came
across their trail, and by September something like two hundred
diggers were turning over the soil on this and the adjacent creeks.
The richest yields were at first obtained on Forest Creek, especi-
ally in the neighbourhood where it junctioned with Barker's and
Campbell's Creeks, the site of the present town of Castlemaine.
Working outwards from this centre, the rapidly increasing army of
diggers seemed to find success in every direction. In October
Fryer's Creek, five miles to the south, was opened up with astonish-
ing results, and early in November the stragglers were attracted

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 7

away by the report of fabulous riches being gathered on the Bendigo
Creek, thirty miles to the north. It was enough to upset all cal-
culations and derange all plans for Government control, for within
a few months this great central area was turning out gold to the
value of £200,000 a week with the most primitive appliances,
without any idea of the vast results to be achieved when scientific
mining and suitable machinery should be brought to bear upon it.

All that had gone before was a mere flash in the pan compared
with the results now being obtained, and so magnetic was the attrac-
tion that early in December Mr. Latrobe advised Earl Grey that
20,000 people were there, while Ballaarat was temporarily abandoned,
not more than 300 diggers remaining. The latter statement was
probably an under-estimate. A month later he wrote that during
October, November and December, 1851, the Government Escort
had brought down 94,524 oz., valued at £284,000, from Mount Alex-
ander, while in the same period only 30,000 oz., valued at £90,000,
came from Ballaarat, which of course included Clunes and Bunin-
yong. In the official statement forwarded by Mr. Latrobe with the
above figures, the Colonial Treasurer appends a note to the effect
that the Escort returns did not cover more than two-fifths of the
gold raised. Taking this as correct, and seeing that the value of
what was so transmitted is understated by more than £100,000, it
may be fairly assumed that the product of the mines during the last
quarter of 1851 could have fallen very little short of the value of a
million sterling. Indeed, this is under the estimate formed by Mr.
Westgarth and contemporary press writers, but the incomplete basis
on which the Government statistics were started quotes the value at
less than half a million.

Before the eventful year came to a close other centres of attrac-
tion for the diggers, and other areas of distraction for the Government,
were to be made public. On the 19th of December Mr. Latrobe
wrote to his chief : "I have also received official information of gold-
workings having been opened on a branch of the Goulburn Eiver,
about twenty miles from Kilmore ; and further, that the whole of
the Omeo country, a secluded district among the Australian Alps,
but within the limits of the colony, is found to abound in the same
precious metal. In short, judging from the general prevalence of

8 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the geological formation in which gold has been hitherto found so
abundantly over the whole length and breadth of the colony, I can
contemplate no limit to the discoveries, or the results of the opening
of these fields. Meantime, the whole structure of society and the
whole machinery of Government is dislocated."

The dislocation was to be intensified by the discovery of the
extensive and profitable goldfields in the remote Ovens district in
the following year, which was also to witness the sudden rush of
20,000 people to the Mclvor, and the creation of the town of Heath-
cote on that field. It would be compiling a mere catalogue to narrate
in detail the opening up of the various districts during 1852-53, and
the ebb and flow which affected the more important centres. The
Mount Alexander field, which included Bendigo, remained easily first
during that period. Extensive as was the area covered, the persistent
inrush of population, pressing unduly upon the occupied ground,
drove the gold-seekers farther afield, and every month brought
tidings of new discoveries as well as startling revivals of productive-
ness in fields that had been temporarily abandoned after a mere
surface scratching. It seemed fully to justify Mr. Latrobe's belief
that he could contemplate no limit to the discoveries, and his oft-
repeated doubt as to his ability to provide for the maintenance of
order and the machinery of Government amidst these swirling
and shifting masses of excited people.

By the time he had, with difficulty for the want of men, made
his arrangements for police protection at Clunes, it was deserted
in favour of Buninyong ; as soon as a staff was organised for that
place, the diggers fled to Ballaarat ; and before the machinery could
be got in order there, the thousands had melted to hundreds, and
the process had to be commenced afresh at Forest Creek. Thence
they streamed away to Bendigo, and out over the dry northern plains
to Mount Korong, or on the west to Avoca and the Pyrenees, and
on the east to the Mclvor and the tributaries of the lower Goulburn.
Meanwhile, from the remote districts on the upper Murray, and the
mountain fastnesses of Omeo, came tidings of swarming adventurers
from the adjacent territory of New South Wales overrunning the
land, gathering golden spoil, and discarding allegiance to Victorian
authority. No wonder that the harassed Governor had already

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 9

informed the Secretary of State that however suitable the licensing
system might be to the conditions of New South Wales, whence
it was adopted, " it never can be fully or satisfactorily carried out in
this colony ". Yet he adds : " While the Council is fully disposed
to condemn the present licensing system, according to which the
man who takes thousands from the ground and the man who is
totally unsuccessful are presumed to pay alike, it is scarcely inclined
to lend efficient aid to the collection of a royalty upon the actual
amount of gold realised by the successful adventurer ".

Such was the deliberate opinion in December, 1851, of the man
who during the two following years was denounced as the fountain
of all the troubles which arose from the harsh proceedings involved
in the collection of the licence fee. Abused by the press and
thwarted in the Legislature, he was held responsible by the un-
thinking crowd for the arrogance and tactlessness of subordinate
servants of the State, many of whom, while possibly detesting the
ungracious duty imposed on them, nevertheless carried it out with
a brutal insolence that quite justified the eventual turmoil which
led, through bloodshed, to reformation.

How the difficulties which so oppressed Mr. Latrobe were met
by legislation, proclamation and regulation must be briefly told.

When the earliest discoveries of gold were made there was no
definite enactment to prevent its appropriation by the finder, though
the theory prevailed that it was the property of the Crown. In the
winter of 1851 hundreds of people were gathering small golden
harvests without let or hindrance. Necessarily, where many were
assembled in close contiguity, the greedy, or the strong, or the
unscrupulous invaded what others claimed as rights ; hence, quar-
relling and violence were of frequent occurrence.

To afford personal protection and to secure the maintenance
of order was the undoubted duty of the Government, and it was
properly held to be right that the people to be benefited should pay
for that protection. As a step towards such provision it became
necessary to warn those who, so far, had been encouraged, and
even stimulated by promise of reward, to make the discovery, that
they were under a delusion in supposing they had a legal right
to keep what they found. On the 15th of August, therefore, a

10 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTOEIA

formal proclamation was issued by Mr. Latrobe, declaring that all
gold, whether found on private or Crown lands, belonged to Her
Majesty, and any one disturbing the soil in search for such gold,
without having been so authorised by the Government, would be
prosecuted, criminally and civilly. Three days later regulations for
the issue of licences to dig were published, identical in all respects
with those gazetted in New South Wales in the preceding May.
The fee was fixed at 30s. per month, subject to future adjustment ;
the area of ground to be regulated by Commissioners who might
be appointed to each locality to make local rules and adjust the
boundaries of claims. No licence was to be issued for mining on
private property, except to the owner of the freehold, or his nominee.
When the first Legislative Council met in November, these prelim-
inary arrangements were embodied in a measure submitted to it,
and became law on the 6th of January, 1852, as " An Act to restrain
by summary proceedings unauthorised mining on waste lands of
the Crown ".

It was under the provisions of this Act, and an erroneous idea
of the powers it gave, that the antagonism between the miners and
the goldfield authorities became so acute. It remained in force
until September, 1853, when in panic fear of impending rebellion
the Council hurriedly passed a temporary amending Act, largely re-
ducing the licence fee. A brief examination of the original measure
will indicate how far its provisions were responsible for the troubles
which brought the colony to the verge of anarchy, and aroused a
widespread feeling of resentment and bitterness.

As compared with later mining legislation it has the merit of
brevity, containing only ten clauses. It enacts that any one mining
or digging upon the " Waste lands of the Crown," without having
previously obtained from the Lieutenant-Governor, or from "some
person by him in that behalf authorised, a licence or authority in
writing," shall forfeit a sum not exceeding £5, £15 or £30 for the
first, second and third offences respectively, with imprisonment in
default for one, two or six months. The fifth clause provided for
the arrest of an offender against the Act by any "Commissioner,
Inspector, Constable, or other person specially appointed," whose
duty it was to bring him before two or more Justices of the

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 11

Peace to be dealt with. The seventh clause appropriated one-half
of the penalties recovered to the use of the informer, or party pro-
secuting ; and the eighth, after denning the words " mining and
digging," wound up thus : " Nothing in this Act contained shall
be construed to extend to any preliminary search or inquiry for the
purpose merely of discovering any ore or minerals in any particular
locality or part of such waste lands ". There can be no doubt that
the common-sense interpretation of this clause would have allowed
every unsuccessful prospector to evade the fee, and some intention
of that kind must have influenced the drafting of the measure. The
police, however, would not regard it in that light, and it was vain to
plead that the licenceless one was only an investigator. Every able-
bodied man on the goldfields, not in the service of the Crown, or
licensed for some form of business, was supposed to be a miner in
ease or in posse. Undoubted evidence proved that many respect-
able men were subjected to the indignity of arrest, with the too fre-
quent accompaniment of violence and abusive language, and in
some cases, when brought before the Justices, were illegally fined or
imprisoned for not having a licence, when by no stretch of imagina-
tion could the Act be made to apply to them. There can be little
doubt that many of these arrests were made by the police under the
stimulant of getting half the fine, an arrangement which was con-
demned by more than one of the Commissioners as decidedly de-
moralising. So greedy were the troopers of these irregular gains,
that when a recalcitrant digger could not be convicted on the charge
for which he was arrested, it was altered to resisting the police in
the execution of their duty, and the fine was exacted all the .same.
The evidence of reliable men and the contemporary press is over-
whelming that the rank and file of the police on the goldfields in
1852-53 were venal in the extreme, and where they were not
bought off, their hunting duties were carried on with a vindictive
spitefulness that justified any organised opposition. Mr. C. Eud-
ston Read, one of the Assistant Commissioners at Mount Alexander,
published his opinion that the hatred of the miner for the police was
mainly due to " their overbearing conduct ; many having been ac-
customed to a system of convict discipline, it was not in their nature
to perform their duty quietly without bouncing, bullying and swear-

12 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ing at every one ; to ask a man quietly whether he had a licence was
quite out of the question, it must be accompanied by some low-life
expression, making, of course, respectable men extremely indignant,
and if they remonstrated they would handcuff them! and swear
they resisted them in the execution of their duty ".

This emphatic indictment is not the statement of an aggrieved
digger, or an excited newspaper scribe, but of a man who had to do
much of his work with such a discreditable force of assistants, and
who made himself unpopular by his efforts to check them.

At first the Crown Lands Commissioners for the several dis-
tricts were assumed to be able to carry out the provisions of the
new Mining Act; but when a man whose administrative duties
had hitherto been limited to dealing with a couple of hundred law-
abiding squatters found himself called upon to supervise, with the
assistance of half a dozen policemen, the proceedings of from two
to ten thousand diggers, all strangers, and most of them regarding
his work with hostility, he had soon to admit that he was overtasked.
The feebleness of the administration, which arose out of the deci-
mated condition of the Civil Service, enabled large numbers of
miners to evade the payment of the fee, and as fast as fresh Com-
missioners' camps were formed, all but the very successful diggers
moved back into the ranges, toiling stealthily in unexplored gullies.
If they were lucky, well and good, they would register to ensure
their rights. If they were unsuccessful, they could not be made
to see that they had wronged any one. But however mistaken in
its inception, the law had to be upheld until repealed or amended.
The Government was not slow to see that the number of licences
taken out very inadequately represented the number of diggers
known to be on the field. So a batch of Assistant Commissioners
was appointed to aid the seasoned old officers in getting in revenue,
in bringing offences home to the evildoers, and in upholding the
majesty of the law.

It is to be feared that the last of these duties had too much
influence with them. For the most part they were young, and all
were inexperienced in the particular work required of them. With
no special qualifications for the post, they had to act judicially,
and to decide, without the aid of juries or assessors, disputes

THE QOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 13

respecting boundaries, priority, trespass and other points, often
involving the whole fortunes of individuals, and their decision was
final. Indeed, even protest was practically prohibited, for resisting
the decision of a Commissioner was punishable by a fine of £10,
or, in default, three months. The spirit of absolutism which such
powers engendered was bad training for young men. A few of
them stood up well under it, and lived into more tranquil epochs
as valued servants of the Crown in magisterial office. The majority,
however, developed an overbearing attitude towards the miners, and
some certainly took a strange delight in harassing them by frequent
demands for the production of licences in a manner that was quite
illegal. The Act authorised the arrest of any person who should be
found offending against any of its provisions, but the only common-
sense construction of that would be mining without having obtained
a licence. Over and over again men were arrested, imprisoned
and fined for not having their licence available when demanded,
though a reference to the register could have proved their compli-
ance with the law. Some of the Commissioners, and most of the
police, cultivated a belief that all diggers were liars, and they
persistently refused them the common law right of establishing
their innocence.

It was in June, 1852, that Mr. Latrobe, after personally visiting
the principal goldfields, made a vigorous effort to bring their control
under suitable organisation. He appointed Mr. W. H. Wright to
the newly created office of Chief Commissioner of the Goldfields,
to be resident in Melbourne, and to administer the law through
three or four Resident Commissioners at important centres, and
about a dozen peripatetic Assistant Commissioners. At the same
time, to strengthen their hands, he also appointed three Eesident
Police Magistrates, to Castlemaine, Bendigo and Ballaarat respect-
ively.

Although Mr. Latrobe had steadily advised his chief in Downing
Street that, in view of all the surroundings, the conduct of the great
majority of the miners was deserving of all praise, and that life on
the goldfields was far more orderly than the precedent of California
might have led him to expect, he had occasionally to admit the ex-
istence of a considerable amount of turbulence. His legislative

14 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

efforts in the cause of temperance, by absolute prohibition in the
mining areas, were fruitful of much rioting. The attempted en-
forcement of sobriety, by cutting off all legitimate supplies of liquor,
was no doubt a mistake. Men engaged in an exhausting occupation,
working under strained conditions, and frequently in a vitiated
atmosphere, craved at times something more refreshing than a
stinted supply of the unwholesome water obtainable, and if they had
the means to pay for it, they resented the domination which con-
strained them. The drunkard was not saved from the results of his
excess, but the moderate man was penalised by having to pay four
or five times the value of his stimulant, and to realise that for his
slight indulgence he was ranking himself unwillingly with the law-
breakers. Like all legislation that runs to excess, the prohibition
worked its own cure by the evils it created. Notwithstanding the
severe penalties incurred, the inevitable burning of the suspected
premises and contents, and the repeated confiscations of all liquor
and plant discovered, the illegitimate profits were so enormous com-
pared with honest gams that all the ostensible efforts of the police
seemed to make but little impression on the business. This fact
was notorious, and the belief was very general that a reasonable
share of the large profits found their way into the pockets of the
police, thereby obscuring their vision of surrounding events. Such
opinions led to the action of the authorities being resisted ,and de-
rided, and tumult was of frequent occurrence in all directions. In
one case the police, acting upon the statement of a perjured informer,
illegally burned down a large store with its contents, and some ad-
joining tenements, for which the owner, able to prove his innocence
of " sly grog selling," claimed £1,900 for damages. So much excite-
ment was caused by this at Bendigo that Mr. Latrobe sent up his
Chief Commissioner to inquire into it. Mr. Wright, finding that
there was no defence, prided himself on compromising the claim
for £350. Unfortunately, the admission of error, coupled with the
higgling over the recompense, tended to inflame the existing feud
between the miners and the police to such an extent that it became
almost impossible to enforce the law. Eventually the Government
capitulated and adopted the common-sense practice of authorising
a limited number of licensed premises under stringent conditions of

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 15

good conduct and proper accommodation. A class was thus created
having a direct pecuniary interest in suppressing the unlicensed
vendor, and gradually the police were relieved of a large portion of
one of their most irksome and unpopular duties.

But other troubles were pending. The Lieu tenant-Governor
had more than once expressed the opinion in his despatches that
the licence fee was far from being a satisfactory method of providing
the expenses of goldfield management, and could only be regarded
as a temporary measure. In September, 1852, he had directed the
introduction of a Bill in the Council authorising an export duty on
gold, but it had not been passed. On the 12th of September, 1853,
he wrote to the Duke of Newcastle deploring the fact that, owing to
serious and unexpected difficulties having suddenly developed at Ben-
digo, the hope he had entertained of seeing the colony well through
all the troubles of its unprecedented crisis before handing over the
reins to his successor was not destined to be realised. The discon-
tent arising out of the exaction of the licence fee had been steadily
growing. It had been admitted from the outset that it was a system
which could only be enforced so long as public opinion conceded its
necessity or expedience. The grounds of opposition were variously
stated : its excessive rate, as compared with the impost on the
squatter ; the inequality of its incidence, the man getting his 500 oz.
per week paying the same as the luckless miner who had sunk all
his worldly possessions in a claim that did not give him a dinner ;
the great loss of time incurred by the tedious delays in obtaining
the licence every month, and the interference with work in being so
often called upon to produce it ; its collection and inspection being
often made with blustering arrogance, and practically at the point
of the bayonet ; and, finally, the denial of political and social rights
to the class that contributed nearly one-half of the ordinary revenue
of the colony. The mutterings grew into growls. Meetings in all
the important centres were held to protest. Plenty of agitators were
forthcoming, and all sorts of impossible schemes of union were dis-
cussed, having for their object resistance to the Government regu-
lations and the circumventing of the officials.

The largest mining population was at this date concentrated
at Bendigo, and the activity of the aggrieved workers received

16 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

a stimulus in the rumour that the Legislative Council of New
South Wales had proposed the total abolition of the obnoxious
licence fee. The assumption was premature, as the Council had
only referred the matter to a Select Committee to inquire and
report, but it strengthened the local opposition, and won over
recruits from the successful and unsuccessful alike. They did not
trouble about the effect which the abrupt cessation of a revenue
of £700,000 a year might have on the administration ; they looked
at it from the nearer standpoint of £18 a year in their own pockets.
After many noisy gatherings and much heated discussion, the ex-
treme demand for total abolition of the fee was abandoned, and
forces were united to make a determined stand for its reduction
to 10s. per month.

At a meeting of some 2,000 miners at Bendigo a petition was
adopted to the Lieutenant-Governor to which over 5,000 signatures
were obtained, and a delegation was appointed to present it in per-
son, which was done on the 1st of August. The petition, after
reciting in detail the many grievances under which the diggers
laboured, prayed for a reduction of the fee to 10s. per month,
with the option of paying quarterly, if desired, and an allowance
of fifteen days to new arrivals on any field before enforcing
the fee. It also strongly urged the immediate cessation of the
employment of an armed force to collect the tax, and wound up
by reminding the Lieutenant-Governor that they were reduced
to petition for their rights, because they were the only class un-
represented in the Legislature, though they contributed by direct
taxation something like a million of money towards the support of
the State. Mr. Latrobe, as was his wont, received the deputation
with courtesy ; he informed them that he had no power to set aside
an Act of the Legislature without the consent of that body, but
he promised to take every point urged by the delegates into full
and immediate consideration. The delegates were not satisfied,
and having the support of the Argus (just then especially vehement
in its denunciations of Latrobe as " faithless and incapable "), a
public meeting was convened in Melbourne by the Mayor to
secure a metropolitan backing for the miners' cause. Formal
resolutions were passed declaring that the trouble on the gold-

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 17

fields was due to the miners being denied their political rights,
and pledging the meeting to assist in reducing the licence tax.
When the delegates got back to Bendigo further meetings were
held, at which it was resolved that 10s. should be tendered as the
licence fee for September; if it was refused, they would take the
consequence ; and, to ensure unanimity, every tent was to bear a
placard, "No licence taken here". These resolutions were carried
into effect. On the 27th of August a deputation of about thirty
miners attended at the Camp, and tendered the 10s. fee, which
was, of course, formally rejected.

While this ferment was working Mr. Latrobe had not been
entirely inactive. First of all, he sent the Chief Commissioner
of the Goldfields, and also the Chief Commissioner of Police, to
Bendigo to investigate complaints, and he made provision for
possible conflict by sending eighty men of the 40th Eegiment,
which brought up the force on the field to 154 soldiers and 171
police. Directly after the formal tender of the 10s. fee Mr.
Commissioner Wright, after consultation with the Chief Com-
missioner of Police, wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor : "We are
compelled to report that the reduction of the licence fee, if not
its abolition altogether, is inevitable ". Before surrendering, Mr.
Latrobe exhausted his powers of coercion, and on the 1st of
September he sent up the remainder of the 40th Eegiment, 145
men, and despatched an urgent appeal to the Governor of Van
Diemen's Land for the service of any troops that could be spared
thence. But the attitude of the diggers was not openly combative.
Possibly the red-coat display gave them pause in initiating fighting,
and certainly a substantial majority believed in gaining their ends
by negotiation. Their passive resistance was a form of contest the
military could not meet. They would not pay more than 10s. for
a licence, and they would accept the result of their contumacy.
Hundreds of the tents were decorated with the placard that invited
arrest, and any traitor to his order who should be detected paying
the 30s. fee was to be warned to quit the district within twenty-four
hours ! No wonder that Commissioner Wright felt himself power-
less, and recommended a capitulation as inevitable. The most violent
denouncers of the vacillation of the Government could not suggest

VOL. II. 2

18 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

any means by which 10,000 or 12,000 men could be taken into
custody, and maintained there at the public expense, until purged
of their contempt.

Mr. Wright's despatch reached the Lieutenant-Governor on the
29th of August. The Legislative Council was to meet next day,
but the matter seemed so urgent that after a hurried consultation
the Executive decided to inform the miners, by means of a circular
to the Commissioners, that it was intended at once to submit to the
Legislature a proposal for another method of raising revenue in
lieu of the unpopular tax ; and as the matter would be dealt with
immediately, the officials were " instructed to adopt no compulsory
measures for the enforcement for the month of September of the
licence fee ". But the circular went on to say that, until the result
of legislative deliberation was known, the Governor had no power
to release the miners from the obligation of paying the fee prescribed
by law. Unfortunately, in transcribing these instructions, the last
clause was omitted in the copy sent to Bendigo. The shorter form
in which the announcement was made, and the distinct prohibition
of a resort to force, were hailed by the diggers as a triumph, and
when a few days later Mr. Wright was directed to qualify the
notice, he hastened down to Melbourne in alarm to expostulate.
A mild invitation to pay the licence fee after what had passed
was ludicrous. He could not, consistently with the pledge he
had felt his instructions justified him in giving, now resort to
compulsion. Even if he did, he had no power to make the com-
pulsion effective, and no military force that could be raised in
Australia would give that power. In this deadlock it only re-
mained to fall back on the Legislative Council. Immediately on
its meeting a special committee was appointed, of which Chief
Secretary Foster was chairman, to inquire into and report upon
the condition of the goldfields. As its sittings were to involve the
examination of a large number of witnesses, and would probably
extend over months, it brought up an interim report in the course
of a week, on which a temporary amending Act was passed, on
the 14th of September, reducing the licence fee to 30s. for the
three final months of the year. The miners were jubilant, and
peace reigned once more temporarily.

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 19

It was the middle of November before the committee brought
up its final report. It upheld the principle of the licence fee, and
opposed an export duty on gold. It recognised that the amount
of the fee pressed heavily on the unsuccessful, and recommended
its reduction to £1, £2, £3 and £5, for one, three, six and twelve
months respectively. It expressed a strong opinion that the discon-
tent of the miners was largely due to the inflammatory articles in a
portion of the public press, which led them to believe they were the
victims of Government rapacity. The report also condemned the
prohibition system in the matter of spirits as a fertile source of irri-
tation and crime, and recommended that the same facilities for their
legal sale should be made on the goldfields as elsewhere.

Upon this report was based the mining statute entitled " An Act
for the better management of the Goldfields of Victoria," which was
assented to on the 1st of December, 1853. It stopped short of the full
reduction recommended by the committee, and fixed £1, £2, £4 and
£8 as the cost of a licence, for one, three, six and twelve months
respectively. Unfortunately, the admitted evils of the mode of col-
lection were left unremedied, and under a harsher disciplinarian the
digger hunting was continued in a manner that was fruitful in angry
collisions, and engendered much discontent and bitterness. The
concession in the amount of the payment certainly worked some
amelioration, but the constant efforts of the unsuccessful diggers to
evade the fee evoked active sympathy, and demoralised the mining
population.

When Sir Charles Hotham arrived, and began his visitations to
the goldfields, the diggers thought, from his rather florid talk about
the rights of the people, that they had at length got an advocate who
would support their claims. It would be difficult to adduce any-
thing from his speeches that justified this expectation, and when he
had settled down in the gubernatorial chair, and mastered the com-
plicated question of the State finances, he promptly realised that
the payments prescribed by law did not bring in anything like the
amount represented by the number of workers. With a large deficit
in full view he could not, if he had been willing, afford to trifle with
so important a source of revenue. But he was not willing; and
already in his short experience he had imbibed the foolish idea that

2*

20 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the substitution of an export duty on gold would so facilitate smug-
gling as to largely discount any estimated revenue from that source.
Accustomed as he had been on board ship to unquestioning obedience
to orders, he would not tolerate any attempt to evade the law. Not-
withstanding the somewhat radical tenor of his speeches during his
banquets at the diggings, he had been fairly firm in his official re-
plies to deputations sent to him to enlarge upon the hardships of the
licence fee. He was rather proud to inform Earl Grey that when,
at one of these interviews, he told the miners that they must be pre-
pared to pay for liberty and order he " was loudly cheered ".

There is evidence in Sir Charles Hotham's despatches that his
views underwent considerable modification during his troubled term
of office. In the last one which he addressed to the Colonial Office
on the subject of the goldfields, written within a month of his death,
he was enabled to express himself freely, because the old system had
just been superseded by fresh legislation, the struggle was over, and
contentment reigned.

While trouble was pending and the law was being defied he
was adamant, and dealt with the enemies of order as he would have
done with a foreign foe in the hour of battle, allowing no excuse, ad-
mitting no provocation. But after the strife was over, he could not
but confess that the licence fee had become oppressive, and was paid
with irritation and anger, or, he wrote, " If not paid the digger was
cast into prison to keep company with felons and rogues ". Further,
he avowed that the evil had been greatly intensified by the conduct
of the Government officials on the goldfields. Their style of living,
luxurious habits, smart .uniforms, military customs, and stilted dig-
nity, "invited hostile criticism and enmity, by the apparent pains
taken to separate them from the diggers " and maintain their superi-
ority as a class. If in November, 1854, he held opinions which he
thus expressed a year later, neither his words nor his deeds gave
any ground for suspecting it. He had found these things so, and
as a new-comer he had hesitated to rush in with reforms, he said,
until he had fully considered all the local surroundings. Hence he
craved indulgence for having allowed four months to roll by with-
out interference, only insisting that the existing laws should be
enforced. The four months to which he referred brought him to

THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 21

November, 1854. Since the patched -up truce which resulted from
the concessions made to the Bendigo miners in September, 1853, the
peace had not been disturbed, though on many of the fields very
strained relations still existed.

In the meantime, the population engaged in mining had increased
enormously. Towards the close of 1854 the returns gave 70,000
men so employed. Four years later this number had quite doubled,
but the great majority were then workers on wages for companies
or associations. In the earlier period nearly all of them were toiling
for their own benefit, and stimulated by the hope of great personal
gain. Hence they were of a more independent character, more
resolute in action, and more tenacious of their rights. Towns of
commercial importance and social activity, like Ballaarat, Castle-
maine, Bendigo, Maryborough, and a number of smaller centres,
had sprung into existence, enabling many of the miners to locate
their families, and to exchange their nomad existence for some
approach to domestic comfort. The concentration had other results.
It brought men together after their day's work, and led them to talk
over their individual interests and their associated grievances. It
stimulated the growing idea that as a class the miners were entitled
to a full share in the political power then monopolised by a mere
handful of electors. Further, they resented the difficulties placed in
their way, when successful in mining, in investing their gain in a
share of the fertile soil, where they might make a permanent home
for their families, and rest from the exacting toil which had been
their stepping-stone to fortune. In these legitimate aspirations they
were very properly supported by nearly the whole press of the colony,
for its journals could now be counted by the score. Not always,
however, was this done with the best taste, or with tactics likely to
secure the desired end. Several of the papers used the cause of the
diggers chiefly as a vehicle for deriding the Legislature and be-
littling the Lieutenant- Governor and his Executive.

The contempt for authority, so persistently preached, the inces-
sant suggestion to the miner that he must assert himself if he
would not always remain the easy prey of officialism, wrought
disastrous results, and over a wide area spread a rankling sense
of injustice. There were plenty of professional agitators in all

22 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the centres of population, glib, plausible fellows, with whom the
tongue was mightier than the pick, whose labours had not been
crowned with success, and to whom any drastic changes might
bring the chance of power. They were quick to see that an
inflammatory condition of feeling was spreading abroad, which
at any suitable moment could be fanned into a blaze that would
not easily be extinguished. The culminating trouble to which
these conditions led up began to oppress Sir Charles Hotham
early hi October, 1854. Though he surmounted the greatest of
the perils threatened, he found himself, six months later, with his
ideals defeated, his temper soured, his spirit broken, and carrying
a reputation for obstinacy that alienated alike his Executive and
the main body of the colonists. The story of the bloodshed at
Ballaarat, the only instance in the placid annals of Victoria of
the clash of arms in which disciplined troops took part, must
be told in another chapter. It is worth some detail, not only
because it represents the culmination of the years of disorganisation
in Government control, but also because the treatment of the
episode, in published accounts, has been generally coloured by
partisan statements, alike by the champions of authority and
the defenders of the diggers.

CHAPTER II.

THE REVOLT OP THE DIGGERS.

IT was in August, 1851, that the sylvan solitudes of Ballaarat were
first invaded by the advance guard of the army of gold-seekers.
Within twelve months the indications of permanence were so
manifest that the Government caused a township to be surveyed,
and the first sale of allotments was held in Geelong on 24th August,
1852. The prices realised were very high, and a further sale took
place in November, at which the competition was even keener.
But most of the buyers were town speculators, and it was far into
1853 before the local residents began to erect anything but the
most flimsy structures, for the cost was prohibitory, the freight of
material from Geelong being £80 per ton. The Camp of the
Government officials was mainly of canvas, surrounded by rough
palisades. The Court-house was of solid square timber flanked
by a few ponderous-looking log huts for military stores and for
prisoners, of whom there seemed to be a perennial supply under
restraint.

By the winter of 1854, however, the town had begun to take on
shape. There were branches of three important banks, doing a
large and profitable business in very makeshift premises ; fully a
dozen licensed hotels ; a number of substantial stores, and a few
scattered weather-board private residences. The affairs of the
inhabitants, now some 20,000 in number, were discussed by a local
journal, the Ballaarat Times, of which a notorious firebrand, named
Seekamp, was editor, and though there was only one regular place of
worship, there were two theatres and four or five music halls in
the main street. But perhaps of greater importance than the
transfer from canvas to brick and stone was the amelioration of
the social conditions, resulting from the increasing number of

23

24 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

women and children who had followed the breadwinner to the
scene of his labour. Sir Charles Hotham had declared that it was
through their influence that the restless population could be best
restrained, and said that he would rather see an army of ten thou-
sand women on the goldfields than an equal number of soldiers.

The mining population of the Ballaarat district at this period
may be taken as a fair sample of the 70,000 men employed in
similar work throughout the colony. It is very evident from
official despatches and reports that the Executive of the day were,
even after three years' experience, widely mistaken in their estimate
of the diggers as a class. Possibly biassed by the reports of
Vigilance Committees and Lynch Law in California, they were
inclined to regard them as desperate adventurers, given over to
wild debauchery in the hour of their success, and to lawless violence
and pillage in the days of their failure. There were, of course,
besotted loafers and crime-stained scoundrels in a crowd so quickly
lured from all parts of the world by the magnetic lust of gold. But
the main body of these hardy adventurers consisted of a very
different class, and included many of the pioneers of the best
in colonial democracy. They represented the denizens of many
lands, and the followers of many occupations. Besides the mingled
tides that had flowed in from other countries Great Britain had
sent forth thousands of stalwart artisans, agriculturists, factory
hands, seamen, and some practical miners from Northumberland
and Cornwall. In every hundred of these expatriated Britons
would be found two or three men gathered from another social
plane — junior cadets of noble families; graduates of the historic
universities ; barristers, of whom more than one have actually
exchanged their digger's' costume for the ermine-trimmed robe of
the Bench ; army officers who had been decorated in the Queen's
service, and scores of pensioners who had fought under her flag.
A thousand of such men, or even half the number, scattered amidst
the swirling crowd, gave form and resolution to their daily action.
As a rule, the wild orgies of drunkenness, by which the authorities
judged the mass, were confined to a few disreputable public-houses,
where, if by chance an incautious miner got entangled, he was
hocussed and robbed, and sometimes murdered. For the rest, the

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 25

mass of the real workers were stalwart and industrious, honest and
clean-living ; strict in upholding justice among themselves, and
ready to band together to put down lawlessness and turbulence.

The official view of the miner as a dangerous creature to be
kept down at any cost must have been intensely irritating to men
of this calibre. When it became known that Sir Charles Hotham,
the man whose carriage they had so recently dragged in triumph,
with uproarious cheers, had actually sent up orders that the police
should redouble their activity, and specially devote two days a
week to hunting unlicensed diggers, the sense of the outrage by
which this sport was always accompanied alienated many of the
most loyal friends of order. The Ballaarat goldfield was divided
between four Commissioners, but the boundaries of their jurisdiction
were ill-defined, and as each Commissioner employed a separate
band of licence-hunters, it sometimes happened that diggers pursu-
ing their lawful avocation were called up from their work twice or
even three times in one day. When it is remembered that many
of the shafts were down from 100 to 150 feet in depth, and that the
miner, even though he had shown his licence an hour before, dared
not disobey a peremptory order to come up without the risk of
being marched off to the logs for resisting the police, it is easy
to imagine the simmering wrath which the orders for renewed
activity in this hateful mode of collection aroused. Indeed, it is
a marvel that an outburst of violent resistance was so long deferred.
The real miner had much at stake, and by habit and tradition he
was law-abiding. Some petitions were addressed to the Governor,
but they were unheeded. Meetings were held at which deputations
were appointed to wait on him, but he refused to see them. An
accidental collision with the police caused the smouldering wrath to
burst into a flame.

One of the most disreputable hostelries, that had commanded
a roaring trade amongst the hard-drinking section of the field, was
the Eureka Hotel on Specimen Hill, kept by James Bentley, an
ex-convict from Van Diemen's Land. It was a large, ramshackle
building of weather-board, and with the stock-in-trade was valued
by the owner, in a claim which he brought unsuccessfully against
the Government, at £29,750. If this represented anything like

26 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the cost, it is a pertinent illustration of the rapidity with which
publicans made fortunes in those days, for Bentley arrived penni-
less on the diggings in 1852. Before he had been six months
in the Eureka it had earned a very bad reputation. Probably
from old association he seemed to attract to his bar the most
dangerous scum of the population. He always had at his call
a number of rowdies and bullies, to whom deeds of violence were
as their daily bread. If by chance a drunken digger, lured by
the open gambling or the boisterous games of the skittle-alley,
wandered into these quarters with any gold-dust in his belt, he
generally lost it before he had been long under Bentley 's roof.
If he made a disturbance, there were plenty of willing hands to
throw him out, if need be to throw him into the creek, or down
an abandoned shaft. Nightly orgies were held that should have
been suppressed by the police, but the ruffianly landlord was known
to be on terms of intimacy with the Eesident Police Magistrate,
one Dewes, a venal official, who was believed to have a share
in his disreputable gains, so no notice was taken of the lawless
tumults. On the night of the 6th of October a digger, named
James Scobie, who was endeavouring to obtain admission after
the house was ostensibly closed, had his skull split by a blow from
a shovel during an altercation at the door. In the confusion of
a general scuffle there was no certainty as to who struck the fatal
blow, but circumstantial evidence and the positive statement of two
witnesses implicated Bentley. At the inquest next day Bentley
was allowed to be present, unmolested, but the popular indignation
was so strong that the police were compelled to take out a warrant
for his arrest. They were so considerate as to send a special
messenger to his hotel to inform him that it would be put in force
next morning. He was spared the indignity of the lock-up, and
released on bail. Two days later he was brought before the Police
Magistrate Dewes, and Messrs. Eede and Johnston, Goldfields
Commissioners, and notwithstanding the weight of evidence ad-
duced he was promptly acquitted by a majority of the Bench.
Anger and indignation surged through the miners' tents when they
learned this strong confirmation of the general belief in the venality
of Dewes. A hurried meeting was called by placards for the 17th

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 27

instant, at which a committee was appointed to demand a further
prosecution of Bentley, and to offer a reward for the conviction of
the murderer. It was orderly enough at the outset, but while it
was proceeding the Camp officials injudiciously sent a detachment
of police ostensibly to guard the hotel property. The rumour went
abroad that the troopers were using force to disperse the meeting,
and within half an hour an angry mob of 8,000 or 10,000 men was
swaying to and fro, jeering the police and deriding the orders to
disperse. According to Commissioner Kede's subsequent evidence,
the police could not use force against the crowd, because the vener-
able magistrate who had been deputed to read the Eiot Act lost his
nerve and could not do it, so they stood hesitatingly around, while
the diggers demanded that Bentley should be given up to them.
Suddenly a few stones were thrown from the crowd, a lamp was
smashed, and a few windows broken. The incident was responded
to like a bugle-call to " charge ". The mob swept aside the handful
of police and fell upon the building like furies, crashing in doors
and windows, and throwing the furniture and the contents of the
bar into the street. A man, carrying an armful of paper to the
windward end of the bowling-alley, deliberately struck a match
and fired the building under the eyes of the guardian of the peace.
Meanwhile Bentley, in agonising dread of being overtaken by
Judge Lynch, succeeded in getting to the stables undetected, and
mounting his fleetest horse, rode wildly off to the Camp, where
he implored protection for himself and assistance for the police.
A squad of military was soon ranged up, and advancing at the
double with fixed bayonets were only just in time to see the roof
fall in, and the disreputable Eureka a mass of smouldering
ruins. The fire occurred on the 17th of October, and on the 19th
a brief account of it appeared in the Argus. Sir Charles Hotham
was furious, not only at the threatening attitude of the diggers,
but equally at what he called " the indecision and oscillation of
the authorities in allowing the riot to get head". He promptly
sent up an officer, in whom he had confidence, with a detachment
of military to enforce order, to support the civil authorities in
the arrest of the ringleaders, and " to use force whenever legally
called upon to do so, without regard to the consequences which

28 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTOKIA

might ensue". Under these comprehensive powers the police
set about searching for some prominent figures amongst the in-
cendiaries, and in a few days they had arrested three men, named
Mclntyre, Fletcher and Westerby. Many persons came forward
to declare that Mclntyre made himself conspicuous by his effort,
to dissuade the mob from violence, and another contingent averred
that Fletcher was not present at the fire at all. A meeting was
readily convened, at which the perjured testimony of the police was
lavishly denounced, and one or two irrepressibles urged a general
attack on the Camp to release the unfortunate trio. Finally, a
committee was appointed to wait on the Camp officials and tender
bail for the release of the prisoners. The request was at first
refused, but the refusal was taken in such bad part by the angry
throng surging around the Camp gates that discretion tempered
zeal, and though the Commissioner fixed the amount of bail at
£2,000, the volunteer bondsmen were promptly accepted without
inquiry. The result of the subsequent magisterial inquiry was
the committal of the three accused men to take their trial in Mel-
bourne on the 20th of November.

Before the trial came off, however, Sir Charles Hotham, much
perturbed by the current stories of official venality and the pre-
valence of bribery in the public service, determined upon an
inquiry by a special Board, consisting of two Metropolitan Police
Magistrates and the Chief Medical Officer of the colony. In advising
Earl Grey of this somewhat unusual proceeding, Sir Charles said
he felt it imperative " to investigate the charges, which poured in
from all quarters, of general corruption on the part of the authorities
of the Ballaarat goldfield ". The Board met at Ballaarat on the 2nd
of November, and took the evidence of a number of miners and
other residents. Their report, submitted a few days later, confirmed
many of the rumours which had disturbed the Governor. Its con-
clusions involved the dismissal of Dewes, the Police Magistrate,
and the senior sergeant of police at the Camp, and other drastic
changes. The rearrest of Bentley, together with his wife and two
male accomplices, on a charge of murder followed, and they were
held for trial at the same sessions to which the alleged incendiaries
had been committed. Bentley and his male associates were con-

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 29

vie ted of the manslaughter of Scobie, and sentenced to three years
on the roads.

So far the result was hailed by the diggers as a full justification
of their riotous proceedings ; but when, a few days later, the news
reached Ballaarat that Mclntyre, Fletcher and Westerby had been
found guilty and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, they were
quick to see the injustice of inflicting a punishment on three men,
practically taken at random, for an offence hi respect of which
quite 500 were equally guilty. Their indignation was ,to some
extent justified by the rider which the jury appended to their
verdict, " that they would never have had their painful duty to
perform if those Government officials at Ballaarat had done theirs
properly ". The ever-growing hostility between the police and the
diggers strongly impressed the latter with the necessity for some
form of organisation, if they hoped to make their protests felt.
Hence, on the llth of November a meeting of some 3,000 miners
was held on Bakery Hill, where enthusiasm was stimulated by
much frothy oratory and selections of martial music. Actually the
multitude had been attracted by the stormy incidents arising out of
the burning of the Eureka Hotel, but the leaders amongst them saw
a means of bringing pressure to bear on the authorities to remedy
their grievances without having to resort to arms. Therefore, they
devised a combination of aggressive and defensive tactics, which
they christened " The Ballaarat Eeform League," and which the
Ballaarat Times, in a leader of hysterical jubilation, hailed as " the
germ of Australian Independence ".

In addition to certain local demands connected with the Bentley
affair, the League proceeded to formulate a political creed, of which
the chief articles were : —

The right of all the people to Parliamentary representation.

Manhood suffrage.

No property qualification for candidates.

Payment of members.

Short duration of Parliaments.

Immediate abolition of diggers' and storekeepers' licences.
Thus, what had hitherto been a personal matter, rankling in in-
dividuals with a sense of tyranny and injustice, was at this meeting

30 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

solidified into an important political movement, destined to make
its weight felt by the Government, and eventually to carry nearly
every point contended for.

It was one of the popular fallacies at headquarters, and an
often-expressed belief of Sir Charles Hotham, that the disturbances
at Ballaarat did not arise out of the licence -hunting. More than
once the Governor had declared that " the masses were urged on by
designing men, who had ulterior views, and hoped to profit by
anarchy, . . . active, designing, intriguing foreigners, whose aim is
disorder and confusion ". The Governor's contemptuous general-
isation was hardly warranted, for the foreign element was never
preponderant. There were in all some fifteen men who, during
the final months of 1854, came into prominence by their speech or
acts, but the men who moulded the business and mainly took the re-
sponsibility covered five nationalities. They were J. B. Humffray,
a Welshman, Peter Lalor, an Irishman, George Black, an English-
man, Frederic Vern, a Hanoverian, and Carboni Baffaello, an Italian.
These actors were so prominent in the ensuing drama that they
deserve a brief personal notice : —

Humffray, who was appointed the first Secretary of the League,
was a man of fair education and sound principles. His colleagues,
while admitting his value as a negotiator, rather chafed under his
laudation of constitutional remedies for their wrongs, and some of
them, who were eager for conflict, were inclined to accuse him of
being far too friendly with their gold-laced antagonists.

Lalor was the son of a member of the British House of Com-
mons ; by profession a civil engineer, but then, in his twenty-
seventh year, working as a miner. He had not the fluent tongue
of Humffray, but like him he was of an active temperament, and
physically a fine, burly specimen of vigorous manhood.

Black was the editor of the Diggers' Advocate, a paper hon-
estly devoted to the amelioration of the miners' grievances, and
remarkably free from the scurrility which marked the other local
journal. Indeed, while the diggers recognised him as their friend
and champion, they were inclined to the belief that he preached rather
too much, and pitched his ideas of duty on too high a plane. Though
he shared in the distinction of having a price put on his head by

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 31

Government proclamation, no overt act of violence or any incitement
thereto could be brought home to him.

Vern was undoubtedly an epitome of swaggering, egotistical
braggadocio, a vain, posturing creature, who gave just a touch of
comedy to the otherwise serious drama into which he intruded him-
self. He was a tall, good-looking, voluble fellow, always boasting of
his influence with a certain German legion, that apparently " never
was listed," and when the real fighting began he managed to save
his own skin.

Baffaello, the man whom Hotham probably had in his mind's eye
when he dilated upon intriguing foreigners, was an extraordinary
character. Born in Borne, and by profession a teacher of languages,
he professed to have fled to Australia to put 16,000 miles between
him and his hated Austrian oppressors. Whether he had ever fought
in the cause of Italian liberty is doubtful. Marcus Clarke speaks
of him as the novelist's ideal of the sinister Italian conspirator, who
wrote, harangued, jeered and wept by turns. But whatever his in-
tellectual capacity may have been for that dramatic r6le, his outward
appearance had nothing of the picturesque. He was forty years of
age, short and squat in figure, with red hair and small, keen, restless
eyes. He was rather suspicious of some of his colleagues, but a
devoted adherent and blind admirer of Peter Lalor.

These men of such varying characteristics represented the motive
power of the nascent Ballaarat Eeform League, and to them the
diggers in their wrath turned for advice and guidance. Certain re-
cent proceedings in the Camp, which had called forth strong denun-
ciations of the police methods by Mr. Sturt, the Eesident Magistrate,
strengthened the conviction that the three reputed incendiaries were
the victims of perjured testimony by the troopers, who were the only
witnesses called by the Crown. At a meeting called to decide what
steps should be taken in protest against the sentence on Mclntyre
and his companions the oratory grew warm. It was declared that
the time for petition, for pleading, nay, even for protest, had gone by.
They believed that gross injustice had been done, and they would
insist on its rectification, not as a concession, but as an inherent
right. It was decided therefore to send a deputation to Melbourne
to wait on the Governor, and to demand the release of the prisoners.

32 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

J. B. Humffray, the Secretary of the League, was already in Mel-
bourne in connection with the trial ; to him were despatched Messrs.
Black and Kennedy, armed with the resolutions of the meeting, and
with instructions to bring the prisoners back with them.

They arrived in Melbourne on the 25th of November, and as soon
as the Governor got a hint of their mission he inferred trouble.
Before according them a reception, he made arrangements for the
transit to Ballaarat on the following day of eighty men of the 12th
Eegiment under Captain Atkinson, and fifty of the 40th Eegiment
under Captain Wise. Later on he directed that they should be
accompanied by all the mounted police that could be spared, and two
pieces of artillery.

On the morning of the 27th of November the Governor, having
cleared the decks for action, supported by Mr. Stawell, the Attorney-
General, and Mr. Foster, the unpopular head of the Cabinet, received
the deputation. The delegates did not shirk their instructions, and
the word "demand" jarred upon the sensitiveness of the quarter-
deck martinet. He said, as the representative of Her Majesty, he
could not allow the word to be used, but a properly worded memo-
rial on behalf of the prisoners would receive every consideration.
Mr. Humffray, who showed great moderation and tact, would fain
have embraced this suggestion, but Mr. Black was emphatic that
they had no power to vary the instructions given to them so explicitly
by the meeting. The demand was consequently refused, though the
delegates were told that important reforms in the management of
the goldfields were even then under consideration, and would soon
be promulgated. As a parting shot Kennedy implored the Governor
to allow the men to return with them as the only means of avoiding
bloodshed. This covert threat roused His Excellency to say that,
whatever the consequences, he could not be a party to the destruction
of the authority of the Government, or lightly set aside the most
important principle of the British Constitution, the verdict of a
jury.

Meanwhile, all over the Ballaarat district the trees were placarded
with a summons to a mass meeting to be held on 29th November to
receive the answer which the delegates would bring. The wording
of the placards was very inflammatory, and after setting forth the

THE KEVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 33

aims of the Eeform League, it wound up with the significant state-
ment, " Bring your licences, they may be wanted ".

It chanced that on the evening before the day fixed for this
meeting the American residents of Ballaarat gave a dinner to
welcome their Consul, who had arrived from Melbourne on a visit.
A number of leading Ballaarat people were present as guests, in-
cluding Mr. Eede, the Eesident Commissioner, and Mr. Hackett,
the Police Magistrate. Towards the close of the banquet some
uneasiness was caused by the hurried calling away of these two
officials, whose presence was urgently needed at the Camp. The
electrical condition of excitement which prevailed was presently
intensified by vague rumours of fighting, and the occasional sound
of firearms broke up the meeting in some disorder. The business
which called forth the officials was serious enough — the first affair
of outposts, in which some blood was spilled on both sides.

The advance guard of the troops from Melbourne, a detach-
ment of the 40th Eegiment, arrived about six o'clock. They had
been conveyed by steamer to Geelong, and thence driven up in
carts. The subaltern in charge either considered such a mode of
entry undignified, or he desired to make an impressive display.
When he arrived within sight of the tented field he uncarted his
men, and proceeded to march them in with fixed bayonets along
the line of road that was flanked by hundreds of angry diggers.
They reached the Camp without any display of violence, beyond
derisive comments and jeering shouts. But the excitement was
greatly increased when it became known that a still larger force
was following, and a report gained circulation that the delegates
from the League had been thrown into prison. Hastily gathering
what arms they could find, a score or so of men started off in the
dusk to intercept the coming troops. About eight o'clock the
rumble of the approaching waggons was heard, and Captain Wise
was seen riding in advance. Two diggers stepped up to him and
inquired if it was true, as reported, that the waggons contained
cannon to be used against the miners. He injudiciously replied
that he had no information to give to a parcel of rebels. This was
sufficient to fire the train, and in a few minutes the undisciplined
crowd threw itself upon the convoy, overturning one waggon and

VOL. II. 3

34 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

capturing another containing several cases of ammunition. The
result of the short conflict was that three or four of the military
and the driver of the escort were seriously wounded. The soldiers
did not show much fight, for they were completely taken by surprise,
and not in the military order in which their colleagues had entered
on the scene two hours previously. They lashed their horses and,
headed by their captain, made for the Camp full tilt. As soon as
they were safe within that sanctuary, Commissioner Eede ordered
out the mounted troopers to go and recover the waggons and dis-
perse the rioters. The contents of the waggons had been made off
with as far as could be done in the time ; the remainder had been
thrown down abandoned shafts. The troopers were received with
hootings, volleys of stones and an occasional pistol shot ; but they
made a dash at the crowd, cutting right and left, running them
down to their tents, and leaving a good many nasty scars behind
them. The waggons having been rifled there was nothing to
recover, and seeing that the diggers appeared to be up and gather-
ing arms, they made their way back to the Camp. The night's
work was indeed a sorry prelude to the great meeting which had
been summoned for the morrow to receive the report of the delegates.
The action of the irresponsible crowd in attacking the military was
condemned by the leaders of the Eeform League as most prejudicial
to their cause, and likely to precipitate a crisis, which they hoped
even yet to avert by diplomatic measures.

The time appointed for the meeting on Bakery Hill was two
o'clock, and the signal was to be the hoisting of the new Australian
flag, a blue bunting with the constellation of the Southern Cross
in silver stars. As the hour approached a steady stream set in
towards the spot, work having been suspended in most of the
claims. Many of the men were armed in consequence of the re-
ported disturbance of the previous evening, and in the belief that
an attempt would be made to disperse them.

Amongst the earliest arrivals was the stalwart Peter Lalor, rifle in
hand, accompanied by Timothy Hayes, who, by reason of his Irish
fluency, had been chosen as chairman.

The appearance of Black, Humffray and Kennedy on the plat-
form was greeted with much cheering, and their report was listened

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 35

to with anxious attention. Black stated the case with painstaking
and judicial fairness, and declared that in his opinion the Governor
was in favour of the people, but was so surrounded by injudicious
advisers as to leave him helpless in the issue. Some feeble attempts
to call for cheers for the " New chum Governor " were coldly re-
ceived, and the suggestion to substitute a petition for the demand
for the prisoners' release was furiously scouted as contemptible
weakness. After some firebrand remarks from Kennedy, Humffray
made another effort to revert to negotiation, assuring the meeting
that the Governor was with them, and had appointed a Commission
to inquire into their grievances and suggest reforms. Peter Lalor,
who had sense enough to see that no calm consideration could be
given to proposals sprung without warning upon some thousands
of excited men, desired to have a working committee appointed to
deal with them, and he proposed that a meeting of the Eeform
League be held on the following Sunday at the Adelphi Theatre to
elect such a committee, and that every forty members should have
one representative thereon. This was carried, and it would have
been well for the cause if the future guidance had been left to
some such deliberative body. But in so large a gathering, variously
estimated at from 8,000 to 12,000 men, there were many fiery spirits
who chafed under inaction. Consequently half a dozen resolutions
were carried with wild enthusiasm, which might have been modified
with advantage under less tempestuous conditions. Of these the
most important and far-reaching in its results was the third, pro-
posed by Frederic Vern : " That this meeting, being convinced that
the obnoxious licence fee is an imposition and an unjustifiable tax
on free labour, pledges itself to take immediate steps to abolish the
same by at once burning all their licences. That in the event of
any party being arrested for having no licence, the united people
will, under all circumstances, defend and protect them." Strenuous
efforts were made by the Eev. Father Smyth and a few others to
protest against so extreme a step, but the meeting refused to hear
them. Hayes, the chairman, was determined it should not be carried
without a full understanding of its consequences. He asked the
crowd if they were really prepared to face death by storming the
Camp, if necessary, to liberate any miner locked up there for want

3*

36 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

of a licence. He was answered by a roar that if they got the word,
a thousand of them were ready to do it there and then. The re-
solution was carried, bonfires were lighted, and one after another
stepped up and cast the obnoxious document into the flames.

It was unfortunate that Sir Charles Hotham's irritability under
opposition induced him at this juncture to send peremptory instruc-
tions to the Resident Commissioner to redouble his efforts to capture
unregistered diggers and to strictly enforce the law. Doubtless he
assumed that the presence of so large a military force on the field
rendered the time opportune for enforcing submission. But un-
happily his instructions reached Mr. Eede at the very time when
the fires on Bakery Hill were consuming those objects of the
Governor's solicitude. Some of the Camp officials recognised the
unwisdom of the step, and deplored the necessity they were under
of carrying out such instructions while the echo of the cheers
which greeted the burning of the licences had yet hardly died away.
But they had to obey orders, and took comfort from the news,
which had just reached them, that arrangements were proceeding
in Melbourne for the despatch of the remaining troops, supported
by artillery, and under the command of the Commander-in-Chief,
Sir Robert Nickle. Accordingly, early on Thursday morning,
the 30th of November, a company of mounted troopers, under the
direction of Commissioners Rede and Johnston, issued from
the Camp and made their first charge in the neighbourhood of
the Gravel Pits. They were received with hooting and derision,
with frequent volleys of stones, and the promise of something more
destructive. In fear of a serious conflict the Commissioners
called for the support of the military, and a company of soldiers
was promptly sent to their aid. The crowd, which under less
exciting circumstances would probably have remained quiescent
until the result of Sunday's meeting was known, became greatly
exasperated when the troops fired a volley over their heads, and
scattered in search of arms and ammunition. Commissioner Rede,
who was endeavouring to read the Riot Act, was jeeringly told that
he could not see the licences because they were burnt, but if he
liked to accept the alternative they would all surrender as prisoners.
This brought about the redu^ctio ad absurdum, and Rede ordered

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 37

the cavalry to charge the crowd with a view to dispersal rather
than capture. It was soon done, and the last digger hunt in
Victoria collapsed with the return of the troops to Camp, in charge
of eight prisoners, leaving a number of more or less damaged miners
to the nursing care of their comrades.

The action of the Camp officials, though utterly futile as an
assertion of authority, and wantonly irritating as an uncalled-for
display of a denounced procedure, which the Government had
already contemplated abolishing, acted with direful force in inciting
those who were not yet committed to armed revolt. The alarmed
diggers hastened to consult the leading spirits of the Eeform
League. At a mass meeting held in the afternoon Peter Lalor
came to the front. He had shown readiness in controlling a crowd,
and he now advised them to form companies, according to their
arms, and to elect their own captains out of the best men amongst
themselves. He made a stirring speech, scathingly condemning
what he called the unaccountable outrage of a licence hunt at the
point of the bayonet, and he felt called upon to offer some advice as
to further defence against tyranny lest the want of a leader should
bring about disaster. He disclaimed all pretension to military
knowledge, and was only anxious to help them to choose the best
man ; but the meeting would have no other leader, and when that
was evident he accepted the position, declaring that if he once
pledged his hand to the diggers, he would neither "defile it with
treachery nor render it contemptible by cowardice ". After the
election of the commander and the allotment of various subordi-
nate posts the Southern Cross was again hoisted, and the men,
gathered round in batches, took the oath of allegiance under the
most melodramatic surroundings.

In view of the possibility of an early conflict, the discipline
of drill was now vigorously enforced, and to avoid its interruption
by the police, an area of about an acre, on the Eureka lead, was
hastily enclosed with piled up mining slabs, logs, building timber
and any handy material. As a position of defence it had nothing
to recommend it beyond the flimsy cover offered by a breastwork
of logs. It was Vern's idea of a stockade, imperfectly carried out,
and it contained within its limits several claims and the tents of

38

those working them, besides the improvised shelter for the rebel
garrison. But even while the historical stockade was in course
of formation, a meeting of the League was held to make one more
effort to avert bloodshed, by appealing to the Camp to let things
remain in statu quo until the Government should have had time to
consider the situation. To that end Messrs. Black and Eaffaello,
introduced by the Eev. Father Smyth, waited upon the officials, to
ask for the release of the prisoners apprehended that morning, and
a pledge not to renew the licence-hunting. Messrs. Eede and
Hackett were firm in their refusal, alleging that if they did not
obey their instructions, Sir Charles Hotham would promptly super-
sede them by others who would.

Next day, Friday, the 1st of December, the occupants of the
stockade were hard at work at 5 A.M. Sundry awkward squads
were being put through a futile course of drill ; parties were being
told off to rummage the field for firearms, and to try and win over
to the cause such generous butchers and bakers as aspired to be
" purveyors to the Eeform League ". A few score of willing hands
were labouring to give cohesion and stability to the flimsy barricade
forming the outer line of defence. All day long the clang of the
anvil sounded from the improvised smithy of a German blacksmith,
who was fashioning pike heads out of any scraps of iron the diggers
could bring to him, for the general armament was sadly deficient.
In the afternoon a contingent of 300 or 400 men arrived from
Creswick to join forces, and were much disappointed to find neither
commissariat supplies, arms nor ammunition available for them.
Some promptly expressed their disgust, and left the stockade and
its cause forthwith. Others decided to see what next day would
bring forth, and in default of quarters passed the night squatted
round the big fire which burned in the centre of the stockade.

Saturday, the 2nd of December, dawned upon a mass of conflicting
interests. The Camp, alert and watchful, thought it prudent to
await reinforcements. The diggers, not yet under proper discipline,
were incited by some turbulent spirits to make a dash on the Camp
and overwhelm it by sheer force of numbers ; by others, to march
out and cut off the reinforcements now on the road ; and yet again,
by the more cautious, amongst whom Humffray was prominent, to

THE EEVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 39

stand only on the defensive, and await developments. Father
Smyth sought Lalor's permission to address those of his congrega-
tion who were under arms, and this being granted, he besought
them with solemn earnestness not to embark on a career of useless
bloodshed. He assured them that, with the well-organised Camp
opposed to them, and the crushing military force now on its way,
they could have no hope of success in actual fighting, and he
implored them, as they called themselves Christians, to attend him
at Mass on the following morning. His services to the diggers'
cause were too well known not to assure him a respectful hearing,
so, while it did not lessen the preparations of the leaders, his speech
won many silent converts, who made their arrangements to pass
the night outside the barriers. During the day men went in and
out of the stockade as they listed, with scarcely a pretence of pass-
word or challenge. There had been no overt display of the mili-
tary during the morning, and the diggers indulged in a mistaken
impression that now they had shown they were in earnest the
Government would try and find some reason for meeting their
requests. They went through their drill evolutions during the
forenoon, and their talk was cheerful of the anticipated results
of the great meeting called for the following day. By noon a
large number of them began to disperse to their own tents, and by
two o'clock the stockade was practically deserted, except by those
who had come in from some outlying field, and those whose tents
were enclosed within the ramparts. According to one witness, there
were barely a hundred within the stockade during the afternoon,
but towards dusk a good many began to return. There is no
reliable record of the number of defenders when the stockade was
assaulted, but it is certain that the seven or eight hundred who
made it lively on Friday had dwindled to about one-fourth. Prob-
ably there were not over two hundred when the watch was set
for the night. Of these about fifty had rifles; as many more
revolvers and pistols, and a portion of the remainder, pikes, axes
and pitchforks !

The lack of vigilance and discipline which allowed Lalor's forces
to scatter made it easy for strangers to enter, with disastrous results.
Amongst the active sharers in the drilling and organising, as well

40 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

as in the plans of the rebels, were a couple of troopers, disguised as
diggers, who daily reported to the Camp what was going on. The
Commissioners, conferring on these reports with Captain Thomas,
soon realised the diminished numbers and demoralised condition of
the insurgents, and determined to strike a blow at once. They had
no doubt of success, and felt that, in such case, it would deter all the
waverers from coming back, and crush any hopes based on the next
day's meeting.

Of the six chief conspirators, Lalor, Black, Vern and Hayes were
within the stockade at midnight. Baffaello slept in his own tent
outside the barrier, and Humffray had withdrawn when the League
began to commandeer arms and provisions, though he was still on
the field. Sentinels for the night were selected from the " Calif ornian
Eangers Eevolver Brigade," the remainder of that contingent, said to
number fully 200, being out on the Melbourne Road to intercept re-
inforcements. The military capacity of these sentinels scarcely came
up to their high-sounding appellation. More than once during the
night they imagined they saw soldiers, and unnecessarily aroused
the sleeping garrison, so that when at last the attack was delivered
the response was not as prompt as it ought to have been.

The fight for the flag which occurred at Eureka in the grey
glimmer of dawn on that Sunday morning was a fight in which the
advantage of arms, of discipline and of direction lay entirely with
the besiegers. There was no necessity for clever generalship, no
room for elaborate plan of attack. The area enclosed sloped down
towards the Melbourne Eoad, along which the troops were expected
to approach. But the onrush came from another quarter. The
Camp forces consisted of 152 infantry and 30 mounted soldiers, with
70 mounted and 24 foot police, a total of 276 men. The armed
insurgents outside the stockade far exceeded the number of those
within, and had they been concentrated might have materially
altered the result of the day's work. But the Government spies had
informed Captain Thomas of the destinations of these outsiders, and
the improbability of their being within call to the aid of their com-
rades. Hence, it was really a strong force, well in hand, pitted
against some 200 men, half-armed, short of ammunition, and many
of them asleep when the signal-gun was fired.

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 41

The troops stole silently out of their Camp at 4 A.M., and march-
ing with the utmost caution reached within 300 yards of the stock-
ade, when a gun was fired by one of the sentinels as an indication
that they were discovered. Captain Thomas ordered the troops to
advance steadily without firing until the bugle sounded. The
mounted police and the cavalry rode briskly on, while the storming
party of the 12th and 40th, making for the centre of the barrier, re-
ceived the first volley at about 150 yards. Captain Wise fell mortally
wounded, two privates were killed outright, and two or three were
temporarily disabled. The bugle rang out, and a line of fire poured
from the guns of the storming party, and from the reserve forces
covering them from the slopes of Stockyard Hill. Several figures
that had been seen rushing to the defence of the palisades staggered
and fell before the hail of bullets. As the first rays of the coming
sunrise revealed the interior of the stockade to Captain Thomas, he
realised that the defence had been largely left to chance. Even
after the exchange of volleys men were seen only just emerging from
their tents and seeking instructions. The keenest fighters were
already at the logs, but most of them were only armed with fowling-
pieces or revolvers. The forlorn brigade of Irish pikemen, waiting
to receive the cavalry charge, were the unhappy recipients of many
bullets, which they had no means of returning. After another volley
from the soldiers, which sounded like the roar of a tempest com-
pared to the dropping fire of the insurgents, the order was given to
charge. With a cheer the soldiers threw themselves on the flimsy
barricade, which went down before them. For a quarter of an hour
there was a desperate hand-to-hand fight, but the crowd could not
stand against the compact line of advancing bayonets, and when the
cavalry and mounted troopers swooped in upon them on both flanks
they turned to seek shelter, and all was over.

Peter Lalor, who on the first alarm had rushed to the front and
sprang upon a log to direct the defence, received a bullet which
shattered the bone of his arm, close to the shoulder. He saw the
overthrow of the barriers and the onward sweep of the troops.
Dazed by the wound and the rapid loss of blood, he jumped down,
and called to the men around him to save themselves for the stock-
ade was taken. Two or three men urged him to fly with them, but

42 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

he sank to the ground and told them to leave him. As he could not
move, and they would not abandon him to be trampled to death,
the lowered him into a shallow hole, covered it with slabs and fled.
The German blacksmith, armed with one of his own pikes, fought
with exemplary courage, and spoiled a good many bayonets during
the melee. Singling out Lieutenant Eichards of the 40th, he charged
him fiercely as he sprang into the stockade. But that officer suc-
ceeded in parrying the thrust, and with a rapid swinging blow of his
sword literally sliced off the top of his opponent's skull. The two
lieutenants of Lalor's staff, Thonen, a Prussian, and Boss, a Canadian,
were both killed, having apparently made it an issue of life or death
to maintain their posts. Black did not figure in the fight, and he
was not among the prisoners, though he was certainly in conference
with Lalor up to a late hour on Saturday night. The " long-legged
Vern," whose verbal military ardour had been excessive, was one of
the first to take Lalor's advice and save himself. While most of
the diggers when surrounded threw down their arms and surrendered,
Vern, with a few companions, cleared the stockade at the opposite
end and scuttled for Warrenheip, through the bush.

The testimony of many witnesses, confirmed by subsequent
official investigations, proved that while the military did their duty
with steadiness and courage and under excellent discipline, the
police, exasperated by their long-standing feud with the diggers,
got quite out of hand, committing many acts of wanton cruelty in
the hour of their triumph. Mr. John Lynch, of Smythesdale, who
with a small company was trying to stem the inrush of the troops
when the barriers fell, says that finding themselves confronted with
a line of advancing bayonets, they were rather relieved to hear the
officer call upon them to surrender, and throw down their arms,
which they promptly did on his promising them protection. Five
minutes later, as they stood unarmed and huddled together, a body
of police charged straight at them with drawn swords, and would
have made short work of them but for the intervention of the
officer, who warned the police that these men were his prisoners,
and under his protection. In all cases the military accepted sur-
render when arms were thrown down, and by six o'clock a miserable
procession of 125 prisoners set out for the Camp, leaving a blood-

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 43

stained track as they staggered along. While the soldiers were
forming up with their prisoners, the police set fire to all the tents
within the stockade, and afterwards to many others that were far
outside the barriers Women and children were ordered out to see
their sole shelter and all its contents consumed before their eyes,
under the pretence that some of the insurgents might be concealed
there. The work of destruction having been completed, and the
area of the stockade a waste of smouldering embers and blood-
stained corpses, the police followed the military to the Camp, with a
few additional prisoners, bearing with them the flag of the insurgents,
which had fluttered through such a brief and inglorious existence.
The official report to the Government from Captain Thomas
says : " The number of insurgents killed is estimated at from thirty-
five to forty, and many of those brought in wounded afterwards
died ". This appears to be an exaggeration. Sixteen bodies were
brought in for interment, and eight others were known to have
succumbed to their wounds. Probably some died from their wounds
while in hiding, their fate being concealed by their protectors lest
it should involve them in trouble. Of the military, Captain Wise
and four private soldiers lost their lives, and a dozen were more or
less seriously wounded. The police appear to have escaped any
serious casualties. Unhappily, among the killed and wounded
were several non-combatants. At the inquest held on the body of
one of these victims, named Henry Powell, the coroner allowed the
jury to add to their verdict the following startling rider : " The jury
view with extreme horror the brutal conduct of the police in firing
at and cutting down unarmed and innocent persons of both sexes
at a distance from the scene of disturbance on 3rd December, 1854 ".
It might be assumed that so terrible a charge was the outcome
of local irritation or personal animosity. But it was undoubtedly
believed in by the press of the colony generally. The Argus more
than once speaks of the "reckless brutality" and "callous in-
difference" of the troopers. The Gedong Advertiser denounces
the " massacres " of which they were guilty. What the Ballaarat
Times says about them is almost unquotable, but then its editor,
Seekamp, was one of the proscribed. The prevailing opinion
certainly received confirmation in the report of the Board sub-

44 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

sequently appointed to inquire into the diggers' grievances, of which
Wm. Westgarth was chairman. Writing three months after the
excitement of the fight had evaporated, the Board refers to the
"disgraceful inhumanities connected with the outbreak," and goes
on to say : " Assuredly on the part of the mounted division of police
there seems to have been a needless as well as ruthless sacrifice
of human life, indiscriminate of innocent or guilty, and after all
resistance had disappeared with the dispersed and flying rioters ".

Of the 125 prisoners brought into Camp some were imme-
diately released, and others took their place ; finally, 114 were
locked up for the night in very close quarters. During the next
four days the Commissioners' Court had a busy time in sorting out
the most guilty. By Thursday all were discharged but thirteen,
who were duly committed for trial on the charge of high treason.
Of the prominent six only two, Timothy Hayes and Raffaello, were
amongst the final selection. Humffray was ignored, but placards
were issued offering a reward of £500 for the capture of Vern, and
£200 each for Lalor and Black.

Fortune was kind to these proscribed outlaws. Vern, whose
braggadocio had induced a belief that he was " Commander-in-
Chief," hence the largeness of the reward offered for him, found
shelter on that Sunday night in a miner's camp in the ranges. The
occupants, who were probably his own countrymen, sheltered him
for a month, and as there were four of them in the secret, it speaks
well for their loyalty that they never sought to sell him for a price
so much in excess of his real value. To put the police on a wrong
scent, he had the audacity to address a letter to his late " comrades
in arms" purporting to be written on board a ship at Sydney
Heads, and dated 24th December. In this gushing effusion he
takes a tearful adieu of the country of his adoption, and bemoans
the fact that " Fate denied me a warrior's death, a patriot's grave,
and decreed that I should languish in banishment ! " It was
surely what our American brethren call smart to get this letter
published in the Melbourne Age, with the editorial assurance that
its authenticity might be relied on. And yet it is a fact that when
he wrote, and for some twelve months afterwards, he had never
left the goldfield !

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 45

The escape of Peter Lalor has more interest for Victorians
because of the important part he played in the colony's affairs
when it fully achieved self-government.

When the last of the police had finally cleared away after
removing the dead bodies from the stockade, some miners dis-
covered Lalor helpless in his burrow. With great caution they
succeeded in smuggling him out into the bush, and there they
procured a horse on which they held him, while he made for the
hut of a friend in the ranges. The night was spent in wandering
at large in the bush. At daybreak next morning, in great pain and
faint from loss of blood, he reached the hut of a mining mate,
Steve Cummins, where he was given food and rest and an attempt
was made to dress his wound. His host, however, saw that the
wound was too serious for amateur treatment ; moreover, he knew
that the police were aware of his friendship for Lalor, and felt that
they would be stimulated by the reward offered to search his place,
so he consulted Father Smyth as to the best means of securing
surgical assistance and safety for his friend. The generous priest
at once assured him of both if he would bring Lalor to the presby-
tery under cover of night. This was done, and in that sanctuary
Drs. Doyle and Stewart amputated the arm from the shoulder
joint, for the long delay in dressing it, and its rough usage, had
destroyed all hope of saving the limb. The suspicions of Cummins
about the police were fully justified, for at the very time the opera-
tion was in progress the troopers were ransacking his dwelling for
traces of the man, who was worth £200 to them. As soon as he
was able to be moved, Lalor was transferred to the secret custody
of a friendly storekeeper at Brown's Hill, with a view to getting a
passage to Geelong. Eventually he was safely conveyed to his
destination by a carrier, named Michael Carroll and his son, who
knew the risk they were running, and, scorning the temptation of the
reward which obtruded itself by placards all along the route, were
satisfied to have done a friendly turn to a man they admired with-
out seeking any pecuniary recompense. Lalor passed the two days'
journey lying under a tilt on one of the drays, for his wound was
still unhealed and he was very weak. They had some hairbreadth
escapes from recognition by the way, meeting many inquisitive

46 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

troopers, and even some civilians who yearned after the reward.
But they successfully parried all inquisitiveness and safely landed
the proscribed rebel at the home of his friend in Geelong, where
he was nursed into convalescence. When the abortive trials of the
insurgents collapsed Lalor returned to Ballaarat unmolested, and
the emancipated diggers not only received him with enthusiasm but
subscribed £1,000 to enable him to start in business, and before
the year was out elected him in conjunction with his former col-
league, Humffray, as the first representatives of Ballaarat in the old
Legislative Council.

Two days after the capture of the stockade, while the preliminary
examination of the insurgent prisoners was being conducted, Major -
General Sir Eobert Nickle, with the remainder of the troops,
arrived. By direction of the Governor, martial law was proclaimed
throughout the district on the 6th of December. The behaviour of
the Commander-in-Chief was so conciliatory and so reasonably just
that he found no difficulty in re-establishing authority. The diggers
generally gave him a respectfully friendly reception, and lost no
opportunity of declaring that, however undesirable the theory of
martial law might be, they infinitely preferred it in practice to
police rule. It was soon evident that such a drastic measure was
quite uncalled for, and on the 9th of December it was repealed
by proclamation.

But the ferment which had worked such disaster at Ballaarat
was now transferred to the Metropolis. In the early days of
December the wildest rumours were afloat there about an army of
infuriated diggers being en route to overthrow the Government, and
on the afternoon of the 4th, when an express despatch reached town
with the news of the Eureka fight, the death-roll of that calamity
was magnified a hundred times. As an evidence of the alarm felt
by the Governor, he sent an urgent message to Sir William Deni-
son in Tasmania for the loan of troops to enable him to maintain
order in Melbourne, and 300 men were sent over by special steamer,
arriving on the 10th, by which time matters had quieted down.
On Monday evening the Mayor was urged by several members of
the Legislative Council to call a meeting of the citizens, which was
held on the following day at the Mechanics' Institute. The rush

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 47

to discuss the burning question of the hour was so great that the
meeting had to be adjourned to the open air, and was held in
Swanston Street. The resolutions submitted deploring the resort
to arms, and urging all classes to unite in suppressing disorder,
were supported by J. P. Fawkner, John O'Shanassy, Henry Miller
and others, and though interrupted by much adverse criticism were
declared by the Mayor to be carried. The object of the meeting,
which had been convened to strengthen the hands of the Govern-
ment, was nullified by subsequent proceedings. For no sooner had
the Mayor given his ruling, and declared the meeting closed, than
the platform was rushed and a new set of orators, presided over by
Dr. Embling, proceeded to pass resolutions of a much more fiery
character. The speakers denounced the Government for having
wantonly provoked armed resistance ; they demanded the peremp-
tory dismissal of Foster, the Chief Secretary, to whose administrative
incapacity the recent deplorable massacres were said to be due, and
so forth. Finally, the meeting dispersed with tumultuous cheers for
the cause of the diggers.

This was only a chance meeting, snatched out of the hands
of the law and order party. On the following day, Wednesday,
the 6th of December, they had a special gathering of their own,
summoned by advertisement and placard, and by the vehement
support of the Age, then just newly started to champion the cause
of the people against any Government. It was held on a vacant
block of land in Swanston Street, now covered by part of St. Paul's
Cathedral. Mr. Henry Langlands was chosen to preside, and the
chief speakers were David Blair, J. M. Grant, Dr. Embling and Dr.
Owens, of Bendigo. Mr. J. P. Fawkner was also on the platform,
but being for constitutional measures, this man, who had spent
half his life in defying authority, was accorded a very impatient
hearing. Between four and five thousand persons were present,
who cheered and shouted and jostled with excitement as each
speaker made his most telling points. David Blair was the real
firebrand, and with a rasping voice and much declamatory gesticu-
lation he denounced the brutal official excesses of a military
despotism that had driven an unwilling people to bloodshed be-
cause they had no alternative. Leaflets were profusely distributed

48 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

amongst the crowd, setting forth an entirely new constitution for
Victoria, the seven clauses of which contained some of the most
preposterous ideas of Government that ever emanated from men
who could read and write. And yet they were put forward in all
seriousness by men, several of whom were afterwards considered
worthy of election to legislative and even ministerial positions.
Amongst other startling suggestions was the immediate abolition
of the Custom House and all its imposts. Provision for the main-
tenance of Government was to be levied upon property, and all
absentees were to be taxed to the extent of 75 per cent, on their
ascertained income. The headlands commanding the harbours of
Melbourne and Geelong were to be immediately fortified, and one
of the public foundries was to be devoted to the construction of
floating batteries for the bay, and the casting of long-range cannon 1
Powder mills were to be established, and a mint started at once.
The Government was to be prohibited from borrowing money at
interest, but to forthwith commence the issue of one-pound notes !
All men in the army or police were to be disbanded at once, and
compensated by a month's pay, and a grant of 100 acres of land on
their undertaking to cultivate it. And all the land of the colony,
not already sold, was to be cut up into farms of 250 acres each,
at a nominal rent, with right of purchase at a trifling outlay.
Henceforth there were to be none but citizen soldiers, and
every male between sixteen and sixty was to attend drill once
a week, and they were to elect their own officers. Finally, the
meeting was to appoint a " Provisional Directory " of twelve to
carry out these principles.

Such is a brief outline of the radical constitution which had
the honour of appearing in full in the State Papers of the British
Parliament, but which attained no higher distinction. Surely the
apotheosis of free speech was reached here in the advocating of
such proposals from a public platform. The proud boast of the
laureate, that under British rule "a man may speak the thing
he will," was fully justified. But talk is cheap. Action is another
matter. Had it gone beyond talk the Government was not alto-
gether unprepared. Though the main military force of the colony
was at Ballaarat, the cheering crowd was not aware that 300 police-

THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 49

men, in proper fighting trim, were secretly gathered hi Kussell
Street, ready to swoop down hi five minutes if the danger-signal
had been given. One hundred gaol warders had been gathered
in from Pentridge and from the prison hulks in the bay, and were
concentrated, under arms, in the Melbourne gaol ; and all the ma-
rines and bluejackets that could be spared from the two sloops of
war in Hobson's Bay were secretly planted, like so many torpedoes,
at the Treasury and Custom House. Further, the military con-
tingent from Hobart was even then being embarked, to save the
dignity of the Crown.

But happily the crowd did not wildly adopt the revolutionary
proposals. The proceedings degenerated into a good deal of banter,
and the meeting dispersed quietly, after appointing a committee to
mediate between the Government and the diggers. Sir Charles
Hotham, however, refused in any way to deal with them. He had
already appointed a Commission of prominent colonists to inquire
into the diggers' grievances, and he sternly refused to add to it the
names specially called for by the meeting, or to take any action
until he received its official report.

There was a strong consensus of opinion that the rioting was
the result of gross injustice and maladministration, and that the
punishment of the thirteen prisoners, selected out of over 200 active
combatants, was a mere travesty of justice. It was anticipated
that the inquiry of the Goldfields Commission would ensure reforms
which would remove the cause of past trouble, and that if the un-
happy episode was closed by an act of grace on the part of the
Crown, it would materially promote the restoration of peace and
goodwill. Numerously signed petitions for a general amnesty were
presented from Melbourne, Ballaarat and other goldfields. The
press, the public, and a majority of the Legislature were in favour of
this course ; and even the newly appointed Commission made an anti-
cipatory recommendation in favour of an amnesty. But Sir Charles
Hotham was angry, obdurate, and so lamentably shortsighted as
to oppose his personal will to the wishes of the whole community,
with disastrous results to his prestige. He dismissed all appeals
with the curt intimation that while he was willing to initiate reforms
if recommended by the Commission, the thirteen rebels who had
VOL. IL 4

50 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

taken up arms against the Queen's authority must be tried and
dealt with as the law directs.

So the trials had to go on, and it is very significant of the extent
to which public feeling was opposed to the Governor's course that
some of the most eminent counsel of the Victorian Bar volunteered
their gratuitous services for the defence. Eichard Da vies Ireland,
Butler Cole Aspinall, Archibald Michie, James McPherson Grant
and H. S. Chapman, all of whom were afterwards Ministers of the
Crown in Victoria, stepped into the breach in turn to cross swords
with the prosecution, conducted by Wm. Foster Stawell, the
Attorney-General, and Eobert Moles worth, the Solicitor-General.
It was an unhappy business, but the result was inevitable. The
first two prisoners were tried before Chief Justice A 'Beckett in the
middle of February, 1855. Messrs. Aspinall and Michie turned the
proceedings into such hopeless ridicule, and so discredited the police
witnesses, that both men were promptly acquitted. The Judge
was greatly irritated by the production of a comedy in his Court,
in lieu of the grim tragedy set down, and he manifested his dis-
pleasure by sending to gaol for a week a couple of spectators who
gave vent to their delight in his presence. But he was powerless
to suppress the roar of applause with which the verdict was received
outside.

The Attorney-General ordered the trials of the remaining
prisoners to be postponed for a month, in the hope of securing
a jury more amenable to his arguments. Advantage was taken
of the respite to endeavour, by fresh petitions and articles in the
press, to induce the Government to accept these indications, and
to abandon further proceedings. But the Governor was inflexible :
he had pledged himself to seek justice, and each one should be put
on his trial. So on the 19th of March the business recommenced,
before Judge Barry. The month's reflection had only intensified
the popular opinion, and ten days were wasted in each prisoner
having to plead to his indictment, to listen to evidence to which he
deigned no reply, and to be formally acquitted. The uproarious
cheers with which some of the accused were shouldered down the
Melbourne streets had perhaps no great significance, but the mass
of the people were undoubtedly glad of the result, and were ashamed

THE KEVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 51

that so sorry a spectacle should have been strung on long after the
result was obvious.

When the last prisoner went free the rewards for Vern, Lalor
and Black were withdrawn, and under a new Chief Secretary those
reforms were begun which, had they been initiated a year before,
would have rendered the struggle at Eureka an impossibility. All
that the Ballaarat Reform League demanded was conceded to the
people, and certainly might have been secured without bloodshed
if the diggers could have commanded patience. But patience is a
hard doctrine to preach to men smarting under admitted injustice,
and whose protests are met by a summons to obedience and the
repression of brute force.

CHAPTER III.

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT.

SIB CHABLES HOTHAM had failed to disentangle the intricate diffi-
culties which, to use his own words, he had inherited from the
weakness shown by the previous Executive. As he could not un-
ravel the Gordian knot he cut it with the sword of authority, and
found himself denounced all round for his obstinacy and impulsive-
ness. But it must be admitted that he showed much judgment in
endeavouring to secure the best advice from those whom he fancied
he could trust. He was certainly not afraid of responsibility, though
he more than once honestly declared that his limited knowledge of
colonial requirements debarred him from acting promptly on his
own initiative. While deploring the necessity for delegating any of
the functions of Government, he yet appointed Boards of Inquiry
and Royal Commissions with a free hand. Besides the important
ones already referred to, such as those on the financial position, the
squatting tenure, and the management of the goldfields, there were
inquiries going on in connection with the police, the commissariat
department, and other sources of reputed waste. Two of these at
least did good work and secured substantial reform ; others revealed
grave irregularities, and nipped in the bud a growing tendency
towards corruption and scandal.

The report of the Goldfields Commission, however, probably dis-
turbed him most. It was a tediously lengthy, and by no means
conclusive deliverance, and with the voluminous evidence made
about three days' solid reading. It distributed blame pretty freely
all round, but it fenced its accusations with so many "ifs" and
" buts " that they did not lead to action. Some of its recommenda-
tions were undoubtedly good. It decreed the abolition of the

licence fee, not so much on the ground of its injustice as of " the

52

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 53

unseemly violence often necessary for its due collection ". It sub-
stituted for it a document, happily called a " Miner's Eight," at a fee
of £1 per annum. This was not to be demanded by the police, but
was simply an evidence of the miner's legal possession of his claim,
and his right to the gold he extracted. Without it he could be dis-
placed, and his earnings confiscated by those in possession of the
proper authority. Further, the document should confer upon the
miner, pending the enactment of electoral arrangements under the
New Constitution, the right of voting for an additional eight members
of the Council to represent the goldfields. To compensate for the
loss of revenue an export duty on gold of 2s. 6d. per oz. was pro-
posed.

The manner in which the Commission dealt with the want of
land grievance, and the claims of the miners to political rights, was
not very acceptable to the Governor. Nor did he admire their
drastic comments on the enormous expense and inefficiency of the
cumbrous official staff, and the blundering, muddling methods of the
civil commissariat. The report recommended the immediate aboli-
tion of the latter department, together with that of the Chief Com-
missioner of Goldfields, and that one-half of the police should
be dispensed with. To stop the official wrangling arising out of
divided responsibility, it was suggested that all authority should centre
in a new head, to be called the Warden of the District : such an
official to be appointed for Ballaarat, Sandhurst, Castlemaine and
Beechworth, to be responsible only and directly to the Government.

The report was signed by Westgarth, Fawkner, Hodgson,
O'Shanassy and Strachan unconditionally ; but W. H. Wright, the
Chief Commissioner, wished to add a protest, complaining that his
colleagues had not done justice to the officers of his department, who
had been so vehemently attacked by many of the witnesses. The
Commission decided that as his administration was practically on
its trial his rider was inadmissible.

The report, reaching the hands of the Governor just at the time
when the acquittal of the Ballaarat rioters was evoking a turbulent
display of sympathy, greatly depressed him. The vindicatory tone
of his despatches of the 2nd and 3rd of April, in which he forwarded
a copy of it to the Secretary of State, is not without a certain touch

54 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

of pathos. He laid his troubles very freely before his Imperial
employers, and while claiming to have done his best, under very
trying conditions, was not very hopeful of the result. The bogey of
the disturbing foreign element still haunted him, though the next
eight months wrought a great change in his opinions. On the 21st
of November he wrote that the effect of the reforms, based upon the
report, had even surpassed his most sanguine expectations : " Good
order and quiet have generally prevailed, and a spirit of contentment
appears to exist among the mining population ". He had become
a convert to the export duty on gold, and admitted that his fears
about smuggling had not been realised. And although he felt sure
that further legislation would be required, especially in relation to
mining on private property, he thankfully recognised that the onus
of a decision would not rest with him. "The Constitution," he
says, "will have introduced self-government, and on the people
themselves will rest the responsibility of adjusting this most diffi-
cult question."

This was his last deliverance on the subject. Like the great
Hebrew lawgiver, though permitted to look upon it from a distance,
he was not destined to enjoy that promised land wherein the office
of Governor was to become a well-paid and honourable sinecure.
His eighteen months' tenure of the dignity had been redolent of
trouble, anxiety and disappointment, and the reasons were very
apparent. He had much of the spirit of the Duke of Wellington,
who, when approached on the subject of a Constitution for Malta,
scornfully replied that he would as soon recommend elections in an
army, or a parliament on board ship. And Sir Charles Hotham's
sturdy inflexibility caused the newly born Age to take up towards
him the carping attitude which the Argus had so long sustained
towards his predecessor, crying aloud for his dismissal, lest the
people should be goaded into taking matters into their own hands.
Like his autocratic Attorney-General, the only member of his Execu-
tive by whom he was at all swayed, he chafed under the formalities
of conventional discussion when action seemed pressing. He made
more than one mistake in administration which irritated the Legis-
lative Council, always very jealous of its importance, and placed
himself in a position from which it was difficult to retreat with

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 55

dignity. The first breach with the Council arose out of the re-
signation of Mr. Foster, the Colonial Secretary.

The outburst of popular indignation against the whole machinery
of Government which was evoked by the unhappy events at Ballaarat
demanded at least one victim, though it would doubtless have been
more fully appeased if the whole Executive could have been dis-
missed. Foster was the nominal head of the condemned body,
but there was no ground for the popular belief that he was chiefly
culpable. In some vigorous letters which he addressed to the
Speaker (Dr. J. F. Palmer) in vindication of himself, he plainly
showed that he was not specially blameworthy for the miscarriage
of Government, and that in the many errors of the administration
his colleagues were chargeable with a very ample share. In reality,
he quailed before the awakened anger of his fellow-colonists, and
his quondam comrades were apparently quite prepared to let him
play the part of Jonah. It is not at all clear that his action was
purely voluntary, but he had plenty of reasons for desiring release.
He had chafed under the notorious fact that the Governor had
sought the advice of O'Shanassy in connection with the Colonial
Secretary's inflated estimates, and had put a curb on his proposed
expenditure. Again, Foster was opposed to many of the recom-
mendations of the various Commissions appointed by the Governor,
but he realised that, owing to his unpopularity, he could not
command support if he stood out. To escape from this tempest
of hostile criticism, he informed the Governor that he was prepared
to resign if His Excellency thought such a course would tend to
the restoration of public confidence. He improved the occasion
by dwelling on the personal sacrifice he was making, and the
Governor, no doubt, administered consolation by promising to re-
commend a substantial pecuniary recompense. This was in De-
cember, and in the following February (1855) Sir Charles, having
in the meanwhile appointed Mr. Wm. Clark Haines to the office
of Colonial Secretary, sent a message to the Council proposing
a grant of two years' salary to Foster, in consideration of his loss
of office on public grounds. His former associates would not take
a generous view of the situation. Some of them were uncharitable
enough to insinuate that the Governor had bribed him to play the

56 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

scapegoat that the public anger might be diverted from a higher
aim. Many years after the death of Sir Charles Hotham, the
publication of his confidential letter accepting Foster's resignation
finally dispersed all such slanderous rumours. Whether these
belittling suggestions really affected the voting it is not possible
to say, but for some reason, satisfactory to themselves, the members
of the Council set their face against any compensation, and though
the claim was revived at intervals over several years it remained
unliquidated.

The new Colonial Secretary was a man with a high repute
for integrity, of strong conservative instincts, a slow thinker and
a poor speaker. In dabbling unsuccessfully with agriculture on
the Barrabool hills he had acquired something of the antipathy
to the squatters which marked the farming class at this time, but
he had too high a sense of honour to seek to do them political
injustice. By no means the type of man to evoke enthusiasm
in the Council, but commanding the respect of members by his
dignified reticence, his patience as a listener, and the unfailing
courtesy of his manners. His appointment allayed the public
irritation, and it was soon evident that the community was pre-
pared to give him a fair trial.

There were plenty of questions involving heated argument in
the Council, but they were mainly matters of administration. The
real work before that body, work the satisfactory performance of
which might materially affect the future welfare of the colony, was
the framing of the necessary measures, electoral and otherwise, for
the launching of the New Constitution. It was evident that a
Ministry responsible to Parliament, and through it to the electors,
could not be called into existence until the machinery for such
elections had been completed. But the wording of the New
Constitution Act required it to come into force on the date of its
proclamation, which, it further decreed, must be within one month
of its receipt in the colony. It reached the Governor's hands on
the 23rd of October, 1855, and on the 23rd of November a special
Government Gazette proclaimed that it had come into operation.
During the intervening month there had been many consultations
between the Executive officers and the Governor, which had been

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 57

far from harmonious. The transformation of these officials, now
acting under the direction of the Governor who appointed them,
into Ministers who would owe him no responsibility, but were
liable to be dismissed by a hostile vote of the House they were
assumed to guide, was an operation requiring firmness, tact and
some self-surrender. Unfortunately, these qualities were conspicu-
ously absent on both sides.

On the one hand, the members of the Executive were certainly
influenced by the interpretation they put on the thirtieth clause of
the Constitution Act, which safeguarded the interests of those
officials who under the new order of things might be called upon to
retire, on political grounds. If they had now to make way for the
new grade of Minister, their handsome life pensions were safe ; but
if they went on as they were until the elections, and were then
rejected by the popular vote, they could hardly define such a calamity
as a " release from office on political grounds ". The temptation
was great to make sure of the pensions, even if it involved in its
attainment a compromise of some of their differences with the
Governor as to his interpretation of the Act in matters bearing
upon his powers.

On the other hand, the Governor was exacting in his demands
for a reading of the statute that was certainly widely opposed to
the spirit which the people had been led to believe it contained.
Doubtless, during the conferences he had made his views pretty
clear to his nominal advisers, but they were not formulated until
embodied in a minute addressed to the Colonial Secretary on the
23rd of November, the day of the proclamation, and also of the
meeting of the Legislative Council. The official minute is bluntly
explicit. The Governor will choose his Ministry because it possesses
the confidence of the country, and will accept their resignation
whenever they cannot command a majority in Parliament to carry
on the country's business. But he goes on to say, there is another
condition inherent in the representative system, which is that the
Ministry should possess the confidence of the Governor, because he
is responsible to the Queen for the good order, credit and reputation
of the colony ! Based upon this fantastical assumption the minute
further proclaims : " The Governor will always require that previ-

58 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ously to the introduction of any measure into Parliament his sanction
be obtained. Should he refuse his sanction, and the measure be of
sufficient importance to warrant such a consequence, he may, should
he think proper, change his administration, or they may, should they
feel aggrieved, tender their resignation ; but in no case can they be
justified in submitting a measure to Parliament without the cog-
nisance of the Governor."

A subsequent paragraph, in which His Excellency specially
disclaims any desire to interfere with the arrangements of the
Ministry, or to be a party to their consultations, was hardly taken
seriously, especially as it was followed by a clause in which he
intimated that he would " insist " on the principles of the Constitu-
tion being maintained, quoting prominently the clause which vested
all appointments to public offices in him, with the advice of the
Executive Council. With a well-founded apprehension of what might
be the outcome of party strife, he formally warned his advisers that
he would " not be a party to the appointment of a person whose sole
recommendation maybe the advocacy of certain political principles ".

Whether these somewhat imperious conditions were accepted
by a so-called Eepresentative Ministry as a quid pro quo for the
assurance of their pensions cannot be demonstrated from the records.
That such an opinion was indicated in public, and covertly expressed
in the Legislative Council, is certain. And if the suggestion was
ungenerous, it probably owed its origin to the air of concealment
and mystery which surrounded the proceedings. Subsequently,
when a debate on the Governor's minute was proceeding in the
Council, Mr. Haines took the defensive by declaring that when the
Governor's views were submitted to them, the Ministers were so
busy discussing their future policy that they did not take the
document into full consideration. They had, however, since dis-
cussed it, and considered it impracticable. It is almost incredible
that so plain-spoken a man as Sir Charles Hotham did not succeed,
during a whole month of discussion, in making his views clear to
his Executive ; or that, when they were put in writing, they should
have been lightly set aside as unimportant.

It has been clearly pointed out by Professor Jenks (The Govern-
ment of Victoria, chap, xxii.) that the roundabout method of releasing

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 59

from office the existing heads of departments forming the Executive
and next day reappointing them as Eesponsible Ministers was en-
tirely uncalled for on constitutional grounds. But Mr. Stawell had
advised otherwise, and the Governor was always loyal to the opinion
of his Attorney-General.

On the 27th of November the Legislative Council, on reassem-
bling, was informed by Captain Pasley, a minor official in the Execu-
tive, that Messrs. Haines, Childers, Stawell and Captain Clarke had
resigned their respective offices, and pending further developments,
he moved the adjournment of the House. The astonished members,
confronted unexpectedly with such an announcement on their first
meeting after the proclamation, were uneasy and suspicious. They
declined to adjourn until they had passed a resolution asking to be
furnished with the fullest information as to the alleged resignations,
or " dismissals " as the address insinuated.

On the next day, before the Governor officially replied to this
resolution, an announcement was made to the House, in correction
of Pasley's statement, that the four " resigned " officials had really
been relieved from office on political grounds. And before members
could realise the subtle importance of the distinction, they were
informed that the Governor had been pleased to appoint those gentle-
men, with the same official status which they formerly held, to
the vacated seats in the Council, pending the signification of Her
Majesty's pleasure. To them he added Mr. Sladen as Treasurer,
in lieu of Captain Lonsdale, resigned ; Mr. Eobert Molesworth as
Solicitor-General, in place of Mr. Croke, gone to England ; and
Captain Pasley to take charge of the newly created department of
Public Works. The Governor thus completed his first Ministerial
Cabinet, called responsible, but not yet chosen of the people.

When this dramatic surprise was sprung upon the Council there
were murmurings and disapproval of what appeared to be high-
handed proceedings on the part of the Governor. But when, shortly
afterwards, the clerk proceeded to read a document conveying the
information asked for by the Council on the previous day, the mur-
murings grew into denunciation, and the disapproval into wrathful
indignation. For the Governor at least suppressed nothing. The
negotiations were laid bare in which the four gentlemen had re-

60 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

quested their dismissal ; their respectful acceptance of the same,
and concurrent application for their pensions. And the famous
minute embodying the Governor's views about the future adminis-
tration of the colony was given in extenso. To divert the sudden
outbreak of hostility, and to gain breathing time, Mr. Haines suc-
ceeded in carrying a motion that the papers received from the
Governor be printed and taken into consideration at the next meet-
ing, on 4th December. On that day Dr. Greeves voiced the
strong disapproval of the Council in a motion which condemned the
Governor's minute as derogatory to the rights of the people and the
power of the Legislature, and covering with humiliation the Ministry
who accepted office under it ; and he urged the House to record its
protest and censure of the whole proceedings. The debate on the
motion raged fiercely through two sittings. The attack on the im-
peached officials was savagely personal in some cases ; the defence
was generally weak and equivocating, some members supporting
the Executive did all in their power to divert the indignation from
their friends to the shoulders of the Governor, and he was denounced
and misrepresented with reckless eagerness. What an irony of fate
it was that His Excellency should learn officially that his minute
was declared to be " an invasion of the constitutional rights of the
people " by Peter Lalor, the man upon whose head he had but so
recently set a price, for conduct that did not seem to indicate intense
loyalty to constitutional measures. But Peter the rebel was now
Peter the people's tribune, and the coming sovereignty of the crowd
loomed portentously in the long debate on the proposed vote of
censure.

The tone of it dismayed the Toorak disciplinarian, and although,
by voting for themselves, his Ministry escaped defeat by a majority
of one, it was recognised as an ignominious victory. Sir Charles
Hotham was deeply hurt at the contumely poured upon his inter-
pretation of the newly conferred powers of Parliament, and the last
weeks of his life were embittered by a feeling that he was being set
aside and ignored. He had the good sense, however, to practically
withdraw the offending minute, by announcing that it was merely
an outline of his private views for the consideration of the Executive,
and not, as had been represented, a dictation of terms.

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 61

The Council was possibly influenced in its final decision by an
unwillingness to take on a new leader pending completion of the
preliminaries for the New Constitution. So Mr. Haines and his
colleagues remained in office, and for the next fortnight devoted
their energies to pushing forward the Electoral Bill. The main con-
tention which raged round this measure was the question of the
ballot. Mr. William Nicholson, an ex-mayor of Melbourne, had
moved a resolution requiring its adoption in Parliamentary elections.
It was opposed by all the nominee official members, and even by
such independent radicals as Fawkner and O'Shanassy. But on
the 19th of December the resolution was carried by thirty-three
votes to twenty-five, and in accordance with the new-born theory
of responsibility, Mr. Haines, on the following day, tendered the
resignation of himself and his colleagues. Secure in the possession
of their nominee seats they could await developments with equani-
mity, and they believed that a man like Nicholson without de-
partmental experience would certainly be unable to command an
acceptable following. Reluctantly he faced the position from a
sense of duty, for, unlike the average run of politicians, he had no
personal ends to serve or ambition to gratify. Indeed, he had
much to lose, for he had arranged for an early departure to England,
and all his plans were upset by the sudden responsibility cast upon
him. It was on the 21st of December that the Governor com-
missioned Mr. Nicholson to form a Ministry, and the Council
adjourned to the 8th of January. A week, broken by the Christmas
holidays, passed and no progress had been made, Mr. Nicholson
having confined his overtures to his friends in the Council, and so
far failed.

Apart from its political significance, the failure had painful
surroundings making it memorable. The Governor was failing
fast. Mental strain and ceaseless anxiety had undermined his
physical frame. The real torture of nerve and brain tissue had
laid hold of him ; such as comes to a man who strives to do what
he believes to be his duty, amidst clamorous, conflicting interests,
under spiteful misrepresentation, and with a half-subdued distrust
of the sufficiency of his own experience in a walk of life hitherto
undreamt of by him. At the inauguration of the Melbourne Gas-

62 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

works on the 17th of December he had contracted a severe chill,
which developed a low fever and physical prostration. In this
condition he waited fretfully for news of Nicholson's success or
failure. The tension becoming unendurable after six days of
suspense, he sent a message to him requesting to be informed
by the 29th instant of the result of his negotiations. They had
not reached a stage that promised finality, but by the time this fact
was communicated to the Governor he was far down in the Valley
of the Shadow. He made an effort to grasp the situation and
expressed a wish to see Nicholson, but the next morning, Sunday,
the 30th of December, an epileptic seizure threw a mantle of
oblivion over the troubled brain, and without recovering conscious-
ness the wearied spirit passed " to where, beyond these voices, there
is peace ". The solemn presence of death, the hush of a bereaved
household, toned the acerbity of political strife, and more than one
journal, in black- bordered paragraphs, sought to qualify the harsh-
ness of its past gibes.

In consequence of the death of Sir Kobert Nickle, the Commander
of the Forces, shortly before that of the Governor, the administra-
tion of the colony fell into the hands of the senior military officer,
Major-General Macarthur, a son of the John Macarthur who played
so important a part in the mother-colony in the days of the tyran-
nical Governor Bligh. He held the office for twelve months, and
it was during his interim administration that the legislative work of
launching the New Constitution was completed. He was unversed
in politics and uninterested in constitutional lore. Hence, his so-
called Government was practically a reflex of the wishes of his Ex-
ecutive, still largely dominated by the masterful Attorney-General,
Stawea

On the reassembling of the Council, Mr. Haines stated that
the resolution in favour of the ballot not having been supported
by the appointment of its advocates to the Executive, he proposed
to disregard it. Under pressure of a hostile majority, however, he
finally agreed to make it a non-ministerial question, and when the
Electoral Bill got into committee Mr. Nicholson succeeded in
carrying all his points.

Long and tedious as had been the preparation of these pre-

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 63

liminaries to taking the voice of the people, they were found, when
the elections came on, to be wofully incomplete. The electoral
rolls cost over £60,000 in their compilation, and as far as the gold-
fields were concerned it was largely wasted money. The excite-
ment was mainly confined to the Metropolis and its suburbs, and
to Geelong. The demand for the franchise, which had been one of
the grievances promoting the Ballaarat outbreak, had died away with
the abolition of the oppressive licence fee, and it was computed that
only about one-eighth of the registered miners took the trouble to
record their votes. Five of the candidates for the Council and a
dozen for the Assembly were allowed a walk over. On the other
hand, so little discrimination was shown in the selection of seats
that no less than twelve candidates went to the poll for the County
of Talbot, entitled to return two members. Some members dupli-
cated their chances, and wooed more than one electorate — John
O'Shanassy was elected for Melbourne and for Kilmore; David
Blair contested Emerald Hill and Talbot, and won a seat in the
latter constituency ; John Thomas Smith and T. H. Fellows, who
were returned respectively for Melbourne City and St. Kilda, were
also defeated candidates to represent the Central Province in the
Legislative Council.

The voting was largely controlled by personal feeling and
private influences, for there was no stirring party cry in the as-
cendant, and the quieting effect of the voting by secret ballot
made strongly for orderliness in the proceedings. In the urban
districts, however, the wire-pullers of political strife were not
idle. Geelong in particular took the lead by organising a strong
" Eeform Association," and the example was followed in Melbourne,
Collingwood and Eichmond. Differing somewhat in the extent
of their demands their aims were practically identical, and the
object was to ensure the return of members pledged in advance
to important alterations in the new-born Constitution.

Yes, an ante-natal inquest sat on the coming emancipation
and denounced it, root and branch. The conception of free in-
stitutions which to the old settlers of the days of a military
bureaucracy seemed as a vision of the New Jerusalem excited
the hostility and the derision of the men of a later generation.

64 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

For many of them had seen, in the tumultuous times of 1848,
a red radicalism, touched with anarchy, sweeping over Europe ;
had imbibed in their early manhood the dreamy aspirations of
the stirring Chartist movement; and now, in their later restless,
self-contained, possibly even somewhat riotous, life on the diggings,
they were disposed to assert themselves, and claimed to enjoy a
liberty based on their own idea of that inestimable blessing. The five
years' work that had followed close on Separation ; the revisions by
politicians of experience and statesmen of eminence ; the debates
in the British Parliament, the downfall of Latrobe, the wrecked
career of Hotham, all these ingredients in the manufacture of this
Charter of Eepresentative Government were forgotten, or ignored,
and the self-constituted Eeformers who sought to control the elec-
tions saw nothing but its blemishes and its hopeless shortcomings.
They had no faith in the tedious teachings of experience, no under-
standing of the proverb that counsels to hasten slowly. They cried
for the full and immediate fruition of democratic principles, and they
were prepared to believe that the truth — but only as they under-
stood it — could make them free. Therefore, amongst them they
demanded many things, but as a rule they were agreed to insist on —
Manhood suffrage.
Perennial Parliaments.
No property qualification for members.
No compensation to the squatters.
Abolition of State aid to religion, and compulsory free secular

education.

With such texts to adorn then- manifestoes they had plenty
of opportunity of hectoring candidates, and they brought forward
many a windy demagogue to ensure a lively contest. But the
delays over the compilation of the rolls and other matters were so
tedious that many of the candidates were courting the electors for
months, and before the polling day arrived the Eeform Associations
were so rent by internal dissension as to be of little service in
organising matters. The result was that in some cases members
were returned unopposed, without addressing a single meeting, and
in others a ridiculous scramble took place, as indicated in the
election for Talbot.

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 65

When the result of the elections was published in the Gazette
of 6th November, 1856, it was seen that out of thirty members
elected to the Upper House of the Legislature, one-third had previ-
ously served in the old Council, either elective or as nominees.
The remainder, owing to the heavy property qualification, were
mainly representatives of the mercantile and squatting interests,
but in the whole twenty names there is not one that left any
impression upon the legislation of a momentous period. In the
Legislative Assembly the proportion of experienced politicians to
the freshmen was about the same, there being quite twenty mem-
bers who had played their part in the old Council, some of them
with vigour and originality. Naturally, it was towards this branch
of Parliament that the more ambitious, as well as the more capable,
turned their attention.

Here were found such men as W. F. Stawell and T. H. Fellows,
destined for the Supreme Court Bench; W. C. Haines and John
O'Shanassy, the oft-contending Premiers ; H. C. E. Childers, Archi-
bald Michie, Charles Sladen, George Harker, J. M. Grant, Peter
Lalor, J. B. Humffray, B. C. Aspinall, and many others who
gravitated into important Ministerial office. J. F. L. Foster, the dis-
credited Colonial Secretary, was returned unopposed for Williams-
town, but amidst the new political elements of the House he failed
to acquire his former prestige, though he acted as Treasurer for
a few weeks in one of O'Shanassy's short-lived administrations.
The press was directly represented by Ebenezer Syme and David
Blair, and indirectly by at least half a dozen energetic barristers,
who found journalism a very profitable interlude to the study of
briefs. On the whole, it was a chamber exhibiting a very fair
quality of debating power and initiative, and when, as shortly
happened, it was weeded of a dozen or so of nonentities, who
had floated in under the unregulated process of selection, and
their places were filled by men of the stamp of James Service,
James McCulloch, Eichard D. Ireland, C. H. Ebden, Eichard
Heales, and others who had shown a masterful grasp of their own
business or professional avocations, it reached a level of capacity
rarely equalled in the latter years of its existence.

Villiers and Heytesbury, a sparsely populated electorate in the

VOL. II. 5

66 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

west of Victoria, distinguished itself by returning a man who was
responsible for much political turmoil during the twenty-two years
he occupied a seat in Parliament. He filled in turn various Minis-
terial offices, up to that of Premier, until he at length secured the
lucrative dignity of Speaker, and subsequently enjoyed his leisured
retirement as a life-long pensioner of the Crown, which for a whole
generation he had denounced as the emblem of oppression and
tyranny.

This was Mr. Charles Gavan Duffy, an ex-member of the House
of Commons, in virtue of which experience he early assumed the r61e
of Master of the Ceremonies in the conduct of the business of local
legislation. His coming had been heralded by much ingenious
advertising, in the form of inspired newspaper paragraphs, detailing
his latest movements in Great Britain. Every Irishman in the
colony was led to look forward to the advent of this prominent
champion — the glamour of whose patriotism was somewhat tarnished
in the eyes of his home associates — as the harbinger of an era of
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, which the unthinking and the
emotional are ever clamouring for, without realising how the pages
of history are full of the records of its failure to supplant the instincts
of human nature.

It is amusing to read in Mr. Duffy's autobiography1 of the
many people he consulted about Australia before deciding to emi-
grate. Mr. Latrobe, Robert Lowe, William and Mary Howitt,
and others who had lived under Australian skies, commended the
step, and were unanimous in their praise of the climate and the
unconventional freedom of colonial life. But apparently the man
whose opinion had most weight was Edward Whitty, a well-known
writer, about that time acting as the London correspondent of the
Melbourne Argus. He claimed to know " nearly everything about
Australia," and he wrote to his friend with prophetic fervour,
" your progress would be historical ; you would lead the colony ;
you would create a better Ireland there ; you would become rich ".
The vision was largely realised. The opportunity was afforded
him, as Premier, of leading the colony. If he did not make

* My Life in Two Hemispheres, By Charles Gavan Duffy, London, 1898.

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 67

Australia a better Ireland, which sounds rather equivocal, he
certainly made it a better place for a great many Irishmen who
swarmed into the Civil Service under his patronage. And he
became rich, by the generous contributions of his admirers, the
handsome payments for his political services, and the easy oppor-
tunities offered in all new countries of securing a share in the
unearned increment in the value of property.

If Mr. Duffy's modesty was shocked by this extreme tribute
to his merits, he must have recovered his equanimity when he
experienced the reception accorded to him when the Ocean Chief
dropped anchor in Hobson's Bay in January, 1856. The Irish
colonists were greatly agitated by the prospect of securing the
services of so noteworthy a leader. Mr. O'Shanassy led a large
deputation on board to offer him words of praise and welcome.
From all quarters addresses of adulatory congratulation poured in
upon him. One from Sydney, headed by Mr. Henry Parkes, urged
him not to commit his future to Melbourne, but to make the
mother-colony the scene of his coming triumphs. A public banquet
followed close upon his landing at which the wildest enthusiasm
was displayed, intensified by his long-remembered declaration that
he had no apology to offer for any act of his past life, and that he
was still " an Irish rebel to the backbone and spinal marrow ".

But he assured his new admirers that he was weary of political
life, and desired to devote himself to the practice of his profession at
the Bar. In any case he was not prepared to reconsider this deci-
sion until he had learned something practically of his new environ-
ment. It is not surprising that the hero-worship of which Mr.
Duffy was made so prominent a centre led him to suppose that the
colony was destitute of men of political ability, or even of patriotism.
Many who freely admitted his intellectual qualities and high literary
reputation were repulsed by the assumption in some of his speeches
that his brief experience in the House of Commons gave him the
right to be only sarcastically tolerant of the amateur legislators who
had never seen a real Parliament. A few days after his arrival,
when he was introduced as a visitor to the Legislative Council by Mr.
O'Shanassy, he took exception to a Bill regulating the admission of
barristers to the Supreme Court, which Mr. Fellows was then sul^

5*

68 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

mitting, on the ground that it required candidates to take the Oath
of Supremacy, which he declared would exclude him from practising
in Victorian Courts. And he succeeded in getting the Bill withdrawn.
In his autobiography he instances this " blundering " to illustrate
his contention that "as not one of these legislators had ever seen
a Parliament, business was necessarily conducted somewhat at
random ". And yet it was a notorious fact in 1857, that the first Act
which Mr. Duffy carried in the Assembly, that for the abolition of
the property qualification of members, was so incorrectly drawn as
only to abolish one part of the qualification, that of the freehold
estate, leaving the alternative leasehold revenue of £200 per annum
untouched.

Before deciding on his future Mr. Duffy took a trip to Sydney,
where the adulation of his countrymen carried them so far that at
a public banquet tendered him the customary toast of the Governor
was withdrawn from the programme as a condition precedent to
the guest's acceptance. The reason assigned by Mr. Duffy was that
Sir William Denison, in his preceding office as Governor of Tas-
mania, had been the official custodian of Smith O'Brien, Meagher,
and the other banished Irishmen with whom Mr. Duffy had been
so unsuccessfully associated. Even Dr. Lang, who was a perfect
fanatic in his distrust of Irish Catholics, is said to have joined in
the desire to keep Mr. Duffy's services for New South Wales, and
Mr. Henry Parkes offered him £800 a year to remain and edit the
Empire newspaper. But he resisted all these blandishments and
made his way back to Melbourne, where something still better
awaited him. His admirers were determined to have him in
the new Parliament, and to overcome the difficulty of a property
qualification they set about collecting funds with such assiduity
that in a few months they had £5,000 in hand, of which some
£2,000 came from New South Wales. One-half of this they
invested in a freehold estate at Hawthorne, a pretty Melbourne
suburb, and at a public meeting on the 20th of August he was
presented with the title deeds of his qualification. Mr. Duffy
responded to the generous words of the chairman, Mr. O'Shanassy,
that the munificence was without parallel in the history of the
country, and was accepted by him as "a noble retaining fee to

THE TRANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 69

serve the interests of Australia ". His speech was a fine rhetorical
effort, fully charged with burning denunciations of alleged attempts
to prejudice his candidature by unworthy appeals to sectarian pre-
judices. He was followed by B. C. Aspinall, J. M. Grant, Wilson
Gray, and other speakers who joined in prophesying great things
for the first free Parliament of Victoria under the stimulating
influence of their eloquent guest.

The long looked-for day arrived at last when the business of the
country was to be undertaken by the selected ninety, and on the
21st of November they gathered in the unfinished chambers of the
handsome building in course of erection, and were duly sworn in
by Judges Barry and Williams. In the Council Dr. J. F. Palmer
was unanimously chosen as President, but in the Assembly there
was a contest for the position of Speaker, which mainly turned on
a novel point of Parliamentary ethics. The candidates, Dr. Murphy
and Mr. Griffith, had both held office in the old Council. The
former gave an unconditional promise that if elected to the chair
he would abstain altogether from debate. Mr. Griffith, while fully
admitting the impropriety of the Speaker being a partisan, declined
to pledge himself to a course which he thought might disfranchise
his constituents. Dr. Murphy won the position, and gave such
satisfaction that he held it almost continuously for fifteen years.
The formal opening of the session by a speech from the Acting
Governor took place on the 25th of November. On this occasion
Mr. Duffy made a characteristic stand. The Chief Secretary in-
formed the House that the Governor would "command" their
attendance on his arrival. Mr. Duffy, after consultation with the
Speaker and Messrs. O'Shanassy and Chapman, "frankly told the
official leader of the House that this phraseology could not be
permitted," and, he adds, " after some negotiation, the Governor
' requested ' our attendance ".

The supremacy of the people through their representatives,
indicated in this brief interlude, was the key-note of much that
followed. It continued to assert itself through succeeding legisla-
tion until all restraint, except the power to coerce the Upper House,
was swept away. The demands of the more radical democrats were,
one after another, acceded to. When the property qualification for

70 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the Assembly was abolished ; when universal manhood suffrage was
the law of the land ; and when payment of members had evolved
a race of professional politicians, then the curb of a chamber of
review, admittedly in the interests of property and conservative
legislation, became an intolerable burden to those ardent reformers
who desired to make all things pleasant to themselves and their
contemporaries, at the expense of an unconsidered posterity. The
turmoil of Victorian politics, from the date of its first Parliament to
the end of the century, hinges mainly on the repeated attempts of
the Assembly to coerce the Council into accepting the decision of
the popular chamber as final. Though there were many compro-
mises and, later on, some constitutional changes which gave the
Council a much wider constituency, the antagonism between the two
branches never permanently ceased. There was always smouldering
fire ready to break out into sudden flame at any supposed invasion
of rights ; and when such invasion was unmistakably made, and
resisted by the Council, attempts were too often made to inflame
the masses against the tribunal specially appointed to prevent hasty
and ill-considered legislation, by branding its members as selfish
obstructionists of the people's will.

The Parliament which assumed the control of Victoria's destiny
in 1856 had a magnificent endowment. The country was practically
free from debt, though it had spent £2,200,000 on roads and bridges,
about £650,000 on water supply, and £1,500,000 on other public
works. It had established a system of primary education, which,
though dealt with by two rival Boards, had spread some 400 schools
over the land, and registered fully 25,000 scholars of all ages. It
had commenced academic life in its University, under the guidance
of eminent professors, attracted from the venerable seats of English
culture by liberal largesse. It had opened the doors of its Public
Library in Melbourne, free to all mankind to make acquaintance
with its rapidly accumulating stores of literary treasures. It had
generously and equitably endowed the practice of public worship on
a basis of true Christian toleration. And all these creditable meas-
ures of progress had been paid for out of income, not with borrowed
money. A prosperous and energetic population, numbering close
on 400,000, enjoyed a national revenue of £3,000,000, based on a

THE TEANSITION TO RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 71

moderate and simple tariff; and for the year in question there was
a surplus over expenditure of some £80,000. The depression of 1854
had been surmounted. Wages had declined from the top figures
of the gold-fever era, but they remained, in comparison with England,
attractively high ; work was abundant, food cheap, and artisan and
shopkeeper had alike cause for thankful contentment.

And beyond all this substantially solvent state of things there
was the lordly domain of 56,000,000 acres of freehold land, of which
only some 4,000,000 acres had been alienated at that date. It had
the latent possibilities of almost incalculable wealth, both on and
below the surface, and it had been surrendered unconditionally by
the Crown to whomsoever the people should select to manage it.
That management involved prolonged and acrimonious discussion,
cost many changes of Ministry, led even to rioting in the streets of
Melbourne in the effort to coerce Parliament. Generally this grand
asset was a source of frequent political trouble until the bulk of the
most fertile areas had passed into private hands. Then it was dis-
covered that they had been parted with at a price infinitely below
their value, and that, despite all precautions, the sacrifice which was
ostensibly intended to benefit the typical " poor man " had, as usual
in the working of such laws, eventuated in substantial gain to the
capitalist. But these troubles were hidden in futurity, and the prob-
ability of their arising would doubtless have been scornfully rejected
by the elated band entering into possession in 1856. For such a
start in the national life of a community is almost unique in the
world's history. Had this noble heritage, these magnificent assets,
been handled with such forethought and prudence as a private owner
usually bestows on his property, Victoria might to-day be one of
the most prosperous countries in the world, maintaining her freedom
from debt, and even able to dispense with the operations of the tax
collector. Unhappily, the records have to tell a much more dis-
couraging tale.

CHAPTER IV.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY, 1856-1863.

WITHIN a month of the opening of the new Parliament, the first
constitutional Governor arrived to look after it. The mail steamer
Oneida, which anchored in the bay on Thursday evening, the 23rd
of December, 1856, took the colonists by surprise, having completed
her voyage in the then unprecedented time of sixty-four days from
Plymouth. No preparations had been made, and no demonstration
awaited the Queen's representative, Sir Henry Barkly, K.C.B.,
greatly to his own satisfaction, for the grotesquely effusive but
shallow plaudits with which Sir Charles Hotham had been greeted
would have jarred upon his more retiring nature. He was a man
cast in a different mould from his predecessor. A civilian, who
had graduated in Parliamentary life as a vigorous supporter of Sir
Eobert Peel, and had acquired valuable experience as the Governor,
first of British Guiana and subsequently of Jamaica. In the latter
post, under conditions of exceptional difficulty, he had inaugurated a
Constitution which for many years conferred peace and prosperity
on one of the most turbulent of Great Britain's dependencies. His
transfer to the important position of Governor of Victoria, at the
handsome salary of £15,000 a year, was admittedly in recognition
of his valuable services to the Crown, and during the seven years
of his residence in Victoria he fully justified his promotion by the
firmness and sagacity with which he handled the conflicting political
interests coming within his province, and by his careful abstention
from anything that could be regarded as trenching upon the functions
of his advisers. Sir Henry was in the prime of life, in his forty-first
year, when he landed in Melbourne ; a tall, handsome man, of culti-
vated tastes, with a considerable store of scientific knowledge, and a
thorough grounding in those principles of political economy and con-

72

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 73

stitutional law in which his predecessor had been so deficient. In
comparison, too, with Sir Charles Hothara, his generous hospitality
and social leadership were a source of admiration to the colonists,
for while he entertained freely he never made any attempt at
courting personal popularity. His services were, however, always
readily available in public movements having philanthropic aims
— for social progress or intellectual culture; and his speeches on
such occasions were invariably thoughtful in substance and happy
in form. But his natural inclination was towards privacy, and a
carefully controlled reticence. In some quarters, and especially in
the Civil Service, this characteristic led to the assumption that his
dignity was cold and unsympathetic, an opinion which his private
charities belied. It had the undoubted advantage of saving him
from those ungenerous press taunts which had embittered the days
of his predecessors, and to which all men in public life, who are
injudiciously free of speech, must be occasionally liable.

Landing without ceremony on the 24th of December, the
Governor was permitted to enjoy the privacy of his Toorak
mansion over Christmas. On Boxing Day he had to face the
ordeal of being " sworn in " with some show of ceremony, but
it was not the occasion of a demonstration, and the press com-
mented upon the fact that His Excellency secluded himself in the
procession in a closed carriage. Perhaps he had heard how the
fickle mob that prostrated themselves before Sir Charles Hotham
had readily turned to abuse him when they failed to get all they
wanted, and Sir Henry had no wish to win their superficial ap-
plause by feigning delight at making their acquaintance.

But when ceremony was over he set himself to work to master
the official routine, and to study the members of the Cabinet, with
whom, as President of the Executive Council, he would now have
to act. He was destined to see, during his seven years of office,
no less than eight changes of Ministry. Though the elections had
been free from any special party issues, the discussions in the
Assembly had not lasted a month before party lines were formed,
based, it is true, to a large extent on personal grounds, and a
distinct Opposition, mainly controlled by O'Shanassy and Duffy,
took up the role of Ministerial critics. The existing Cabinet was

74 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

regarded as staunchly conservative, though it is very doubtful if
its policy would have come under that definition in England. For
it had promptly carried a most liberal decentralising Act for the
establishment of municipalities throughout the country, and made
generous provision for the assistance of desirable immigrants from
Great Britain. Further, the Surveyor-General had submitted
regulations for the control of the Crown lands, which proposed
to deal with the squatting tenure on lines that would bring a
largely enhanced revenue to the Treasury. On the other side,
the Opposition claimed the right to be called "liberal," because
their chief aim was to widen the franchise, and to bring the in-
fluence of the popular will to bear with ever-increasing force
upon projected legislation. But they were disorganised and out-
numbered by the Ministerial supporters, though more than once,
in a thin house, the Opposition snatched a victory, which was not
followed by a resignation.

Mr. Duffy's Bill for the abolition of members' qualifications was
carried in spite of the unconditional opposition of the Ministry.
Immediately afterwards, in discussing the Supply Estimates, a pay-
ment that had been made by the Chief Secretary to a civil servant
by way of compensation for loss of salary was directly negatived.
Mr. Haines adjourned the House to consult his colleagues as to the
propriety of resigning after these consecutive rebuffs. Consternation
seized upon his supporters, who vigorously asserted that they had
every confidence in the Ministry, and did not consider that their
adverse vote in such a matter involved the general question. Even
the Argus next day condemned Mr. Haines for his threat to resign,
when he ought to know that a majority of the House supported
his general policy. So he relented, and continued to occupy the
Treasury benches for a few weeks longer.

The Immigration Bill was, in a double sense, the cause of his
eventual displacement. It proposed to establish a new department
of the State, and to supersede the Emigration Commissioners who
acted for the colony in England. It provided several well-paid
official openings, that of the Chief Emigration Agent in London
being worth £1,200 a year. It suited Mr. Childers, who desired to
return to England, to accept the offer of it, and in February he

retired from the Cabinet. Simultaneously the long-pending re-
signation of Sir William A'Beckett, whose health had broken down,
was accepted, and Mr. Attorney-General Stawell was transferred
from the political arena to the Bench as Chief Justice. The
Ministry had thus lost two of its strongest men, and now was the
time for the Opposition to try conclusions. On the 3rd of March,
1857, Mr. O'Shanassy carried a resolution censuring the Government
for having obtained a vote on account of immigration for £150,000
more than they intended to spend. Explanations were offered,
which to the unbiassed appear reasonable, but the House would
not accept them, for the misappropriation of grants under former
Governments had been notorious. So the Ministry resigned.

The experiences of Mr. O'Shanassy in his effort to find capable
and acceptable colleagues, in accordance with the Governor's com-
mission, were painfully discouraging. The financial, mercantile
and squatting classes were all in silent opposition to giving an
untried man the control of their destinies. The capacity which he
afterwards developed for broad views of general politics and strong
administrative control were unsuspected. He was then only known
as a man who, but the other day, kept a small draper's shop in
Elizabeth Street, trained for public life in the turbulent atmosphere
of the City Council, and suspected of being in league with the
irreconcilable Fawkner against all squatterdom. Yet he had been
elected to Parliament by two widely differing constituencies, win-
ning his seat for Melbourne with less than a hundred votes behind
the Attorney-General, Stawell. But his fellow-members did not
endorse the confidence of the electors. Mr. Michie and Dr. Evans
in turn refused his offer of the position of Chief Law Officer, Mr.
James McCulloch and Mr. David Moore also declined his overtures,
and he had to meet Parliament with a scratch team, which the
House resented at sight. The two of his colleagues who roused
the bitterest antagonism were Mr. Duffy as Minister of Lands, and
Mr. Foster as Treasurer. The former had incurred the personal
dislike of a large number of members by his persistent dictation
and querulous fault-finding. Outside the House the intemperate
advocacy of his partisans had the effect of raising a somewhat
unjust but very marked hostility to himself and distrust of his

76 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

policy. The selection of Foster as Treasurer must be regarded as a
case of "Hobson's choice". More than once in the old Council
had O'Shanassy denounced him as quite unreliable, and his down-
fall as Chief Secretary had met with universal applause.

Mr. Chapman, the Attorney-General, Mr. Greeves, Commissioner
of Customs, and Mr. J. D. Wood, the Solicitor- General, were all
defeated at the polls, though the latter subsequently secured a seat
for the Ovens electorate. When the successful fragment of the
Ministry met the House on the 15th of April, it was blocked on the
threshold by Mr. T. H. Fellows, who bluntly proposed a resolution
that they did not possess the confidence of Parliament. In a clever
speech he anatomised Messrs. Foster, Duffy and Greeves, and
although the two former spent several hours in vindicating them-
selves, and the debate, which involved an all-night sitting, had to
be adjourned, the resolution was carried on the 22nd by thirty-four
votes to nineteen. Mr. James Service, who had just entered Par-
liament as member for Melbourne, in succession to Mr. Stawell,
seconded the resolution, but he was not called upon to take part in
the new Cabinet.

The formation of the third Victorian Ministry was entrusted by
the Governor to Mr. James McCulloch, who inclined towards coali-
tion, but his overtures to Mr. O'Shanassy were not successful. He
finally arranged with Mr. Haines to resume office as Chief Secretary,
took the Customs himself, and was joined by Mr. C. H. Ebden as
Treasurer, and Messrs. Michie and Fellows as the Law Officers,
those gentlemen being then the prominent leaders at the Victorian
Bar. Mr. (afterwards Sir James) McCulloch, the new Minister of
Customs, who had been a nominee member of the old Council, was
a shrewd Scotchman, of considerable force of character, the local
partner in an important firm of British merchants. He was a
dominant figure in Victorian politics for more than twenty years.
He subsequently filled on several occasions the position of Premier,
holding that office altogether for a period of nine years, a term not
approached by any other Victorian politician.

Though most of the members of the new Ministry were opposed
they were all returned, and a strong majority of the colonists indi-
cated their approval of the Cabinet. But there was a violent display

THE ADMINISTKATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 77

of ruffianism at the elections, and faction fights raged even around
the precincts of Parliament. The threatening language and aggressive
attitude displayed at the public meetings held by the so-called
" liberal " party, of which Wilson Gray was the chief organiser and
Charles Jardine Don the fiery orator, alarmed the more sober citizens.
As the franchise was as yet confined to those who had some abiding
interest in the country, the formation of a strong Ministry, pledged
to many reforms and generally progressive legislation, gave them
hope of a cessation of political strife, without which progress was
impossible.

On the day when Mr. O'Shanassy was challenged by the hostile
vote, the Governor sustained a sad bereavement in the death of
his wife a few days after she had given birth to a son. Although
her brief residence of some three months in Victoria had not made
her well known to the colonists, the deceased lady had been greatly
loved in Jamaica, and the genuine sympathy of all classes was offered
to His Excellency at the desolation which for a second time had fallen
upon the Toorak House in the short history of its occupation.

The two principal features of Parliamentary work in 1857 were
the abolition of the property qualification for members, which though
passed by the Assembly in February did not reach its final stages
elsewhere until August, and the committal of the colony to universal
manhood suffrage on the 21st of November. The latter measure,
however, could not come into operation until an amendment of the
Electoral Act provided the machinery for taking so largely extended
a vote. The decision of Parliament on this subject was called into
question by Mr. Edward Wilson, the proprietor of the Argus, who
in May, 1857, addressed a lengthy letter to his paper maintaining that
the principle of manhood suffrage, unaccompanied by any other
electoral qualification, would result in a pure class government, and
eventually in a tyranny of labour as the dominant element in the
population. The tone of the letter was prophetically pessimistic,
and the writer's only suggestion for avoiding the evils which he an-
ticipated was in the independent representation of some six or eight
leading interests of the colony, indicating the squatters, miners, land-
owners, farmers, manufacturers, merchants and manual labourers.
The proposal to form a House consisting of seven or eight representa-

78 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

tives of each of these bodies was original, if somewhat fantastic,
but there were practical difficulties in the way of compiling so many
separate electoral rolls, and the idea was not taken seriously. It is
curious to note that even on the question of manhood suffrage the
Argus pronounced against its proprietor, and the editor, then Mr.
George Higinbotham, wrote leaders in opposition to Mr. Wilson's
views, which he rejected decisively, though not by any means with
convincing logic.

But the great political struggle of the year raged round the Crown
Lands Bill, introduced by the Haines Ministry in June, and forming
the staple matter of hot debate until September, when it passed the
third reading by the small majority of seven. Mr. O'Shanassy, Mr.
Duffy and Mr. Ireland were its most vehement opponents, on the
ground that it was too favourable to the squatters. Mr. Aspinall
moved that as the House was elected by less than hah* the male
adult population of the colony, it was unjust to entertain the question
of the settlement of the public lands till after the election of a re-
formed Parliament by the whole body of the people. The proposal
was negatived, and then another attempt was made to have it declared
that the votes of members who were squatters should not be received,
as they were personally interested in the result. But all the pro-
tracted and acrimonious discussion was wasted, for when the Bill
reached the Council it was rejected by twenty-one votes to six, on
the motion of Mr. Fawkner, seconded by Mr. Henry Miller. Mr.
Haines did not feel that this defeat called for his resignation. The
Bill had been so altered and amended in the Assembly as to be hardly
recognisable as the Ministerial measure, and he declared that many
other matters, urgently calling for settlement, were too important to
be jeopardised by his retirement.

The Ministerial respite, however, was not for long. On the 23rd
of February, 1858, a resolution by Captain Clarke, condemnatory of
one of the schedules of the Government Bill for increasing the number
of members of the Assembly, was carried by a majority of twenty-
six to seventeen, and Mr. Haines and his colleagues once more re-
signed. Captain Clarke declined the responsibility of forming a
Ministry, contending that his adverse vote upon an unimportant
point did not justify the resignation of the Ministry. The Governor

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARELY 79

then addressed himself to Mr. Chapman, who readily undertook the
duty, and when the House met, on the 8th of April, that gentleman
appeared as Attorney-General, with Mr. O'Shanassy as Chief Secre-
tary, Mr. George Harker, a retired grain merchant, as Treasurer,
Mr. E. D. Ireland as Solicitor-General, Mr. Henry Miller in charge
of the Customs, and Mr. Duffy back in his old place at the Lands
Department. Much indignation was expressed in the House and
out of it at Mr. O'Shanassy taking office with the party that had
overthrown the Ministry with which he had voted on the test
question. It was alleged to be against all precedent and sub-
versive of party Government. In his vindication he pleaded that
he had only accepted the position under great pressure, and after
repeated refusals.

The session came to a close on the 4th of June, after nineteen
months of almost continuous sitting. It had been singularly barren
of beneficial legislation. Ignoring the failure of Mr. Haines' mea-
sure, Mr. Chapman submitted a new Bill for a redivision of the elec-
torates, and an increase of the members from sixty to ninety. Its
consideration formed the chief work of the Assembly for a couple
of months, and it evoked an immense number of petitions and
formal demands from meetings under the auspices of " The People's
Convention," an irresponsible outside parliament that made the
Eastern Market a lively arena of debate during these years. In
committee the number of members was increased to ninety-three,
and the Bill passed without a division. But it was thrown out
in the Council by fourteen votes to twelve, although it in no way
trenched upon the privileges of that House, or contemplated any
alteration in its numbers.

The third session opened on the 7th of October, and the Gover-
nor's speech intimated that the failures of the preceding session were
again to be taken up. When the Bills for altering the electoral
districts, increasing the number of members, and shortening the
duration of Parliaments from five to three years, were passed, a
dissolution of the Assembly would be necessary to bring those
changes into operation. To expedite the passage of these clamor-
ously demanded measures of reform, no other important legislation
would be submitted, it having been tacitly agreed to leave the

80 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

burning question of land settlement to the enlarged Parliament.
The session lasted five months, and dealt with the special matters
referred to it much after the manner of preceding efforts. The
electoral boundaries were fought out at tedious length, almost every
member having some alteration to press, and by the time the Bill
reached its final stages, the ninety-three members originally proposed
had been reduced to seventy-eight. This reduction in numbers
apparently mollified the members of the Council, for they not only
passed the Bill very promptly, but in consideration of their privileges
not having been attacked, they added four new clauses, largely re-
ducing the property qualification of the electors of the Council, and
extending the franchise to the learned and professional classes, irre-
spective of property. The Assembly readily accepted the additions,
and the Bill became an Act, to come into force on the 1st of May
following. The remaining measures of the session were formal or
unimportant, and the first Constitutional Parliament of Victoria
was dismissed by the Governor, with the usual complimentary
phrases, on the 24th of February, 1859.

The alterations of the electoral machinery took a long time,
but the compilation of the rolls was less costly than in 1856, for
the new Act, while extending the franchise to every adult male
not specially disqualified, required those who were not on any rate-
payers' roll to take the trouble to register their own claims, and
obtain a certificate of their right to vote. The value set upon this
right, as indicated by the indifference of the nomadic element in
the colony, seemed very small. The Reform Associations and
Land Conventions, and other democratic leagues, which were such
notable factors in political life in those years, found a large portion
of their energy had to be expended in getting the indifferent regis-
tered, and subsequently in hunting them to the polls. In the
Metropolis and suburbs these organisations exercised a consider-
able sway, and used it with success, for the second Parliament of
Victoria, which assembled on the 13th of October — the product of
the first trial of manhood suffrage — contained a distinctive number
of members pledged to the support of special class interests.

During the recess the bond of friendship that had united Duffy
to O'Shanassy was severed by many repeated frictions, and he

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 81

had resigned his office as Minister of Lands before the general
election. Looking back upon this episode in his career, he says in
his autobiography with charming frankness : "In the Government
I gradually found my opinions were not in a majority, and that
there was apparently a jealousy of the individual position I occupied
in public life, as a man of a certain experience and knowledge ! "

When the House met the Ministry found themselves in a
hopeless minority, and they were immediately confronted with
an amendment on the reply to the Governor's speech, which
explicitly declared that neither the House nor the country had
any confidence in his advisers. Mr. Duffy declined to vote on the
motion, but he filled fifteen columns of Hansard in detailing his
grievances against his late colleagues. Mr. O'Shanassy occupied
nearly as much space in his answer, but the whole community
was indignant at the pitiful insufficiency for so much recrimina-
tion. Mr. William Nicholson, who had moved the hostile vote,
carried it by fifty-six votes to seventeen, after a debate extending
over four sittings, and the Governor consequently commissioned
him to form a Ministry.

He assumed office on the 29th of October with a fairly strong
team, including Mr. James McCulloch as Treasurer, and Mr. James
Service in charge of the important department of Crown lands.
His Law Officers were rather weak, but to compensate for this he
had secured the services of Mr. Fellows in the Upper House, as an
honorary member of the Cabinet. It shows how vaguely party lines
were then recognised, that Mr. Nicholson offered Mr. Duffy once
more the position of Minister of Lands, but that gentleman stipu-
lated for the right to name two or three of his colleagues as the
price of his adherence, and this demand the remainder of the
Cabinet would not concede.

The Nicholson Ministry lived just thirteen months, and it
succeeded in passing a Land Act that was speedily recognised as a
deplorable failure, having neither a guiding policy nor any con-
tinuous principle of action. In justice to Mr. Service, who intro-
duced the Bill, it must be said that the final measure which passed
in September, 1860, was almost unrecognisable as the outcome of
the Bill submitted by that gentleman in the previous January. It

VOL. IL 6

82 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

was to a large extent based on the popular demand, as voiced by
the speakers of the "People's Convention". Its fundamental
principle was the entire abolition of sale by auction for country
lands. In lieu thereof it proposed the immediate survey of 4,000,000
of acres of farm lands in blocks of from 80 to 320 acres, available
to any applicant at the uniform price of £1 per acre. The date on
which applications would be received for such lands was to be
advertised for a month, and if more than one person claimed an
allotment it was to be sold by tender, as between the applicants
only. Any one thus securing an 80-acre block was entitled to
purchase at the same rate, or to lease at Is. 6d. an acre per annum,
the remainder of the 320 acres of which it formed a part, with
exclusive right of purchase during currency of lease. This was a
modified concession to the demand of the Convention for deferred
payments. To ensure that the applications were bond fide for use
and cultivation, and not for profitable resale to the neighbouring
squatters, the successful selector had within the first year to effect
improvements to the value of at least £1 per acre of the purchased
land. If he failed to do so the leasehold tenure was forfeited, and
if within two years the required improvements were not effected,
he became liable to a penalty of 5s. per acre, at the suit of any
common informer. In spite of all the sympathy in the House, and
by the Convention outside, it was evident that the typical " poor
man," with whom it was desired to supplant the rapacious squatter,
did not command the confidence of his political friends. His
honesty in the face of temptation was of so doubtful a quality that
the forty-ninth clause of the original Bill imposed a penalty of £200
upon any selector who should within one year after purchase enter
into any agreement to sell or mortgage such allotment, or borrow
money upon its security.

The Bill did not go far enough for the Convention party, who
demanded free selection before survey, deferred payments, the
abolition of all squatting tenure, and free commonage throughout
the colony over all unalienated lands of the Crown. It did not
please the Legislative Council because it left the claims of the
pastoral tenants untouched, to be dealt with in a separate measure.
Wilson Gray and Charles Jardine Don, the leading spirits of the

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 83

Land Convention, were now members of the new Parliament, and
joining forces with Mr. Duffy, Mr. Heales, and some of the extreme
radicals, they attacked the Bill with incisive vigour. So many
amendments were made in committee of the Assembly that by
the time it was sent to the Council it had become a thing of shreds
and patches ; and so many clauses were altered there that Mr.
Nicholson felt constrained to disown the changeling, and to tender
his resignation. This the Governor declined to accept, believing
that as the Bill had been passed by a substantial majority in the
Assembly, it would be impossible for any member of the Council
to form a Ministry strong enough to carry on the business of the
country. Further, he was of opinion, as the result of conferences,
that some of the opponents of the Bill in the Council were willing
to reconsider their amendments to bring them in line with the
Assembly. So he asked Mr. Nicholson to persevere with the Bill
by means of a conference with the Council. This was done, and
the proposed Act was banded about between the two Houses for
over four months, suffering in all over 250 amendments of its
original form, until after compromises on both sides it emerged
in legally complete, but sadly mutilated form, and became law on
the 18th of September, 1860.

Useless and unworkable as the Act proved to be, it is probable
that no measure was ever carried through Parliament with more
stormy debate and struggle, both within the House and without.
During the latter months of the discussion the " Victorian Land
Convention " held high festival in the Eastern Market reserve, and
on the 28th of August a clamorous mob invaded the Legislative
Chambers during the sitting of the House. They burst in a door,
drove back the few policemen on duty, demolished some of the
windows of the library with a shower of stones, and violently
assaulted two or three members whom they supposed to be identified
with the pastoral interest. The Mayor was summoned and read
the Riot Act, and a troop of mounted police finally drove the crowd
out of Parliament Yard. Not however without some casualties, at
least half a dozen constables having sustained more or less serious
wounds from the flying missiles. Messrs. Wilson Gray and C. J.

Don were directly charged by many members with having instigated

6*

84 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the proceedings, and though they persistently denied the use of
specific language attributed to them, the House declined to accept
their denial. There is no doubt, on the evidence, that their bitter
denunciations of the squatters, and their inept pandering to class
prejudices, had raised a Frankenstein they were powerless to control.
Their followers demanded the expulsion of a class of their fellow-
colonists who had built up an industry under conditions of coura-
geous enterprise and at personal risk of life and property. An
industry that was now helping Victoria to pay its way by contri-
buting annually £250,000 in rentals to the Treasury, and providing,
even then, exportable products of the value of over two and a quarter
millions sterling annually for the maintenance of the colony's credit
in the London market.

The increasing violence, the ignorant class hatred displayed by
these noisy organisations, showed how easily a mob is led to
champion a cause of which it really knows nothing, except from
the inflammatory utterances of its leaders. These proceedings gave,
indeed, a dismal forecast of the working of manhood suffrage, that
was to leave the final power in the hands of those so easily led by
skilled demagogues who had their own ends to serve.

As a consequence of the serious disturbance, Parliament, on the
following day, passed through all its stages an "Act to protect the
freedom of the deliberations of Parliament, and for the prevention
of disorderly meetings". It was carried without a division in the
Assembly, and in the Council by a majority of sixteen to two. It
prohibited the assembling of persons in public meeting within a
defined area, extending to about the^eighth of a mile in each direction
from Parliament House ; but as the western boundary was Stephen
Street, it left the Eastern Market still available for the popular
Forum.

The Assembly had been prorogued after passing the Land Act
until the 20th of November, and when the Nicholson Ministry again
met the House they were in poor favour. Mr. Service had resigned
the control of the Lands Department in disgust at the treatment
his Bill had received. Mr. Francis had also retired, and the Cabinet
in its weakened condition was at once attacked by the Convention
party, Mr. J. H. Brooke, of Geelong, one of the leaders of the land

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 85

agitation, being entrusted with a no-confidence motion, which was
seconded by Mr. O'Shanassy and promptly carried. The Governor
applied first to Mr. O'Shanassy and then to Mr. Ebden, but neither
of these gentlemen would undertake the task of forming a Ministry.
Finally, he fell back on Mr. Brooke, who accepted the task and
adopted the unprecedented course of summoning a caucus of the
Opposition members, who proceeded to elect the various officers of
the State from amongst themselves by ballot. The result of this
irregular proceeding was the election of Mr. Richard Heales as Chief
Secretary ; E. D. Ireland, Attorney-General ; George F. Verdon,
Treasurer ; J. H. Brooke, Minister of Lands ; Robert S. Anderson,
Commissioner of Trade and Customs ; and J. B. Humffray, the
former Secretary of the Ballaarat rebels, was selected for Com-
missioner of Mines.

Mr. Richard Heales had been in Parliament for some three years
when called to this important office. A man of the people, who
had in his early colonial days earned his living as a working coach-
builder, his sympathies were strongly with his fellow-artisans. Not
only did he seek to assist them by liberal measures for inducing
their settlement in the colony, but, as a social reformer and tem-
perance lecturer, he strove manfully for their uplifting. Exceedingly
popular with the masses, he was deficient in strength of character
for so onerous a post, and his efforts were somewhat impaired by
weak health. Eventually the cares of office broke him down, and
he died prematurely in 1864. Few men who have had so short a
public career have left more friendly memories behind them. He
is entitled to credit for having, as a private member, carried an Edu-
cation Act, on which the national system of the colony is founded,
abolishing the old unsatisfactory control of rival Boards and their
attendant theological strife.

It was in connection with land settlement that Mr. Heales
developed his most radical views, being soon satisfied that the Nichol-
son Land Act was useless for its professed purpose of substituting
agriculture for the growth of wool. If he had been less philanthropic
and more business-like, he would have seen the futility of trying to
cajole men into farming by offering them land at one-third of its
market value, while there were buyers around who, if they could

86 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

not get it from the Government, were ready enough to make a bargain
with those who could. Large agricultural areas that had been
thrown open in the Western Districts had undoubtedly been secured
to a considerable extent by adjacent pastoral tenants of the Crown.
In many cases no doubt by the assistance of "dummies," but also
in others by the bond-fide sales of the selector, whose hopes of pro-
fitable wheat-growing, so far from a market, were too often easily
dispelled. It was notorious in the sixties that the men who suc-
ceeded in getting land in the early proclaimed areas rarely had
success to boast of in their dealing with it. Most of them fell into
the grip of the money-lenders, and found that when they had paid
their interest and provided their frugal rations, there was neither
profit nor poetry in the hard calling. The well-to-do artisan, easily
earning his £3 a week in Melbourne, was loud enough at the Con-
vention meetings in denouncing as a betrayer of his trust the dis-
heartened selector whose annual crop, generally hypothecated in
advance to the storekeeper, often failed to yield him a surplus equal
to what his brother of the city could lay aside in a few weeks. And
it was a noticeable fact that the demagogues who so coarsely derided
the squatters, and proclaimed as their battle-cry that every man in
the colony ought to have "a farm, a vote, and a rifle," were by no
means the class of men who were prepared to bend their backs to
the laborious occupation of the farmer.

It was evident to Mr. Heales that while the choice lands of the
colony, the asset that should pay for railways and provide for im-
migration, was being needlessly sacrificed, the persons proposed to
be benefited were not the ultimate gainers. He sought some remedy,
and thought to find it in free selection before survey, and the defer-
ring of payments on a generous scale. Probably it did not occur
to him that this was an invitation to the impecunious to "jump,"
in mining parlance, any attractive piece of country, and to trust in
Providence for the means of paying for it. Such changes, however,
could not be effected by regulation, they required an amending Act.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General devised a plan whereby a clause in
the Nicholson Land Act relative to " Occupation Licences " (expressly
intended only for sites for miners' residences, stores, inns, etc.) might
be so worked as to justify their issue for purposes of settlement and

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 87

cultivation. The attempt was promptly denounced in the Legislative
Council as an illegal straining of the authority given to the Minister
of Lands by the clauses referred to, and it was resented in the
Assembly as trenching upon the powers of the Legislature. The
illegality of the process was subsequently confirmed by the Supreme
Court in a test case brought before it (Fenton v. Skinner). Un-
fortunately, before that judgment was given no less than 172,000
acres had been licensed to some 1,700 applicants, and much trouble,
litigation and loss ensued in dealing with the claims of these people,
who were now declared to be in illegal occupation of Crown lands.

On the 13th of June a Mr. Hedley, member for Gipps Land,
was put forward by a combination of the discontented to propose
a vote of want of confidence in the Heales Ministry, and after a
debate extending over twenty- one hours of a continuous sitting it
was carried by a majority of eighteen. But the rejoicing of the
victors was premature, for greatly to the" surprise of the Assembly
the Governor assented to the request of Mr. Heales for a dissolution,
notwithstanding a formal address of remonstrance having been sent
to him from the Legislature. No doubt he was justly dissatisfied
with the manner in which public business was blocked by these
constant changes of his advisers, too frequently under the flimsiest
of pretences. Probably he hoped that a new House might bring
men to the front more inclined to consider the wants of the country
than the coveted emoluments of office. In any case, the results
justified the step, for the Ministry returned from the country with
materially increased support. They had indeed issued a manifesto
of ultra-liberalism, including in their platform the eagerly anticipated
Payment of members.

The first session of the third Victorian Parliament met on
the 30th of August, 1861, and a few days afterwards Mr. Duffy
attacked the Government for their illegal use of the " Occupation
Licences ". A debate, extending over more than a week, followed,
but Mr. Duffy's vote of censure was eventually negatived. But
the Opposition, if outnumbered, were stronger in political experi-
ence and resource than the Ministerialists, and they wanted office.
Perpetual depreciation of everything emanating from the Treasury
benches ; suspicious courtesy to some members of the Cabinet ;

88 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

mysterious secret conferences, all seemed to indicate some pending
movement. Stories of Ministerial dissensions began to be told.
Messrs. Ireland, J. S. Johnston and E. S. Anderson retired from
office, preparatory to joining the enemy, and on the 14th of Nov-
ember the Heales Ministry succumbed to an adverse vote on Mr.
Verdon's Budget proposals. Once more the intervention of the
Governor became necessary, and he had the honour of receiving
the seventh Ministry of his administration. The team, if not a
particularly strong one, could at least claim experience, for all
of them had held office before. Mr. O'Shanassy took command
as Chief Secretary, with Mr. Haines as Treasurer, Mr. Duffy again
in the Lands office, Mr. Anderson at the Customs, and Messrs.
E. D. Ireland and J. D. Wood as the Law Officers.

This combination managed to hold office for nineteen months,
and enabled Mr. Duffy to work out his perfected ideas on the land
question. It was a matter of some surprise, after the very strained
relations that had long existed between this gentleman and his
political sponsor, that he should have again taken office under
O'Shanassy; but the Eoman Catholic body had been greatly ex-
ercised over the rupture, and a reconciliation was finally brought
about by the good offices of Dr. Quinn, Eoman Catholic Bishop
of Brisbane, who visited Melbourne for the purpose, and with
much tact patched up a workable alliance.

The new Cabinet was highly thought of by the Minister of
Lands, for in his autobiography he says: "For the first time
since the Constitution was proclaimed, the colony possessed an
Administration strong in capacity, experience and influence, and
above all in the robust will before which difficulties disappear ".
But its career hardly justified this smug reflection. The daily
press, as usual, took opposite sides. It was praised and encouraged
by the Argus, and contemptuously reviled by the Age. Its efforts
were mainly concentrated on the settlement of the land question,
and the Duffy Land Act of 1862 was the magnum opus of its
existence. There appears to have been a prevalent belief that any
man could make a farmer, and that if he was provided with cheap
land he must score a success. Mr. Duffy, advancing reasons in
addition to those based on philanthropy, expressed his opinion that

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIE HENRY BARKLY 89

the mining population, "when it became unfit for that trying
pursuit, might become discontented and dangerous to the public
safety ". The way to avoid such unpleasant consequences was to
bribe them with a slice of the national estate, at one-fourth of its
market value, and to endeavour, by regulations and supervision,
to prevent them from pocketing their temporary profit and clearing
out. It would be tedious to record in detail the points on which
Mr. Duffy's measure differed from that of his predecessor. The
underlying theory of offering exceptional inducements to people
to become farmers was the same, and there was added the temp-
tation of credit, selectors being allowed eight years to pay for half
their holding, at 2s. 6d. per acre per annum, without interest.
Suffice it to say that the Bill, which was drawn by Professor
Hearn at a cost of £500 to the State, was a disastrous failure,
and that within a year of its enactment it was denounced by
almost the entire press of the colony. One of the Melbourne
journals went so far as to say of Mr. Duffy that " by his stupidity,
or rascality, or a compound of both, he has brought on the colony
a dire calamity ".

The Bill proposed to reserve 10,000,000 acres of the best
agricultural land in the colony for farming purposes, of which
4,000,000 acres were to be surveyed, and open for selection within
three months of the passing of the Act. The conditions of selection
were hedged round with numerous provisions for improvements
and cultivation, and required statutory declarations of bond-fide in-
tentions. But they proved delusive, in consequence of the omission
to make these onerous conditions mandatory on the selector's
"assigns". As soon as a man could raise the £1 per acre he
acquired a freehold, which he could readily sell at £3 per acre to a
buyer who was not bound by any conditions of residence, fencing
or cultivation. Hence much of the land reverted, unimproved, to
those who could use it profitably for wool growing, even at the
enhanced price. For at the then ruling price of wool land that
would carry a sheep to the acre was well bought at £3.

The widely expressed indignation at this squandering of the
public estate was mild, however, compared with the explosion of
anger which assailed the Minister in the House and in the press

90 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

on the discovery of a serious blunder in Mr. Duffy's estimate of the
revenue to be derived from the squatters. He had provided that,
after eliminating from their runs all the best agricultural land, the
remainder, some 24,000,000 acres, should be available to them, on
an annual licence, up to the 30th of December, 1870. Not satisfied
that the £250,000 per annum which this class contributed to the
State was a sufficient equivalent, he proposed to assess the value
of their runs by arbitration, and to make a charge per head of stock
according to their carrying capabilities, not as heretofore upon the
actual stock held, it being commonly alleged that most of the
runs were kept understocked. It was vaguely anticipated that the
change would result in a largely increased revenue. Unfortunately
for the propounder of this scheme, the report of the Board of Land
and Works, by whom the valuations were made, worked in an
opposite direction. Some of the squatters were actually paying
more than they could now legally be called upon to contribute,
under the Board's valuation of the agistment capacity of their runs,
and the summarised result showed a deficit of quite £50,000 on
the pastoral revenue. A feeble attempt was made to revert to the
original charges, but the House creditably denounced such a course
as savouring of repudiation, and on the 19th of June, 1863, the
third O'Shanassy Ministry succumbed to the position and resigned.
Mr. Duffy, if defeated, was certainly not convinced. He main-
tained that his theories were correct, but that others had blundered
in giving effect to them. He blamed Professor Hearn for faulty
drafting of the Act ; he blamed the Attorney-General for insufficient
supervision ; he blamed the Board of Land and Works for their
appraisements ; but most of all he blamed the people for whose
benefit he had pitted legislation against poor human nature, who
were unable to resist the temptation he had placed in their way, by
emphatically declaring that " the very class for whom he legislated
sold their inheritance for some paltry bribe ".

The relations between the O'Shanassy Ministry and the Governor
had not been altogether cordial, and it was no doubt with an assured
feeling that change would be beneficial to the country that he
entrusted Mr. McCulloch with the task of forming a Government.
He was successful in getting together the strongest Cabinet that

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 91

had yet held office in Victoria. Taking the Chief Secretaryship, he
associated with himself George Higinbotham and Archibald Michie
as his Law Officers ; G. F. Verdon as Treasurer ; Eichard Heales
in charge of the Crown Lands ; J. G. Francis at the Customs ; and
in subsidiary offices he had men of the calibre of J. M. Grant,
T. H. Fellows, Henry Miller and others, all experienced in depart-
mental administration. This Ministry held office continuously for
five years, and resumed it again, after a brief interval of two months,
for another term of fourteen months. As the average duration of
all Victorian Ministries up to the end of the century has been only
eighteen months, Mr. McCulloch's record stands easily first.

Powerful as the Government was in the House with a sub-
servient majority, the five years passed away without the land
question reaching finality. And this was partly due to the con-
sciousness of power tempting Ministers into conflicts with the
Legislative Council on constitutional questions, which kept the
country in a ferment for several years.

These episodes did not fall within the period of Sir Henry
Barkly's administration. In May, 1862, the Legislature, in one of
its intermittent fits of retrenchment, had passed a Bill reducing the
Governor's salary to £7,000 a year, as from the 1st of January
following. As this involved an alteration of the Constitution Act,
the Bill was necessarily reserved for the Eoyal assent. In trans-
mitting it to the Duke of Newcastle His Excellency tendered the
resignation of his office. The Secretary of State did not accept this
as a matter of course. He rather scornfully intimated that if the
Victorian colonists wanted a cheap Governor, he would take care
on the next vacancy to appoint a gentleman who would not object
to bring his scale of living into conformity with the colony's re-
duced means. But he would not consent to the reduction being
applied to the existing occupant of the office, in violation of the
safeguards provided by the Constitution Act. Nor would he evade
the difficulty by recommending Her Majesty to accept Sir Henry's
resignation, a course which would practically be placing the tenure
of the Governor's office in the hands of the local Ministry. " I am
unable," he says in conclusion, "to advise that Her Majesty should
assent to a Bill calculated to deprive her representative of more

92 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

than half of his salary before the period at which it may please
her to determine his tenure of government."

In the light of these views Parliament once more considered
the matter, and eventually the salary of future Governors was fixed
at £10,000 per annum, which was to include staff allowances, the
Act to come into operation on Sir Henry Barkly's retirement. It
happened that the British Colonial Office urgently required an
experienced man for Mauritius, where great industrial and political
movements were pending, and Sir Henry's resignation was accepted
with a view to his transfer thither.

The seven years during which Sir Henry Barkly presided over
the Victorian Executive were fertile in substantial progress, not-
withstanding the political unrest by which the period was marked.
A capable and continuous Government might have done more in
that direction, but all the personal struggles for office, all the petty
scheming and jealous rivalry, without even the excuse of dignified
party lines, were not able to seriously retard the onward movement
of a community so lavishly endowed by the Crown, by nature, and
by that gift of energy and enterprise commonly found in connection
with Anglo-Saxon colonisation.

The most important factor in that progress during the period in
question, apart of course from the grand products of the mines, was
undoubtedly the bold commencement of railways throughout the
colony. It must be a source of regret for all time that the con-
ditions under which these really national works were originally
contemplated were altogether ignored. So far back as February,
1855, Sir Charles Hotham had addressed a message to the old
Council inviting them to consider a system by which railways
might be undertaken. He laid down several sound propositions :
1. That no scheme should be entertained that did not provide for
the eventual liquidation of the loan. 2. That no lines should be
undertaken that did not promise to be remunerative, and to ensure
the interest which it was proposed the State should guarantee. 3.
That as a means of repaying the borrowed capital within twenty-
one years land on each side of the railway should be reserved to
provide the necessary fund. 4. And that as each section of a line
was completed tenders should be called for the lease of it for a

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 93

term of years. The Governor's sensible recommendations were
referred to a special committee for consideration, and on the 21st
of May that body submitted an interim report in which they ex-
pressed an opinion that the leading lines of railway ought to be
under the control of the Government to avoid the evils resulting
from the construction of competing lines. They thoroughly en-
dorsed the reservation of contiguous lands for redemption purposes,
and they recommended the immediate survey of a line from Mel-
bourne to Castlemaine, with a view to its eventual extension to
the Murray, and a line from Geelong to Ballaarat with subsequent
extension westward. The report is silent upon the business pro-
position to lease the lines. Two years and a half elapsed before
these recommendations began to show promise of fulfilment by the
completion of arrangements for borrowing the money to give effect
to them. Throughout the long period of discussion, the intention
of repaying such loans within a denned period, and from specific
sources, seems to have been repeatedly advanced as a justification
for incurring what was then regarded as a very onerous liability.
In October, 1857, when the Kailway Loan Bill was before the
Legislative Council, a committee of that House reported that before
they could sanction incurring so large a debt as £8,000,000, they
required to be satisfied that principal and interest would be
liquidated without pressing too heavily on the general revenue.
They said that all witnesses examined on this point had declared
that the returns should leave a clear net profit of at least 10 per
cent, on the outlay. They recommended that whatever the profit
was, it should be strictly reserved for redemption purposes, and
to prevent any misappropriation, the surplus so shown should be
applied to the repurchase of railway debentures at the end of each
year.

Had these wisely conservative considerations prevailed, the fin-
ancial position of Victoria would have been very different to-day.
There is no doubt that a State is fully justified in borrowing money
for works that materially help the development of the country, and
especially, as in railways and roads, that add a large market value
to its property. When, as in Victoria, the State was the owner of
the bulk of the property to be so enhanced hi value, the first fruits

94 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

of the increment should certainly be applied to the repayment of
the outlay from which it arose. But under the dead level of all the
Victorian Land Acts this principle was ignored, and the Government
continued to sell land at the uniform £1 per acre, alike to the buyer
for whose crop railway transit was adjacent as to the man who re-
quired many days' journey with bullock teams to reach his market.
The costly means of communication decided on had no effect in en-
hancing the value of the public estate to the community as a whole,
though it made many individual fortunes. The desire to meet the
requirements of the "poor selector," who was also an elector, led
Parliament so to extend the measure for his benefit that the final
Land Acts practically gave him his freehold for nothing, for the nomi-
nal payment of Is. a year for twenty years was only a moderate
rate of interest on the real value of the property.

When it was decided in 1857 to borrow £7,000,000 or £8,000,000
for the construction of the two main trunk lines, the method of
floating so large a loan was a fertile subject for discussion. Mr.
Haines had addressed himself to the eminent English firm of Baring
Brothers, and asked them for terms. Not caring to submit a tender
which might appear as an ultimatum, they promptly consulted Mr.
Childers, who had just arrived in London, and persuaded him to
return to the colony as their representative, with full power to con-
clude an arrangement for all the financing required. By this time
the resources of the colony were so well known in London that other
eminent dealers in credit were stirred to action. Mr. Gabrielli, who
had done so well for himself out of the Corporation Loan, hastened
back to Melbourne, and made a dashing offer to take the whole issue
at the rate of £700,000 every six months. Messrs. De Pass Brothers
& Co., representing a wealthy English syndicate, sent in a proposal
far more favourable to the Government than any of the others, but
it was not entertained. All these offers were only for the raising of
the necessary funds, but in the previous year overtures had been
made by Mr. Thomas Brassey, the father of a subsequent Governor
of Victoria, to undertake the construction of 200 miles of railways
within four years, and to accept payment in Government Debentures
at par. The agents which this gentleman sent out were, however,
coldly received by Mr. Haines, who suspected some sinister design

THE ADMINISTEATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 95

underlying these lordly offers. Had Mr. Haines been in office when
Messrs. Baring's ambassador arrived, it is probable he would not
have been able to resist the proposals of his late colleague, whose
sudden return to the colony was the result of the Chief Secretary's
appeal to the great London firm. But before the answer came to
that appeal Mr. O'Shanassy reigned in his stead. Now that gentle-
man was chairman of the recently established Colonial Bank ; his
Minister of Customs, Henry Miller, was chairman of the Bank of
Victoria, and his Treasurer, George Harker, was also a director of
that institution. Such a triumvirate naturally regarded it as a slight
upon the banking officials of the colony to go past them in seeking
financial assistance, and they successfully organised a combination
of six banks, whose tender was accepted for floating the loan, on
terms which were slightly in excess of the remaining competitors.
This was an early small instalment of the tendency which, later on,
became so characteristic of Victoria, to pay for the privilege of dealing
with the local man rather than take a profit from the "foreigner".
There is little doubt that in this case there were advantages, not
presentable in figures, which justified the preference, since the re-
lations between the banks and the Government from that time to
the present day have been of vast commercial importance, and have
proved cordial and mutually beneficial.

When the money was provided controversy revived over rival
routes, and petitions poured in from a score of small centres of
settlement praying for deviations in their favour. When all these
difficulties were adjusted, the work was undertaken on a scale of
solidity and permanence that must have shaken the belief of those
witnesses who had prophesied a 10 per cent, return on the outlay.
The contract for the line to Sandhurst was let on the 4th of May, 1858,
for £3,356,937. With subsequent extras and variations its actual
cost averaged over £45,000 per mile. The line from Geelong to
Ballaarat, through much easier country, cost over £33,000 per mile.
These surprising figures were largely due to the high rate of wages
ruling, especially for skilled labour, and to what has since been re-
cognised as errors in encountering exceptionally difficult country,
which might have been avoided by variations in the surveyed route.
It is no exaggeration to say, that five or six years later equally sub-

96 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

stantial lines could have been built for not much more than half the
expenditure.

After half a century of experience the State-owned railways
are still worked at a heavy loss, which has to be made up out
of the general revenue, and there appears small prospect of the
Government being able to bring them into conformity with com-
mercial principles. For a power has grown up in the large army
of railway servants, whose mass vote at Parliamentary elections
is a thing that even Ministers have to reckon with; and whose
Unions, in combination with other labour organisations, are strong
enough to resist any proposed reduction of working expenses. But
these conditions were undreamt of, even by the most pessimistic,
in 1858.

The line to Ballaarat was opened for traffic on the 10th of April,
1862, and that to Sandhurst on the 20th of October following. In
the latter city some 20,000 persons gathered from the surrounding
districts to welcome the Governor, who was accompanied by Mr.
O'Shanassy and several members of his Cabinet. The congratula-
tory speeches at the banquet following the ceremony were conceived
in the grandest form of superlative exaggeration. The Government
had already been constrained to take over the privately constructed
line between Geelong and a place called Greenwich, on the Salt
Water Eiver, about four miles from Melbourne, the journey being
completed thence by steamer to the Queen's Wharf. The Govern-
ment had guaranteed interest for twenty-one years on this enterprise,
but the work had been badly done, without proper supervision, and
during the short time the company operated it there were some
fatal and many serious accidents. The Government paid about
£600,000 for the company's undertaking, and it cost quite as much
more to properly equip the road and make the direct communication
with the Metropolis. Later on the resumption by the State was
extended to the Hobson's Bay and St. Kilda lines, and to the lines
controlled by the Melbourne and Suburban Eailway Company serv-
ing Eichmond, Prahran and Brighton, the Legislature having decreed
that all future railway extension should be in the hands of the
Government.

In the city of Melbourne during this seven years great strides

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIE HENRY BARKLY 97

had been made. The insanitary, half-paved, ill-lighted city in
which Sir Henry Barkly set foot in 1856 had developed by the
date of his departure into a bright, bustling Metropolis. The few
scattered oil lamps had given place to gas ; an abundant supply
of pure water, from the noble Yan Yean reservoir, was laid on
to the houses ; substantial buildings were everywhere in course
of erection ; and the handsome mansions and trim gardens of the
well-to-do citizens were making picturesque the rapidly filling
suburbs. The University and the Public Library had been started
before bis arrival, but he viewed with a genuine interest their
steady progress and growing usefulness. He saw the foundation
of the National Art Gallery, with a modest vote of £1,000, in
1862 ; and the beginnings of scientific arrangement in the National
Museum, under the charge of Professor McCoy. His undoubted
leaning towards scientific research led him to take a prominent
interest in the establishment of the Eoyal Society of Victoria, in
the Acclimatisation or Zoological Society, and in the building and
equipment of the National Observatory, which, under the control
of Mr. Ellery, has done probably the most important astronomical
work of the Southern Hemisphere.

The flagstaff on the hill in the western garden of the city, the
signals whereon had been Melbourne's first warning of approaching
ships, was superseded by the establishment of telegraphic com-
munication with Queenscliff; and so rapid was its extension, that
before Sir Henry retired there were 2,500 miles of electric wire
connecting all the more important towns in the colony with
Melbourne, and beyond its borders the lines were completed to
Sydney, Adelaide and across the Strait to Hobart.

The mining industry had undergone great changes during this
same period. In 1856 the value of the gold raised, £11,950,000,
was within a trifle of that of the wonder year 1853, when £12,600,000
was recorded, plus a considerable sum privately conveyed out of
the colony. Though these magnificent figures were not long main-
tained, yet the seven years which ended with 1863 were generous
contributors to the wealth of the community, for the official returns
record the huge total of £60,000,000 sterling for that period. The
exciting days of sudden individual fortune were, it is true, mainly
VOL. IL 7

98 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

stimulating memories, and the picturesque freebooter who roamed
at large, dipping his hand occasionally into nature's pockets, had
generally squandered his princely gains and reared up no successor.
Under the influence of capital and organisation, and by the aid of
costly machinery, the search became transformed from an alluring
gamble into a patient working out of dry calculations. The revela-
tion of the permanent character of the quartz lodes, which such
working established, came at an opportune time, when the alluvial
gutters were showing signs of exhaustion. In quartz mining the
men, as a rule, worked for wages, and the labourer gradually
learned to prefer the certainty of his weekly earnings to the chance
of better results in a precarious venture by himself. It was the
alluvial miners, solitary prospectors and gully hunters that kept
the goldfields' population so incessantly disturbed. The largest
number of adult miners on the Victorian goldfields was reached
in 1858, when the Warden's returns gave 147,358 as employed,
of whom 33,000 were Chinese. This number steadily diminished
from that time forward. By the end of 1861 it was down to
100,000, in 1871 to 52,000, and ten years later to 35,000. But
in the period now referred to they were exceptionally restless,
continually lured away to fresh, and often very distant, fields upon
most inadequate evidence. Great " rushes " took place in succession
to Maryborough, to Dunolly and to Mount Ararat. At the latter
place, where it was reported that the diggings extended over five
miles of country, with comparatively shallow sinking, a population
of from 30,000 to 40,000 had congregated in August, 1857, to
be largely dispersed again before the end of the year. Movements
on a smaller scale had invaded Tarnagulla, Talbot, St. Arnaud ;
explored the ranges which divide the water-sheds of the Avoca and
the Loddon ; westward had reached Pleasant Creek, afterwards
known as Stawell ; and had also opened up many profitable fields
on several of the tributaries of the Goulburn Eiver. It seemed
as if the diggers in search of fortune were animated by that spirit
of impatience which is the characteristic of democracy, and too
often fields thus hastily tried and abandoned turned out in after
years yields of surprising richness. Distance certainly lent a
delusive attraction. In July, 1858, rumours reached Victoria of

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 99

a marvellously rich goldfield having been discovered at Port
Curtis, 1,500 miles from Melbourne, under the tropic of Capricorn.
The furore for adventure seized upon the miners. The coastal
steamers were filled to overflowing, and the hoardings of Mel-
bourne and Geelong were aflame with placards soliciting pas-
sengers for a fleet of brigs and schooners, and even small sloops,
laid on for the new Eldorado. And when the eager thousands had
surmounted the cramped discomforts of the scrambling voyage,
they were landed on the edge of a wilderness, where there was
neither water nor food obtainable for such an invasion, and where
gold only existed in trifling quantity and widely distributed patches.
Hundreds succumbed to dysentery and unhealthy climatic surround-
ings, and the Legislature was moved to urge the Ministry, in the
interests of humanity, to save the remnant from starvation. Mr.
O'Shanassy accordingly sent the surveying steamer Victoria, under
Captain Norman, with a full cargo of provisions, to the rescue.
Altogether, the Government provided the means of return to
nearly 2,000 stranded miners, in the hope that the severe lesson
would induce them to transfer their energies to the development
of the assured mineral resources of their own colony. But the
lesson was not learned even by that generous outlay. Two years
afterwards some 8,000 miners were lured away, by vague reports,
over the ranges at the head of the Snowy Eiver, to the neighbour-
hood of Kiandra, in New South Wales, whence, six months later,
they gravitated back in a half-starved and generally destitute
plight. In 1861 startling rumours from New Zealand set them
again in commotion, and once more an exodus of 10,000 or 12,000
men took place to Otago, only to find that they had been the
victims of the grossest exaggeration. The effort to move the
Government again to undertake the task of bringing them back
was a failure. The Chief Secretary had bought his experience,
and he declined to renew the process.

This restlessness of the mining population, while it was confined
within the limits of the colony, though it probably retarded the
increase in the gold yield, was certainly instrumental in helping the
settlement of the country. As a rule, wherever a mining " rush "
took place a town grew up, and, though in many cases when an

7*

100 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

alluvial field appeared to be worked out the population fell from
thousands to hundreds, it generally remained as a rallying-point,
and if the surroundings were at all favourable, grew into importance
upon a more favourable basis. With the beginnings of agriculture
in earnest a decade later, the most favoured spots for selection were
adjacent to some township, where the facilities for supplies had been
already established for a largely vanished population.

In comparison with the exceptional growth of preceding years,
the period now dealt with was somewhat stagnant in the matter of
population. On the 1st of January, 1857, it was roundly 400,000.
By the end of 1863 it had risen to 571,000— fully one-half of the
increase being due to excess of births over deaths. Immigration
had received a considerable check by the dissemination of press
reports in England of the want of employment by the labouring
classes, and the highly coloured speeches of the men who in public
meetings voiced their complaints. Prior to the commencement of
railway construction there were many such demonstrations, and in
1857 they made out such a pitiful story that Parliament voted
£25,000 to be expended by the Public Works Department in pro-
viding them with remunerative occupation. The demagogues who
took these men in hand, acting as their spokesmen at deputations
and mass meetings, took their cue from the Convention, and invari-
ably denounced the squatter as the source of all the evils of the
day, declaring that their monopoly prevented the industrious
labourer from getting his rightful share of that land which was
assumed to be the sure passport to fortune. As a matter of fact,
the Government sold half a million acres of land during this year,
1857, at an absurdly low price — a quantity enormously in excess of
the available people capable of bringing it into profitable use. To
talk of putting the shiftless, penniless crowd of workless men upon
the land was merely to suggest relegating them to starve out of
sight instead of parading their woes in the city. The Government
invented work for them at 5s. per day — some of it, though not pre-
sently necessary, was prospectively useful ; much of it was abso-
lutely wasteful. One contingent was employed for several months
in levelling the sand dunes on the beach between Sandridge and St.
Kilda with a vague intention of some day selling them for residence

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 101

sites. The selling did not come off for more than twenty years
after, and the prevailing winds had long before restored the land to
its original characteristic of rolling downs. The Ministry of that
day by its action gave a tacit consent to the doctrine that every man
had a right to employment, and that it was the duty of the Govern-
ment to find it for him if he failed in his own efforts to do so.
From that day forward, year after year, the unemployed have been
a prominent factor in Victorian politics, organised in their proceed-
ings, with a secretary to formulate their views, knocking at the door
of the Treasury and bearding apologetic Ministers. No Govern-
ment has had the nerve to be candid with them, because each
member of such deputations had as much voting power as the most
influential landowner or merchant in the State, and in combination
they were to be feared. Nor has any Government shown the
ability or found the leisure to deal with the question on remedial or
preventive lines. While the progress of the colony on the natural
side of its expansion — agriculture and dairying — has been seriously
retarded by the want of labour, not only has no comprehensive
plan been devised for fitting these opposing conditions to each
other, but the difficulty has been intensified by the tendency of
successive Governments to placate the workers by establishing
uniform rates of wages for all — rates that in other countries could
only be earned by the skilled artisan. Needless to say they were
generally found prohibitive of employment in connection with the
smaller gains and more intermittent labour of the farmer. When
the railway works were commenced in June, 1858, the Sandhurst
line absorbed the labour of quite 4,000 men, and the Geelong to
Ballaarat line some 2,500 more, and for a time the workless were
less in evidence. But there always remained a residuum, chiefly
composed of the incapable, the physically unfit and the dissolute,
for the men with health, energy and common-sense had no difficulty
in finding where they were wanted.

Two events that occurred during Sir Henry Barkly's adminis-
tration deserve extended notice. The first was a substantial refor-
mation in the Penal Department, which, owing to the inevitable
invasion of Van Diemen's Land criminals during 1852-53, had by
the strain put upon it proved lamentably incomplete in its equip-

102 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ment and disorganised in staff and morale. Prior to the date of the
Governor's arrival the insufficiency of prison accommodation had
been to some extent met by the detention of a large number of the
more desperate criminals on board four prison hulks moored in the
bay. Parties of these men were landed daily to work in the stone
quarries and at some projected fortifications at Williamstown. On
one occasion a gang of them, led by a notorious bushranger, popu-
larly known as Captain Melville, had seized the launch in which
they were returning from work, killed the man in charge, and
thrown two others overboard. They were not long in the enjoy-
ment of their liberty, being recaptured by the water police before
they could regain the shore. Nine of the men were put on their
trial for murder and duly convicted, Melville as the leader being
sentenced to death. During the trial this man had made state-
ments about the treatment of prisoners and the brutality of some
of the officials so repulsive as to be almost incredible. They so
shocked the moral sense of the community that a public meeting
was convened by the Mayor of Melbourne, which resulted in a
petition against the execution of Melville, and a demand for a
searching inquiry into the methods of the Penal Department. Mr.
David Blair and Dr. Singleton led the indictment, which was sup-
ported by several prominent ministers of religion, many members
of the legal profession, and other leading citizens. The result of
the public interference was startling. Melville was reprieved, and
had the satisfaction of dying by his own hand some eight months
later. The Government appointed a Select Committee of the Legis-
lative Council to investigate alleged abuses. That body was quickly
convinced that the management of the department was costly and
unsatisfactory in nearly every respect, but that the defects were
largely due to the want of proper buildings in which classification
and separate treatment could be carried out. They did not, how-
ever, consider that the charges of callous brutality and official cruelty,
so freely voiced by the citizens' committee, had been substantiated.
Unfortunately, by some means the press reports of the citizens'
meetings were smuggled aboard the prison hulks, and they served
to keep alive a defiant and mutinous spirit that gave a fine flavour
of danger to a warder's duties. In the belief that public sympathy

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 103

was with them, some of the convicts refused to go to work, and
others combined in active protests against the quality of their food,
and other matters. On the 26th of March, 1857, Mr. Inspector
Price, the head of the department, went down to Williamstown to
investigate matters for himself. He was a very strict disciplinarian,
with a record in Tasmania that made his very name detested by
the Victorian criminal recruits from that island. He went boldly
amongst the gang at work in the quarries, and demanded the cause
of their complaints. His manner was imperious and unconciliatory,
but he had a mob of crime-hardened ruffians to deal with, and in
the bad old school of Norfolk Island and Port Arthur he had never
been known to flinch from the severest measures to command sub-
mission. Many of the desperadoes around him, who had changed
their colony but not their nature, bore him a deadly hatred in
memory of old severities, and a sudden spasm of vengeance over-
took them. Unable to restrain their passion, and indifferent to any
consequences, they suddenly fell upon him, and with stone, hammer
and shovel battered him out of the semblance of humanity. Two
of the warders who were with him made some effort at protection,
but they were easily beaten off, and the others fled to give the
alarm. The situation was desperate enough. Some two hundred
men armed with spades, spall hammers and crow-bars could, if
they had made a determined rush for liberty, have swept all before
them. But while they hesitated what to do, and commenced knock-
ing off their irons, alarm bells were ringing, the volunteer artillery
corps turned out, a number of residents joined the police in forming
a cordon and reassuring the warders, and within a couple of hours
discipline had so reasserted itself that the bulk of the prisoners
marched down to the boats and re-embarked at the word of com-
mand. All who fled were recaptured, and a coroner's jury on Mr.
Price's body returned a verdict of wilful murder against fifteen who
had appeared to be ringleaders. A portion of the number went to
trial before Judge Barry, and seven of them were convicted and
executed.

The evidence adduced at that trial was again a shock to the com-
munity, for after making every allowance for exaggeration it was
clearly shown that the system was worked with a rough severity

104 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

approaching brutality, calculated to promote mutiny among the
hardened and the desperation of despair in the more venial offenders.
There was no sense of any possible reformatory influence, no aim
at any system, or even a glimmering of the simplest principles of
criminology. The one object which seemed to possess the official
mind entirely was to prevent escape, and even in that, despite the
universal use of mediaeval fetters, failure was notorious. In July,
1857, the Government fortunately secured in Colonel W. T. N.
Champ, as successor to Mr. Price, a much higher type of man.
He had made the convict problem a serious study during a twenty-
five years' residence in Tasmania, as military officer, police magis-
trate, commandant at Port Arthur, and finally as Chief Secretary.
He had left the impress of his more humane methods and better
organisation even on the pandemonium of that sad island, and
before he had been a year in office in Victoria he had practically
reconstructed the department. The " floating hells," as the hideous
prison hulks which disgraced the bay were popularly called, were
gradually abandoned ; the flimsy wooden " stockades " at Carlton
and Eichmond were superseded ; and the collection of wooden
sheds at Pentridge gave place to a substantial building wherein
classification and proper supervision were possible. The result in
a very short time was most gratifying to the Government, for not
only were the scattered evidences of criminality reduced in number,
but the prisoners were found some industrial occupation, and the
cost of administration was reduced by fully £20,000 a year. The
reformation did not reach any high point in the science of dealing
with criminals, but it was a step in the right direction. For the
time it satisfied public clamour, and it certainly ended the many
mutinous outbreaks, which had been a cause of terror to the citizens
and danger and fatality to the officials and prisoners alike.

The other noticeable event of the period was outside the political
arena. It represented a spontaneous effort of the people of Victoria
to take some part in the exploration of the vast unknown interior
of the continent. So far all effort in that direction had either
been at the expense of the Crown or the work of New South
Wales and South Australia. Victoria, with its restricted boundaries
now fairly well examined, had nothing to gain territorially by any

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARELY 105

exploration, but there was a generous sense of emulation amongst
the colonists to assist in solving the problem as to whether the
interior of Australia was a barren, waterless desert, or a potential
feeding-ground for untold millions of sheep and cattle. In this
aspect at least it concerned one section of Victorians, who, as the
land laws squeezed them out, were perforce taking up country on
the outskirts of New South Wales, and pressing forward into the
unknown.

In 1859 a provision dealer in Melbourne, named Ambrose Kyte,
offered anonymously £1,000 towards the cost of such an exploration.
The project was commended by the press as patriotic, and taken up
by the Eoyal Society of Victoria as helpful to scientific inquiry.
The public grew interested, and about £2,500 was added to the fund
by voluntary donations. But this was far short of what would be
required to fit out an expedition qualified to give valuable results.
So after the manner that has remained a characteristic of all Austra-
lian communities, an appeal was made to the Government which
met with a generous response. Parliament voted £9,000 in aid of
the project, and took steps to import camels from India for the pur-
pose. The duty of selecting a leader for the expedition was confided
to a committee of the Eoyal Society, subsequently extended by the
inclusion of a large number of prominent colonists and officials into
a somewhat unwieldy body known as "The Exploration Fund
Committee ". The choice of a leader fell upon E. O'Hara Burke,
an inspector of police in Victoria, who had seen some military service
in Austria hi his youth, and who was accounted by all who knew
him as a fine dashing, brave and probably reckless Irishman, full
of the adventurous spirit belonging to vigorous health and the prime
of life. Unhappily, he proved to be deficient in the necessary quali-
fications of tact and patience. He knew nothing of bush-craft or
surveying, and was without any experience in dealing with the ab-
origines. His second hi command, G. J. Landells, was an ignorant
man whose chief qualification for the post was that he was the only
available person who knew anything of the management of camels,
he having been employed by the Government to purchase them and
bring them from India. On the strength of this special knowledge
he gave himself aggressive airs, and was soon at loggerheads with

106 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the whole camp. The third officer, W. J. Wills, was the only one
who possessed the necessary scientific attainments for the work.
At the time of his appointment he was a valued assistant to Professor
Neumayer at the magnetic observatory, and though only twenty-six
years of age was held in very high esteem for his abilities by the small
body of scientists in Melbourne. To these three were added a Dr.
Beckler as botanist and medical adviser, and another German doctor
as naturalist and draughtsman, making, with the necessary subor-
dinates and Hindoo camel drivers, a party of eighteen in all. The
large and not very unanimous committee in charge were responsible
for many delays, and for the ponderous character of the cavalcade
which started from Melbourne on the 20th of August, 1860, with some-
thing of a theatrical display, followed by the cheers of thousands of
excited spectators. It included a large number of saddle and pack
horses, twenty-four camels, two huge waggons, and half a dozen
other vehicles carrying several tons of provisions and fodder, and
much unnecessary impedimenta. The start was unfortunately made
quite three months too late in the season. The ponderous caravan
was slow in its movements, and seven weeks slipped away in reach-
ing the outposts of civilisation at Menindie on the Darling. Here,
on the eve of plunging into the unknown, the rupture between Burke
and Landells came to a head, and the latter, accompanied by Dr.
Beckler, the medical officer, turned tail and hurried back to Melbourne
to bombard the committee with complaints against their leader.
Meanwhile Burke, who realised that the summer was now close
upon him, was most anxious to push on to Cooper's Creek, where
the committee had instructed him to form a depdt as a base for
further operations. Water and grass were already getting scarce,
and the value of the camels for travelling had not come up to ex-
pectations. So on the 19th of October Burke started from Menindie
with Wills and six men, leaving directions for the others to follow
leisurely with the remaining camels and the bulk of the stores.
They reached Cooper's Creek, fixed the site of the main dep6t, on
21st November, and then impatiently waited the arrival of the laggard
rear party for nearly a month.

But the leader of the rear party, a man named Wright, whom
Burke had hastily engaged at Menindie in place of the deserter

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 107

Landells, proved an unfaithful servant. Under various excuses of
waiting the confirmation of his appointment by the committee in
Melbourne, and want of funds to purchase extra stores, he made
no effort to fulfil his leader's injunctions, and did not start north
for more than three months after he should have been en route.
Burke waited, expecting him daily, until the 16th of December,
when his patience gave out. Once more dividing his party he
started northward, accompanied by Wills, King and Gray, taking
only one horse, six camels and three months' provisions on a
strictly limited scale. He directed Brahe, who remained in charge
of the depot with the other three men, to await his return, and
plunged into the unknown.

The country presented no difficulties to their progress. For
the most part there was plenty of feed for the camels, numerous
creeks, and an abundance of wild duck and other game. As they
approached the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the country was
found so swampy, and the camels got so frequently bogged, that
they were obliged to leave them, and load their provisions on the
one horse. With this they made fair progress until the 9th of
February, when Burke once more resorted to his favourite plan of
halving his resources, and leaving King and Gray with the bulk
of the provisions, he and Wills pushed on together over the rotten
ground towards the sea coast. Two days later they reached the
Flinders Kiver near its mouth, and saw, amidst a wilderness of
mangrove, the inrushing salt tide from the Gulf. It was a squalid
denouement of the grand cavalcade that had set out from the
Royal Park nine months before. Two gaunt, ragged men hi a
mangrove swamp within a few miles of the sea, but from their
weakness not able to reach it, as the apex of the prolonged labours
and costly expenditure of the Exploration Committee. Still, the
prescribed work had been done, the continent actually crossed
for the first time, and such eclat as pertained to the feat had been
won for Victoria.

Provisions were nearly exhausted, and it was necessary to
hurry back, so rejoining King and Gray, a start was made home-
ward on the 13th of February. The camels were recovered, and
the chances of a safe and rapid return looked promising. But

108 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

they were disconcerted by exceptionally wet weather at first, storm
succeeding storm almost daily ; they were without tents, their
limited allowance of provisions suffered damage, and sodden by
day and night they began to break down. Burke suffered severely
from dysentery ; Gray succumbed to it, and was left in a shallow
grave among the spinifex bushes. The camels could not travel in
the sludge ; some were abandoned to their fate, one was killed and
jerked, and finally the half-starved horse shared a similar fate.
Two worn-out camels only remained, and Burke mounted on one,
with Wills and King on the other, they toiled desperately towards
the depot where they had left Brahe to await their return. Part
of the last week of their journey was across a waterless, stony
desert, which brought them to the verge of collapse, but on the
21st of April they dragged themselves into the depot, to find it
cruelly deserted.

The unpardonable neglect of Wright to bring up the rear party
from the Darling, and the unduly prolonged absence of Burke in
the northern wilds, had reduced Brahe to an unbearable condition
of nervous anxiety, and on the morning of the very day on which
the luckless explorers returned he had started south, his party
well provided with provisions and means of transport. He left a
letter to that effect, enclosed in a bottle and buried with a quantity
of provisions. To the latter the half-starved explorers turned
ravenously for present consolation, and then sank into the deep
sleep of exhausted bodies and depressed spirits. Thus commenced
a course of most unhappy blundering and miscalculation, that
culminated in the prolonged suffering and death of the leaders,
entailed heavy expenditure with much labour and hardship on
search parties, and evoked a great display of angry recrimination
in Melbourne.

Burke, mentally and physically enfeebled, shrank from under-
taking the journey of 360 miles to the Darling. He had heard
that pastoral settlement in South Australia had extended to within
150 miles of Cooper's Creek, and he resolved to make for the
nearest outlying station in that direction. Wills strongly urged
the following up of Brahe's party, who, as subsequently shown,
were camped only a dozen miles from them on the evening of the

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIE HENRY BARKLY 109

21st. But Burke was obdurate, and the loyalty of Wills to his
leader cost both their lives. They started on the south-east trail
after a few days' rest, but two months of helpless wanderings saw
them, defeated and despairing, back near the dep6t; their two
camels dead, and life barely kept in themselves by gifts of fish
from the natives, and bread from the ground seeds of the nardoo
plant. Before starting on their trying journey Burke had planted
a letter in the cache, stating where they had gone and their object-
ive. Brahe, on his retreat to the Darling, was met by Wright
tardily setting out for the depot. When they met it was agreed
that some of the party should turn back to Cooper's Creek for a
final look round before abandoning all hope of finding their leader.
They reached the depot some four weeks after Burke had started
towards Adelaide, and so reprehensibly superficial was their exami-
nation, that they hastily concluded no one had been there since
Brahe left — they assumed that the provisions they had buried were
untouched — and as they did not open the cache, Burke's letter
remained undiscovered. Being satisfied that the explorers had
never returned from the north, Brahe and Wright once more
retraced their steps to Menindie and sped the doleful story to
Melbourne.

When the three ragged shadows once more reached the depot,
there was nothing to indicate that a well-equipped rescue party had
come and gone in the interval, and after a hard struggle to prolong
life on the innutritions nardoo, they resigned themselves to the in-
evitable. The last pathetic entry in the journal of the gallant young
Wills is dated 29th June, 1861, and he died alone, probably within
twenty- four hours. Two days later Burke breathed his last, and
the attenuated survivor King, having no strength to dig a grave,
was fain to cover his body with boughs, and leave him where he
fell. Then despondingly he attached himself to a wandering tribe
of natives, and being of a hardy constitution, managed to keep alive
on the food which his comrades had found so deficient in sustaining
power.

All Australia was stirred to its depths by the story which Wright
carried to Melbourne. Blame was prodigally distributed all round.
It fell perhaps loudest on the Exploration Committee ; then on the

110 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

subordinates who had been callously negligent in action, or palp-
ably faithless to their trust; and even on the unhappy victims of
Burke 's impetuosity, as well as on himself. But search parties were
promptly organised, and the first to start from Melbourne was led by
an experienced bushman, well versed in dealing with the aborigines,
Mr. A. W. Howitt, who generously volunteered his services to the
Eoyal Society. Simultaneously, the Government despatched the
surveying steamer Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria, whence an
expedition was started southward, under Landsborough. Another,
furnished by Queensland, set out from Eockhampton towards the
Gulf ; and finally, the Government of South Australia fitted out one
under McKinlay to travel up to Cooper's Creek by the route which
had baffled Burke and Wills in their attempt towards Adelaide.
The explorers had been long dead before these various expeditions
got afield. The search parties were instrumental in adding much
to geographical knowledge, but as far as the main object of their
journey was concerned Howitt alone was successful. It was far in
September before he reached Cooper's Creek, and after a few days'
search, he came upon natives who led him to where King was being
faithfully tended by the friendly blacks. Wasted to a skeleton, with
a few tattered rags tied about him, he could scarce speak or under-
stand for a time. But they nursed him back to life, and to him
and to the scattered note-books and diaries of Wills, which he was
instrumental in recovering, the colony was indebted for the meagre
details of the important part of the disastrous expedition. After
reverently burying the two bodies, Howitt hastened back to Mel-
bourne. When the whole story was revealed, there arose an im-
petuous demand that the remains of the explorers should be brought
to Melbourne, to receive the belated honours of a public funeral.
Mr. Howitt again undertook that task, and as showing how the
dangers of the past had been due to want of reasonable calculation,
he brought his melancholy cortege down by the very route that
had been considered impracticable by the trio when they sought to
reach Adelaide vid Mount Hopeless. It was proved that when
they turned back in despair to Cooper's Creek, they were only about
forty miles from the nearest outlying station.

On the 21st of January, 1863, the public funeral took place,

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HENRY BARKLY 111

and was attended and witnessed by many thousands of spectators.
All the shops were closed along the route, and the procession
included most of the members of the Government, the prominent
officials, from the Chief Justice downward, the foreign consuls, the
leading ministers of all the churches, and a huge following of
private citizens. It was not so much a national recognition of
a great heroic performance — for, truth to tell, the expedition was
scientifically a failure — but rather the expression of a widespread
feeling that there was something to be atoned for, some injudicious
management and unfaithful service, that had been responsible for
the disastrous result.

Victoria had won the race in the competition for the first crossing
of the continent, but it had cost altogether seven lives, and a total
expenditure, including pensions to survivors and monuments to
the dead, of over £50,000. Now that Cooper's Creek is practically
a settled pastoral district, the story of the trials and sufferings of
this expedition seem almost incredible, for the journey so fraught
with misery has since been made by one Colonial Governor for
pleasure, and by several bicyclists for mere business purposes. A
huge granite monolith marks the place in the Melbourne Cemetery
where Burke and Wills were laid to rest, and the streets of the
capital are adorned by an heroic group in bronze erected in their
honour, from a design by Charles Summers, the first and finest
work of the kind ever produced in Victoria.

Before this year was out Sir Henry Barkly had departed for
his new sphere of duty. He sailed in September, without any
ostentatious leave-taking, leaving behind him a strong Ministry to
carry on the business of the country, and bearing away the con-
sciousness of seven years' work faithfully done, undisturbed by any
of those constitutional struggles which involved his successor in such
woful shipwreck.

CHAPTEE V.

AN BRA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868.

SIB CHARLES HENRY DARLING, K.C.B., who was sworn in as
Governor of Victoria on the llth of September, 1863, was the
bearer of a name that to the colonists of a preceding generation
had been symbolical of a bad type of irresponsible military des-
potism. He was a nephew of that General Ealph Darling who
from 1825 to 1831 ruled the people of New South Wales, and
during those few years evoked so much antagonism from the press
and the populace, largely influenced by the impetuous Went worth,
that his departure more resembled a flight than a farewell function.
His nephew had not the tenacity of purpose of his namesake, nor
had he the same opportunities of exercising power. He was a
novice in constitutional law, and his training as military secretary
to his uncle in Sydney had given him a poor opinion of it. With-
out any experience of representative Government, or any strength
of character, he was as wax in the hands of such dominant men as
James McCulloch and George Higinbotham, and they became the
virtual rulers of the colony. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that
weakness of purpose was the only defect in Sir Charles Darling's
character. When he had been cajoled into flagrant violation of
the impartiality which his instructions from the Crown laid on
him, he developed a pettiness amounting almost to vindictiveness
in denouncing to the Secretary of State those who had opposed
him. So far did he carry these sweeping comments that his
peremptory recall was rendered inevitable. He was even fatuous
enough to suppress despatches from the Colonial Office which
ought to have been promptly laid before Parliament, and to garble
others which he submitted by unjustifiable omissions. On the
whole, the verdict of posterity will probably be that he was the

112

AN EEA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 113

poorest specimen of a Governor ever permitted to represent Her
Majesty in Victoria. And yet, by virtue of his undisguised oppo-
sition to the Legislative Council, he invariably received the plaudits
of the mob in his public appearances, and especially on the occasion
of his somewhat dramatic departure.

On the same day that the Governor was installed, and imme-
diately after that ceremony, he was escorted to the Legislative
Chambers and formally prorogued the House. He had thus a few
months to familiarise himself with his surroundings during a lull
in the normal conditions of political strife, for Parliament did not
resume its sittings until the 26th of January, 1864. The first
session of which he had experience, and which closed on the 2nd of
June, was both brief and colourless. On the 2nd of February Mr.
Heales brought in a Bill to amend the Duffy Land Act, which
afforded a jaded discussion for a couple of months, and then went
to the Council to meet the fate which had befallen a similar effort
in the preceding session. It was no great loss, for it was but a
feeble attempt to cure an incurably bad piece of legislation, by
increasing stringency of supervision over the selector during a
period of five years' probationary leasing, and by making the
Minister of Lands the judge of his bona fides. It proposed to
extend the Parliamentary generosity, hitherto confined to the " poor
selector," to the creation of a race of " poor squatters " by granting
ten years' licences of blocks of 2,560 acres at a trifling rental. The
holders of these " grazing farms," when the capitalistic squatters,
with their flocks and herds, had been "driven across the Murray
with their own stock-whips," to quote a favourite figure of the day,
were to provide the local supply of meat, and the exportable quan-
tity of wool which had been wont to give an air of commercial
prosperity to the colony abroad. Mr. Duffy opposed the Bill on
the ground, amongst others, that there was no prohibition of the
present pastoral tenants of the Crown becoming tenants of these
grazing farms. So strongly did he feel in this matter, that he said
he would vote for the Bill, much as he disapproved of some of its
provisions, if clauses were introduced making it impossible for a
squatter to acquire a lease, and rendering its future transfer to such
a person illegal ! But the session passed away and the perennial

VOL. II. 8

114 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

question of the Crown lands was relegated to the next Parliament.
The remaining measures of the short session of 1864 were un-
important, and though some five and twenty Acts were assented
to, they were mainly machinery Bills.

The general elections commenced in August, and the new
Assembly met for business on the 28th of November. The result
had been extremely favourable to the Ministry, for on the opening
day no less than fifty-three members ranged themselves on the
right of the Speaker, facing a forlorn party of fourteen on the left.
The only notable men in the minority were John O'Shanassy,
Graham Berry and Sir Francis Murphy, the latter being almost
immediately withdrawn by his re-election to the chair. Some
well-known faces were missed. James Service and Charles Gavan
Duffy were both absent in England, E. D. Ireland and Charles
Jardine Don were among the rejected, and Wilson Gray had gone
to New Zealand, where he eventually became a judge.

About thirty new men appeared on the roll, some of them of an
ultra-democratic type, for the addresses of many of the candidates
had been quite theatrically " liberal " in the colloquial sense of that
term. Infallible measures were promised for getting the right
people on the land, and driving the squatters off it. Mining
legislation was to be brought up to date in the sole interest of those
who followed that arduous calling. The export duty on gold was
to be abolished, and a Mint provided, whereat the miner could get
the full value of his product in new sovereigns. And above all,
those sovereigns were to be kept in the country, to circulate from
hand to hand amongst the people who created them, and not to
fall into the rapacious maw of the foreign exporter in exchange for
his goods, the product of the pauper labour of the old world. The
fact that Victoria was undeniably a pastoral, agricultural and mining
country was ignored, and the proposal to convert her fair domain
into a manufacturing centre was hailed by the mass of the popula-
tion as a forward step in the race for pre-eminence and prosperity.
It seemed so simple a method of increasing employment and main-
taining wages to keep out by taxation the goods which could be
made locally. Therefore, the working man, looking at it only
through the medium of the wages question and the widened area

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 115

of employment for his children, threw in his lot vigorously with
the party which then, and for many years after, had Graham
Berry as its most voluble and resourceful champion.

The amount of fiery talk, the scorn of opposition, the derision
of warning, the glowing pictures of " a paradise for the working
man," which irradiated the speeches of aspiring legislators during
the general elections of 1864 and 1865, came as a startling revela-
tion to the industrious but prosaic business men of the colony. In
the early sixties no educated man, no one with a rudimentary
knowledge of the history of his mother-country, or of the operations
of commerce and exchange, would have cared to pose as an advocate
of Protection to native industry, which was so soon to sweep all
before it at the polls. If they thought about it at all in the inter-
vals of business, 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. Not a few of the colonists who had achieved pros-
perity in the land of their adoption had sad memories of the state
of despair to which the starving operatives in the manufacturing
centres of England had been reduced in 1842 under Protection,
and of the rioting, bloodshed and bitterness which had accompanied
its overthrow. But here, at the Antipodes, it was not the grasping
capitalist who led the clamour to resuscitate the rule of Protection,
but the artisan and the labourer, who had otherwhere been its
irreconcilable opponents.

This is not the place to elaborate the arguments that have been
advanced in favour of or in opposition to the doctrine. Number-
less writers have dealt with it in its special application to Victoria,
and it is very doubtful if all the discussions which have filled the
pages of Hansard and the columns of the daily press for the last
forty years have materially modified the opinions held respectively
by supporters and opponents. Yet, while arguments have had
little effect, results cannot entirely be ignored, and it will be seen
in the annals of the twenty-five years following that in which

Parliament complied with the popular mandate, and established

ft *

116 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Protection, that Victoria lost the pride of place she then occupied
as the wealthiest, the most populous, and the most attractive place
on the Australian Continent.

In the beginning of 1865 the colony was in a thoroughly sound
position. Customs' duties were collected on only about a dozen
articles, all of them of the nature used for revenue purposes the
world over. The total revenue, at a little over £3,000,000, left a
surplus on the year's expenditure. The public debt of £8,000,000
had been spent on railways and water supply to Melbourne, both
distinctly remunerative works. Eighty thousand miners, nearly one-
half of the male population between twenty-five and fifty years of
age, were at work producing gold to the value of £6,000,000 a year.
Half a million acres of land were under cultivation already, and
though this represented but a fraction of the area alienated, the
importation of breadstuffs had been reduced to less than half what
it was in 1855. The only obstacle to the colony feeding itself lay
in the difficulty of securing sufficient and suitable labour for this
primary industry. There were 118 flour mills throughout the
country ; no less than 782 manufactories, using machinery amongst
them valued at £1,773,000, and exporting their products to the
adjacent colonies to the value of £230,000 in 1864. Wages were
on the average quite double what would have been earned by the
same class in England, while, with the exception of house rent, the
cost of living was very considerably less. Trade was active, employ-
ment was abundant, and the community as a whole was basking
in prosperity.

Less than thirty years later the same community was in the
depths of despondency, losing the cream of its population, stagger-
ing under an unbearable burden of debt and a greatly enhanced
cost of living. The Government railways had accumulated a
deficiency of some £8,000,000, and were being worked at a loss
of £300,000 a year. Wages, after a few years of artificial inflation,
had fallen to such a level, that the leader of the Labour Party in
Parliament had told the House that the workers in Victoria " had
never been in such a deplorable condition as at present," and the
same authority asserted that in a large number of Victorian indus-
tries the hands were worse off than the London dock labourers,

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 117

whose desperate strike for a living wage had evoked sympathy and
assistance even in Melbourne. Processions of the unemployed
deranged the traffic of the streets ; their orators denounced the
Government as the cause of their distress, and demanded that the
Government should provide the remedy. It was not easy; for
in lieu of the helpful and resourceful men of the fifties, a new
generation of town-bred factory operatives had been nurtured into
existence, whose training and environment tended to the pro-
duction of cramped minds and debilitated frames. Thousands of
young women had flocked into this kind of employ, that gave them
the scantiest of remuneration, the minimum of useful instruction,
and absolutely unfitted them for the capable discharge of the duties
which should make home life attractive to the industrious artisan.
At the date of the census of 1891, after twenty-five years of State
aid in the nursing of manufactories, 43 per cent, of the entire
population of the colony had gravitated into Melbourne and suburbs,
and preferred to live there in intermittent employment, on the
verge of starvation, rather than face the hard life that follows
the plough or delves in the mine. The number of miners at
the same date had fallen to 21,000. Many of the more energetic,
whom Victoria could ill spare, had been lured away by the attrac-
tions of the little known Western Australia, the glamour of the
" far away hills ". The less enterprising contented themselves with
petitioning Parliament to bear the cost of fitting out and maintaining
prospecting parties to search for gold, which undoubtedly existed
in scores of untrodden gullies within their own borders.

Finally, the Government, finding that free railway passes, liberally
distributed, only relieved them of the presence of the impecunious
for a brief holiday, took up their alleged responsibilities and pro-
duced Factory Acts, Wages Boards, Anti-sweating Boards, and
promised Courts of Arbitration and other devices for which the
working man clamoured, because he began to realise that it was
he, and not the manufacturer, who had most need of Protection.

Of course, it is not assumed that Protection alone was directly
responsible for all these changes. It simply means that Govern-
ment took the initiative by stepping outside the definite principles
upon which nearly all economists are agreed, that the functions of

118 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the State outside of protection to life and property should be as
limited as possible ; and that it is unjust to impose a burden upon
the whole community, the benefit of which is confined to a portion
only. Having gone beyond the safety line, the Government felt
itself constrained to bear increasing burdens, which grew out of this
first false step. It found itself unable to resist the pressure of the
manufacturer who strove to translate protection into prohibition ;
and having yielded there, it could not withstand the demand of the
working man to be rendered independent of the gains or losses of
his employer. Hence it came about that the whole community
began to regard the Government as the mainstay of all industry,
the helper in every season of difficulty. Under this impression
individual enterprise was weakened, and the tendency to lean on the
support derivable from State socialism permeated all classes, with
the debilitating effect of an oriental fatalism.

To return from this anticipatory digression to the opening of
the fourth Victorian Parliament on the 29th of November, 1864, Sir
Charles Darling, in the speech provided for him, emphasised two
important points, which were alleged to require immediate attention.
Of the promised amendment of the Land Act he said : " My advisers
deem it necessary to the settlement of this difficult subject that
Parliament should be invited to pass a law which shall be simple
in its principle, unencumbered with superfluous and impracticable
conditions, calculated to bring the lands of the colony within easy
access of the public at large, whilst dealing equitably with existing
interests ". Then he passed cautiously to open the subject which
was destined to wreck his career. " It is proposed by my advisers
that the revenue collected through the Customs House shall be
levied partly by reduced duties upon objects already chargeable,
and partly by duties, moderate in amount, on various commodities
which as yet have been altogether exempt from taxation. The
effect, it is conceived, will be to decrease the burden of taxation
borne by the mining and other industrious classes, and to distribute
it more equitably among all classes of society."

The debate on the speech was mainly noticeable from the great
dissatisfaction expressed by Graham Berry at the half-hearted manner
in which the revision of the tariff was referred to, To him it was

AN ERA. OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 119

the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night that heralded the
redemption of the working man from his hard lot, and gilded his
future with glowing promise. Holding the views he did, it was not
unreasonable that he should distrust the Ministerial professions.
For, had not McCulloch said on the hustings at Mornmgton in a
previous election: "I am opposed to Protection. . . . What this
colony wants is to buy in the cheapest market and to sell in the
dearest." Had not the sarcastic Michie withered the Protectionist
cause in many witty public addresses? And had not Attorney-
General Higinbotham quite recently declared that he would never
remain in a Cabinet that sought to promulgate such a doctrine.
Even the Treasurer Verdon, who in response to the mandate of the
people made tentative advances towards it, showed by his apologetic
manner that he had been trained in a commercial school where its
theories had no honour. The Ministry were, however, strong enough
in supporters to be indifferent to criticism, and the reply to the
speech was promptly carried. The real debate on the tariff was
postponed until the land legislation had been disposed of.

Mr. James McPherson Grant had on the death of Mr. Heales
succeeded him in the charge of the Lands Department, and on the
30th of November he introduced an amending Land Bill, which
reached its third reading on 18th January following. It was further
amended by the Legislative Council, and sent backwards and for-
wards several times, until finally a conference between the Chambers
adjusted all difficulties, and it became law on 28th March. This Act,
commonly known as the Land Act of 1865, was based upon the
principles propounded by Grant in his election address : " that bond-
fide settlement should precede alienation of any description ; that
not an acre fit for agricultural purposes shall be alienated until the
person who selects it shall have given evidence to the State — and the
best evidence to the State — that he is a bond-fide selector by the im-
provement that he puts upon his allotments ". Conditional leases
were therefore granted for seven years at 2s. per acre to any appli-
cants for allotments of no less than 40 nor more than 640 acres in
extent, in any proclaimed agricultural area. If the holder of such
lease resided continuously thereon for three years, and during the
first two effected improvements to the value of £1 per acre, he could

120 A HISTOBY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

then acquire the freehold on payment of that sum, without competi-
tion. There were other clauses by which non-resident selectors who
made improvements within a year could have the land put up to
auction, with a valuation for their outlay, which they would receive
from the buyer if they failed to purchase. But up to this point the
leasehold rent in all cases was strictly a rent, and did not go towards
the purchase money, as in subsequent enactments. This Act was
memorable for the introduction of a principle somewhat akin to the
" Occupation Licences " of the Nicholson Act. The forty-second
clause became a very popular mode of settlement, as it enabled miners,
storekeepers and any one occupying Crown lands to obtain a licence
for a holding, up to 20 acres, at an annual rental of 2s. per acre.
It was intended to confine the provisions of this clause to the gold-
fields and their immediate vicinity, but the Minister had unfettered
discretion, and he used it very freely in extending the area of its
application. Any person of whose bona fides the Minister was sat-
isfied was allowed to hold four licences, and thus many small farms
of 80 acres were established, and frequently on the choicest parts
of squatters' runs. Within four years of this enactment 786,000
acres had been taken up under this clause by over 13,000 applicants,
the average holding being 46 acres. Widely as these facilities were
availed of, the selectors remained dissatisfied. They objected to a
rental of 2s. per acre while the pastoral tenant paid only about 2d.,
and they eventually succeeded, under subsequent Acts, in getting
the rental accepted as instalments of the purchase money. In the
prolonged struggle, however, some of the attractions of a free farming
life had been dispelled by want of success. Uncertain seasons, in-
experience, make-shift methods, and perfunctory cultivation left no
profits, and during these few years many hundreds of selectors had
their leases forfeited for non-completion of conditions, and improve-
ments to the value of over £100,000 were confiscated by the Crown.
For three or four years the political arena was so fully occupied by
the contention between the Assembly and the Council that no con-
structive legislation was possible, and reformation of the abuses
which had crept into the administration of the existing Land Acts
was practically hung up until 1869.

It is not easy to discover the specific grounds upon which the

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 121

three prominent men in the Cabinet of 1865 suddenly turned
their backs upon the economic principles which they had, until
then, so vigorously upheld. No financial exigency at the Treasury
demanded increased taxation, and indeed, had it done so, it would
have been a very roundabout way of reaching revenue to impose
duties intended to stop or largely reduce importation. Mr. Verdon,
in making his budget statement, was compelled to admit that the
revenue was satisfactory, and in order to make some sort of excuse
for spreading the grip of the Custom-house officer over the whole
area of commercial imports, he had to reduce by one-half the duty
on tea, sugar and opium, and to surrender the substantial revenue
derived from one of the most equitable forms of taxation ever
imposed, the export duty on gold. In view of the widespread
antagonism to the Chinese, it seems strange that a drug almost
exclusively used by them should be selected for a reduced duty,
but the explanation offered was that, in consequence of the lower
duty ruling in South Australia, it was being largely imported to
Adelaide and smuggled across the Murray to the goldfields. It
is difficult to escape the conviction, which was certainly widely
spread at the time, that, so far at least as Mr. McCulloch is con-
cerned, the retention of place and power was the main influence
that led him to accept the verdict of the majority, and to trim his
politics to suit them. And, however unpalatable the adoption of
such views may have been at the outset to the Attorney-General,
when they had once involved him in the dispute with the Council,
every consideration gave way before the one dominant desire for
victory. It was sufficient for the Chief Secretary that a majority
of the members had been elected pledged to Protection, and that
nearly a score were pledged to follow the ardent Graham Berry to
any extremity to ensure its recognition by the State. The miners,
too, were naturally eager to add half a crown an ounce to the value
of their products, without inquiring what proportion of the saved
export duty they would disburse in the enhanced cost of their food,
stores and appliances. It is true the export duty had been paid by
a comparatively few, but in all cases they were the successful ones,
and this was really the only charge imposed for the privilege of
helping themselves to so valuable a product and protecting them in

122 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the search for it. On the other hand, the import duties were spread
over the widest area, and touched alike the lucky finder of fortune-
giving nuggets and the solitary fossiker, between whom and starva-
tion there was often only the forbearance of the storekeeper.

The incidence of the tariff appears in the retrospect to have
been arranged on a scale verging on the ridiculous. Nearly every-
thing that came into the colony in the shape of eatables was
charged at the rate of one penny per pound weight. Millinery and
articles made up of silk paid duty at the rate of 5s. per cubic foot
on the outside measurement of the package containing them. Ap-
parel and slops, boots and shoes, hosiery, gloves and other personal
effects were 4s. per cubic foot of enclosure. And nearly every-
thing else that could be listed was uniformly rated at 10 per cent.
ad valorem. The fixed duties on the external measurement of
packing cases acted most inequitably, taxing a gentleman's dress
suit, worth £10 10s., at the same figure as a digger's moleskins and
jumper, worth perhaps £1 10s. Under this system the rich man
paid less than 5 per cent, on his apparel, and the labouring man
from 20 per cent, to 50 per cent.

But such considerations were not allowed to have any influence.
Confident in a subservient majority, the Ministry implied that the
duty of the House was to comply with the mandate of the country
by passing the tariff, not to discuss it, so by the 19th of January
the resolutions for imposing the duties were agreed to, and their
collection at the Customs was forthwith commenced. Such a
course, in anticipation of the early passing of a Tariff Bill by Par-
liament, was stiictly in accordance with British precedent, as a
necessary protection of the revenue, the theory being that in the
event of the duties failing to become legally collectable the interim
payments would be refunded. But when months passed by and
no Customs Bill was introduced, the importers began to turn
restive, and Mr. O'Shanassy made an inquiry in their interest.
To his surprise Mr. McCulloch replied that, in consequence of an
agitation which had been raised by a certain class in the city
against the tariff, the Government, with a view to avoid jeopardis-
ing a measure which, after long debate, had been passed by a large
majority in the Assembly, had decided to include it in the Ap-

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 123

propriation Bill ; and he urged members to hurry through the
Estimates in order that the Bill might be promptly sent to the
Council, throwing upon that Chamber " the responsibility of re-
jecting the Appropriation Bill if they were so disposed ". Mr.
O'Shanassy entered an earnest protest against such a violation of
procedure, upon the mere assumption that the Council would deal
adversely with the tariff, if sent up separately. He denounced the
proposal as unconstitutional, and, though a few members had the
courage to support him, the bulk of the Ministerialists were quite
satisfied with the assurance of Messrs. Higinbotham and Michie
that everything was in perfect legal order, and gleefully entered
upon the struggle.

On the 16th of May the Legislative Council, having considered
this defiant intention to invade their rights, unanimously passed
resolutions binding themselves to adhere to the practice of the
Imperial Parliament in regard to matters which may be comprised
in one Bill ; and affirming : " That it is contrary to such usage and
practice to introduce any clause or clauses of appropriation or other
foreign matter into a Bill of aid or supply. That it is contrary
to such usage and practice to introduce any clause or clauses of
aid or supply, or other foreign matter, into a Bill of appropriation."
Unheeding this warning, the Assembly, having rushed through the
Estimates, passed the Appropriation cum Tariff, cum Gold Duty
Bill through all its stages, and transmitted it to the Council.
Simultaneously with its receipt a petition was presented to that
Chamber, praying the rejection of the Bill, which was signed by
over 24,000 persons, representing some of the most important
interests in the colony. Amongst them were 750 merchants and
bankers, about 10,000 shopkeepers and other tradesmen, nearly
1,000 farmers, over 4,000 miners, and about as many mechanics
and artisans. With such a backing the Council did not hesitate,
and on a division the hybrid Bill was " laid aside " by a majority of
twenty to five on the motion of Mr. Fellows. The discussion
showed that members generally were ready to pass the Appro-
priation Bill if it could be divorced from its companion measures,
but the President ruled that such a step would be tantamount
to amending a Money Bill, which was ultra vires. Mr. Sladen,

124 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

in a vigorous championship of the constitutional rights of the
Chamber, said: "If the House passed this Bill they might expect
that next session a Land Bill would be tacked to the Appropriation
Bill, or that a variety of other Bills would be tacked to it, or
that even the whole legislation of the session would be disposed
of in one day, in one great consolidation measure ".

When the decision reached the Assembly the Chief Secretary
caused the House to record a series of resolutions, by which he
intended to commit his followers to a course of action from which
retreat would be impossible. These declared the exclusive and
inherent right of the Assembly to deal with all matters of taxation,
and pledged it not to entertain any other Appropriation Bill until
the Legislative Council should have adopted the tariff which had
been sanctioned by the Lower House. Violent invective and pas-
sionate assertion characterised the denunciations of the Council,
and a few days later the Government Gazette contained an an-
nouncement from the Treasurer that "the payment of salaries,
wages and contingencies must be delayed until the necessary
authority for the expenditure has been obtained ".

These high-handed proceedings naturally alarmed the mercantile
classes, who for over six months had been paying duties which had
not been levied by Act of Parliament, and which now seemed likely
to fail in acquiring that sanction. The law was put in motion,
and actions were commenced by importers to recover the duties
illegally exacted. The Government responded with an intimation
that they " intended to resist to the court of final appeal this
attempt improperly to recover money legally paid under the
sanction of the Legislative Assembly, and that the Act of Parlia-
ment intended to be passed to give legal form to the resolutions
would be retrospective in its operation, and would subject all
persons who endeavoured by legal means to defraud the revenue
to the costs of their litigation ". The Supreme Court decided in
favour of the merchants, but the Commissioner of Customs an-
nounced that the decision of the Judges would not alter the
determination of the Ministry, and that the collection of the duties
would continue. This flouting of recognised authority, so rare
in a British community, where respect for the decision of an

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 125

upright and independent judiciary is a marked attribute, caused
something like consternation. Though weakly allowed to pass
without protest from the Governor, it was hotly denounced by
all the leading organs of the press throughout Australia. Public
indignation was so strongly expressed that even the irate ardour
of the Attorney- General was compelled to restraint, and on the
6th of October he applied to the Court for leave to carry an appeal
to a higher tribunal.

The volume of Hansard reporting the session of 1864-65 runs
to 1,560 pages. Any resolute investigator venturing into this
wilderness of words cannot but be struck with the moderation
and dignity of tone of the speeches on constitutional subjects
by the majority of the members of the Council, as compared
with those of the Assembly. An attitude of serene assurance
in their rights saved them from any display of temper, but the
calm passivity of their resistance intensified the anger of the As-
sembly until passion supplanted judgment. Some even amongst
the leaders of the House displayed a petty animosity, and many
of the minor lights discredited Parliament by intemperate language
and sweeping, slanderous aspersions of their opponents.

After the Council had assured the Ministry of its willingness to
pass an Appropriation Bill when "presented in the usual and
accustomed manner," it adopted an address to the Queen, in which
the events of the difference were explicitly narrated, and solicited
the interposition of Her Majesty for the maintenance of the Con-
stitution as by law established. Two weeks later the Council
resolved, on the motion of Mr. Sladen, that it was desirable to refer
the difference between the two Houses to the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council for final and authoritative decision. In the
Assembly the suggestion was scouted, Messrs. McCulloch, Higin-
botham and Michie all declaring that it was not a question of the
legal interpretation of an Act that was raised, but a matter of
political usage in which it behoved the Assembly to be its own
guide and judge.

Meanwhile, the gazetted suspension of payment was attracting
invidious comment, and the legal ingenuity of the Attorney-General
combining with the business influence of the Chief Secretary devised

126 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

a plan for evading the financial requirements of the Constitution
and the checks of the Audit Act. The six banks — which in associa-
tion held the Public Account of Victoria — were approached for a
loan, of an indefinite amount and term, to the Treasury officials.
The banks jointly took counsel's opinion, and were advised that
the proposed advance was illegal, if it was proposed to look to the
Government for repayment. One of the six, however, The London
Chartered Bank of Australia, of which Mr. McCulloch was the
local chairman, found itself over-persuaded by its director to a
course which eventuated in the manager's retirement. This bank
agreed to advance £40,000 to the Government, and, when it had
done so, promptly issued a writ for its recovery. By arrangement
no defence was entered for the Crown. The Attorney-General
confessed judgment for debt and costs, and the Governor signed a
warrant for payment of the amount out of the consolidated revenue
of the colony. This process was repeated every few weeks, and
the public creditor was duly paid without any legal certificate of
the validity of claims, or official supervision of the expenditure.
It was evident, if this process could be continued, that there was
no need for any Audit Department, or for the formality of an
Appropriation Bill, or even for the farce of deliberating on the
Estimates in Parliament. The Chamber of Commerce, alarmed at
such lawless proceedings, entered a formal protest against the
assumption by the Ministry of the absolute and irresponsible con-
trol of the finances of the colony, and followed it up by a petition
to the Queen, signed by some 20,000 citizens, praying for the
maintenance of the Constitution.

On the 8th of November the Assembly, despite the resolutions
on the records, consented to undo the "tack," and sent up the
Tariff Bill alone to the Council. But, with a view to making it as
unpalatable as possible, the Attorney-General devised a new pre-
amble, in which the Assembly formally claimed the exclusive right
of granting supplies. On this ground, and because it included the
reduction of the gold export duty, which, as a revenue of the Crown
lands, came equally under the purview of the Council, and because
a clause had been inserted involving retrospective legislation, the
Council rejected the Bill on a division by nineteen to five. The

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 127

iniquitous character of the retrospective clauses was universally
condemned. It was an attempt by an ex post facto law to prevent
private persons from obtaining the rights which had been formally
decreed to them by the highest legal tribunal in the land, the very
idea of which is repugnant to all English notions of justice.

A few days later Parliament was prorogued, and on the llth of
December it was dissolved for an appeal to the country. For a
time the colony was practically without any legal Government.
No Appropriation Bill had been passed for the year then closing :
no payment could be made, except with money raised by the col-
lusive judgments, and the disbursement of that was under no
legally authorised control. Yet in his prorogation speech the Gov-
ernor was made to say to the Assembly : "I am glad to be able to
announce that although your grants have not obtained the form of
law, they have been rendered available for the maintenance of the
functions of Government and the fulfilment of its legal obligations ! "

If the Legislative Council could have been concurrently dis-
solved, there might have been some sort of excuse for going to
the country ; but as the question between the Houses involved the
interpretation of constitutional law, on which learned counsel and
eminent jurists had argued heatedly for a whole year without con-
vincing each other, it was little short of absurd to place such an
issue before the manhood suffrage electors of the Assembly. The
question which the Council deemed of sufficient importance to
submit for the decision of the highest court of appeal in the Empire
was contemptuously thrown by Mr. McCulloch to the arbitration
of the man in the street, with a distinct implication that he was to
find for the plaintiff, lest a worse thing befal him. For although
Mr. McCulloch, in his election address, professed to ask them to
decide whether the right of taxation was vested solely in the
Assembly, the rallying war-cry of the majority of the candidates
was Protection to Native Industry, and the maintenance of the
rights of the people against the schemes of a plutocratic Council,
whose desire to get rid of the Ministry was declared to be not un-
connected with insidious designs on the public estate.

The general election proceedings extended over a month, which
was a period of great turmoil. Charges of the most defamatory

128 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

kind against the Council were freely launched from the hustings.
It was accused of covertly seeking a repeal of manhood suffrage ;
of conspiring with the squatters to block agricultural settlement ; to
secure perpetual leases of the waste lands of the Crown ; and, in
general terms, of trying to override the decisions of the people's
Chamber in all matters of policy or taxation. There was wild talk
of disregarding the Constitution, when it did not square with the
claims of the one-Chamber men, and of "cutting the painter" if
the Colonial Secretary presumed to interfere for its maintenance.
Even one of the Ministers, the Commissioner of Customs, plainly
insinuated that separation from the mother-country would be pre-
ferable to submission to outside interference. With such incentives
to passion the masses were roused to support what became known
as the " Loyal Liberal Cause," and the Ministry came back with a
further increased majority, though it must be confessed that the
tail of its supporters contained quite a crowd of nonentities. Many
of them owed their election entirely to the support and influence of
Ministers, and repaid the favour by a display of grovelling subser-
viency. The vivacious Solicitor-General, Mr. Michie, was the only
Minister who was rejected — O'Shanassy declined to go to the poll
on the ground of failing health. Perhaps the most remarkable de-
feat was that of Graham Berry at Collingwood. He had backed
up McCulloch in the " tack " ; he had preached Protection red-hot
to applauding thousands ; he had been amongst the most popular
leaders in the crusade against the Upper House. But he was
not a Ministerial tool. He had dared to oppose and to denounce
McCulloch's collusive juggles with the State funds, and the influence
of the Government was cast against him so successfully that he
was kept out of Parliament for three years. Although the Ministry
swept the country, some of the Metropolitan constituencies sent in
fresh men of fair debating power, many of whom were found amongst
the twenty forming the Opposition, facing a Ministerial phalanx of
fifty-eight.

On the 12th of February, 1866, the new Assembly was sworn
in and proceeded to elect its Speaker. Sir Francis Murphy, who
had held the position for ten years, had to face a contest. The
Opposition, by way of marking their disapproval of his indecision

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 129

and equivocation when appealed to for a ruling on the "tack"
question, and the very noticeable manner in which he revoked his
own decisions when bullied by the Chief Secretary, determined to
put forward another candidate, though with little hope of success.
It was contended that if the Speaker had possessed the courage of
his opinions, he could, by a little firmness, have blocked McCulloch
in his first revolutionary step, and have spared the colony the dis-
credit, loss and injury to which it had been exposed during the past
eight months. Mr. Peter Snodgrass, who was nominated for the
position, found only eighteen members independent enough to em-
phasise the lesson, and a solid vote of fifty-two Ministerialists
restored Sir Francis Murphy to the dignity of the chair.

The Governor's speech was a careful compilation of vague plati-
tudes, decorously abstaining from any reference to the social and
political revolution through which the colony had been struggling :
and there was little in it to indicate the future policy of the Ministry,
or how they proposed to carry on the Government. One thing
alone was definite. The tariff as approved by the last Assembly
was to be again submitted to Parliament, and His Excellency was
made to say that he " trusts the great difficulties which have accrued
from the differences between the Houses may be overcome," and
that " by a wise and considerate exercise of their powers, they may
be able to legislate according to the popular will" . Not perhaps
a very exalted idea of creative legislation, but probably fairly re-
presentative of the idea of manhood suffragists. The Legislative
Council promptly replied to the Governor's speech and made their
position quite clear. Their address stated that the late elections
having established the fact that a majority of the people favoured a
protective tariff, they were ready to give effect to this expression of
opinion, even should it involve a duty on wheat, flour and other
produce of the land. They disclaimed any desire to unduly interfere
with the fiscal system of the colony ; and they alleged that they were
not aware of any difficulties arising from the differences between
the Houses which could be removed by legislation. As to the
Appropriation Act for 1865, they said : "As we have more than
once informed your Excellency during the past session, we were de-
sirous to pass it, had it been transmitted in the accustomed manner ".

VOL. II. 9

130 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

On the 2nd of March the Tariff Bill was again sent to the
Council, and on the 13th was rejected by a majority of twenty
to eight, upon the grounds that the aggressive preamble was
still maintained, and that as a temporary measure, limited to three
years, it involved the possible absence of any Customs revenue
at the end of that period. When this became known, McCulloch
declared that the Constitution had failed, and tendered his resig-
nation. This step was accompanied by a voluminous Cabinet
minute, addressed to the Governor, setting forth the reason for
the retirement of his advisers, and throwing all the blame of the
deadlock on the Council. The document naturally attracted much
attention, and it was described in an article in the Argus as "fairly
bristling with falsehood". The epithet, though perhaps pictur-
esquely exaggerated, was by no means inapt. Those electors
whose judgment had not been dethroned by political passion
weighed the Council's defence, and saw in it a sufficient justifi-
cation for the use of strong language. And although the members
of the aspersed House were content to use the milder form of
"inaccuracies and misrepresentations," the minute they placed
upon record went far to justify the trenchant terms of the daily
journal.

McCulloch's indignation was very great, and he prevailed upon
the Assembly to put itself in the ridiculous position of resolving
that the obnoxious article was a scandalous breach of the privileges
of the House, and that the printer should be summoned to the
bar to answer for it. There could have been little doubt even
then, and there can be none at all now, that when the Ministerial
accusation and the Council's defence were placed side by side,
the charges did contain much that was absolutely untrue, and
much more that was gratuitously offensive in the imputation of
most discreditable motives to the members of the Council as a
body. But McCulloch's subservient majority were so eager to
punish some one for speaking disrespectfully of their chief, that
they cared little for facts. The Opposition fought hard to avert
the scandal, but the resolutions were carried by a large majority.
On the 20th of March Mr. Hugh George, the printer, was called
to the bar, and as the House refused his application to be heard by

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 131

counsel, he declined to apologise, and boldly declared that the
article complained of was "no more than a fair criticism upon
a statement made by a servant of the Crown in his public capacity
and in a public place ". He was forthwith ordered into custody,
where he proved a veritable white elephant, declining to ask for
his liberty, and refusing to accept his discharge while it was
accompanied by a demand for fees. In short, the outrage of his
incarceration developed into such an excellent joke that it covered
the Ministry with ridicule. When Parliament was prorogued on
the 10th of April, the warrant under which he was committed
lapsed, and Mr. Hugh George was escorted with something of
burlesque ceremony from his prison, to receive an ovation from
his friends in recompense for his three weeks' incarceration.

A most important resolution was carried in the Assembly on
the same day that the crusade against the press was commenced.
It absolutely pledged the House to withhold its confidence from
any administration that might be formed, unless it forthwith
adopted the Bill of Supply containing the Tariff, as already
submitted to the Council. This objectionable form of cabal to
frustrate the chances of any new Ministry was carried by thirty-
seven votes to fifteen. A change of Government under such
circumstances was hardly to be looked for. It had not been
usual for a Ministry, strong in the popular House, to resign on
account of the rejection of its measures by the Upper Chamber.
But McCulloch was irritated by the opposition to his irregular
practices, and he sought to show that the masses were behind
him, and that no other Ministry was possible.

The Governor did not send for Mr. Fellows, the leader of the
Opposition in the Council, but he wrote to inquire if he would
undertake the task of carrying on the Government. After some
negotiation Mr. Fellows replied that he was prepared with an
administration, conditionally upon the present occupants of office
making the necessary provision, constitutionally, for the public
service, pending the elections of the members of the proposed new
Ministry. He also stipulated that in the event of the Assembly
refusing to grant such supplies, His Excellency would again grant
a dissolution. The Governor, with some show of reason, said he

9*

132 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

could not exact from the outgoing Ministry a task they had been
unable to perform for themselves, and he declined to consider
another dissolution, so the negotiations came to nothing. When
Mr. McCulloch met the House on the 28th of March, he stated that,
as no successors had been appointed, he and his colleagues would
continue to administer their departments, though they had not
formally accepted office.

The situation was getting desperate. There was no properly
appointed Government, no legally available money. The huge
accumulating amount for which Her Majesty had already been
declared in default by the Supreme Court began to make the
Ministry desirous of drawing a line somewhere. Civil servants
were unpaid ; public works at a standstill ; charitable institutions
were incurring overdrafts and restricting benefactions ; and business
generally was paralysed by monetary stringency and doubt about
what was coming next. Beyond all this, Ministers knew, though
it had not so far been revealed to the public, that the Home Govern-
ment had sternly rebuked the Governor for sanctioning practices
that were declared by the Colonial Secretary to be unquestionably
illegal. The instances cited were collecting duties not legally im-
posed, contracting a loan without sanction of law, and paying
salaries without sanction of law. In another communication the
same authority had said : " You ought to have interposed with all
the weight of your authority when your Ministers continued to levy
the duties notwithstanding the adverse decision of the Supreme
Court " ; and in a still later despatch a very sufficient reason was
given for these instructions : " Her Majesty's Government have
no wish to interfere in any questions of purely colonial policy ;
and only desire that the colony shall be governed in conformity
with the principle of responsible and constitutional Government,
subject always to the paramount authority of the law ".

It was evident that the Governor would be removed. The
despatches were not confidential. Some of them were practically
answers to the petitions which had been addressed to the Crown,
and eventually they would have to be made public. McCulloch
was uneasy at the impending revelations. He desired to re-intro-
duce the Tariff Bill with some slight alteration, but the Speaker

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 133

ruled that it could not be dealt with a second time in the same
session. To meet the difficulty the Governor was induced to pro-
rogue Parliament on the 10th of April, and to summon it for a fresh
session on the following day. Immediately on reassembling the
Bill was hurriedly passed through all its stages and sent to the
Council. Before it came on for the second reading there, news
reached Melbourne of the Governor's recall, and the Ministerial
minority in the Council called loudly for a conference. The
Assembly promptly appointed seven members to represent them,
carefully excluding Messrs. Higinbotham and Michie as irrecon-
cilables. The conference met on 13th April, and in a few hours
had come to an agreement. The Government backed down from
the position they had so fiercely contended for during more than
a year. They had already surrendered the claim to make the
Act retrospective. They now amended the preamble, recognising
the equal rights of the Council in legislation, abandoned the clause
limiting the duration of the Bill, and gave a formal assurance that
the Assembly in treating the gold duty as a tax, and not as territorial
revenue, had not intended any coercion to the Council by including
it in the Bill. The Council was thus fully justified in the stand it
had made against a tyrannical majority in the other House, and
the end of the first crisis was reached. A few days later Appro-
priation Bills for 1864 and 1865, and an advance of £600,000 for
1866, were passed through both Chambers, legitimate payments
were resumed, and the citizens, relieved as from some oppressive
nightmare, began to feel some sympathy for the weak Governor,
who was called upon to pay so dearly for the unworthy uses to
which his advisers had put him.

And truly Sir Charles Darling was not without manifold out-
ward demonstrations of sympathy. Mass meetings and torchlight
processions were held under the auspices of the most " advanced "
members of Parliament, and Melbourne and suburbs rang with
denunciations of Mr. Cardwell, and praises of the noble conduct of
his victim. Deputations waited on the Governor, and addresses
without number encumbered his office table. Unhappily, a large
proportion of them were disfigured by sneers at or disparagement
of his Imperial employers, and he had to listen to remarks explicitly

134 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

declaring that the free people of Australia would show the Colonial
Secretary that they were not to be treated as serfs. Led away by
the shallow plaudits of his irresponsible admirers, Sir Charles so
far lost the sense of his position as to accept, and reply to, addresses
which made him out a martyr to duty, and allowed it to be plainly
seen that he resented the treatment he had received from the British
Cabinet. As a matter of fact, he was not displaced for his conni-
vance at the illegal practices of his Ministry, though sternly censured
for not having made an effort to check them. His removal was
rendered necessary by a splenetic attack which he made upon the
character of twenty-two of the Executive Councillors who had
signed the Council's petition to the Queen. In addition to vague
charges of social and financial lapses against some of them, he
charged the whole number with conspiracy against himself and his
office, and declared that if the current of politics should ever bring
them again into relation with himself, he should receive their advice
with doubt and distrust. As several of these gentlemen had occu-
pied, and were likely again to occupy, prominent positions in the
Government, the Colonial Secretary was no doubt fully justified in
saying when recalling him : " It is your own act now which leaves
me no alternative ; you force me to decide between you and the
petitioners ".

But something more substantial than the frothy acclamations
of the crowd was devised by the Assembly whose cause Sir Charles
had so in temperately espoused. A Select Committee of the House
prepared an address, which, regarded in the light of the known
facts, reads almost like heartless banter. The Governor had been
censured by his employers for countenancing illegal procedure and
for exhibiting partisanship in the political quarrel. The ground on
which the Ministry had induced Him to fight had been cut away
from under him. The Assembly had practically surrendered their
demands, and patched up a treaty of peace without consulting him.
Yet the address accorded to him the credit of being the peace-
maker par excellence. It expressed regret that Her Majesty had
been advised to recall him ; alleged that the colony was greatly
beholden to him for his steadfast adherence to the principles of con-
stitutional Government, and ventured the opinion that if he had

AN EKA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 135

acted otherwise "the political contest, now happily at an end,
would still be raging, to the great injury of the country ". The
fourth paragraph read : " We therefore thank your Excellency for
having saved the colony from anarchy, and for having effected a
settlement of the serious political differences from which we have
just emerged ". Finally, the committee recommended that in view
of Sir Charles having been recalled for political reasons only, and
of the heavy pecuniary loss he would sustain by his removal, a
grant of £20,000 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 recommendation as to the gratuity was postponed
in consequence of the Governor intimating that he would not feel at
liberty to accept the bounty of the people of Victoria until he had
ascertained Her Majesty's commands thereon. He stated that he
had applied for an independent tribunal, to which he desired to
submit to the most rigid inquiry and investigation the whole of his
conduct as Governor of Victoria.

With a view to help any such tribunal to a friendly decision,
the Assembly, on the 8th of May, the day after the Governor's
departure for Sydney, whence he proposed sailing for England,
adopted an address to the Queen, praying that she would sanction
the acceptance by Lady Darling of the £20,000 which it was pre-
pared to vote. Pending a reply to this appeal there was a season
of peace, if not of goodwill.

For three months after Sir Charles Darling's departure the
Government was administered by the senior military officer,
Brigadier-General Carey, and during most of that period Parlia-
ment was not in session, having been prorogued on the 1st of June.
On the 15th of August Sir J. H. Manners-Sutton, who had been
appointed Governor by Lord Derby's Cabinet, assumed the by no
means easy office with the confidence of one well posted in con-
stitutional law, who, as Disraeli is reported to have said of him in
evidence of his fitness, was " the son of a speaker and bred up in
Palace Yard ".

Outside of politics the year now drawing to a close had not
been eventful. In the early months, and during an acute stage of
the " crisis," the whole community was deeply moved by the news

136 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

of the foundering of the steamer London in the Bay of Biscay with
the loss of 223 lives. A large number of the passengers were
returning Australians, and scores of households were suddenly
plunged into mourning. Amongst the lost was the eminent scholar
Dr. Woolley, of the Sydney University, the Eev. D. J. Draper, the
head of the Wesleyan body in Victoria, and G. V. Brooke, the
celebrated Shakespearian actor, who had been extremely popular
on the Melbourne stage. The deep regret universally felt at the
catastrophe was not without some sense of anger when the official
inquiry showed that the steamer was faulty in construction, that
her cargo, much hi excess of her proper carrying capacity, was badly
stowed, and that she was allowed to leave Plymouth with heavily
encumbered decks, and a freeboard that could only be regarded as
excusable in the calmest of seas.

When Parliament was prorogued in June, the Ministry sent
their Treasurer, Mr. George Verdon, to England on an official
mission in connection with the defences of the colony. In extenua-
tion of an expenditure of some £1,700 for the expenses of the
ambassador and his staff, the Ministry put forward the plea that
Mr. Verdon would by his presence in London effect considerable
savings in the flotation of a loan about to be offered. In reality he
had nothing to do with placing the loan, which had been undertaken
by the associated banks, and it is certain that any interference by
him with the then recognised channels of borrowing would have
been likely to be injurious, rather than otherwise. But Mr. Verdon
was, in many respects, an excellent negotiator. He was well
educated, well connected, and possessed of an exceptionally suave
manner and address. His introductions were influential, and with
the assistance of Mr. Childers and others he so far won his way
with the authorities that he succeeded in obtaining £100,000 to-
wards the cost of the Cerberus, an ironclad for harbour defence
purposes, and the gift of an old man-of-war, the Nelson, for a
training ship. Happily no occasion has ever arisen for testing
their fighting qualities, but the generous gifts turned out expensive
toys. The training ship did not attract trainees, for the colonial
youth detests discipline. Much outlay was incurred in cutting it
about experimentally, and at length it became such a grotesque

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 137

object in the bay that it was sold for a trifle to be broken up.
The Cerberus reposed peacefully off Williamstown for more than a
generation, and when the question of the defences became a live
subject, naval experts declared her guns to be of very little use and
the ship to be hopelessly obsolete.

Mr. Verdon was also charged to endeavour to combat the op-
position which the British Government had offered to the establish-
ment of a second Mint in Australia, and in this he was quite
successful. Indeed, he proved throughout so popular in all his
negotiations that, notwithstanding his admitted share in the dead-
lock, he was banqueted by the Australians in London, and, on the
recommendation of the Colonial Minister, was made a Companion
of the Bath. He returned to the colony in time to take part in
the opening of the Parliamentary session on 17th January, 1867,
and to hear an acknowledgment of the success of his mission in
the Governor's opening speech. This, the first deliverance of Sir
J. H. Manners-Sutton, was tame and colourless, more noticeable
for its omission of any reference to strained relations in Parliament
than for anything it said.

The dominant figure of this session was once more found in Mr.
Higinbotham, the Attorney-General ; a man who by his intensity
of character, the transparent conscientiousness of his convictions,
and his burning oratory, exercised a sway over the House which
in Victoria has never been equalled. As a private member his
extreme fairness in debate, his courteous attention to the arguments
of an opponent, and his general urbanity led to the belief that he
was an academic theorist, rather seeking knowledge than anxious
to display it. But when he assumed the responsibilities of office it
was quickly apparent that he was an extremist in action, and an
unflinching devotee of his own views. And he had an exceptional
power of forcing the adoption of his views upon the majority of
those who came under the spell of his oratory.

That he was wrong in his crusade against the Legislative Council
and the Colonial Office on the question of the "tacks" to the
Appropriation Bill is evidenced by the fact that outside Victoria
public opinion was wholly against him, that no one to-day would
defend such a form of coercion, and that it is expressly prohibited

138 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTOEIA

in the Constitution of the Commonwealth. Indeed, it was Mr.
Higinbotham's impassioned declarations of the rights of the As-
sembly which made thousands applaud his method of concussing
the Council, who cared little and who thought less about its bear-
ings on constitutional procedure. For when the same tactics were
adopted later on by Graham Berry, for the purpose of putting money
in the pockets of members of Parliament, it was very generally re-
garded as a vulgar imitation of a desperate device, applied to attain
an end wherein self-interest stood unabashed.

Whatever charges may have been brought against Mr. Higin-
botham from time to time, and for some years he was the daily
subject of journalistic condemnation, they never touched his per-
sonal honour. The stirring up of class strife hi Australia, the
hatred which the masses have been encouraged to exhibit towards
the more prosperous of their fellow-colonists, the belittling of the
Second Chamber of the Legislature because it was elected by a
restricted suffrage, these and kindred movements have usually been
the work of scheming demagogues with personal ends to serve.
But it was universally recognised that the element of self-seeking
was conspicuously absent in Mr. Higinbotham throughout his
whole career. His devotion to his official duties was exceptional.
When he accepted the position of Attorney-General he declined all
private practice in his profession, and he worked for his salary with
a close application that made the Civil Service uneasy.

Though it sounds paradoxical, it may be said that his weakness
as a politician was the result of his strength of character. Having
once deliberately made up his mind that the course he proposed
was the right one, nothing could deflect him from it. He was
contemptuous of expediency, scornful of Opposition clamour, and
declined to escape defeat by accepting compromise. Some phases
of his character appear inexplicable from the strange contradiction
they involve. An Irishman — who in lofty phrase and burning
words had denied the right of the Colonial Secretary to offer an
opinion upon the legality, or otherwise, of the proceedings of a
Colonial Ministry ; who had expressed his readiness to ignore that
official if but the people of Victoria were united in their own
interest — he was yet an outspoken opponent of Home Eule, and

ANJEEA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 139

a denouncer of Parnell and all his ways. His antagonism to the
Legislative Council was open and undisguised. He would gladly
have seen it abolished, as a hindrance upon the free expression of
the will of the people, which he mistakenly considered was alone
expressed by the Acts of the Assembly. An unreasonable assump-
tion that the Council only represented wealth and vested interests
made him unjust in the face of opposition, and some of his bitterest
philippics were displayed in deriding what he called the "preten-
sions " of its members, for whom and their supporters he coined
the contemptuous epithet, "the wealthy lower orders". He be-
lieved that the theory of a Second Chamber even as a court of
review was unworkable, and he persistently opposed all propositions
to liberalise the Council by extending its franchise and bringing it
more under the control of the electors.

Severed from politics George Higinbotham was one of the most
unselfish, sympathetic and lovable men in the community. If his
dreams for a truly patriotic democracy were hopelessly optimistic,
it was because he based his opinion of the people, not on the precise
data of the student of sociology, but upon an abstract idea of which
his own individuality was the basis. Generous even to prodigality
with his own means, he somewhat hastily associated the idea of
wealth with hardness of character and narrowness of mind, and his
too frequent expression of that opinion was greedily seized upon by
the champions of labour as vindicating their onslaughts on capital.

He was certainly the most striking figure in Victorian politics,
but his convictions were urged with such a fiery intensity that
even those of his followers who most admired him could not keep
up the pace. He gradually fell apart from the ruck of legislators,
depressed by his unrealised dream of Government by the people,
brain- weary of the deplorable waste of time over trivialities, the
jealous rancour between the ins and the outs ; and at length it
wrung from him an expression of belief that political life was "a
sort of pandemonium in which a number of lost souls are en-
deavouring to increase one another's torture".

Such was the man who, being dissatisfied with the Ministerial
surrender in the matter of the first " tack," was quite ready to
revive the fray, and bring it to an issue in which there should be no

140 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

compromise. The occasion soon arose. On the 19th of February
the reply of Lord Carnarvon to the address of the Assembly seek-
ing Her Majesty's sanction to Lady Darling's acceptance of the
£20,000 was laid before the House. It was an emphatic declara-
tion that such a proceeding would be contrary to the regulations of
the Colonial Service, which had hitherto been rigidly enforced, and
their violation could not now be sanctioned while Sir Charles re-
mained in that service. The ex-Governor, believing that the grant
by the Victorian Parliament was safe, worried by his necessities,
and to some extent misled by his correspondence with the Colonial
Office, thought to expedite a settlement by resigning the Queen's
Service. When the Victorian Ministry were advised of this step,
they, assuming that the Imperial objection to the grant was now
at an end, induced the Governor to send down a formal message
to the House in July, intimating that Sir Charles Darling had
"elected finally to relinquish the Colonial Service," and thereupon
introduced a batch of supplementary estimates, wherein the £20,000
was included.

On the 1st of August the debate in the Assembly began with a
speech from Mr. E. D. Ireland, in which he exhaustively reviewed
the conduct of the late Governor, and unhesitatingly condemned the
grant. Head apart from the exciting local surroundings the speech
of Mr. Ireland appears calm and dispassionate, but it stirred Mr.
Higinbotham to fierce retort. He declared that the vote should
have been passed in silence by the House, and at the conclusion of
an impassioned speech he said, in a burst of invective: "It is not
merely a compensation to Sir Charles Darling, it is not merely a
renewal of the expressed opinion of this House on his merits, but,
when it is passed, it will be a decisive condemnation of those who
pursued Sir Charles Darling through his whole political career and
who now avow themselves his unrelenting enemies. ... It will
be the censure of the Legislative Assembly upon the constitutional
faction of 1865. ... I rejoice that the vote will brand the enemies
of Sir Charles Darling, who pursued him while here, and who do not
desist from that pursuit now. I will tell those honourable members
that I have always considered the faction to which they belong as
the very vilest faction by which this country has been cursed."

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 141

Such heated language addressed by a Minister of the Crown to
the Opposition would soon make political life insupportable. The
debate had to be adjourned to enable members to cool down. The
Ministry, safe in their majority, checked the tendency to rush into
the fray, and speeches by their supporters were discouraged. Mr.
C. E. Jones was put up as the chief supporter of the Attorney-General,
for his glib fluency had won him a great reputation in the Eastern
Market. He had the honour of filling twelve columns in the pages
of Hansard with what he declared to be the people's view of the
question. It was only towards the close of the debate that Mr.
McCulloch entered the arena. Oratory was not a strong point with
him, but after a vigorous defence of himself from the charges
of suppressing despatches in connection with the late Governor's
recall, he declared the proposed grant not only equitable, but neces-
sary to maintain the honour of the House. He would not submit it
in a separate Bill, and it should, and must be passed where it was, in
the Appropriation Bill. The principal speakers for the Opposition
after Mr. Ireland were B. C. Aspinall, Edward Langton and Duncan
Gillies, but argument was of no avail, and by forty-two votes to fifteen
the grant was approved. The minority continued the struggle at
every stage of the Appropriation Bill to avert a renewal of the griev-
ous quarrel of 1865. It was known that an able committee of the
Council had ransacked the records of the British Parliament for
precedents as to grants of money under exceptional circumstances.
The result favoured the view that in all cases where there was a doubt
of unanimity between the Lords and Commons, such grants were
made the subject of a separate Bill.

But the Assembly would not hear of the Council being allowed
to consider the grant on its merits. It must be accepted in the
Appropriation Bill, unless the Council was prepared to throw the
finances of the colony again into disorder by rejecting that measure,
with all its legitimate provisions. Naturally the members of the
Council were indignant at this domineering attitude, and they were
further irritated by the discovery that the Ministry had in this Bill
reverted to the old form of preamble, in place of the one adopted
at the conference in April, 1866, wherein the concurrence of the
Council in supply had been recognised. Although such an abro-

142 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

gation of a treaty was a tacit declaration of war, the Council ignored
it at the time, and on the 20th of August rejected the Bill on the
ground that the disputed vote was included in violation of the usages
of the Imperial Parliament, which were binding on the Victorian
Legislature ; and further, that the vote was in itself unconstitutional
and mischievous, distinctly tending to corruption in the public service.
Two days later the Governor received important State Papers from
each of the conflicting bodies. The Council hastened to give their
reasons for objecting to the grant to Lady Darling, both as to sub-
stance and form, but intimated that if the objectionable item was
withdrawn, the Appropriation Bill for the general supplies would be
promptly passed. The memorandum submitted by the Ministry
was more embarrassing. Mr. McCulloch was averse to a dissolution
except as a last resort, because he believed that however unanimous
the verdict of the country might be, the Legislative Council would
be equal to ignoring it. Therefore he recommended the Governor
to prorogue Parliament with a view to immediately inaugurating a
fresh session wherein the Bill in dispute could be sent up again to
the Council, payments being meanwhile made under the provisions
of the Crown Remedies Act. The Governor considered the proro-
gation premature until he had consulted those who were responsible
for the rejection of the Appropriation Bill, whereupon the Ministry
resigned. On the 23rd of August the Governor sent a memorandum
to Mr. Fellows, the leader of the Opposition in the Council, inviting
his advice on the question at issue. Mr. Fellows declined to give
it unless he were placed in the position of a Minister, and after some
further resultless correspondence with Mr. Fraser, M.L.C., His
Excellency asked the McCulloch Ministry to withdraw their resig-
nation, and agreed to follow their advice. A temporary Supply Bill
was passed in the Assembly and sent to the Council. It not only
had the objectionable preamble, but its legality was open to question,
as it covered a round sum of money which had not been appropri-
ated to specific purposes by Act of Parliament. Nevertheless, to save
confusion, the Council reluctantly passed it, with a proviso that the
vote in dispute should not be paid out of the money thus made
available.

Parliament was prorogued on the 10th of September, to meet

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 143

again on the 18th. The Governor sent a message to both Houses
on the 2nd of October recommending them to concur in the vote to
Lady Darling, because Sir Charles had thrown up his appointment
in reliance upon receiving it, the implication being that a refusal
would look unpleasantly like repudiation. The Council declined to
be directed, but replied that if the grant was submitted in a separate
Bill it would receive their most earnest consideration. There is
evidence that the Governor urged this course upon his advisers, and
that more than one of his Ministers regarded it favourably, but it
was recognised that the majority in the Assembly were not amenable
to discipline on this point. So by the middle of October the Appro-
priation Bill reached the Council in the old form, and was rejected.
Another temporary Supply Bill was proposed, and the Chief Secretary
suggested the dissolution of the Assembly on the understanding that
the decision of the people should be final. Several of the members
expressed their dissent. They asked why they should be penalised
by going to the country when they had never been given a chance
of voting for the grant in a separate Bill. They declared that they
were sacrificed to keep the Ministry in office. The temporary Supply
Bill was brought in for £500,000. The Ministry, though urged by
the minority, and specifically charged with illegality by Mr. Duffy,
refused to specify the services for which the money was required.
They relied on the Council repeating their forbearance of last ses-
sion. Mr. McCulloch fiercely declared that he would compel the
Council to give way, and he boisterously applauded a supporter who
declared that the Assembly was quite prepared to govern the colony
without the other Chamber. Mr. Higinbotham pooh-poohed the
fictitious importance attached to an Appropriation Bill, which he said
was after all " nothing more than a form ".

The Council was indignant that its concession to expediency
in the last session should be turned into a precedent. On the
5th of November, by twenty votes to eight, the Bill was rejected.
Three days later Parliament was prorogued with a view to its
dissolution, which was gazetted on the 30th of December, the
general election to take place in February, 1868. The suspension
of Government payments in the interim had been met by a revised
use of the Crown Remedies Statute. The former practice of getting

144 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

money from a bank in round sums for such payments was dis-
continued for two sufficient reasons. The Governor would not
consent to what looked like a conspiracy to defeat the law, and
if he had done so, the source of supply was dried up, for the
London Board of the bank had put their veto on the granting
of such accommodation. But the Crown Remedies Act gave all
creditors of the Crown a right with which the Governor could
not interfere, and when the Treasurer announced that such claims
would not be defended, a rush of litigants soon provided a season
of profitable activity for the legal fraternity.

Meanwhile, by the aid of Loyal Liberal Conventions and other
outlets for the most advanced radicals, a loud manifestation of
sympathy with the Ministry and antagonism to the Council spread
through all the large centres of population. In Melbourne, to-
wards the close of 1867, the demonstrations in the form of public
meetings were manifold and vehement. The Exhibition Building,
the Eastern Market, the theatres and public halls, even the sur-
rounding park lands were overrun by mass meetings, where the
speakers were riotously unanimous for sweeping away the ob-
structive Council. Mr. Higinbotham declared to a huge gathering
that all that was required for good Government was a represent-
ative of the Crown and the representatives of the people. The
third estate which they had foolishly created was an oligarchy
of wealth, insolently claiming to be the principal of the three. It
was in vain that the constitutional party pointed out the inevitable
tyranny of an unchecked Assembly. It was with difficulty any
of them could get a hearing, and some of their meetings were
broken up by violence. The fighting spirit was abroad, and to
ensure a conflict to the bitter end, the cheering crowds returned
the Ministry with an increased majority to meet Parliament in
February.

Before the Assembly met the Governor received a despatch
from the Colonial Secretary, the Duke of Buckingham, which said :
" You ought not again to recommend the vote to the acceptance
of the Legislature, except on a clear understanding that it will be
brought before the Legislative Council in a manner which will
enable them to exercise their discretion respecting it, without the.

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 145

necessity of throwing the colony into confusion ". His Excellency
passed these directions on to his Ministers, who promptly intimated
that they would not submit to any dictation as to what they should
include in the Appropriation Bill, and therefore they once more
tendered their resignations. This was on the 6th of March. Par-
liament was to meet on the 13th, and the harried Governor passed
a feverish week in seeking fresh advisers. Mr. Fellows, who had
resigned from the Council and been elected to the Assembly, was
the first applied to, but his stipulations were unacceptable, and other
members of the Opposition were tried without success. Parliament
was duly convened, but there was only a Ministry holding office
until their successors were appointed. No speech, no policy, no
money available. In the absence of Mr. McGulloch from illness,
the Attorney-General led the House with sixty supporters, eager
for action but powerless to proceed. The Governor again appealed
to his advisers to withdraw their resignation, but McCulloch re-
fused, unless he was allowed his own way in dealing with the
Council. Although His Excellency had received a later despatch
from the Duke of Buckingham, in which that official qualified his
previous instructions, by saying that the Legislative Council should
no longer oppose itself to the ascertained wishes of the community,
the Governor did not feel justified in active interference, and re-
newed his somewhat hopeless search for a Ministry. Two months
had passed away in formal meetings and immediate adjournments
of the Assembly. Nothing had been done, and public meetings
were again in evidence to denounce the waste of time, and to urge
revolutionary methods.

At length, on the 6th of May, it was announced that Mr. Sladen
had formed a Ministry, which was represented in the Assembly
by Mr. Fellows as Minister of Justice, Mr. Edward Langton as
Treasurer, Mr. Duncan Gillies at the Lands Office, and four other
members of the attenuated Opposition in that House. Two of the
Ministers failed to retain their seats, and of course a Government
absolutely unable to command a quorum of members could do no
business. The Opposition had only to absent themselves to bring
everything to a standstill. But they did not adopt those tactics.
When the House met on the 6th of June a huge majority at once

VOL. IL 10

146 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

declared it had no confidence in the Government. As they did not
resign, they were subjected to many indignities, the formal business
of the House was taken out of their hands, and the Governor was
petitioned to dismiss them. An offer by Mr. Fellows to introduce
the Darling grant in a separate Bill was curtly rejected, and his
concession to expediency won no approval from supporters or from
the Opposition.

Finally, a resolution was passed pledging the House not to
grant the Ministry any supplies. Thereupon they resigned, after a
stop-gap existence of sixty-six days, and once again Mr. McCulloch,
with some important changes in his colleagues, took possession
of the Treasury benches. Mr. G. F. Verdon had been appointed
Agent-General in London for the colony, and took his final fare-
well of local politics. Mr. J. G. Francis declined to resume his old
place at the Customs. The Law Officers of the new team were
Messrs. Geo. Paton Smith and J. J. Casey, replacing Messrs.
Higinbotham and Bindon. Mr. Higinbotham refused to again
accept the responsibilities of office, but for old association's sake
he consented to act temporarily as an unpaid member of the
Cabinet.

The Sladen Ministry, though apparently occupying a rather
contemptible position, had really done an important service. It
had held McCulloch at bay just long enough to prevent him from
committing the Assembly to an attack upon the Governor and his
instructions, the end of which would probably have been deplorable
on any issue. The domineering tone adopted by him at this time
in Parliament, and in his communications with the Governor re-
specting his despatches, show that he was determined to bring the
Queen's representative under the heel of authority, and to compel
him to be a party to forcing the Darling grant upon the Council in
the way the Assembly desired. The solution of the difficulty came
from without. The day before Mr. Sladen resigned, a message
reached the colony that the man over whose proceedings so much
angry talk had been expended had made his peace with the Colonial
Office, had withdrawn his resignation, and now intimated that under
his altered circumstances neither he nor Lady Darling could accept
the generous bounty of his Victorian admirers. His claim for some

AN ERA OF CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1864-1868 147

lapsed emoluments of his office was readily met, and the Imperial
Government granted him a pension of £1,000 a year, dating it back
to the day of his recall. Some two years later, when he died, the
Victorian Parliament generously and unanimously voted the con-
tinuance of the pension to his widow for her life.

So came to an end a contest between the two Houses, which
during three years had evoked more angry feeling and bitter re-
crimination than the Victorian community has probably ever ex-
perienced. There were serious collisions in later years, but the
contending parties were more equally divided, and in the public eye
they were mere squabbles compared with the tidal wave of popular
excitement which Mr. Higinbotham evoked and directed. The
numbers were overwhelmingly against the Council, and against any
check, foreign or domestic, on the absolute rule of the Assembly.
Loud and defiant was the talk at mass meetings of repudiating any-
thing in the shape of interference, and many were the speeches in
which the readiness of the people to "cut the painter" was alleged
rather than submit to it. But the sedition of the mob evaporated
in words, and the colonists who had any stake or interest in the
country felt an immense relief when a happy chance closed this
threatening episode before it developed into civil strife, and possible
ruin for many.

However much popular opinion may have been influenced against
the Council, its attitude throughout was simply one of defence.
The speeches of its members, with very rare exceptions, were
moderate in tone, and free from the aggressive and threatening
language so freely used in the Assembly. No doubt while they
fully believed they were standing out for the rights which the
Constitution conferred upon them, and were consciously free of
seeking any personal ends, they were yet sensible that if the whole
of the 12,000 electors whom they represented were heartily with
them, it was but a small set-off against the many thousand votes
which their opponents could command. A desire for a larger
popular support possessed them, and Mr. Sladen, during his brief
tenure of office, introduced a Bill for widening the franchise of the
Council, by reducing the property qualification of both members and
electors by one-half. He sought the assistance of Mr. McCullooh

10*

148 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

to make the measure acceptable to the other branch of the Legisla-
ture, but that gentleman declined to offer an opinion on the subject.
Doubtless he was influenced by the knowledge that Mr. Higinbotham
would certainly oppose it. Therefore the Bill was launched in the
Council, where it passed after some very vigorous protests from Mr.
Fawkner. When it reached the Assembly that body, somewhat
weary of the long-continued strife, allowed it to go through almost
without comment in the closing days of the eventful session which
expired on the 29th of September, 1868. The Act came into force
on the 1st of January following, and its immediate effect was to
increase the number of electors of the Upper House to nearly 20,000,
which number had grown to over 30,000 by the time the next
amending Act was passed in 1881. Necessarily any material altera-
tion in the personnel of the members was a matter of slow growth
while the tenure of seats remained at ten years, and to meet this
objection the term was reduced to six years when the revision above
referred to took place.

CHAPTER VI.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SURVEY OP THE EARLY SEVENTIES.

DOBING the period covered by the preceding chapter public atten-
tion had sometimes been temporarily diverted into more cheerful
channels than those torrential disputes which rent the political
world. One of these intervals of abandon marked the visit of the
Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria, who arrived
in command of the Galatea, and landed at Sandridge on the 23rd of
November, 1867. All classes of the community vied in expressing
their regard for the young sailor Prince in his representative capa-
city, and during a stay of six weeks he received over 120 addresses
from all sorts and conditions of men. The members of the Legis-
lature, members of Corporations, City, Town, Borough and Shire ;
the University Council ; the heads of all the churches ; the old
colonists, Oddfellows, the Civil Service, through all possible grades
down to the Chinese residents of Melbourne, declared in slightly
varied terms, and with the aid of more or less brilliantly illuminated
parchment and gilt morocco, their loyal and dutiful attachment to
Her Majesty, and the pleasure they felt in welcoming the son of
such a noble mother.

Of the adult population at this date fully two-thirds were im-
migrants from the old world, and it is easy to understand how
such an event stirred national feeling. It was deeply impressed
upon the children — the founders of the coming Australian Natives'
Association — by the prominent part allotted to them in all the
public welcomes, when throughout the colony thousands of infantile
voices were lifted up in the National Anthem. Preparations for
the reception had been made on a generous scale. Parliament
voted £15,000 in anticipation. When all the bills were paid the
total was nearer £40,000 ; and if to this was added the outlay by

149

150 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

municipal corporations, public bodies and the representative institu-
tions of commerce and banking, the total did not fall short of a
quarter of a million sterling. But if the jubilation was somewhat
extravagant, it must be remembered that the occasion was unpre-
cedented ; the colonists as a rule were prospering ; the season was
good, the weather superb, and enthusiasm was the order of the day.
The visit came at an opportune time, at an acute crisis in the dead-
lock, when the Assembly had just been dissolved for an appeal to
the country. The ugly mutterings about separation received a
check. The fickle mob, which had been unsparing in the use of
invective and threats against the Colonial Secretary of State, now
rent the air with cheers behind the carriage of the representative of
that authority they had but yesterday so fiercely denounced. The
order-loving citizens were glad of the opportunity to show the
hollowness of disloyal talk, and they grudged neither trouble nor
expense in doing so. For a week Melbourne was delirious with
excitement. The streets were spanned with numerous theatrical
arches ; by day they were gay with bunting and at night ablaze
with illuminations. Balls, garden-parties and picnics ; special race
meetings and cricket matches ; firework displays in the public parks,
al fresco banquets and torchlight processions filled up the hours.
Business was left to take care of itself, and the streets were
thronged continuously with a pleasure-seeking crowd. There was
only one deplorable fiasco. It had been proposed to mark the
occasion by giving a free feast to the poor, but the liberality of the
donors was so excessive that the tons of provisions sent in would
have provided for twenty times the number who could properly
come under that designation. The consequence was that the feast
was thrown open to all who chose to come, and a surging crowd of
50,000 people gathered around the reserve in Richmond Park early
in the day. Arrangements had been made by which about one-
third of this number might — with reasonable patience — have ob-
tained some sort of accommodation. But the Prince did not arrive,
the day was oppressively hot, and when the hour for the banquet
was long past, the crowd got out of hand, broke down the
barriers and rushed the provisions. As the hogsheads of ale got
broached, and the fountain of colonial wine was invaded by the

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 151

bearers of tin dippers, and even buckets, the crowd naturally grew
more unruly. Heaps of viands were looted and wasted, and the
roughs, jostling the women and weaklings, ended by pulling down
the tents, smashing the tables, dispersing the attendants and tramp-
ling the edibles under foot. Prince Alfred, who had been detained
at some other function, arrived just as the d&b&cle commenced, and
he was persuaded by the police to turn back, lest his presence
should increase the danger of sudden panic amidst such a tumult.
Finally, a force of mounted police had to be brought on the scene to
clear the ground, which was done with so much skill and forbear-
ance that no serious casualties resulted. But the episode was long
remembered as a discredit to Melbourne.

After a week in the capital the Prince proceeded on a tour of
the colony, visiting Ballaarat, Castlemaine, Sandhurst, Geelong,
and the most picturesque parts of the Western District. Everywhere
he was greeted with enthusiasm, and he finally departed for Hobart
on the 4th of January, 1868.

The day before the new Parliament assembled news reached
Melbourne that Prince Alfred had been shot by a fanatic at a
picnic at Clontarf, on Sydney harbour, and it fell to the lot of
Mr. Higinbotham to move an address in the Assembly, recording
its detestation of the crime, which he said had excited one universal
thrill of horror and indignation in the mind of every man in all
the colonies. Happily the victim of the murderous attempt, though
severely wounded, made a rapid recovery, and the loyal feeling
which had been stimulated by his visit was further intensified by
his miraculous escape.

The McOulloch Ministry were not destined this time to a long
tenure of office. Mr. Duffy, who had been absent in Europe during
the earlier stages of the deadlock, had returned, and had been
elected for Dalhousie in September. He took an active part in
opposing the inclusion of the Darling grant in the Appropriation
Bill, though he declared that the honour of the colony appeared
to be so far implicated that he would vote for it in a separate
measure, if reserved for the Queen's assent. He reminded the
Government, however, that if it were proper to compensate the
Governor for losses sustained in a party contest, the money ought

152 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

to come out of party funds, not out of the Treasury, which belonged
equally to his opponents and his supporters. His advice in this
matter was smilingly put aside, and he waited his opportunity.
His sense of Parliamentary propriety was outraged on learning
that the Chief Secretary held so poor an opinion of the capacity
of members as to have appointed Mr. George Bolfe, who was not
a member of Parliament, to the position of Minister of Customs.
Mr. Duffy worked upon the irritation of the Ministerial supporters
so effectively that one of them, Mr. Eobert Byrne, an unknown
and untried man with no political experience, was induced to move
a vote of want of confidence, which was promptly carried. Fol-
lowing constitutional practice the Governor commissioned Mr.
Byrne to form a Ministry. Naturally that gentleman offered the
lead to Mr. Duffy, the real mover, but he did not see his way
to a working majority, and declined the responsibility. A Cabinet
was eventually got together, chiefly from the supporters of the
defeated Ministry. Mr. J. A. McPherson, a comparatively young
squatter with conservative instincts, took the lead as Chief Sec-
retary, Mr. Byrne taking the Treasurership, but losing his seat in
the effort. He was defeated by the Mr. Bolfe whose Ministerial
appointment he had challenged, and paid dearly for his temerity,
never being able again to secure a seat in Parliament.

The epidemic of rapid Ministerial changes that was doing so
much to discredit the capacity of the people for self-government,
and to nullify all efforts at deliberate constructive legislation, gave
the McPherson Ministry an existence of 200 days. Although it
was composed almost entirely of the discontented followers of
McCulloch, the straight Opposition agreed to give it support, in
the hope of breaking up the dominant power of the late Chief
Secretary. With the exception of B. C. Aspinall, who was Solicitor-
General, all the Ministers were novices, and none of them were
conspicuous for ability. Circumstances favoured them in dealing
with the interminable land question. They inherited from Mr.
Grant the substance of an amending Act, to which he had given
long consideration, and on this basis they had the satisfaction of
placing on the Statute Book the Land Act of 1869. This Act,
which consolidated and amended all previous legislation on the

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 153

subject, remained in force until 1878, and under it the largest and
most rapid agricultural settlement was effected. It fixed the period
of probationary holding at three years, at a rental of 2s. per acre
per annum, and if at the end of that time the required improvements
had been made, and the conditions of residence complied with, the
selector could obtain a freehold title on paying 14s. per acre, or
could spread that payment over seven years without interest. It
abolished the condemned feature of drawing lots, and substituted
strict priority of application. It reduced the size of selections from
640 to 320 acres. In abolishing the hitherto prescribed " agricultural
areas," it threw the whole country open to selection before survey.
Finally, it provided that £200,000 a year out of the proceeds of this
wholesale alienation should be set aside in a trust account for the
redemption of railways loans and for further extensions. Some
portion of the accumulations from this source was undoubtedly
applied to construction, but the facility with which Colonial Trea-
surers can use trust funds in seasons of pressure precluded any
chance of reduction of the ever-increasing debt. The flagrant
violation by successive Governments of the 38th Section of the
Land Act of 1862, which was supposed to be in force until the
passing of the 1869 Act, might have warned the people of the small
value to be placed on provisions of this nature. The section in
question required that one-fourth of the net receipts from the sale
or leasing of Crown lands should be appropriated strictly to
assisted immigration. The instructions were practically ignored,
and it seemed that no one felt called upon to denounce so gross
a failure of duty.

Under the Land Act of 1865 3,500,000 acres passed into private
hands. Under that of 1869 nearly 11,000,000 acres were alienated.
During the currency of the former Act the land under cultivation
increased from 470,000 acres to 700,000. Under the operations of
the latter, between 1869 and 1878, it grew to over 1,400,000 acres,
producing enough to feed the colony and leave a large surplus for
export. The district most favoured by the selectors of this period
was the lower valley of the Goulburn, extending from Seymour
down to the Murray, embracing a large part of the counties of
Dalhousie, Moira, Kodney and Bendigo. The country, as a rule,

154 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

was lightly timbered, and though it had not been regarded as first-
class land for grazing, it proved, when cleared, to be wonderfully
suitable for wheat, and, in some places, for most prolific orchards and
vineyards. During the decade following the passing of this Act
important towns sprang into existence, or developed from humble
collections of shanties — Nagambie, Murcbison, Mooroopna, Sheppar-
ton, Tatura, Nathalia, and a dozen other centres of commercial
activity, were the direct product of the settlement fostered by this
Land Act Though there were many failures from inexperience,
much hardship from want of capital, the fittest, with the assistance
of the banks, managed to survive, and gradually to buy out the
weaker brethren. In the course of ten or a dozen years they had
made the Goulburn valley known far and wide as the area wherein
the finest wheat and the finest fruit in Victoria was produced.

The Act came into force on the 1st February, 1870; it was
passed through both Houses with comparatively moderate debate,
and Parliament was relieved for several years from dealing with a
question which had hitherto invariably evoked unnecessary warmth
in discussion.

Having served the temporary purpose allotted to them by the
wire-pullers, the McPherson Ministry were put out on the 9th of
April, on the Treasurer's budget statement. Mr. Graham Berry
had taken up the financial r61e from the incapable hands of the
rejected Byrne. In the speech on the 8th of March, in which he
submitted a voluminous review of the colony's balance-sheet, he
did protest too much. It was one of the most complicated financial
statements to which the House had ever listened, and the debate on
it extended over a month. Then the Estimates were returned to
the Ministry for revision, with a mandate that the expenditure of
the country must be kept within its income. Mr. Berry failed to
work the sum, and Mr. McPherson thereupon tendered his resigna-
tion.

The Cabinet which Mr. McCulloch formed in April, 1870, com-
prised a far stronger and more experienced group than the one it
displaced. The brilliant Archibald Michie was Attorney-General,
and Mr. H. J. Wrixon, Solicitor-General. Mr. J. G. Francis took
charge of the Treasury, and Mr. T. T. A'Beckett represented the

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 155

Ministry in the Upper House as Commissioner of Customs. But
the surprise of the day was the acceptance by the defeated Chief-
Secretary McPherson of the office of Minister of Lands in the camp
of his late opponents. The extreme radical party were indignant at
the control of this important department being given to a squatter,
and Mr. McCulloch's growing conservatism was gloomily com-
mented on.

The advantage of having a responsible Minister in the Legislative
Council was made manifest in one of the earliest measures of the
new Ministry — a Bill for the abolition of State aid to religion. Since
1855 the Government had divided £50,000 a year amongst the sects
in proportion to the numbers disclosed in the census returns. Two
or three of the smaller denominations had refused to accept their
share, which reverted to the consolidated revenue. These were
enthusiasts for the voluntary principle in Church matters, and they
raised a good deal of clamour against contributing, through the
taxes, to the possible endowment of error. Most of the churches
were distinctly unwilling to surrender the aid, but the objectors
found strong support in the many thousands who looked with an
unfriendly eye on all churches. What passed for public opinion
was brought to bear with so much force on McCulloch that in 1869
he brought in a Bill to reduce the grant by £10,000 a year until it
was extinguished. The proposal commanded a large majority in
the Assembly, for the churches were then decidedly unpopular by
reason of their outspoken opposition to the demand for a compulsory
and strictly secular Education Act. In the Council, however, the
Bill was rejected on the motion of Mr. A'Beckett, a prominent
member of the Church of England, and legal adviser of the diocese,
and shortly afterwards McCulloch went out of office. Now he was
again in power, and having made this question and that of educa-
tion prominent subjects in his recent election addresses, he brought
in the rejected Bill once more. Having Mr. T. T. A'Beckett in the
Cabinet, he probably found it easy to convince him that the public
demanded the abolition of the subsidy and that opposition was
vain, for this time it passed both Houses by a substantial majority,
and the churches after 1874 were left to depend upon their own
resources.

156 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Mr. MoCullooh, divorced from active association with Mr. Higin-
botham, was no longer the popular idol. The accusations so liber-
ally brought against him of personally profiting by the tariff changes
had been explained away and forgotten, but it was known that he
was largely interested in a conservative administration of the Land
Act, both as a holder of property and as a mortgagee in his business.
The world had prospered with him, and with that prosperity came
some doubts about the wisdom of the radicalism of which in his
younger days he had been an exponent. The popular cry was that
he had gone over to the enemy. Mr. Duffy, who was very frequently
in conflict with him, more than once declared that his retention of
office for so long was due to political corruption ; but then Mr.
Duffy never could see anything but wickedness and malignity in an
opponent. In one passage in his autobiography Mr. Duffy says :
" Mr. McPherson, as Minister of Lands, made such large reserves
on various pretences, that a map of the colony in which the reserves
were marked in red, and the land sold in blue, looked like a shawl of
the McPherson plaid ; and it was an aggravation of the wrong that
his chief, Sir James McCulloch, the largest owner of squatting runs
in the colony, got an inordinate share of these reserves."

Despite this ungenerous comment there does not appear to have
been any glaring cases of mala fides in connection with the Land
Act at the period indicated ; at any rate no such charges were made
at the time. It was the Protectionist party, clamouring unsuccess-
fully for largely increased duties, that overthrew the Ministry. Mr.
McCulloch was by conviction a believer in the freedom of commerce ;
expediency had induced him to assist in giving Protection a start,
but he had already learned how much easier it was to set it going
than to resist its demands for permanent support.

Under various pretexts the expenditure of the colony was being
continuously, and often most unjustifiably, increased. Unable to
stem the tide of this extravagance without incurring unpopularity,
McCulloch sought to increase the revenue in a corresponding degree
by the imposition of a property tax of sixpence in the pound. Duffy,
as the representative of an agricultural constituency, promptly took
up the cudgels in defence of the poor farmer, and Graham Berry
took the platform in the interest of the manufacturers. The com-

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 157

munity was at this time fairly prosperous, and a large proportion of
the small traders and artisans lived in their own houses. These
modest properties were the result of thrift, and to tax thrift was of
course shown to be equally unwise and unjust. They wanted a
property tax on the wealthy classes, quite oblivious of the fact that
the wealth was in nearly every case equally the product of thrift
and industry carried on over a longer period. In all probability
many of them were already on the high road to affluence, but in the
meanwhile they did not want an impost which directly affected them.
Mutterings of dissent from so large a body of electors made members
anxious not to offend, so they gradually drew away from McCulloch,
who had again to bow to an adverse majority, and after an occupation
of fourteen months to vacate the Treasury benches.

Mr. Charles Gavan Duffy now came to the front; no longer
under the wing of O'Shanassy, who had been relegated to the
obscurity of the Legislative Council, but as Premier of the colony
and chooser of his own colleagues. He took Graham Berry for his
Treasurer, for, while he always claimed to hold Free Trade views
himself, he saw the futility of opposition to the growing demand
for Protection, and he well knew that Berry was the man to ride
triumphantly on the crest of the wave of any movement stirring
public feeling. Mr. Duffy could not persuade any men of standing
at the Bar to join him, and the Law Officers he had to put up with
were weak and obscure. As some compensation he gained strength
by appointing J. M. Grant as Minister of Lands, for he was not
only widely popular, but had enjoyed an unusually long experience
of the office in previous Ministries. In Francis Longmore and
W. M. K. Vale he had a couple of ultra-radical fighters of the
vehement sort. He failed to secure the services of any member of
the Council as a responsible Minister, and had to rely upon gratuitous
service there to plead his cause. This had been too often the case
in the past, and was undoubtedly one of the causes of the want
of concert between the Chambers. But Mr. Duffy was not a man
to be discouraged by adverse surroundings. He was a host in him-
self. " I undertook the administration of public affairs," he writes,
" with the confident determination that for once there should be
a Government framing large and generous projects, and against

158 A HISTORY OP THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

whose exercise of patronage, or encouragement of enterprises no
man could utter a just reproach."

Alas ! the reproaches, just or unjust, began to dog his footsteps
ere he had fully settled to work, and eventually overthrew him
within twelve months. If his exit was made to look rather paltry
by the triviality of the specific charge on which he fell, his entry
upon the career of Chief Secretary was a dramatic State progress.
He unfolded his policy at Kyneton on the 26th of June, and the
liberality of his programme justified the wild enthusiasm of his
constituents. He rejoiced the hearts of the local farmers by stating
that he was not opposed to direct taxation, not even to a land tax, so
long as it was equitable. But it must be a graduated tax, beginning
with owners of over 640 acres and increasing in a ratio proportioned
to the quantity of land held by one person in an unproductive con-
dition. He declared that he did not believe in the financial deficit
alleged by his predecessors, but if it really existed it must have been
due to the muddling methods of the late Treasurer. In any case,
he said he would meet it without imposing fresh taxation on
industry. He skated lightly over Protection. He might be assent-
ing to something he would not have spontaneously proposed, but
the country having decided upon the experiment, he believed that
effect could best be given to its wishes by a Government which
included men of both parties. State education, the attempted
settlement of which by Mr. Higinbotham had been recently de-
feated, was to be an open question in the Cabinet. Mr. Duffy's
trump card, however, was an improved administration of the Land
Act, whereby dummyism, favouritism, absenteeism, and all other
monopolistic tendencies, which he alleged Mr. McPherson either
established or perpetuated, were to be swept out of the land.
Departmental regulations, rigidly enforced, were to take the place of
tedious legislation. New industries were to be developed. Skilled
labourers from France, Germany and Spain were to show the
plodding but ignorant colonists how to annex the profits from dried
fruits, olive oil and tobacco. And the women of Australia were
to lay the foundations of their individual fortunes by tending the
hitherto neglected silk- worm. Reading Mr. Duffy's eloquent periods
calls up visions of an impending Arcadian existence. But the rough

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 159

and tumble of Australian politics sadly blocked the realisation of
these agreeable dreams. A generation has passed and seen no
triumph of the industries so alluringly propounded. Dried fruits
have indeed been produced at Mildura, at the cost of enormous losses
of capital to the confiding shareholders and entangled creditors, who
financed that experiment. Olive oil could not stand against the
competition of South Australia, where it had been produced for a
quarter of a century. Victorian tobacco is almost unknown in
the world's market, and the silk-worm, after being for a time an
interesting but tedious toy, took himself off to more congenial
surroundings. While these results were undisclosed, Mr. Duffy's
picturesque oratory won over the people, and he toured the colony
as the prophet of the good time coming, entertained at innumerable
banquets, cheered to the echo after every speech, and generally
glorified by the country press. It looked as though nothing could
hinder his triumphal march. Yet things were not what they
seemed ; there were conspiracies afoot. To quote his own words :
" The wealthy classes, to whom free selection means extinction, the
party who had held power so long that they deemed themselves
robbed of their inheritance if any other intruded into that domain,
and the free lances fighting only personal ends, were agreed upon
one point — to disparage and misrepresent whatever we undertook ".
Something more than a fear of the schemes of so insignificant a
minority as the " wealthy classes " represented must have prompted
this wail. The atmosphere of Parliament was beginning to be omi-
nous of hostile votes. Mr. Fellows launched the first attack. It
arose out of some proceedings at a colonial conference in whioh Mr.
Duffy had taken part in Sydney, and implied a censure on the dis-
loyalty of his utterances. Mr. Duffy vindicated himself with such
impassioned rhetoric that, he says, " tears overflowed the eyes of
hardened politicians," and they gave him a triumphant majority.

However much Mr. Duffy might be able to work upon the feel-
ings of politicians, his eloquence could not charm away the hard
facts of adverse finances. His Treasurer soon found that the pro-
spective deficit, so flippantly ignored, was a reality after all. Mr.
Berry was not dismayed by the discovery, and promptly engineered
a revision of the tariff, which doubled the ad valorem duties over the

160 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

whole range of soft goods and hardware, and brought into the fiscal
net much that had hitherto escaped. The additions were estimated
to increase the Customs revenue by £200,000 per annum, and the
ledger was pronounced to be squared. On the 23rd of November
Parliament was prorogued, and Mr. Duffy enjoyed five months of
recess to mature his reforms.

Sir George Verdon, who had been knighted during his tenure of
office as Agent-General, sent out his resignation of that post, having
received an important banking appointment. Mr. Duffy was quite
confounded by the rush of applicants for the vacancy. Mr. Francis
made overtures to secure it for Sir James McCulloch, who had also
received the honour of knighthood, and had temporarily betaken
himself to London. But an earlier applicant was in the field in the
person of Mr. H. C. B. Childers, who had just retired from the
position of First Lord of the Admiralty, on the ground of ill-health,
and who was duly appointed, to the great disgust of many local
Parliamentarians. A year later, in August, 1872, when Mr. Childers
re-entered the Gladstone Cabinet, Sir James McCulloch obtained his
desire, and acted as the official representative of the colony for a
couple of years, during which time he was promoted to the higher
dignity of K.C.M.G.

With the reassembling of Parliament on the 30th of April, 1872,
Mr. Duffy's troubles revived. One of the charges brought against
his Government was that the Governor's speech made no promise
of an Education Act, which the country imperiously demanded.
This shot failed to destroy, though it aroused a long and acrimonious
debate tinctured with a good deal of the odium theologicum. Within
the month, however, charges of abuse of patronage, and a tendency
to regard nationality and religion as the test of fitness, began to hurtle
in the air, and finally, on the question of the propriety of the appoint-
ment of Mr. Cashel Hoey as Secretary of the Agent- General's office
in London, the vote was distinctly adverse and the Ministry resigned.
Mr. Duffy, remembering the enthusiasm his speeches had evoked in
the country, believed that he owed his defeat to an unworthy cabal
of office-seekers, whose verdict the electors would promptly set aside.
He endeavoured to convince the Governor that he was entitled
by all constitutional precedent to a dissolution. But Lord Canter-

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 161

bury declined to accept his interpretation, and refused to grant an
appeal to the people. The refusal stung Mr. Duffy into subsequently
describing Her Majesty's representative as "an impoverished peer
whose business in the Colonies was to increase his balance at the
bankers'," which is a pleasing variation on the charge he so frequently
made, that it was the great fortunes in the colony which were united
in efforts to thwart him. A few months later the "impoverished
peer " was the medium of conveying to Mr. Duffy the honour of
knighthood, a compliment with which his countrymen generally were
pleased. During the first fifteen years of the Constitution the dis-
tinction of knighthood had only been conferred on four persons,
Sir William Stawell, on his elevation to the Chief Justiceship ; Sir
James Palmer, as President of the Council ; Sir Francis Murphy, the
Speaker ; and Sir Eedmond Barry ; only in the last-named instance
was the honour the result of special services rendered to the com-
munity, in educational and social labours. In the three preceding
cases the dignity was an appendage to the office, and has since been
generally perpetuated on those lines. Commencing with Sir George
Verdon in 1872, the holder of the office of Agent- General has usually
been offered the distinction, though it has not in all cases been
accepted. Sir Archibald Michie in 1878 and Sir Graham Berry in
1887 thus attained it. The selection of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy did
not come under any of these conditions, as at the time of the offer
he was only a private member of the House, though the further step
of K.C.M.G. was conferred upon him in respect of his selection as
Speaker in 1875. The honour was no doubt procured for him by
his friend Childers, who was then a member of the British Cabinet,
and it was probably intended as a peace-offering to the Irish section.
In 1874 Sir John O'Shanassy was knighted, and in the following
year Sir Charles Sladen. After this there was a cessation of appoint-
ments for about a dozen years, except in the cases of the occupants
of the offices above referred to. Amongst prominent politicians who
declined to take up the proffered distinction occur the names of Mr.
J. G. Francis, Mr. Peter Lalor, Mr. James Service, Mr. Duncan
Gillies, Mr. Alfred Deakin and Mr. E. Murray Smith.

When Mr. Duffy was refused a dissolution the Governor en-
trusted Mr. J. G. Francis with the task of forming a Ministry.

VOL. II. 11

162 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Despite his own vigorous championship of Protection, that gentleman
secured for his Treasurer Mr. Edward Langton, the most outspoken
Free Trader in the Assembly. And the Cabinet was somewhat of a
reflex of the two leading spirits. Mr. J. W. Stephen and Mr. G.
B. Kerferd were the Law Officers ; Mr. J. J. Casey took charge of
the Lands Department, and Mr. Duncan Gillies the control of the
rapidly expanding railway system. The Custom House was super-
vised by Mr. Edward Cohen, a Melbourne merchant, and to Mr.
Angus Mackay, of Bendigo, was allotted the care of the mining
industry. Half the Cabinet was composed of Protectionists, the
other half held by the principles of Free Trade. Half had been
abettors of McCulloch's raid on the Constitution, others had been
prominent in denouncing it. The public fervently hoped that the
coalition would bring at least temporary political peace.

The Francis Ministry made the fourteenth that in a period of six-
teen years had succeeded in snatching a brief, and too often uneasy
tenure of power. Absurd and injurious as were these continuous
changes in the direction of public affairs, and disastrous as was the
hindrance they presented to the moulding of necessary legislation,
they were the price the colony paid for lessons in the art of self-
government. Each little group, as it wrested power from its
opponents, sought to distinguish its own regime by some important
advance in democratic principles. It chanced that the Francis
Government lighted on Education as a popular and pressing topic,
and their twelve months' reign was signalised by the passage of the
Act on that subject which, with a few unimportant additions, is
still the law of the colony. Many circumstances combined to
make the time opportune, probably the most forcible being the
bitter sectarian strife engendered by the debates which preceded the
downfall of Duffy's Ministry. Yet the public demand was not of
recent origin. The waste of energy and money attendant on the
rivalries of the National and Denominational Boards was rightly
regarded as a scandal.

As far back as 1858 Mr. Michie had fathered a Bill to create
uniform secular instruction by the State, and to authorise the use
of the school buildings for religious instruction outside of the
defined school hours, It was neither to be free nor compulsory ;

SUEVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 163

but the fees could be remitted if the parents were unable to pay,
and they were liable to be fined if they did not cause their children
to be taught somewhere to read and write. The representatives of
the Denominational system and the Eoman Catholics combined
against the measure, and though it passed the second reading in
the Assembly, it had to be abandoned. Four years later Mr.
Heales, then a private member (June, 1862), revived the contro-
versy by introducing the "Common Schools Act". This vested
the teaching machinery of the State in one Central Board, which
was to absorb all the property of the National School Board, and
such of the Denominational Board's assets as it was willing to sell
or surrender. With the dissolution of the rival Boards, no public
money was to be thereafter expended except through the newly
created management. The express limitation of times for religious
teaching, and the remission of fees in case of poverty, were much
the same as in Mr. Michie's proposed Act. One of the strong
points made by Mr. Heales was, that under the guise of fostering
education the Denominational Board was spreading over the land
an unnecessary number of insignificant buildings, which were
really so many rudimentary churches — often in undesirable com-
petition with a National School already occupying the field. The
Common Schools Act was vigorously opposed by Messrs. O'Shanassy,
Duffy, Haines and others, but the able and eloquent support of
George Higinbotham and James Service eventually carried it
through, and it passed the Council without amendment. It largely
minimised the ill-effects of the old system, but it did not answer
the expectation of its supporters. The appointments made by
O'Shanassy to the Education Board were not above suspicion, and
sectarian strife was only scotched, not killed.

A very representative Eoyal Commission of both Houses of Par-
liament was appointed in September, 1866, to review the system of
State Education then in force, and to devise means of bringing it
into closer touch with the popular demands. Mr. Higinbotham
was the chairman, and the Board included the headmasters of
three Public Grammar Schools and a County Court Judge. Unlike
the general run of Eoyal Commissions, they set to work promptly
and earnestly. Within five months they held fifty-two meetings,

11*

164 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

examined a large number of expert witnesses, debated an enormous
mass of evidence, and brought up an exhaustive and entirely un-
animous report, accompanied by a draft Bill to give effect to their
recommendations. On the question of gratuitous education they
were emphatic in their dissent, believing that there was nothing in
the circumstances of the community to warrant its general applica-
tion. The main points of their proposals were : —

Legal provision making instruction of children compulsory

upon parents.

Appointment of a responsible Minister of Public Instruction.
Establishment of public schools from which sectarian teaching
shall be excluded by express legislative enactment, and in
which religious teaching shall be in like manner sanctioned
and encouraged.

Establishment of a training school for teachers.
A separate grant for aiding instruction in rural districts to

aborigines and Chinese, and for ragged schools.
And, finally, as the proposed fees were small and liable in
many cases to remission, the system could not be self-
supporting ; therefore it was suggested that the expense
should be borne by a special tax on land in aid of public
instruction.

When the Bill was submitted to the Assembly it met with an
uncompromising opposition. The principal speakers against it were
Messrs. Ireland, O'Grady, Gillies and Langton, while its supporters
were few and feeble. Mr. Higinbotham made a brilliant defence,
but his eloquence and earnestness made no impression ; so many
members intimated their desire to join in the attack that Mr.
McCulloch backed down and suggested its withdrawal. Eeluc-
tantly Mr. Higinbotham recognised failure, and as he stood for the
whole Bill and no compromise he withdrew it. The agitation on
the subject was not allowed to die out, and a growing class de-
manded an entire divorce between secular and religious teaching.
The rationalist party contended that the latter could not be given
without encouraging sectarianism, nor without violating some one's
conscientious scruples. In this attitude, strange to say, they found
support from the Churches, whose ministers declared that it was

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 165

impossible to have religious teaching which was not sectarian, and
that the Christianity which was common to all the sects could not be
taught ! The predominance of this feeling determined Mr. Francis
to use it as a means of ensuring popular support for his Ministry,
and incidentally justifying the expulsion from office of Duffy.
Feeling ran high, and as both Protestants and Eoman Catholics
were working to maintain the ecclesiastical grip, it was decided
to formulate a measure which should appeal to the masses, sup-
posed in the majority to be actively hostile to the Churches. The
contentious strife which the proposal engendered was not confined
to the period involved in passing the Act. Year after year, since it
was placed on the Statute book, has produced criticism, comment
and denunciation with unstinted profusion. Sermons, leading
articles, hundreds of pages of debates, pastoral addresses and en-
cyclicals poured forth their dolorous prophecies of impending moral
decadence. The air was darkened with pamphlets filled with
arguments which no man heeded. A generation has passed away
since, and the contention is not yet stilled, though the hopelessness
of any change has modified its volume.

The Education Act, largely based on the rejected measure of
Higinbotham and a subsequent proposal of McCulloch's, was
credited to Mr. J. W. Stephen, the Attorney-General, and it tended
to make him for a time a hero with the masses. For in 1870 there
was in that quarter a widespread opinion that the clergy as a class
were enemies of popular education. Probably the opinion, or
rather prejudice, was ill-founded, but the working man is invari-
ably suspicious of opposition, and too generally attributes it to
reasons such as would be likely to influence himself. It is easy to
understand how Mr. Stephen's popularity grew. Here was a man,
hitherto prominent as a churchman, falling foul of the traditions
of his class, and demanding that at least the elements of education
should be ensured to every child in the colony. To make it uni-
versal it must be compulsory : being compulsory it must be free,
to avoid the appearance of pauperising any section of the people ;
and secular, to avoid the clash of sectarian discord. Schools were
to be provided in every district throughout the colony ; a Depart-
ment of Education, presided over by a Minister responsible to

166 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Parliament, was to ensure that every child between the ages of
six and thirteen, not otherwise instructed or specially exempted,
should have at least four hours' teaching on five days of the week.
No Scripture reading or religious exercises of any kind were to
be allowed during school hours, but under somewhat arbitrary
conditions permission might be obtained, if recommended by the
Local Boards of Advice, for holding religious instruction classes
at other times. The clergy were of opinion that making reading,
writing and arithmetic compulsory, and religious instruction op-
tional and voluntary, was reversing the proper order of things. A
large majority, however, both in Parliament and outside, derided
that opinion, and contemptuously rejoined that if the clerical
teaching was of any value, it would soon be in demand without
compulsion by the law. And many thoughtful people honestly
believed that the necessity of domestic training in these matters
would awaken in parents a supervision over the morals of their
children which they had been too ready to leave to the parson
and the schoolmaster.

The Eoman Catholics had, no doubt, stronger grounds for their
dissent than any of the other Churches. They could not, in accord-
ance with their traditions, accept any form of schooling for their
young which was entirely divorced from the teaching of religion,
because secular education had been emphatically condemned by
a papal encyclical. But, even apart from the prohibition, the Church
had always maintained the paramount necessity of making religious
or — more correctly speaking — doctrinal principles the basis of edu-
cation whereon to graft the learning of this world. Imbued with
these views the Eoman Catholics, who formed approximately one-
fourth of the population, naturally protested against paying one-
fourth of the annual cost of a system which they could not share
in without disobeying the teachings of their Church, incurring the
displeasure of their priests, and even risking the refusal of the
Sacraments, if they persisted in sending their children to such
schools after due warning. The cost of providing all this free
instruction, and erecting suitable buildings for the purpose, soon
exceeded £600,000 a year. The leaders of this party said, give us
one-fourth of the expenditure, and for this £150,000 a year we will

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 167

educate all our people, build our own schools, and show you in fair
competition a better result. It was impossible to admit such a claim
and to refuse the demands which would have arisen from other
discontented Churches. The end would have been a return to an
acute form of denominationalism, with the Minister of Education
and all his elaborate machinery presiding over a handful of budding
rationalists and nothingarians.

The Eoman Catholics would, perhaps, have had a more patient
consideration of their claims if they had restricted them to equity.
Unfortunately, as the contest proceeded, and they despaired of ob-
taining what they deemed justice, their utterances grew more angry,
and from pulpit and press they assailed the supporters of the Act
with indiscriminate abuse. One of their champions, who officially
stated the case for his co-religionists, printed their opinion of Mr.
Stephen as " A narrow-minded bigot, an unscrupulous politician,
an intense hater of Catholicity and of its progress in this colony. . . .
A man who did not scruple to act in direct opposition to the policy
of his Church in order to be revenged on the Catholics, to whom he
attributed his numerous defeats at the polling booth." With pen
and tongue the Act was assailed as deliberately conceived in an open
spirit of hostility to the Catholics. One very eminent preacher of
the day, Father O'Malley, S.J., said that the burning sense of the
wrong and persecution which his people felt was due to the know-
ledge that the real underlying object of the Act was to destroy the
faith of Catholic children — practically to proselytise on a large scale
under Government compulsion. Such extreme statements naturally
aroused an irritated antagonism ; bigotry was met by intolerance,
and there was loud demand for no compromise. So the Bill went
through with a substantial majority in both Houses, and its author,
Mr. J. Wilberforce Stephen, became the first Minister of Education,
which office he held in addition to that of Attorney-General until
May, 1874, when he was transferred to the Bench of the Supreme
Court.

Whatever may be the opinion of the Churches, the community
as a whole are satisfied with, and indeed rather proud of the position
which Victoria holds in educational matters as compared with other
British Colonies. That there are some defects in the system, and

168 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

that it has not accomplished all that was expected of it, is readily
admitted. The first great drawback is the enormous outlay involved,
and the tendency, in common with all public departments, to fatten
on taxation. The expenditure for the first half-dozen years averaged
about £600,000 per annum, after which it gradually crept up until
in the financial year 1890-91 it exceeded £840,000. Then the prun-
ing-knife was violently applied to the staff ; many small schools were
amalgamated, others were closed, and in the course of four or five
years the amount was again brought temporarily under the £600,000
which had come to be considered the normal figure. Much of the
enforced economy, however, was only at the expense of postponing
necessary works, and by the closing year of the century the expendi-
ture exceeded £670,000. It must be borne in mind that this outlay
is on primary schools only, and that concurrently the Government
spent £35,000 on secondary education, in the form of endowment to
the Melbourne University, maintenance of technical schools, schools
of mines, and in exhibitions and scholarships. The annual outlay
under the Common Schools Act up to 1872 had never exceeded
£200,000, yet in Parliamentary debates of that year quite as much
fault was found with the " excessive cost " as with the " inefficiency "
of the old system. The new Act came into force on 1st January,
1873, and before the century closed the expenditure under it had
reached £19,000,000, of which about £1,100,000 was provided from
loans for school buildings, and the balance from the general revenue.
Such an expenditure on a community averaging during this
period less than a million persons of all ages, with approximately
220,000 possible scholars, should have accomplished all that the
most sanguine supporters of the Act desired. But it was far from
doing so. Its authors found it pleasant and popular to confer upon
the people gratuitously a privilege for which they had hitherto been
required to pay. In a short time hundreds of well-to-do tradesmen,
civil servants and highly paid clerks sent their children to share
in the free education the country provided. Nor were they to be
blamed for availing themselves of services for which, with the
assistance of many who had no benefit from them, they paid in-
directly through the taxes. The result was the closing of over 300
private schools between 1872 and 1875, though it by no means

169

follows that this was a disadvantage to any one but the people
— often hopelessly incapable — who were making a living by what
passed for teaching. But the mass of scholars thus transferred
from private or home tuition to the care of the State had a dis-
couraging effect in one respect. The State school teachers of the
well-dressed and comfortably placed pupils shrank from encouraging
the bare-footed ragged urchins, whose only hope of rescue from the
bondage of ignorance lay in the bounty of the State. Thus, while
the Minister of Education was pleased enough to confer favours,
a weak fear of unpopularity stayed the hand that was empowered
to enforce compulsion ; so to this day thousands of the waifs and
strays of humanity are not gathered into the fold. The law is
intermittently put into operation, and convictions of negligent or
defiant parents have reached as high as from 5,000 to 6,000 in a
single year. Still, the fact remains that some 10,000 gutter children
are, owing to the cupidity or indifference of their parents, debarred
from the benefits provided for them at such a lavish outlay. With
this very serious drawback the Act has otherwise worked fairly
well. It is a generous use of terms to call the teaching given in
these schools education, but the rudimentary principles instilled
have, in thousands of cases, awakened a desire for pursuing know-
ledge for its own sake, and many of the fittest have passed into
a career of higher learning, and even distinction, which their
environment would have rendered impossible but for the assistance
of the State. The larrikin has not been exterminated, and the
foul language of the slums still pollutes our streets. These blots
are not the fault of the Act ; rather in the laxity of its administra-
tion and the withholding of the moral support of the clergy, who,
because they cannot have their own way, will take no hand in the
so-called irreligious schools. The worst failures of the system are
found amongst the denser population of the cities. In the thinly
peopled interior it has produced nothing but good, and has been of
incalculable benefit to a deserving and industrious class of settlers.
The periodical attacks upon it by the Churches are, to say the
least, unjust. It was by their influence that Mr. Higinbotham's
Bill was lost, and it has been demonstrated beyond dispute that
no co-operation amongst the contending sects was possible for

170 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

devising a form of religious instruction acceptable to all, not even
if the Roman Catholic body had been separately dealt with. The
gloomy vaticinations of the opponents of the Act, who declared
that the logical outcome of an exclusively secular system of educa-
tion was infidelity and immorality, have not been realised. Mr.
Hayter, the Government Statist, in Crime in New South Wales
(Melbourne, 1884) proved that in the mother-colony, where Scripture
lessons by clergymen are encouraged in the schools, the amount of
criminality is much larger in proportion than in any other Australian
colony, and that for some specified offences the convictions are
twice as numerous as those in Victoria with its denounced godless
system. Later, Mr. Hayter's successor in office has shown by
valuable statistical tables that, dealing with the Victorian-born popu-
lation, there has been a reduction of crime in general in proportion
to population of nearly one-fourth since the adoption of the secular,
compulsory and free system of education now in force. These
results are not submitted as cause and effect, and perhaps do not
directly touch the main question ; but they show that at least one
of the most frequent arguments adduced by the " Bible in State
Schools League " and other clerical organisations is based on a
very weak foundation.

After the great achievement of the Education Act the Ministry
rested on its laurels, and on the 25th of November, 1873, Parlia-
ment was prorogued with a view to a general election. This took
place in March and April, 1874, without arousing much excitement
or materially altering the personnel of the Assembly. Perhaps the
most notable feature of these elections was the return of Mr. James
Service to political life, after an absence of twelve years. He
had resigned his seat in 1862 to visit Europe, and though since
his return he had contested several elections, he had hitherto been
defeated.

The qualities that marked him as specially fitted to take a
leading part in the counsels of a State militated against his success
at the hustings. He was a man of considerable force of character,
quick and logical in intellectual processes, vigorous and lucid in
the expression of his views, and conscientious to the last degree
in maintaining the principles he advocated, and in adhering to

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 171

his platform promises. He had not Mr. Higinbotham's gift of
oratory, but his speeches always commanded attention, for they
were so manifestly the result of honest convictions, couched in
direct and simple language, often enlivened by little touches of
Scottish humour that left none of the rankle of sarcasm or ridi-
cule. Some of his most ambitious addresses were delivered out
of Parliament in connection with Federation, the Unity of the
Empire, and other important national questions in which he took
so active an interest. During the whole of his political career he
never descended to the language of personal invective, which so
often disgraced the debates in periods of excitement, and he did
much by influence as well as by example to restrain the more
intemperate in language. In the House, as on the hustings, he
ever maintained a perfect equanimity, and he could put aside an
offensive interjection with rare good temper. He had a happy
faculty of epigram, and some of his felicitous phrases, which evoked
applause from friends and opponents alike, are often revived in
Parliamentary debates to this day. His sound common-sense,
and the moderation of language in which he expressed his views,
formed a marked contrast to the brusque and overbearing but
somewhat confused dicta of McCulloch, or the perfervid and rather
hysterical fluency of Graham Berry, the two men with whom
he was brought chiefly in contact.

As a prosperous merchant, the architect of his own fortunes,
which had been slowly built up by industry and foresight from the
days of his temporary sojourn in Canvas Town, he naturally stood
for absolute freedom of commerce. This had kept him out of Par-
liament for ten years. It mattered nothing to the electors that
in the trading world Mr. Service's name symbolised the highest
commercial probity, the most steadfast devotion to duty, and a
loyal regard for the interests of all with whom he came in contact.
They put aside as absurd the notion that he had an unselfish desire
to devote his leisure and his ability to the further advancement
of the country, in the progress of which he had so happily shared.
Their experience of most of the men who had wooed their votes
made them suspicious of such quixotic ideas. Their support was
readily captured by the man who shaped his plastic views to meet

172 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

their demands, and who verbally promised what he mentally knew
he could not perform. Mr. Service could not trim, to dissimulate
he was ashamed, and the price he paid for loyalty to his convictions
was to be hooted down, and refused a hearing by the Protectionist
contingent when he sought the suffrages of Ballaarat, Collingwood
and West Melbourne. But the miners were now beginning to
realise that the 25 per cent, duties they were paying on their
machinery, tools, and nearly everything they used, was a too
generous contribution to the maintenance of factories for the glory
of Melbourne, and the employment of the town-attracted masses.
Eight years of continually increasing duties had not brought them
in sight of that cheapness which was promised as their share of
the blessing of fiscal manipulation. While their wages remained
nominally unaltered, they suffered a decrease by reason of the
enhanced cost of living. So the mining constituency of Maldon
gave a hearing to the other side, and returned Mr. Service by a
very large majority, and retained him as their representative for
seven years.

The first session of the new Parliament was opened on 26th
May, 1874, and lasted until 24th December. It was marked by
an early reconstruction of the Ministry. One of the prominent
pledges given at the hustings during the recent general election
was the introduction of a Bill to further amend the Constitution,
with a view to avoid the possibility of future deadlocks. It cannot
be said that the people generally took much real interest in this
perpetual stalking-horse ; but certain noisy agitators found nothing
so effective for inflaming the public mind as attacks upon the
Legislative Council, and the grossest misrepresentation of its pro-
ceedings. The Bill introduced by Mr. Francis to ensure harmony
between the branches of the Legislature was based on the Nor-
wegian system of the two Chambers, when at variance on any
important question, sitting in joint deliberation. It was coldly
received in the Assembly, and the feeling displayed was so hostile
that the Premier decided to retire. It did not seem necessary to
immolate the Ministry. They had not suffered any formal defeat,
and commanded a fair working majority ; therefore, at the end of
July Mr. Francis resigned on the ground of failing health, and

SUKVEY OF THE EAKLY SEVENTIES 173

his Attorney-General, Mr. Kerferd, assumed the Premiership. Mr.
Langton, the Treasurer, was at variance with some of his colleagues
on the fiscal question, and on the methods of the colony's official
book-keeping. He also elected to retire, and Mr. Service, having
accepted the position of Treasurer, was thereupon re-elected by
his Maldon constituents without opposition.

Only one Bill of any importance passed into law in this session
— the Local Government Act, 1874, a most comprehensive measure,
which was actively debated for four months, and finally passed on
the last day of sitting. The rapid spread of settlement over the
country had caused much confusion and difficulty in defining the
jurisdiction of sundry Shires and District Eoad Boards, and the
varying estimates of the qualifications in area, population and revenue
to constitute a borough. The Act set to work by repealing most
of the statutes bearing upon municipal management, and amending
others. In profuse detail it set forth, in 532 sections, all that it was
necessary to know about the sphere and duties of mayors, presidents,
councillors, town clerks and shire secretaries, singly or in combination.
It evolved order out of chaos, and remains, with a few slight amend-
ments, the basis of local self-government to this day. It gave the
power of taxation by rates on local properties up to 2s. 6d. in the £.
Perhaps the most objectionable feature in the Act was the power of
borrowing conferred on municipalities, which led many of them into
reckless expenditure, and greatly hampered the proper maintenance
of works heedlessly undertaken. This was particularly the case in
the suburban towns and boroughs, where a considerable proportion
of the rates was soon absorbed in paying interest on loans squandered,
during times of inflation, on quite unnecessary town halls and
other unproductive works. The operations of the Act have been
generally recognised as beneficial, but there is one aspect which pre-
sents an object-lesson to the advocates of State socialism. Clauses
define very precisely the manner in which money may be borrowed,
and it is specially enacted that councillors concerned in borrowing
in excess of their powers are to be personally liable. At first a few
Councils found themselves, through ignorance or misapprehension,
in this illegal position ; then others, seeing that no action was taken,
began to ignore the restraint. In a few years it transpired that a

174 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

large number of the country shires had outrun their incomes, and
were applying the rates to the liquidation of illegally incurred over-
drafts, which the Act declared should be paid by the councillors per-
sonally. When action was proposed the Ministry of the day shrunk
from enforcing the law against so important a factor in election
matters as Shire Councillors. But the law had to be upheld for
appearance' sake, so Parliament was moved to condone the offence,
and for some ten years past has annually put through a " Municipal
Councillors' Indemnity Act," with the understanding on each occasion
that it was not to be asked for again. The farce still goes on.

The Governor's speech in opening the second session, on 25th
May, 1875, was exceptionally long, and outlined work, the accom-
plishment of which would have required much closer attention to
business than honourable members had ever yet given. But the
proposals came to nothing, and the sitting, which lasted ten months,
was redolent of the most discreditable personal intrigues for office,
factious cabal, and defiance of the principles of honourable dealing
which theoretically regulate public life. It had the unique record in
that short time of entertaining three Ministries, listening to three
conflicting statements of the colony's financial position, debating three
separate methods of balancing the national ledger, and assenting to
no less than five temporary Supply Bills.

Mr. Service, who though as staunch a Free Trader as Mr. Langton
was constitutionally less aggressive, in submitting his budget on
15th July had to admit a deficit of some £200,000 to be met by new
taxation. This would not have been a very serious matter, with a
revenue exceeding four and a quarter millions sterling. But he
desired to readjust the incidence of the tariff, to "ease the burdens
now borne by the industrial classes, and to afford relief to the trade
of the colony," to quote his own words. To do this he proposed
to remit altogether the 20 per cent, duties on a long list of necessaries,
the collection of which had been found vexatious and unprofitable.
Further, to reduce from 20 to 15 per cent, the duty on other specified
goods which had for the last five years enjoyed a large amount
of Protection, and which should be considered quite able to compete
successfully with the imported article at the reduced duty. These
concessions would about double the existing deficit, bringing it up

SURVEY OF THE EAELY SEVENTIES 175

to £370,000. To fill the void there was to be a land tax, house tax,
bank-note tax and stamp tax. These, with a substantial increase
in the duties on spirits, beer and tobacco, were estimated to convert
the existing deficit into a surplus of £150,000 at the close of the
financial year.

The budget was received more favourably by the public and
the press than it was in the Assembly. Sir James McCulloch led
off with a declaration that the estimated expenditure was outrageous,
and declared that the ledger should be balanced by retrenchment,
not by further taxation. The brewers and publicans were loud in
their protests, and they combined with the extreme Protectionists
to block progress. Mr. Berry thereupon, mistaking the strength
of his party, moved the direct rejection of the financial proposals
of the Government, and hurried it to a division. Although he had
the support of Sir James McCulloch the motion was defeated by
thirty-two to twenty-two, most of the dissatisfied members of the
Free Trade party, upon whose support Berry had relied, walking out
of the Chamber when the division bell rang.

In the presence of faction and intrigue this substantial endorse-
ment of the Ministerial policy counted for little. The debate
which took place on the first item, the increased spirit duties, dis-
closed the fact that the Free Trade party could not be relied on
to rally round their champion. Personal pique, disguised under
assumed objections to some item of new taxation, operated with
a few. The blandishments of an expectant Cabinet-maker caught
others, and the party now presented with its first chance of reason-
able reform failed to grasp it. When the division on the test vote
was taken, men like Sir James McCulloch and Mr. Langton were
found ranged behind Mr. Berry, and the majority for the Govern-
ment was reduced to one. This vote seemed to render the position
unworkable, but as the country had apparently pronounced in
favour of the Government proposal, Mr. Kerferd thought he was
entitled to a dissolution. The acting Governor, Sir Wm. Stawell,
did not concur in that view, and when an appeal to the country
was refused the Ministry resigned. There was a widespread
opinion that the resignation was precipitate. No actual defeat had
been sustained, and there was abundant English and Colonial

176 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

precedent for Ministers retaining office after specific items in their
budget proposals had been rejected. Mr. Kerferd was, however,
a wavering leader, listening to many advisers, and he had been
persuaded that the country would give him a substantial majority.
Mr. Service was hurt by the defection of so many Free Traders, and
smarted under the charge that he had courted defeat by making
a test of the spirit duties, a proposal which seriously affected
important vested interests, and which many of his supporters dared
not vote for, without jeopardising their seats at the next election.
A low view certainly to take of senatorial responsibility, but one
which the press of the day seemed quite ready to excuse. In any
case the resignation was irrevocable, and Mr. Graham Berry made
his first entry as Premier on the 7th of August, 1875, a role that
he assumed off and on during several years of the most contentious
and stormy period of Victorian politics.

Happily Parliament, though an important factor in helping or
hindering the progress of the colony, was not the be-all and end-all
of its existence. Despite the swirling agitation which marked the
filling and emptying of the Treasury benches, the great bulk of the
community prayed only to be let alone in the pursuit of their
several avocations. In the twelve years since the departure of Sir
Henry Barkly, the population of the colony had increased by 40
per cent., and at the close of 1875 stood at 792,000. The increase
in the revenue was over 50 per cent., reaching £4,240,000, while
the public expenditure always kept close up to it, when it did not
exceed it. There was something to show for the outlay, for great
improvements and enormous extensions had taken place in the
roads and bridges throughout the colony, partly by direct expendi-
ture and partly by subsidies to local bodies. Substantial Govern-
ment offices had been provided in the Metropolis for most of the
Departments of State ; others were in course of erection. Hand-
some schools were scattered by scores over the land, not as yet
paid for out of loans. Close upon £100,000 had been spent in the
erection and equipment of a branch of the Royal Mint, which was
a drag upon the revenue to the extent of £10,000 to £12,000 a
year. The Alfred Graving Dock at Williamstown, the finest in
the Southern Hemisphere, had been opened with congratulatory

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 177

festivities. The railway system was being liberally extended. The
North-Eastern line had been completed as far as the Murray, and
awaited at Wodonga the junction with that in course of construction
from Sydney. The Bendigo line had been pushed on to Echuca ;
and Ballaarat had put forth a northern prolongation to Clunes,
Maryborough and Dunolly, while in a western direction it had
extended to Ararat. Two lines were building in the south : one
to connect Geelong with Colac, and another to bring Melbourne in
touch with Sale and the well-watered plains of central Gipps Land.
The actual cost of construction of these lines was defrayed out
of loans, but a considerable amount of incidental expenditure and
interest helped to inflate the Treasurer's disbursements. Unlike
some of the later railway expansions which covered the land with
profitless duplications and ridiculous cockspurs, the 600 miles of
iron road which Victoria possessed in 1875 was in the main a
sound and useful investment. Most of the lines gave a good profit
from the start, and all the others had latent promise in that direction,
though the settlers were very ready to complain that the mining
towns were unduly favoured in the railway proposals. It could
hardly have been otherwise, for mining was still the backbone of
the colony's progress. Outside of Melbourne and Geelong, with
their suburbs, and the old-established western seaports, the whole
colony had but eight towns with populations of over one thousand
that did not depend upon the mining industry. These were Colac,
Camperdown and Hamilton in the Western District, mainly pas-
toral ; Kyneton, Kilmore and Wangaratta, agricultural ; Echuca, the
frontier port on the Murray, and Sale, the only town of importance
in the huge province of Gipps Land. On the other hand, over forty
towns, with populations ranging from one to twenty thousand, had
been built up entirely out of the mining industry and were still
mainly supported by it.

The value of the gold produced in 1875 was £4,383,000, but
the yield for the ten years ending at that date reached within a
trifle of £53,000,000 sterling. Such an enormous production, the
benefit of which, under company mining, was spread over a much
larger area than in the old digging days, could not fail to help

materially the prosperity of the people. Some 42,000 miners were
VOL. IL 12

178 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

still employed, and with modern appliances they got through much
more work than three times their number had done in the early
fifties. For they were backed up by 1,100 steam engines, repre-
senting the power of 24,000 horses, and valued at over £2,000,000
sterling. Since the days of the Eureka stockade mining legislation
had been progressively liberal and considerate. Under the Act
establishing Courts of Mines full justice had been done to this
class of toilers, their only grievance being the repeated failures
of Parliament to come to any final decision on the complicated
question of mining on private property. In the matter of taxation
they had suffered with the farmers in the cause of Protection to
native industry. But an oblique attack on the pocket never arouses
the resentment which a smaller direct demand creates, and it was
recognised that the miner could be much more easily ignored than
the town artisan and labourer with his effective powers of com-
bination at election times.

To the many changes of Government recorded there is to be
added a change of Governors. Sir J. H. Manners-Button, who
had in 1870 succeeded to the title of Viscount Canterbury, left
for England in March, 1873, in the same unostentatious manner
as he had entered upon his office six and a half years before. It
had indeed been a troublous period for a Governor, and though
in the heat of controversy his actions were occasionally assailed
by both sides in the press ; though at the outset McCulloch would
have bullied him and Higinbotham ignored him, yet it is certain
that, when passion allowed reason to be heard, all parties were
ready to admit that Lord Canterbury had held the scales with
strict judicial impartiality. A careful student of constitutional law,
he had ample capacity to use it for his own guidance, even when it
did not run on the lines desired by his Ministerial advisers.

His successor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, came to Victoria
from the Government of New Zealand, having had fourteen years'
experience in presiding over Australasian Colonies. To judge by
the two stout volumes, Thirty Years of Colonial Government,
which he has given to the world, he would appear to have been
an exceptionally brilliant administrator, upon whom the applause of
the populace and the fervid encomiums of his Imperial employers

SURVEY OF THE EARLY SEVENTIES 179

poured unceasingly. Being a man of far more robust habit than
Lord Canterbury, he took a greater part in public social functions,
and he delighted to preside at gatherings connected with sport,
agricultural shows, laying foundation-stones, or opening railways
and other public works. He travelled over the length and breadth
of the colony, banqueted by scores of municipalities, and royally
entertained by some of the wool kings of the fertile West. When
at the end of 1874 he went off to England for a year's holiday,
he left a large number of admirers behind, and was boisterously
cheered as a typical " Fine old English Gentleman ". It was rather
ominous that in the last speech he made he congratulated his audi-
ence on the apparent political apathy which prevailed, remarking
that "Prosperity and political quietude generally go together".
Under the Francis-Kerferd Ministry nothing had called for his
interference, but there was turbulence enough in store for him
when he came back in January, 1876. The narration of events
will show how he dealt with it.

12*

CHAPTER VII.

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882.

BEFORE resuming the Parliamentary narrative, it is desirable to
epitomise the various steps in connection with payment of members,
the culminating discussion of which led to those semi-revolutionary
proceedings that so startled the community in 1877.

The propriety of reimbursing members the expenses incurred
in their attendance on Parliament, as it was modestly phrased, very
early found advocates. The disingenuousness of the phraseology,
however, was soon exposed, when in February, 1862, a private
member proposed that such "reimbursement" should be limited
to members whose domicile lay outside of Melbourne and suburbs,
and that it should in no case exceed £150 per annum. This was
taken as an affront, for members had already begun to demand a
living wage and uniform treatment, wherever domiciled. In the
first Bill sent to the Council they appraised their services at £300 a
year, and eliminated the members of the Upper House, where the
measure was rejected without a dissentient voice. In 1865 the
McCulloch Ministry, to placate Opposition, sent up a Bill including
payment to members of the Council, but it shared the fate of its
predecessor. Two years later, when the fight over the Darling
grant was at its hottest, the Assembly tried another Bill, this time
revaluing their services and fixing the solatium at £500. Mr.
Higinbotham's was almost the sole voice raised against this attempt.
He had unwillingly become a convert to a payment covering neces-
sary expenses, and he believed £300 a year ample for that purpose.
The contention that working men ought to be represented by their
own class in Parliament was not altogether acceptable to him, but
he held a strong opinion that payment of members would conduce

to the stability of Government, and avert that continuously recurring

180

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 181

overthrow of Ministries which was discrediting the Legislature.
He did not echo the cry of Mr. Berry and his followers that it was
the "keystone of democracy," but he thought that care for their
salaries would sometimes check members in reckless onslaughts
upon a Government that had the power of a dissolution.

The general question of payment for political services has been
often and vigorously discussed. As a means of securing the ablest
men it has certainly not been a success. At the present rate of
pay it practically invites mediocrity to make a living out of politics.
To the professional or mercantile man who gives his services to the
State, the amount is barely adequate to the calls upon his purse
which the position entails, and in any case is of no moment. To
the artisan whose revenue has been based on £3 per week, it seems
to promise a career of luxuriant leisure. As a natural corollary of
universal suffrage, the numerical majority, with a frank avowal of
their devotion to class interests, have largely united to secure a
share in this respectable emolument for the labour party. Thus, for
many years there has been a certain percentage of members whose
sole means of living was represented by the monthly cheque received
from the Victorian Treasury. Its direct effect upon the Assembly
has been towards narrower views of statesmanship and a perceptible
lowering of the average of intelligence and business capacity. It
has also helped to make the rank and file more docile in the hands
of clever leaders, who do the thinking and talking for them, and
more blindly loyal to their party whether right or wrong. That
it has a tendency to lower the dignity and independence of the
position, and to foster self-seeking, has been shown by the fact that
in a neighbouring colony Parliament had sunk so low that a Bill
was introduced protecting the salaries of members from attachment
by their creditors.

The Bill claiming £500 a year was thrown out by the Council,
and again in 1869 it rejected a renewed proposal with the amount
reduced to £300. It would be tedious to recapitulate the arguments
used in these oft-recurring debates. They were so contradictory
that at length the Assembly appointed a Select Committee, of which
Sir Charles Gavan Duffy was chairman, to bring up a report on
the subject, fortified by the fullest details of the practice in all other

182 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

civilised countries. The committee decided that the practice pre-
vailed everywhere except in England, some of her Colonies, and
Italy and Switzerland. Sir Charles Gavan Duffy was strong in
declaring that the English example in a matter of this kind was
no guide, and in compliance with the unanimous recommendation
of the committee a fresh Bill was submitted, retaining the amount
at £300. It cannot be said that public opinion had been much
stirred on the question, but the Legislative Council, in view of the
persistency of the Assembly, and strongly urged thereto by the
Metropolitan press, agreed to make the experiment, on condition
that the operation of the Act was limited to three years. This
was readily conceded, and the Act was assented to at the close of
December, 1870. It was renewed for another three years on 24th
December, 1874 ; here it can be left for the present.

The advent of Mr. Graham Berry to the important position of
Premier of the colony in August, 1875, marked the commencement
of an era of political intrigue, Parliamentary degradation and
shameless self-seeking, that for seven years threatened to justify
the predicted failure of popular representation, and filled the more
thoughtful colonists with shame and indignation. Mr. Berry, at
this time a little over fifty years of age, had already gained the
applause of the masses by the fiery oratory with which he de-
nounced the enemies of the people, who, for brevity's sake, might
be defined as Mr. Berry's political opponents. They varied with
the environment of the moment, and the success or failure of the
speaker. At one time the most offensive of them were to be found
in the Legislative Council. At another the docile followers of the
imperious McCulloch were held up to scornful reprobation. Yet
again it was the Francis-Kerf erd- Service clique that he denounced
as grinding the faces of the poor. Nay, even the polished Duffy,
who had introduced him to Ministerial office, and who in the midst
of his own wide circle of antipathies had generally been friendly to
Berry, was found wanting, and relegated to the Chief Secretary's
black list.

He had tasted the sweets of popularity, and also the bitters ; had
stumped the country in the interest of McCulloch during the Darling
grant controversy, followed by tumults of applause. When, how-

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 183

ever, he dared to differ in a matter of detail from that influential
chief, the fickle crowd turned to rend him and refused to hear him.
When in his wrath he called them " a pack of howling idiots " they
drove him from Parliament, and kept him out for three years.
And, after all, the difference which was counted so deadly a sin
was of the most trivial character. Berry approved of McCulloch's
suspension of payments, and afterwards bettered his example. But
he objected to the machinery by which money was raised to carry
on the Government and minimise the inconvenience. He would
have made the public feel all the consequences of the stoppage
as more likely to bring the crisis to a head.

It is unnecessary to enter at length upon the policy which
Mr. Berry outlined on assuming office, because he was displaced
before he could set his machinery in motion. Briefly, he promised
the masses extension of employment, and the manufacturers en-
hanced profits, by widening the area of protected industries, and
increasing existing duties where they had been found ineffectual.
A land tax, specially aimed at large estates, was to cover the
estimated deficiency in the revenue, and as a drag-net for miscel-
laneous votes, a hazy suggestion of constitutional reform, giving
the Assembly almost uncontrolled power, was flaunted before the
electors. The notable facts about this Ministry, which lasted less
than two months, were the unexplained selection of Mr. Berry by
the Acting Governor as the person to be sent for, and the dif-
ficulty with which a team was collected to take the field with him.
Naturally he turned first to McCulloch, who had backed him in his
attack on the Kerferd Ministry ; then to McPherson, under whom
he had formerly served : both squatters with growing conservative
tendencies. But they gave him the cold shoulder. He secured
Mr. J. B. Patterson for Minister of Public Works, though that
gentleman had hitherto posed as a rather boisterous Free Trader.
He prevailed upon Peter Lalor, the hero of Eureka, to take charge
of the Custom House, and he filled up the other posts with un-
known nonentities, one of them a recently dismissed civil servant.
His main difficulty lay with the Law Officers, for Sir Wm. Stawell,
who was then Acting Governor, refused to allow him to proceed
to business without an Attorney-General. Finally, Mr. J. M, Grant,

184 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

who was a solicitor, but had figured in several previous Cabinets
as a popular Minister of Lands, was made Solicitor-General, while
the chief exponent of ministerial law was found in the person of
a country barrister, Mr. B. Le Poer Trench, who was not a member
of Parliament. When the Assembly met in September, notwith-
standing the unopposed return of the members of the Ministry,
it was at once evident that there was little hope for them, for they
were already in a minority. The budget statement submitted by
Mr. Berry made matters look much worse than the position dis-
closed by Mr. Service, and his proposals for meeting the deficit
were inconclusive and largely based on borrowing. As he wound
up by asking for power to contract a further loan, the debate, led
off by Mr. Service, soon became heated. Sir James McCulloch
pointed out that in six years the annual expenditure had increased
by a million and a half, a reckless rate, which boded early financial
disaster. He showed that the proposed land tax almost amounted
to confiscation, as it singled out one class of investors for a burden
amounting, in some cases of poor land, to a charge on their property
which was actually beyond its probable earning power. He moved
that the House, " whilst affirming the principle of direct taxation on
property, is of opinion that any such measure should be general
in its application, and be accompanied by proposals for relief from
certain of the burdens imposed on the people through the Custom
House ".

The debate on this motion was prolonged over four weeks, during
which time many intrigues were afoot. A caucus meeting on 29th
September resulted in Sir James McCulloch throwing in his lot with
the late Kerferd Ministry, which he had helped Berry to overthrow.
This unexpected combination was then able to carry the motion,
but only by thirty-nine votes to thirty-four. After a brief adjourn-
ment, Berry announced that he had advised the Acting Governor to
permit an appeal to the country, on the double ground that he had
taken office at Sir Wm. Stawell's request when in a decided min-
ority, and that the proposals he had submitted had been enthusi-
astically received by the country. The advice had not been accepted,
and the Chief Secretary asked for another day to consider the position.
The announcement was made memorable as the occasion of a pain-

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 185

ful scene between Sir James McCulloch and Mr. Higinbotham.
The latter impugned Sir Wm. Stawell's impartiality in the matter
of dissolutions in terms that evoked the disapprobation of the Cham-
ber. Suddenly Sir James McCulloch turned upon him and delivered
a scathing indictment, charging him with being the cause of all the
disorganisation that had ever arisen in the Assembly, and declaring
that if it should be his lot to direct the next Government, he trusted
Mr. Higinbotham would be careful to sit in direct Opposition, for
the speaker would give no countenance to any schemes for embroil-
ing the colony with the Imperial Government. This irruption of
wrath swept away the last vestige of the close friendship that had
subsisted between these two men for more than ten years past.
From that day forward the brilliant orator, who refused to believe
that any good thing could come out of Downing Street, was a waning
power. In the numerous changes of Ministry he frequently had to
cross the floor, but he always sat in Opposition to McCulloch, and
he always displayed a special regard for Mr. Service.

It was not easy to satisfy Mr. Berry and his ousted colleagues
of the Acting Governor's impartiality, and they fomented many
public meetings, and inspired many broadsheets with denunciations
of the infamous cabal that had overthrown them, and the tyranny
which obstructed an appeal to the people, who so frantically believed
in them.

On the 20th October, when the roll of the new Ministry was
called, it was found to contain four members of the late Kerferd
Cabinet, viz., Messrs. Kerferd, Gillies, Anderson and Eamsay ; and
four members who had taken an active part in turning them out
of office, viz., Sir James McCulloch, Messrs. McPherson, McLellan
and Joseph Jones. The Ministry was completed by the appointment
of a brilliant young barrister, Dr. John Madden, as Minister of Justice.
No explanation was deigned to the House as to how this coalition
had been brought about, nor how such prominent and experienced
men as James Service, Edward Langton and Murray Smith had
been overlooked in the selection.

On the 23rd of November Sir James McCulloch submitted his
financial statement, by which time he had apparently forgotten his
protest against the extravagance of his predecessors at the Treasury.

186 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

His estimate of expenditure exceeded that submitted by Mr. Berry
in September by nearly £50,000, and that which Mr. Service put
forward in July by £136,000 ! Although his estimates of revenue
showed similar proportional increases, they were mainly under the
head of "recoups," expected repayments out of proceeds of loans.
These included £100,000 for school buildings, an application of loan
money which at that time Mr. Service had not considered justifiable.
The event of this session was the masterly speech which Mr.
Service made in reviewing the budget and its taxation proposals.
Though it occupied four hours in delivery, it was listened to by a
full House with excited attention, and it elicited praise from the entire
press of the colony. When he sat down he received hearty cheers
from both sides of the House, a very unusual experience. His clear
analysis of the financial position and the ineptitude of the proposed
taxation brought conviction home to members. It looked for a
time as if the rejection of the budget was a certainty. He sternly
rebuked the Premier for the intrigues by which he had successively
turned two Governments out of office and wasted four months of
public time, without having anything better to offer than an imperfect
adaptation of the proposals submitted by those Governments, either
of which could have been amended in committee. At the conclusion
of his philippic Mr. Service surprised and greatly disconcerted the
Berry party by intimating that he would not be a party to perpetu-
ating their factious tactics, and would vote for the budget, reserving
his right to reject the income tax, and to amend certain other pro-
posals in committee. The final result, after many months of strenu-
ous debate, was that on the 23rd of March, 1876, Sir James McCulloch
formally withdrew his Bill for imposing land, property and income
taxes, as owing to the defection of some of his followers the second
reading was only carried by a majority of three. The session came
to an ignominious close on the 7th of April, having done no per-
manent work, but its latter days were notorious for the violent
scenes which arose out of the "stonewall" Opposition and the
" Iron Hand " Government.

Mr. Berry and his colleagues, who believed that the people
sympathised with them in being refused a dissolution, spent the
recess in trying to rouse the country, denouncing McCulloch as " a

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 187

traitor to the popular cause, a base ally, if not a purchased tool of
the enemies of the people ". They also accused the Acting Gover-
nor of being in league with the conspirators of Flinders Lane, for
the subversion of the liberties of the country. Unhappily, in all
communities language of this character, of which the foregoing are
but moderate samples, always secures a number of supporters, who,
with a hazy idea that somebody had done wrong, clamour for
reprisals in the much abused name of justice.

On the reassembling of Parliament in January, 1876, one of
the discontented was put forward to move for an address to the
Governor, praying him to dissolve the Assembly to give the constitu-
encies an opportunity of expressing their opinion on the proposed
new taxation. The motion was rejected by thirty-one votes to
twenty-three. Failing relief in this direction it was resolved to
obstruct all business by straining the forms of the House, raising
sham issues and talking against time. One of the main points
aimed at was to prevent the Ministry obtaining supplies, thus
compelling attention by the inconvenience and delay to which the
public creditor would be subjected. This party contributed a new
word to political diction, by pledging themselves to stand like a
"stonewall" against all Ministerial measures. A few weeks of
incessant motions to report progress or adjourn, supported by
whole evenings of irrelevant talk, incensed the more thoughtful
members, and some of the Opposition sided with the Ministry in
trying to suppress the unparliamentary conduct of the leaders on
the left. The " stonewalling " tactics broke down so grand a
fighter as George Higinbotham, who found no solution but in the
resignation of his seat. In his farewell address to his constituents
he said he was unable to approve of the course which the Opposition
intended to pursue, but he could not bring himself to side with the
Government in this quarrel. He considered that the employment
of the forms, which had been adopted for guidance in debate, to
such a purpose as the coercion of a hostile majority was inconsis-
tent with the principles which lie at the foundation of all deliberative
action, and even of political society itself. "It is not permitted,"
he said, "to a member of Parliament to be a mere onlooker in
Parliamentary war. It is his first duty to take his place and bear

188 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

his part in the strife, on the one side or the other. I find it impos-
sible for me in the present emergency to fulfil this duty by joining
the ranks of either side, and I think that I should be doing a wrong
to you if I continued to hold the office while I abstained from
performing the duties of a representative." The man, the reasons,
and the action are unique in Victorian Parliamentary annals.

During this controversy Mr. Service had exerted himself vigor-
ously but ineffectually as peacemaker, but argument was wasted,
and the time for action had come. On the 8th of February Sir
James McCulloch moved a new standing order, to be in force for
the remainder of the session. It provided that when any motion
had been moved in the House or in Committee, a resolution might
without notice be proposed, " that the motion be now put," and
that such resolution should at once be put, without amendment or
debate, no motion or question of order to be permitted until such
resolution had been disposed of. This standing order, promptly
called "The Iron Hand," was fiercely contested by the Opposition,
but two days later it was carried by forty-one votes to twenty.

Although it cannot be said that peace reigned, the possibility of
doing business was restored ; a few minor Acts were passed, and
permission was given to borrow £2,500,000 at 4 per cent. Of this,
about £1,000,000 was for proposed but rather undefined railway
extension; £500,000 for school buildings; and the balance was
chiefly appropriated in connection with water supply schemes.
After this triumph the Ministry thankfully snatched the chance of
a three months' recess.

Sir George Bowen, who had returned early in the year, opened
the third session of this Parliament on the llth of July. His
speech ignored the murky condition of the political atmosphere,
and abounded in congratulatory optimism. He promised the
early introduction of a number of measures of prime importance.
Only a few got beyond the stage of promise, the most important
being a revision of the Electoral Act and the establishment of a
Harbour Trust for the Port of Melbourne. The former measure
aimed at curing the anomalies of representation which had resulted
from the increase of population throughout the country during the
eighteen years that had elapsed since the electoral divisions were

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 189

framed. It divided the colony into fifty-five electoral districts,
increased the number of members to eighty-six, and directed that
at general elections the polling should all take place on one day.
The previous practice had been to take the poll in three batches,
with an interval of a fortnight between each, which allowed a
defeated Minister to try his luck again in another constituency. As
the increase in the number of members in the Assembly destroyed
the ratio between the Houses, Sir Charles Sladen introduced a Bill
in the Council to increase its members from thirty to forty-two,
but the Assembly was in too electrical a condition by the end of
November to consider anything not directly affecting its own exist-
ence. It was on the eve of dissolution and refused to be troubled,
so the Bill never emerged into the light of discussion.

The establishment of a trust that should have the management
of the ever-increasing oversea traffic of the colony was a matter of
great importance, and it was entered upon with a genuine desire to
place the port on a first-class footing. Of the fifteen Commissioners
appointed by the Act, six were to be elected by the municipalities
interested, three by shipowners, three by the merchants and traders,
and three were to be nominated by the Governor in Council.
They were given very extensive powers in management, regulation
of traffic and the imposition of rates and tolls, four-fifths of the
amount collected to be at their disposal for harbour and wharf
improvements and staff expenses, the remaining fifth to be paid
over to the consolidated revenue. They were also endowed with
very considerable borrowing powers, which they freely exercised.
A fee of five thousand guineas elicited an exhaustive report from
the eminent English engineer, Sir John Coode, who visited the colony
to make a preliminary examination of the surroundings. Several
Boyal Commissions, Select Committees of Parliament and Govern-
ment officials had submitted reports during the preceding twenty
years, and most of them had advocated the cutting of a direct canal
from the Yarra just below Melbourne across the Sandridge flats to
the bay. But Sir John Coode was emphatic in declaring that it
would be found impracticable to keep such a canal available for
large ships, except at an unjustifiable cost for dredging. Sir John
Coode's report maintained that the combined scour of the Yarra and

190 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Salt Water Kivers was necessary to keep the entrance channel open,
and he devoted his recommendations to an improvement in width,
depth and directness of the existing water-courses. The work
finally carried out included the cutting off of an awkward and
extended curve in the river known as "Fisherman's Bend," and
substituting a slightly curved canal, 300 feet wide and 23 feet deep,
whereby the distance between the city and the bay would be
shortened by something over a mile, and the passage of large ships
rendered easy. The estimated cost of this improvement and the
provision of a commodious dock at West Melbourne was £1,240,000,
and though the outlay exceeded that amount, it may be said that
public money has rarely been more usefully expended in the colony.

Sir James McCulloch's financial statement in July caused some
surprise, for he had to admit that his previously submitted estimates
were all abroad. Instead of the predicted deficit of £180,000, the
year had closed with a surplus of £52,000 — thus fully justifying
Mr. Service's denunciation of the income tax as quite uncalled for.
The Premier entered into voluminous explanations of the various
increases, and finally declared that though it was clear that a re-
adjustment of taxation was necessary, he did not propose to attempt
it during that session, as it would involve much waste of time, and
the raising of bad blood in the House. The bad blood was promptly
engendered by this insinuation that it was there. Confidence in the
Premier's financial capacity was rudely shaken, and a condemnatory
motion was put forward demanding the retrenchment in expenditure
which Sir James had so loudly cried for when out of office, and the
repeal of some of the vexatious duties of customs. It formed the
text for a five days' debate, and the Government emerged with a
majority of twelve. Later in the session Mr. Berry launched
another no-confidence vote, this time making the pretext that the
Ministry were neglecting the extension of railways demanded by the
country. Once more the Government scored, though the majority
was reduced to ten.

In July of this year Mr. James McKean, the representative of
North Gipps Land, was, upon the report of a Select Committee,
solemnly expelled from Parliament for having declared at the
Collingwood Police Court that the members of the Legislative

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 191

Assembly were drunk most part of their time, were a disgrace to
the country, and not competent to deal with public affairs. Mr.
McKean was known to be somewhat of an extremist in language,
but as he had been a Minister of the Crown a few years before, and
was still a member of the Executive Council, his Legislative col-
leagues thought it necessary to emphasise their dissent from his
charges by something more than a contemptuous denial. The
vacancy thus dramatically created was filled by Sir Charles Gavan
Duffy, who, having recently returned to the colony, was nominated
and elected without opposition. It required much tact and some
temporising on the part of the Ministry to pilot themselves into
recess, but the haven was reached on the 22nd of December, when
Sir George Bo wen congratulated members upon the many excellent
things they had done, and the third session of the eighth Parliament
was duly prorogued.

The elections for the ninth Parliament were fixed to take place
on the llth of May, 1877. Only four of the existing members
were allowed a walk-over: Sir James McCulloch, Messrs. James
Service, J. A. McPherson and John Gavan Duffy. For the rest,
193 candidates went to the poll, and the excitement was worked
up to fever-heat by the masses in the towns, who now again
believed in Berry as their political saviour, and who had been
diligently schooled to howl down any candidate who had supported
the " Iron Hand ". A well-controlled organisation, known as the
" Reform and Protection League," spread its emissaries over the
land, held rousing meetings in every centre of population, and
pledged itself that as soon as the bad reactionaries led by McCulloch
were driven out, and Berry was restored to power, the " paradise
for the working man," long contemplated, would become a joyous
reality. Once more the meanest class hatreds were stirred up.
Wealth, however honestly and laboriously acquired, was a synonym
for fraud and injustice, and the promise to shift the main burden
of taxation on to the owners of property aroused frantic shouts
of approval from unreflecting mobs. The organisation and the
oratory did their work, and when the results were declared Mr.
Berry had secured the return of sixty supporters out of the enlarged
roll of eighty-six.

192 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Sir James McCulloch recognised that the fiat had gone forth ;
he did not palter with the position, but tendered his resignation
before the House met. Sir George Bowen entrusted Mr. Berry
with the formation of a Ministry, and although that gentleman had
a large crowd of expectant place-hunters to select from, the task
presented many difficulties. Even though the electors appeared by
their votes to have condoned, nay, even approved of the turbulent
action of his party during the "stonewall" period, Mr. Berry was
sensible of the latent feeling of distrust and anxiety with which his
return to power was regarded by the more settled classes, notably
the commercial and professional men. There had, it is true, been
somewhat of a revolt all round against the abuse of the "Iron
Hand ". It had only been tolerated upon the ground that desperate
diseases require desperate remedies. But to the crowd which so
enthusiastically responded to the Berry oratory it had become the
symbol of everything that was tyrannical, the expression of brute
force by a chance majority over a high-principled party most un-
deservedly in a minority. While Berry was in opposition, the rule
of the majority expressed to him the rule of the unfittest, such as
many opponents of manhood suffrage had declared that it would.
When he was returned at the head of an overwhelming phalanx, it
signified the only way of salvation. He promptly brought to bear
upon the minority from which he had escaped the contumely and
denunciation under which he had writhed for eighteen months.

It may be counted to Mr. Berry's credit that, flushed as he was
with success, he risked offending his ardent followers by seeking
the support of some of the less radical members in whom it was
certain that the classes who had anything to lose were disposed to
place more confidence. To this end he made overtures to Mr.
Service and Mr. Casey amongst others, but in view of the policy
Berry had unfolded during the elections they found it impossible
to listen to them. He then approached Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, but
that gentleman, while quite willing to take office, would accept no
position short of Premier, to have granted which would have sown
dissension in the party. Sir Charles excused his rejection of the
overture by saying so many complimentary things to Mr. Berry,
and so won him over, that the latter with swelling pride assured the

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 193

knight that he would receive the Government nomination for the
Speakership when Parliament met. Failing in his efforts to secure
fresh blood, Mr. Berry had to fall back on his old team in its
entirety, with one exception. He even reappointed Mr. Le Poer
Trench as his Attorney-General, though that gentleman was still
without a seat in Parliament.

The new Assembly met for business on the 26th of June. Sir
Charles Gavan Duffy was duly inducted into the Speaker's chair, and
the Governor's speech, while promising a revision of the tariff, and
measures dealing with a land tax and mining on private property,
intimated that the important subject of constitutional reform would
have to be postponed until the next session. On the 16th of August
Mr. Berry submitted his estimates for the year ending on 30th June,
1878, which promised a surplus of £44,000, subject to the sanction
of certain new taxation. The income from the new land tax was
reckoned at £200,000, and a further £50,000 was anticipated from
increased duties on sheep, cattle and other live stock. As Mr. Berry
started with a credit balance of £200,000, accumulated without a
land tax, the prospective surplus after such a heavy impost was very
discouraging to those who demanded a real reduction in the inflated
expenditure. Nor were they much encouraged by Mr. Berry's ex-
pressed indifference as to whether the estimated amount from this
tax was realised or not, the underlying object, as declared by him,
being "not to produce revenue, but to burst up the large estates,
and so to make them accessible to the poorer classes ". As a matter
of fact, it did not bring in the revenue estimated, the total only reach-
ing £130,000 ; nor did it effect the socialistic alternative, so boldly
declared.

The land tax of 1877 provided that all estates over 640 acres
in extent, valued at upwards of £2,500, whether consisting of one
block or several, should pay a tax of 1J per cent, on their capital
value. For purposes of valuation estates were to be divided into
four classes, appraised according to the number of sheep they were
able to carry. Thus land that would feed two or more sheep to the
acre was valued at £4 ; three sheep to two acres £3 ; one sheep to
the acre £2 ; below that £1. The total area brought under the im-
post was about 7,000,000 acres, and the payment of the tax fell on

VOL. II. 13

194 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

817 persons, who were thus roughly selected out of a population of
840,000 to contribute a sum which was calculated to be equivalent
to their paying an income tax of Is. in the £. Granting the propriety
of singling out land from all other forms of property to carry special
taxation, it should not be very difficult to devise a scheme whereby
its incidence should be at once general and equitable. And yet the
three consecutive experiments which had been contemplated by the
Victorian Parliament all came short of justice, and gave very reason-
able grounds for complaint by those who were to suffer under them.
Mr. Service's proposal was crude and experimental. No land
tax had been sought to be imposed by any of the other colonies, and
European countries offered no guidance. His Bill provided for a
tax of 4d. per acre upon all holdings over 320 and under 2,000 acres,
and 6d. per acre on all properties exceeding 2,000. But it could be
seen at a glance that there were scores of properties, say of 500 acres,
liable to pay £8 6s. 8d. per annum, that in market value and revenue-
producing capacity were worth more than other remotely situated
properties of even 5,000 acres, which would nevertheless have to
pay £125 yearly to the tax-gatherer. In Sir James McCulloch's Bill
an attempt was made to get over this difficulty by taxing the annual
value of land, on the basis of shire rating adopted under the Local
Government Act. Here again there were grounds for objection,
seeing that the ratio increases with the value of the occupier's
improvements, and so becomes a tax not so much on the raw land
as on the labour and outlay bestowed upon it. In Mr. Berry's Bill,
the exempt area having been doubled and the measure mainly con-
cerning the pastoralists, it was decided to standardise value by
capacity for the agistment of sheep. The absurdity of this measure-
ment lay in the fact that the land with the largest sheep-carrying
capacity was in the Western District, some 250 miles from the Metro-
polis, and it paid often a higher rate than many fine properties lying
within twenty miles of Melbourne, or closely adjacent to such excel-
lent markets as Ballaarat or Geelong. The monetary difference in
the tax between Mr. Service's average of 5d. per acre and Mr. Berry's
percentage was that in the latter case the tax on the four classifi-
cations came to 3d., 6d., 9d., and Is. per acre respectively. It was
certain that there would be many disputes over the classification, and

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 195

it was determined to block appeal to the ordinary Courts of Law. So
three Commissioners were appointed with despotic powers to deal
with complaints, and their decision was to be absolutely final. For
resisting such decision a landowner could be committed to gaol with-
out any intermediary process of law. In fact, all persons liable for
this tax were, in regard to it, deprived of the protection which a
British Court of Justice is supposed to extend to the humblest sub-
ject of the realm. The administration of the Act was very costly,
the army of classifiers and other officials adding materially to the
swelling expenditure, but it opened a fine field of patronage. When
Mr. Berry succeeded in securing Sir Bryan O'Loghlen for his Chief
Law Officer, he installed his stop-gap Attorney-General, Mr. Le Poer
Trench, in one of these Commissionerships at £1,500 per annum.

The debate on the Land Tax Bill in the Assembly was lopsided .
The Opposition pointed out several defects and indulged in solemn
warnings, but in action they were powerless. The second reading
was carried by the enormous majority of fifty-nine votes to five. A
week later it was transmitted to the Council. As the electors of
that Chamber were almost the only people affected by the measure,
it was not unreasonable that it should receive more attention there
than in the Assembly. Yet when the members of the Council
jostponed the second reading for a fortnight, in order that they
might receive some returns which had been asked for from the
Lands Department, Mr. Berry struck an attitude of defiance. Un-
doubtedly the information asked for by the Council was equally
necessary to enable the Assembly to arrive at a proper decision in

matter, but discussion was not encouraged there, and the Bill
was rushed through. Irritated by the delay, the Chief Secretary
expressed his suspicion that a plot was afoot to overthrow the chief
item on the programme he had submitted to the country. To
emphasise his intentions he elected to treat this reasonable delay as
the equivalent of a no-confidence motion, and arbitrarily adjourned
the Assembly for a fortnight, as an act of intimidation to the Council,
stating that no further public business would be transacted pending
enactment or otherwise of the Land Tax Bill. So dominant was
Mr. Berry's rule that in a House of sixty-two only nine members
had the courage to oppose a motion so unprecedented and so

13*

196 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

menacing. But the display of force was unnecessary, for although
during the debates in the Council all the inequitable features of the
Bill were prominently brought out, and the tyrannical conditions of
its administration exposed, it passed into law by sixteen votes to
eleven in a nearly full House.

Mr. Berry saw the passage of this Bill with mingled feelings
of pleasure and regret. He believed that the stoppage of public
business during the Council's deliberations had brought about its
acceptance, and to that extent he rejoiced in his masterly tactics.
But by this very acceptance he had lost his most effective rallying-
cry against the Council in that attack upon its power to which he
was pledged by his election speeches, and by the expectation of
which he had been able to command the blind support of his sub-
servient majority. If he could have based this quarrel upon the
ground that the Council had refused to tax itself, for the 800
persons from whom the Act contemplated extracting £200,000 a
year were all necessarily electors of the Council, then the mob who
paid nothing would have been righteously indignant, and as far as
talk might serve would have backed up the Ministry in any lawless
and violent course. There was no hope of finding any other ground
of attack that was so sure of the support of the masses. Yet Mr.
Berry held that the fight had to be fought, and his pledge to secure
the supremacy of the people's Chamber redeemed. Fortunately for
him he had an admirer, and a very adulatory one in public, in Sir
George Bowen, who soon found himself entangled in mediatorial
efforts to win over the recalcitrant Council. The approaching con-
flict centred in the question of a renewal of the temporary Act for
the payment of members, which expired with the current session.

To secure this renewal at any cost Mr. Berry was pledged to
his followers by solemn compact, and by their docile obedience they
had paid their share of the bargain in advance. But as time wore
on, and their leader took no active steps, the rank and file began to
upbraid him with unseemly delay in what was to them so important
a matter. Under this pressure he put a sum on the estimates for
this purpose, and as this pointed to its probable inclusion in the
Appropriation Bill, a question was asked of the Ministerial repre-
sentative in the Council whether it was intended to afford that

THE BEEEY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 197

House an opportunity of considering the propriety of renewal or
otherwise of payment of members by submitting the measure by
Bill as heretofore. The reply was loftily equivocal. The Post-
master-General said it was unusual and inexpedient to state the
intention of Government otherwise than by the due presentation
of business to Parliament; but in this case it was "highly un-
desirable that the Council should interfere, even by a question with
appropriation, the initiation of which is by message from the
Crown on the advice of the Ministry, and is further controlled by
the exclusive privileges of the Assembly ". The Council at once
memorialised the Governor, giving him copies of the questions and
answers, calling his attention to the fact that Sir Henry Barkly
had refused to sanction the payment of members as a mere appro-
priation of revenue, and further that, as no less than five Bills had
been sent up to the Council in the past embodying the principle,
there was no ground for attempting any change of procedure. His
Excellency replied that he would consult with and be guided by his
Ministers. The apparent result of such consultation was that a
separate Bill was introduced on the 4th of December, which, a week
later, was rejected by eighteen votes to ten in the Council. The
reason assigned was that as the item under discussion was on
the Estimates, and would be included in the Appropriation Bill if
this separate Bill was rejected, the Council would be acting under
coercion if they assented to it. Two days later the Appropriation
Bill containing the disputed item was sent to the Council, and laid
aside on that ground. Mr. Berry at once opened fire by declaring
that the Council should and must be coerced to obey the will of
the people as expressed by the decisions of the Assembly. With
significant hints of the manner in which such coercion might be
applied, he moved the adjournment of the Assembly until the 5th
of February, 1878.

The Christmas recess was not a period of peace and good-will
among the men who worked the political machine in Victoria in
1877. Bather was it a time of dark conspiracy against the peace of
the community, and the daily bread of some hundreds of unsuspect-
ing servants of the State. To such a pitch of debasement had the
Assembly been reduced by the invectives of Berry and his henchmen

198 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

against the Council, described as representing the well-to-do classes
only, that a number of the members regarded the Upper Chamber's
interference with their £300 a year as the result of pure spite, and
they burned for retaliation. They openly expressed this belief,
declaring that the action now taken was a vindictive reprisal for
the land tax they had forced the Council to accept. The members
of the Council, it is true, were beyond their reach, but it was
possible to strike at them through their relatives, friends and
acquaintances. It is difficult now to trace the real author of this
suggestion. Popular opinion at the time fixed the blame primarily
upon Berry, Lalor, Duffy, Longmore, Woods, and Trench the
Attorney-General, undoubtedly aided and abetted by the Governor.
Most of the men inculpated have at different times repudiated
responsibility, or endeavoured to minimise the influence they ex-
erted. Sir Charles Duffy in his autobiography emphatically declares
that he knew nothing of the proposal until he saw the Gazette
announcement. Sir George Bowen, in vindicating himself with
the home authorities for the part he had taken, declared that he
felt bound to accept the assertion of his Ministers " that the mode
of dealing with the Civil Service of Victoria is purely a matter of
Victorian concern ; and consequently Ministers have the exclusive
right of dealing with it on their own responsibility". He went
further, and declared that if, " after the rejection of the Appropriation
Bill, Ministers had disbanded the police, opened the gaols, stopped
the railways, shut up the Courts of Law, and so interrupted the
administration of justice, they would have done only what Lord
Canterbury had declared to be the legitimate consequence of the
stoppage of supplies".

On the 8th of January, 1878, the morning papers announced
that the Ministry had in contemplation a large reduction in the
cost of the Civil Service, and that they had impressed the Governor
with the necessity of husbanding their resources until such time
as the passage of an Appropriation Bill rendered the public revenue
available. In the evening of the same day Melbourne was startled
by the issue of a Government Gazette Extraordinary, announcing
that the Governor in Council had dismissed all persons then holding
the office of Judges of County Courts, Courts of Mines and In-

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 199

solvency; all chairmen of Courts of General Sessions; all Police
Magistrates, Coroners and Wardens of Goldfields; the Engineer
in Chief of Kailways, Mr. Thomas Higinbotham ; a large number
of executive heads of important departments, and about a hundred
subordinate but mostly well-paid officials. The breaches of public
faith which such a proceeding involved were felt over a far wider
area than that represented by the retrenched officers and their
dependants. Law-abiding citizens who had anything to lose stood
aghast at what might happen next. Some members of the Cabinet,
ignoring the specious plea of necessity put forward by their chief,
frankly admitted that the move was an act of reprisal on the
Council, by hurting it through its friends, and one Minister of
the Crown openly declared that in the dismissal of Mr. Thomas
Higinbotham he had " had his revenge ".

Much wild talk was indulged in by Ministerialists as to further
steps it might be found necessary to take in the way of practically
closing the port ; of issuing a paper currency to carry on with ;
and of confiscating the rights of holders of landed property sus-
pected of being auriferous. The 8th of January became historical in
Victorian annals as " Black Wednesday," a manufactured counter-
part of that "Black Thursday" in 1851 when nature had spread
ruin and desolation over the infant colony. Capital as usual took
the earliest alarm, mortgages were called up, property values de-
preciated with appalling suddenness, buyers held aloof, and many
forced sales showed a fall of over 50 per cent, within a few weeks.
Timid depositors hoarded their money, or transferred it to banks in
New South Wales.

While wrath and consternation reigned in Melbourne, the
Governor took himself off to Portland to perform the ceremony
of formally opening the railway to that town. He could hardly
have got farther away from the centre of trouble without actually
leaving the colony. At the banquet which followed the ceremony
he was in his element, full of jovial banter, lauding his own impar-
tiality, ignoring the tempest that was raging in the Metropolis, and
with preposterous optimism predicting for Portland a future of un-
exampled prosperity as the Brindisi of Australia, the port of arrival
and departure of all the mail steamers in the years to come. But

200 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

when the junketing came to an end he had to face an unpleasant
ordeal on returning to Melbourne. From all quarters, except the
irresponsible mob, tutored to applaud anything that resembled an
onslaught upon capital, he met condemnation. Trade and com-
merce were unhinged by doubtful anticipations ; banks developed
a conservative stringency ; shopkeepers suffered from diminished
business and impending losses ; skilled artisans were confronted
with a cessation of building and other enterprises ; pending con-
tracts were withdrawn, and generally the man who had any money
kept it in his pocket until affairs had become more settled.

A fortnight after the Gazette notice Sir George Bowen wrote to
the Colonial Secretary of State excusing himself on the ground that
interference would have involved a contest between the Assembly
and the Crown. He palliated the removal of the minor judiciary by
saying that the unpaid Justices of the Peace were available for the
work, which was a ridiculous evasion of the fact that the Courts
were closed. He said that after all only about sixty officials had
been dismissed, many of whom were old and ought to be super-
annuated ; while the public records show that the number exceeded
200, and included many of the ablest men in the service. He
further declared that no great injustice was done, as the dismissed
officials would be compensated at a cost of £44,000, which was
available under the Constitution Act without an Appropriation Bill.
Finally, he assured the Secretary of State he had formally warned
his Ministers that he would be no party to the proposals for tamper-
ing with the currency or interfering with the trading and shipping
interests of the port.

Having thus vindicated himself with his employers he turned to
his Ministers, and informed them that as even some of their own
supporters had questioned the legality and expediency of the course
pursued, he would like them to consider " whether it would not be
right and prudent to reinstate such of those judicial officers as
might be willing to dispense with their salaries until the passing of
an Appropriation Act ". The reply of his Ministers was diplomati-
cally polite, but amounted to a reiteration that the control of the
Civil Service rested with them. Thus appearances were kept up in
public, but both parties were secretly uneasy and many private con-

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 201

ferences were held, with the result that before the opening of Par-
liament three County Court Judges and three Police Magistrates
and Coroners were reappointed.

The Assembly resumed on 5th February, and on the following
day Mr. Berry carried a resolution, " That all votes or grants passed
in Committee of Supply become legally available for expenditure
immediately the resolutions are agreed to by the Assembly ". This
effort to reduce the Council to a nullity, and practically to alter the
Constitution by the fiat of one House, was naturally resented.
Petitions were addressed to the Queen, one by the Council charging
the Governor with abetting the illegal violence of a political con-
spiracy ; another by the Assembly lauding His Excellency as the
personification of honourable impartiality, whose actions were ap-
proved by the vast majority of the colonists. The Secretary of
State was perplexed, but advocated non-intervention. The incom-
plete Appropriation Bill, having received the assent of the Assembly,
Mr. Berry proceeded, in terms of the lately carried resolution, to
draw money from the Treasury in defiance of the Audit Act. The
Governor hesitated to sign the warrants. He had been instructed
that when he had any doubts about the legality of actions proposed
to him by his Ministers, he should take legal advice before acting.
He therefore consulted two barristers, of all men in the colony
probably the least disinterested — Mr. Trench, the Attorney- General,
and Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, who had just joined the Ministry in an
honorary capacity. Their assurance that everything was strictly in
order overcame any scruples he might have felt, and he signed the
warrants. The damage was done long before he learned that the
advice on which he acted was entirely at variance with the leading
jurists of the colony, and was directly negatived by the formal
opinion of the Law Officers in England to whom Sir Michael Hicks-
Beach submitted the question.

The Council was defeated by the Governor declining to recognise
its rights to any voice in the public expenditure. The 30,000 electors
which it represented were but as the dust in the balance against the
preponderating vote, which, under manhood suffrage, returned the
members of the Assembly, and the voice of the multitude was loud
and threatening. Undoubtedly, the Council's function was to check

202 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

questionable legislation, where the public appeared indifferent or un-
informed. When the demands of the people became the dominant
note, it might be their duty to give way, even though a strong
minority were well assured that the vox populi was not the vox Dei.
The legislative councillors had striven to uphold the Constitution,
but if the people backed up the Governor and the Ministry in dis-
regarding its provisions and in refusing to take the legitimate means
for amending it, there seemed no course open but to bow to the
storm and put an end to a political ferment that was driving away
capital, diverting enterprise and thus retarding prosperity. Negotia-
tions were entered into ; promises were made ; revolt of the irrecon-
cilables in the Assembly was suppressed ; and finally, on the Ministry
undertaking to withdraw the obnoxious item from the Appropriation
Bill, an Act authorising payment of members until the end of the
existing Parliament was submitted to the Council and passed on the
28th of March without a division. On the 3rd of April following, the
expurgated Appropriation Bill was sanctioned, and on the 10th the
first session of the ninth Parliament of Victoria was closed after ten
and a half months of almost incessant dispute. It was stretched to
this undue length because with its termination payment of members
would have ceased. Had no compromise been arrived at, there
were indications that it would have been extended indefinitely, for
a considerable number of members were entirely dependent on the
salary they drew from the State. Mr. Le Poer Trench had resigned
the post of Attorney-General in the last days of the conflict, and
Sir Bryan O'Loghlen assumed the office. Five days after the pro-
rogation, a Gazette notice announced the reappointment of most of
the judges, Crown prosecutors and police magistrates who had
been dismissed, but a number of prominent officers were never
reinstated, and a large amount was disbursed in payment of com-
pensation and pensions.

The community awoke as from some oppressive nightmare, and
cautiously commenced its business operations afresh. The press
generally in Victoria and the other Colonies condemned in un-
measured terms the high-handed action of the Ministry and the
support it had received from the Governor. Even in the carefully
selected despatches embodied in Sir George Bowen's Thirty Years

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 203

of Colonial Government his bias against the Council, which he
declared ought to be a nominee body and not electoral, and his
approval of Berry's methods generally is unmistakable. The final
decision of the Secretary of State was adverse to Sir George's claim,
that, during the whole controversy, he was ' ' the one public man in
the colony who kept his temper unruffled, his head cool and his
hand firm and steady," while maintaining absolute neutrality. Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach weighed all the evidence, he received deputa-
tions, pondered over Parliamentary addresses, and concluded that
it would not tend to political peace to renew the Governor's term
in Victoria, where his actions had aroused the expression of such
strong feeling. Sir George Bowen had written to the Colonial
Office: "I receive frequent proofs that no previous Governor of
Victoria has been so strong as I am in the general support and
sympathy of the great majority of the community, and the only
persons who regard me with hostility are a few members of the
faction who had previously assailed in a similar manner all my pre-
decessors in the Government of Victoria ". Apart from its bald
egotism the statement was far from accurate. It was appraised at
its proper value in London, and he was transferred a few months
later to Mauritius, then a Crown colony, where his robust per-
sonality and somewhat assertive egotism would find a freer scope
for action.

But before his release he had to be further identified with the
Berry policy, especially in connection with the much ridiculed
" Embassy," which he had the pleasure of seeing off. In the
speech which His Excellency read at the opening of Parliament in
July, he promised a measure of constitutional reform which would
put an end for all time to the recurrence of these periodical dead-
locks which were disgracing Victoria. He said he felt sure, though
certainly his experience hardly justified the statement, that the
measure would be considered from a patriotic point of view by
members of both Houses, irrespective of party. He outlined many
other things, but this was the magnum opus of the session, and its
great importance would probably preclude members from giving
attention to any other legislation. In this surmise he certainly
proved correct.

204 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

The Constitution Amendment Bill, introduced on 17th July, did
not reach its third reading until the 8th of October. It would serve
no purpose to follow the prolonged debates over a measure that
never achieved the dignity of an Act of Parliament. It was essen-
tially a sham, and proposed conditions under which the Council was
to be ignored if it failed within one month to pass such Bill for
"reforming" it as might be assented to by the Assembly. The
Governor was to give Her Majesty's assent to this one House
measure, anything in the Constitution Act to the contrary notwith-
standing. There were other equally impossible proposals, and it was
evident that " Keform of the Council " was a rallying cry which the
great Liberal party was unwilling to part with. Hence its achieve-
ment was not sought on lines that promised success. The Council,
however, took the initiative in meeting the alleged popular demand.
Mr. Cuthbert, who had represented the Ministry in the Council,
resigned his portfolio when the Berry Keform Bill appeared, and, in
conjunction with Sir Charles Sladen, he piloted a Bill through the
Council, which would have brought that body into much closer
touch with the voting power of the colony. Though the attempt
failed, it should be recorded how far the Council, by passing this Bill
through all its stages, were then willing to go in the direction of
reform. The Sladen-Cuthbert Bill proposed to increase the number
of provinces from six to twelve, thus materially reducing the cost of
an electoral canvass. To increase the number of members from
thirty to forty-two ; to reduce the tenure of the seats from ten years
to six, and the property qualification to an estate yielding £150 per
annum, instead of £250 ; and it proposed to extend the franchise to
electors rated at £20 per annum, in lieu of the existing limit of £50.

It was roughly calculated that this Bill would quite treble the
number of voters for the Council, giving it a constituency of nearly
100,000. Possibly on this account, when the Bill reached the As-
sembly the Government would have none of it. A private member
secured its formal introduction, but when the second reading was
proposed the Attorney-General blocked it. He declared, amidst
cheers, that the Government had their own Bill, endorsed by a large
majority of that House, and it would be highly inconvenient and
antagonistic to a settlement to allow the second reading of a Bill at

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 205

variance with the leading principles of the Government measure.
It was easily seen that it was not a peaceful settlement of the reform
question, on lines of mutual concession, at which the Government
aimed. Their desire was the relegation of the Council to a position
of servile subordination, without any representative standing or
effectual form of protest.

When the Berry Eeform Bill reached the Council on 15th October
that body was not unmindful of the treatment that had been accorded
in another place to its own bantling, and no member was willing
to act as sponsor. Like the Sladen-Cuthbert Bill its second reading
was blocked, not in this case by active opposition, but by the dull
clog of neglect. There had been an attempt to arrive at a compro-
mise by a joint committee, consisting of Sir Charles Sladen, Mr. E.
S. Anderson and Professor Hearn for the Council, with Mr. Berry,
Sir Bryan O'Loghlen and Professor Pearson for the Assembly, but
their combined wisdom was resultless. At the outset the represen-
tatives of the Assembly demanded that the Council should renounce
its constitutional power of rejection in the case of Appropriation Bills.
This was declined, and Sir Charles Sladen suggested in lieu that
when an absolute majority of the whole Council affirmed that an
item was improperly included in an Appropriation Bill it might be
withdrawn and the Bill passed without it ; the contested item to
be referred to some colonial tribunal failing a settlement, or, the
Governor to have the power to dissolve both Houses and to take the
verdict of the country. In view of the improper use which had been
made of Appropriation Bills in the past, it did not seem reasonable
that all check should be abandoned. Then Mr. Berry proposed as
a final offer to refer the respective Eeform Bills to a plebiscite of the
electors, which the Council decided could not be entertained without
abandoning their claim to be considered representatives.

Agreement had certainly not been expected. There were strong
indications that on Berry's part it was not desired. He had indis-
creetly committed himself to a public declaration that extension of
the Council's franchise would be a mistake. Popularising it would
give it a better vantage-ground in any contests with the Assembly,
whose will it must be rendered incapable of resisting. He could
not wait on the slow process by which under the Constitution its

206 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

personnel could be changed, and he had quietly made up his mind
to appeal to the Colonial Office to intervene by a direct Act of the
Imperial Parliament. For months he had been engaged with the
Speaker, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, elaborating the grounds upon
which he could invoke such interference. So long had this project
been contemplated, and known to the Governor, that before it was
submitted to Parliament Sir Michael Hicks-Beach had written dis-
couraging the idea, even upon the not unreasonable supposition that
any such appeal would presumably be the joint work of the entire
Legislature.

In caucus Mr. Berry arranged that an embassy should proceed
to England, consisting of the Chief Secretary, the Speaker and Pro-
fessor C. H. Pearson. The latter was a recent acquisition to Par-
liament, a man of refined mind and cultivated tastes, courteous and
polished in speech, but revolutionary in his theories about property.
He was an ardent follower of Berry, in the honest but mistaken
belief that the sole aim of that politician was the amelioration of the
hard lot of the masses. As an erudite historian, a literary critic, and
an advocate and exponent of the principles of education in its best
sense, the Victorian Assembly has rarely seated his equal. But in
the practice of party politics he was often dragged into equivocal
positions, the simplicity of his nature rendering him unable to detect
in others the skilfully concealed trickery and finesse that so many
players of the game believe to be essential to success. Mr. Berry
desired to keep from the Opposition all preliminary knowledge of
his proposed embassy, and actually proposed a vote of £5,000 to
cover its expenses without submitting the names. When, in re-
sponse to the demand of Mr. Service, they had to be announced, the
Speaker looked uncomfortable, and during the three days over
which the debate was prolonged he endeavoured to minimise his
share of the business. He had originally fully intended, even
strongly desired, to go ; then he had doubts whether he could be
spared, whereupon he asked Mr. Berry to find some one else ;
when Berry declared he would not release him he yielded once
more, and prepared for an effective exit. Then the press began
to discuss the matter, and a widespread intimation that Sir Charles
did certainly not represent the democracy of the country gave him

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 207

pause, and he finally issued an authoritative announcement that he
would not go.

A few Ministerialists joined the Opposition in reprobating the
whole proceeding, but protest was unheeded, and the expenses were
voted by a large majority. In subsequently reviewing the vote and
the objects of the embassy to his constituents at Maldon, Mr.
Service said: "No more miserable confession of incompetence, of
inferiority on the part of the people of this country to the people
at home, was ever discussed or even hinted at". He pointed out
clearly how the supposed impasse could be surmounted by consti-
tutional means, which if slow were certain, while the indecent haste
which invoked outside interference would assuredly result in failure
and covert ridicule. On the other hand, in the unlikely event of the
Colonial Secretary acting upon the advice of one branch of the
Legislature, the colonists would be involved in disputes with the
Crown, and possibly serious internal feud.

When the Appropriation Bill was dealt with in the Council, Sir
Charles Sladen carried an address to the Governor in which he set
forth a protest against the inclusion of this £5,000 in the Bill, on
the ground that there was no power to appoint Commissioners to
represent the colony in England without the authority of an Act of
Parliament, and that no such Act existed. The address urged the
Governor not to issue any such Commission, or to sign any warrant
for the payment of the money proposed to be thus illegally expended.
But Sir George Bowen was too far committed to hold his hand.

The day before Parliament was prorogued the Governor had
received a despatch from Sir M. Hicks-Beach which should have
rendered the trip impracticable, for in it he declared that no sufficient
cause had been shown for the intervention of the British Parliament.
As the passages had been arranged for, the despatch was kept back,
with the connivance of the Governor, until after the prorogation
ceremony. Sir George Bowen had been superseded, and it would
not look well for his successor to discover a despatch that ought to
have been communicated to Parliament, so it was published in the
Government Gazette of 18th December, a fortnight after its receipt
and about a week before the embassy sailed. The comments of the
Argus upon the unconstitutional attitude of the Assembly in assum-

208 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ing to be the Legislature of Victoria were so stinging that the Acting
Premier, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, publicly notified that no information
would be given to that paper, while at the same time he placed at
the exclusive disposal of the journal supporting him all despatches
and cabled messages which he received from London during his
chief's negotiations.

Needless to say that, except a very pleasant jaunt for the ambas-
sadors in dignified state at the public expense, no benefit accrued
from the mission. Mr. Berry's perfervid oratory stirred up some
little excitement and temporary applause in outside meetings which
he managed to get convened in London, whereat he justified his
dramatic action of Black Wednesday by half truths and whole sup-
pressions ; but his glibly persuasive utterances fell unresponsively
upon the ears of statesmen inured to debate and impressed with a
sense of responsibility. He even deceived himself into the belief
that he had made a favourable impression, and cabled out to Sir
Bryan that the embassy was a pronounced success. He failed
entirely in the attempt to get his views taken up in the House of
Commons, and early in May Sir M. . Hicks-Beach disposed of his
claims by outlining the decision of the Government as embodied in
a despatch he had addressed to the new Governor of Victoria, the
Marquis of Normanby. This put a very different construction on
the position from that which Sir Bryan O'Loghlen had led his
colleagues in Melbourne to expect.

The despatch was absolutely conclusive. It declared that the
circumstances did not justify any Imperial legislation for the amend-
ment of the Constitution Act, such amendment being expressly
vested in the Colonial Legislature by the Act itself. Such an in-
tervention would involve an admission that the great Colony of
Victoria had been compelled to ask the Imperial Parliament to
resume a power which, desiring to promote her welfare, and believ-
ing in her capacity for self-government, the Imperial Government
had voluntarily surrendered ; the request being made because the
leaders of political parties, from a general want of the moderation
and sagacity essential to the success of constitutional government,
had failed to agree upon any compromise for enabling the business
of the Colonial Parliament to be carried on. There was & masterly

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 209

review of the disputes which had led up to the strained position, and
much sound advice, tending to a satisfactory relation between the
two Chambers.

The embassy returned to Melbourne in June, 1879, without
having had the pleasure of seeing the full despatch. Having all
along the line boasted of their success, they were constrained to
discover much encouragement in the cold dignity of the document.
At the banquet given by the National Keform and Protection League
to welcome his return, Mr. Berry accepted the assurance of his fol-
lowers that his mission had resulted in a most satisfactory definition
by the Colonial Secretary of the relative powers of the two Houses !
Nevertheless, when Parliament assembled on the 8th of July, the
Governor was made to promise another measure dealing with the
paramount question of constitutional reform. The three leading
points of Mr. Berry's Bill, as submitted by him on 22nd July, were :
That immediately a resolution of the Committee of Supply had been
reported to and adopted by the Assembly, the money granted by
the resolution should be legally available ; that the Council should
be changed from an elective to a nominee Chamber ; and that in all
cases where a Bill had passed the Assembly and had been rejected
by the Council in two consecutive annual sessions, it should be sub-
mitted to the people for their decision by means of a plebiscite. The
Opposition were beginning to rally their forces again, and the debates
were so protracted that the second reading was not carried until the
25th of September, though the division showed fifty votes to twenty-
eight. In committee some emendations were made, but when the
third reading was proposed, the contents had shrunk to forty-three,
and the non-contents risen to thirty-eight. The Government was
one vote short of the number to make an absolute majority of the
House, despite the activities of the whip and the obsequious truck-
ling of the Ministry. A careful count of heads had led the Premier
to believe he had secured the necessary forty-four, though it involved
the degrading spectacle of bringing in a helpless, drunken member
and dumping him down amongst the "ayes". But at the last
moment one of the docile band presumed to think for himself and
crossed over, with the result that the Bill was lost.

Before Parliament adjourned for the Christmas recess, the

VOL. II. 14

210 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Ministry applied to the Governor for a dissolution, which the
Marquis of Normanby promptly conceded. This nobleman, who
was in his sixtieth year when he assumed the Governorship of
Victoria, was politically inconspicuous during his five years' ad-
ministration, as becomes a Governor who knows his business. He
was somewhat more exclusive in his official hospitality than the
colonists had been used to, and while he failed to evoke any
enthusiasm he provoked no animosity. His easy-going, listless
manner conveyed the impression of indifference, but he was well
posted in the traditions of his office, and knew exactly the position
of the line which defined the Crown's share of representative govern-
ment.

The year 1880 was rendered memorable in Victorian politics by
a series of those disquieting and rapid changes which seemed to
threaten the usefulness and the stability of Parliamentary govern-
ment. It witnessed three changes of Ministry ; suffered the delays
and expenses of two general elections ; had two Speakers successively
presented to the Governor, as the chosen of the people's representa-
tives ; and the public beheld with indignant amazement that all
the turmoil, plus seven months of Parliamentary wrangling, left the
Assembly to adjourn at Christmas in the same attitude of effete
antagonism as had distinguished its opening proceedings in May.
Besultless in effect, though voluminous in talk, the chronicle of the
year demands a few paragraphs.

When the curtain was rung down on the 18th of December,
1879, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy was seen for the last time in the
Speaker's chair. He had played a far more important part in
Victorian politics than appeared upon the surface, for he had an ex-
ceptional faculty of dominating others to ensure the accomplishment
of the ends he had in view. His final words about his retirement,
written twenty years afterwards, though somewhat airily acknow-
ledging the generous treatment he had met with in his Australian
career, are not without the usual touch of morbid complaint and
suspicion that invariably marked his personal utterances. Apart
from the generous monetary gifts of his fellow-countrymen on his
arrival, he was sufficiently early in Ministerial office to secure a life
pension of £1,000 per annum for two years' service ; he paid two

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 211

lengthened visits to Europe, and was always readily returned to
Parliament on re-presenting himself. In addition to pension rights
he received altogether from the State as Minister, Speaker and
member of Parliament some £20,000, and was enabled to see out
the century in financial ease and intellectual occupation. On the
sunny shores of the Kiviera, he settled down to that literary labour
which it is believed he delighted in, and in which he was certainly
seen at his beat. " As the session approached its close," writes Sir
Charles, " I announced that I would not again occupy the chair or
be a member of Parliament. I took farewell of a House in which I
had served since its creation, to which I had given without stint
toil of mind and body, and which had bestowed on me all the
favours it could confer on a public man. I owed it much, and
I should probably have finished my life in the scene which had
occupied so large a section of it, but that I loathed the task of
answering again and again the insensate inventions of religious
bigotry. ... I determined that my public career would end here,
and that I should never more become member of any Legislature, or
ever again mount a political platform."

The general election of February, 1880, was disastrous to the
Berry following. Their leader had suffered eclipse; many of his
nominal supporters were in revolt, and he was handicapped by the
ridicule which a large section of the press poured upon his mission
to England and his disingenuous accounts of its reception. The
majority was so decisively adverse that Mr. Berry did not wait
to meet Parliament, but resigned at once. Mr. James Service
succeeded him with a strong Cabinet, including G. B. Kerferd and
Dr. John Madden as his Law Officers, Duncan Gillies at the Bail-
ways, John Gavan Duffy as Minister of Lands, and two Ministers
in the Council, E. S. Anderson and Henry Cuthbert. On the 20th
of May Mr. Service introduced his Eeform Bill, which was debated
from the 1st to the 24th of June, when it was rejected on a division
by forty-three votes to forty-one. If this Bill could have secured
but three more supporters, there is every reason to believe that it
would have been accepted by the Council. For there was a growing
feeling in the Upper House that finality must be found somewhere,
and Mr. Service's proposals did not go much further than the

14*

212 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

measures which had already been carried there by Sir Charles
Sladen and Mr. Cuthbert. It will be remembered that, in the
conference with Mr. Berry, Sir Charles Sladen had volunteered a
proposal for the dissolution of the Council under certain conditions
of non-agreement. The passage of Mr. Service's Bill at that time
would have saved more than twenty years of futile dispute and
petty fault-finding, and saved thousands of pages of wasted decla-
mation in the Parliamentary records.

The most important feature of the Service Eeform Bill was its
machinery for securing finality in disputes. It provided that if any
Bill was passed by the Assembly in two consecutive sessions, and
rejected by the Council in each of such sessions, the Governor
might dissolve both the Council and the Assembly at the same
time. If such rejected Bill should be again passed by the new
Assembly, and be again rejected by the Council, then the two
Houses should sit together in deliberation, and the decision of
the majority should receive the assent of the Governor and become
law. This was converting the absolute veto, which the Council
possessed under the Constitution Act, into a suspensive veto, which,
it was reasonably contended, was a sufficient safeguard against
ill-considered legislation. The clauses for popularising the Council
by extending the franchise, subdividing the electorates and reducing
the tenure of office were, on the lines of previous suggestions, liberally
construed.

Mr. Service felt that the narrowness of his defeat entitled ihim
to ask for a dissolution, and Lord Normanby granted it, though it
was less than five months since the country had been appealed to.
The second general election of the year took place on the 14th of
July, and even in so short an interval the unstable multitude had
changed its mind. To some extent they were deluded by the
rallying oratory of Mr. Berry into a belief that the Service Eeform
Bill was inspired by the people's enemies in the Council. Another
adverse factor was a sectarian one. Sir John O'Shanassy, having
failed to win over Mr. Service to his views on education matters,
had declared war against him, and his influence alienated many
votes. The returns showed thirty-five Ministerialists, forty-four
declared Oppositionists, and seven members who refused to commit

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 213

themselves to either party. Mr. Service, however, met the House,
which promptly elected Mr. Peter Lalor to the Speakership without
consulting the Premier. The singular fact that two of Her Majesty's
rebellious subjects, both Irishmen, should have been selected in suc-
cession for the position of the highest dignity the House could be-
stow did not pass without sarcastic comment. The first had been
a prisoner of the Crown, the second a fugitive from its grasp, with
a reward offered for his capture. The main difference between them
lay in the fact that the first had by his pen persuaded hundreds of
his countrymen to risk their lives and liberties in an unequal combat ;
the second had not said much, but had shown his faith in the cause
by plunging recklessly into the fight, and bearing its disastrous scars
in a crippled body to his grave.

So indecent was the haste to utilise the electoral triumph that
Mr. Berry moved a vote of want of confidence in the Government
before the representative of the Crown had officially opened the
session. The new Speaker in face of protests allowed it to be put,
and drew down upon the House subsequently a dignified rebuke
from the Governor for such a violation of Parliamentary law and
practice. On the 27th of July, when the Governor's speech had
been read, Mr. Berry renewed his attack, and carried an adverse
vote by forty-eight to thirty-five. Mr. Service at once resigned,
and again Mr. Berry occupied the Treasury benches with some
modifications of his old following. He managed to shake off John
Woods and Francis Longmore, and he created some surprise by
appointing a Parliamentary novice, who had quite recently been a
clerk in the Customs House, to the Ministerial charge of that
important department. It must be admitted that he tried to do
better, and spent several days in vain negotiations for a coalition.
Mr. Service declined his overtures, and weary of the incessant strife
which dogged the steps of constitutional reform, and disappointed
by the fickleness of the unreflecting multitude, he decided to with-
draw for a time, and after the close of the session he left for England.
When Sir John O'Shanassy was approached, he made what Mr. Berry
considered such exorbitant demands as the price of his allegiance
that the Premier was compelled by his followers to defy him, and to
fall back on such material as his direct supporters could supply.

214 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

The first duty to which he set himself was to secure the continu-
ance of the temporary Act dealing with payment of members, which
would shortly expire. The Bill he introduced included payment for
both Houses, and passed the Assembly by forty-two votes to twenty.
The Council, while unwilling to accept any pecuniary recompense
for their own services, recognised that the electors of the Assembly
had pronounced distinctly in favour of such a measure and hesitated
to assert their right to reject it. They requested a conference, which
was held, with the result that two Bills were substituted for the
one under discussion, and the Council rejected the one relating to
themselves and passed that for which the Assembly clamoured.
One of the main causes of strife was thus removed, and little else
was attempted before Christmas, when Parliament went into recess
for a couple of months.

A period of political tranquillity was not favourable to Mr.
Berry's retention of office, even though the vigorous personality of
Mr. Service was absent from the Opposition benches. It was neces-
sary to revive the question of reform of the Constitution, which had
a pleasant sound in the ears of the advanced radical party, though to
them the desired reform was exclusively limited to the Legislative
Council. So, early in March, 1881, Mr. Berry once more launched
a Bill for that purpose. The features of the Bill in which Mr. Berry
sought to outbid Mr. Service were: (1) Abolition of property quali-
fication for members ; (2) extension of franchise to the ratepayers'
roll ; (3) division of the provinces into thirty single electorates ; but
there was no attempt to secure the much required " finality," nor
any allusion to the now discredited idea of the plebiscite. It seemed
almost incredible that the man who had so long and fiercely declared
that the Council must be and should be coerced, who had ever
opposed the idea of popularising it as a dangerous mistake, now
proposed to go even further than Mr. Service in bringing it in closer
touch with the electors, and loftily put aside that gentleman's com-
paratively moderate suggestions of pressure.

When the Bill reached the Council, the President ruled that, as it
dealt exclusively with the privileges of that Chamber, it ought con-
stitutionally to have originated there. Further, a Bill with similar
objects had been sent thence to the Assembly, as to the fate of

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 215

which they had not been officially advised. A reasonable discussion
as to the possibility of dovetailing the two Bills into a strong and
acceptable measure was not to Mr. Berry's taste, so he fell back
upon the old methods of strife, and sought to stop all business by
adjourning the Assembly until the Council yielded. Informal con-
ferences were held by leaders of various parties, both in Parliament
and outside, and public opinion loudly admonished Berry to come
to terms. In May the Council evidenced their desire for a settle-
ment by considering the Bill in committee, and suggesting some
amendments that would justify them in passing it. When the
amendments came before the Assembly, they were subjected to
fierce criticism, and most of them were rejected. Finally, in June
a conference was agreed to, the recommendations of its managers
were eventually accepted, and the Legislative Council Eeform Bill
of 1881 found a place in the Statute-book. It increased the num-
ber of members from thirty to forty-two ; reduced the expense of
candidature by dividing the six provinces into fourteen, returning
three members each; shortened the tenure from ten years to six;
extended the franchise to all freeholders of £10 annual value and to
leaseholders rated at £25 ; and the property qualification of mem-
bers was cut down from £150 to £100 per annum from real estate.
With the exception of an amending Act in 1890, which increased
the number of members to forty-eight, the constitution of the Council
remained as indicated above until the end of the century. The Act
of 1881 increased the number of voters on the electoral rolls from
about 30,000 to over 100,000, as against some 200,000 qualified to
vote for the Assembly. It was no longer possible to deny the repre-
sentative character of the Upper House, or to brand it as " a clique
of money grubbers, worthily representing their own kind," in the
choice language used in the Assembly by a prominent politician of
the day. It had been a useful Chamber of review and check, and
because its position had been rendered unassailable by the original
Constitution Act, the rampant patriots, who averred that the im-
pulsive will of the people should not be crossed, hated it with vigour
and abused it with mendacious virulence. It had come well through
the ordeal, and a widening popularity followed its ready adoption
of the long discussed reforms. The fact that it could not be dis-

216 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

solved had much to do with the feeling of irritation so continuously
displayed by the Assembly towards it; yet, but for the action of
that body in rejecting Mr. Service's Bill, there is little doubt that
dissolution under certain well-defined conditions would have been
conceded in 1880, as indeed it was twenty-three years later, when
courtesy and firmness in negotiation had replaced the bullying and
bluster which characterised the Berry era.

A general feeling of relief was felt by the community at the ces-
sation of that strife which for fifteen years had been more or less
acute between the two Houses, stirring angry passions, hindering
useful legislation, deranging the free flow of commerce and alarming
capital. It was recognised that the possibility of deadlocks still
existed ; but it was hoped that, with a Council for which quite half
the electors of the colony had a vote, there would be far less scope
for the firebrand class agitators to inflame the multitude and stir
up quarrels. One of the first manifestations of this relief took the
form of a strong revulsion of feeling towards Graham Berry. His
outspoken hostility towards the lately effected reform compromise,
and the unabashed manner in which he turned his back on what he
had said and done, and actually claimed the credit of the settlement,
disgusted the Assembly and shamed his outside supporters.

Within a fortnight after the passage of the Act, a vote of want of
confidence was carried against the Ministry by Sir Bryan O'Loghlen,
who had been the Attorney-General of the Berry Cabinet in 1878,
and the leader of the Government while his chief was away on the
farcical embassy. An estrangement had sprung up between these
old-time comrades in radicalism, and Sir Bryan, who was not with-
out ambition, seeing that moderation was now the safest card to
play, seized the occasion of Mr. Berry's waning popularity to over-
throw him. The victim would not accept the verdict of the
Assembly, and urgently appealed to the Governor to give him a
dissolution, resenting the refusal which he met in that quarter with
clamorous protests. Sir Bryan O'Loghlen assumed office in July,
with a carefully assorted Cabinet that formed the twenty - first
Ministry chosen to rule over the destinies of the colony since the
inauguration of responsible government. The Premier took upon
himself the combined duties of Attorney-General and Treasurer;

THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 217

two experienced Parliamentarians, who had been members of the
Service Ministry — J. M. Grant and Thomas Bent — were respectively
Chief Secretary and Minister of Eailways ; Dr. Dobson, a law
lecturer at the University, was Solicitor-General ; and the other
positions were filled by neophytes who had not been conspicuous in
the brawls of the past.

The blazon on the banner of the new Ministry was " Peace,
Progress and Prosperity," and though they occupied by no means a
commanding position in the House, the Opposition, compounded of
the irreconcilable elements of both Conservatism and Berryism, were
unable to dislodge them, though they launched several adverse
motions. There were good reasons for failure. Neither party was
strong enough to rule alone, and the Ministry being a judicious blend
there was no room for further coalition. Indeed, while the Minis-
terial banner carried its inscription, he would have been a very reck-
less and fatuous politician who would have dared to haul it down.
For the country imperatively demanded peace, and the community
generally were rapidly learning that progress and prosperity were
unattainable without it.

The period during which Sir Graham Berry had been so politi-
cally prominent was scarred with many disasters. He had entered
office in 1877 with a great flourish of trumpets, and with a surplus
in the Treasury of over £200,000. During his five years' rule he
imposed additional taxation which yielded over a million and a
quarter sterling. When he was put out he left his successor in
office to face a deficit of about half a million. His advent to power
excited great expectations, and he had been accorded the support of
the largest and most docile following in Parliament that any man
could desire. Yet, after filling the Legislature with turmoil, and
drilling his outside supporters to the flippant use of threats of
" broken heads and houses in flames," he had gone out of power
with nothing to his credit. His Land Tax Bill, with all its corrup-
tion-breeding details of administration and its generally admitted
unfairness of incidence, had been accepted by the Council because of
its unwillingness to renew a deadlock over a matter in which their
constituents were almost solely interested. He had secured for his
followers their £300 a year at the cost of gross injustice and even

218 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ruin to many civil servants, of the dislocation of the business of
the community and the loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds in
the depreciation of property which followed the episode of Black
Wednesday, with its accompanying injury to credit and expulsion
of capital. For many years afterwards men counted losses and
business troubles engendered in that rueful time when what was
generally called "The Berry Blight" spread over the land. Few
old colonists can look back without shame and mortification at
the mischievous pranks which this politician was encouraged by
the masses to play with the well-being of his fellow-men. The
popularising of the Legislative Council was effected despite all his
efforts to block moderate suggestions, and yet he had the audacity
in the face of his recorded speeches to claim the credit of having
carried it, and to pose as a martyr when he was refused a dissolu-
tion. He never again acquired supreme power, though as a lieu-
tenant under the disciplinary hand of Mr. Service he subsequently
occupied a Ministerial position, in which his restless energy was
restrained and guided into more useful courses. But during the
O'Loghlen administration, while Mr. Service was yet absent from
the colony, he was a thorn in the Premier's side, and a focus of
incessant though unsuccessful intrigue.

CHAPTBE VIII.

"PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY."

THE somewhat monotonous chronicle of party strife and personal
intrigue which filled the last chapter has crowded out all reference
to matters tending to make for that peace which was to inaugurate
the reign of Sir Bryan O'Loghlen.

One of these humanising factors was the great International
Exhibition of 1880. Ever since the fairy-like structure had sprung
up in Hyde Park, under the guiding hand of Sir Joseph Paxton,
some thirty years before, buildings devoted to widely competitive
exhibitions of trade, science and art had been hailed as symbols of
peace on earth and good-will among men. In 1851, when the idea
had the charm of novelty, the English press grew quite eloquent
over the prospect of a general federation of civilised mankind, and
many journals professed a belief that there would be no more war.
Alas, within three years of the opening of that friendly meeting-place
of all nations, tens of thousands of British, French and Eussian
soldiers lay in festering heaps on the blood-soaked fields of the
Crimea. Within another decade three or four of the leading powers
of Europe were submitting their quarrels to the arbitrament of war
and tearing at each other's throats. The ghastly horrors of the
Indian Mutiny ; stubborn conflicts in China, Abyssinia, Ashantee,
the Soudan and many another outlying field proclaimed that the
lust of fight had not been killed, and that the prophesied days of
international arbitration were as remote as the millennium. Never-
theless, with all the discouragements of experience, communities
continued to build up hopes of minimising racial distrust and mis-
representations by the methods inaugurated so hopefully by Queen
Victoria's Consort. To some extent such an enterprise took the
form of a peaceful challenge, and its inauguration was only possible

219

when it assumed national proportions in times of prosperity and
finniiaM ease. Victoria had early caught the infection, for daring
the first twenty years of her golden age she was never in want of
cash. Indeed, her first display of this kind was out of the very
wantonness of her wealth, for she had no manufactures to show,
and little produce beyond the golden ore and the golden fleece.

It was in 1854 that the Government authorised an expenditure
of over £20,000 in erecting a building of wood, iron and glass, which
was duly filled with all the imported miscellanies of a modern
" Universal Emporium," glorified by some valuable samples of raw
gold, a few hundred bales of wool, and some ponderous blocks of
coal, vaguely described as having "come from Westernport ". This
building stood on the site now occupied by the Royal Mint, and
during the month it remained open 40,000 people were said to have
visited it. The same edifice was used again in 1861 for a display of
local manufactures, and the intervening seven years disclosed a
great advance in the industries established, all of them, of course,
without any stimulus from protective legislation. In 1866 Victoria
again challenged comparisons by inviting all the other Colonies to
take part in an exhibition, for the suitable display of which £25,000
was spent in erecting an annexe to the Public Library. It was an
undoubted success, contributed to by nearly 3,000 exhibitors and
inspected by more than a quarter of a million of visitors. This was
the year when the strife over the initiation of Protection to native
industry was just beginning to rage, and yet without its aid there
were exhibited on this occasion the products of over 900 local
manufactories, covering fifty-three separate branches of trade. In
November, 1872, and again in December, 1875, the same building
was utilised for the display of a large collection of Victorian manu-
factures and produce which were intended for competition with
the outside world in international exhibitions elsewhere — the earlier
one in London, the later in Philadelphia.

The first International Exhibition in Australia was held in
Sydney in 1879, and the inherent spirit of rivalry between the two
jHjpfrtlg induced Victoria to essay a similar undertaking on a scale
of grandeur that should distance all competitors. The colony hap-
to be at that time in the ascending grade of one of its cycles

"PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY." 221

of productive prosperity. Settlement was steadily increasing, sea*
sons were favourable and harvests abundant, Parliament was in a
generous mood, and a really magnificent permanent building was
erected in Carlton Gardens, which, with its temporary annexes,
lavish decorations and horticultural surroundings involved an ex-
penditure of £250,000. A well-organised appeal had been officially
made to nearly every civilised country in the world to send exhibits
and representatives, and it was most generously responded to.
Twenty-six foreign countries, from France and Germany to China
and Japan, contributed specimens of their industries. Great Britain
and her Colonies filled a large portion of the space. The art depart-
ment of the exhibition was a revelation to the untravelled colonist.
Amongst the 250 oil paintings sent out on loan, or otherwise, were
many high-class works, and so well had interest been worked up in
England that Her Majesty sent out four large pictures from her own
private collection, depicting special ceremonial incidents in her life.
The 1st of October, 1880, on which day the official opening by the
Governor took place, was a public holiday, and an unwonted in-
terest was manifested by the many thousands of spectators in the
part taken in the proceedings by the officers and crews of the
French, German, Italian and Dutch men-of-war then lying in the
Bay. On the whole, it was the most exciting time that the native-
born Victorian had encountered, and it had a distinctly rousing
effect upon the ordinary prosaic level of a hard-working colonial
city. Indeed, it materially helped to enlighten the too easily satisfied
colonists as to their progress when compared with other countries.

The projectors of the Exhibition " builded better than they
knew," for it was the means of revealing to observant foreigners
the great natural resources of the country, the free spending power
of the people of all classes, and the wide field which it offered for
exploitation by the commercial travellers of every manufacturing
country in Europe. It was Victoria's first invitation to the foreigner
to come and look at her at home. When he came he saw that it
was good, and he stayed. Foreigners in plenty had flocked to bar
shores during the gold fever — French, Germans, Scandinavians and
Italians, but mainly as recruits in the army of labour — the Germans
specially as agriculturists. But from 1880 onward the commercial

222 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

foreigner, by himself or his agent, began to make his mark in the
arena of trade, both wholesale and retail. Continental buyers came
out in annually increasing numbers to attend the local wool sales.
A branch of a leading French bank was opened in Melbourne and
Sydney, and the proposals of a German bank to follow suit were
only diverted by the offer of satisfactory agency arrangements by an
Australian institution. The Exhibition was kept open for seven
months, and in addition to the army of servants and officials
employed, upwards of a million persons paid for admission.

From that day forward much of the narrow provincialism of
the colonists vanished. The "new chum," once the derided butt
of the old identities, was no longer rudely stared at, and Collins
Street began to take on a cosmopolitan aspect. The vague notions
of Victoria's whereabouts and social conditions which had hitherto
prevailed on the European continent had been replaced by know-
ledge, and the little colony, with less than 800,000 inhabitants, had
actually won some sort of a standing in the regard of many leading
foreign nations.

During the currency of the Exhibition one man passed away
•who had been the general adviser and director in previous move-
ments of this character, and who had presided with memorable
dignity over the colony's earlier displays in London and Philadelphia.
Sir Eedmond Barry died on 22nd November, after a very short ill-
ness, and left a blank hi social, artistic and educational circles which
was not readily filled. It has been well said of him that though he
was not a man of deep learning himself, he had been, above all others,
the means of bringing both learning and learned men to the colony.
He had unquestionably been in the forefront of every movement
for the intellectual development of the people amongst whom he
spent his life. The University, the Public Library, and the National
Gallery were his foster-children, and for their advancement he worked
with unceasing activity. The huge attendance at his funeral testi-
fied to the estimation in which the citizens held his generous services,
and a public subscription raised a memorial which, in the form of a
handsome bronze statue, appropriately stands in front of the noble
building in Melbourne which holds the fine library and the rich art
treasures of the colony.

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY." 223

Another factor, though of a totally different character, which
enabled the public mind to contemplate Sir Bryan O'Loghlen's
pledges of peace was the final extinction of the bushranging industry
in Victoria. The bloodthirsty ruffians who gave such a terror to
that word in the early days of the goldfields had been practically
stamped out. The spread of population, the greater efficiency of the
police, and the incarceration or dying out of the remnants of that
terrible influx from Van Diemen's Land had rescued the traveller
from one great terror of the roads, and driven such of the marauders
as escaped justice to the wilder regions of New South Wales and
Queensland. But in the north-eastern district of Victoria, extending
from the Goulburn Eiver to the Murray, and backed by the weird
Buffalo Kanges, lay a wildly picturesque, but largely inhospitable
country. In this sparsely occupied region there had been bred up
a second generation of young criminals, special adepts in horse and
cattle stealing. For the most part they were the progeny of families
where some of the parents had worn the broad-arrow on their
clothing. A natural attraction brought together in these fastnesses
groups of individuals who were often being wanted for some infrac-
tion of the law. They intermarried and produced children who
inherited a remarkable magnetic power over other people's live
stouk, and a genius for altering or obliterating brands that won the
admiration even of the local police. The unexplored ranges and
mysterious gullies around them were eminently favourable to a
business of this character. Live stock could be " planted " — to use
the vernacular of the craft — for many months without chance of
discovery, and when a sufficient mob was collected, it could be driven
by devious passes, known only to the initiated, across the upper
Murray and disposed of without question in New South Wales.
Emboldened by the facility with which they raided the squatters'
herds, they adopted concerted plans for taking tribute on all stock
passing through the district, which at length acquired so bad a
reputation that it was a difficulty to find drovers willing to take
the responsibility of delivery. When possible to avoid the ill-
famed tracks about the Wombat, Greta and Strathbogie Eanges by
a detour of many weary miles, the extra distance was promptly
accepted.

224 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

In the neighbourhood of Greta, about 140 miles north-east of
Melbourne, there dwelt a representative group of such families. A
convict named Kelly, originally transported from Ireland, had
married into a family of kindred tastes, and in the early fifties he
appears to have discovered the suitability of the district for supply-
ing meat to the outlying diggings without the necessity for in-
curring the original cost. He died in 1865, leaving behind him
four daughters and three sons, whose training had not been based
on any recognised catechism. As they grew up, their associations
were necessarily bad. Ned Kelly, the eldest son, acted for a time as
a scout and assistant to Power, a notorious bushranger from New
South Wales. Some of the family formed combinations with the
Harts, Byrnes, Sherritts and others for mutual assistance in out-
witting the police. The country was covered with what were
known as "bush-telegraphs," and the appearance of a mounted
trooper on the horizon set them all working. Ned and Dan Kelly
had both served sentences for horse stealing, and in April, 1878, a
constable was sent to Mrs. Kelly's to arrest her son Dan for a fresh
offence. When he entered the hut he was set upon by a number
of people, and, in the scuffle, slightly wounded by a pistol-shot. A
reinforcement of police subsequently went out to vindicate the law
and apprehended some of the gang, including Mrs. Kelly, but the
brothers Ned and Dan had fled. A reward of £100 each was
offered for their capture, and from that day they graduated from
common horse thieves into idealised Dick Turpins. For five
months the police schemed in vain to entrap them. The press
twitting them with their incapacity, a special effort was determined
on, and in October four experienced mounted troopers were detailed
to scour the ranges. On the second day out, while Kennedy, the
sergeant-in-charge, and one of the men were searching a likely spot,
the two remaining in camp were suddenly called upon to surrender
by four men who covered them with rifles. One attempted flight
and was shot dead ; the other held up his hands. The men were
Ned and Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne. When the ser-
geant and the other trooper unsuspectingly returned to the camp
they were confronted with presented weapons. The man attempted
to spring from his horse to get behind a tree, but was shot through

"PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY" 225

the head before he reached the ground. The sergeant dismounted,
and from behind his horse opened fire with his revolver. The
horse, being wounded, broke away from him, and as it dashed
past the remaining trooper, who was uninjured, he vaulted upon its
back and made his escape. Kennedy, left alone to face the four
desperadoes, was done to death as soon as his revolver was emptied.
His body when found was riddled with bullets, three having passed
through his head. The trooper who escaped succeeded in reaching
Mansfield, and gave the alarm. The whole colony rang with exe-
cration of the wantonness and barbarity of the deed. The police
were put on their mettle ; troopers from all parts of the country
were requisitioned for pursuit ; the Government reward was in-
creased to £1,000 for each of the miscreants ; and a fruitless
scramble over the district aroused the ridicule and condemnation of
the press and the public. The police passed on the blame to the
Government for its parsimony in numbers and equipment, but
meanwhile, though the members of the gang had been recognised
at Wangaratta, and later near Wodonga on the Murray, they
remained uncaptured.

Encouraged by their good luck, they grew derisive of the police,
and in December, just two months after the murders, they re-
appeared and took possession of the homestead of Mr. Young-
husband, near Euroa, on the North-Eastern Eailway line, and
there they confined all the station hands in the storeroom. A
travelling hawker, who was passing along the road, was seized and
the contents of his van looted, the robbers fitting themselves out
with new suits of civilian clothes. Several other passers-by were
run into the storeroom, until about five and twenty were placed
under lock and key for the night. Leaving one of their number as
an armed guard over the prisoners, the other three went down in
the morning to the railway line, cut the telegraph wires, and then
entered the township and took possession of the branch of the
National Bank. The faint resistance of the officials was easily over-
come, and having secured the cash, amounting to £2,300, they
drove the manager, his family and servants out to Younghusband's
station. As an indication of the imbecile terror their presence in-
spired, it is a noteworthy fact that, though on the drive, about three
VOL. n. 15

226 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

miles, a large number of people were passed on the road, not one
of the victims dared to indicate their plight by the slightest sign.
After partaking of a hearty meal at the station, and waiting for
dusk, Kelly made a boastful speech to his prisoners about what he
intended to do with the police generally, and wound up by warning
them that if any one attempted to leave for three hours after his
departure he would infallibly be shot. In the gathering gloom of
the evening the gang, mounted on four good horses, rode off singing,
in the direction of the Strathbogie Ranges.

When the news reached Melbourne it was scarcely credited.
That a township with over 300 inhabitants, on a main line of rail-
way, with a police station, should be dominated by four men in
open day — men for whom the police were believed to be indus
triously hunting — could not be believed. Captain Standish, the
Chief Commissioner of Police, started at once for Euroa to investi-
gate the matter on the spot. When there he despatched a number
of his best men, with a contingent of black trackers to pick up
the trail. But the quest was utterly futile. There were scores of
confederates in all the rangey country who gave the police false
information, and at the same time kept their friends fully advised.

Two months later, while the police in Victoria were tumbling
over each other to earn the £4,000 reward, the daring quartette
suddenly descended upon the township of Jerilderie, on the New
South Wales side of the Murray, about 120 miles from the place
where they were being sought. At midnight on Saturday, 9th
February, 1879, they went to the police station, and by a ruse made
the two constables prisoners, and established themselves in these
unlikely quarters. On the Sunday two of them donned the uniform
of their captives and calmly inspected the town, telling the people
that they were relieving officers sent up from Sydney. They even
had the audacity to take one of the local constables round with
them as a guide, compelling him by his silence to apparently con-
cur in their statements. On Monday morning they boldly took
possession of the principal hotel in the town, telling the landlord
who they were and promising that nobody should be hurt if they
offered no resistance. The landlord, his family, servants and all
lodgers qn the premises were ordered into the dining-hall and

"PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY" 227

placed under charge of Hart standing at the door with two re-
volvers. Every person who entered the hotel during the day
was added to the crowd of prisoners. The brothers Kelly and
Byrne then went to the Bank of New South Wales, surprised and
captured the manager and two other officers, and after compelling
them to open the safes, relegated them to the custody of Hart at
the hotel. Having secured all the cash, about £2,000, they visited
the telegraph office, transferred the three clerks there to the
hotel dining-room, and after leisurely examining all telegrams
received during the day, they cut the wires and destroyed the in-
struments. Incredible as it may seem, the whole town was so
cowed by the name of the Kelly gang that the people either locked
themselves in their houses or fled to hide in adjacent creeks and
gullies. About six o'clock in the evening two of the outlaws rode
off, each leading one of the local troopers' horses, whereon they had
packed their plunder. The other two ruffians remained a short
time longer, riding up and down the main street, flourishing their
revolvers and singing boisterously. Having locked up the two
constables in their own station-house, with threats of what would
happen if they were released within two hours, they granted leave
to the people at the hotel to go home and dramatically departed.
The same spasm of excitement which had followed the Euroa
outrage again spread over the community. The same carefully
planned but resultless night vigils of the police ; the same sneering
charges of incapacity, and, what was worse, open contention between
senior officers of the force as to the responsibility for failure. The
Government of New South Wales added another reward of £4,000
to that offered by Victoria for the capture of the outlaws. The
magnitude of the reward was so dazzling that more than one
associate of the criminals was bought over to risk his life by
giving information. It seldom resulted in any material benefit,
for the outlaws had so many sympathisers throughout the country
that every movement of the police was anticipated and every action
frustrated. A man named Aaron Sherrit, who was rightly suspected
of being in communication with the police, was marked for venge-
ance, decoyed and shot on his own threshold. A rumour spread
abroad that a special train was coming from Melbourne with a fresh

15*

228 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

contingent of police and a party of Queensland blacks to track the
murderers of Sherrit. This precipitated the final stage. Early
on Sunday morning the 27th of June, the outlaws made a descent
on the little township of Glenrowan in Victoria, took possession
of the Glenrowan Hotel, and ran in every one who came near the
place, until they had about sixty people in durance there. Then
they took charge of the railway station, police barracks and tele-
graph office, and, revolver in hand, compelled some of the railway
workmen to tear up the rails on a dangerous bank just beyond the
station, with a view to wrecking the special train. Every precaution
had been taken by the police, and a pilot-engine preceded the train.
Fortunately, the schoolmaster of the district, who had escaped from
the general imprisonment, fled down the line and intercepted the
special train before it reached the station. It was just midnight when
the police reached Glenrowan, and they at once proceeded to storm the
hotel, from whence volleys were poured upon them by the outlaws
from revolvers and rifles. Eeinforcements from Wangaratta and
Benalla at early dawn brought up the number of police to about
thirty, with several civilian assistants. In the course of the assault
some of the non-combatant prisoners were wounded, and terrified
shrieks went up from the house after every volley. Early in the
morning Ned Kelly was discovered outside the cordon firing into
the police from the rear. He had got through during the darkness,
probably with a view to escape, but having been shot in the foot was
unable to travel. Half a dozen rifles were turned on him at once,
but the bullets, though striking him, appeared to have no effect, and
for nearly half an hour he seemed to bear a charmed life. At length
a shot in the leg brought him down, and when the police rushed to
secure him he was found to be wearing a casing of thick plate-iron
under his overcoat, and a rude kind of iron helmet on his head.
This ponderous armour weighed over ninety pounds and was a
decided hindrance to escape by flight. Having sent Kelly to the
station in custody, the police again returned to the siege. For a long
time their exhortations to the civilian prisoners to make a dash for
liberty were unheeded, but about midday a frantic rush of some
forty persons came tearing out with their arms in the air and cry-
ing for mercy. A few known sympathisers were detained in custody,

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 229

the rest were dismissed to their homes. From this crowd it was
learned that Byrne had been killed by the first volley of the police,
and that the only remaining occupants were Hart and Dan Kelly.
Although the fire of the outlaws had ceased, and there were now
about sixty apparently resolute men around the building, no attempt
was made to take it by storm. Yet it would not have been a
supremely dangerous task, for the aim of the outlaws, encumbered
by their ponderous armour, had been notoriously bad, only one of
the attacking party, Superintendent Hare, having been seriously
wounded. Subsequent evidence indicated that Kelly and Hart
were helpless, if not actually dead, by this time, both having been
wounded early in the day. With a caution bordering on timidity,
it was considered wiser to set fire to the hotel rather than risk the
sacrifice of more lives. This it was contended would at least pre-
vent the desperadoes escaping under cover of the approaching night.
There was no attempt at such escape, even when the building burst
into flames, and a subsequent inspection of the debris discovered the
ghastly remains of the two men encased in their iron shrouds. From
their position there was little doubt that they were dead before the
fire reached them. With his capture and the death of his three
companions in crime, all the braggadocio of Ned Kelly rapidly
evaporated. He was as abject a specimen of the detected criminal
as could be readily found, and when the judicial end came it was
with difficulty his spiritual adviser could enable him to stand erect
under the gallows.

It was a humiliating reflection for the Victorian colonist that
the whole machinery of Government, the apparent zeal of a well-
disciplined and costly police service, the stimulus of enormous
rewards, and an expenditure of fully £100,000 were, for two whole
years, insufficient to check the predatory career of these four reck-
less dare-devil boys. For they were little more at the time of their
outlawry for shooting Fitzgerald. Ned Kelly was twenty-four, but
his brother was only seventeen, and both Hart and Byrne were
under age. They were products of the soil, all born in the infected
district. The fact that the territory that bred them held scores of
active and avowed sympathisers with their lawless career gave
cause for anxious reflection as to how deep the taint of imported

230 A. HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

convictism might have penetrated. The meteoric display of suc-
cessful bravado acted injuriously in many respects. It inflamed a
lot of half-taught youths with wild ideas of the heroism of a
freebooter's life, and with sickly sentimentality placed Kelly on a
pedestal beside the buccaneering celebrities of the Elizabethan age.
They pictured a man of abundant resources, riding the noblest of
steeds, wearing the armour of Ivanhoe, greeted by the smiles of
maidens and the applause of comrades ; robbing only those who
could well afford to lose and generously sharing his booty with
the poor. The creature that was so idealised was for most of his
time a poor shabby skulker, hiding from decent people, distrustful
of his own comrades and relations, gorged and intoxicated one day,
to go hungry for many others, sleeping in his clothes for weeks
together, with no peace of mind, and no rest from the haunting
dread of capture.

That such a gang could lord it over authority so long was a
blot on civilisation, and their extermination, slow and costly as it
was, relieved the colony of a stigma, and finally closed the episode
of bushranging in Victoria. In its expiring flutter it revealed one
regrettable trait hi the character of a Victorian crowd, an ingrained
sympathy with defiance of the law, in which it must be admitted
that the chosen legislators of the people had set a bad example. At
a meeting of fully 5,000 persons held in Melbourne, whereat one of
the most passionate speakers was a prominent politician who once
held Ministerial office, resolutions were unanimously carried urging
the Government to spare Ned Kelly from the extreme sentence of
the law. Foolish and treasonable speeches were tumultuously
applauded and much maudlin sympathy paraded. But although
similar gatherings were held in several other towns in the colony,
and many petitions were received, the Executive, representing the
opinions of the sane majority, refused to palter so grievously with
the claims of justice.

The reign of Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, Bart., from July, 1881, to
1883, was nearly colourless in its legislative aspect, for he was
practically without a Parliamentary majority. It was an epoch of
marking time, varied by occasional feints at the overthrow of the
Administration. Peace, in the political sense, had been to a large

" PEACE, PKOGRESS AND PEOSPERITY " 231

extent secured by weak concessions to expediency. Prosperity had
also followed, but it was due to a succession of good agricultural
seasons which largely increased the exportable products of the
country. In a material aspect this was progress, but it owed
nothing to Parliament or to any fostering care by the Ministry.
The constitutional party felt the loss of their experienced leader, Mr.
Service, and when later on his nominated successor, Mr. Murray
Smith, departed for London to assume the duties of Agent-General,
they remained somewhat disorganised and ineffective. As a party
they came to the rescue of Sir Bryan when he was hard pressed,
for poorly as they may have esteemed the acquiescent Premier, the
restoration of Berry to power was a thing to shrink from.

It was indeed rather difficult to concentrate interest on local
politics, for the colonists were greatly excited during 1882, firstly, by
the cabled news of the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and
Mr. Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, and later by the outbreak of
the war in Egypt, arising out of the rebellion of Arabi Pasha. The
time seemed singularly inopportune, while patriotic feeling was
strongly stirred, for the Irish residents in the colony to forward the
notorious Grattan address to their discontented countrymen on the
other side of the world : an address wherein Her Majesty's Gov-
ernment was referred to as a foreign despotism, and resistance to
its lawful commands lauded as a proud manifestation of courage
and self-reliance. As the address bore the signatures of five
members of the Legislative Assembly, two of whom were ex-Min-
isters of the Crown and sworn Executive Councillors, the House
was very properly called upon by Mr. J. B. Patterson to formally
disavow any sympathy with its doctrines and language, and to ex-
press its disapproval of the conduct of members of their own body
in dishonouring their oath of allegiance. In view of the prompt
protestations of loyality by the inculpated members, Mr. J. G.
Francis blocked the motion by moving the previous question. Two
days later he submitted a resolution more mildly phrased, accepting
the assurance of the signers as to their undiminished loyalty, but
formally renewing and emphasising the declaration by the House
of its faithful attachment to Her Majesty's throne and person.
Even thus modified it was only accepted on a division by thirty-

232 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

seven votes to twenty-four, and amongst the dissentient were
Graham Berry and no ]ess than nine ex-Ministers. It is to be
noted that of the prominent Irishmen, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen and
Sir John O'Shanassy loyally supported Mr. Francis. Mr. John
Gavan Duffy and Mr. Francis Longmore, the two ex-Ministers who
had signed, absented themselves from the division.

Perhaps the most prominent political event of this period was
the revival of a groundless clamour for anti-Chinese legislation.
The antipathy manifested by the working classes in Victoria to the
Chinese is undoubtedly based upon fear of the effect their presence
may have on the wages question. The real issue has been much
mixed up with denunciations of the demoralising effect which the
community would suffer from their squalid habits of life, their
heathen vices, their gambling, opium smoking and debauchery.
There was never at any time grounds for really believing that mis-
cegenation could leave its stamp upon the colonists. The number of
European women who would look favourably upon a matrimonial
alliance with a Chinaman was and is infinitesimal. Nor was there
any justification for the oft-repeated platform statement that the
yellow man would soon become an aggravated repetition of the
negro problem in the Southern States of the American Union. As
a matter of fact the Chinaman did not come to stay. His love of the
Flowery Land, the obligations of his religion — for despite all sneers
to the contrary he had a religion under which morality mixed with
superstition laid upon him very binding obligations — required him to
return to the land where his ancestors were buried as soon as he
could. And towards that end he laboured diligently. The Chinese
labourer in Australia is mainly represented by the Cantonese, per-
haps the least favourable specimens of their countrymen. As a
rule, under British Government he is found to be inoffensive, peace-
able and law-abiding ; patient under oppression, uncomplaining and
philosophically fatalistic. By plodding industry and assiduous at-
tention to work, he will coax a yield from nature and make money
off a tiny plot of land which a white man would scorn to own.
His work in this one direction alone was of enormous benefit to the
colonists, and of vital consequence to their health in the early days.
His wages were honestly earned, but because of his success he was

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 233

reviled, persecuted and assaulted by that large class of shiftless loafers
who hang on the skirts of labour waiting for something to be done
for them.

Irrefutable statistics show that relatively to their numbers the
men denounced as ignorant pagans and filthy barbarians stood
lowest on the list of committals for criminal offences, and that in
the matter of sobriety they headed all the other nationalities. The
gambling instinct, so characteristic of the race, was limited to
genuine games of chance, into which no adventitious aids from frau-
dulent manipulation entered. Eaids have been repeatedly made
upon players of "fan tan," and batches of Chinamen have from
time to time been fined or imprisoned for indulging in its delirious
excitement, yet it is no exaggeration to say that more money is lost
and won in the gambling of a single Melbourne Cup Day, unchal-
lenged by the law, than changes hands in ten years amongst the
Chinese in Victoria. Opium smoking is a deplorable vice, but it
is far from being so prevalent as is supposed. Compared with the
drunken excesses of the same class of white men, it may indeed be
called quite venial. Its evil consequences fall rightly and solely on
the slave of the habit, not, as in the case of drunkenness, on innocent
dependants and helpless children. Nor does the habit ever give rise
to those brutal frenzies, often issuing in wanton murders and other
barbarities, that constantly disgrace the records of colonial police
courts. Of the better class of Chinese merchants, the commercial
community and Australian bankers can bear testimony to their
honourable dealing and scrupulous regard of their obligations.

But whatever opinions may have been held about the Chinaman
in 1882, the revival of panic legislation against him was a weak
yielding to mob clamour in the face of the clearest statistical proof
that it was unnecessary. Up to the end of 1853 the Chinese in
Victoria did not number more than a couple of thousand. During
1854-55 they began to arrive in considerable numbers. So rapid was
the influx that by the end of 1857 they were estimated at 25,000,
the great majority being engaged on the diggings. The Legislature
had already taken alarm, and in 1855 imposed a poll tax of £10 on
every Chinaman landed in the colony. In 1857 Mr. Childers
brought in a Bill to repeal the Act, but it was rejected by the

234 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Council. In 1859 Sir John O'Shanassy carried a resolution im-
posing an additional residence tax of £1 per quarter on all Chinese
in Victoria, which led to much petitioning from the victims for a
more even-handed justice. The Chinese digger then had to pay £10
on arrival, £4 a year for residence and £1 for his miner's right, yet
so assiduous was his labour that even with this handicap he could
live well and accumulate money off abandoned fields where white
men were unable to earn rations. In 1862, on the motion of Mr.
E. D. Ireland, the residence tax was abolished. In May, 1863, a
Bill was introduced to suspend the poll tax for two years on the
ground that it was no longer necessary, the exodus of Chinese hav-
ing commenced. The debate was exceedingly lively. Mr. K. S.
Anderson made the somewhat extreme statement that the number
of Chinese in the colony had decreased from 40,000 to 20,000, but
it is exceedingly doubtful if the higher number was at any time
reached. The proposed Bill was supported by McCulloch, Francis,
Duffy, Gillies and others, and vehemently attacked by the members
who were under the influence of the then unorganised labour party.
The arguments based upon equity and humanity were scornfully
rejected, and the opponents mainly confined themselves to menda-
cious abuse of the proscribed race. Charles Jardine Don, who was
then the Parliamentary representative of the nascent Trades Hall,
declarsd that it was false to imply that the opposition was based
upon a question of wages. The men of his class he declared were
not at all afraid of such competition, and he wound up a fine burst
of invective by saying, with fine inconsequence: " They were a race
of atheists, and an Englishman could do more work before breakfast
than a Chinaman could do in a week ". Anything much wider of
the mark could hardly have been spoken, but as it symbolised the
logic of the opposition it is not surprising that the Bill was carried
through both Houses. In 1865 McCulloch brought in another Bill
to make the temporary revocation of the poll tax permanent, which
became law in due course.

For fifteen years Parliament was untroubled by the Chinese
question, for it was solving itself. At the census of 1861 their
numbers were returned at 24,732 ; in 1871 they had further de-
creased to 17,935, and in 1881 to 12,132. In the face of these

" PEACE, PKOGRESS AND PROSPEEITY " 235

figures it is difficult to understand how the renewed agitation was
worked up. It is certain that the general falling off in the produc-
tiveness of the goldfields had drafted a number of Chinese into
more settled occupations, and in New South Wales many had
found work on farms and stations where their industry and sobriety
secured them a preference. Early in 1881 a mass meeting was
held in Sydney to protest against this step, and one of the speakers
gave a tone to the discussion by moving that " every squatter and
farmer who employed Chinese labour should be burned out. A
box of matches," he added, " would work the cure." Delegates
from the meeting waited on the Government and demanded drastic
measures of restriction. The fire thus kindled spread to Melbourne,
where the competition of Chinese labour in the cheap furniture
trade was beginning to be felt. The working man, seeing only the
competition, ignored the fact that he and his wife, in their blind
worship of the fetish of cheapness, were the real supporters of this
branch of Chinese industry. The well-to-do classes preferred the
finer articles of European manufacture, despite heavy Customs
duties, and the middle classes, while content with colonial manu-
facture, were yet willing to pay a fair price for it. But if the
working man's wife could save ten shillings on a cheap chest of
drawers, no sophistry about competition would divert her from her
bargain.

The surly exclusiveness of the working man, when he thinks
his personal interests are affected, is not curable by the most
powerful arguments or the most cogent reasoning. He knows his
strength at the polls, and he expects to get what he fancies he
wants. Sir Bryan O'Loghlen capitulated to the clamour, and after
an informal conference came into line with the New South Wales
Government, by reimposing the poll tax of £10 per head, and pro-
hibiting all ships from bringing more than one Chinese passenger
for every 100 tons of burden, under a penalty of £100 for every
immigrant landed in excess of the legal number. A degrading
condition was attached even to this restricted admission, that re-
duced the Chinaman who sought to sell his honest labour to the
level of a ticket-of-leave convict. He received a certificate on
landing, which he was required to produce to the police whenever

236 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

demanded. Being at large in Victoria without it rendered him
liable to a fine of £10, or, in default, twelve months' imprisonment.
Many poor creatures were sent to prison because they had not
understood the importance of taking care of the certificate, and were
unable to satisfy the bench that they had paid for it. Gross injus-
tice was inflicted, quite equal to anything the exasperated diggers
revolted against in the bad old licensing days, but the Chinaman had
no vote, and his wails could be safely disregarded. Purposeless,
cruel and repugnant to British ideas of justice as this legislation
was, it easily overbore the opposition of the constitutional party in
the Assembly, and with some slight amendments in the Council it
became law. Beyond adding to the disqualifications under which
the Chinaman labours, and giving a kind of legal support to the
persecutions and ignominy he already endured, the Act had abso-
lutely no effect in the direction at which it ostensibly aimed. The
steady decline in numbers continued at about the same ratio pre-
viously shown, and the census of 1891 disclosed a reduction to 9,377,
of whom, by this time, 605 were females, non-combatants in the
wages strife.

In 1882 Parliament was continually in session from 25th April
to 21st December. A month was wasted at the outset by a drag-
ging debate on the address in reply to the Governor's speech.
Graham Berry sought to append to it a paragraph censuring the
Ministry for having ordered from England railway plant and water
pipes, which he alleged could have been manufactured in the colony.
The month's talk left no one the wiser, but the proposal was rejected
by forty-five votes to twenty-nine. It was a sample of the attitude
frequently assumed towards the Premier, which at times became
so pronounced as not only to block legislation, but even to take the
business of the House out of his hands. Mr. Bent, the Commissioner
of Eailways, made desperate efforts to ensure popularity by pro-
posing extensive railway works, involving the construction of over
800 miles of new lines, many of which, it was easily recognised,
could only add to the increasing drain upon the revenue. But
under existing circumstances they found enthusiastic supporters in
the men whose constituencies were supposed to be benefited ; while
outside Parliament the stalwart sons of labour then regarded Mr.

" PEACE, PKOGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 237

Bent as a sort of patron saint. It was not without some abject
concessions that the Parliamentary session was at last brought to a
close, the prorogation being from 21st December to 13th February,
1883. Once safely in recess, however, Sir Bryan bethought him
that the conditions under which he had been kept in office were
unendurable, and he inclined to the belief that an appeal to the
country would give him a good working majority. He satisfied
the Marquis of Normanby that his expectations were well founded,
and on the 30th of January the community was surprised to see the
dissolution of Parliament gazetted, and provision made for a general
election on 22nd February. Consternation seized upon politicians ;
the time for organisation was short ; party lines were practically
non-existent, and a wild rush was made to the polls by men who
were ready to promise anything suggested to them.

Although there was no burning question prominent at the
general election of 1883, there were indications that some sectarian
heat was thrown into it, and it is more than probable that the feel-
ing roused by the debate on the Grattan address affected the issues.
The result was disastrous for the Ministry — Sir Bryan O'Loghlen
and one member of his Cabinet lost their seats — but his persistent
antagonist, Graham Berry, had a very narrow escape from rejection
at Geelong, his own stronghold, where he had ever been wont to
head the poll. He was the lowest of the three candidates, and less
than forty votes ahead of the fourth. Amongst the rejected of the
people on this occasion were Sir John O'Shanassy, Francis Long-
more, and three other prominent members of the Irish party. The
relegation of O'Shanassy to private life after thirty-two years of an
active political career was not without a touch of pathos. He had
rendered yeoman service to the State in his early days ; he had a
sound grasp of constitutional questions, was a forcible though not
elegant speaker, and had long bravely combated the parochialism
of Protection and the selfish exclusiveness of the anti-immigration
party. Yet the Belfast electorate, with more than 4,000 on the
rolls, preponderatin gly Irish, had only recorded a paltry 320 votes
for him. No doubt his influence as a statesman had been seriously
handicapped by his devotion to the interests of his creed and his
countrymen, and by his rigid opposition to the State education

238 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

which the majority demanded. To overthrow that, which he hon-
estly believed to be prejudicial to the moral well-being of the colony,
he sometimes descended to intrigue, and offered conditional alliances
which several Governments in succession found to be seriously dis-
turbing influences. He took his rejection very grievously to heart,
stung by the ingratitude, as he openly declared it, of his own people,
for it was for them he had worked without any taint of self-seeking.
His health gave way, his spirit was broken, and after a few weeks
of depressing melancholia he died within three months of his defeat,
and was accorded a semi-public funeral on the 7th of May, 1883.

The man to whom the country now looked to chart its political
course was James Service. On his return from England he had
announced his intention of re-entering Parliament, and he was a can-
didate for Castlemaine at the general election. His speech to the
electors there on 7th February, 1883, contained an able review of
the O'Loghlen administration. His special skill in matters of fin-
ance enabled him to locate in the Treasury the sources of its greatest
weakness. He had, in London, been a deeply interested spectator
of the failure of the Four Million Loan offered by Sir Bryan at the
wrong time and at the wrong reserve, in opposition to expert bank-
ing advice tendered to him both in London and Melbourne. Mr.
Service was able to present the transaction in its true light, and
to show that the failure was not, as the press generally contended,
due to loss of credit, but entirely to want of reasonable foresight
and some slight knowledge of the operations of the money market.
But he was far from confining himself to fault-finding. He dwelt
upon the necessity for practical legislation, the desirability of giving
the lately achieved Eeform Bill a fair trial, without perpetual tink-
ering amendments, and the paramount importance of superseding
political patronage in the Government service by carefully prepared
legislation. In answer to questions as to his attitude towards Pro-
tection, he said : "I have always been and am now a Free Trader,
but I shall never be a party to alter the policy of the country
surreptitiously. When I can convince the rest of the colony that
Protection is wrong and Free Trade is right, and when the country
sends in a Free Trade Parliament, then, but not till then, can the
Protectionists' policy be overturned."

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 239

It was at this meeting that Mr. Service put forth his views on
Australian Federation, a subject to which during his European
holiday he had given much consideration. For purposes of con-
tinuity, it will be more convenient to summarise his labours in
establishing the Federal Council, and otherwise stimulating the
federal spirit, in the last chapter of this volume, devoted to the
Commonwealth. Suffice it to say here that of all the many claim-
ants for the honour of bringing about that confederation, Mr. Service
was the man who, while the air was full of sentimental abstractions,
condensed them into something within the range of practical
politics.

The Legislative Assembly on its first meeting after the general
election encountered a scene bordering very closely on the ludicrous.
The Ministry appeared disposed to calmly ignore the fact that the
numbers had gone against them, and that even their Premier was
a disconsolate absentee. After listening to the Governor's speech
outlining the work of the session, Mr. J. M. Grant, the Chief Sec-
retary, coolly gave the usual notices for the formation of the sessional
committees, and read the list of members as though no change was
impending. Then a member moved the adoption of the address in
reply, which was briefly seconded, and with only half a dozen direct
supporters behind them, the Ministers calmly faced an Opposition
of about fifty and waited for the first move. A brief silence of
surprise was broken by Mr. Service, who, without any prefatory
statement, simply moved that His Excellency's advisers did not
possess the confidence of Parliament. Mr. Berry seconded the
motion with equal brevity, declaring that in view of the country's
unmistakable verdict any argument was uncalled for. The dying
Ministry fought very hard for some charge to be formulated against
them, but the Opposition would not be dragged into discussion.
For some time they resisted Mr. Grant's demand for an adjourn-
ment as undesirable and unnecessary, but the pleading was at
length so abject that the House finally yielded the point and
allowed him a few days to make up his mind what he would
do. Mr. J. B. Patterson, when shortly afterwards addressing his
constituents at Castlemaine, said, in reference to the scene, that he
had witnessed the exit of several Governments : some he thought

240 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

" cleared out in too much haste, others had been literally kicked
out, but it remained for the tail of the O'Loghlen Government to
be positively scraped off the Treasury benches ".

When entrusted by the Governor with the formation of a Min-
istry, Mr. Service had no easy task. During the preceding two
years of lax leadership the old Assembly had got out of hand, while
the newly elected body had not been returned on any definite party
lines. It was not a question of counting Ministerialists and Oppo-
sition. The general election had resulted in a House containing
thirty-eight members pledged generally to constitutional principles ;
thirty-two who declared themselves liberals or radicals ; and fifteen
who professed to be independent, which being interpreted meant
that they could be depended on by neither of the defined sections.
It was hopeless for the constitutional party alone to form a Gov-
ernment which could sufficiently command the prompt passage of
necessary legislation, or check the deplorable waste of time that
had for so long been expended rather in personal contention than
in honest discussion. With the views enunciated by Mr. Service in
his address the community was generally in accord. He had called
a truce to any fresh agitations about reform, or even Protection,
and payment of members was safely in port. It seemed that the
only way to secure prompt and efficient legislation was to form a
combination with the radicals and agree to work together for the
public good. Such a course promised peace, while either of the
main parties alone would be heirs of political strife, and their ex-
istence would be continually threatened by a score of office-seekers
who might be able to succeed in moulding the so-called independent
section to their purposes.

At first there was some natural shrinking from the idea of Mr.
Service allying himself with a man of Mr. Berry's flaming record,
but the prevalent demand for peace and progress gradually over-
came this, and Parliament, press and public were at length all but
unanimous in desiring that the experiment should be made. It was
a high tribute to the capacity of Mr. Service for firm leadership
and disinterestedly honourable administration that the constitutional
party had such reliance on his ability to keep the radical half
of his Cabinet under safe control. With something like twenty

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 241

expectant Ministers the selection of three each by Messrs. Service
and Berry necessarily left some soreness and discontent. But the
ill-feeling had to be faced, and presumptuous self-seeking to be
properly snubbed.

Mr. Service as Premier took charge of the Treasury and the
Education Department. His selected colleagues were Mr. G. B.
Kerferd as Attorney-General, Mr. Gillies, Commissioner of Eailways,
and Mr. Levien, Minister of Mines and Agriculture. Mr. Berry as
Chief Secretary and Postmaster-General selected Mr. G. D. Lang-
ridge for the Customs, Mr. A. L. Tucker for the Lands Department,
and Mr. Alfred Deakin as the Minister of Public Works and Water
Supply. To these were added Mr. K. S. Anderson as Minister of
Justice, and Colonel Sargood without office, as representatives of the
Cabinet in the Legislative Council. Six months later Mr. Anderson
died, and on the readjustment of offices Mr. Deakin became Solicitor-
General and Colonel Sargood assumed the newly created duties of
Minister of Defence. The press generally received the coalition
with favourable justification. The strongest support was based upon
the necessity for avoiding the possibility of reverting to the feeble
chaos of the last session, with its divided interests, each too weak
to assert itself. It was also urged that Mr. Berry's wanton excesses
in the past had been due to the desperation of his position. An in-
cessant intrigue for office when out in the cold, and, when on the
Treasury benches, a perpetual dread of ejectment. His admirers
clamoured for him to have a chance of showing what he could
do when relieved from the desperate struggle for existence. His
readiness as a debater and his power of arousing enthusiasm in
his followers were generally acknowledged. Neither of these
qualities were characteristic of Mr. Service. In debate he was
too anxious to be perfectly just, to make those telling dashes of
oratorical statement which, though perhaps easily answered, some-
times win by their very audacity. As a leader he never hesitated
to deal candidly and truthfully with his party, and the occasions
are indeed rare when an enthusiastic following can be evoked with-
out throwing some glamour over it not quite consistent with the
plain truth, or some flattery that is far from genuine. The pre-
ponderance of opinion was in favour of the alliance, and the results
VOL. H. 16

242 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

justified the step, for the political annals of those days can be read
with complacency. The twelfth Parliament of Victoria, which
embraced the period from July, 1883, to December, 1885, was de-
voted to business with a zeal and assiduity to which members had
long been unaccustomed. The firm hand of a capable leader was
in evidence, and though a large portion of the Premier's time was
devoted to dealing with the growing topic of federation, and im-
portant questions in which the co-operation of the other Colonies
was sought, he was yet able to impress the authority of Parliament
on several measures of moment which had been foreshadowed in
his election address. The Opposition during 1883-84 was never
strong enough to materially hinder business, though it occasionally
made efforts to retard those measures which deprived members of
the political patronage they had long enjoyed in appointing servants
of the Crown.

The two important measures which Mr. Service introduced
for blocking this avenue to corruption were the Public Service Act
and the Eailway Management Act. They were of distinct benefit
from the twofold aspect of discipline and economy. The Civil Ser-
vice and the Eailway Service were alike overmanned. What was
worse, they were largely congested by inefficiency, and were rapidly
becoming close preserves for members of Parliament, their friends
and supporters. Under the Public Service Act of 1862 all sorts of
unfit hangers-on had been foisted, under the guise of supernumer-
aries, into positions of emolument that were virtually permanent.
This was stopped. The new Act decreed that, excepting in the pro-
fessional branches, the Civil Service could in future only be entered
at the foot of the ladder, by passing a competitive examination and
thereafter awaiting a vacancy. The examination was fairly good,
but by no means a severe one, a sort of half-way house between
a State school certificate and the University matriculation. A per-
manent Board of three Commissioners, specially exempted from
political influence, had to classify the work of all the departments,
assess its value, and see that when matters were once adjusted there
should be approximately uniform pay for the same work through-
out the colony. The scale of remuneration was fixed by com-
mencing age, but promotion was to depend on seniority and merit

"PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY" 243

combined. Under certain denned conditions of increment, minimum
and maximum salaries were scheduled for each class — seniority could
carry mediocrity to the top of his class, but before he could step
into the next class efficiency had to be counted. It was here that
the machinery eventually displayed weakness. The Act appeared
to provide an equitable solution of all claims, but its administration
required tact, patience and that rare capacity which enables men
to accurately appraise character and ability in others. Mr. Service
was quick to see that a Board composed exclusively of senior civil
servants could hardly be expected to deal with their colleagues
without some slight preference or prejudice, and he appointed two
outsiders, Mr. J. M. Templeton, a professional actuary and ac-
countant, and Professor Irving of the Melbourne University. To
these was added Mr. Couchman, a Government officer of long
standing, then the permanent head of the Mining Department.
The chief defect disclosed in the working of this Act was the
attempt to deal with the service as a whole in the matter of pro-
motion. Thus a man who had perhaps spent all his career in the
Custom House could claim his promotion to a vacancy of superior
grade arising perhaps in the Public Library, and unless a charge of
absolute unfitness could be formulated against him he could not be
passed over. This was entirely at variance with the practice of the
Civil Service in England, where each department of State is kept
entirely distinct, and no outsider may intrude. The general rates
of pay in Victoria and the very attenuated scale of increment were
quite inadequate to offer any attraction to men of ability to enter the
service. The youth who had ambition, and capacity to justify it,
could in commercial pursuits command a salary in a few years for
which in the Civil Service he would have to wait half a lifetime.
And, unfortunately, with the passing away by retirement hi 1888 of
Mr. Templeton, the Chairman of the Board, and Professor Irving,
the control passed entirely into the hands of senior officers of the
public service, and the administration of the Act was even for a
time tacked on to the duties of the Commissioners of Audit. This
was entirely subversive of the principle of independent super-
vision for which Mr. Service contended, and in a very short time
seniority became again the real ground of promotion, and its com-

16*

244 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

bination with merit as required by the Act was only a figure of
speech.

The reforms aimed at in the Railway Management Act were
of the first importance. That they came short of accomplishment
was not due to defects in the measure, but to the impossibility of
finding the man possessing the unique qualifications demanded for
its administration. Mr. J. B. Patterson, who had been Minister of
Railways in Berry's Cabinet, had been so hunted by his fellow-
members of Parliament to find places for their friends and supporters
that he formally handed over all appointments and promotions to
the Engineer-in-Chief and the Departmental Secretary, and firmly
declined to have any voice in the matter. But such a Ministerial
arrangement was of course not binding, and when the O'Loghlen
Government came, Mr. Bent, the new Minister of Railways, speedily
took the whole department back into his own hands. Therefore Mr.
Service argued that the only certainty lay in an Act of Parliament
which should take the control of the service, the expenditure on
construction and maintenance, and all the details of working out of
the hands of the Minister and vest it in a Board of three capable
experts. To ensure some feeling of independence they were to be
appointed for seven years, and would thus have a chance of showing
the benefits of continuity in policy, instead of the vagaries which
had latterly been the result of every change of Ministry. The man
who could be relied upon for firm and independent control, whose
advice would have impressive weight with Parliament, was worth
any salary, and it was decided to pay the Chairman of the Board
£3,000 a year and his two colleagues £1,500 each. The radical
party made a great outcry against extravagance when these figures
were scheduled in the Bill, but it is beyond all question that if the
chairman could have worked the Act in its integrity, and have been
a real check on Parliamentary log-rolling and recklessness, he would
have been cheap at £10,000 a year.

Mr. Richard Speight, who was eventually appointed to the
position, came from England with the highest credentials, and the
manner in which he grappled with the position in the early days of
his charge justified Mr. Service in the optimistic views about the
future of the railways which he expressed in 1886. On about 1,500

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 245

miles of railway open when Mr. Speight took charge, the revenue
earned during 1883 had been £624,000 ; but after providing for
the interest payable that year on the debenture capital of nearly
£21,000,000 there remained a deficit of £235,000 to be borne by the
general revenue. On the 30th June, 1886, Mr. Speight was able to
show, with an additional 240 miles open for traffic, a net revenue
for the year of £1,018,500, and after providing for all interest on
the enhanced debenture debt there remained an actual profit of
£61,483 to be handed over to the Treasurer. The book-keeping of
the Eailway Department had always been regarded as incomplete
and unsatisfactory, and it is impossible to say how much of this
marked improvement was due to better management, or what
portion was the result of neglected maintenance, or to the charging
to capital that which ought to have been defrayed out of current
revenue. If, as was freely alleged at the time, the latter conditions
were made subservient to the desire to show a profit, the result
was most unfortunate, for the public promptly declared against the
Government making a profit out of them, and so vigorously de-
manded reductions in charges that they had to be conceded. In
1887 a profit of £40,457 was shown, but the following year, owing
to the costs entailed by a deplorable accident at Windsor, the
figures were reversed, and a debit of £53,680 had to be passed on
to the Treasurer.

In any case, the results shown in 1886, assuming them to have
been honestly attained, led Mr. Service to make the declaration
that under proper management the railways could easily be made
to pay the interest on the colonial indebtedness ; and when that was
achieved, he was of opinion there would still be room for substan-
tial reductions in fares and freights. It certainly looked like a
reasonable forecast at the time Mr. Service was speaking his
farewells to the electors of Castlemaine ; but he had not long
retired from office before the firmness which Mr. Speight had
shown in reforming the department began to be undermined by
insidious political interference against which he failed to make
the stand expected of him. Instead of being the commanding
figure by whose advice Parliament would be guided in important
railway projects, to whose expert knowledge it would readily defer,

246 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

he became a pliant instrument in the hands of cliques and schemers,
a condition which eventually brought about his own downfall, and
scattered to the winds Mr. Service's prophetic vision. Nevertheless,
the principle of independent expert management, as set forth in the
Act, was so admittedly right that all the adjoining Colonies followed
the example of Victoria.

Beyond these two reconstructions of important departments
the Service Government introduced a Mallee Land Act, which
brought into leasehold occupation several millions of acres of land in
the north-west corner of the colony that, ever since its first discovery
by Sir Thomas Mitchell, had been regarded as practically useless.
The Water Conservation Act of 1883 made provision for extensive
irrigation schemes, under the control of local municipal trusts, and
though its usefulness was greatly retarded by costly blunders at
the outset in engineering and administration, it has proved a valu-
able factor in stimulating production. It fell to the lot of this
Government to settle a question that had for more than a quarter
of a century been often, but ineffectually submitted to Parliament,
and the Act for regulating mining on private property was generally
accepted as an equitable solution of the difficulty. The Discipline
Act passed in November, 1883, gave something like definiteness to
the measures for colonial defence, and superseded the old volunteer
system which had fallen into disrepute. In laying the foundations
for the Defence Department, now an important arm of the Com-
monwealth service, the Cabinet was greatly assisted by Colonel
Sargood, who remained through all subsequent changes of admin-
istration one of the foremost champions of the necessity for being
prepared to meet the unexpected.

The strenuous part which Mr. Service had taken in supporting
the annexation of New Guinea by the Queensland Government, and
the determined, even aggressive front he presented to the Secretary
of State for the Colonies in respect to the French designs on the
New Hebrides, brought him prominently into notice far beyond the
limits of Australia. He urged with impetuosity that all the islands
between New Guinea and Fiji should be brought under the pro-
tection of the British Crown. He inveighed against the undisguised
intention of France to concentrate the bulk of her doubly convicted

247

criminals on an island within forty-eight hours' steaming of the
Queensland coast. He drew a vivid picture of the horrors that
might ensue if, on a rupture with France, the 20,000 convicts already
in New Caledonia were turned loose to ravage and destroy in the
sparsely populated territory of the northern colony. A burst of
enthusiastic support was aroused in all the Colonies, but the British
Colonial Department did not catch the fever, and were freely
charged at the Antipodes with supineness and even with imbecility.
International considerations had apparently greater weight in Europe
than was accorded to them in Australia, and while correspondence
was passing, Germany stepped in and took possession of the north-
ern half of that portion of New Guinea which was not claimed by
Holland, and Great Britain was fain to be content with the eastern
end, and that portion of the south coast that overlooks the great
maritime highway of Torres Strait. Mr. Service always maintained
that the failure of his efforts in this direction was due to the hostil-
ity of Mr. Stuart, then Premier of New South Wales, who, having
nothing of the lust of Empire about him, declined to commit his
Government to a share in the expenses and responsibility of control.
The agitation, however, was not without benefit, for it saved the
New Hebrides from seizure by France, and diplomacy secured a
satisfactory modification of that country's policy in the matter of
the recidivistes.

Successful as the Service Government was in local legislation
and matters of international concern, the period was perhaps most
happily distinguished by the satisfactory handling of the State
finances by the Treasurer. Under Sir Bryan O'Loghlen they had
drifted into a somewhat chaotic condition, involving the constant
borrowing of trust funds, and the incurring of heavy obligations in
anticipation of the floating of loans. Indeed, it was a startling
discovery to Mr. Service to find, on taking charge, that his prede-
cessor had not only used up all the cash balances, and borrowed
from trust funds to the extent of nearly a million sterling, but had
also incurred liabilities of at least another million for purchase
under contract of rails and rolling stock for about 800 miles of rail-
way, the construction of which had not been authorised by Parlia-
ment. It required firmness, patience and financial knowledge to

248 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

bring the State ledger into presentable form, and there were few
men in the community who were more fitted for a work of the
character than Mr. Service.

It must be admitted that in the task he undertook Mr. Service
was greatly favoured by the special conditions of general prosperity
which the good seasons had brought about. There was a steady
inflow of population ; about 50,000 acres per annum were being
added to the land under cultivation, and in 1884 the colony ex-
ported wheat and flour to the value of £1,775,000 sterling, the
highest point ever touched. The prosperity of the farmer was
reflected in trade, wholesale and retail. In the three years ending
30th June, 1886, over £6,000,000 sterling had been spent in rail-
way construction out of loan money. There were no workers
compulsorily unemployed. So great was the dearth of labour that
many farmers under the pressure of the harvest season paid 15s.
and three substantial meals per day for men to cut their crops.
Indeed, during the first session of the Service Government over
thirty petitions were presented to Parliament praying for a renewal
of State-assisted immigration. But the various labour unions had
spoken with no uncertain voice on this subject, and though the
Legislative Council made some move towards helping the peti-
tioners, they elicited no response in the Assembly. In many of
the constituencies the seat depended so much upon the vote of the
idealised working man that he had to be conciliated. And it was
in strict keeping with his faith in protection to local industry that
he should do all in his power to resist the advent of those outside
wage-earners who sought to poach on his strictly guarded pre-
serves. Despite the labour difficulties, however, there was wide-
spread prosperity ; enhanced spending power followed increasing
wages. This meant increased imports, and expanding Custom-
house receipts, so that the general revenue which for the year
ending 30th June, 1883, had been £5,600,000, had risen in June,
1886, to £6,480,000. The credit of the colony in London soared to
its highest range. The 4 per cent, debentures which Sir Bryan
O'Loghlen had failed to sell at par in January, 1883, and for which
he had finally to accept about £98 10s., were sold in November,
1885, just prior to Mr. Service's resignation, at £107, the maximum

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 249

price realised. And this notwithstanding the fact that another
£4,000,000 loan had been floated in the interim, and Parliament
had authorised still further heavy borrowings.

The strain of continuous and onerous work in politics, especially
in that larger area which was now bringing the colony in touch
with international issues, and the demands made upon him by the
control of extensive mercantile operations, began to tell upon the
health of Mr. Service, whose constitution was not of a robust order.
He was only entering his sixty-third year, but his advisers insisted
that rest was imperative. December, 1885, saw the close of Vic-
toria's twelfth Parliament, and Mr. Service resolved not to offer
himself for re-election. Several of his political comrades had
passed away during his Premiership, including his intimate friend,
Eobert Stirling Anderson ; his old colleague, J. G. Francis ; and
his one-time vigorous opponent, James McPherson Grant. At the
opening of the through line to Sydney in June, 1883, Mr. Service
had voiced his aspirations for a Federated Australia, and declared
that he hoped not only to see a Dominion Parliament, but to be a
candidate for a seat in it. Now that the Federal Council, the first
practical step in that direction, was established, he laid down the
insignia of office in Victoria to take part in its opening deliberations.

In the last days of December, immediately after the prorogation,
rumours began to circulate that the coalition Ministry was about
to undergo reconstruction. It was said that Messrs. Service and
Berry, after representing Victoria at the Federal Council, which
was to meet in Hobart in January, would bid farewell to politics,
the former to find relaxation in European travel, the latter to
assume the position of Agent-General in London at the recently
enhanced emolument of £2,500 per annum. As Parliament had
but just now separated without any direct announcement that the
end was near, there were many expressions of incredulity, and
some outcry against the abrupt termination of a Government that
had triumphed over the sinister prophecies which heralded its
birth, and had also without friction placed to its credit three years
of useful legislative work. There were even louder murmurs of
discontent when the transfer of Mr. G. B. Kerferd from the
Attorney-Generalship to the Supreme Court bench was announced.

250 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

As it was not to fill a vacancy, but to increase the number of judges
from five to six, there were plentiful charges of jobbery set afloat.
There is no doubt that the legal profession, and their clients too,
were in 1885 very insistent upon the necessity for an additional
judge, and the press teemed with complaints of the seriously
delayed business of the Courts. It was, however, from the Bar
that the severest denunciations of the appointment came, and it
was largely through this influence that the censure of a consider-
able section of the press was brought about. Objections were taken
to Mr. Kerferd's slender legal knowledge, to the political jobbery
which his elevation implied, and to the necessity for exploding the
popular belief that the Attorney-General had a prescriptive right
to any vacancy on the bench arising during his tenure of office. Sir
William Stawell, it was true, had claimed and exercised that right
without any objection, and his fitness had been universally acknow-
ledged. But there had been holders of the office in late years
whose promotion to the bench would have fairly startled the com-
munity, and it was sought by the Bar to show that no precedent
was established. Mr. Service, in his valedictory speech at Castle-
maine, vigorously defended the appointment, and commended
highly the tried ability of his colleague, who, during twenty-one
years of continuous Parliamentary life, had been Attorney-General
in four administrations, extending over eight years. He concluded
a warm tribute of praise by predicting for Mr. Kerferd a speedy
recognition by the general public of his merits and fitness for the
judicial position. The Bar showed its disapproval by refraining
from the usual courtesies extended to new judges, and some of his
colleagues on the bench were very coldly polite. But Mr. Kerferd's
conduct in his new position was marked by so much painstaking
patience and unfailing courtesy that many who had protested against
his appointment admitted that they were agreeably disappointed.
In fact Mr. Kerferd's sound common-sense, his industry in master-
ing evidence and his readiness to learn compensated for much, and
if he added no brilliancy to the bench, he certainly brought no
discredit on the deserved respect in which it had been held for
many years. In his short career, for he lived only four years after
his elevation, professional and public opinion had largely veered

" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 251

round in his favour. When Mr. Service was roundly charged with
perpetrating a job for the benefit of his friend, his answer was that
if it was correctly described as a job, it was certainly perpetrated
by both Houses of Parliament almost unanimously, for when the
Bill appointing a sixth judge was under consideration, every mem-
ber knew that the Attorney-General was the man intended, and on
its duly passing he was warmly complimented in the Assembly,
and the compliments evoked cheers from all sides.

During the Service Government there had been another change
in Her Majesty's representative. In March, 1884, when the term
of the Marquis of Normanby was drawing to a close, news reached
Melbourne that the position had been offered to the Marquis of
Lome, the son-in-law of Queen Victoria, who had just relinquished
the Governor-Generalship of Canada. His popularity there made
the report very satisfactory to Victorians, but shortly afterwards it
was announced that family reasons precluded him from accepting
the offer. The appointment was subsequently conferred on Sir
Henry Brougham Loch, G.C.M.G., who arrived in Melbourne on
the 15th of July. He was a man with a fine breezy record of adven-
ture, had served his country both in the navy and the army, as
well as in the diplomatic service. He had been on active service
in Turkey, in India and in China. In the latter country he fell
into the hands of the enemy and suffered much cruel ill-usage,
narrowly escaping with his life. After many stirring scenes he
was rewarded with the peaceful position of the Governorship of
the Isle of Man, which he held for nearly twenty years, and was
then transferred to Victoria. He was certainly the most popular
Governor the new Melbourne had known, and, ably assisted by
Lady Loch, soon made Government House a genuine centre of
social interest and hospitality. The "frigid parsimony" of the
Marquis of Normanby had become somewhat of a by- word, and
the widespread liberality with which the vice-regal couple opened
their doors to purposes of philanthropy, education, or even simple
social entertainment, placed them high in public estimation and
friendly regard.

In the closing days of the Service-Berry coalition a cabled
message from London was published in the Melbourne papers that

252 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

they would shortly receive the honour of knighthood. Though not
officially confirmed, it gave rise to this singularly inaccurate forecast
in one of the journals : " It is understood in political circles that
Mr. Service might easily be prevailed upon to accept a mark of
favour which would be not only a recognition of his many services
as a statesman, but also of his special efforts to preserve the idea of
Imperial Unity, and to promote the consolidation of Australia in a
Federal Dominion. Mr. Berry, however, would feel compelled to
decline the honour if offered to him, as he deems it inconsistent
with the position of a politician leading a party which has always
protested against the principle of bestowing titles as a reward for
services, as tending to create a spurious aristocracy. With the
fate of Sir James McCulloch in remembrance, and his own strong
convictions on the subject, Mr. Berry would feel compelled to de-
cline respectfully the honour sought to be conferred upon him."
The blandishments of the real aristocracy, amongst whom his lot
as Agent-General was cast, and an alluring acquaintance with the
stately festivals of Court life, overcame those spartan principles he
had so often proclaimed, and within a year of leaving his adopted
country he had blossomed into Sir Graham Berry, K.C.M.G.

By a curious coincidence he left Melbourne in the same mail
steamer with Sir James McCulloch, who was taking his final fare-
well of Victoria. If these two life-long political antagonists ever
exchanged confidences as they paced the quarter-deck, it would be
interesting to know whether Mr. Berry thought it desirable to
recant the opinion he so deliberately expressed on more than one
occasion, that to ensure any hope of prosperity " all merchants,
bankers, squatters and landowners ought to be excluded from the
Government of the country ! " A declaration which was primarily
aimed at Sir James McCulloch, and subsequently at Messrs. Service
and Francis.

CHAPTER IX.
THE ERA OP EXTRAVAGANCE.

THE retirement of Messrs. Service, Berry and Kerferd was followed
by the resignation of the coalition Ministry, and Mr. Gillies was
entrusted with the task of forming a new combination. On the
17th of February, 1886, he announced the names of the gentlemen
who had accepted office, himself and Mr. Deakin being the only
continuing members of the late Cabinet. Mr. Gillies, representing
the constitutional or conservative party, assumed the onerous
responsibility of Premier, Treasurer, Minister of Railways, and
subsequently Minister of Mines. He secured for his Law Officers
Mr. H. J. Wrixon as Attorney-General and Mr. Henry Cuthbert,
in the Upper House, as Minister of Justice. Mr. James Lorimer,
also in the Council, succeeded Colonel Sargood as Minister of
Defence. Mr. Deakin, whom the Berry party looked to as their
leader, became Chief Secretary and Minister of Water Supply.
From his following he selected Professor Pearson for Minister of
Education, Mr. J. L. Dow as Minister of Lands, and Mr. John
Nimmo as Minister of Public Works. The Cabinet was completed
by the inclusion of Mr. F. T. Derham as Postmaster-General and
Mr. W. F. Walker at the Customs.

Five of the new Ministers, Lorimer, Walker, Derham, Nimmo
and Dow, were new to office. The first-named three were repre-
sentative mercantile men. Mr. Nimmo was a harmless trading
politician who had been a surveyor. Mr. Dow was a journalist,
with a wide experience in agricultural matters, long associated
under the Service regime with Mr. Deakin in practical investigation
into the methods of irrigation which might be applied to Victorian
farming. On the whole, the Cabinet commanded public confidence :
it was sufficiently strong in the Assembly to dishearten the Op-

253

254 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

position, and although Mr. Bent and Sir Bryan O'Loghlen made
occasional feints of attack, they were soon fain to cease from trou-
bling.

The period of the Gillies-Deakin Ministry covered a few im-
portant legislative measures, a season of exceptional social activity
and jubilation, and culminated in disastrous strikes and labour
troubles that threatened the stability of society. The Acts of
Parliament passed during the four years 1886-90 which were
really of importance to the progress of the colony were the Irriga-
tion Act ; a beneficial amendment of the laws relating to neglected
children ; an Act creating a Department of Public Health ; and
the Acts under which the Marine Board and the Melbourne and
Metropolitan Board of Works were called into existence. Of these
the most far-reaching in its anticipated effect upon the prosperity
of the people was the Irrigation Act, and its numerous off-shoots
of Water Supply Loan Acts. Although the Gillies Ministry carried
it through Parliament, and brought it into operation in the begin-
ning of 1887, it had been incubating since 1884. In that year
Mr. Service had appointed a Commission to inquire into the best
methods of helping the Victorian farmer to combat the too frequent
droughts, which made his returns so irregular and disappointing.
Mr. Deakin, who manifested an active interest in the subject, and
who was Chairman of the Commission, was deputed to personally
inspect the processes in vogue in Western America, where the
climatic conditions and requirements had more relativity to the
wants of Australia than had those of Italy or Egypt. His mission
was a pronounced success, and in 1885 he submitted a report of
his inquiries, which was able, exhaustive and most encouraging.
The success which had ever attended irrigation in California and
the adjoining States was, however, entirely due to private enter-
prise. The United States Government took no heed of the move-
ment, and only some of the State Governments interfered so far
as to frame local regulations to conserve existing riparian rights.
Mr. Deakin was quick to recognise that a very opposite policy had
prevailed in Victoria, and he believed that the great power which
this indifference placed in the hands of private capitalists might
lead to costly litigation and much discontent. He therefore re-

THE EKA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 255

commended that the State should take the initiative ; should
exercise powers of control over all rivers and sources of water
supply; should officially survey and declare the districts most
suitable for irrigation ; and, subject to evidence that a sufficient
return would be received to pay interest on the cost, should under-
take the construction of head works of a so-called " National "
character in important districts. For the rest the Act provided
that wherever the settlers chose to combine for the purpose, an
Irrigation Trust could be formed, to which the Government would
advance the money necessary for the works at 4£ per cent., the
trust being empowered to levy such rates upon irrigated lands as
would cover the interest, and provide a sinking fund of l£ per
cent, per annum.

The advantages to be derived from irrigation were not exagger-
ated, the principles upon which the Act was based were thoroughly
sound, and yet it undeniably failed to produce the anticipated
benefits. The success so manifest in America was due to the
active supervision and keen management arising from personal
interest in prospective gain. Municipal management, like Govern-
ment control of the railways, was, to a large extent, a perfunctory
business. The Victorian farmer, too long accustomed to look to a
paternal Government for all benefits, with something of the spoiled
child in his attitude, soon began to complain of the rates. He
demurred to the fact that by making his land liable for irrigation
assessments he was brought under an involuntary mortgage, and
many raised frivolous objections to paying for water which they
thought they could do without. One injudicious provision of the
Act, which authorised the local trust to borrow temporarily from
banks in addition to their debt to the Government, tended to pre-
cipitate the financial involvement of many of these bodies. But
these things were hidden in the future, and the Act was welcomed
as a measure that might reasonably be expected to double the pro-
ducing power of the colony. And it promptly got to work. With-
in four years Water Supply Acts were passed granting loans of
£1,032,000 to 132 Trusts, and authorising the expenditure of over
£700,000 for " National" irrigation works. With that inordinate
capacity for getting into debt which has been so prominent an

256 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

attribute of municipal and other public bodies in Australia, the
application for loans poured in until it was evident that it would
take over £5,000,000 to finance all the projected schemes. The
official estimate of the cost of the " National" works alone, which
it was suggested that the Government should undertake, was
£3,200,000, and this included no provision for the Western Wim-
mera district, or the dry Mallee country to the north of it.

Many serious mistakes were made, both in engineering and in
estimates of supply and demand. The proper principles of irriga-
tion had to be learned by the farmer, and when he failed, through
his own blundering, to reap the benefits he expected, he passed the
blame on to some one else and resisted payment of his rates. The
local trusts sympathised with their fellow-settlers, and refrained
from putting on the pressure which a business company would have
done. Hence in a few years a large number of the trusts were in
default of the interest due to the Government, and the Government,
having a vicarious form of compassion unknown to the ordinary
landlord, also refrained from exercising its legal rights. In the end
it had to make provision for some hundreds of thousands of pounds
as bad debts, and with solemn admonition as to the future to give
the defaulters a clear sheet and a fresh start. A large amount of
good was undoubtedly effected, and, especially in the Goulburn
Valley, a great impetus was given to production. But the cost was
sometimes raised to an unprofitable point by the restless haste with
which much of the work was planned and carried out. No one can
read Mr. Deakin's report without realising the value of the informa-
tion collected and the suggestions made ; and had the development
of irrigation proceeded on more tentative lines, gradually gaining
the benefit of experience, the results to the colony would have been
more valuable and far less costly. It is also important to bear in
mind that while the huge expenditure indicated was assumed to
directly enhance the value of the irrigated lands by at least £1 per
acre, yet the area so benefited was not more than 3,200,000 acres.
As this was only one-seventh of the land held by private owners in
1886, it follows, as a result of the financial breakdown, that the
property of the irrigated farmer was increased in value by the in-
voluntary contributions of people who had no share in the benefits.

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 257

Prior to the advent of the Gillies-Deakin Ministry, the annals
of Victoria had to a large extent revolved round the doings of its
Parliament. With the growth of population, which in March, 1886,
reached the million, with increasing wealth and extended com-
merce, new factors of public interest asserted themselves, and the
Parliament of the day, which was not strong in the initiative,
began to be looked upon as a committee of delegates to carry out
the wishes of the people. And the people, largely represented by
prosperous labour organisations, were led to believe that at last
they were entering into possession of that stage of well-being which
they had been taught to expect as the sure result of managing their
own affairs. Certainly appearances seemed to justify the general
conclusion that a great future lay before this land of promise.
When the Governor opened Parliament on the 1st of June, 1886, he
had nothing but congratulations to offer. He rejoiced in the estab-
lishment of the Federal Council, and expressed a hope that before
long the other Colonies would feel the influence of the national
sentiment and join. The Defence Forces were said to be admirably
organised, and the permanent defence works were being rapidly
made effective. The extension of railways was progressing satis-
factorily. Six months later, when he prorogued Parliament, he
was not less optimistic, and wound up his speech by saying : "It
will be a satisfaction to you to carry away to your homes the
reflection that the country for whose laws and administration you
have been caring, is in a state of great prosperity, with a steadily
increasing income, with every prospect of an abundant harvest,
and with indications that the mining industry, effectively pro-
moted by you, is about to have a substantial revival ". The
anticipations indicated in the last clause were not fulfilled. There
were influences at work which concentrated labour in the city,
in tramway construction, wharves, docks and shipping, and on
the numerous suburban and country railways being urgently
pressed on with. Some of this labour was undoubtedly with-
drawn from mining, for the diminishing returns which were
apparent in 1885 continued on the down grade for nearly ten years.
There was no improvement in production until 1895, when the
financial troubles, recently experienced, had driven men out of the

VOL. H. 17

258 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

overcrowded city to seek a more independent way of earning an
honest living.

But the lines of the Gillies Ministry had fallen in pleasant
places. Nothing facilitates Parliamentary working like a sub-
stantial budget surplus. Nothing casts a greater damper over an
Opposition, or sheds more reflected lustre on a Treasurer, even
though he may be ignorant of the real economic causes of his
success, and be dependent upon a clerk in his department for the
form of its presentation. When the budget speech of Mr. Gillies
in July, 1886, showed a revenue of nearly £6,500,000, and de-
clared a surplus of £329,000 for the year, citizens smilingly said
that Service had a worthy successor at the Treasury, under whose
able management much existing taxation might be reduced, or
remitted. A year later the revenue had mounted to nearly
£7,000,000, and again a surplus of £499,000 remained after the
year's largely increased expenditure had been met. On the 24th of
July, 1888, Mr. Gillies announced an almost incredible increase, the
revenue reaching £8,236,000, and leaving a surplus of £839,000.
Emboldened by such experience, the Treasurer ventured to estimate
a revenue of £9,000,000 for the year ending 30th June, 1889. In
this he was too sanguine, but it reached £8,675,000 — the high-
water mark of Victoria's income. Still more startling was the
announcement by the Treasurer on 30th July, 1889, that the
accumulated surplus on that date stood at £1,607,000 ; and that he
estimated the revenue for 1889-90 at £10,608,000 and the ex-
penditure at £10,523,000. These radiant forecasts were neither
justified nor realised. They remain on the records of Parliament
as typical of the visionary wealth which cast such a glamour not
only over the Legislature, but which simultaneously irradiated the
ideas of all sorts and conditions of men. The gigantic surplus
itself took on much more humble dimensions within a month, when
certain immediately accruing liabilities had been brought into the
national ledger. Before the year was out, the whole newspaper
press of the colony was propounding the question, " What has
become of the surplus?" and the various replies elicited were
the despair of the most accomplished accountants to unravel. The
figures quoted above do not always accord with those of the Govern-

THE EEA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 259

ment Statist, being complicated by recoups and other mysteries of
official book-keeping, but they are those submitted by Mr. Gillies
in the Assembly, where they were invariably greeted with cheers.

It might have been expected that these accumulating credit
balances would cause an outcry for remission of taxation in some
form. So far from that being the case, Mr. Gillies, after declaring
his surplus of £500,000 in 1887, intimated that he proposed to
raise an additional £50,000 by increasing the duties on sugar and
timber. He said he had been persistently urged to help the
woollen industry by increasing the protection of 25 per cent, which
it then enjoyed, under which inadequate tariff he was assured the
woollen mills were doomed to failure. He felt that he could not do
this without a comprehensive revision of the whole tariff, which
must be deferred until the next session. The representations of
the timber trades had, however, been too much for him, and sub-
stantial duties were placed upon all forms of that necessary raw
material which the hand of man had dressed. Doubling the duty
on beet-sugar was gaily indicated by Mr. Gillies as in some sense a
reprisal on the bonuses given by continental Governments, and an
attempt to help the weaker side in the unequal fight between
nations and individuals. It is true there was no sugar produced in
Victoria, but the Premier, in a burst of generosity, alleged that
the plantations in Queensland and Fiji were mainly financed by
Victorian capitalists, whose enterprise deserved encouragement.
Probably this is the only case in Victorian annals where Protection
was decreed which had no bearing on local employment or wages,
and yet undoubtedly enhanced the cost of one of the prime neces-
saries of the working man.

With the swelling revenue of those years came the ambition to
live up to it, so the expenditure followed close upon its heels. It
had been extravagant prior to 1886, and Mr. Service had lifted up
his voice more than once against the growing incubus of the Civil
Service. As far back as 1881, when leaving for England, he said :
" There are upwards of 5,000 persons ministering to Government,
and there are not more than 200,000 adult males, of the ages
during which a man is capable of work, so that every forty of them
are called upon to maintain one tax eater ". The Coalition Govera-

17*

260 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ment made some stand against further increase, but when Mr.
Gillies began year by year to display the growing surplus, economy
was denounced as mean 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. Both
the revenue and the expenditure which Mr. Gillies dealt with in 1886
were the highest the colony had then known. From that starting-
point the figures marched gaily onward until 1890, when the first
check was experienced. Towards the end of 1889 an inquisitive
member called for a return of the cost of the Civil Service. When
it was laid before the Assembly it disclosed the fact that there
were 31,247 persons in the public service, drawing salaries aggre-
gating £3,452,857, and that one in every thirty-two of the entire
population was in receipt of Government pay.

But the Civil Service, overgrown as it undoubtedly was, had
not been the sole appropriator of the redundant revenue. Members
fought for their own districts, and while Mr. Gillies dazzled the
Assembly with his recurring surplus, he was impelled to promise
£140,000 to increase the subsidies to municipalities ; £150,000 to
shires for wire-netting to help the farmer in his desperate contest
with the rabbits ; £250,000 to promote the agricultural and wine
industries ; and an indefinite sum to increase the vote for State
school buildings. Of course, the ordinary expenditure of the
country necessarily increased in some departments, notably in the
railways, extending at the rate of 150 miles every year, and gener-
ally giving something like fair returns ; in the Education Department,
with an increasing population to provide for, and an increase in
cost of public buildings. This latter outlay had long been on a scale
absurdly extravagant for the handful of people who had to pay the
bill. Buildings like the Parliament Houses, the Law Courts and the
Governor's residence had been conceived on a scale which accepted
the popular belief in Victoria's wealth and importance, and ignored
the overshadowing effects of the approaching Federation. The
Assembly had no man in those years of plenty to pose in the un-
popular role which Joseph Hume assumed in the House of Com-
mons. It found one later on, when the financial bubble had been
pricked, who took the matter of retrenchment very firmly in hand ;

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 261

but if he had lifted up his voice in the later eighties he would have
been derided as a fanatic.

Parliament placed a high estimate on the value of the services
of its individual members. It regarded the petty stipend fixed by
the Act, and even the handsome salaries of Ministers and high
officials, as an inadequate return. Innumerable Royal Commissions
and Boards of Inquiry sprang into existence, carrying with them
attendance fees, travelling expenses and other perquisites. In this
generous appreciation of good services rendered, it voted £4,000
to the family of James McPherson Grant, who had served Ministeri-
ally under widely opposing banners ; £2,500 to the representatives
of J. H. McColl, a private member of no long standing ; and £4,000
to Peter Lalor of Eureka fame, on his vacating the position of
Speaker, broken in health and fortune. A proposal to put £1,000
on the estimates for the widow and family of Marcus Clarke, an
Australian author of some reputation, was, however, rejected. An
intimation by Mr. Gillies in November, 1887, that he intended to
put £6,000 on the next year's estimates to recoup the Governor for
the extra expense which would be entailed upon him during the
Exhibition year elicited enthusiastic cheers.

After all, the generosity of Parliament was only a mild reflex of
the prodigal expenditure which had been developed throughout the
whole community. Large fortunes had been made by early Vic-
torian investors in the Broken Hill silver mines, in the tin, copper
and gold mines of Tasmania, and in the auriferous deserts of Western
Australia. Still larger fortunes had grown out of Stock Exchange
operations in a continually rising market, and out of bold specula-
tions in city property and real estate. During the years 1887-88 the
speculative fever had manifested itself in every stratum of society.
The talk of the streets, the clubs, the trains, the luncheon-rooms
and the dinner-tables centred round the rise or fall of stocks, the
chances of subdi visional sales, or the wonderful luck that had followed
the operations of divers well-known leaders in the arena of com-
petitive finance. On the 20th of January, 1888, the day's operations
on the Melbourne Stock Exchange exceeded £2,000,000 sterling,
the great bulk of the transactions being in Broken Hill Mining
Companies' shares. Grey-haired men, who had been known on

262

'Change for a whole generation as honourable and prosperous
merchants, saw their junior clerks leaving them with the reputation
of having made competencies in a few months by assuming risks
at which their employers would have stood aghast.

The Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign in June, 1887, was cele-
brated in Melbourne with an enthusiasm that was not excelled in any
part of the Empire. The tide of financial prosperity was approach-
ing high-water mark. Everybody had money to spend, from the
traditionally wealthy squatter down to the well-paid artisan, and
he spent it in a generous compliance with the scriptural mandate
to take no heed for the morrow. The winter season of that year
was made memorable to the rising generation by brilliant illumina-
tions and imposing pageants; official and social entertainments
crowded upon one another, and in the exuberance of newly acquired
and apparently unlimited wealth, many new schemes of philan-
thropy were liberally started, and large sums were reported week
by week as having been given, or promised, for Church work in
several of the denominations. Unhappily, many of the intending
donors had reckoned their wealth by a rule of thumb process that
was not justified when strict principles of book-keeping were
applied. Hence several of the churches came short of the noble
contributions of which they had prematurely boasted. Some indeed
had commenced new buildings upon the strength of promised con-
tributions which were intercepted by unsympathetic officials of the
Insolvent Court, and they had much cause to lament having listened
to the voice of the charmer. They were not without excuse, for
everybody believed in 1887 that he was making money, and on
the high road to affluence. New companies were floated every
week to give those who were too timid to speculate by themselves
an opportunity of sharing in the profitable speculations of the
directors and managers whom they called into existence. There
was no corner in the wide domain of finance that was not occupied
by some of these companies. They directly invaded the provinces
of the bank and the building society, and the keen competition of
their methods made it almost impossible for the established banks
and building societies to adhere to their legitimate functions without
losing both the custom and the confidence of their clients. They

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 263

assumed the most multifarious combinations, from the genuine land
mortgage bank to the speculative share investment trust ; from
straight out pawnbroking to the guaranteeing of shaky mercantile
credit. The details of these fungoid growths on national credit
and the grievous part they played in the impending collapse of
that credit belong to the next chapter. They were material factors
in the growth of extravagant expenditure by enabling men of the
smallest means to buy a few shares and participate in large divi-
dends, which were too often the produce of specious book entries
and not legitimate earnings.

The profuse expenditure, anticipatory as it often was of un-
realised profits, was beneficial to the artisan class, and the activity
of the building trade enabled the working man to accumulate
savings, and put them also into the cauldron of speculative activity.
The modest villa that gave picturesqueness to the suburbs and
had satisfied the aspirations of the prosperous tradesman could not
content the men who had suddenly vaulted into wealth. Mansions
were erected in the more aristocratic districts, costing from £20,000
to £30,000, and ballrooms and picture galleries were added to
existing structures to bring them up to the supposed requirements
of the day. Several professional artistic decorators, who came out
from England in the eighties, found their talents in urgent demand
and reaped a rich harvest. An immense sum was spent during
that decade on the internal embellishment of splendid mansions,
many of which passed in a few years into the hands of mortgagees
for less than half their cost, and were unsaleable at that. Liveried
indoor servants, hitherto almost unknown beyond the portals of
Government House, were soon common enough to be taken for
granted. Entertainments were devised on a costly scale, armorial
bearings were discovered and displayed, and men whose market
value had been but a few years before appraised at a salary of £250
per annum considered it necessary to have a retinue and a stable
which many a landed aristocrat in England would have found
difficulty in supporting. In a country where all men were workers,
and where there was practically no wealthy leisured class, this
servile copying of an older social system was prejudicial to the
manly independence and healthy simplicity associated with the

264 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

idea of Colonial life. This carnival of extravagance and luxurious
living, which reached its maximum during the four years coincident
with the period of the Gillies Ministry, gave a considerable but
wholly artificial stimulus to trade. Combined with the large
expenditure connected with the Centennial International Exhibi-
tion and the numerous visitors it brought to the colony, it led
experienced and even pessimistic persons to take a more roseate
view of the apparent prosperity than it deserved.

And that really splendid Exhibition, conceived in a broadly
generous intercolonial spirit, intended to celebrate for all Australia
the foundation of this outpost of the British Crown, was certainly
stimulated by the general belief in the prevalent prosperity. The
progress of Australia and the rapidity of its development had
during the preceding year or two been the frequent theme of
English journalists and magazine articles. The remarkably fine
display made by the Colonies at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
in London in 1886 had awakened interest in a remote corner
of the Empire that had hitherto attracted little attention outside
official circles, or those persons who had friends and relatives in
the southern lands. To the British public generally, thirty years
ago, Australia was a vague abstraction, and though Australian
cricketers might arouse a lively interest, Australian politics and
aspirations were an unknown quantity. In the critical times of the
Darling Grant or the Berry Embassy the English papers scarcely
vouchsafed space for a few paragraphs to throw light on what
appeared to the busy Londoners to be an unseemly squabble.
When on one or two occasions a leading article dealt with Vic-
torian affairs, it generally took a semi-paternal admonitory tone
that the impetuous Melbournites declared to be irritatingly arro-
gant. But after the Exhibition of 1886 English journalists devoted
far more of their space to Australian affairs and generally adopted
a very friendly and appreciative tone.

The Melbourne Exhibition of 1880 had not been without stimu-
lating effect upon the Australian- born population, and when it was
proposed to repeat that exciting episode on a scale of greatly
increased splendour the whole community signified its delighted
acquiescence. Taking advantage of the prominence given to

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 265

Australian affairs in London, a strong committee was appointed
there, with the Prince of Wales as president, a sprinkling of British
noblemen, and Sir Graham Berry, the Agent-General. Circulars
went forth to all the Governments of the civilised world, and the
response was very general, several of them sending out special
commissioners to supervise their courts. To the untravelled Aus-
tralian it seemed as if the eyes of the world were turned upon him,
and he cheerfully anticipated making a display that would place
Victoria high in the estimation of all mankind. With this en-
thusiasm behind them, the Government allowed no question of cost
to interfere with success. And indeed, though it could not rival
Paris or Chicago, it ranked very high in the list of International
Exhibitions, and was undoubtedly the most brilliant that had ever
been seen south of the Line. The exhibits in all departments were
valuable and representative, those pertaining to furnishing and the
decorative arts being quite a revelation to the rank and file of the
visitors. No doubt they served to inflame the extravagant ideas of
the newly enriched, and awakened a spirit of discontent in many
comfortably appointed homes. The craze of aestheticism, moribund
in the old world, was awakened in the colony and took form in the
establishment of a Kalizoic society. Electric lighting, then in its
youth, was seen for the first time by tens of thousands from the
country districts. The industrial arts in every aspect were repre-
sented, and machinery of the highest perfection revealed the
wonders of modern invention to the intelligent artisan. Orchestral
and choral performances of a class never before heard in Melbourne
were given by instrumentalists of European reputation, and by a
trained chorus of 800 voices under the direction of a most eminent
conductor specially brought from England for the purpose. In this
item alone an immense impetus was given to the artistic side of
Melbourne life, by an experience which has left its impression to
this day. In another branch of art the public taste was also elevated
by the exhibition of some 2,000 paintings, valued for insurance
purposes at £300,000. The most important of these were sent
from Great Britain on loan, while France, Germany, Belgium and
other countries chiefly contributed modern pictures which were for
sale.

266 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

4

It was fitting that so important a collection of the world's best
work should have an imposing inauguration, and the opening cere-
mony was conducted with befitting pomp and circumstance. Six
Australian Governors, with their families and official suites, took
part in the formal procession. All the Colonies were represented
by their leading men, Cabinet Ministers, Judges, Parliamentary
Speakers and Presidents, and the Military Commandants. The
Admiral of the Station, supported by his officers and a large detach-
ment of bluejackets, offered a pleasing contrast to the prevalent
scarlet uniforms. The gathering included a fine body of naval
officers from the foreign warships in the bay ; a group of distinguished
foreign commissioners with unfamiliar orders on their coats ; and
a blaze of gold lace and mysterious uniforms disguised the Con-
sular body, numbering over a score. There was one absentee
from the procession which made the judicious grieve. The Chief
Justices of New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania
walked without their brother of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Mr. Higinbotham conceived that his office commanded precedence
next to the Lieutenant-Governor. The newly elected Speaker of
the Assembly claimed to be, as in England, the first commoner,
and to be in front. The Chief Justice, declining to accept this read-
ing of the code of preference, stayed away. Those who knew the
man realised that it was no question of personal pique, but only an
exaggerated sense of the importance attached to detail lest prece-
dent be created. But there were plenty of people, and some journals,
ready to condemn what they were pleased to describe as an exhibition
of bad temper.

The Exhibition remained open for six months, and was formally
closed by Sir Henry Loch on the 31st of January, 1889. The attend-
ance, or, more correctly, the admissions to the building, numbered
very nearly 2,000,000, running up on public holidays to as high as
40,000 in one day. For the control of this vast concourse a force
of 100 policemen was told off, and nothing could speak more highly
for the sobriety and the orderly character of an Australian crowd
than the fact that during the whole six months only eight persons
were arrested for drunkenness. The manner in which the expendi-
ture on this great industrial fair mounted up beyond all anticipation

THE EKA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 267

is very typical of the time. When the Treasurer submitted to
Parliament a preliminary application for £1,000 to initiate the
movement, it was stated that the Chief Secretary had caused
careful estimates to be made of the total cost, which it was believed
would not exceed £25,000. This was based upon the assumption
that the practice in previous exhibitions of charging exhibitors a
rent for space and the cost of motive power supplied would be
followed. As all the world had been invited to contribute, the
Government thought these charges looked pettifogging, so rentals
were not demanded, and motive power was supplied gratuitously.
Then the applications for space were quite double what had been
looked for, and the erection of extensive annexes was necessary.
These, with the necessary alterations, decorations and fittings
in the main building cost £170,000. The provision of the excellent
musical entertainments involved an outlay of over £30,000. An
army of officials, attendants, servants, and hangers-on had to be
provided for, and the total disbursements of the Commission touched
£400,000. These figures were, however, reduced by £110,000 taken
for admissions and £41,000 by the sale of old material, and the
Treasurer had to find £253,000 to close the account ; of this, he
generously assumed that £15,000 had been added to the value of
the permanent building by improvements, and that £238,000 was
the net cost of the memorable display of the year 1888. It is not
surprising that the precise Chief Justice Higinbotham took early
alarm at the briskness of the financial pace, and in despair of arrest-
ing it renounced his responsibilities. He had been appointed with
universal approbation the President of the Exhibition Commission,
and he brought to bear on the duties of that position all the detailed
accuracy and scrupulous exactness which he would have required
in the Supreme Court. He realised that a large body, acting chiefly
through committees, would probably outrun their powers and their
finances unless supervision was concentrated in some centre, and
he required that all committees should submit their actions for con-
firmation to meetings presided over by himself. Unless the Execu-
tive had been prepared to devote all their time to the affairs of the
Exhibition the proposal was impracticable. With one exception all
the members were men who had business or professional duties to

268 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

attend to, and they were restive under the assumed sacrifice of their
time. They made it so manifest that they did not intend to refer
everything to the President, and also that they would far exceed the
financial provision made, that Mr. Higinbotham felt constrained to
tender his resignation. The President of the Legislative Council,
Sir James Macbain, who succeeded him, took a less onerous view
of his responsibilities, and as he allowed the committees all the lati-
tude they wanted, the financial result was much what Mr. Higin-
botham had predicted. Neither his predictions nor his protests
would probably have materially affected the result, but if he had not
retired there would have been an administrative breakdown or a
coup d'&tat in the form of a mutiny. From which may be deduced
the moral that the working methods of the Law Courts and those
of practical business men are irreconcilable. But probably no one
would have been listened to who preached economy while wealth
appeared to be so widely distributed. Indeed, it is somewhat sur-
prising that in their final report the Commissioners appear to adopt
an apologetic tone in saying that although the cost had been much
larger than anticipated, yet the greater part of it was expended in
wages to artisans and labourers within the colony. Further, they
alleged that the outlay by visitors, and by foreign and colonial ex-
hibitors in connection with their courts, was very far in excess of
that which the Government was called upon to meet.

An important political episode of the Gillies Ministry was the
despatch of Messrs. Deakin and Lorimer to London, where, in
conjunction with Mr. Service and Sir Graham Berry, they repre-
sented Victoria in the Imperial Conference which was held in April,
1887. It was a recognition by the British Government of the great
commercial and political importance which the Colonies had attained
in the estimation of the mother-country. It was not, as some sus-
picious editors averred, an attempt to entrap the various self-governing
communities into a cut-and-dried scheme of Imperial Federation,
but a friendly invitation to them to send representatives to discuss
matters of equal interest to all. Prominent amongst them were the
terms upon which the naval defence of the Colonies could be best
provided; the storage of coal and defence of coaling stations;
uniform postal and cable charges; execution of legal judgments

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 269

throughout the Empire ; making the securities of colonial Govern-
ments available for the investment of trust funds ; uniformity in
the laws relating to bankruptcy, patents and marriage; and pro-
vision for taking the census on the same day throughout all British
possessions.

There were men besides Chief Justice Higinbotham who re-
garded with suspicion any overtures from Downing Street as tending
to centralise administration, and the comparatively insignificant
results of this important conference were no doubt largely due to
the jealous manner in which the powers of the delegates were re-
stricted. Brilliant as were the speeches, and dignified as was the
discussion, it was purely consultative, though it certainly initiated
some beneficial results. It gave a certain tone of importance to
all the Colonies to be consulted in the affairs of the Empire, which
had hitherto been so self-contained ; and it roused some national
sentiment even in the Victorian- born subjects of the Queen, ac-
customed at all times to regard their own status with a superior
complacency.

Although Mr. Higinbotham had been on the bench for six
years before the resignation of Sir Wm. Stawell elevated him to the
position of Chief Justice, his abstention from active politics had
not diminished the deep interest he took in public affairs, or dulled
the vigour with which he was always ready to champion prescrip-
tive rights. He declined the honour of knighthood, generally
associated with the position he occupied, and more than once he
gave the Ministry some experience of the difficulty of running such
a man in the ordinary official grooves. Early in 1889 Sir Henry
Loch desired leave of absence to visit England, and it became neces-
sary to appoint an Acting Governor. Sir Wm. Stawell had held the
commission of Lieutenant-Governor during his Chief Justiceship.
Before gazetting Mr. Higinbotham to that position, he was sounded
as to his willingness to communicate with the Colonial Office on
matters of domestic policy on the lines hitherto observed. He de-
clined to do so, upon grounds that were subsequently disclosed by
the publication of a voluminous despatch he had addressed to the
Colonial Secretary in February, 1887. In this very important
document he reviewed at great length the character of the instruc-

270 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

tions issued to Governors of Colonies possessing representative
institutions, and condemned them as showing a contemptuous dis-
respect and want of consideration by the Colonial Office towards both
Australian Parliaments and Imperial officers. The home authorities
could not submit to such a rebuff, though subsequent modifications
of the Governor's instructions proved that the arguments of the
Chief Justice had weight in the British Cabinet, and that they had
received favourable consideration, notwithstanding their aggressive
tone. Meanwhile, to avoid the difficulty of having a recalcitrant
Acting Governor, Sir William Eobinson, whose term as Governor of
South Australia was just expiring, was appointed to take charge
during Sir Henry Loch's absence, and public discussion was
averted.

Towards the end of 1887 Mr. Peter Lalor was constrained by
failing health to resign the Speakership. He was suffering from
an incurable malady, and had on several occasions been compelled
to vacate the chair in paroxysms of pain. Despite strong prejudice
at the outset against his fitness for the post, he had by careful
study of Parliamentary law and practice acquitted himself most
creditably, ruling the debates with imperious firmness and admitted
impartiality. There were three candidates for the position, Mr.
M. H. Davies, Mr. Thomas Bent and Mr. Thomas Cooper. The
contest caused much feeling and excitement, but the choice of the
House fell on Mr. Davies by thirty-eight votes to thirty-seven.
He was a young solicitor, who had held a seat in the Gillies
Ministry without office. He had the reputation of being very
wealthy, was prominently connected with a large number of financial
companies, was exceedingly liberal in social and official entertain-
ing, and had, a few months previously, given £10,000 to the public
charities in recognition of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. A knighthood,
which had been refused by his democratic predecessor, was con-
ferred upon him a few years later in respect of his honourable
office.

A recrudescence of the anti-Chinese feeling took place in 1888,
though it is difficult to discover any reason for the zeal with which
it was worked up in Victoria. There had been no increase in
the Chinese population; indeed, as already shown, it had been

THE EEA OF EXTKAVAGANCE 271

annually declining for a quarter of a century. Sir Henry Parkes
initiated the movement in Sydney, and in June he invited Messrs.
Gillies and Deakin to discuss with him there some plan of uniform
restricted legislation. During the month of April there arrived in
Sydney three or four steamers from China, with over 300 passengers.
They were liable to poll tax and other deterrents, but the working
men of Sydney took alarm at this unusual number, and believed
that it was only an advance contingent of a big invasion of the
labour market. On the 4th of May a mass meeting of over 5,000
men, headed by the Mayor, invaded Parliament House, and with
considerable turmoil insisted that the Chinese should not be allowed
to land under any conditions. Sir Henry Parkes was fain to
promise compliance with this demand, and a Bill was hurried through
Parliament to validate the illegality of their anticipatory exclusion.
In his autobiography Sir Henry devotes over twenty pages to vindi-
cating his action in this matter, his contention being that he was
not, as commonly supposed, acting under mob intimidation, but
from the noblest dictates of a patriotic conscience, and a stern
determination to preserve the purity of society in New South Wales.
The Chinese Ambassador in London had sought the intervention
of the Marquis of Salisbury, in his position as Minister of Foreign
Affairs, and that statesman had called for information from Sydney,
with a view to diplomatic action which should stop any further
Chinese emigration to Australia. But the people in Australia de-
clined to wait while they could act on their own initiative, and
with characteristic ignorance they scoffed at the idea of negotiating
with a heathen Emperor. Sir Henry Parkes was greatly annoyed
that the Chinese Ambassador should imagine that by calling the
attention of Lord Salisbury to what the Australians were doing,
he foolishly implied that he regarded them as " school children
who can be called to account by the Prime Minister of England ".
Impertinent as such an inference was felt to be in Sydney, there
were other factors of annoyance. It was decided that if Lord
Salisbury had the interest of the Colonies really at heart, he would
promptly drop everything else in hand, and proceed to let the
Emperor of China know what Australia demanded. Instead of
this he proposed to proceed in the old-world fashion of tedious

272 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

diplomacy, which ill accorded with the demands of the wharf orators
and labour agitators who had taken the matter in hand. Probably
they had been stirred into action by the Government example of
illegality, for during May there were many cases of brutal assaults
on resident Chinamen. One of their mining camps was destroyed
by fire, and in Brisbane a crowd of 200 roughs invaded the Chinese
quarter, wrecked nearly every store and dwelling-place, and severely
maltreated the inhabitants before the police could gather force to
protect them. The restrictive law which Sir Henry Parkes suc-
ceeded in carrying contained all the old clauses relating to poll tax,
limitation of passengers by one ship, and all the penalties. The
new clauses provided a defined area within the cities of Sydney and
Newcastle, or such other places as the Governor might appoint,
where, after the passing of the Act, all Chinamen admitted under
the poll-tax conditions could alone be permitted to reside. They
were prohibited from travelling in the interior without a special
passport, and they were forbidden to engage in mining operations.
After having taken the matter out of the hands of the British
Cabinet, upon the plea of urgency, and having made it appear to
China that the British Minister for Foreign Affairs was unable to
enforce observance of his own treaties, Sir Henry Parkes sought to
bring the other Colonies into line, with a view to eventualities. A
conference was held on 12th June, Mr. Gillies and Mr. Deakin
representing Victoria. It passed resolutions that the restriction of
Chinese immigration could best be secured by Imperial diplomatic
action. When the British Minister pointed out that the high-
handed action already taken in Sydney was a barrier to successful
negotiation, the explanation offered was that it had been necessary
to act precipitately to protect the colonist " from an invasion which
is dreaded because of its results, not only upon the labour market,
but upon the social and moral condition of the people ". At this
time it should be noted there were only 35,000 Chinese in the whole
of Australia, of whom 8,500 were in Victoria, and about 12,000 in
the sparsely inhabited district of the Northern Territory and Queens-
land. Surely this was a small measure of leaven to sap the morals
of 3,250,000 of presumably intelligent people. The conference con-
cluded its deliberations by assuring the British Government that

THE EKA OF EXTEAVAGANCE 273

the treatment of Chinese in Australia had invariably been humane
and considerate. This was going rather too far, and the statement
was vigorously condemned as misleading by some independent mem-
bers of Parliament, and by a portion of the press that could afford
to be outspoken. The rioting and violence in the other Colonies
was not without its effect in Victoria, and under the auspices of the
Trades Hall Council large meetings were held to support exclusion
in the Melbourne Town Hall and at Ballaarat. But there was
happily no repetition of the associated outrages which had disgraced
New South Wales and Queensland. It was at the time of this
excitement that the case of Ah Toy v. Musgrove came before the
Victorian Courts. The complainant was a Chinese passenger from
Hong Kong, who assumed that he had been illegally debarred
from landing in Melbourne by the defendant, who was Collector of
Customs administering the Immigration Act. In the Supreme
Court of Victoria the Chinaman gained his case, four out of the
six judges being in his favour, Chief Justice Higinbotham and Judge
Kerferd dissenting. With commendable moderation, which Sir
Henry Parkes probably despised, the Victorian Government instead
of defying the law decided to appeal to the Privy Council. Mr.
H. J. Wrixon, the Attorney- General, was deputed to go to London
to state the case before that imposing tribunal. The constitutional
question of the right of Australian Governments to exclude foreigners
arriving from a pountry with which Great Britain had reciprocal
treaty obligations was left untouched. The Privy Council decided,
greatly to the satisfaction of Mr. Higinbotham, that the Colonies
had the right to make any regulations they chose for the admission
of aliens, and that in this case those regulations had been con-
travened. They therefore reversed the decision of the Supreme
Court. No appreciable benefit arose from the agitation. It involved
the expenditure of a large sum of money, and elicited the expression
of much intolerant ill-feeling, but the number of Chinese in Victoria
continued as heretofore to decrease, until by the end of the century
it stood at 6,160 immigrants and a few half-castes.

An amendment of the Electoral Act in December, 1888, in-
creased the number of members of the Assembly to ninety-five,
and of the Council to forty-eight. It cannot be said that there

VOL. II. 18

274

A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

were any arguments brought forward in the long discussion of this
matter that justified the change. It increased the cost of the Par-
fiamentary machine, which, with the salaries of Ministers, members
and the official staff soon ran up to £50,000 a year. Large as
this tax was, it was more than doubled by some £60,000 a year
paid to the Government printer for embalming the oratory of Par-
liament hi the confiscating pages of Hansard. Within another
decade the whole community revolted against the waste of time
and money involved in such an unworkable Legislature, and de-
manded its reduction by one-half. It was pointed out that if
representation in the House of Commons was on the same basis,
it would have 3,000 members instead of 670, and its cost, assuming
the equivalent of Victoria's payments, would exceed £1,000,000
sterling yearly.

Early in 1888 Sir Bryan O'Loghlen got back into the Assembly
on the decease of the member for Belfast, who had ousted him.
Mr. James Service, who had just returned from England, was
elected to the Legislative Council in May of this year, as repre-
sentative of the Melbourne province. Strong efforts were made to
induce him to re-enter the Assembly, where it was felt that his
sound views of finance were very urgently required. But his medi-
cal adviser and his personal friends were averse to his undertaking
the strenuous duties which that position involved to a man of his
temperament.

Sir Henry Loch was fortunate in the period of his Governor-
ship, inasmuch as political peace prevailed, an apparent general
prosperity gave cheerfulness to all his surroundings, and brilliancy
to his many social functions. During his recent visit to London,
he had been pressed to accept the position of Governor of Cape
Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa, the Colonial De-
partment having doubtless descried portents of approaching trouble
there that would necessitate the presence of a man of resolution
and experience. Probably his career in that position was redolent
of much difficult negotiation and many anxieties, which under a
loyal sense of duty he regretfully accepted. He left behind him in
Victoria nothing but pleasant memories, and carried with him the
esteem of all with whom he had been associated. His successor

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 275

was the Earl of Hopetoun, the youngest of Victoria's Governors,
for he was only twenty-nine when he landed in Melbourne on the
28th of November, 1889. It is no exaggeration to say that he en-
deared himself to the people from the outset by his unaffected
simplicity, his hearty support of all social public movements, his
generosity, and his manly love of the hunting field and all healthy
outdoor sports. The liberality with which he entertained trenched
largely upon his private fortune, and he maintained the dignity of
the Queen's representative in a style that had not hitherto been
possible to the holders of the office. He visited every part of the
colony, and made himself acquainted with its resources and its de-
velopment. He was known amongst the struggling settlers in the
dry Mallee borders as well as to the freehold pasturalists of the
fertile West, and wherever he went his unstudied geniality and
kindly interest left an impression of the most favourable character.
He touched Victorian shores just on the eve of great trials in store
for the community, and though nothing occurred to involve him in
any difficulty with the Colonial Office, he was a pained spectator of
many troublous events, political, social and commercial.

The year 1890 was an unhappy one for the Gillies Ministry.
It had one success, when in April it floated in London a loan of
£4,000,000 at 3 -J per cent, on very favourable terms. It realised an
average of £101 10s., and applications were received for more than
£13,000,000. This high estimate of Australian credit by the British
investor rather tended to accentuate the existing extravagance, and
was responsible for the reckless proposals of railway extension which
eventually wrecked the Ministry, and materially impaired that credit.
On the 2nd of May Parliament was opened by Lord Hopetoun, and
within a fortnight two motions of want of confidence were launched
against the Ministry, both of which were defeated. The dramatic
surprise of the session was the introduction by Mr. Gillies on 17th
June of a Eailway Bill for the construction of forty-three country
and ten suburban lines, of a total length of 713 miles, roughly
estimated to cost about £8,000,000. This was in addition to fifty-
four country and seven suburban lines already approved by the
Minister of Eailways, and estimated to cost about £6,000,000 more.
And beyond all these there were 2,950 miles of new lines proposed

18*

276 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

by private members, for which the Bailway Department had pre-
pared estimates totalling over £26,000,000. On the 9th of October
an Act was passed appointing a Parliamentary Standing Committee
on railway works, consisting of eight members of the Assembly and
five of the Council, to examine and report upon all lines proposed.
To this body, of which Mr. Bent was elected chairman, the House
referred the consideration of schemes already submitted to it, cover-
ing 4,630 miles of new lines, the estimated cost of which, without
stations or rolling stock, exceeded £41,000,000 ! Members had got
used to big figures by this time, but here was something to give
them pause. Mr. Munro seized the opportunity, and when a few
weeks later the budget statement was submitted he again proposed
a vote of want of confidence, and again failed to find acceptance
for it. The revenue for the year ending 30th June was £8,519,000,
but the expenditure reached the record figures of £9,645,000, and
led to a general demand for present explanation and future restric-
tion. Yet the prodigal generosity of the people's representatives
was manifested in the Assembly by hurriedly voting an increase of
sixpence per day to the labourers on the Victorian railways, thereby
adding £30,000 a year to the railway deficit. And this was done
three weeks before Mr. Gillies submitted his annual statement of
ways and means. Notwithstanding the outcry Mr. Gillies calmly
announced his estimates for the coming year of a revenue of
£9,718,000 and an expenditure of £9,650,000. So far from these
anticipations being realised, the revenue had by the 31st of December
fallen short by over £200,000 of that realised in the corresponding
six months of 1889. The fact is that a system of book-keeping pre-
vailed at the Treasury which would not have been tolerated for an
hour in any commercial enterprise. By mixing up the finances of
the railways, properly a pure business concern, with the general
revenue and expenditure of the colony; by leaving £2,250,000
sterling of trust funds floating about, whence the Treasurer could
freely borrow to make payments which he desired to carry over to
the next financial year ; by the too general use of the recoup system
under which public works were authorised to be paid for out of
future loans — sometimes even out of unrealised profits from prospec-
tive sales of Government property ; and by a singularly vague and

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 277

incomplete statement of loan expenditure, the true position of the
finances was rarely understood either by Parliament, the public or
the press. The state of those finances was vigorously discussed in
the daily papers about the beginning of the year, and Mr. Service,
Mr. Murray Smith and Mr. Langton pointed out the defective
nature of the information given and suggested desirable reform.
But the subject was caviare to the general, and their laudable efforts
awakened little support. To realise the extent of the ignorance on
this subject, it is only necessary to read the debate in the Assembly
on the Gillies budget in August, 1890. It covers more than 120
columns of Hansard filled with the riotous use of undigested figures,
contradictory deductions from the same premises, and the most
opposite opinions as to what really had been done, or was going to
be done. It is possible that in some cases the taxpayer, nurtured in
the belief of general prosperity, was not particularly anxious to know
the real position. Certainly some Ministers were often undesirous
of obtruding it, and a happy-go-lucky impression that it would come
out all right in the end sufficed for the rank and file of the House.
Apart from the question of finance there was growing up in
the Assembly a party antagonistic to Mr. Gillies. It was not an
opposition upon organised party lines, for there was really no
distinct political question dividing the House. It was largely a
vague impression that he had held office long enough and that a
change would be beneficial. He had perhaps become a little im-
perious ; for all that, he was acknowledged to be a fair and courteous
debater, yet the continued nagging at his administration probably
affected his natural suavity. The recognised opposition was led by
Mr. James Munro, an energetic and somewhat voluble Scotchman,
who upon the strength of having successfully managed the largest
building society in Melbourne, having started two or three financial
institutions, and having just returned from England whence he had
attracted a considerable supply of British capital for his companies,
posed as an expert critic of the Treasurer's financial proposals, and
somewhat harassed his official career. Mr. Munro lost no oppor-
tunity of letting it be known that his sympathies were with the
working man, and he had his reward by being able to secure their
vote when he wanted it. Mr. Gillies was believed to have leanings

278 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

towards merchants and capitalists, and he had boldly refused to
start Government relief works for the unemployed, in the face of
his supposed overflowing exchequer. On the 3rd of August a
couple of hundred of the unemployed organised a demonstration at
the Melbourne Wharf, and proceeded to burn the Premier in effigy,
when a squad of police rescued the inanimate counterfeit and dis-
persed the mob.

The want of employment in the winter of 1890 was largely
due to conditions more particularly dealt with in the next chapter.
Owing to numerous insolvencies of speculative builders, a cessation
of work in the trades connected therewith had thrown many hun-
dreds of mechanics idle. The construction of the tramways, which
had employed a very large body of men for some years, had recently
been completed, and several projected suburban railway works had
been deferred owing to hostility in Parliament. The fact of scarcity
of employment had, however, nothing to do with the initiation of
the great maritime strike which brought desolation into so many
homes in August, September and October, 1890. It was not initi-
ated to escape from hard, grinding poverty, such as had driven the
half-starved labourers in the London Docks into fierce revolt the
year before. On the contrary, the men who struck work on this oc-
casion were, as a rule, well paid, well treated and prosperous. Large
numbers of them were depositors in savings banks, shareholders in
building societies, freeholders of their own residences or other pro-
perties. By legitimate combination in trade unions, they had rightly
won many privileges not yet attained by their equals in Great Britain
or America. Eight hours as a day's labour was practically the law
of the land, and from 8s. to 15s. a day, according to the character
of the work, was a recognised wage, which any competent man
could command. Indeed, during the Exhibition year, when two
masters were running after one man, those figures were often largely
exceeded.

The labour party, though it had in Mr. Trenwith its only repre-
sentative in Parliament, was an important element in social politics.
The wide influence of the various trade unions, and the organisa-
tion which concentrated their power in the Melbourne Trades Hall
Council, was a factor which every politician had to seriously con-

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 279

sider. Many of the Unions were strong financially, most of them
were making progress in that direction, all were animated by a
distinctly marked sense of loyalty to their own class. A man
named Spence, with a special faculty for organisation, had consoli-
dated the bulk of the workers in the mining industry into an
Amalgamated Miners' Association, a vast trade union embracing a
huge number of members. His success inspired him with the desire
to do something of the same kind for the nomadic hordes of shearers
who travel the country from Carpentaria to Mount Gambier during
the season when the wool clip is ripe for reaping. Their occupation
is necessarily intermittent ; the labour while it lasts is severe, but
the pay is good, an expert man commonly earning over £1 per day.
By degrees Mr. Spence succeeded in unifying the interests of this
widespread body of workers and established the Amalgamated
Shearers' Union. When more than half the shearers were in as-
sociation, they began to see what great power they could wield if
the Union could be made universal. Wool must be shorn at certain
seasons, varying somewhat according to locality. A week or two of
undue delay may greatly deteriorate a clip by the introduction of grass
seed into the fleece. Practically the squatter would be at the mercy
of the united shearers and have to submit to their terms, for he
could not delay operations while he sought other labour from
Sydney. The shearers were, as a rule, freehanded boisterous men,
whose mode of life tended to an undisciplined independence, and
they had not much faith in persuasive measures. Therefore, they
were not slow to assume that they could compel all following their
craft to come into the Union and have the country at their mercy.
This was the beginning of the organised campaign against non-
union labour. The struggle was protracted and bitter, disgraced
by intimidation, violence, bloodshed, the burning of wool-sheds and
other wanton destruction of property. The Union being well
organised and well in funds, set itself to prevent the employment
of non-union shearers by refusing to work alongside of them ; by
refusing to work for any squatter who employed them ; by forcing
the Carriers' Union to refuse the transport of wool so shorn to mar-
ket ; and eventually by constraining the wharf labourers in Sydney
to refuse to handle for shipments any wool not shorn by union

280 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

labour. The history of this part of the movement scarcely touches
Victoria, but it turned New South Wales and Queensland into a
field of guerilla warfare for two shearing seasons, and it so cowed
the squatters that a large number of them succumbed to the de-
mands of the unionists and refused employment to free labour in
any form. The successes were much paraded, the solidarity of
labour was acclaimed as a noble addition to the list of virtues,
and in labour circles a belief rapidly grew, that if only the Unions
were loyal to each other, they could soon transform the employer
into the suppliant, and themselves into the arbiters of his destiny.
In July, 1890, an incident occurred in Melbourne which kindled
the strike into local activity, but before the movement was well
started, one of the labour leaders incautiously admitted that they
had been preparing for a fight for the last two years by perfecting
their organisation and accumulating funds. The captain of a
coasting steamer called the Corinna had occasion in the course of
business to discharge a fireman named Magan. It chanced that he
was a delegate of the Seamen's Union, and that body complained
to the shipowners that the man had been the victim of persecution
by the chief steward, whose immediate dismissal they demanded.
This was refused, but the Cooks and Stewards' Union took up the
matter on their own account, held a formal inquiry and decided
that the allegation against the chief steward was not sustained.
The Seamen's Union then returned to the charge, with a peremp-
tory demand for the reinstatement of Magan within twenty-four
hours, failing which the entire crew of the steamer would be called
out. Protests from the ship's agents led to some delay, but in a
few weeks the crew of the Corinna, acting under orders, gave
notice, were paid off, and the vessel laid up. The Melbourne
branch of the Seamen's Union then passed a resolution, that no
crew should be shipped for any vessel which the master of the
Corinna might command. By the 18th of August the excitement
connected with this episode was thrown into the shade by a general
strike of the Marine Officers' Association. It had been brought
about by the ordinary causes which led to strikes — a desire to
secure better pay and shorter hours of labour. Noting the success
which association had secured for many labour unions, the marine

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 281

officers sought to strengthen their position by affiliation with the
Trades Hall Council. In view of the average earnings of those
connected with their calling, they certainly had reasonable grounds
for asking for more pay, and in ordinary conditions would doubtless
have secured it. But employers, alarmed by the action of the
Seamen's Union in the Corinna case, decided that before granting
it they must make conditions for their own safety. They pointed
out, fairly enough, that it would be impossible to maintain the
discipline essential to the safety of life and property if marine
officers, placed as they were as the representatives of the owners,
were allied by union with the men serving under them. The
employers admitted that some revision of pay was called for, and
would be favourably entertained, but while they ran the risk of
officers and men combining against them, they could not consider
these demands with any sense of security. They therefore re-
quired as a preliminary the withdrawal of the former from the
labour organisation to which the men under them belonged. The
marine officers professed to see no impropriety in the connection,
firmly refused to withdraw, and on the 16th of August practically all
the members of that association came out, having given twenty-four
hours' notice. There were scores of candidates for their vacated
places, but in the instances where they were accepted seamen
refused to work under what they opprobriously termed " black-
legs," and a block was soon reached. There was nothing for it,
without undue risk of life and limb, but to suspend operations. On
the 18th of August there were no less than twenty-three steamers
lying idle in the Yarra, with the crews paid off, and the strike
fairly begun.

The struggle was no longer in any way connected with the
question of wages. In the case of the shearers "and the seamen
alike it was now an assertion of the dominant rights of unionism,
and a refusal to allow non-unionists any rights at all. The marine
officers knew that there were men outside their Union capable of
filling their places, and a minority favoured the idea of severing the
connection with the Trades Hall, and accepting the promise of the
shipowners to favourably review the question of pay. But the
Trades Hall Council, counting the number of union chickens

282 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

gathered under its wings, was unduly inflated with its anticipated
powers. It denounced the request for the officers' withdrawal as
an insult aimed at the Council, and pledged itself that if the
marine officers remained affiliated all the Unions would support
them to their last shilling and would teach the shipowners a lesson
as to what labour could do when true to its own cause. Thus all
round the contest became a question between union and non-union
labour. The Council forthwith issued a manifesto setting forth their
views of the dispute, and appointed a Committee of Finance and
Control to take charge of the fighting operations. Upon this com-
mittee devolved the serious responsibility of providing for the
temporary maintenance of the men whom they had called out,
numbering about 2,500, on the 20th of August.

Two important factors contributed to failure. One was the
large number of the unemployed previous to the strike, who were
now clamorous to get work and daily bread, even at the risk of
personal violence offered to them by those whom they displaced.
The other was the passivity of the strongest and wealthiest of the
labour Unions, the Institute of Marine Engineers, who refused to
come out when urgently pressed by the committee. Generally all
the other minor associations threw in their lot with the strikers, and
the Seamen's, Cooks and Stewards', Stevedores', Carters' and Wharf
Labourers' Unions refused to allow their members to work. The
revolt of the last-named body prevented the discharge of coal-laden
ships in Melbourne, and the railways, the gas-works, and numerous
factories were faced with the prospect of having to cease operations
in a few days. The picture of Melbourne plunged in darkness,
with thousands of workless men roaming about, bent on preventing,
by violence if necessary, any penniless worker taking up the labour
they had abandoned, seriously alarmed the citizens. With much
difficulty, and in face of attempted violence, the officers of the Gas
Company had succeeded in securing the discharge of a cargo of coal
at their wharf by free labour ; but when it reached the retorts, the
gas stokers refused to touch it, and by direction of their Union walked
out. A number of free labourers were smuggled into the gas-works
to ensure a limited supply of light for the city, but a howling mob
surrounding the building was so threatening in language and de-

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 283

meanour that the temporary workers had for their own protection
to be housed and fed on the premises. In spite of all efforts the
supply of gas could not be kept up, and on 28th August the city was
in darkness all night. Public indignation stirred the Government
to action on the following day for the preservation of the peace.
Many men seeking employment at the gas-works had been driven
back, ducked in water troughs, and otherwise maltreated.

The strikers had arranged to hold a mass meeting on Sunday,
23rd August, in Flinders Park, adjoining the city, and as it was
probable in the exciting conditions that such a meeting might, even
unintentionally, degenerate into a riot, the Government called in
all the police that could be spared from the country districts, where
the feeling was almost unanimously against the strikers. They
further quartered 200 of the Mounted Eifles in the Metropolis, and
arranged for various volunteer corps to be ready in barracks if
required. The Mayor called upon citizens to enrol themselves as
special constables, and within a few days quite 2,000 had been sworn
in. Finally, the Premier caused a proclamation by the Governor
to be placarded throughout the city and suburbs, setting forth the
provisions of the Unlawful Assembly Act, and calling upon all people
to assist in protecting those pursuing their lawful calling from out-
rage and molestation.

The mass meeting was largely attended. The Committee of
Finance and Control stated in their report that there were 60,000
people present. Mr. Trenwith, a member of that body, when
formulating in the Assembly a charge against the Government of
having attempted to overawe free discussion by a display of military
force, assessed the number at 100,000. Probably half that num-
ber would be nearer the mark, for even that would mean one-fourth
of the adult population of the city and suburbs. No one man could
address such an audience, and though the authorised speakers were
fairly moderate in their tone, there were several orators of what
became known as the " Yarra Bank " type, whose denunciation of
employers and capital were suggestive of the Commune and the days
of the Terror. This braggadocio fustian failed, however, to kindle any
riotous demonstration, and the handful of police actually present
were not called upon to interfere. Probably half the gathering was

284 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

drawn there by curiosity, and as their interest was not intense, a
squall of rain very materially reduced the numbers before the pro-
gramme was finished. Amongst the speakers at this meeting was
Mr. H. H. Champion, an English labour leader, who had taken a
prominent part in the London Dock strike of the previous year. He
adopted so temperate a tone, and so strongly dissuaded the meeting
from attempting to coerce non-union workers, that a revulsion of
feeling set in against him, and he was charged with being an emissary
of the capitalists. A few days later he published an able review
of the position, and urged the strikers to surrender some of their
claims to avoid a certain and ignominious defeat. The accuracy of
his forecast was proved by results, but in the meantime the committee
broke with him entirely, and bitterly denounced him as an employers'
spy who had come into their counsels under false pretences.

Having rejected the idea of compromise, an Intercolonial Labour
Conference was called, which sat in Sydney for three weeks,
and proceeded to take desperate steps to bring matters to a final
issue. The coal miners at Newcastle were called out, followed by
the men who worked the hydraulic cranes, and all wharf labour,
both there and in Sydney. The Melbourne committee realised that
the stoppage of coal supply, necessitating the closing of many fac-
tories, was not only increasing the crowd of idle men already on
their hands, but was daily reducing the number of workers upon
whom they could levy for strike pay to support them. They sent
emissaries to Newcastle to charter a coal steamer to keep business
going, but the miners were suspicious and declined to resume opera-
tions, though assured that the vessel would be run on strict union
lines. Finally, as a last effort to terrorise the community, the Inter-
colonial Conference decided to aim a final blow at Australia's main
industry, and on the 24th of September they ordered all the shearers
throughout the country to cease work. This was their trump card,
but it proved their undoing. The pastoralists, who had weakly tried
to conciliate the Unions by submitting to their dictation, now found
themselves thrown over at the most critical period of the year ; while
their neighbours, who had at great cost and personal risk fought the
fight of free labour, were enabled to get their wool cut and baled, at
any rate, even if they were blocked in sending it away. Within a

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 285

week the conference realised the fatuity of the step they had taken,
and on the 1st of October telegrams were speeding all over the country
ordering the shearers back to work. After this it was a case of
sauve qui peut. The Melbourne stevedores resumed labour on the
llth of October, and kindred associations followed suit in rapid suc-
cession. The men were not always able to secure equally good
terms to those prevailing before the strike. In some trades the
competition of the unemployed brought down wages, while many
employers, before risking their capital by beginning operations afresh,
enforced legal agreements, and made conditions for their own safety,
which the workers in some cases declared to be very hard. Cargoes
of coal were being delivered in Sydney from Japan, others were
known to be on the way out from England. The Newcastle miners
having by their loyalty to the Intercolonial Labour Conference
brought disaster upon the trade of their port, which it took ten
years to recover, held counsel together, and with bitter denunciations
of the agitators who had led them astray resumed their work before
the end of the month.

Both in Queensland and New South Wales, where funds were
exhausted and an army of unemployed were recruiting the ranks of
free labour, there were many urgent appeals to declare the strike
''off". But the Committee of Finance and Control in Melbourne
had still a little money left, and they were hopeful that Sir Bryan
O'Loghlen's attempt to induce Parliamentary intervention might
yet succeed. So, to save their face — as the Chinese express it — they
turned a deaf ear to the suggestions from the other Colonies and
waited events. Then suddenly came the cruelest shock of all, in
an intimation from the marine officers that they had made their
peace with the shipowners and had agreed to withdraw their affilia-
tion with the Trades Hall Council. It was recognised as final, for
nothing remained worth pretending to fight for. The entire organ-
isations of associated labour throughout Australia had plunged the
country in turmoil, had precipitated serious business disasters, and
had individually suffered loss and privation to keep a body of men in
their association, only to receive in the end a polite intimation that
the body in question had withdrawn from that privilege rather than
" remain any longer the only stumbling-block in the way of a peace-

286 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ful settlement of the dispute now existing ". Seldom, indeed, has
the result of so costly an issue been wrapped up in tamer phraseology.

The official report of the great maritime strike issued in 1891
by the Trades Hall Council places the case for the strikers in the
most favourable light possible. As might be expected it is laudatory
in the highest degree of the conduct and the aims of the men, speci-
ally commending the restraint they put upon themselves under the
indignity of the military preparations for maintaining order. It is
coarsely vituperative in its reference to the attitude of the employers,
although, upon its own showing, that attitude was really one of
passive defence throughout. And it is clamorously abusive of the
Government for its alleged partiality in employing the police to en-
able non-union labour to earn a peaceful living. In spite of reit-
erated declarations by Mr. Gillies, that the action of Government
would be confined to ensuring the observance of law and order,
violent debates arose in Parliament on the question. Mr. Trenwith
got in first with a vigorous attack on the Ministry, when the police
estimates were under consideration on the 2nd of September. On
the 16th of the same month Mr. Service moved the adjournment of
the Legislative Council in order to get an expression of opinion
from that body, that a conference ought to be held between the
employers' and the strikers' respective associations. He deprecated
any attempt at mediation, and sought only to bring the conflicting
bodies together. Nearly every member of the Council spoke on the
subject, but as opinions were about equally divided, the discussion
had no effect. In the Assembly during September repeated efforts
were made to concuss the Government into interference. This
was mainly urged in the interest of the strikers by Sir Bryan O'Logh-
len, Mr. Jas. Munro, Mr. John Woods and others, but the Premier
firmly declined to be drawn. The debates in Parliament evolved
some material available for the construction of a Conciliation and
Arbitration Bill, but they had no effect upon the strike, which died
from progressive decay of financial support, and the discovery by
the Marine Officers' Association that it was strong enough to flout
its nurse and to run alone.

The financial injury inflicted by this revolt during its three
months' plunging career cannot be estimated. It dislocated trade

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 287

in all directions. The suspension of the coal supply threw scores
of factories idle, seriously restricted railway communication, and
even forced nearly 10,000 men out of work in the far away mines
of Broken Hill. The practical blockade of the port raised the price
of provisions in Melbourne, while in the country the farmer gloomily
saw his perishable products going to waste for want of means of
transport. The ocean mail service was deranged by the boycotting
of the steamers, and desperate efforts were made to ruin men who
sought to victual or coal them. It was estimated that a sum of at
least £2,000,000 was lost in wages by the workers throughout
Australia, and probably the shipping, the mercantile and the farm-
ing interests had to face an equal loss.

The statement of receipts and expenditure issued by the Com-
mittee of Finance and Control, although it could not be persuaded to
balance in an accountant's sense, threw some light on the finances
of labour movements. The Melbourne Committee gathered in
altogether something over £31,000 ; of this £6,500 was cabled from
labour unions in England ; £3,000 was received in public donations ;
about £600 was made by concerts and entertainments, and the re-
mainder was drawn from levies on, or voluntary contributions of,
the various Australian labour unions. The most important of these
were the Amalgamated Miners' Association, £2,500 ; the Shearers'
Union, £1,500 ; the Typographical Society, £1,400 ; and the Boot-
makers' Union, £1,000. Of the total expenditure of the fund thus
raised, the gas stokers took one-fourth to relieve their necessities ;
and together with the wharf labourers, seamen, cooks and stewards,
carters and coal-yard employees absorbed a total of £28,000 ; some-
thing over £1,000 was disbursed in travelling expenses of delegates,
printing, advertising and petty charges ; £500 was wasted in an
abortive attempt to charter a coal steamer in the strikers' interest ;
£700 was the net loss on three months' working of a so-called " Co-
operative Firewood Mill " ; and £200 was lost in trying to make a
brickyard pay on communistic principles. With the exception of
some £70, reported "missing," the remainder went in what the
report described as " indiscriminate relief," as to which the auditors
complained that there was no proper evidence of these disbursements,
totalling about £650.

288 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

The details of the strike as given in the contemporary press are
sad reading. They show that with all the grand advantages enjoyed
by the Victorian working man, in easy finances, limited hours of
labour, abundant leisure and freely provided facilities for study, he
remains almost as ignorant of the unvarying effects of economic
laws as his ancestors were in Britain in the early years of the nine-
teenth century. There is a touch of pathos in the child-like obedience
these men yielded to the decisions of their Unions and the direction
of self-constituted leaders. Persuaded by mendacious declamation
that their liberties as a class were at stake, they impulsively entered
upon a contest which Mr. Champion demonstrated at the outset to
be hopeless ; and they threw away peace of mind, their chances in
life, even their very homes, and brought distress and want to the door
of those they loved, as an acceptable sacrifice to a cause which not
one man in fifty really understood. If the members of that managing
committee had human sympathies, they must have experienced
some depressing hours when they contemplated the ruined homes
that strewed the battle-field of their unsuccessful campaign. One of
them, Mr. Trenwith, became in later years a Minister of the Crown,
and learned by practical experience the unwisdom of the incendiary
talk he indulged in during the crisis of 1890. It must be admitted
that as he gained in moderation so he lost ground in the esteem of
that section of the labour party which confounds true democracy
with impracticable ideas of Socialism, and cultivates a rabid distrust
of capital as necessarily antagonistic to labour.

Concurrently with the collapse of the strike came the downfall
of the Ministry. On the last day of October Mr. Munro again
moved a vote of want of confidence. The Trades Hall influence
was behind him, and its Council passed resolutions calling upon all
members to support the vote and to depose a Ministry that was
alleged to have shown "gross partiality," to have degraded the
military, refused to run union steamers, purchased Japanese coal
and otherwise come short of expectations. The Attorney- General
was away in England fighting the Ah Toy case. When Mr. Gillies
rallied his followers he found himself abandoned at the last moment
by some on whom he had counted, but whose fear of the Lygon
Street Parliament outweighed their loyalty to their leader. The

THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 289

division showed 55 ayes to 35 noes, and on the 5th of November
Mr. Gillies handed over the seals of office to Mr. James Munro,
who had in the interim formed a fairly strong Cabinet. In virtue of
his prominent connection with various financial institutions, Mr.
Munro took charge of the Treasury, and his colleagues in the
Assembly were Mr. Shiels, Attorney-General; Mr. Langridge,
Chief Secretary and Minister of Customs ; Mr. Allan McLean,
Minister of Lands ; Mr. John Gavan Duffy as Postmaster-General ;
and Messrs. Wheeler, Graham and Outtrim in the minor offices.
In the Legislative Council he was fortunate enough to secure the
services of Sir Frederick Sargood (recently knighted) for Minister of
Defence and Mr. J. M. Davies as Minister of Justice, two gentle-
men who enjoyed the fullest confidence of the Chamber in which
they sat. To broaden his foundations Mr. Munro added to his
Cabinet the unusual number of four honorary Ministers, two in
each House. All the Ministers were re-elected, and they got into
recess on 29th December, Parliament not reassembling until 23rd
June, 1891.

The measures passed during that session were chiefly amending
Acts of small public importance, but a very large portion of its time
was taken up by lengthened discussions in committee on the draft
bill of the Commonwealth of Australia. Mr. Munro succeeded
in holding office until February, 1892, when he gladly shook off
his responsibilities to take the position of Agent-General in London,
in succession to Sir Graham Berry, who had just returned to the
colony, and who re-entered Parliament at the general election in
April, 1892. The translation of Mr. Munro, which occurred during
the recess, necessitated the reconstruction of the Ministry, and Mr.
Shiels assumed the leadership as Premier and Treasurer. They lost
the services of their four members in the Council, and Mr. Duffy
resigned the portfolio of Attorney- General with a view to contest
the chair. After the general election the Premier transferred the
duties of Treasurer to Sir Graham Berry and took up those of
Attorney-General. When the new Assembly met in May, 1892,
there was another contest for the Speakership. The names sub-
mitted to the House were Sir H. J. Wrixon, Mr. John Gavan Duffy
and Mr. Thomas Bent, all of whom had seen considerable service
VOL. n. 19

290 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTOKIA

as responsible Ministers. Sir Henry Wrixon was in a minority of
three, and the final choice of the Chamber fell upon Mr. Bent.
The work of the new Ministry had unfortunately to deal largely
with retrenchment in the public expenditure, and increased taxation
to square the national balance-sheet. Hence it was by no means
popular. It had a stormy existence of eleven months, and after
staving off two or three adverse votes, it succumbed at length, and
on the 18th of January, 1893, Mr. J. B. Patterson was called upon
to preside over the destinies of the colony on the eve of the most
critical and dangerous period it had yet^known.

CHAPTEE X.

DAYS OP TRIAL— THE LEAN YEARS THAT CLOSED THE
CENTURY.

THE annals of the final decade of the colony of Victoria open under
gloomy auspices. Throughout the whole continent of Australia
confidence in business prospects had been rudely shaken. Men
who by industry and capacity had achieved a deserved success in
their calling realised with alarm how combinations of labour, cap-
tained by those who had every chance of gain by agitation, and
nothing to lose by defeat, could wreck the most carefully planned
enterprise. Capital, where it could be disentangled from industrial
use, was being gathered into portable form ready for flight, though
the time was sadly inopportune for such a movement. The company
promoter, with his insidious wiles and brazen mendacity, lurked in
every office and store, and he was too often successful in protecting
that capital from the assaults of the strikers by simply conducting
it into the fathomless sea of liquidation. And while the capitalist
was frightened, the masses, with the sacrifice of some millions of
rejected wages, were beginning to feel the unwonted pinch of poverty,
and were sullenly resentful alike against their unsuccessful leaders
and the employers who had paid so heavily for their victory. Not
alone at the door of the labourer's dwelling, however, did chill penury
sit down.

By the beginning of 1891 a financial spectre began to haunt a
large section of the community ; to fill the days of the land specu-
lator and share jobber with a depressing dread of the Insolvent
Court; to diminish the expenditure everywhere, and hence to so
attenuate the profits of the retail trader that he in turn had to
succumb. The unwonted sight of scores of shops to let in the
best business streets of the Metropolis must have convinced the

most thoughtless that there was something serious in the position.

291 19*

292 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

It was a common belief in Melbourne that the fall from the
inflated prices which had for some time ruled in the real estate
market and on the Stock Exchange was manifested with dramatic
suddenness towards the close of the Exhibition year. Indeed, in
the vernacular of the streets and the columns of the daily papers
the " land boom of 1888 " and the "collapse of the boom in 1888 "
are phrases continually recurring for years afterwards. As a
matter of fact, the seeds of the so-called boom were sown in the
really prosperous years of 1884-85. It had grown with amazing
rapidity under favourable financial conditions, and by 1888 had
really got beyond the control of its originators. But the universally
expressed opinion that it " burst " in 1888 is hardly correct, seeing
that land was sold in Collins Street two years later at the highest
price ever paid. It is true that the first severe shock to the infla-
tion of credit was experienced in that year by the insolvency in
rapid succession of three notorious land speculators, whose aggre-
gate liabilities were returned at over £1,100,000. The revelation
of unsoundness which the schedules of these insolvents displayed
produced an immediate effect. The associated banks raised their
deposit rates from 4 per cent, to 5 per cent., and let it be generally
known that they were not prepared to make any further advances
on real estate. Had they been able to command the market, a
speedy liquidation of all speculative operations in land must have
ensued, and in such case the wreckage, though it might have
depleted some reserve funds, would have been transient and com-
paratively harmless. Unfortunately, a door remained open. The
newly established land banks, building societies, and hybrid finance
and investment companies took themselves off to London, opened
offices or appointed agents throughout Great Britain, and raked in
many millions sterling to keep the ball rolling until " better times "
for selling should arrive.

It is necessary to go back some years to trace the origin of a
condition of affairs which culminated in such widespread disaster.
They may be summarised under the heads of —

1. Eeckless and quite unwarranted borrowing.

2. The undue multiplication of credit-making institutions.

3. An unprecedented outbreak of the gambling spirit and the

DAYS OF TRIAL 293

heedlessness with which financial obligations were under-
taken and ignored.

4. An all round depreciation in the market value of the colony's
staple products — wool, wheat and metals.

These factors were patent, and on the surface, but there was
yet another of a more insidious character, the influence of which
was not so generally admitted. It was the restriction which the
real productive interests of the colony suffered by the transfer of
labour and energy to artificial industries bolstered by a misleading
fiscal system. The staple industries in full swing, and the produce
of the mines fully manned, would at least provide exportable pro-
ducts to materially help in adjusting the balance of trade ; but the
factories which were propped by the State gave no assistance in
that quarter. In nearly every case they were inadequate to local
consumption. Their chief recommendation was that they gave
employment to a- number of people of both sexes at a higher rate of
wages than they could have earned in England. These conditions
precluded competition in the world's markets, and the result is that
despite the millions which the Victorian taxpayer has had to pay,
no industry genuinely beneficial to mankind has been founded in
the colony. In the eagerness, however, to make the experiment, an
overcrowded Metropolis has developed much frowsy expansion,
"hands" have multiplied out of proportion to their surroundings,
and the sunny plains of the interior wear an aspect of neglect and
desertion that invariably attracts the attention of all visitors to the
colony.

The breakdown in credit was felt throughout all the Colonies,
but it was severest in Victoria, and it is only with institutions hav-
ing then colonial headquarters there that this record professes to
deal. South Australia had passed through a severe ordeal a few
years earlier, resulting in the liquidation of two out of her four
local banks. New Zealand and Tasmania had suffered under a
kindred experience. New South Wales led the van in the suspen-
sion of numerous land banking companies and building societies
early in 1891, some months before the crisis assumed severity
in Melbourne, but the total amounts involved in that colony were
far less than in Victoria, even after the disasters of 1893.

294 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OP VICTORIA

It would be a fair ground on which to examine the charge of
reckless and unwarranted borrowing if the seven years, 1885-91
inclusive, were made the specific arena. The commencing date
was the last year of the Service coalition Ministry, the third in
succession of political peace and material prosperity. The two
years preceding it and the two that followed were notable for
exceptionally abundant harvests. Though the addition to the popu-
lation in the two preceding years by immigration had been under
20,000, yet in that same period the average deposits in the Victorian
banks of issue increased nearly £5,000,000, while the savings banks
showed a simultaneous rise of £50,000. The large amount of avail-
able credit balances, so far mostly the result of genuine labour,
brought many prospective buyers into the market, and led to a
rapid enhancement in the valuation of houses and land in the
Metropolis and more popular suburbs. This activity in values
received a further stimulus in 1885 by the commencement of the
construction of the tramway lines in Melbourne, not only by
promoting suburban settlement, but also in the meantime by the
housing and feeding of a large number of working men and their
families, attracted by the reputation Melbourne then enjoyed of
furnishing abundant employment.

Thus in adopting 1885 as the starting-point it will be seen that
it approached the high- water mark of a period of business prosperity
which had so far been unforced by any prodigal Government ex-
penditure. Although there was a large amount of dealing in real
estate at advancing prices, the mania had not yet seduced the com-
munity into that fever of riotous speculation which transformed
" Broken Hill " into a synonym for illimitable wealth. As the
year progressed there were portents of a coming change, and the
sanguine were pawning their future to buy for the rise.

Taking 1891 as the closing period is justified by the fact that
during that year the failure of many financial companies both in
Melbourne and Sydney was so manifestly the prelude to a wide-
spread liquidation, that the raising of further capital abroad was
rendered almost impracticable. Indeed, the amount so secured
during 1891 had not been large, for the great Baring crisis at the
end of 1890 had given a sudden check to the prodigal lending of

DAYS OF TKIAL 295

the British capitalist. It is true that in 1892 the Government
floated a loan of £2,000,000 in London, and the Melbourne Board
of Works one for £1,000,000, both at very unfavourable rates ; but
these came at a time when the process of paying the penalty had
commenced in earnest, and they had no part in provoking the
crisis. After these efforts the process of borrowing took an ab-
solute rest for six years.

The amount of borrowed capital imported into Victoria during
the seven years selected for examination is most startling. The
following summary is certainly well within the mark, for it takes
no account of large sums advanced on mortgage by private indivi-
duals and British insurance offices, through the agencies of several
leading firms of solicitors. Nor does it touch the investments
made by hundreds of European visitors who were attracted to
the colony during the flush of its meteoric expansion, and gladly
planted their capital on such an apparently reproductive soil. Mr.
T. A. Coghlan estimates this item alone at £6,000,000, which is
possibly excessive, but the following figures have been carefully
checked : —

The Government borrowings were - £19,500,000

Tramway, Harbour and Fire Brigade Trusts- 2,750,000

Debentures and new capital of Pastoral Com-
panies - - 4,000,000

Debentures and new capital of Property In-
vestment Companies - - 1,500,000

Melbourne and Suburban Municipalities - 1,050,000

Shares issued by Banks and Land Compa-
nies in London - 700,000

Deposits taken in London by Land Banks,

Building Societies, etc. - - 3,500,000

Increase of British deposits in established

Banks - - 5,000,000

£38,000,000

An influx of borrowed capital continuing for seven years, at the
rate of £5,500,000 sterling per annum, plus the legitimate productive
earnings of a country where nearly all were supposed to be working,

296 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

could not but be productive of wide disorganisation in a community
where the male population between the ages of fifteen and sixty-
five numbered only 350,000. This handful of people, presumably
including nearly all the bread-winners, were faced with an added re-
sponsibility in the shape of providing annually upwards of £1,500,000
sterling as interest on their increased indebtedness. Had it been
possible to use the capital profitably this would have been a small
matter, but the manner in which it was used pauperised and de-
moralised the community, and left scarcely any permanent addition
to its productive or manufacturing power.

The Government share of the borrowings was scrambled for in
Parliament, where every member pleaded for more expenditure in
his own electorate. With the exception of a few public buildings
for the dignity of office, a score or so of State schools, a new bridge
over the Yarra at Melbourne, and about £3,000,000 in extension of
water supply, the balance, some £14,000,000, went into the bottom-
less pit of haphazard railway construction to keep company with
other millions of non-interest-earning bonds. The proceeds of the
debentures and other obligations issued by the pastoral companies
were swallowed up in "improvements " which a remorseless drought
rendered valueless in a few years. It is true that the expenditure
of most of these loans was largely outside the colony, but the issues
were chiefly negotiated from Melbourne, and the proceeds came
mainly through the Victorian Custom House. The bonds of the
various property investment companies were melted to purchase
properties at inflated prices, most of which refused to yield a profit
even remotely approximate to the interest with which they were
burdened. The Municipal loans were largely applied to street im-
provements, desirable in themselves, but more legitimately charge-
able to current revenue. In many cases, however, the money was
wasted by a silly competition in the erection of costly and unneces-
sary suburban town halls and municipal offices. To some extent
the city fathers may be excused on the ground that the rateable
valuation of property in Melbourne and the other cities and towns
under the Local Government Act increased from £41,000,000 in
1885 to £91,000,000 in 1891. It was an emphatic endorsement of
the general acceptance of inflated values that the owners were

DAYS OF TRIAL 297

content to allow such an enormous addition to their municipal
taxation. With the cessation of borrowing in 1891 valuations
rapidly receded, and by 1898 they had been officially reduced by
quite one-third from the maximum figures.

The deposits taken by the land-banking, finance-mongering,
mortgage and investment companies were squandered in vain efforts
to keep alive a belief in the profitable activity of the real estate
market ; in paying dividends to shareholders that were never earned ;
and in the maintenance on an extravagant scale of Boards of
Directors, and shoals of well-paid officials. Fully £5,000,000 of
debentures and deposits had eventually to be realised by the British
lender through the medium of official liquidators, and in some
instances the dividend was scandalously small. To the legitimate
borrowings of the Tramway Trust, the Harbour Trust and kindred
bodies no objection could be offered, for they had the ascertained
elements of recuperation within themselves.

It is convenient to adopt the current formula in speaking of the
proceeds of this borrowing as money, though of course no portion
of the millions came out in cash. To a certain extent they increased
the available stock of metallic currency by taking the place of the
export of bullion. During the seven years under consideration the
imports of the colony reached the gigantic figure of £148,000,000
against £94,000,000 of exports. Quite one-fourth of the former
amount represented food and liquor, which found its way into ex-
travagant consumption amongst a community intoxicated with such
apparent abundance. In the same period the ordinary revenue of
the colony exceeded £53,000,000, or nearly £8,000,000 per annum,
all of which was freely spent in addition to the huge loan disburse-
ments. During the year 1887 the total deposits in the Australian
Banks increased by £12,000,000, while their total advances rose by
barely £3,000,000. It was plain to experienced bankers that these
accumulations could not be used with safety. Accordingly, during
this year they successively reduced the interest they allowed from
6 to 5 per cent, and then to 4 per cent. Unfortunately, this added
fuel to the speculative flame, by forcing dissatisfied depositors to
the building societies and land-jobbing companies, generally using
the word " bank " in their title, and which gave from 1 to 2 per

298 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OP VICTORIA

cent, above the current rates for deposits. For by this time the
rage for buying land and building houses for the accommodation of
four times the existing population had fairly set in, and every fresh
deposit received for a year went at once into a form of investment
that, as the event proved, took from ten to fifteen years to realise,
too often even then with a substantial loss. It was the keenness
of this competition that made it difficult for the regular banks to
adhere strictly to the conservative rules of their trade. They had
as a rule refused to have anything to do with speculative operators
for the rise, and now they saw their deposits being transferred to
institutions that used them specially for the encouragement of such
business. Meanwhile, the inflowing capital was starting no new
industries, developing no latent resources from which the banks
might look for legitimate borrowing customers. The market began
to be flooded with bills of exchange arising out of land transactions,
soon exceeding in amount all the genuine commercial paper in the
colony. Many of them bore the names of leading and responsible
citizens, others the endorsements of reputedly substantial guarantee
companies. Gradually but surely much of this paper got into the
bill cases of the banks, and it was when they sought finality in these
obligations that the debacle began to manifest itself.

Having outlined the sources of much of this borrowed capital,
it is desirable to show the evils which resulted from the rapid
creation of such a mass of credit-making institutions. The building
societies claim the first consideration, not so much on account of
the actual loss they entailed as upon the ground that they repre-
sented the perversion of a principle undoubtedly good in itself, into
a system that was mainly responsible for the disastrous inflation of
the eighties. Building societies on the sound terminating principle
had been greatly favoured in the colony from its earliest days. The
thrifty had used them with advantage to secure their own homes,
and the foundations of many fortunes were laid by the early colonists
through their aid. So long as they confined their operations to
receiving and relending the subscriptions of members, they formed
a co-operative fellowship alike creditable and beneficial, invariably
winding up with all-round satisfaction. But when the terminating
societies began to be generally superseded by those on a permanent

DAYS OF TRIAL 299

basis, the nature of their business changed into that of a land
mortgage bank. They competed for deposits at high rates and
promptly invested the money obtained under tables quite out of
harmony with the term of the deposits. In 1885 there were sixty-
two such societies, nearly all in Melbourne, holding amongst them
£2,500,000 of deposits on which they were paying 7 per cent, in-
terest. In 1889 the number had decreased to fifty-four, but the
deposits had increased to close upon £5,000,000. Two years later
(Oct., 1891) the number was further reduced to fifty, several having
gone into liquidation in consequence of "runs" upon them, but
those that kept their doors open at this date still held £4,730,000
of deposits. This steady growth of borrowed resources had deflected
the business from its legitimate channels. Borrowers were not
forthcoming in sufficient number, so the societies started a fatuous
competition with each other by buying land and erecting houses in
dense groups, hoping to sell them under their extended tables. By
the beginning of 1891 upwards of 3,000 houses in Melbourne and
suburbs stood gaping for tenants, and the building societies, in
addition to owning the larger portion of them, found themselves
in possession of sufficient vacant allotments for the erection of
10,000 more of these cottage homes which no one wanted, while
the bare land in its minute subdivisions was practically valueless.
And while no man came to buy their wares, the depositors began
to demand their money back. There was reasonable ground for
the distrust they evinced. The first shock which the thrifty re-
ceived was the suspension of the Premier Permanent Building
Society, which had added to its title the words " Savings Bank,"
and under that attractive name had gathered in over £600,000 of
deposits. As a result of an official investigation it was announced
that all its paid capital was lost, and that the prospect of a dividend
for the depositors was both small and remote. A score of kindred
societies began immediately to feel the effects of the public distrust
which these revelations evoked. For the business of the failed
institution had been managed by a member of Parliament, who
had by his much speaking in the House on fiscal questions been
regarded as a special financial authority. Furthermore, two of his
fellow-committeemen were members of the Ministry of the day, a

300 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

position which presupposes wisdom. An additional cause of alarm
was the discovery about this time that another society had been
robbed by its secretary of an amount actually exceeding its entire
paid capital, without the committee of management or the auditors
knowing that anything was wrong. In these circumstances it is
not surprising that before the end of 1891 a steady deposit drain
had set in, and fully a dozen societies had to suspend and negotiate
with their creditors. There were other conditions that made for
trouble, apart from the want of confidence. The sudden and ab-
solute cessation of building operations in Melbourne, the practical
completion of the tramway construction works, and the blow
given to private enterprise by the great strike had thrown vast
numbers out of work and stopped the circulation of the wages fund.
The result told with double force upon the building societies, in the
inability of borrowers to keep up their payments, and the necessities
of others which compelled them to withdraw their savings. Many
of the societies had what would be considered good assets in normal
times, but in face of a declining population they were waning daily.
Blocks of artisans' dwellings, terraces of medium respectability,
elegant suburban villas, and endless wildernesses of city offices
stood earning nothing, but accumulating rates and taxes and de-
vouring much in the way of repairs and upkeep. Eesidential and
office accommodation had been provided for a city of the size of Glas-
gow, but the growth of population, so confidently predicted in 1888,
could not be coaxed into a reality. So by 1893 all but two or three
of the societies had surrendered to the inevitable. Some passed
quietly out of existence in friendly liquidation, and veiled their losses
from the public gaze. The soundest of them managed to make
terms with their depositors for long extension at a low rate of in-
terest. But they all ceased to do business, except in so far as the
realisation of their assets and the discharge of their liabilities were
concerned. The absolute collapse in values and heavy fall in
rentals involved the sacrifice of over £2,000,000 sterling in share-
holders' capital, but the loss incurred by depositors was limited to
about a dozen societies, and apart from the "Premier " and " South
Melbourne " was comparatively small.

The building societies had been established for legitimate

DAYS OF TRIAL 301

purposes, and while conducted with moderately conservative man-
agement had been helpful and desirable. The same cannot be said
for the swarm of land-jobbing, financial and mortgage agencies and
property investment companies, which, by the misleading use of the
word bank in their titles, made a large haul of borrowed wealth,
and upset all business calculations by their prodigal expenditure of
it. Melbourne in 1887 contained, in addition to the ten banks of
issue associated in the Government business, branches of three
important banks whose headquarters were in other Colonies, and
two local banks that were not members of the Clearing House. At
that date they held amongst them deposits to the amount of
£35,000,000, the whole of which and something more had been
lent out in business advances. In the aggregate these institutions
had behind their local deposits enormous resources in capital, re-
serves, and the command of deposits in London and elsewhere.
Hence there could be no question of their ability to do all that
could be reasonably asked of them to support their customers. It
was not any churlish conservatism of the regular bankers that called
the scores of rashly speculative competitors into existence. It was
the demand which the plungers of the new school of finance made
for institutions that would take all the risk, and ask for no share in
their desperately snatched profits. And the temper of the times
made their creation easy. In 1884 it was not difficult to grasp the
nature and even the respective positions of the financial institutions
of Melbourne. By the middle of 1888 the increase had been so
great in number, the variation in objects and methods so rapid, and
even the changes in name so frequent, that steady business men
trudging in the old grooves were unable to keep definitive know-
ledge of the invaders. During the last-named year there were
quoted on the Melbourne Stock Exchange, under the head of
" Banking and Financial Institutions," no less than twenty-eight
of these outsiders, of which fourteen called themselves "Banks".
Their aggregate subscribed capital was advertised at over £24,000,000,
about £7,000,000 of which was alleged to be paid up. In addition
to these there were twenty-two " Land and Investment Companies "
with something over £1,000,000 sterling paid up. Of the twenty-
eight banking and finance companies only two passed through

302 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the cyclone without suspension, six managed to make terms for
reconstruction or obtained time, and the remaining twenty found
dishonourable graves under the auspices of more or less hostile
liquidators. The twenty-two land and investment companies, many
of which had enticed considerable deposits from the public, all
passed into the limbo of liquidation, leaving behind them little but
bitter memories of wrecked hopes and broken fortunes. It was
under these two divisions in the Stock Exchange that the dealer
in gambling counters found an arena that was even more attractive
than the mining share market. But it must not be supposed that
the figures given above represent anything like finality in the vortex
of speculation that raged in Melbourne. Fully fifty companies that
got on the register failed to secure the dignity of exchange quota-
tions ; but probably quite as much money was lost in the operations
of syndicates, private partnership for land dealings, which were
very numerous in 1887-88. Some of the most cautious and prosper-
ous merchants of the colony were entangled in the gilded devices,
but in nearly every case they were well able to pay for their ex-
perience. There were not half a dozen cases where failure in the
ordinary mercantile sense overtook business houses as a result of the
all-pervading speculation. The same cannot be said of the profes-
sions, for barristers, solicitors and doctors were fairly prominent in
the compositions of the day. Many wholesale houses in various lines
took advantage of the rage for investment to turn their businesses
into limited liability companies, but the public did not hastily rise
to the prospect of profits in legitimate trade. All the breweries
gravitated into this form of investment, and the fevered public found
£2,000,000 of capital, and undertook a liability of an equal amount
in the sure and certain hope that the drinking habits of the people
would produce fat and permanent dividends. Curiously enough a
mania also arose for building so called " Coffee Palaces " on a
gigantic scale, but despite the laudable object in view, the temper-
ance people suffered as acutely when the day of reckoning came as
those who catered for the hard drinker. Needless to say that in
all cases the companies were grossly over-capitalised, and three-
fourths of them proved to the shareholders a crushing liability.
Profuse new issues of capital were made in 1887-88 by nearly

DAYS OF TRIAL 303

all the companies that had got a start. They were rushed by the
public with avidity, at high premiums, and in several oases were
applied for three times over. More than once accommodating pro-
moters promptly increased the nominal capital to meet these unex-
pected demands. This mad business reached its climax by the
middle of 1888. Between the 12th of May and the 14th of June
in that year sixteen land companies, fourteen trading companies,
three coal and copper mining companies and three banks, in all
thirty-six companies, issued their prospectuses, with an aggregate
subscribed capital of £3,750,000, of which £1,550,000 was called up !
In addition new capital was called up within the same period total-
ling £1,160,000, and carrying a further liability of £660,000. In
round figures it meant that apart altogether from the enormous
existing obligations, the public further undertook in one month to
provide £2,700,000 hi cash and to carry a responsibility of quite as
much more in the shape of callable capital. To those who could
afford time to think, and were able to estimate the population, this
must have indicated how widespread and deep-seated was the pre-
vailing aberration.

It is worth calling to mind that these visionary schemes of
wealth took on an air of reality and encouragement from the fact
that instead of evoking condemnation from the colony's chief creditor,
they aroused a responsive echo in Great Britain. "The sweet
simplicity of the 3 per cents." was for a tune overshadowed by the
magnificent returns, said to be so easily obtained in Australia. Not
content with pouring their money like water into the coffers of the
local concerns, the British capitalists yearned to have a venture or
two of their own. In June, 1887, it was cabled that " The Australian
Town and Country Land and Mortgage Company " had been
formed in London with a capital of £1,000,000. A little later " The
London and Australian Trust Company," also with a capital of
£1,000,000, blossomed into being, and captured the Agent-General
of New South Wales for its chairman. Again, in 1889, it was cabled
that a new bank for Australia was in course of promotion, with
£2,000,000 of capital, to which Messrs. Baring Bros, had agreed to
stand as sponsors, if they approved of the Directors. Probably
they were too near a climax in their own affairs to give sufficient

304 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

attention to the scheme, but the announcement served to feed the
flame in the Colonies. In May, 1890, " The Imperial Colonial Fin-
ance and Agency Company," with £1,000,000 of capital, was reported
as floated in London, with the Marquis of Lome as chairman, and
Sir Hercules Eobinson, ex-Governor of New South Wales, Lord
Eustace Cecil, and other distinguished people on its Board. In
October of the same year the prospectus was issued of the " United
Australian Bank," with a proposed capital of £2,000,000, and a
very strong mercantile Board, under the chairmanship of Mr. Arthur
Magniac of Matheson & Co. Australia was not destined to have
the handling of these millions, for two months after the last-named
project was put forward the great financial crisis which brought
down Baring Bros, smote the world's money market and tempor-
arily stayed the hands of the promoter.

When the associated banks made the stand, already referred to,
against speculative land advances, an outburst of feverish activity
in the collection of English deposits set in. The larger building
societies had agents not only in London, but throughout Scotland
and Ireland, and raked in considerable sums. The outside banking
and land mortgage companies which opened offices in London made
no pretence of forming a business directorate. Thus the " Federal
Bank of Australia " secured for its first chairman Sir Henry Barkly,
an ex-Governor of Victoria, and associated with him Sir Andrew
Clarke, Acting Agent-General of the colony. The " Mercantile Bank
of Australia " was presided over by Sir Graham Berry, while Agent-
General in London, and he also figured as a Director of the "Free-
hold Investment and Banking Company " in association with an
ex- manager of one of the leading Australian banks. When all
these three institutions went into liquidation, and the depositors
received exceedingly meagre dividends, they were not without some
grounds for the complaint that they had been cajoled into a sense
of security by such a display of ex-Governors, ex-Premiers, and
distinguished representatives of the colony's business interests.
They were not unmindful that Sir Graham Berry at the time he
was receiving their deposits was pressing on the Imperial Govern-
ment the passage of a Bill to authorise the investment of trust funds
in colonial securities, because of their undoubted character. They

DAYS OF TRIAL 305

almost felt in dealing with men like Sir Graham Berry or Mr. James
Munro, to whom the people of Victoria so confidingly handed over
the control of their Exchequer, that they were getting a kind of
Government guarantee. When the news reached London that Sir
Graham was one of the well-paid liquidators of the Mercantile Bank
while holding the honourable position of Treasurer of the colony,
the indignation was loud and deep, and the national credit suffered
by the inferences the angry depositors drew.

It certainly did look on the surface as if the horde of companies
in their scramble for deposits had entered upon a course of deliberate
deception. Many of them, which were started as land-dealing
companies pure and simple, changed their titles for the purpose of
disguising the business they were doing when it became tainted.
Thus the "Victorian Freehold Bank," a small company promoted
to take over the business of a firm of land agents, became, when it
went to London for deposits, the "British Bank of Australia ". It
even succeeded in floating an offshoot under the all-embracing title
of the "Anglo-Australian Bank," which snared some deposits by
means of balance-sheets so palpably fraudulent as eventually to
land the managing officials in the criminal dock. The " Victoria
Land Company" became the "Victorian Deposit and Mortgage
Bank," and so on through a whole catalogue. Perhaps the most
striking example of this practice of adapting the title to the object
in view was in the case of a company to which special attention was
drawn in a State paper submitted to the British Parliament in
August, 1893. The company, originally called "Henry Arnold &
Co., Limited," was so successful in its land dealings that it not only
distributed large dividends, but increased its capital by the issue of
10,000 new £10 shares at a premium of £7 10s. per share, and they
were over-applied for. To meet its growing importance the name
was changed to the " Melbourne Deposit and Mortgage Bank," but
when it opened a London office to tap the deposit market it became
the "English and Australian Mortgage Bank," under which title it
gathered in £500,000 sterling of the spare cash of the British investor.

The millions of deficiencies shown in the insolvent estates of the
thousands who passed through that Court were not properly de-
scribed as losses. They were largely anticipated but unrealised

VOL. IL 20

306

profits of shameless gambling. They only existed on paper, and as
a rule left their disconcerted owners no worse off than they had
been a few years before. But in the entanglement of this web of
financial intrigue the thrifty were the real sufferers. Hundreds of
families, who took no part in the active land and share jobbing, but
were innocently the providers of the means for it by depositing their
savings at tempting rates of interest, were reduced to penury.
Several distressing suicides occurred, of men who found themselves
hopelessly involved, and lacked courage to face the consequences.
It was to the credulous but honest victim of the company promoter
that the depressing cloud of uncalled capital hung suspended like
the fiat of doom during the last years of the century. It has been
computed that the liabilities for calls in 1891-93 exceeded £10,000,000
sterling. Of course the bulk of this was absolutely irrecoverable.
Something like two-thirds of it disappeared in the Insolvent Court,
in compositions with creditors, or in compulsory liquidation.
Many of the outside institutions worked in conjunction, and
found the money, or rather the credit which represented the
share capital, in each other. One sample will suffice. The Anglo-
Australian Bank in its balance-sheet of August, 1891, stated
shareholders' capital at £110,000. In the criminal prosecution
which followed its suspension, it was proved that the only amount
actually paid up was £37 10s. The remainder of the "capital"
was represented by an overdraft in the British Bank of Australia,
its foster parent, for the amount assumed to be paid for the shares
by an official, who intended to unload them on the public. In the
British Bank itself, the uncalled capital, which stood at £350,000,
produced less than £10,000, all the large holdings of shares being
in the names of insolvent kindred companies or their penniless
nominees. The same method of manufacturing capital was adopted
by the Imperial Banking Company, and a score of others, showing
how fictitious was the security depositors relied on when placing
their money outside the ordinary channels. Another cruel hardship
to the genuine investing shareholder in these institutions can be
best illustrated by a concrete instance. The Freehold Investment
and Banking Company had a subscribed capital of £1,500,000, of
which only £270,000 was paid up. There were 66,000 shares in

DAYS OP TRIAL 307

the company, which stood high in public estimation on account of
the respectable character of its directorate, and the moderation with
which it dealt with its apparent profits. When it suspended in
1892 it transpired that 42,000 shares out of the total were held by
three of the promoters, whose joint liability for calls was £850,000,
a responsibility so far beyond their power to entertain that they
denuded themselves of it through the Court. Over 16,000 more of
the shares were in the names of companies in liquidation or in-
solvent nominees, and the final outcome of the winding up was that
about thirty persons, holding some 5,000 shares, had to bear the full
levy of £22 10s. per share. Had the shareholders all stood on an
equal footing, about £3 or £4 per share would have discharged the
company's liabilities. As it was, a number of small men were ruined,
and the depositors had to face a heavy loss. In dozens of instances
this principle worked, and while creditors saw their supposed se-
curity of uncalled capital melting away, those who had honestly
invested their savings under delusive prospectuses found themselves
crushed by the magnitude of the liability which their reckless co-
partners left them to carry.

The subject is a painful one to dwell on, and the scars which it
inflicted are not yet healed. A brief resumd of the acute stage of
the crisis will, in the light of this elucidation of the methods, be
better understood. In the beginning of 1891 there were, exclusive
of the building societies already dealt with, eighteen Land Banks,
Mortgage Institutions and Property Investment Companies in Mel-
bourne carrying deposits exceeding £8,000,000. They had also
liabilities to their bankers and otherwise of £2,500,000, and their
paid up capital was stated at over £4,000,000. The action of the
associated banks in October, 1888, had resulted in a fall of quite 50
per cent, in the market quotations for the shares hi these companies.
During the two following years there were many turbulent meetings
of shareholders, loud demands for investigation, much disclaiming
of responsibility, and numerous exposures of deceptive financing.
The Law Courts were kept busy with actions for false representations
or for specific performance of contracts. Promoters were mean-
while fiercely denouncing the banks for harshly calling up advances
and precipitating a crisis. The involvements of individuals and

20*

308 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

finance companies were extensive and complicated. Week by week
cases were brought to light of embezzlement, fraud and grave
breaches of trust, some of the latter compromising men of hitherto
unblemished reputation. Shareholders had been anxious for some
time, but the failure of the Premier Building Society was the first
indication that depositors were likely to suffer. When it was followed
early in 1891 by the collapse of nearly a dozen kindred institutions
hi Sydney, the panic assumed serious proportions and soon spread
to Melbourne. In August the British Bank of Australia, the Anglo-
Australian Bank and the Imperial Banking Company passed into
the hands of receivers, and the disclosures of fraud in connection
with their flotation and brief career intensified the prevailing distrust.
At the same time the New Oriental Bank closed its doors, one of
the reasons assigned by the chairman in London being "injudicious
advances made in Melbourne ". Then came the discovery of frauds
to the extent of £250,000 sterling by the officers of the Land
Credit Bank and South Melbourne Building Society which involved
their destruction. During the last quarter of the year six building
societies and four so-called banks joined the ranks of the defeated,
and put out of circulation over £4,000,000 of deposits. So far the
most serious of these suspensions was the Eeal Estate Bank, which
had liabilities in London of over £500,000. Mr. James Munro, the
Premier of the colony, was its foster parent, and his appointment of
himself as Agent-General at this juncture was supposed to be in-
fluenced by a belief that he would be better able to pacify the
English depositors by appearing amongst them in so dignified a
position. A more gloomy year than 1891 had not been experienced
in Melbourne, but there were worse in store.

In February, 1892, the suspension was announced of the Free-
hold Investment and Banking Company, the English and Australian
Mortgage Bank, and the Victorian Mortgage and Deposit Bank,
with deposit liabilities of £2,100,000, more than half of it owing in
Great Britain. A month later the Mercantile Bank of Australia
closed its doors. This was a serious blow to Australian credit, be-
cause through its London office it held over £1,000,000 on deposit,
and had placed 4,500 shares on a London register. These four
institutions had much inter-relation iu the matter of financial support

DAYS OF TRIAL 309

and in the personnel of their management. They were the most
prominent of a group of companies largely controlled by one family
and its immediate connections, and it involved tedious investigation
to follow the complicated entries by which they had supported each
other's credit, until the effort to keep afloat had finally strained that
of the Mercantile Bank to the bursting-point. Within a month two
more Mortgage Banks, both of which had been established many
years, and were apparently doing a legitimate business, were com-
pelled by the drain on their deposits to suspend. So by the middle
of 1892 there were twenty-one financial companies of one kind or
another in suspension, holding deposits to the extent of £11,000,000.
Another aspect of these failures, lightly regarded at the time, but
pregnant with grave trouble for shareholders, was the liability of
£4,600,000 for uncalled capital. From this time the calls began to
be an oppressive item in the finances of hundreds of households.
At nearly all the meetings of this year the tone of the Directors and
Managers was optimistic in the extreme; shareholders generally
expressed confidence in an early resumption of business, and de-
positors in the receipt of their claims in full. At most of the half-
yearly meetings of the regular banks the depression was spoken of
as temporary, though in several cases considerable sums were set
aside out of reserves to provide for anticipated losses, with a con-
fident assurance of their sufficiency.

The year 1892 was prolific in insolvencies. In Melbourne alone
no less than 610 persons effected legal compositions, or passed
through the Court with declared liabilities of £7,800,000, some
notorious dividends being for less than one penny in the £. Beyond
these it was well known that compromises amounting in the aggre-
gate to an enormous sum were effected privately in cases where
both debtor and creditor shunned publicity. Apart from the heavy
losses sustained by the collapse of speculative companies, a serious
diminution of individual incomes followed the general reduction in
banking dividends ; and a heavy fall in the market value of the
colony's chief products, especially in wool, added to the depression
with which the year closed. With the door to further borrowing
apparently closed even against the Government, and with the Trea-
surer's statement that the accrued deficit in the public funds exceeded

310 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

£1,500,000 on the 31st of December, the future seemed blank enough
to stagger the most hopeful.

The year 1893 opened to an attitude of strained expectancy.
Before the first month had passed the Federal Bank of Australia
closed its doors. It was the youngest of the "Associated Banks,"
so called from their being the joint custodians of the public account,
and united in agreement as to rates of interest and exchange. Be-
yond this there was no affiliation, and their respective aims and
policies were often distinctly antagonistic. But the public had been
led by some vague and injudicious announcements, communicated
to the press, to believe that the association covered the mutual
support and assistance of all within the charmed circle. Hence,
when the Federal Bank suspended, and it became known that a
proposal for its liquidation under the guarantee of the other banks
had been refused, the panic was intensified by wild charges of
breach of faith, and by the rude sweeping away of one supposed
line of defence, which the association was credited with having
erected. Since the closing of the Mercantile there had been a steady
drain on the deposits of the Federal. Its antecedents told some-
what against it. In its early stages it was a hybrid cross between
a bank and a building society, and though eventually the businesses
were separated, its position as a bank was impaired by the associa-
tion. Nearly all its Directors were known as prominent speculators
in the property market. Mr. James Munro, ex-Premier, Agent-
General, and founder of the Eeal Estate Bank, had been for some
time its manager, and was believed to be heavily involved with it
by his companies and connections. Its deposits were being with-
drawn as they matured, and by the date of its suspension the drain
had been so complete that after providing for Government balances
and other preferent claims, there was barely £2,000 left in the safes.
A scrutiny of the share list revealed a very poor prospect of calling
up further capital, therefore any satisfactory reconstruction was
hopeless, and liquidation was the only course.

The preliminary report of the liquidators revealed involvements
with defunct companies and insolvent speculators that implied
serious loss to the depositors, and the chronic distrust of the past
six months suddenly became acute. The rivulet of withdrawals,

DAYS OF TRIAL 311

which started with the failure of the Mercantile, swelled into a tor-
rent, which swept an uncounted sum of gold coin into private safes,
and other less dignified hiding-places. There were no means of
combating the widespread distrust. It was known that most of the
local banks had depositors in Great Britain. It was firmly believed
that the losses the English creditors had sustained by the two failed
banks would ensure the withdrawal of their deposits as they matured.
Could the banks call up advances in the Colonies and remit in time
to meet these liabilities, while subject to exceptional local demands ?
It seemed doubtful, but even if they could, such an extensive calling
up, with its attendant forced realisation, must bring about serious
business troubles, and in that case it was as well to have one's re-
sources literally in hand. So reasoned the depositor, and this frame
of mind, widely existing, produced disastrous action during the first
quarter of the year. When the banks closed for the four days of
the Easter holidays there were many to declare that some of them
would not reopen.

Unhappily these anticipations were realised. The Commercial
Bank of Australia, with over a hundred branches throughout the con-
tinent, with 35,000 customers on its books, and with liabilities in its
last balance-sheet exceeding £12,500,000, was sore beset. More than
£1,500,000 sterling had been withdrawn from its deposits in nine
months. It had admittedly strained its resources by injudiciously
assisting some of the financial companies banking with it, to meet
the demands of their panic-stricken depositors. Viewed apart from
the exciting surroundings, this policy from a bank's standpoint was
indefensible ; but, like the rest of the community, prior to the re-
velations of liquidators, the Directors of the bank believed in the
temporary nature of the assistance required by their customers, and
placed too optimistic a valuation on the large uncalled capital of the
companies to whose aid they came.

Now that their own time of trial was upon them, they recalled
the fact that within the previous month a panic "run" on the
Savings Bank had been effectually stopped by a Government an-
nouncement that the State would be responsible for the payment of
all depositors. It was confidence, not coin, that was wanted ; the
run immediately ceased and a reflow of deposits set in. The Com-

312 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

mercial Bank consulted the Government in the persons of the
Premier and the Treasurer, and subsequently at a meeting of the
associated banks, which Mr. G. D. Carter attended, proposed that
it should be placed in a position to publicly notify that it had been
promised the combined financial support of the Government and
the banks to such extent as might be required. The proposition
was too far-reaching to be entertained, but any promise of limited
assistance would only have induced an acute scramble to get in
before the limit was reached. Mr. Carter's proposed alternative
showed how little he had grasped the seriousness of the position.
It was the formation of a temporary fund of £1,800,000, to be raised
by each of the nine banks lending £100,000, and the Government
then drawing upon each of them for a further £100,000, from the
credit balance of the public account in their hands. Had this pro-
posal been accepted, it would, instead of averting the crisis, have
undoubtedly precipitated it, for some of the banks would have had
to part with half their coin to meet this demand, at a time when
all were intent on watching the metallic barometer. In any case it
only meant a temporary postponement, and it was declined. In
the interest of the bank's far-away depositors it was resolved to
suspend further payments, and to submit immediately to its share-
holders and depositors a proposal for reconstruction. This embraced
the calling up of the whole of the subscribed capital, the conversion
of about one-fifth of its entire deposit liabilities into preference shares,
the immediate release of current account balances under £100, and
an extension of time for payment of the remainder, spread over
some years at current rates of interest.

Desperate as was the remedy, and drastic its provisions, the
shareholders and creditors accepted it with generous unanimity.
It was admittedly an infraction of the unwritten law and honour-
able traditions of the English banking system. It was fully open
to the charge of being oppressive and inequitable. But the only
alternative was not to be contemplated. Liquidation meant the
conversion of £12,000,000 of advances into cash. Such a proceeding
would at least need a market, and there was none. Further, as all
the other banks were rigorously restricting advances, it meant ruin
to a large proportion of the Commercial Bank's borrowing customers.

DAYS OF TRIAL 313

It meant the closing of factories, forced realisation of stocks, and
the eviction of hundreds of farmers, unable to transfer their mort-
gages. Important corporations and municipalities would have been
compelled to suspend operations, and there would have been created
a vast crowd of workless, hungry and angry men, thrown out of
employment in all directions.

If the end can have been held to justify the means, the actual
result that followed was certainly not anticipated. The prompt
acquiescence of the creditors of the suspended bank enabled it to
resume business after a very brief interval, and the freedom which
it attained under reconstruction from those immediate demands,
which were still grievously trying other institutions, gave it an un-
locked for preference, and certainly added to the difficulties of its
competitors. The public continued to manifest distrust of the
surviving banks, and believing that reconstruction in some form
would be necessary all round persisted in weakening them by steady
withdrawals. By such action they brought about the realisation of
their predictions.

Within a fortnight of the first suspension the downfall com-
menced, and by the 17th of May the doors had been temporarily
closed of four more Victorian Banks, two English Banks whose
colonial headquarters were in Melbourne, two leading banks in
New South Wales and three in Queensland. Inclusive of the
Commercial, there were thus twelve institutions suspended, having
965 branch establishments all over Australia, and aggregate lia-
bilities exceeding £100,000,000. They all passed through the stage
of reconstruction successfully, some of the schemes slightly varying,
either in inception, or by modifications ordered by the Courts. In
all, however, the main principle was a postponement of current obli-
gations, accompanied generally by the conversion of a portion of
the liabilities into fixed capital in the form of preferent shares or
stock. One only, the City of Melbourne Bank, was unable to survive
the shock, though its scheme was approved by its creditors and
sanctioned by the Court. The revelation of some grave irregularities
on the part of the management led to some proceedings in the
Criminal Court, resulting in disclosures which necessitated its offi-
cial liquidation. It was the smallest of the associated banks, with

314 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

only three branches, but it held £2,750,000 from British depositors,
by whom a considerable loss was sustained.

The ineptitude of the Victorian Ministry was strongly in evidence
during this crisis. They accentuated the panic in its most acute
stage by proclaiming a Moratorium, in the shape of a Bank Holiday
from the 1st to the 5th of May inclusive. The Bank of Australasia,
the Union Bank and the Bank of New South Wales ignored the
proclamation and remained open to meet their liabilities, with a
result that confusion became worse confounded, and Central Mel-
bourne was like a disturbed ant-hill, men running hither and thither
with their money, not knowing in whom to believe. It must have
been very humiliating to the quaking Premier and Treasurer, Sir
James Patterson and Mr. Carter, to see how in the final extremity
Sir George Dibbs arrested the panic in Sydney and restored con-
fidence in the surviving institutions within twenty-four hours. The
Government proclamation issued in Sydney on 16th May made the
notes of the banks in that city, then remaining open, legal tender
throughout the colony for a period of six months. The effect was
to cause a huge expansion of the circulation for a week or two, and
then a gradual settling back into accustomed grooves, without any
excitement. Had the proclamation been made a day earlier it would
have saved the suspension of the Commercial Banking Company of
Sydney. As it was it provided ample means for meeting the drain
on the Bank of New South Wales, and blocked the further disasters
which so strongly threatened. When all arrangements were carried
through, it was found that the banks in process of reconstruction
throughout Australia had called up over £6,000,000 of fresh capital,
of which quite one-half was payable in Melbourne and about one-
fourth in Great Britain. The closing, even temporarily, of so many
banks necessarily threw business everywhere into confusion, but so
much consideration was shown all round that no mercantile disasters
immediately ensued. Some industries that, notwithstanding the
heavy preferences they enjoyed under protection, were really unpro-
fitable had to cease operations when they lost the support of their
bankers. A much more serious matter was the suspension in June
and July of two of the largest pastoral and wool-dealing companies,
with debenture and deposit liabilities in England of over £4,000,000 ;

DAYS OF TRIAL 315

and, what was perhaps even more alarming to the shareholders,
with uncalled capital of £7,000,000. The pastoral interest had
suffered much from bad seasons, and still more by a persistent fall
in the value of wool, which by 1893 had dropped to a price at which
it could only be profitably grown in exceptionally favoured localities.
It was notorious, however, that this year of acute disaster to Australia
was notable for the severe fall which occurred in the value of ordinary
commercial products throughout the whole world ; a fall from
which recovery has been very tedious, and in many cases is still
incomplete.

When a year later the reconstructed banks had got into working
order they had to face a multitude of difficulties. The losses which
the public had sustained enormously diminished their spending
power, and trade generally languished. With this severely curtailed
business, and the impossibility of realising unproductive securities,
some of the banks found that they had undertaken more in the way
of interest than they could perform. During 1895-96 there were
several revisions of the original schemes, and the Courts were kept
busy in deciding delicate questions of contract, in which equity had
occasionally to defer to expediency. On the whole, probably the
best was done for all concerned, and by the exercise of a Spartan
economy the lean years which followed the crisis were lived through
in hope, and with a wholesome avoidance of any new schemes for
capturing Fortune.

The financial aspect of these years of Victoria's trials has perhaps
secured undue space for its consideration, but it was such a marked
factor in the last decade of the century, and so coloured the political
and social movements of the period, that it could not be lightly dealt
with.

The Ministry of which Mr. Shiels was Premier held office in
1892, and the budget statement of his Treasurer, Sir Graham Berry,
revealed how the Customs revenue was diminishing under reduced
imports, partly due to borrowing having been stopped and partly to
the operation of prohibitive duties. The Treasurer had to admit an
accumulated deficit of £1,500,000, with at least another £500,000 at
the debit of the " Land Sales by Auction Fund," representing ex-
penditure incurred in anticipation of the sale of specific lands set

316 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

aside to recoup it, but now unsaleable. He estimated a revenue for
the year of £8,000,000, which was decidedly optimistic, for the actual
receipts were under £7,000,000. To ensure his estimate he pro-
posed an increase in the stamp duties, postal rates and probate
duties, calculated to bring in £290,000. In addition he submitted
a list of increased Custom duties, estimated to produce £625,000.
These latter ranged from 20 to 35 per cent., in case of furniture the
duties were from 35 to 50 per cent. It was quite plain to any busi-
ness man, that in the depressed condition of trade these expectations
were illusory. Indeed, the result showed that on the articles selected
for taxation there was received £600,000 less duty than they pro-
duced in the previous year at lower rates. Sir Graham's ideas were
not based on mercantile knowledge, but on the dominating belief
that the higher he could pile on protective duties, the nearer he
approached prosperity. Only one item in his statement gave general
satisfaction, and that was a promise to abstain from any fresh loans
except for redemption purposes. He was no longer the ready re-
sourceful Berry of former days. His honours and his dignified
London schooling had alienated him from the sympathies of the
masses, who had been wont to roar their approval of his oratory.
His fellow-members openly derided in the House his financial nos-
trums. He had forfeited the confidence of the colony's bankers by
an attempt to tamper with a loan agreement at a critical moment.
It did not add to his popularity that while devising this fresh taxation
he was drawing £1,000 a year as a liquidator of the bank of which
he had been chairman in London. With so unpopular a Treasurer,
who believed increased taxation preferable to retrenchment in ex-
penditure, Mr. Shiels found himself unable to make any headway
towards what the public demanded — the restoration of financial
equilibrium. What with the long-drawn-out debate on the budget,
the tedious revision of the tariff in committee, retrenchments in
Civil Service salaries, and a month spent over railway construction
proposals which mostly came to naught, the session left no work
worthy of permanent record. A very heated controversy arose out
of the Ministry having suspended the Eailway Commissioners on
the 17th of March upon the ground that those gentlemen had re-
fused to co-operate with the Government in a policy of economy.

DAYS OF TRIAL 317

Parliament assumed that there had been faults on both sides, and
the public conscience was satisfied with a compromise by which the
suspension was withdrawn, formal resignations accepted, and sub-
stantial compensations voted to the Commissioners for the loss of
their well-paid office. It is quite possible as alleged that these
officials had become demoralised in the view they took of their duties
during the Gillies -Deakin era of extravagance ; but the surrender of
the principle, which Mr. Service had established, of independent
management of this important source of the colony's revenue courted
disaster. The professional expert may have come far short of what
was expected of him, but the relapse of control into the hands of
astute Parliamentarians accentuated the hopeless muddle and the
growing financial loss.

In addition to these troubles the Premier was oppressed by
numerous cabals and the knowledge that his colleagues, with one
or two exceptions, were regarded as exceptionally feeble, even for a
scratch team. There had been fierce bandying of charges against
the Government for not rushing into the Criminal Courts in pro-
secution of the Directors of failed companies on ex parte statements.
The propriety of Mr. Munro representing the colony in London,
while responsibly connected with so many failed institutions, had
been angrily discussed. A considerable party, desirous of getting rid
of Sir Graham Berry out of local politics, urged the recall of Mr.
Munro, and the return of the Treasurer to his old post. Finally,
Mr. Shiels, who was not of the robust order, found himself unequal
any longer to the strain of office, and wished to resign. When this
became known renewed efforts were made to induce Mr. Service to
transfer his field of action from the Council to the Assembly, and
to lead a fresh coalition. On the plea of advancing age and declining
health, Mr. Service remained obdurate, and the Opposition became
restless. They recognised that if they allowed Mr. Shiels to resign
at the close of the session there might be some sort of reconstruction,
probably with Sir Graham Berry as Premier. So it was decided to
bring matters to a direct issue, and Mr. J. B. Patterson led the assault.
His indictment was decidedly weak, and the complaints he voiced,
avowedly on the score of economy, against the appointment of Dr.
John Madden as Chief Justice and Professor Pearson as Secretary

318 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

to the Agent-General did not impress the House. But the demand
for a change was eager, and he carried his no-confidence motion by
three votes. Mr. Patterson, as Premier, took upon himself the duties
of Chief Secretary and Minister of Eailways. Mr. Godfrey Downes
Carter, though new to Ministerial office, took charge of the Treasury,
and the Law Officers were Sir Bryan O'Loghlen as Attorney-General
and Mr. I. A. Isaacs as Solicitor-General. As a whole the Cabinet was
a somewhat incongruous mixture, comprising Free Traders and Pro-
tectionists, Orangemen and Home Kulers, one-man-one-vote men and
at least two outspoken supporters of the dual vote. Mr. James
Brown Patterson, who was knighted during his Premiership, had
the reputation of being a strong and able man. He had administered
the Eailway Department a dozen years previously with a vigorous
attention to duty that raised up some feeling against him amongst
the workers. His prompt action during the great strike of 1890,
when he was Minister of Public Works, had made him obnoxious
to the labour party. Self-educated and self-helpful, he had passed
through stages of gold digging, farming and cattle dealing, and had
carved his way to the head of the State without any adventitious
aids. He showed something of his strong will by resisting the desire
of a majority of the Cabinet that Graham Berry, who had taken up
the leadership of the Opposition, should be reappointed Agent-
General. Finally, he carried his own purpose into effect by persuad-
ing Mr. Duncan Gillies to accept that post, though that gentleman
had a great reluctance to quit even for a time the local politics in
which he had continuously moved for thirty years. But the stress
and strain of the financial crisis, which reached its acute stage within
three months of Mr. Patterson assuming office, was too much for
him, and his often quoted utterance, " we are all floundering," shows
how the unwonted circumstances and their serious possibilities
caused him to lose his grip of the helm. Unfortunately, he had no
" still strong man " associated with him, or at any rate none conver-
sant with financial affairs. His Treasurer was essentially a man of
many words and few deeds, and although he was a Bank Director,
he lost his head at the critical moment, even more confusedly than
his chief.

The basis of the charge against the Shiels-Berry Ministry had

DAYS OF TRIAL 319

been that they lacked courage to reduce the expenditure. It was
notorious that, while borrowing was possible, Ministers were afraid
to offend the democracy by temporarily suspending public works,
or even unprofitable railway construction. The new Ministers,
while Parliament was yet reverberating with their denunciations of
Mr. Shiels, were equally paralysed when they clambered on to the
Treasury benches. The London capitalist had apparently closed
his doors, but Mr. Carter promptly appealed to the local market
and raised a loan of £750,000 on Treasury bills, just a few days
before the bank suspensions, and with this credit in hand the Govern-
ment at once proceeded with much avoidable expenditure. Yet the
position was truly alarming and demanded drastic action. For the
year ending 30th June, 1893, the public revenue was £6,960,000 ;
the expenditure was £7,990,000, and this huge deficit, augmented
each year up to 1896, brought out by that date an accumulation of
unfunded debt amounting to £2,650,000. Proposals for an income
tax were rejected, and during the twenty-one months of the existence
of the Patterson Ministry the main efforts of his Government were
directed towards retrenchment in the public expenditure. The fall-
ing revenue, however, kept pace with the savings, and the total deficit
continued to accumulate, though the rapidity of its growth was
checked. While unable to restore financial equilibrium, Sir James
Patterson's retrenchment policy reduced the deficit of over £1,000,000
in 1893 to one of £590,000 in 1894. Practically the whole of this
saving was effected in salaries and wages in the Civil Service and
Eailway Department, and it not unreasonably evoked a strong feel-
ing of hostility amongst those who considered themselves unfairly
singled out to pay the penalty of universal extravagance. It came
upon them at a time when hundreds were groaning under the burden
of calls in failed or reconstructed companies, and when most of the
thrifty among the wage-earners were lamenting the locking up of
their savings in unproductive enterprises. No doubt the service
was greatly overmanned and certainly contained a number whose
perfunctory duties were performed at a cost out of all proportion to
their value. But an equitable weeding of the service and readjust-
ment of duties on a business-like footing required not only time, but
a capable and thoroughly independent man, or body of men, which

320 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the Government had been unable to find from the days when Mr.
Service appointed the Civil Service Board down to the present time.
It was an easy matter to strike off a percentage reduction from the
pay of good, bad and indifferent alike, and the result could be quickly
shown. So, like the rain from heaven, the blow descended upon the
just and the unjust alike, because discrimination meant delay, and
the country clamoured for " something being done ".

Fortunately, these trying years of public finance were robbed of
some of their terrors by the bounty of Nature, and the harvests of
1892-93 were abundant. In the same year a forward movement was
shown in the produce of the gold mines, after long years of decrease,
and this encouraging feature happily continued until the close of the
century.

On the 28th of August, 1894, the Patterson Ministry was defeated
by a majority of four, on a want of confidence motion tabled by
Mr. George Turner, who had been Commissioner of Customs and
Solicitor-General in the previous administration. The defeat was
largely due to the unsatisfactory budget proposals of Mr. Carter, the
Treasurer, who, finding that the revenue for the year had fallen
£850,000 short of his estimates, submitted some very unpalatable
forms of increased taxation, chiefly through the Customs. In pro-
posing an income tax, estimated to bring in £250,000 a year, he
adopted quite an apologetic tone, and explained that personally he
thought it desirable to show the English creditors that Victorians
"are in earnest, and are not going on accumulating a deficiency,
without making provision for its payment ". Nevertheless, his
speech seemed to imply that if there was any serious opposition the
Government would not press the proposal. Sir James Patterson
was not a man to take defeat as a matter of course. He managed
to satisfy Lord Hopetoun that the smallness of the majority indi-
cated a snatched vote, and that there was no cohesion or unity of
purpose in the Opposition that would justify him in looking there for
an acceptable administration. The appeal to the country on 20th
September elicited an emphatic denial of these contentions, and a
condemnation of the ministerial policy and supporters. The rout
was almost as complete as in the celebrated Berry campaign against
Service in 1880. Eighteen months before, Sir James Patterson had

DAYS OF TRIAL 321

been hailed everywhere as the man of action who was to awaken the
country from the lethargic spell of Messrs. Shiels and Berry. He
was urged to " do something to restore the finances," but the some-
thing which he had done left him hosts of enemies in the public
service, and when they combined with a public dissatisfied with the
taxation proposals, the end came.

Mr. George Turner, who took charge of the Ship of State in
September, 1894, had a long and honourable tenure of office, far in
excess of any previous Minister except Sir James McCulloch. He
retained an uninterrupted charge of the country's affairs for upwards
of five years, and then, after a displacement of eleven months by the
McLean Ministry, he resumed office in November, 1900, only to
retire when called upon to take his place in the first Commonwealth
Ministry. He was a man of cheerful and equable temperament,
tactful, hard-working and with a strong fund of common-sense. A
solicitor by profession, he had graduated through municipal service
into Parliamentary life, and soon proved himself a welcome addition
to the ranks of those rare silent workers who are satisfied to let their
deeds speak for them. In 1897 he was invited by Mr. Chamberlain,
in company with the other Australian Premiers, to take part in the
unique demonstrations in London which celebrated Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee. In connection with this visit he was made a
K.C.M.G., appointed a Privy Councillor, and received other flattering
distinctions, arising out of the enthusiasm with which at this time
the Colonies were regarded. His Cabinet was a fairly strong one,
having for Attorney-General Mr. I. A. Isaacs, who had been one of
Sir James Patterson's Law Officers, but seceded from that Ministry
on account of a difference with Sir Bryan O'Loghlen on a question
of Government prosecutions in connection with some of the financial
scandals. Sir Henry Cuthbert, a member of the Upper House, was
Solicitor-General, and to another member of the Council, Mr. Wm.
McCulloch, was confided the charge of the Defence Department.
Mr. A. J. Peacock was Chief Secretary ; Mr. E. W. Best, Minister of
Lands ; Mr. John Gavan Duffy, Postmaster-General ; and Mr. H. E.
Williams, Minister of Eailways, the latter having been a member of
the Berry Cabinet in 1880.

At the opening of the sixteenth Victorian Parliament on 4th

VOL. II. 21

322 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTOEIA

October, 1894, Sir Graham Berry was elected Speaker, a judicious
step which greatly conduced to political peace. There were really
no clearly denned party issues, and although a strong Opposition is
necessary to keep a flagging Ministry up to the collar, there seemed
to be no special call for their services just then. Indeed, with Sir
Graham provided for, there was no one on those benches who desired
the responsibilities of power, until the Treasurer had put the finances
straight. And in a very short time opinion solidified throughout the
country that Sir George Turner was the man to do it. Even his
opponents in the press, while deriding his political views and his
apparent submission to the demands of the labour corner, were com-
pelled to admit that he had banished from the Treasury the Micaw-
ber-like attitude of some of his predecessors. It was not a pleasant
office, and it was not work to boast about, as Sir James Patterson
had done. Without any assistance from an improving revenue, but
simply by keeping a strict control of the expenditure and turning a
deaf ear to deputations, he gained his point within three years.
The national balance-sheet on the 30th of June, 1897, showed that
the revenue for the year then closed had exceeded the expenditure
by £61,000. This was the first arrest of the huge deficiencies of
the preceding six years, which had by this time accumulated to a
total of £2,711,000. From that day forward the expenditure again
commenced to rise, but any increase was more than balanced by
a growing revenue. This in turn was largely due to improved
railway earnings, and general activity in business operations in-
fluencing the Customs and stamp duties. In each year to the
date of his retirement the Treasurer managed to show a substan-
tial balance to the good, but he had introduced an income tax in
1894, and it is curious to note that in the last three years of
the century that impost just provided the amount of his declared
surpluses.

The principal legislation of Sir George Turner's Ministry is too
recent to be judged by results. A very important revisal of The
Companies Act, in the light of the base uses to which it had lately
been perverted, was passed in 1896, after long and earnest con-
sideration by a Select Committee. There were many variations,
additions and amendments of The Factories Acts, but all of a ten-

DAYS OF TRIAL 323

tative character, and so far finality has not been reached ; one section
of the community contending that they are destructive of business
enterprise, and another that they fall far short of the desired State
Socialism, which is to render the working man's lot happy and con-
tented. Perhaps the most important measure discussed, apart from
the overwhelming demands on members' time by the Federal move-
ment, was the Land Act of 1898. It adopted, somewhat too late in
the day, the principle of classification, dividing the whole of the unsold
Crown lands into four qualities, ranging down to 10s. per acre for
the poorest, which could be paid for over twenty years at the rate
of 6d. per acre per annum. Certainly if the possession of a piece
of land was the key to prosperity, as was so repeatedly declared,
here was every facility for honest poverty to acquire an estate, in a
country where labourers were in demand at 7s. a day. For those
who could not command even this attenuated capital, there was
provision for perpetual leasing, at a rental varying from li to 24
per cent, on the Government valuation of the land, subject to re-
vision at the end of every ten years. Sale by auction, under certain
conditions, was revived, and finally power was taken for the Govern-
ment to repurchase alienated lands, and cut them up into farms for
the purpose of closer settlement in agricultural districts. Unfor-
tunately, the unsold areas were not very attractive, and, except in
the Mallee districts of the North-west, the provisions of the Act
did not tend to any large increase of settlement.

The real cause of failure to realise expectations was, however, of
more serious bearing. It was to be found in the decreasing popu-
lation of the colony. During the last five years of the century,
although the totals shown by the Statist's returns disclosed a slight
actual increase, it did not amount to one-fourth of the natural increase
by births over deaths. In round figures it meant that from 1895 to
1900 Victoria lost 75,000, mainly able-bodied adults, by emigration,
whose place was taken for census purposes by a rather larger number
of children under the age of five years. This loss of its working
power, and the substitution of dependent consumers, was indeed the
one adverse factor in estimating the future prospects of the colony.
It has unhappily remained so in the opening years of the new State,

and it is chiefly by breaking down the obstacles which have been.

21*

324 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

erected by a selfish and mistaken opposition to immigration that
the full development of Victoria's resources can be looked for.

The first gleam of sunshine penetrating the gloom that had hung
over the colony since 1891 was the restoration of the financial
position in 1897. Concurrently with the satisfactory feeling of living
within one's means, a hopeful tide of improvement set in, which,
aided by the bounties of Nature, restored confidence in the future and
an energetic attack on the present. The harvests of 1895-96 and
1896-97 had been sadly deficient : the supply fell short of local con-
sumption and the community suffered from dear bread. The
summer of 1897-98 was all that could be desired, and a grand harvest
restored all deficiencies and left a substantial surplus for export.
The following season, however, 1898-99, transcended all previous
experience in Victoria, and produced nearly 20,000,000 bushels of
wheat, and other crops in proportion. The value of wheat and butter
exported in 1899 exceeded £3,000,000, and a cheerful optimism
pervaded all classes. There had been two or three years of dis-
astrous drought in New South Wales and Queensland, but so far it
had not seriously affected Victoria, and the havoc it subsequently
wrought amongst her Mallee settlers was unanticipated.

There was little of political interest in those closing years outside
the absorbing topic of Federation. The general election of 1897 was
notable for the efforts made by the extreme radicals and the labour
party to defeat Mr. Gillies, who had just returned to the colony,
Mr. Murray Smith, Mr. Frank Madden and other prominent members
of the constitutional party. In every case they were unsuccessful,
and Sir George Turner, who had put forth a moderate manifesto,
abandoning the radical demand for a State Bank, a land values tax,
and the referendum, was enabled to meet the new Assembly under
far less domination from the Opposition corner. Amongst the pro-
minent men rejected at the polls was Sir Graham Berry. The
emoluments of office enjoyed for so many years had not provided
him with a competence. He had outlived the frothy acclamation of
the masses, and though he was still the "old man eloquent," his
appeal awakened no responsive echo. Soon after Parliament met
some of his old associates urged a Government pension for him.
The Premier prided himself OB having saved the State very large

DAYS OF TRIAL 325

sums by his resistance to pensions and compensations. The un-
happy position of the late Speaker contending with old age, broken
health and poverty touched him, and he brought in a Bill to provide
the required income, by deducting £5 per annum from the salaries
of all members, and £10 from Ministers. The debate on this pro-
posal was lengthened, and evoked some strong expressions of
opinion. Even the Cabinet was equally divided on the question.
The conservative party, including all Berry's former opponents, were
ready enough to contribute their £5, but on the express understand-
ing that they were moved thereto by compassion, not by admiration
of past services, which they contended were exclusively of a party
character. Mr. G. D. Carter suggested that if the alleged number
of Sir Graham Berry's admirers was reliable, the great party which
he was wont to lead could by a subscription of Is. a year each provide
him with every luxury. It remained for the labour party to em-
phasise the objection to putting their hands in their pockets for a
man who had certainly sacrificed many interests to theirs. Mr.
Hancock, the accredited member for the Trades Hall interest, said :
" If this gentleman has performed great services to the State, the
State should recognise those services in a proper way ". It must
have grated harshly on Sir Graham's feelings to find the " if " coming
from such a quarter. The Assembly rejected Sir George Turner's
Bill by forty-four votes to forty-one. Mr. Trenwith, another labour
member, moved that the money be provided from the public revenue,
and this resulted in a considerable changing of sides, but was also
rejected, by forty-five votes to forty-one. Later on, by the tactful
intervention of the Premier, a compromise was effected, and finally
the House authorised the Government to spend £3,100 in purchas-
ing an annuity of £500 a year for the veteran whom the people had
dismissed. It was rather a sordid ending to the career of a man
who had so often successfully appealed to what he was wont to call
" the great heart of the people," and it was not made less so by
the Premier's declaration that provision had been made " to prevent
the money from being taken away from him and to prevent him
from parting with it ".

In March, 1895, Lord Hopetoun took his departure, greatly to
the regret of the whole community. It was an unhappy year, before

326 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

any material recovery had been made from the financial disasters,
Indeed, the whole period of his stay had been marked by anxiety
and depression, and he saw Victoria under a far less favourable
aspect than his immediate predecessor. After a considerable in-
terval, during which his office was filled by Sir John Madden, Lieut.-
Governor and Chief Justice, his successor, Lord Brassey, arrived on
the 25th of October, 1895. He came out from England in his famous
yacht, The Sunbeam, about which much interest had been aroused
by the first Lady Brassey's spirited account of its cruises. He had
an uneventful term of office, and was a witness of the gradual return
to a more prosperous condition of affairs, and to the virtual com-
pletion of the Federal compact, though he left before its final in-
auguration. He sailed away in The Sunbeam on the 13th of January,
1900, and once more Sir John Madden assumed the administration
for a lengthened period. The coming Federation was the absorbing
interest of the last year of the century. Under the glowing antici-
pations which it aroused, local politics ceased to stir much excitement.
Even the temporary defeat which Sir George Turner sustained at
the hands of Mr. McLean, who at the outset had been a member
of his Cabinet, was regarded almost with indifference, as a mere
shuffling of the political cards.

The seventeenth Parliament ran its full term, and was dissolved
on the 18th of October, 1900. A general election followed, and the
new Assembly met on the 13th of November. On the following day
Sir George Turner carried an adverse vote upon the policy of the
McLean Ministry by fifty-one to forty-two. The close of the century
found him once more Premier and Treasurer, calmly awaiting his
call from the arena of State politics to be included in the first
Commonwealth Ministry, the selection of which was unconditionally
in the hands of the Governor-General.

CHAPTEE XI.

THE COMMONWEALTH— RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT.

ON the evening of Monday the 31st of December, 1900, the sun
set for ever on the Colony of Victoria. The morning of the 1st of
January, 1901, dawned on a new year, a new century, and a new
political community. Fifty years had elapsed since the close of
the struggle that freed the Port Phillip district from its dependency
upon New South Wales. That half-century had witnessed many
stirring episodes in the assertion of democratic principles, many
tentative fiscal experiments, and a vast development of organisation
amongst the masses, which threatened to take all the initiative out
of Parliament, and to reduce it to a mere reflex of the popular will.
It had been a period too of keen and petty intercolonial jealousies.
Unprofitable railway tariffs were designed to snatch traffic from
the borders in a spirit of rivalry ; scores of Custom-house officers
prowled upon the frontier; quarrels over riparian rights hindered
beneficent schemes of irrigation ; and a general attitude of standing
on the defensive had given acerbity to many Parliamentary utter-
ances. But now all was to be changed. The piping times of
peace were to replace the days of tariff wars, and all the Colonies,
raised to the dignity of States in a vast Commonwealth of mutual
interest, were to sink every difference, and present only to the
outside world that defensive front they had hitherto shown to one
another.

The first day of the new century was a day to be remembered
in Australia, especially by the younger generation. It was appro-
priately in Sydney, as the capital of the mother-colony, that the
great pageant of the inauguration of the Commonwealth took place,
with a splendour and completeness that was the admiration of
visitors from all parts of the world. In Melbourne, too, with its

327

328 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

daylight dressing of endless banners, its evening efflorescence of
illuminations, and the holiday aspect of its crowded streets, there
were general expressions of satisfied delight at the result achieved.
Salvoes of artillery, the blare of trumpet and the roll of drum —
even the pealing chimes from many church steeples — all seemed to
stimulate the newly awakened feeling of an Australian patriotism.

Great things were prophesied to follow this first act in cement-
ing the bonds of brotherhood. Apart from the elevating influences
on the national character which might be expected to follow the
welding of half a dozen insignificant communities into something
very like real nationhood, there were pledges of reforms which
took less heed of sentiment. Enormous savings were to be effected
in the preposterous expenditure on six separate Gubernatorial and
Parliamentary establishments ; in sweeping away all customs and
other intercolonial barriers ; and in consolidating the formless
mass of State debts into an enticing, but low interest-bearing
Australian consols. Above all, it was fondly believed that the
supreme Parliament would comprise the pick of the wisest and
most statesman-like representatives to be found throughout the
Dominion. Men animated by the highest principles, jealous for
the honour of the high position to which they had been called, and
emancipated alike from the tricky methods of party politics and
the sordid aims of a petty localism. How far these elated hopes
were justified it is for others to discuss ; they pertain not to the
annals of the Colony of Victoria.

When the Federation of the Colonies became an achieved fact,
many claimants arose for the honour of having originated the
idea, of having brought it within the range of practical politics,
or of having given the final touches that ensured success. A
brief r6sum& of the facts, most of them within the recollection
of the present generation, is all that need be attempted here.

The genesis of Federation, however, starts from a much earlier
period. As far back as April, 1849, the British Board of Trade
strongly urged upon the Government that, in dealing with the
then pressing questions of the separation of Port Phillip from
New South Wales, a House of Delegates should be established,
to consist of twenty members elected by the Parliaments of the

THE COMMONWEALTH 329

Australian Colonies, mainly with the object of securing uniformity
in their respective tariffs. It was recommended that this body
should be given entire control of all matters relating to legal
jurisdiction, customs, harbours, shipping, coast-lighting, carriage
of mails, and the formation of roads or railways traversing more
than one colony. It was to be called into action by the Gover-
nor of New South Wales, who in this connection was called
" Governor-General," from time to time as its services might be
required. There was a delightful vagueness about responsibility
and finality in the position of the delegates that was at once
apparent to the experienced politician, and although Lord John
Eussell embodied the conditions in his first Bill, they were so
strongly assailed by Mr. Gladstone that he promptly withdrew
them.

For a while the idea slept, the discovery of gold in Australia
having driven all constitutional questions into the background.
In 1853, when a Select Committee of the Legislative Council of
New South Wales was formulating a new Constitution for that
colony, Mr. Wentworth declared that the establishment of a Gen-
eral Assembly to make laws in relation to intercolonial questions
and to have the control of tariffs and some other matters had
become indispensable and ought no longer to be delayed. The
Committee urged that the Secretary of State should introduce
a Bill into the Imperial Parliament at once, so that the machinery
might run concurrently with the revised Constitution then before
the Commons. Lord John Eussell was polite, and apparently
sympathetic, but he had not forgotten his former rebuff. He
said he thought the time was hardly ripe for Imperial action,
though he declared that the Queen's Government would give the
most serious attention to any federal proposals which might emanate
concurrently from the respective Legislatures. The desire of the
British statesman to avoid provoking jealousies and to ensure
the uniform consent of all the Colonies was a wise one, but the
conditions were far more difficult of fulfilment than he could have
anticipated. For nearly half a century feeble debates, selfish
protests and demands based on the narrowest provincial ideas,
dragged on their tedious course, and Lord John had been dead

330 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

and forgotten for a generation before Australia was able to realise
the apparently simple conditions he had set before them. During
that long period many efforts were made to revive interest in
the question, sometimes by really capable men. But the inertia
of the mass of mediocrity, and the prevalent type of politician
that measured every suggestion of progress by its effect on the
Treasurer's budget, were generally sufficient to turn the current
of their aspirations awry.

In March, 1857, an important association in London, represent-
ing all the leading mercantile interests in the Colonies, addressed
a memorial to the Secretary of State, with a draft " Bill to empower
the Legislatures of the Australian Colonies to form a Federal
Assembly ". It was a very simple piece of proposed legislation
hardly worth disinterring, except for the fact that it so early re-
cognised those jealousies which have since been such a ridiculous
feature in respect to the place where the Federal Parliament should
sit. To avoid the anticipated contention it was suggested that it
should be " perambulatory," and, in mitigation of the same jealousy,
the number of members was proposed at four from each colony
irrespective of area or population. Mr. Labouchere, who was then
Colonial Secretary, was chillingly unresponsive. While promising
to send copies of the memorial and draft Bill to the Governors of
the several Colonies, and to give his consideration to any suggestions
received in reply, he did not disguise the fact that his own mind was
made up. He could not believe that the Colonies would entrust
such large powers to an Assembly so constituted, or consent to be
bound by laws imposing taxation, as in tariff arrangements. Even if
they gave a consent at first, he felt sure it would eventually lead to
discontent and dissension. Therefore, he would not take the respon-
sibility of introducing the Bill, unless his advice from the Colonies
convinced him that there was a reasonable prospect of its working
satisfactorily.

While this correspondence was in progress Mr. Charles Gavan
Duffy took up the cause in Victoria, and early in 1857 he proposed
in the Legislative Assembly the appointment of a Select Committee
to consider the necessity of Federation and the best means of bring-
ing it about. He got an excellent committee, including O'Shanassy,

THE COMMONWEALTH 331

Childers, MoCulloch and Michie. Mr. Duffy was appointed chair-
man, and soon showed his colleagues that he had no idea of being,
like Wentworth, a suppliant to the British Parliament. His
affection for that estate, which he had once temporarily adorned,
was probably not great, and he gave it a gentle kick by declaring
that "a negotiation demanding so much caution and forbearance,
so much foresight and experience, must originate in the mutual
action of the Colonies, and could not safely be relegated to the
Imperial Legislature ". The committee carried resolutions through
the Victorian Parliament, inviting the Legislatures of South Aus-
tralia, New South Wales and Tasmania (Queensland was not yet
born) to select three delegates each to meet three from Victoria,
and in conference to frame a plan of Federation to be afterwards
submitted for approval to their respective Parliaments. To avoid
the dilatoriness characteristic of such bodies, the delegates were
required to interchange their ideas in writing within a month of
their appointment. The preparations were admirable, the results
were nil. South Australia and Tasmania promptly responded and
named their delegates. The Legislative Council of New South
Wales appointed a Select Committee to inquire, and the report it
brought up was strongly in favour of joining hands. But it met
with a cold reception in the Assembly ; partly because Wentworth,
who had made Federation his cause, had many enemies there,
and partly from a petty feeling of resentment at Victoria calling a
conference on a subject which had already been discussed in the
mother-colony. Finally, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved
without having dealt with it. The Victorian committee made a
few half-hearted attempts to revive interest in the matter during
1860, but eventually it dropped out of existence and was forgotten.
Ten years passed away, during which period many ministries
rose and fell in Victoria, but they all found the struggle for
existence too severe to let them meddle with anything that could
be put off. In 1870 a Boyal Commission sat for some time in
Melbourne and brought up a report strongly in favour of Federa-
tion. But Sir James McCulloch was just then getting tired of
colonial politics, and he took himself off to England without
dealing with the recommendations. His successor in office, Mr.

332 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

C. G. Duffy, despite his claim to be the originator of the move-
ment, had too many other things to occupy his mind, and the
supposed aspirations of the people were ignored for another decade.

Then Sir Henry Parkes came once more to the front. He had
attended a meeting in Melbourne as far back as 1867, and spoken
eloquently for union. At an intercolonial conference, which began
in Melbourne, and closed in Sydney in January, 1881, that veteran
statesman submitted the draft of a Bill to establish a Federal
Council which was described as "a mixed body partly legislative
and partly administrative, the forerunner of a more matured
system of Federal Government ". Sir Henry was careful to
declare that the time had not yet come for the construction of
an Australian Federal Parliament. He was satisfied, however,
that what he proposed would lead the colonists in the direction
of Federation, and by accustoming the public to the idea would
lay the foundation for such a form of Government. The limita-
tions with which the proposed Council was hedged round were
so severe as to render it doubtful whether it could be of much
use. When it came to the vote only New South Wales and
Tasmania were satisfied. South Australia gave a qualified assent,
but Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand declined to entertain
it. Many years afterwards, in his autobiography, Sir Henry
Parkes admitted that he had made a mistake in submitting this
Bill, which on maturer consideration he recognised must have
proved abortive on trial. As showing the somewhat indefinite
attitude of this great political leader towards the topic of the
day, it is worthy of note that in October, 1879, Sir Henry con-
tributed a glowing article to The Melbourne Review, in which he
strongly advocated the union into one political state of the three
Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Not
a federation, but unification with one Parliament, the Lower House
to consist of 200 members, the Senate of 100. He waxed eloquent
over the superlative destiny he anticipated for what he proposed to
call "British Australia," but the stolid community did not rise to
the occasion, and the path of glory was missed.

On the 14th of June, 1883, a renewed interest in this question
was aroused by a vigorous speech delivered by Mr. James Service

THE COMMONWEALTH 333

at Albury, at the banquet which celebrated the opening of the
through line to Sydney. The time was opportune. It was then
realised that if the whole of Australia could have spoken with one
voice, there might have been a much more satisfactory outcome of
the New Guinea annexation episode, of the claims to the New
Hebrides and adjacent groups ; and a more determined stand on the
recidiviste question. A few months later Sir Thomas Mcll wraith,
the Premier of Queensland, proposed a convention of delegates to
consider a basis for Federation. Mr. Service, who took the matter
up warmly, offered to act as convener, and on 4th December, 1883,
the conference was held in Sydney. All the Australian Colonies and
Fiji were represented. The delegates of New South Wales were
Mr. Stuart, the Premier ; Mr. Dibbs, the leader of the Opposition ;
and Mr. Dalley, the Attorney- General. Victoria sent three Min-
isters, Messrs. Service, Kerferd and Graham Berry. The sittings
lasted ten days, and resulted in a draft Bill for the establishment of
a Federal Council being approved. The delegates pledged them-
selves to recommend their respective Parliaments to address Her
Majesty, praying that an Imperial statute might be enacted to give
effect to the views embodied in the measure submitted. This
undertaking was not properly carried out. In New South Wales
the Assembly rejected the proposed address to the Queen. New
Zealand would have none of it. South Australia was only half-
hearted. The Imperial Parliament after many delays dealt with
the Bill, and early in 1885 empowered the consenting Colonies to
form the Council. Some months were occupied in getting the
necessary local legislation passed to give effect to the Imperial
statute. Prolonged debate and much apparently aimless opposition
were finally surmounted by the ardour with which Mr. Service took
up the question, and the Federal Council was opened in Hobart on
the 25th of January, 1886.

Only four Colonies signed the muster-roll. Victoria was re-
presented by Mr. Service, the Premier, and Mr. Graham Berry,
Chief Secretary. Queensland by Mr. S. W. Griffith, Premier, and
Mr. Dickson, Treasurer. Tasmania by Mr. Adye Douglas, Premier,
and Mr. Dodds, Attorney-General. Western Australia by Sir James
Lee-Steere, President of the Legislative Council. At the last

334 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

moment greatly to the disappointment of the other delegates, South
Australia decided to stand out. Mr. Service was unanimously
appointed chairman, but it was soon realised that so long as the
Council represented scarcely one-half of the population of Austral-
asia, it could only be a deliberative body practically helpless to
carry out its own decisions. It held half a dozen bi-annual sessions,
and dealt with several matters of intercolonial, and even inter-
national importance, but the expectation of its founders that its
powers would be enlarged in course of time, by natural accretion
and growing sentiment, were not realised. The keen opposition of
New South Wales, and the contempt with which Sir Henry Parkes
derided the Council's claims, gradually alienated public sympathy,
and when the strong personality of Mr. Service ceased to be as-
sociated with its deliberations, its anticipated influence grew more
visionary and it finally succumbed to popular indifference.

Some three years after the first meeting of the Federal Council
Sir Henry Parkes once more intervened. He was stirred to action
by a Report on the Defences of the Colonies recently submitted by
Major-General Edwards, an expert sent by the British War Office
to investigate the position of the local forces. In October, 1889,
Sir Henry wrote to Mr. Gillies, Premier of Victoria, on this defence
question, and suggested a " national convention " for the purpose of
devising an adequate scheme of Federal Government. While he
thus lightly ignored all that had gone before, his correspondent had
a much more lively sense of the weary meetings that had resulted
from previous invitations to talk at large. Therefore, Mr. Gillies
besought Sir Henry to join the Federal Council, and work from that
established basis, enlarging and uplifting it. But the veteran could
hardly stoop to associate himself with an institution he had con-
tinuously denounced as abortive, so he declined, but continued to
press his original application until Mr. Gillies gave way, and the
Federation Conference of 1890 was held in Melbourne on the 6th of
February. It comprised the leading members of the Ministries of
all the Colonies, and the result of its deliberations was a resolution
to recommend to their respective Parliaments the appointment of
a " National Australasian Federation Convention," to be held in
Sydney early in the following year.

THE COMMONWEALTH 335

The six Australian Parliaments were arenas of very lively dis-
cussion for some months afterwards, but in the end they each
selected seven picked men to represent them, in each case including
the head of the Government and some members of his Cabinet.
The forty-two delegates — reinforced by three from New Zealand
who were practically dummies — met in Sydney on the 2nd of
March, 1891, and promptly elected Sir Henry Parkes to rule over
the debates. The official record of the proceedings, which extended
over five weeks, fills a stout folio volume of nearly 700 pages. The
details of the necessary legislation were dealt with by some of the
foremost legal authorities in Australia. Many of the speeches are
worthy of preservation as notable specimens of political oratory,
and, on the whole, the debates showed a firmer grip of the position
than any that had gone before. A vague sentimental abstraction
was being gradually transformed into something with a practical
basis. But with all the ability brought to bear on the question,
and despite the exceedingly able draft of a Commonwealth Con-
stitution Bill by Sir Samuel Griffith, Premier of Queensland, the
labours of the convention were utterly wasted. The draft Bill,
about which congratulatory notices had been cabled from England ,
was actually rejected by the Legislative Assembly of New South
Wales. It struggled through the Victorian Parliament, with some
amendments, but in view of what had happened in Sydney, the
other Colonies had no heart to proceed. Thus a comprehensive
and costly effort was paralysed, and a condition of torpor once more
prevailed.

So far, it would almost appear as if the discussions on this sub-
ject had been of the academic order. They had originated with
prominent politicians like Wentworth, Duffy, Parkes, Griffith,
Service, and other lesser lights, and had all failed at close quarters
on some grounds which, however carefully disguised, were really
the outcome of either personal rivalry or intercolonial jealousy. It
was evident that the only hope of success lay in the direction of
infusing into the discussion the influence of national sentiment.
The population as a whole had displayed but little interest and no
enthusiasm. The few thousands who attended meetings were loud
in cheering abstract ideas of Federation, but the meetings were not

336 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

the spontaneous expression of a demand. They had to be worked
up by the usual political methods. An examination of the nature
of the population of Victoria in 1891 will throw some light on the
position. Of the 1,140,000 persons shown by the census of that
year, close upon 800,000 were of colonial birth, slightly over
300,000 were emigrants from Great Britain, the remainder were
foreigners, of whom only a few hundreds were naturalised. There
had recently grown up in Victoria a widely extended association
of the native-born population, originally formed for mutual benefit
purposes, combined with social and literary cultivation. Though
disclaiming any intention of interfering in party politics, they soon
began naturally to show a preference for the return of native-born
politicians. In the frequent elections to the Legislature they exer-
cised an influence which seemed to threaten the claims of the old
pioneers to public life.

The Australian Natives' Association, as it was called, awakened
amongst its members the hitherto dormant sense of patriotism, and
they came to regard the petty intercolonial jealousies with a scorn-
ful dislike as savouring too much of parochialism. They early lent
their influence to union as against competition, and they largely
provided the national sentiment that was necessary to make it a
success. In 1894 this body organised a meeting at Corowa, a
small town on the Murray, and there it was resolved that Federa-
tion could only be brought about by the people taking up the
question themselves, and not relegating it to the various colonial
Ministries. To this end it was recommended that a convention
should be held of representatives of all the Colonies, not as hitherto
selected by Parliament from among its own members, but elected
by a direct vote of the whole adult male population. Other meet-
ings, organised by the same association, followed, and it soon be-
came apparent that a large section of the population was at length
in real earnest. Mr. G. H. Keid, who had succeeded Sir Henry
Parkes as Premier of New South Wales, was the first to note the
altered feeling, and he took definite action. Taking advantage of
the meeting of the Federal Council in Hobart in February, 1895,
he summoned a conference of all the Australian Premiers to meet
him there. The result was the adoption of a draft Federal Ena-

THE COMMONWEALTH 337

bling Bill, which provided for the holding of yet another Federal
Convention, consisting of ten delegates from each colony, to whom
was to be entrusted the framing of a Federal Constitution Act.
The Enabling Bill was promptly passed by all the Australian Par-
liaments except Queensland, but New Zealand rejected it. The
delegates were elected by each colony voting as one constituency.
The result in Victoria was rather surprising, the extreme radical
party carrying all their nominees to the exclusion of several ad-
mittedly able candidates on the Conservative side. In the other
Colonies there was a fair admixture of both parties. The conven-
tion opened its proceedings in Adelaide in March, 1897, and its
work extended over a whole year, sittings being held in Sydney
and Melbourne. At the latter city the draft Bill for the Federal
Constitution was finally adopted on the 17th of March, 1898. The
lengthened debates and the details of the constitution travel be-
yond the annals of Colonial Victoria. It is only necessary to
record the final steps that brought it into existence. The popular
vote was taken in the consenting Colonies on the 3rd of June, 1898,
and resulted in 214,038 votes being cast for Federation and 106,859
against it. There had unfortunately been inserted a condition that
irrespective of any recorded majority New South Wales was not to be
bound unless at least 80,000 of her own people voted in favour. The
ayes only totalled 71,472, and although the actual majorities were
everywhere very pronounced, it looked as if an impasse had once
more been reached. The scene of contention was mainly confined
to New South Wales and Queensland, the other Colonies declining
to discuss any alterations in a Bill already submitted to the popular
vote and sanctioned by such large majorities. A whole year passed
away in negotiations, and finally New South Wales was coaxed into
the fold by somewhat generous concessions, the principal one being
of a rather sordid character in the form of a pledge that the pro-
posed Federal capital city should be built within her borders. These
alterations necessitated another plebiscite. It was taken in July,
1899 ; New South Wales obtained the statutory number, and the
other Colonies reaffirmed their previous decision with increased
majorities. It is worth recording, however, that even in Victoria,
where the enthusiasm for Federation was certainly highest, fully
VOL. ii. 22

338 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

100,000 electors, quite one-third of the number on the rolls, did
not take the trouble to record their votes. It is true that in Victoria
the majority was so pronounced, 152,600 to 9,800, that the people
may have considered effort unnecessary. Yet it was the first case
in the history of Australia where the people had been directly called
upon to decide a very important step. Eegarding the heavy min-
ority vote in some of the other Colonies, it is only fair to add that
a large number of those who cast it were not opposed to Federation
in the abstract, but dissented from some of the provisions of the
Bill, or from the methods adopted for its promotion. In September
Queensland decided by a small majority to join ; and after the Bill
had passed the Imperial Parliament, Western Australia, to which
colony important fiscal concessions were temporarily made, was
added to the Dominion, and the Commonwealth was formed.
Messrs. Barton, Deakin, Kingston and Sir Philip Fysh went to
London on the invitation of Mr. Chamberlain to assist in the
passage of the necessary Act through the Imperial Parliament.
This was safely accomplished, after a compromise had been arrived
at on the proposal of the Colonies to abolish the right of appeal to
the Privy Council, and the Eoyal assent was given. The appoint-
ment of the Earl of Hopetoun as Governor- General, which shortly
followed, gave universal satisfaction, especially in Victoria, and on
the 1st of January, 1901, the imposing official inauguration of the
Commonwealth took place.

The continuous annals of the Port Phillip district of New South
Wales and the Colony of Victoria cover a period of sixty-five years.
For the first two years, 1835-36, the settlers were unauthorised
squatters on Crown lands, warned off by formal proclamation.
The legalised settlement of the district dates from 1837, the year
when Queen Victoria was called to the British throne. It was in
her honour that the colony was named when it emerged from its
dependent position. It was under her signature that the colony
was elevated to the position of a State in the great Australian
Commonwealth. The pen, inkstand and table which she used on
the occasion of signing this historic document have been trans-
ferred to Australia to be treasured as a memorial of one of the last
official acts of a good Queen. Throughout an eventful epoch-making

THE COMMONWEALTH 339

career, the Colony of Victoria has known but one sovereign ruler,
and it has been an important factor in keeping alive that spirit of
loyalty with which travellers — sometimes in a rather condescending
manner — seem to consider it the proper thing to credit Australians.
Men like Anthony Trollope, Archibald Forbes, J. A. Froude, Michael
Davitt and many other visitors who have dilated upon Australian
characteristics, social and political, are unanimous in crediting the
colonists with a large amount of professed loyalty. Most of them,
however, express the opinion that the sentiment must not be taxed.
They are also fairly well agreed that in due time the bonds of union
will be severed and Australia will take her way alone.

Probably there are few subjects on which there has been more
vague talk than this loyalty of the Australian Colonies. So far as
the sentiment may be expressed in words, it is easy to find it in
scores of addresses to the Throne, to newly arriving or departing
Governors, or to visiting representatives of the Eoyal family.
When it comes to voting funds for a trifling share in the cost of
the fleet that guards its shores and protects its commerce, there is
always a higgling minority ready to repudiate any loyalty that costs
money. Even the Commonwealth Parliament, which was to be
such an exemplar to the local Legislatures, could not escape this
pettiness. When it was recently proposed to validate a naval sub-
sidy, which had been practically promised by the Prime Minister,
a senator had the effrontery to inflict upon the Chamber a speech,
in which he protested against spending one shilling on naval
defences, upon the ground that the whole country was in pawn to
the British capitalist, and it was the duty of the bondholder to
protect his security ! And such talk evoked no indignant reproba-
tion.

Forty years ago, when the bulk of the population of Victoria
was of British origin, the loyal sentiment was strong enough to
resist many undeserved rebuffs which it met with from indifferent
or unsympathetic Secretaries of State. There never was a time
when it could be said that popular feeling was in favour of in-
dependence, " cutting the painter," as it was tersely defined by
the press. Even the celebrated resolutions carried by Mr. Higin-

botham in 1869, when the feeling of irritation against the Home

22*

340 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

Government was at its highest, declared that " it was the desire
that this colony should remain an integral part of the British
Empire," and proclaimed " the exclusive right of Her Majesty and
of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly to make laws
in and for Victoria ". The protest was against British ministers
interfering with the domestic affairs of the colony. As the old
regime died off and their places were filled by a rapidly increasing
proportion of the native-born, the active sense of loyalty naturally
waned. It was partly based on early memories, partly on inborn
patriotism, and partly on a chivalric regard for a sovereign who had
invested her Court with an atmosphere of human interest and social
purity hitherto unknown in such quarters.

The attempt to infuse enthusiasm into the idea of Imperial Fed-
eration, strenuously as it was worked, was an undeniable failure.
While the Australian Natives' Association was distinctly a valuable
aid in bringing about the confederation of the Colonies, it looked
coldly upon the larger project. Indeed, owing to the insurmount-
able objects which had to be faced when it was contemplated
at close quarters, it may be said that it never emerged from the
region of speculative discussion. It certainly never took hold of
the popular imagination. It is not to be inferred from this that
there is any element of disloyalty openly avowed in Australia.
Any man bold enough to deliberately advocate a severance of the
slender thread that binds the Colonies to the mother-country would
find some difficulty in obtaining a hearing. For the community
has enough sense to know that the preponderating advantages are on
the side of the colonists. Although not swayed by the sense of per-
sonal loyalty to the sovereign which animated many of their fathers,
the young Australians, in the main, believe in the Empire and are
proud of being a part of it. Proud, too, of a sort of joint ownership
in the prominent statesmen who have swayed its destinies, and
who have of late years been conspicuously complaisant and com-
plimentary to Australian aspirations and Australia's public men.
So long as this tender consideration is displayed, the few agitators
for breaking the bonds are crying in the wilderness, and sentiment
will prevail.

The sending of a contingent of Australian soldiers in 1884 to

THE COMMONWEALTH 341

assist Great Britain in the conquest of the Soudan was the first
occasion when the Colonies volunteered a loyal service in acknow-
ledgment of the generosity with which the mother-country had
admittedly treated her dependent provinces. It was far from being
a spontaneous outburst of patriotic feeling, for it really emanated
from one man, Mr. W. B. Dalley. Such enthusiasm as it evoked
was largely due to the strong emotion which the fate of General
Gordon had excited in all parts of the Empire. To speak of this
handful of men "going to the assistance of the mother-country in
her hour of peril," as some of the journals of the day phrased it,
bordered on the ludicrous. In a country like Australia, with a
restless, nomadic population, there could, of course, be no difficulty
in recruiting 500 men, who, for three times the pay of the ordinary
British soldier, and the normal love of excitement and adventure,
would be ready for adventure in any part of the world. The senti-
mental impulse of Mr. Dalley, though at first doubtfully received by
the press, and specially denounced by Sir Henry Parkes, soon caught
popular approval, and brought New South Wales to the front with a
rush. Even so unemotional a man as Mr. Service was touched by
it, and though he admitted that if the idea had first occurred to him
he would have put it aside as impracticable, he fully recognised the
value of its effect on European politics. "It is a step," he said,
"that has precipitated Australia in one short week from a geo-
graphical expression into a nation." While the militant spirit was
abroad, the other Colonies, jealous of New South Wales receiving
all the glory of action, cabled their offers of assistance if necessary.
But they were politely declined, with the somewhat discouraging
intimation that the offer of a New South Wales contingent had been
accepted " out of compliment to the Colony ".

Sixteen years passed away without any further call upon the
military ardour of the colonists than the annual Easter encamp-
ment. During this period the general question of the defences of
the Colonies occupied an important place in Parliamentary dis-
cussion, in negotiations with the British Government, and in the
practical training of an abundant and willing raw material. In
the last year of the century a more urgent case arose, when
England, taken by surprise and in a state of criminal unprepared-

342 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ness, was threatened with serious injury to, if not the possible
loss of some of her South African Colonies. There was no talk
of any complimentary acceptance on this occasion. The British
Government invited, and gratefully accepted, the assistance which
all the Colonies competed in proffering. Many thousands of
Australia's stalwart sons eagerly rushed to the front, and at least
as many more deplored the hard fate that barred their acceptance.
A member of the British House of Commons said with ungenerous
bluntness that "the contingents were sometimes merely symptoms
of a desire to combine a sort of authorised filibustering with the
benefits of a camp of instruction ; the outcome as much of the
natural desire of officers and men for adventure and experience,
as of a willingness of the colonial authorities to wash the spears
of the young men of their embryonic armies at the expense in
the main of the British taxpayer ". Such utterances, and there
were many of them, rankled with exceeding bitterness in the
minds of those who had father, brother or son sleeping in untended
graves on the veldt. As a matter of fact, neither the men nor
the authorities were inspired by the mercenary calculations thus
attributed to them. As for the men, not one in a hundred knew
anything of the horrors of war, of the stress and strain of the
hard life he was seeking. Very few of them knew, or cared to
inquire, about the rights or wrongs of the cause they joined. They
yielded to an irrepressible outburst of excited feelings, in which
loyalty, patriotism and a desire for distinction were mixed with
a restless craving for change and adventure, and an escape for
the time being from the dead monotony of life " out back ". It
was a sad year of drought, discouragement, unemployment and
general anxiety throughout Australia, and many volunteered in
the hope of better fortune in another land. And the community
generally encouraged them to go, despite the fact that the country
was languishing for men of pith and enterprise to develop its
resources. Hundreds of young men were allowed to leave the
Civil Service, the banks, and the merchants' offices to go to the
field of action, with a promise that if they survived, their appoint-
ments would be open for resumption on their return. Surely this
indicates a very widespread feeling of loyalty to the cause of the

THE COMMONWEALTH 343

motherland, for the voices that were raised against the prevailing
fervour were almost inarticulate.

It was not the services of the few thousand men that England
needed. It was the practical expression of the sentiment that the
lion's whelps were ready at the slightest call to rally round the
national flag. The whole of the fighting done by the Australian
contingents may have had no appreciable effect on the ultimate
result, which assuredly was never in doubt, but their presence in
the field was a revelation to some European potentates, who had
not been indisposed to offer an indiscreet interference. The pro-
fessed willingness of the Colonies to furnish 50,000 men if need be,
trained and equipped for the field, was a factor that gave pause to
many meddlesome intentions. If this was not loyalty in the old
feudal sense, it was something very much akin to it, and although
it is undesirable to cultivate a spirit of militarism in a country that
is far removed from seats of war, and that needs all its energies for
its industrial development, it is a matter of congratulation that the
"crimson thread" of kinship still binds the colonists in bonds of
love and service to the land from which they sprung.

Eesponsible Parliamentary Government was called into existence
in Victoria in 1855. It was expected to shape the course which
should lead an aspiring democracy through ways of pleasantness
into the soundest and most liberal form of self-government that its
united wisdom could devise. Necessarily much of its work was
experimental, and, largely owing to repeated changes of administra-
tion, was often marred by want of continuity, sometimes by glaring
inconsistency. Every session saw numerous amending Acts passed
to correct hurried legislation, and the bare list of repealed statutes
would fill a stout volume. It was not to be expected that the
foundations of a State, which aimed at theoretical perfection, could
be laid without many mistakes. It is but the barest justice to
admit the ability and the simple-minded interest which were mani-
fested by many of the framers of the charter, the men who gave
their time and their labour cheerfully, without exacting a living
wage for themselves. When politics became a business worth
following for its monetary reward and indirect perquisites, it
attracted a different stamp of men to its service — it largely sub-

344 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ordinated general to specific interests — it turned independent re-
presentatives into class delegates — it even accepted members of
Parliament, who were pledged by written bond to act and vote as
an outside council should direct, and who were also pledged to
contribute to that Council a portion of the emolument they drew from
the State. And with this loss of independence the baleful influence
of outside organisations worked many disasters, and fomented dis-
trust and strife between labour and capital. But poor in capacity
and colourless in character as so large a proportion of the rank and
file of members have been, they have been admittedly free from the
charge of corruption in the ordinary sense of the term. It is a
legitimate boast that during all the process of nation-making, with
untried men and upon untried principles, the number who could be
charged with personally corrupt motives, or official peculation, was
very small, and in all proved cases transgressors were promptly
dealt with by their offended colleagues. Some members who lived
on their £300 a year had been reared in an environment which re-
garded £3,000 a year as emblematic of oppression and unlawful
gains. They ignorantly but honestly believed that it was easier for
the proverbial camel to go through the needle's eye, than for such
a man to do right for the sake of right. They saw men with such
dangerous incomes in the Legislative Council, who were even
making their riches more offensive by refusing to take pay for their
legislative work. When, in the presence of such feelings, the friends
of the Council held it up as a chamber of review, and a check on
hasty party legislation by the paid law-makers, it is easy to see the
basis of the strong antagonism and heated language to which the
business, and even the existence of the Council had been often
subjected in the Assembly.

Much of the experimental legislation was conceived in a hope-
lessly wrong spirit. Incessant tinkering with the land laws was
made necessary by the generous but fallacious intent to put the
poor man who had no capital on the land, to the exclusion of the
man who could afford to pay for it, and to properly work it. It
was commonly supposed that if the State gave a man a piece of
land — which under the conditions of so-called purchase it practically
did — it set his feet on the high road to prosperity. It ignored the

THE COMMONWEALTH 345

faot that raw land is a liability only convertible into an asset by
the labour put into it and the capital expended on it. It is true
that some thousands of selectors benefited by the generosity of
Parliament, and acquired permanent homes and valuable properties
on terms that laid the foundations of fortune. But quite as many
more reaped all these profits and gave the State no return in the
shape of a settled, productive, ratepaying yeomanry. As soon as
their probationary period was completed, they took the handsome
profit which the Government had provided in its eagerness to retain
them, and cleared out to repeat the operation in other Colonies.
Still another, and a very large section struggled on, lacking the
means necessary to command success, burdened with heavy mort-
gages, living from hand to mouth a life of severe toil, but clinging
to the hope that some day a more successful competitor would buy
them out. No one who has travelled much in the agricultural
districts of Victoria can have failed to notice the unprofitable and
make -shift character of the settlement even after a quarter of a
century of occupation.

Victoria has set many object-lessons for the consideration of
the English democracy, experiments of vital import and interest-
ing character which have not yet found acceptance in the old world.
Perhaps the most notable is manhood suffrage. According to a
return submitted to the Legislative Assembly in August, 1898, it
appeared that after making deductions of certain plural votes, the
total number of distinct electors in the colony was 224,198, one-
fifth of the whole population. It comes as a surprise to find that
in Great Britain, with its restricted franchise, one-sixth of the whole
population are registered electors, viz. : 6,891,000 out of 41,748,000,
so that the vast gain to democracy by the first bold step of the
colonists seems to have been over-estimated. Much as manhood
suffrage has been blamed for injurious legislation and partisan
legislators, it was an inevitable corollary of the Constitution. In
a country where there were no wealthy classes in the English
sense, and where a high average standard of comfort engendered
independence, no limitations based on mere wealth would have been
tolerated. But the blunt nakedness of the principle could have
been materially softened in Victoria by allowing a second vote to

346 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

education, or even to prudential thrift or family responsibility. The
most brilliant scholar, the profoundest student of political economy
and history has no recognition in electoral matters. It is true
that up to the last two years of the colony's existence thrift, when
it took the form of real property situated in different electorates,
conferred the possibility of voting for more than one candidate,
but the effect in leavening the mass vote was quite inconsiderable.
And when under pressure from the labour organisations a weak
Ministry bowed to the mandate of " one man one vote," the making
of Parliament and the control of legislation was fairly handed over
to the impetuous, unreflecting and easily-cajoled crowd. The vote
of the Chancellor of the University, for all that he happens to be
also the Chief Justice and Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, is of
no more weight than that of the drunken loafer of the slums who
sponges on his wife's earnings and passes some weeks out of every
year in the lock-up. It is not comforting to reflect that while
there is only one Chancellor, and he represents a distinctly limited
class, there are, and always will be, if statistics are to be relied on,
many thousands of the other type of voters figuring annually in the
police court returns. Probably no acceptable scheme can be devised
to take the vote from the admittedly unworthy, but it is certain
that its banal influence could be greatly mitigated by an intelligent
adaptation of some more scientific form of voting, preferential, pro-
portional, cumulative, or what not, that should approximately
equalise the claims of all who have a right to be represented.

The local conditions which necessitated conferring the franchise
on all have tended to lower its value, and to deaden the sense of
responsibility it carries. This is evidenced by the fact that in
periods of most active excitement there are not more than two-
thirds of the electors who exercise their rights, and in ordinary
periods of calm they barely average one-half. It has to be admitted
that the defaulters are more frequently to be found amongst the
comparatively independent classes, with whom the knowledge that
they are in a minority somewhat paralyses effort. Meanwhile, the
votes of those perhaps less competent to form thoughtful political
opinions are carefully looked after by organisations working avowedly
in class interests.

THE COMMONWEALTH 347

Payment of Members of Parliament is another Victorian example
which has not yet been followed in Great Britain. It has been
shown at some length that the principle of paying a salary for the
services of representatives was not permanently affirmed until after
long and bitter contests. At one time the means adopted to enforce
it threatened a complete breakdown of Government, and involved
many non-combatants in grievous financial loss. It is far from
being an ideally perfect system, and it has certainly never produced
anything approaching to an ideally perfect House. But there were
many reasons in a youthful and aspiring community why the
demand for payment found so many and such vigorous advocates.
In the first Victorian Parliament under the Constitution, out of sixty
members of the Assembly, forty-five were Melbourne residents.
They were approximately classified as one-fourth merchants, one-
fourth lawyers, nearly one-fourth squatters, and the balance men
engaged in the minor branches of trade. As settlement spread over
the country, the electors in the interior believed that their interests
could only be properly looked after by one of themselves : one
who knew their wants, and would be prepared to advocate them if
needs be as a matter taking precedence of abstract notions about
the general welfare. The theory of the greatest happiness for the
greatest number had to give way before pressing local necessities,
and the twenty-five country electorates proclaimed that they were
not to be sacrificed to the interests of the dozen metropolitan and
suburban constituencies. But they could not find local men willing
to leave their own affairs without some remuneration, and many of
the remoter districts were practically in the position which Mel-
bourne resented when the old Council held its sittings in Sydney.
It is not surprising that the country at large backed up the agitation
for payment, but the turmoil and violence which accompanied its
passage arose from causes altogether apart from a calm conviction
of its expediency. That outburst was the result of Mr. Berry's
passionate appeals to class prejudices. It was the mendacious im-
putation of unworthy motives to all opponents, with which that
gentleman engineered his claim through the Assembly, that caused
its enactment to leave such a black mark on Victorian legislation.

Certainly the practice has not resulted in all the ills which its

348 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

opponents predicted for it. The corruption, which in the United
States is commonly alleged to be largely due to the system, has not,
so far, been developed. The weak spot is the inducement which
the salary offers to the time-serving politician to strain his convic-
tions, rather than risk the loss of his seat, when it provides the
means of his subsistence. There have been men in the Parliament
of Victoria whose services could hardly be appraised in cash, men
who would have been worth in actual saving to the community
a retaining fee of £10,000 a year. But during the last quarter of a
century there have always been at least a score of mediocrities in
the House, who have been returned for some local reasons, or as
the result of organised wire-pulling — men, too, frequently incapable
of initiative, and incompetent to give an intelligent opinion upon
questions of general polity coming before them. It might be
supposed that, with triennial elections, the undesirable and useless
element could be easily weeded out, and replaced by something
more competent.. But in practice it is found that the man in
possession has great advantages over the outsider. Even in
business, or in the Civil Service, it is notoriously difficult to get
rid of the merely inefficient ; and where there are many thousands
of masters in the guise of electors, it is only some very flagrant
case of wrong-doing that calls forth dismissal. Thus, taking the
contingent of mediocrities at the very modest estimate of a score,
the country has had to pay over £150,000 in salaries, perquisites
and free travelling, for services not only worthless, but harmful as
excluding men of higher capacity. The fact remains, that under
manhood suffrage the independent candidate who refuses to be
bound by the demands of some special class, or to adopt the entire
platform of a party organisation, has a remote chance of acceptance,
however brilliant his ability, or however profound his study of the
higher politics. His only opportunity in the future lies in the hope
that some day legislators may realise that votes should be weighed
rather than counted, or, failing that, in the adoption of a more
scientific system of taking the ballot, and the making the exercise
of the franchise compulsory.

The construction and business control of the railway system
of Victoria by the Government is another experiment demanding

THE COMMONWEALTH 349

brief notice. The building of the main lines by the State was
deliberately approved by the first Parliament on the ground that
the Government was best qualified to decide in what direction such
facilities should be given to promote settlement. Further, it was
believed that the whole system being worked in one interest would
obviate the reckless waste and financial disasters which had re-
sulted from the construction of competing lines in England and
America. The pioneer legislators, however, while desirous of con-
trolling construction, looked unfavourably upon the Government
assuming the business of public carriers. It was recommended that
when completed the lines should be leased for a term, on such
conditions as would amply protect the public using them from
monopolistic rates, and yet ensure a fair rate of interest to Gov-
ernment on their cost. It is worth noting too that the sanction of
Parliament for the earlier railway loans was hedged round with
conditions for their redemption by the sale of lands benefited by
the proposed lines. Later again specific directions required sink-
ing funds to be provided annually for such redemption. All these
proposed conditions and safeguards have been defiantly ignored ;
competing lines run parallel over hundreds of miles, some of them
rusting in disuse. All the land benefited by railway proximity
has long since been sold and the money spent, but not in redeeming
bonds. The tentative efforts which some conscientious Treasurers
have made to comply with the mandate for a sinking fund have too
often been promptly reversed by their successors in office, when
threatened with a deficit. Notwithstanding the vigorous efforts
initiated by Mr. Service to remove the railway management from
the grip of the politician, the position of affairs in the last decade
of the century was deplorable in the extreme. Not one of the
many Ministries in power during that period had the courage to
grasp the nettle. The experienced professional manager brought
in to succeed Mr. Speight soon realised how impossible it was to
control even the workmen in his employ. Half a dozen obsequious
Members of Parliament, nervously mindful of the railway vote,
were ever ready to champion in the House the cause of any dis-
satisfied servant. The Commissioner did some good work in trying
to bring an over-capitalised investment of £40,000,000 under intel-

350 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

ligent commercial conditions, but political interference was too
strong for him. He was finally glad to return to England to as-
sume control of one of the largest railway companies, where he could
exercise an unchallenged authority. The disastrous results of
Government management would of course have landed any pri-
vate company in hopeless insolvency. The average loss in working
the system during the last decade of the century was about £1,000
per day, allowing for the interest payable on the borrowed capital.
For the year ending 30th June, 1896, it reached the startling
figure of £528,000. These accumulated deficiencies amounted at
the end of 1900 to more than £9,000,000 sterling, and as the Gov-
ernment has no means of writing down lost capital, which has been
mainly subscribed by the British investor, this debit balance has
perforce to be carried forward indefinitely. The hope that such a
stupendous sum might be liquidated out of future profits is a very
slender one, for with the first year that shows a surplus there will
arise an irresistible demand for reduced fares and freights. Apart
altogether from the important questions of the cost, the suitability
or the efficiency of the various lines, the bare results of Government
management are as above stated. And yet experience does not
teach, for the cry of the multitude still goes up for Government
supersession of all important industrial enterprises.

In spite of all the shortcomings of the too numerous and too
frequently changing administrations, Victoria has progressed, with
many a set back, into a position wherein, though there is little
affluence, the average lot of the community is marked by a high
degree of comfort in a material sense. This is rather attributable
to the inherited characteristics of the people than to anything
done for them by experimental legislation. Indeed, it may safely
be said that such success as can be recorded achieved its results
in spite of unfavourable legislation, and of a distinct subordination
of the interests of the whole community to those of the favoured
few. The avidity with which the workers declared for Protection
to local manufactures deposed Victoria from the pride of place on
the Australian continent. In 1866, when the first protective duties
were levied, the population exceeded that of New South Wales
by 200,000. Thirty years later it had fallen nearly that number

THE COMMONWEALTH 351

behind the mother-colony, though an unhealthy congestion of the
people in Melbourne retained for that city a larger population than
Sydney. In 1866 the area under crop in Victoria was already
600,000 acres, being just double that of New South Wales. By
1900, according to Coghlan's statistics, the area in the latter
colony had grown to 2,400,000 acres, against 3,100,000 in Victoria.
When it is remembered that both soil and climate in the southern
State are immeasurably superior, that it suffers less from droughts,
and that the producers are not handicapped by the great distances
from market which burden the New South Wales farmer, it is
evident that some malign influence must have retarded the growth
of this main factor in a country's prosperity. To some extent it
was due to want of labour, which had been diverted into more
artificial channels. It was, of course, also affected by burdensome
duties of from 20 per cent, to 50 per cent, laid upon everything
used in the process of cultivation. This alone induced many
sturdy farmers to betake themselves later across the Murray, and
to risk the more unfavourable climatic conditions. Undoubtedly
they were also often invited to this step by the Eiverina pastoralists,
to cultivate portions of their holdings on the share system, for in
New South Wales the squatter was not so much of an outlaw as
he had become in Victoria.

In 1866 the volume of imports and exports of Victoria was
very nearly double that of New South Wales. By the end of the
century it was, in round figures, £36,000,000 in Victoria against
£54,000,000 in the colony with unfettered trade. And it should be
specially noted that the large preponderance of New South Wales
trade cannot be ascribed to a falling off of imports into Victoria
as a result of that colony manufacturing what had hitherto been
purchased from the foreigner. On the contrary, the imports into
Victoria, which in 1867 were under £12,000,000, rose steadily,
despite increasing tariff restriction of 10 per cent., 15 per cent.,
20 per cent., and even 25 per cent., until in 1889 they exceeded
£24,000,000. The sudden check which the spending power of
the people received in that year drove them back for a time,
but by 1900 they had again exceeded £18,500,000. A retrospect
of more than a generation of protected duties would seem to show

352 A HISTOEY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

that they have not achieved the object for which they were osten-
sibly imposed, namely, to secure to the Victorian workman the
right of manufacturing at least a large part of the goods represented
by the £20,000,000 annually paid for imports. The actual increase
of population in the interim will not nearly account for the figures,
and the inference is that the laws of supply and demand cannot be
arbitrarily superseded by any tariff legislation, though demand
may be slightly circumscribed by making supply unduly costly.
In such case, as a rule, a substitute is discovered and utilised.
Meanwhile, professional classes, the farmer, the miner and the
men who live on fixed salaries bear the impost in the enhanced
cost of living, a few manufacturers make large profits, a number
of mechanics earn good wages, and thousands of young people
crowd into a gorged metropolis and earn a bare subsistence at
work which teaches them nothing. Eventually, as improved
machinery or periodically glutted markets drive them forth, they
join the ranks of the unemployed, one of the permanent evidences
of misdirected legislation. They are the victims of the system,
— largely unemployable, for they know no trade. Physically unfit
to follow the plough, they cannot dig, but to beg they are not
ashamed.

It is needless to dwell longer on the hindrances to progress
under which Victoria has suffered. The hostility of organised
labour to any form of immigration ; the influence which it wields
over Parliament in the harassing of business enterprise ; the diver-
sion of the incidence of taxation from the whole to the selected few,
and the unabashed manner in which it has from time to time traded
its support to Government or Opposition to secure specific class
interests no matter at whose cost. These have been really serious
clogs on the wheels of progress. The sturdy, self-reliant democracy
of Victoria's early years became enfeebled by the prevalent habit
of leaning on the Government for support in every case that pre-
sented the slightest difficulty to individual or co-operative effort.
Probably one-half of the mass voters in Victoria have a hazy idea
that what they call State socialism is the triumphant outcome of
democracy, instead of being a lazy abandonment of the manly effort,
energy and capacity which mark the independent democrat. They

THE COMMONWEALTH 353

are easily led to believe by glib orators of their class, or by social
faddists, that a man who has done nothing to raise himself above
poverty has a right to claim from the State that which others have
had to work for. In the old world, where great accumulations of
hereditary wealth, sometimes improperly obtained, are often impro-
perly and even injuriously expended, there may be some excuse, if
no justification, for such claims. But in Victoria, where there are
no privileged classes, no persons even of great wealth, and where
all material prosperity has been the result of hard work and a bold,
enterprising reliance upon the future of the country, this persis-
tent inculcation of class hatred between the haves and the have-nots
is both contemptible and criminal. Yet, while the self-seeking
demagogue has such material to work upon, he finds it the most
effective factor in a political campaign, since this type of man
is always the preacher of some narrow class interest. It was a
favourite contention of the promoters of the scheme of State educa-
tion that, as each generation passed, the masses would become more
and more fitted for the responsible exercise of their voting power.
But the bald rudimentary teaching of the State schools is not educa-
tion. A course which entirely ignores history, which knows nothing
of political economy or philosophy, and which expunges anything
relating to ethics and morality, may qualify its recipient for com-
petency in the petty details of trade, but even though it costs
£800,000 a year it can never create voters fitted to take a broad,
unselfish view of what is best for the whole community.

The contemplation of the future of Victoria as a State of the
Commonwealth evokes no serious anxieties. Heavily handicapped
with debt, Government, Municipal and individual, and oppressed by
a burden of taxation that shames past administrations, there is yet
within her borders ample material for recuperation. The scientific
discoveries of the last twenty years have been of incalculable bene-
fit to her settlers. The rapid and safe transit of perishable products
to the markets of the world has stimulated dairy farming, fruit
growing, and the export of meat, poultry and rabbits on a vast
scale. Insignificant as the last-named animal may appear as a
factor in a country's prosperity, it has played a remarkable part.
Since 1880 the Victorian Government has spent £350,000 in at-
VOL. n. 23

354 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

tempting to eradicate this little rodent, while New South Wales
and South Australia combined have spent four times that amount.
And. it is estimated that the expenditure of the pastoral tenants
under certain compulsory conditions was nearly as much. To-day,
there are many hundreds of men in Victoria making a comfortable
living as trappers. Many millions of Australian rabbits find their
way in a continuous stream into the British provision marts, and
hundreds of thousands of pounds are added to the value of Victorian
exports by] what was, till lately, a real scourge to pastoralist and
farmer alike.

The value of butter exported in the year 1900 exceeded £1,500,000,
being nearly one-half of the value of the wool exported in the same
period. In view of the transport facilities already referred to, it is
reasonable to believe that the dairy industry is capable of indefinite
expansion. It is possible that it will exceed in volume the industry
upon which the colony was built up. The danger is that when the
dairy farmer becomes wealthy the same outcry may be raised against
him that drove the Victorian squatter into the back blocks of New
South Wales. There are already schemes formulated demanding
the compulsory resumption of properties used for grazing, in order
that they may be cut up into small holdings for the supposed land-
hungry but really helpless contingent of hangers-on, who are incap-
able of even looking in any direction but that pointed out by a
paternal Government.

The production of wine, long a neglected industry, has, with
somewhat varying fortunes, crept up to an out-put of 2,500,000
gallons in 1900. It has had to struggle against much prejudice in
the European market, and its export has rarely been profitable, all
that reaches continental markets being used for blending with local
wines. There are great possibilities in this form of production, the
climate and much of the soil of Victoria being specially suitable
for it. To ensure its profitable establishment, however, it requires
abundant and not too costly labour, together with a substantial
increase in the number of local consumers. Climatically, Victoria
is certainly a light wine drinking country, but transplanted habits
have hitherto been too strong to be discarded.

Large ships, moderate freights and increased handling facilities

THE COMMONWEALTH 355

have greatly improved the farmer's lot in his attempt to provide
his share of the world's wheat supply. Infinitesimal as the con-
tribution is in relation to consumption, and primitive as have been
his methods, he has yet exported to the value of £17,000,000
sterling during the last twenty years of the century.

Up to the last year of Victoria's colonial existence there had
been sold, or was in course of sale by instalments, 23,300,000 acres
of land, out of a total area of 56,000,000 acres. Of the alienated
territory less than 7,000,000 acres had been sold by auction,
including all the "special surveys" and large pre-emptions of the
early years, and all the subdivisional city and suburban sales.
Thus, in round figures, 16,300,000 acres had been taken up by
selectors under successive Land Acts at £1 per acre, much of it
payable at Is. per acre per annum for twenty years without
interest. It is not easy to estimate the number of these favoured
selectors who were unable to resist taking the large profit the
Government had placed within their reach, but if one-half of the
selectors under the Duffy Land Act fell before temptation, they
would only represent one-fifth of the whole area selected up to
date. Deducting one-fifth, then, would leave over 13,000,000 acres
in the hands of the class whom the Government desired to favour.
Coghlan's statistics record that in 1900 the total area under cultiva-
tion in Victoria was only 3,159,000 acres, of which 2,500,000 acres
were under grain. A certain proportion of this cultivation was
undoubtedly on some of the freehold properties acquired at auction
or otherwise in the early days ; but if the selectors are credited with
it all, it discloses the fact that the men for whom the country made
such sacrifices are on the average cultivating less than eighty acres
out of every 320 granted to them. There is little doubt that this
is due firstly to want of capital, and secondly to scarcity of suitable
labour. Fully three-fourths of these holdings are burdened by
heavy mortgages, and it is within the mark to say that the produce
of quite one-half of them, after paying rates, taxes and interest
charges, yields a living to the nominal holder altogether inadequate
to the toil and privation undergone.

The prosperous future of this class depends entirely upon a
factor that has been notoriously absent in Victoria for many years

23*

356 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

— a steady and substantial increase of population. With a growing
local demand for their products, and the possibility which a revival
of immigration would give of a reliable supply of steady labour,
the production of cereal crops alone could be more than doubled
without the Government selling another acre of land, or forcibly
interfering with the uses to which other freeholders find it most
profitable to put their estates. Victoria has great advantages over
the other Colonies in geographical position, in equability of climate
and in compactness. To utilise these advantages to the full, and to
develop its many unexplored resources, it ought to carry at least
four times its present population. There are far too many people
congregated in its Metropolis, living by their wits rather than by
their labour. But 5,000,000 persons fairly distributed over the
country should result in a development that would make Victoria
the ideal State of Australia, a home of plenty to her own children,
and a pleasant trysting-place for visitors from all parts of the world.
And with the attainment of that material prosperity so generally
characterising races of the Anglo-Saxon stock, there will assuredly
come a more pronounced development of the intellectual side of
life than has hitherto been practicable, which will leave a worthy
impress on future years. There are indications of latent forces
in literature, in art, in music and even in science, that justify the
expectation of strong and original work being done by the coming
Victorian when the necessary environment of higher culture and
wider leisure shall have been permanently secured.

INDEX.

Specially compiled at the Author's request by Mr. E. A. PETHERICK,

London.

ABBREVIATIONS: M.L.A., Member of Legislative Assembly ; M.L.C., Member
of Legislative Council; N.S.W., Neio South Wales; P.P., Port Phillip;
V.D.L., Van Diemen's Land.

A'BBCKETT, T. T., M.L.C., legal adviser, diocese of Melbourne, Commissioner of
Customs, 1870, assists Bill for Abolition of State Aid to Beligion, ii., 155.

A'Beckett, Sir Wm., Judge, arrives Melbourne, 1846, Chief Justice, 1851, i.,
262 ; his literary work, 262 ; administers oath to Gov. Latrobe, 302 ; tries
Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50 ; resigns, 75.

Aborigines of Port Phillip, their treatment, i., 214 et seq. ; friendly to Grimes'
party, 1803, 26, and to Hume and Hovell, 1824, 59 ; hostile to Tuckey's
party, 1803, 37, who fired upon them, 38 ; numbers seen, 41 ; alternately
hostile and friendly to Sturt on the Murray, 1830, 71-74 ; Batman's treaty
with P.P. Blacks, 102, 108, 109 ; apprehensions of their hostility by Yarra
settlers, 126 ; at Indented Heads, 143 ; natives of Western Port tribe act
as guides and shepherds, 145 ; Melbourne district natives treated
humanely, 149, 151, 218 ; settlers elsewhere too free with the gun, 163 ;
Gov. Bourke meets straggling parties, 167 ; Lord Glenelg's instructions,
178, and on Batman's treaties, 182 ; Mercer's appeal on their behalf, 184,
185; estimates as to their numbers and census of 1851, 1881, 1891, 217,
218 ; intertribal relations, 218 ; infanticide, 219 ; vitality, diseases, 219 ;
small-pox, measles, etc., 220; deterioration, 220; murders and outrages,
1836-44, 221 ; " firewater," 221 ; mission stations, 222 ; Protectors ap-
pointed, 224 ; their districts, 226 ; difficulties with squatters, 227 ; results
of system, 228-230 ; Mt. Bouse Station, 230, 231 ; remonstrances with
Protectors, Gipps reports system broken down, 231 ; Lord Stanley's
advice, 232 ; decreasing numbers, 232 ; office of Protectors abolished,
1849, 233; failure of missions, 233, 235; Aboriginal Board established,
233, and Aboriginal reserves, 234 ; loss of life in murders, etc., greatly
exaggerated, 235 ; some raids and outrages, 235 et seq., 319; 50 whites,
350 blacks killed in ten years, 239.

Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land, the " Black War," i., 99, 216, 218.

Acclimatisation Society, ii., 97.

Age, The, on Ballaarat riots, ii., 44 ; champions the people against the Govern-
ment, 47 ; and Governor (Hotham), 54 ; unfavourable to Duffy's Land
Act, 1862, 88 ; on Berry Embassy, 208.

Agriculture : Seeds and plants for the colony taken on board at Bio Janeiro,
i., 11, 12; in 1851, 305; decline in produce, 1852-54, 380, 381; agri-
cultural districts adjacent to mining townships, ii., 100; land under
cultivation, 1865, 116 ; districts favoured by this and Land Act, 1869, 153 ;
exports of wheat and flour, 1884, 248 ; subsidies to agricultural and wine
industries, 260 ; abundant harvests of 1892-93, 320 ; 1895-96, 1896-97 sadly

357

358 INDEX

deficient, 1897-98 all that could be desired, 1898-99 transcendent, 324;
in Victoria and in N.S.W. in 1866 and in 1900, 351, 354, 355. See Land,
Produce.

Aitken, John, takes stock to Port Phillip, i., 129, 133, 134, 145, 146.

Alberton. See Port Albert.

Alexander, Mt., discovered and named Mt. Byng by Mitchell, 1836, i., 94 ;
goldfields, 366 ; ii., 6. See Bendigo.

Alfred, Prince, Duke of Edinburgh, visits the colony in 1867-68, ii., 149 ; his
enthusiastic reception and some of its incidents, 150 ; shot near Sydney
and rapid recovery, 151.

Anderson, R. S., M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs, ii., 85 ; joins O'Shanassy
Ministry, 87 ; McCulloch Ministry, 185 ; on reform of Legislative Council,
205 ; joins Service Ministry, 211 ; on Chinese question, 234 ; Minister of
Justice, death, 241, 249.

Arden, George, his Australia Felix, 1840, i., 171 ; Port Phillip Gazette, 324.

Argus, The, and the public demand for the lands, i., 353 ; as the people's
advocate attacks Latrobe, 388 ; " Wanted a Governor," 380 ; too urgent
and impatient, 381; advocates miners' grievances, ii., 16; again de-
nounces Latrobe, 16 ; on brutality of police in Ballaarat riots, 43 ; on
Hotham's Government, 54 ; on Haines Ministry, 74 ; on Manhood
Suffrage, 78 ; favourable to Duffy's Land Act, 1862, 88 ; on the " tacking "
process, 130 ; printer (Hugh George) ordered into custody, 131 ; on Berry
Embassy, 207. See Press.

Armytage, Thomas, goes in search of Gellibrand and Hesse, i., 161.

Art and Art Gallery, Melbourne, ii., 97, 222, 356.

Arthur, Sir George, Governor of V.D.L., and the Henty claims, i., 83 ; his
interest in Batman's expedition, 101, 114, 135, 180 ; pardons Buckley, 125.

Arthur's Seat . . . named by Murray, i., 21 ; Collins's Settlement of 1803-4,
36, 37, 41 ; proposed as site for a town in 1836 (now Dromana), 309.

Aspinall, Butler Cole, defends Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50; elected M.L.A., 65;
welcomes Duffy, 68 ; opposes Haines' Land Bill, 78 ; opposes Darling
Grant, 141 ; Solicitor-General, McPherson Ministry, 152.

Audit office, under Grimes, i., 366 ; Childers, 383 ; ignored during crusade
against Upper House, ii., 127, 132.

Austin, Thomas, Geelong settler, i., 176.

Australia Felix, named by Mitchell, i., 88.

Australian flag hoisted Ballaarat, ii., 34, 37; taken by troops at Eureka
Stockade, 43.

Australian Natives Association, ii., 149 ; meeting at Corowa on Federation,
336 ; its influence and loyalty, 340.

Avoca River discovered by Mitchell, 1836, i., 90.

BACKHOUSE, Quaker Missionary at Melbourne, 1837, i., 170; visits Mission
Station for aborigines, 222.

Ballaarat goldfields, i., 350, 365, 377; fetes to Gov. Hotham, 389; ii., 5, 6;
land sale at Geelong, 23 ; in 1854, 21 ; revolt of the diggers, 22 et seg. ;
Bentley's " Eureka Hotel," 25 ; burnt by the diggers, 27 ; military force sent,
28 ; three diggers arrested and sent for trial to Melbourne, 28 ; sentenced to
imprisonment, 29; " Ballaarat Reform League," 29 ; its chief articles, 29 ;
deputation to Governor, 32 ; further military force despatched, 32 ; de-
mands of deputation refused, 32 ; mass meeting summoned, 32, 33 ; held,
35 ; diggers burn their licences, 36 ; companies formed and oath of
allegiance taken, 37 ; Eureka Stockade formed, 38 ; stormed and captured
by the military and police, 40, 45 ; martial law proclaimed and order
restored, 46 ; petition for amnesty dismissed by Governor, 49 ; trials of
rebels, 50, 51 ; their acquittal, 53 ; first Election under Responsible
Government, 63 ; railway opened to Melbourne, 1862, 96 ; visited by Prince
Alfred, 151 ; rejects Service, 172 ; Ballaarat Times, ii., 23, 29 ; on
brutality of the police at the Eureka Stockade, 43.

Banks and Banking, 1838 : Opening of Derwent Bank Co., Bank of Austral-
asia and Union Bank of Australia, i., 171 ; Port Phillip Bank, its brilliant

INDEX 359

prospects, 172 ; invidious position of Colonial bankers and usurious claims
of the Government, 252 ; effects of panic, 1842-44, 282 ; deposits during
the gold fever, 376 ; as indenting merchants, 376 ; Victorian Banks under-
take railway loan, 1858, ii., 95 ; one bank alone assists Government during
"deadlocks," 126, 144; vetoed by the London Board of the Bank, 144;
banking troubles, 1892, 292 et seq. ; increase of deposits, 294 ; increase
of deposits and advances, 1887, 297 ; amount of deposits, 301 ; stoppage
of Mercantile Bank of Australia, 308; of Federal Bank, 310; of Com-
mercial Bank of Australia, 811; its reconstruction, 312; temporary closing
and reconstruction of eleven other banks, 313 ; again in working order,
315 ; revision of original schemes of reconstruction, 315 ; " run " on Mel-
bourne Savings Bank stopped, Government assuming responsibility for
payment of all depositors, 311 ; State Bank proposed, 324. See Finances,
Financial Troubles.

Bannister, Thomas, Member of P.P. Association, i., 102 ; his selection, 133.

Baring Brothers tender for railway loan, ii., 94.

Barkly, Sir Henry, his history, ii., 72 ; his salary, 72; tastes, hospitality, aims,
speeches, 73 ; death of Lady Barkly, 77 ; invites Chapman to form Minis-
try, 79 ; the Nicholson Ministry, 81 ; suggests conference with Upper
House on Land Bill, 1860, 83; grants dissolution to Heales, 87; the
O'Shanassy and Duffy Ministry, 88 ; McCulloch Ministry, 90 ; proposed
reduction of Governor's salary, 91 ; Sir Henry's resignation not accepted,
but he is subsequently transferred to Mauritius, 92 ; his departure after
seven years' successful administration, 111 ; Chairman of Federal Bank
of Australia, 304.

Barry, Sir Redmond, Judge, i., 823 ; and the Melbourne University, 257 ; at the
Bar, 260 ; his connection with the Separation Association, 284 ; Solicitor-
General, first Executive Council, 340; opens first Criminal Sessions at
Castlemaine, Jan., 1852, 345; on the rights of the squatters, 352; his
interest in Melbourne University, 386 ; and its first Chancellor, 386 ; pro-
motes Public Library, 386; Art Gallery, ii., 222; tries Ballaarat rebels,
50 ; swears Members of Parliament, 69 ; tries convict murderers of In-
spector Price, 103 ; knighted, 161 ; his death, 222.

Barton, Sir E., goes to London to assist in passing the Commonwealth Act,
1900, ii., 338.

Bass, George, discovers Strait, lands on shores of Victoria, enters Western
Port, etc., 1797-98, i., 15-17, 316.

Batman, John, as a " Founder " of Melbourne, i., 96, 97, 157 ; his history in
N.S.W. and V.D.L., 98-100; with Gellibrand projects settlement at
Western Port, 101; his "Journal," itinerary, and agreements with Port
Phillip native "chiefs," 103-112; the "Tasmanian Penn," 113; P.P.
Association's proposed amicable arrangement with Fawkner's party, 130 ;
Batman to have sole management, 132 ; his selection of land, 133 ; his
arrival with stock, 134 ; takes up his permanent residence with his
family, 146 ; at first public meeting, 150 ; entertains Capt. Lonsdale,
156, 197 ; " Batmania " proposed name for town now named Melbourne,
149, 165 ; expenses allowed for outlay, etc., at Port Phillip, 196 ; sense of
his duties as citizen, 197 ; death of, 96, 199 ; his family uncompensated,
198; buys town lots at first sales, 210, 212, 392, 394, 395. See also Port
Phillip Association, Fawkner, Gellibrand, Wedge, etc.

Belfast, or Port Fairy, town lands, i., 207, 269, 315 ; represented by O'Shan-
assy, ii., 237.

Bendigo (Sandhurst), i., 377 ; fetes Gov. Hotham, 389 ; goldfields, ii., 7 ; town,
21 ; railway opened, 96 ; visited by Prince Alfred, 151.

Bent, Thomas, M.L.A., Minister of Railways, ii., 217, 236, 244 ; candidate for
Speakership, 270 ; Chairman of Railways Committee, 276 ; Speaker, 290.

Berry, Graham, M.L.A., in Opposition, ii., 114 ; champion of Protection, 115,
119; rejected at poll, 128; Treasurer in McPherson Ministry, which is
defeated on his Budget, 154 ; Treasurer in Duffy Ministry, 157 ; increases
duties and enlarges scope of tariff, 160 ; Premier and Treasurer, 1875,

360 INDEX

176 ; on Payment of Members, 181 ; his opponents " enemies of the
people," 182; the fickle crowd "a pack of howling idiots," 183, 347; his
promises to the masses and manufacturers, 183 ; proposes Land Tax, 183 ;
his Ministry thrown out, 184 ; his Party's stonewalling tactics, 186, 187 ;
his Party returned, sixty supporters, 191 ; invites Service, Casey, Duffy to
join his Ministry, 192 ; his Budget and Land Tax, 193-195 ; sum for Pay-
ment of Members included in Appropriation Bill, 196 ; in separate Bill
rejected by Legislative Council, 197; Assembly adjourned, 197; wholesale
dismissal of civil servants, 8th Jan., 1878, " Black Wednesday," 198, 199 ;
effect in the country, 200 ; some officials reinstated, 201, 202 ; condemna-
tion of the Press, 202 ; on reform of the Legislative Council, 205 ; Em-
bassy to London, 201, 208, 210 ; defeated at Election, Feb., 1880, resigns,
211 ; comes back with -large majority, 212 ; forms new Ministry, 213 ;
again defeated, 216; results of five years' rule and "The Berry Blight,"
217 ; and Irish disloyalty, 232 ; allied with Service in Coalition Ministry,
240 ; his readiness in debate, power of arousing enthusiasm, 241 ; retires
to assume Agent-Generalship, 249 ; proceeds to London, 252 ; knighted,
161, 252 ; attends Colonial Conference, 268 ; returns to colony, re-enters
Parliament, 289 ; Treasurer in Shiels Ministry, 289 ; Director of Freehold
Investment and Banking Company, 304 ; a liquidator of the Mercantile
Bank, 305, 316 ; his Budget and deficiency, 1892, 316 ; elected Speaker,
1894, 322 ; defeated at poll, 1897, 324 ; Parliament provides an annuity,
325; delegate Federal Convention, Sydney, 1883, 333; attends Federal
Council, Hobart, Jan., 1886, 333.

Best, R. W., M.L.A., Minister of Lands, ii., 321.

Bindon, Samuel H., Minister of Justice in McCulloch Cabinet, 1866, ii., 146.

Black, George, editor Diggers' Advocate, Ballaarat rebel, ii., 30, 34, 35, 40 ; did
not fight, 41 ; £200 offered for his capture, 44.

"Black Thursday" fires, 6th Feb., 1851, i., 331-334.

Blackburn, James, City Surveyor, on Batman's itinerary, i. , 110.

Blair, David, his animosity to Latrobe, i., 387 ; denounces military despotism
of the Government, ii., 47 ; elected M.L.A. for Talbot, 63 ; takes part in
agitation against penal department, 102.

Bonwick, James, quoted or referred to, i., 99, 110, 149, 150, 324, 396.

Botany Bay designated a penal settlement, 1786, i., 2 ; for a time " Botany
Bay " significant of the entire continent, 322.

Bourke, Gov. Sir Richard, and Mitchell's Exploration of Aiistralia Felix, i.,
88 ; treats Batman and P.P. Association as trespassers, 135, 136 ; reports to
the British Government the intrusion of Batman and others, 137, 181 ; re-
cognises the great pastoral interest of the Colonies, 138 ; proposes a town
where Batman's party had proceeded, 138 ; proceeds of sales of land to be
devoted to survey, government and education, 139 ; receives reply from
Lord Glenelg, 152 ; instructs Lonsdale, 153-155 ; ignores claims of
Batman, Fawkner and others, 157 ; visits Port Phillip, names towns of
Melbourne, Geelong, Williamstown ; visits Werribee Plains, Mt. Macedon,
etc., reports to Colonial Minister and advises the appointment of a Lieut. -
Governor, 163-168, 177, 240, 311 ; street in Melbourne, 166, and county
named after him, 168 ; decision as to P.P. Association's claims, 195 ;
authorises sales of lands, 209, 212.

Boursiquot, G. D., the Port Phillip Patriot and Daily News, i., 325.

Bowen, Sir George Ferguson, Governor, ii., 178; his Thirty Years of Colonial
Government, 178 ; his part in social and public functions, 179 ; a year's
holiday in England, 179 ; sides with Berry against the Council, 196, 203 ;
sanctions wholesale dismissal of civil servants, 198 ; opens Portland rail-
way, 199 ; excuses his action in regard to dismissals, 200 ; some officials
reinstated, 201 ; transferred to Mauritius, 203 ; and Berry Embassy, 207.

Boyd, Benj., banker and land speculator, i., 206; represents P.P. in N.S.W.
Legislative Council, 282, 288 ; signs petition for Separation, 290.

Brassey, Thomas, offers to construct railways, ii., 94.

Brassey, Lord, Governor, Oct., 1895 to Jan., 1900, ii., 326.

INDEX 361

Brooke, G. V., actor, lost in the London, ii., 136.

Brooke, J. H., M.L.A., carries no-confidence motion against Nicholson Minis-
try, becomes Minister of Lands in Heales Ministry, ii., 85.

Broughton, Bp., votes against Separation of Port Phillip, i., 291.

Browne, T. A., "Rolf Boldrewood," his Old Melbourne Memories, i., 322; and
S. J. Browne, purchase Melbourne allotments, 392, 393, 394 ; value of in
1890, 212.

Buckley, Wm., " The Wild White Man," his life by Morgan, i., 30 ; runs away
from the settlement, 1803, 31 ; relapses into barbarism, 45 ; discovers
himself to Batman's party, 1835, 124 ; pardoned by Gov. Arthur, 125 ;
accompanies Gellibrand from the Yarra to Geelong, 142, 143 ; meets his
black friends at Indented Head, 143 ; retained in service of the Crown,
155 ; accompanies Gov. Bourke to Geelong, Mt. Macedon, etc., 167 ;
his statements on numbers of the aborigines unreliable, 217.

Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition, ii., 105-109 ; search parties organised,
106-110 ; their remains brought to Melbourne and honoured with a public
funeral, 111.

Bushranging and the Kelly gang, ii., 223-230.

Byrne, Robert, M.L.A., carries vote against McCulloch Ministry, but is de-
feated in his constituency, ii., 152.

CANVAS TOWN, Melbourne, 1840, i., 250; in 1852, 366.

Cardwell, Lord, on illegal procedure of McCulloch Ministry, ii., 132 ; recall of
Gov. Darling, 133.

Carey, Gen., administers government after departure of Sir C. Darling, ii.,
135.

Carter, G. D., M.L.A., Treasurer in Patterson Ministry and the bank failures,
1893, ii., 312, 314, 318.

Casey, J. J., M.L.A., member of McCulloch Ministry, 1868, ii., 146; Lands De-
partment in Francis Ministry, 162 ; declines office in Berry Ministry,
1877, 192.

Castlemaine (Forest Creek) goldfields, i., 365, 377; ii., 21; fe^tes Gov.
Hotham, i., 389.

Chamberlain, lit. Hon. J., invites Colonial delegates to London, ii., 268, 338.

Champ, Col., inspector of prisons, ii., 104.

Champion, H. H., English labour leader, and the great strike, 1890, ii.,
284, 288.

Chapman, H. S., defends Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50; M.L.A.', 69; Attorney-
General, 76 ; forms Ministry, 79.

Childers, Rt. Hon. H. C. E., Collector of Customs and M.L.C., i., 361;
member of Federation Committee, 1857,331; advances (" imprests ") to
departments during his charge of the Audit office, 383 ; and Melbourne
University, 385 ; relieved of office and reappointed, ii., 59 ; elected M.L.A.,
65 ; Emigration Agent in London, 74 ; agent for Baring Brothers in
offering to raise railway loan, 94 ; Agent-General, 160 ; brings in Bill,
1857, to repeal Chinese Poll Tax, 233.

Chinese on goldfields, ii., 98, 177; anti-Chinese legislation, 232-236; Chinese
labourer, gambling, opium smoking, 233 ; Chinese merchants, 233 ; their
declining numbers, 234, 236, 272 ; injustice towards, 236 ; recrudescence
of anti-Chinese feeling, 1888, 270 ; conference of Ministers in Sydney,
271 ; Sir Henry Parkes' justification, 271 ; outrages upon, in N.S. Wales
and Queensland, 272 ; Marquis of Salisbury, instigated by Chinese Am-
bassador in London, intervenes, 271 ; case of Ah Toy v. Musgrove, in
Melbourne Supreme Court and before Privy Council, 273.

Churches in Melbourne, 1839, i., 243; foundation-stones of St. James's and
St. Peter's laid by Latrobe, 257; Bishopric, 1848, 258; arrival of Bp.
Perry and additional clergy, 269 ; state of the diocese on his retirement,
1874, 270. See Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Religion, etc.

Civil Service. See Public Service.

Clarke, Sir Andrew, Surveyor-General, M.L.C., i., 361 ; relieved of office and

362 INDEX

reappointed, ii., 59 ; submits Land Regulations, 74 ; condemns Haines*
Bill for increasing Members of Assembly, 78 ; declines forming a Ministry,
78 ; Acting Agent-General, 304.

Clarke, Marcus, ii., 31 ; vote of £1,000 for his wife and family rejected, 261.

Clarke, Rev. W. B., discovers gold, N.S.W., 1841, ii., 1.

Clarke, Sir W. J. T., acquires Special Survey, i., 146 ; a petitioner against the
P.P. Association, 194.

Clonmel, steamer, wrecked near Corner Inlet, 2nd Jan., 1841, i., 320.

Coal found at Cape Paterson, i., 65.

Coghlan, T. A., statistician, quoted, ii., 295, 355, etc.

Cohen, Edward, Minister of Customs, ii., 162.

Cole, Capt. G. W., nominates J. P. Robinson, i., 282; deputed to Geelong to
dissuade electors from voting, 1848, 295.

Collingwood (originally Newtown) land sale, held in Sydney, i., 213 ; re-sold
in small allotments, 243; building there, 1853, 368; electorate, 1856,
ii., 63.

Collins, David, Judge-Advocate, sails with First Fleet, i., 5, 10, 11 ; as Lieut.-
Governor conducts expedition to Port Phillip, 1803, 28 ; his humane rule,
35, 45 ; advises against settlement, 32, 39, 44 ; removes establishment to
the Derwent, 44 ; his History of New South Wales, 45 ; principal street
in Melbourne named after him, 46 ; his abandoned settlement in 1836,
and now, 309, 310.

Colonial Office, London, Sir G. Grey on the Henty claims, i., 83 ; Lord John
Russell on, 86 ; Lord Glenelg's instructions to Latrobe, 177, 178, 241 ; his
attitude towards P.P. Association, 181 et seq. ; on the aborigines, 224 ;
Earl Ripon's Land Regulations, 201, 203 ; Colonial Land Policy of Lord
John Russell and Earl Grey, 205-207 ; Downing Street Policy, 206 ; and
on transportation, 270, 271, 277 ; Gladstone on transportation, 272 ; Lord
John Russell on division of the territory and boundaries, 284, 285 ; Earl
Grey on Separation, 292 ; Lord Derby concedes gold revenue for main-
tenance of law and order, 358 ; Duke of Newcastle disallows Convicts'
Prevention Act, 348 ; leaves Land Legislation to the colony, 355, 356 ;
against constituting any colony the seat of supreme government in
Australia, 358 ; on the claims of the squatters, 388 ; Lord Cardwell on
McCulloch Ministry, ii., 132 ; recall of Gov. Darling, 133 ; Lord Car-
narvon does not sanction vote for Lady Darling, 140 ; Duke of Bucking-
ham on Darling grant, 144, 145 ; on annexation of New Guinea and the New
Hebrides question, 246, 247, 333 ; Higinbotham declines to communicate
with C.O. on domestic affairs, 269 ; Colonial Conference, 1887, 268, 269 ;
Chamberlain invites delegates from States to London to assist in passing
Commonwealth Act, 338 ; indifferent and unsympathetic Secretaries of
State, 339.

Commonwealth of Australia, inaugurated 1st Jan., 1901, ii., 327, 338;
Commonwealth Bill drafted by Sir S. Griffith, 1891, 335. See Federa-
tion.

Condell, Henry, first Mayor of Melbourne, i., 266 ; elected M.L.C., N.S.W., for
Melbourne, 280 ; resigns, 282.

Constitution Acts, 1842 and 1850. See Government, Representative : Act 1855.
See Government, Responsible ; Government, Municipal, etc.

Convicts. See Crime, Transportation.

Cooper, Thomas, M.L.A., candidate for Speakership, ii., 270.

Coppin, George, actor, etc., i., 328.

Cotter, Dr., Manager P.P. Association, i., 134, 135, 141, 162.

Cotterill and Collicott, Messrs., P.p. Association, i., 133, 144.

Couchman, Mr., head of Mining Department, appointed Commissioner of
Public Service, ii., 243.

Court of Quarter Petty Sessions opened Melbourne, July, 1838, i., 170, 244;
its jurisdiction, 258; Supreme Court and Resident Judge appointed,
1841, 258 ; Court buildings, 262, 263.

Cowie, Dr. J. A., P.P. Association, i., 134, 176.

INDEX 363

Crime, increase of, during gold fever, i., 364 et seq., chiefly by manumitted
convicts from V.D.L., 345; robbery with violence within sight of the
city, 345 ; boarding of the barque Nelson and carrying oft of 8,000 oz. of
gold, 345, 346; case of Capt. Melville, ii., 102; murder of Inspector
Price, 103 ; Col. Champ appointed his successor, 104 ; Hayter's and other
statistics, 170 ; lessening of crime consequent upon education of the
masses, 170 ; Kelly gang of bushrangers, 223 et seq. See Penal, Police,
Transportation.

Croke, James, Crown Prosecutor, i., 259 ; purchaser of land from Lonsdale,
260 ; Solicitor- General, ii., 59.

Curr, Edward, candidate for Melbourne in N.S.W. Legislative Council, 1843,
i., 280 ; father of Separation Movement, 295, and President of the League,
286 ; prepares memorial to Earl Grey on his Lordship's election for Mel-
bourne, 1848, 294; himself returned for Port Phillip district, 295;
resigned, 1849, 296.

Curr, E. M., The Australian Race, i., 214, 217, 221.

Cuthbert, Sir Henry, M.L.C., Bill for reform of Legislative Council, ii., 204 ;
joins Service Cabinet, 211 ; Minister of Justice in Gillies-Service Ministry,
253 ; Solicitor-General in Turner Ministry, 321.

DALLEY, W. B., N.S.W. delegate Federal Convention, 1883, ii., 333; sends
military contingent to Soudan, 341.

D'Arcy, F. B., surveyor, Melbourne, i., 156; purchases town lots, 213, 394.

Darke, J. C., Protector of aborigines, i., 150, 156.

Darling, Sir Charles, his training and character, ii., 112 ; weakness, suppres-
sion and garbling of despatches, 112 ; opposition to Legislative Council,
113 ; installation and proroguing of Parliament, 113 ; attitude on the
Tariff and Appropriation Bill, 127 ; rebuked by Colonial Office, 132 ;
sympathy and mass meetings on his behalf, 133 ; his resentment at
treatment of British Cabinet, 134 ; his recall due to his attack upon
members of Executive Council, 134 ; address from Committee of Assembly
thanking him for having saved the colony from anarchy, 135 ; £20,000
voted for Lady Darling, 135, 140 ; opposition to vote in Assembly, 141 ;
not sanctioned by Legislative Council, 142 ; Earl of Carnarvon, 140, and
Duke of Buckingham, on, 144, 145 ; intimation received that neither
Sir Charles nor Lady Darling could accept the bounty, 146 ; his pension
from Imperial Government continued by the colony to Lady Darling,
147.

Darling, Sir Ralph, and the Western Port Settlement, 1826-27, i., 62-67, 101.

Davies, J. M., M.L.C., Minister of Justice in Munro Ministry, ii., 289.

Davies, M. H., financier, M.L.A., elected Speaker and knighted, ii., 270.

Dawson, James, his work on Australian aborigines quoted, i., 215.

Deakin, Alfred, M.L.A., Minister of Works, ii., 241 ; Solicitor- General, 241 ;
joins Gillies Ministry, 253 ; Chairman of Commission on Droughts visits
America, passes Irrigation Act, Water Supply Loan Acts, 254, 255 ; attends
Colonial Conference in London, 1887, 268 ; anti-Chinese Conference in
Sydney, 1888, 270, 272 ; goes to London to assist in passing Commonwealth
Act, 1900, 338.

Debt, Public, how the foundations were laid, i., 381 ; Gabrielli loans, 381, 382 ;
railway loans, ii., 93-95, 188, 238, 248, 275, 296, 349 ; loan for school
buildings, 188 ; loans, 1884-86, 248, 249 ; public and private borrowings,
1885-91, 295 ; aggregate interest, 296 ; loans floated in 1892, 295 ; loan
raised on Treasury Bills, 1893, 319 ; municipal borrowings and rateable
value of property, 296 ; accrued deficiency in Public Funds, 1892, 310 ;
Public Debt in 1865, and in 1895, 116 ; deficiencies, accumulated, 1900,
£9,000,000, 350 ; ample material for recuperation of Public, Municipal,
Private Debt, 353.

Defences, Colonial, Verdon's Mission to London, ii., 136 ; Cerberus and Nelson
obtained, 136; Discipline Act, 1883, 246; defences organised, 257 ; dis-
cussed at Colonial Conference, London, 1887, 268 ; Major-Gen. Edwards's

364 INDEX

report, 1889, 334 ; naval subsidy proposed, 339 ; discussions and nego-
tiations, 341.

Denison, Sir Wm., Governor of Tasmania, protests against Victorian " Con-
victs' Prevention Act," i., 348 ; sends troops to Melbourne from Tasmania,
ii., 46 ; Duffy objects to toast him as Governor of N.S.W., 68.

Derham, P. T., M.L.A., Postmaster-General, ii., 253.

Dibbs, Sir G., arrests panic in Sydney during banking crisis, 1893, ii., 314 ;
N.S.W. delegate Federal Convention, 1883, 333.

Dickson, J. B., represents Queensland at Federal Council, Hobart, Jan., 1886,
ii., 333 ; invited to London, 1897, 321 ; in 1900, to assist in passing Com-
monwealth Bill, 338.

Diggers' licence fee, i., 343 ; as a source of revenue, 344 ; antagonism with the
squatters, 350, 351 ; impatient for new Constitution, 361 ; their political
rights secured, 363. See Goldfields.

Diseases: Dysentery, i.. 219, 263; Colonial or Typhoid Fever, 263; diseases
among aborigines, 219 ; Department of Health, ii., 254.

Dobson, Frank Stanley, M.L.C., Solicitor-General, ii., 217.

Dodds, J. S., Attorney-General, represents Tasmania at Federal Council,
Hobart, Jan., 1886, ii., 333.

Don, Charles Jardine, people's tribune, and the squatters, i., 207; ii., 77;
elected Legislative Assembly, attacks Land Bill, 1860, 82 ; charged with
instigating mob, 83 ; rejected at Election, 1864, 114 ; and the Chinese
question, 234.

Douglas, Adye, represents Tasmania at Federal Council, Jan., 1886, ii., 333.

Dow, J. L., M.L.A., Minister of Lands, ii., 253.

Downing Street. See Colonial Office, Gladstone, Grey, Russell, etc.

Draper, Rev. D. J., lost in the London, ii., 136.

Dredge, James, Protector of aborigines, i., 224; his N.E. district, 226; griev-
ances and resignation, 229.

Duerdin, John, seconds nomination of Leslie Foster, 1848, i., 293.

Duffy, Charles Gavan, approver of Irish revolt, i., 292; his Autobiography
quoted, ii., 66 et seq. ; his history and arrival, 66 ; patronage of Irishmen,
67 ; his sarcastic tolerance of amateur legislators, 67, 68 ; visits Sydney,
where he is pressed to remain, 68 ; presented with a property qualification,
value £5,000, 68 ; on Gov. Hotham's " command," 69 ; in Opposition,
73 ; carries Bill for abolition of members' qualifications, 74 ; Minister of
Lands, 75 ; opposes Haines' Land Bill, 78 ; Minister of Lands in Chap-
man Ministry, 79 ; breaks with O'Shanassy, 80 ; and resigns, 81 ; griev-
ances against his late colleagues, 81 ; attacks Land Bill, 1860, 83 ; attacks
Heales Ministry, 87 ; joins O'Shanassy Ministry, 88 ; his Land Act, 1862,
89, 90 ; opposes Heales' Amending Land Bill, 113 ; visits England, 114 ;
elected for Dalhousie on his return, charges McCulloch and Higinbotham
with illegal procedure, 143 ; opposes inclusion of Darling Grant in Ap-
propriation Bill, 151 ; reflections on McCulloch's squatting interests, 156 ;
Premier, 157 ; resigns upon adverse vote, 160 ; knighted, 161 ; Education
Bill, 163 ; on Payment of Members, 182 ; elected for North Gippsland,
191 ; declines joining Berry Ministry, 1877, 192 ; elected Speaker, 193 ;
suggested Member of " Embassy " to London, 206 ; retires, 210 ; his
emoluments, 211 ; on Australian Federation, 1857, 330.

Duffy, John Gavan, M.L.A., Minister of Lands, Service Ministry, ii., 211 ; and
Irish disloyalty, 232 ; Postmaster-General, Munro Ministry, 289 ; Attorney-
General, 289 ; candidate for Speakership, 289 ; Postmaster-General, 321.

Dutigalla, name given to settlement at Port Phillip, i., 140, 144, 149.

Dutton, Wm., and other whalers established at Portland Bay, 1832, i., 76.

EBDEN, C. H., pioneer squatter, i., 323 ; purchases and sells Melbourne allot-
ments, 172; establishes station on the Goulburn, 175; elected for P.P.
district, 279 ; resigns, 282 ; Auditor-General, first Executive Council, 340 ;
elected M.L.C., ii., 65 ; Treasurer in McCulloch Ministry, 76.

Education, denominational and national under Latrobe, i., 385 ; schools,

INDEX 365

scholars, university, etc., in 1856, ii., 70 ; Michie's Education Bill, 1858,
161 ; Heales" Common School Act, 1862, 85, 162 ; Royal Commission in
1866-67, 163, 164 ; Bill withdrawn, 164 ; outside agitation, 165 ; Wilber-
force Stephen's Act, 1870, 165 ; the denominations, 166 ; expenditure
under the Act to end of century, 168 ; consequent closing of private
schools, 168 ; the " ragged " children still to be reached, 169 ; attacks by
the churches, 169 ; reduction of crime, 170 ; schools built out of loans,
176, 188, 260 ; teaching of history, political economy, ethics, ignored, 353.

Ellery, R. L. J., and the Melbourne Observatory, ii., 97.

Enabling, Dr. T., speeches on the Ballaarat disturbances, ii., 47.

Emerald Hill (South Melbourne) in 1839, i., 243 ; in 1843, 307 ; James Service,
first Mayor, 368 ; building upon, 1853, 368.

Emigration Commissioners in London, i., 247 ; remonstrances on the char-
acter of emigrants sent out, 249 ; relative number of free emigrants to be
sent with convicts, 274. See Immigration.

English journals on the Colonies after the Colonial Exhibition, 1886, ii., 264.

Exhibitions : Melbourne, 1854, 1861, 1866, 1872, 1875, ii., 220 ; 1880, 219 et
seq. ; London Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886, 264 ; Centennial
(International) Exhibition, 264-267.

Expenditure. See Finance.

Exports, 1851, i., 305; 1852-54,380; 1885-91, ii., 297; 1898-99, 324; of dairy
produce, 354 ; wine production, 1900, 354 ; wheat exported, twenty years,
355. See Agriculture, Gold, Imports.

FAITHFUL'S, Mr., party surprised by 300 natives,, and eight servants killed,
April, 1838, i., 235.

Fawkner, John Pascoe, i., 323 ; his claim as founder of Melbourne, 97-104, 111,
157; his early life in Tasmania, 115-118; plans settlement at Western
Port, 118, 119; his representatives warned by Batman's party as tres-
passers, 123, 209 ; arrives on the Yarra, Oct., 1835, 128, 129 ; his arrange-
ment with the P.P. Association, 131 ; his " house of entertainment " at
the " settlement," 141 ; at first public meeting, 150, 151 ; his Melbourne
Advertiser (MS.), 170; Port Phillip Patriot, 241, 263, 324; Geelong Ad-
vertiser, 313 ; Lady Franklin stays at his hostelry, 1839, 173 ; his attitude
towards the P.P. Association, 179 ; buys town lots, 210, 392-394 ; elected
to first Town Council, 266 ; thrown out at next Election, 267 ; seconds
nomination of Earl Grey to N.S.W. Legislative Council, 293 ; deputed to
Geelong to dissuade electors from voting at Election, 295 ; on Gold Dis-
covery Committee, 337 ; elected to first Victorian Legislative Council, 340 ;
on opening the lands for settlement, 354, 356 ; voices public opinion upon
the limited powers of the Legislative Council, 359 ; attends mass meetings
in Melbourne on Ballaarat riots, ii., 47 ; member of Goldfields Commis-
sion, 53; opposes ballot, 61; elected M.L.C., 65; opposes Haines' Land
Bill, 78; against reduction of qualification for members and electors of
Council, 148.

Federal House of Delegates proposed, 1849, ii., 328; Wentworfch declares for
a General Assembly, 1853, 329; Australian Association in London
memorialise Labouchere, Secretary of State, 1857, 330; Committee on
Federation, 1857, 331; attempt to revive subject 1860, 331; Royal Com-
mission in Melbourne on, 1870, 331 ; Sir H. Parkes' proposals, 332 ; Mr.
Service on, 239, 333; Convention held Sydney, 333; Federal Council
established, 1886, 333 ; Federation Conference, Melbourne, 1890, 334 ;
National Australasian Federation Convention, Sydney, 1891, 335 ; the
Australian Natives Association take action, 336 ; Federal Enabling Bill,
1895, Convention sits in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, 1897-98 ; Draft
Bill for Federal Constitution adopted, 17th March, 1898, 337; Popular
Vote taken, 3rd June, 1898, again in July, 1899, 337 ; Act passes Imperial
Parliament, 338.

Federation, Imperial, Colonial Conference, 1887, ii., 268 ; Australian Nativas
loyal but not in sympathy, 340.

366 INDEX

Federation of Australian Colonies, foreshadowed, 1849, clause relating thereto
withdrawn from Australian Government Bill, 1850, by Earl Grey, i.,
298 ; a growing topic, ii., 242, 332 ; Federal Council established, 249 ; Draft
Commonwealth Bill discussed, 289 ; absorbing topic, 1897, 324.

Fellows, T. H., M.L.A., ii., 63, 65; submits Bill for admission of Barristers to
Supreme Court, 67; defeats O'Shanassy Ministry, 76; joins McCulloch
Ministries, 76, 91 ; M.L.C., moves that the Appropriation cum Tariff Bill
be " laid aside," 123 ; negotiations to form Ministry, 131, 132, 142 ; resigns
from Council, elected to Assembly, Minister of Justice in Sladen Cabinet,
145 ; on Duffy's disloyalty, 159.

Finances (Public), revenue and expenditure up to 1839, i., 247 ; appropriation
of Port Phillip revenue by Sydney, 254, 291 ; Lang's speech on, 287 ; under
the first Legislative Council, 341 ; from diggers' licence fee, 343 ; Home
Government concedes entire gold revenue for maintenance of law and
order, 358 ; waste and extravagance during the " gold " period, 364 ; revenue
from Crown Lands secured under New Constitution, 1855, 363 ; for 1851-54,
382 ; expenditure, 1852-54, 382 ; deficiency confronting Hothain on his
arrival, 382 ; Finance Committee appointed, 383 ; large portion uncon-
trolled, 383 ; if extravagant, far from being wasteful, 384 ; surplus in 1856,
ii., 71 ; contribution of squatters, 84 ; financial position as affected by
railway policy, 93 ; surplus in 1865, 116 ; increasing expenditure, 156 ;
revenue in 1875, 176 ; deficit under Berry administration, 217 ; finances
under O'Loghlen, 247 ; under Service, credit of the colony enhanced, 248 ;
mining production declining, 1885-95, 257 ; surpluses, 1885-86, 1886-87,
1887-88, 1888-89, 258 ; estimate for 1889-90, 258 ; increasing expenditure,
259, 260 ; enormous increase, 1890, 276 ; financial irregularity at the
Treasury, 276 ; revenue and expenditure, 1885-91, 297 ; 1892, 315 ; 1893,
319 ; Customs diminishing, 1892, 315 ; increasing, 1897, 322 ; accumulated
deficit, 1892, 315; 1893, 319, 320; 1897, 322; revenue in 1897 exceeds
expenditure, 322. See Debt, Income Tax, Lands and Land Tax, Pro-
perty Tax, Tariff, Trust Funds.

Financial troubles and disasters, 1842-43, i., 252 et seq., 279 ; recovery in 1845,
255, 268 ; injudicious legislation in " Bad Times," 255 ; cases dealt with
by Judge Willis, 259 ; Melbourne Corporation Bate and Improvements
suspended, 268; financial panic, palliation attempted by N.S.W. Legisla-
tive Council, 1843-44, 282 ; distresses surmounted, 321 ; financial collapse
and insolvencies, 1854-55, 364, 376, 379 ; losses to consigners of goods, 378 ;
commercial distress, ruined homes, 379 ; speculation in 1887-88, for-
tunes in mining, on the Stock Exchange, in land and real estate, ii., 261 ;
new companies floated, 262 ; financial spectre of 1891, 291 et seq. ;
" Broken Hill," a synonym for illimitable wealth, 294 ; speculative
" banks " in 1888, 301 ; all but two suspended, 302, 308, 309 ; building
societies responsible for disasters of the " eighties," 298 ; their number
and deposits, 299 ; suspensions in 1891-93, 300, 308 ; land and investment
companies, 1888, 301 ; all passed into liquidation, 302, 307-309 ; syndicates
and private partnerships for land dealings, 302 ; few mercantile failures,
302 ; limited liability companies, 302 ; breweries, 302 ; revisal of Com-
panies Act, 1896, 322 ; Australian investment companies in London, 303,
304 ; insolvencies in Melbourne and private compositions, 1892, 309 ;
restoration of financial position, 1897, 324. See Banks and Banking.

Finn, Edmund, his Chronicles of Early Melbourne quoted, i., 283.

First Fleet leaves England, May, 1787, starting-point of Australian history,
i., 1 ; composition of the Fleet, 2, 3 ; leaves English Channel, 6 ; arrives
at Teneriffe, 7 ; Cape Verde Islands, 8 ; Rio Janeiro, 10 ; Table Bay, Cape
of Good Hope, 10, 11, 12 ; Botany Bay, 14 ; Port Jackson, 15.

Fitzroy, Sir Charles A., Governor of N.S.W., i., 272; correspondence on
transportation, 273 ; visits Melbourne, 1849, 274 ; resents election of Earl
Grey for Melbourne, 1848, 294 ; issues new writ for P.P. district, 295.

Fitzroy (originally Newtown) land sale, held in Sydney, i., 213 ; resold in
small allotments, 243.

INDEX 367

Flinders (with Bass) demonstrates the existence of the Strait and circum-
navigates Tasmania, i., 17 ; street in Melbourne named after him, 167.

Foster, J. F. L., i., 323, 360; candidate for N.S.W. Legislative Council, 1848,
293 ; nominated but withdraws before poll at new Election, 295 ; succeeds
Curr, who resigned, 1849, 296 ; visits England, appointed Colonial Secre-
tary, 360 ; suggests New Constitution with two Chambers, and introduces
Bill, 360 ; officer administering the Government, May and June, 1854,
388 ; on Goldfields Committee, ii., 18; with Governor receives deputation
from Ballaarat, 32 ; his dismissal asked for by mass meetings, 47 ; his re-
signation, 55; vindicates himself, 55; elected M.L.A., 65; Treasurer in
O'Shanassy Ministry, 76.

Francis, J. G., retires from Nicholson Ministry, ii., 84 ; joins McCulloch Min-
istry, 91 ; Treasurer in McCulloch Ministry, 1870, 154 ; declined knight-
hood, 161 ; forms Ministry, 162 ; retires on plea of failing health, 172 ; on
Chinese Poll Tax, 234 ; on Irish disloyalty, 231, 232 ; decease, 249.

Franklin, Sir John, midshipman with Flinders, i., 23 ; report on G. A. Robin-
son's method with the Tasmanian aborigines, 1837, 223.

Franklin, Lady, visits Melbourne, 1839, i., 173.

Free Trade versus Protection, Service's speech on, ii., 238. See Protection.

French interests in the New Hebrides, ii., 246, 333 ; and in New Caledonia, 247.

Fyans, Capt. Foster, police magistrate, Geelong district, i., 172, 176, 177 ; pur-
chases land lots, 311, 312 ; reports on Portland Settlement, 1839, 314 ; on
aborigines and the Protector, 231.

Fysh, Sir Philip, M.L.A., Tasmania, goes to London to assist in passing
Commonwealth Act, ii., 338.

GABBIELLI'S Corporation Loan, and offer of loans for railways, ii., 94.

Gardiner, John, pastoralist and banker, i., 140; names creek near Melbourne,
172 ; manager P. P. Bank, 172 ; proceeds to England to raise capital, 173 ;
brings stock overland, 174 ; on deputation for " Separation," 285 ; pur-
chases Melbourne lots, 393.

Geelong (Corio) Bay, surveyed by Bobbins and Grimes, Feb., 1803, i., 26;
Batman's itinerary and agreement with the natives of country around
Geelong and Indented Head, 1835, 103-112 ; allotted to Robertson Brothers
by the P.P. Association, 134, 143 ; site occupied by Dr. Thomson's sheep
station, 146; the settling of the district, 175, 176; appointment of a
magistrate, 177.

Geelong, town, L, 310, visited and name approved by Bourke, 167, 311;
settlers there, 311 ; land sale, 213, 311-313 ; progress of, 1841 to 1849, when
incorporated, 313 ; railway, 385 ; visited by Hotham, 389 ; by Prince
Alfred, ii., 151; represented by Berry, 237; Geelong Advertiser and gold
discoveries, ii., 4 ; on the police " massacres" at Ballaarat, 43 ; Geelong
Reform Association, 63.

Gellibrand, J. T. (with Batman), applies for grant of land at Western Port,
1827, i., 101 ; joins P.P. Association, 102, 113 ; his selection, 133 ; goes to
P.P., 140 ; with Buckley and others at Indented Head, 143 ; names the
Plenty River, 145 ; holds conference with Gov. Bourke in Sydney, 160,
193 ; revisits P.P., 160 ; lost in the bush, 161 ; his fate unknown, 162, 163.

Geoghegan, Father, and Bp. Perry, i., 269, and John O'Shanassy, 339.

Gillies, Duncan, M.L.A., opposes Darling Grant, ii., 141 ; Minister of Lands,
145 ; declined knighthood, 161 ; Minister for Railways, 162 ; against
Education Bill, 1867, 164 ; joins McCulloch Ministry, 1875, 185 ; Service
Ministry, 211 ; on Chinese question, 234 ; Service-Berry Ministry, 241 ;
forms new Ministry, 253 ; his great Budgets and surpluses, 1885-86 to
1888-89, 258 ; increases tariff, 259 ; attends anti-Chinese Conference in
Sydney, 1888, 270, 272 ; negotiates loan of £4,000,000, and introduces
extraordinary Railway Bill, 275 ; opposition to, 277 ; refuses to start
Government relief works for the unemployed, 278 ; and the Maritime
Strike, 1890, 286 ; defeated, gives place to Munro, 289 ; Agent-General,
318 ; returns to colony, 324 ; arranges Federation Conference, 1890, 334.

368 INDEX

Gipps, Sir George, and the Henty claims, i., 85, 86; the Batman claims, 199 ;
his alarm at the rapid alienation of territory, 203 ; opposition to Land
Act, 1846, 206; and the aborigines, 225, 228, 230; Supreme Court, etc.,
appropriations, 259 ; removes Judge Willis, 261 ; proclaims Constitution
Act, 5th Jari., 1843, 263 ; his casting vote given for Separation of Port
Phillip, 291 ; forwards report to Earl Grey, 291 ; Lang on his land
policy as regards Geelong, 312, 313 ; his report on results of land sales,
Portland, 314.

Gippsland, landings on its shores, i., 316; explorations by McMillan, 1839,
and Strzelecki, 1840, 317-321; by M'Killop in 1835, 396; Special Sur-
veys, 203 ; aborigines of, 217, 219, 319 ; railway, ii., 177.

Gisborne, H. F., entrusted with " Separation " petition for House of Commons,
1840, but dies on voyage, i., 283.

Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., Secretary for Colonies, inquiry as to sending
convicts to the colony, i., 272 ; on Australian Colonies Bill, 1849, 297 ;
advocates reduction of the franchise, but opposes Single Chamber, 298 ;
opposes a Federal House of Delegates, 1849, ii., 329.

Glenelg, Lord, Secretary for Colonies, his instructions to Latrobe, i., 177, 178 ;
his name given to River Glenelg by Mitchell, 1836, 92 ; and proposed for
the town on the Yarra, now Melbourne, 165 ; his attitude towards the P.P.
Association, 181 et seq. ; on the aborigines, 224 ; appoints Latrobe Super-
intendent, 241.

Gold discoveries in Australia prior to 1851, i., 337, ii., 1, 2 ; and condition of
Victoria before, i., 334, 335 ; Hargraves' discovery at Bathurst, i., 336, ii.,
1 ; reward offered for payable goldfield within 200 miles of Melbourne, i.,
337, ii., 2 ; Press on the, i., 338 ; discoveries in the Plenty Ranges, Ander-
son's Creek, Deep Creek, Caledonia diggings, etc., ii., 1, 2 ; at Clunes,
Buninyong, 3, 4 ; Ballaarat, 5, 6 ; Mt. Alexander, Forest Creek, Castle-
maine, Fryer's Creek, 6 ; Bendigo, Goulburn, Omeo districts, 7 ; Ovens,
M'lvor, Avoca, 8 ; Maryborough, Dunolly, Ararat, Tarnagulla, Talbot,
St. Arnaud, Pleasant Creek (Stawell), 98 ; restlessness of miners, 99 ;
disorganisation in public service, i., 342, 343 ; Lord Derby concedes entire
gold revenue for maintenance of law and order, 358 ; crime, debauchery
and confusion, 364 et seq. ; roads to goldfields and cost of carriage, 377 ;
by 1854 mining becoming an ordinary industry, 378 ; mainly workers for
wages, 1858, ii., 21, 98, in 1895, 116 ; character of the miners, 24 ; law-
abiding, 25.

Gold discoveries at Port Curtis (Queensland), Kiandra (N.S.W.) and in New
Zealand draw away miners from Victoria, ii., 99.

Goldfields management, ii., 1 et seq. ; licences issued, Commissioners appointed,
legislation enacted, 10; police venality, 11, 14; miners evade payment of
fee, 12 ; export duty on gold suggested, 15 ; Bendigo miners petition for
reduction of fee, 16, 17 ; reduction made, 18 ; Goldfields Act assented to,
19 ; visit of Sir Charles Hotham, 19 ; his remarks on the officials, 20 ;
70,000 miners at end of 1854, 21 ; revolt of the diggers, riots at Ballaarat,
etc., 22-46 ; Goldfields Commission appointed, 49 ; its report, 52 ; " Miner's
Right " and an export duty substituted for the obnoxious licence fee, 53 ;
gold duty surrendered, 121 ; mining legislation, 178, 246.

Gold production by 1854, £33,000,000, i., 378; in 1856 and 1863, ii., 97 ; quartz
mining, 98 ; miners, 98 ; Chinese, 98 ; miners and gold product in 1865,
116 ; in 1875, 177 ; mining machinery, 178 ; diminishing returns, 1885
to 1895, 257 ; increased production of gold, 1893, 320.

Gordon, General Charles, enthusiasm evoked by his fate, ii., 341.

Goulburn River, discovered by Hume and Hovell, 1824, i., 55; gold diggings,
ii., 7 ; irrigation in valley of, 256.

Government, Local Self-, first recorded " Case," and award in disputes, i., 148 ;
first impromptu parliament, 150-152 ; government under Superintendent
Latrobe, 178 et seq.

Government, Municipal. See Local.

Government, Representative : Constitution Act of 1842 carried through British

INDEX 369

Parliament by Lord Stanley, L, 286 ; proclaimed, 263 ; its main provisions,
278 et seq. ; Port Phillip sends six members to Legislative Council, 1843,
258, 263 ; Australian Government Bill enacted, 297-299 ; introduced 1851,
299-300 ; and Victoria Electoral Districts Bill discussed in Sydney, 301 ;
ballot principle and reconsideration of northern boundary rejected, 301 ;
Lieut.-Qov. Latrobe proclaimed, 15th July, 1851, 302 ; members of
Executive Council sworn, 303; owing to gold discoveries no rush of
candidates, 338 ; the elected and official members for Melbourne and
other districts, 338-340 ; their first session llth Nov., 1851, to 6th Jan.,
1852, 342 ; occupied with goldfields regulations, squatters' leases and
rights of pre-emption, 343 et seq. ; increase of members of the Council,
but its Constitution inchoate, 359 ; legislates for goldfields, ii., 19 ; invited
to frame a New Constitution, i., 359 ; Mr. Foster suggests two Chambers,
and introduces Bill, 360 ; its discussion, 361 ; qualification of members,
361 ; progress of the Bill through British Parliament, 362 ; its important
points summarised, 362, 363.

Government, Responsible: New Constitution, 1855, i., 356; Two Houses —
Legislative Council, Legislative Assembly, qualifications of members
and electors, 363; lauded by Gov. Hotham, 390; proclaimed, ii., 56;
Electoral Bill pushed forward, 61 ; resolution on ballot moved, 61 ;
carried, 62 ; Reform Association denounces Constitution, 63 ; first
Election, 63 ; members sworn, 69 ; Speaker chosen, 69 ; the Assembly
and the Governor's " command," 69 ; coercion of the Upper House, 70 ;
abolition of L.A. members' qualification, 74, 77 ; Manhood Suffrage, 77 ;
Bill for re-distribution and increase of members rejected by Upper House,
79 ; Bill re-introduced, passed, duration of Parliament shortened to three
years, 79 ; property qualification of electors reduced and franchise for
Upper House extended to the learned and professional classes, 80 ; Second
Parliament elected, 80 ; stormy passage of Land Bill, I860, 81-83 ; Legis-
lative Chambers invaded by the mob, Riot Act read, mounted police drive
crowd out of Parliament Yard, 83 ; Act passed to protect Parliament and
to prevent disorderly meetings, 84 ; Payment of Members, 87 ; conflict
between the two Houses, 91 ; era of Constitutional struggle, 1864-68, 113
et seq.; Tariff tacked to Appropriation Bill, and "laid aside" by the
Legislative Council, 123 ; payment of salaries delayed and Customs duties
collected in defiance of Supreme Court decisions, 124 ; resolutions passed
in Assembly not to entertain any other Appropriation Bill, 125 ; address
to the Queen adopted in Upper House, 125 ; their resolution to appeal to
Privy Council scouted by Lower House, 125 ; Government borrows,
Chamber of Commerce protests and 20,000 citizens petition the Queen for
maintenance of the Constitution, 126; Tariff Bill with new preamble
and retrospective clause rejected by Council, 126 ; Parliament pro-
rogued and Assembly dissolved, 127 ; Bill sent to Council, again rejected,
130 ; Constitution said to have failed, 130 ; Parliament prorogued and
summoned following day, Bill sent up again, news of Governor's recall,
conference between delegates of both Houses, Appropriation Bills, 1864
and 1865, passed, 133; interim administration by Gen. Carey, 135;
Manners-Sutton new Governor, 135 ; opens Parliament, Jan., 1867,
137 ; the " Darling Grant " tacked to Appropriation Bill, opposition in
both Houses, 140-142; another "deadlock," Ministry resigns, payments
made under Crown Remedies Act, resignation withdrawn, temporary
Supply Bill passed reluctantly by Council, 142 ; Parliament prorogued
10th Sept. to meet 18th, vote to Lady Darling passed, but rejected
by Council, 143 ; attitude of Duffy, 143, 151 ; interim payments made by
revised use of Crown Remedies Statute, 143, 144; demonstrations in
Melbourne against Council, 1867, 144 ; its attitude one of defence, 147 ;
qualification of its members and electorate reduced one-half, 1869, in-
creasing electors of the Upper House to 20,000 (grown to 30,000 when
further amending Act passed in 1881, and tenure of seats reduced to six
years), 148 ; Local Government Act, 1874, 173 ; Payment of Members,

VOL. ii. 24

370 INDEX

180 ; stonewalling tactics of Opposition, 186 et seq. ; " The Iron Hand "
remedy passed, 188 ; New Electoral Bill promised, 188, 189 ; New Parlia-
ment, eighty-six members elected on enlarged roll, 191 ; another " dead-
lock " on Payment of Members, 197 ; wholesale dismissal of civil servants,
198 ; irregular expenditure, 200 ; re-appointment of most of dismissed
officials, 201, 202 ; proposed Constitutional Reform and the Berry Em-
bassy to London, 203 et seq. ; " Reform of the Council," 204 ; Sladen-
Cuthbert Bill to increase provinces and members, reduce tenure and
qualifications, 204; Bill from Lower House, 205; suggested plebiscite,
205 ; results of " Embassy," 209 ; New Reform Bill lost, 209 ; dissolution
conceded, 210 ; 1880 memorable year, two General Elections, three
Ministries, two Speakers, 210; Service Reform Bill rejected, 211; Legisla-
tive Council Reform Bill of 1881 enacted, 215 ; business of twelfth
Parliament, 1883-85, 242 et seq. ; Electoral Act, 1888, increases members
of both Houses, 273 ; cost of salaries of ministers, members and officials,
and of Hansard, 274 ; Government and the Great Strike, 1890, 282 et seq. ;
Ministries of Munro, 289 ; Shiels, 289 ; Patterson, 290 ; Turner, 320-326 ;
Referendum proposed, 324 ; prophecies as to reforms under the Common-
wealth, 328 ; results of Responsible Parliamentary Government, 343 ;
members free from corruption, 344 ; much legislation experimental, 344 ;
effects of Manhood Suffrage, 345 ; "one man one vote," 346; from one-
half to two-thirds of the electors vote, 346 ; Payment of Members, 347.

Governor as Queen's representative, the one connecting link of power retained
by the Crown under the New Constitution, 1855, i., 363. See Governors
Barkly, Bowen, Brassey, Darling, Hopetoun, Hotham, Latrobe, Loch,
Manners- Sutton, Normanby.

Governors, Lieutenant- and Acting-. See Poster, Macarthur, Carey, Stawell,
Robinson, Sir Wm., Madden ; also Higinbotham, who declined to refer
domestic affairs to Colonial Office, ii., 269.

Graham, George, M.L.A., joins Munro Ministry, ii., 289.

Grant, Lieut. James, in the Lady Nelson discovers parts of the coast of
Victoria, 1800, i., 17 ; with Ensign Barrallier surveys coast, plants seeds
on Churchill Island, Western Port, 1801, 18, 19.

Grant, James McPherson, speaks at mass meeting, Melbourne, for diggers,
ii., 47 ; elected M.L.A., 65 ; welcomes Duffy, 68 ; joins McCulloch
Ministry, 91 ; introduces Amending Land Bill, 1865, 119 ; passed as
Land Act, 1869, by McPherson Ministry, 152 ; Minister of Lands in
Duffy Cabinet, 157 ; his policy, 158 ; Solicitor-General, Berry Ministry,
183 ; Chief Secretary in O'Loghlen Ministry, 217 ; winds up on O'Loghlen's
defeat at poll, 239 ; decease, 249 ; £4,000 voted to his family, 261.

Grattan address, ii., 237.

Gray, Wilson, welcomes Duffy, ii., 69 ; organiser of " Liberal" Party, 77 ; M.L.A.,
attacks Land Bill, 1860, 82 ; charged with exciting riotous proceedings,
83 ; Judge in New Zealand, 114.

Greeves, A. F. A., M.D., i., 323 ; Melbourne town councillor, 267 ; advises
against electing members for Legislative Council, N.S.W., 292, 293, 295 ;
on Goldfinding Committee, 337 ; defeated for Legislative Council, 1851,
338 ; on Constitution Committee, 360 ; proposes vote of censure on Gov.
Hotham and his Ministers, ii., 60 ; Commissioner of Customs, 76.

Grey, Earl, Colonial Policy, i., 205, 206; lands, 207; transportation of
" exiles," 270, 271 ; misled by contradictory utterances, 277 ; reconsiders
question of Separation, 292 ; elected to N.S.W. Legislative Council for
Melbourne, 1848, 294 ; explanatory memorial prepared and forwarded,
294 ; did not formally decline the seat till Australian Government Bill
passed, 1850, 294 ; withdraws Federal clause, 298 ; acknowledges services
of Latrobe as superintendent, and appoints him Lieut.-Governor of
Victoria, 303.

Grey, Sir George, Colonial Secretary, and the Henty claims, i., 83.

Grey, Sir George, M.H.R., New Zealand, at National Australasian Convention,
Sydney, 1891, ii., 335.

INDEX 371

Griffith, Charles, visit to the aboriginal station at Mt. Rouse, 1842, i., 230,

231 ; his remarks on land fund and immigration, 253 ; candidate for

Speakership, Legislative Assembly, ii., 69.
Griffith, Sir S. W., represents Queensland at Federal Council, Hobart, Jan.,

1886, ii., 333; drafts Commonwealth Bill, 1891, 335.

Grimes, Charles, and Bobbins survey Port Phillip Bay, 1803, i., 25, 26, 97.
Grimes, Edward, immigration department, i., 366 ; Auditor-General, 366 ;

on Committee of Finance, 1854, 383.
Gurner, H. F., Crown Solicitor, 1851, Clerk Supreme Court, i., 259 ; on correct

name of the Yarra Yarra — " Yanna Yanna," 129.

HAINES, Wm. Clark, nominated member first Legislative Council, Victoria,
i., 340 ; Colonial Secretary, ii., 55 ; his history and character, 56 ; relieved
of office and reappointed, 59 ; his Ministry resigns, 61 ; but resumes
office, 62; elected M.L.A., 65; again consults his colleagues, 74; resigns,
75 ; joins McCulloch, 76 ; his Land Bill rejected by Upper House, 78 ;
Bill for increasing Members of Assembly thrown out, resigns, 78 ; Treasurer
in O'Shanassy Ministry, 87 ; and railway loan, 94 ; opposes Heales'
Education Bill, 1862, 163.

Harbour Trust for Port of Melbourne, ii., 188, 189 ; Sir John Coode's plans,
189 ; carried out, 190 ; borrowings, 297.

Hargraves, E. H., discovers gold, N.S.W., i., 336 ; ii., 1.

Harker, George, M.L.A., Treasurer in Chapman Ministry, ii., 79 ; Director
Bank ot Victoria, 95.

Hart, W. H., of Bank of Australasia, on Committee of Finance, 1854, i., 383.

Harvests. See Agriculture, Produce.

Hastie, Rev. W., resident at Buninyong, ii., 4.

Hawdon, Joseph, brings stock overland from N.S.W., 1836, i., 174; conveys
mails between Sydney and Melbourne, 175.

Hayes, Timothy, chairman at Ballaarat meeting, ii., 34 ; advises moderation,
35 ; taken prisoner and committed for trial, 44 ; acquitted, 51, 53.

Hayter, H. H., statistics of crime, ii., 170.

Heales, Richard, social reformer, temperance lecturer, ii., 85; elected M.L.A.,
65 ; attacks Land Bill, 1860, 83 ; i( elected " Chief Secretary, 85 ; his Land
Act, 85, 86 ; Ministry defeated, granted a dissolution, 87 ; joins McCulloch
Ministry, his Education Act, 91 ; Bill to amend Duffy's Land Act, 113';
his death, 1864, 85, 119.

Health, Department of, ii., 254.

Hearn, W. E., Professor, drafts Duffy's Land Bill, ii., 89, 90; on Reform of
Legislative Council, 205.

Henty family, their history, at Swan River, 1829, i., 77 ; in Tasmania, 1831,
settled at Portland Bay, 1834, 79 | their treatment by the Government,
77, 82-87, 114 ; asked no Government protection, their intrusion officially
unnoticed, 181 ; settlement proclaimed, 1840, 313, 314.

Hepburn, John, brings stock overland from N.S.W., 1836, i., 174 ; occupies
Smeaton Hill Estate near Clunes, 175.

Hesse, Mr., accompanies Gellibrand, i., 160 ; lost in the bush, 161.

Hicks-Beach, Sir M., on differences between Legislative Council and Assembly,
ii., 201 ; and the Berry Embassy, 207, 208.

Higinbotham, George, M.L.A., " the most striking figure in Victorian politics,"
ii., 139 ; his conscientiousness, etc., i., 241 ; a dweller in Canvas Town,
368 ; editor of the Argus, ii., 78 ; supports Heales' Education Bill, 1862,
163 ; (with McCulloch), under Gov. Darling, virtual ruler of the colony,
112 ; anti-Protectionist, 119 ; but introduces Tariff Bill, 122 et seq. ;
dominates Parliament in 1867, " fair in debate, extreme in action," 137 ;
" self-seeking conspicuously absent," his devotion to official duties excep-
tional, his weakness as a politician the result of his strength of character,
138 ; denounces Irish Home Rule, 139 ; would have abolished Legislative
Council, the theory of a Second Chamber unworkable, 139 ; defends grant
to Lady Darling, condemns its opponents as " a vile faction," 140 ; the

24*

372 INDEX

Council an " oligarchy " not required, 144 ; joins new Cabinet of
McCulloch (unpaid), 145 ; moves address in the Assembly in detestation
of crime of shooting Prince Alfred, 151 ; Chairman of Royal Commission
on Education, 1866-67, 163, 164; on Payment of Members, 180; scene
with McCulloch, 185 ; " a waning power," 185 ; disapproving " stonewall "
tactics resigns, 187 ; as Chief Justice of Victoria, not being allowed pre-
ference of the Speaker, absent from procession at opening of Exhibition,
1888, 266 ; President of the Exhibition Commission, alarmed at its
financial pace, renounces his responsibilities, 267 ; jealousy of Downing
Street, 269 ; Chief Justice, 269 ; declines knighthood, 269 ; declining to
communicate with Colonial Office on domestic affairs, Sir Wm. Robinson
appointed Acting-Governor during absence of Lord Loch, 269 ; supports
Government against Chinese immigration in case Ah Toy v. Musgrove,
273 ; his desire for colony to remain part of the British Empire, 340.

Hobson, Capt., in the Rattlesnake at Port Phillip, i., 153, 154 ; his instructions
and staff, 155, 156 ; again at Port Phillip, with Gov. Bourke, 163.

Hoddle, Robert, surveyor, i., 163; lays out Melbourne, etc., 165-167, 242;
conducts first land sale, 169, 209, 211 ; purchases lots, 393.

Hodgson, John, candidate for first Victorian Legislative Council, i., 338 ;
purchaser of Melbourne lot, 394 ; member of Goldfields Commission,
ii., 53.

Hoey, Cashel, Secretary to Agent-General, ii., 160.

Home Rule for Ireland denounced by Higinbotham, ii., 139.

Hopetoun, Earl of, Governor, his liberality, generosity, etc., arrives on the
eve of troublous times, ii., 275 ; sanctions Sir J. Patterson's appeal to
country, 1894, 320 ; returns to England, 1895, 325 ; appointed Governor-
General of the Commonwealth, 338.

Hospital, Melbourne, inauguration of, i., 257 ; theatricals on behalf, 327.

Hotham, Sir Charles, Governor, his arrival hailed with delight, i., 388, ii., 73;
his first levee, i., 389 ; confronted with prospective deficiency in revenue,
382 ; his efforts to adjust expenditure, 383 ; mendacious accusations
against his retrenchments, 384 ; made mistakes, but always sound in
finance, 384 ; his opposition to nepotism and corruption, 384 ; lays foun-
dation-stones of University and Public Library, 386 ; visits goldfields, ii.,
19, 25 ; quarrels with the diggers, 22 et seq. ; receives deputation from
Ballaarat and refuses demands, 32 ; sends troops, 33, 34 ; instructs Com-
missioner to enforce law, 35 ; asks for troops from Tasmania, 46 ; appoints
Goldfields Commission and dismisses petitioners on behalf of imprisoned
diggers, 49 ; denounced for his obstinacy and impulsiveness, 52 ; inflexi-
bility, 54 ; the New Constitution, 1855, and his ministers, 56-58 ; in-
augurates Melbourne gas-works, 61 ; his illness and death, 61, 62 ; on
railway policy, 92.

Hovell and Hume's overland journey, 1824-25, i., 48-62 ; Hovell accompanies
expedition to Western Port and surrounding districts, 1826, 63-67.

Howitt, Alfred W., his works on Australian aborigines, i., 215; conducts ex-
pedition in search of Burke and Wills, discovers one survivor, afterwards
brings back remains of the leaders, ii., 110.

Howitt, Richard, his story of Batman, i., 99 ; his Impressions of Australia
Felix, 250, 307, 368.

Hume and Hovell's journey overland to Port Phillip, 1824-25, i., 48-62.

Humffray, J. B., Secretary Ballaarat Reform League, ii., 30 ; one of deputa-
tion to Governor, 32 ; reports result to mass meeting, 34 ; advises
moderation, 35 ; and to stand on the defensive, 39 ; chosen representative
of Ballaarat in Legislative Council, 46 ; elected M.L.A., 65 ; Com-
missioner of Mines, 85.

Hunter, Capt. John, captain of the Sirius in the First Fleet, 1787, and subse-
quently governor of the colony of N.S.W., i., 3 ; convoys Fleet from Cape
to Botany Bay, 13 ; sends out exploring expeditions, Bass Strait discovered,
1798, 15, 16.

INDEX 373

IMMIGRANTS and immigration : Labour immigration, i., 204 ; on relative propor-
tion of English, Irish and Scotch arrivals in 1841, 248; in 1842, 249 ; revival
of immigration, 268 ; arrival of free " exiles " in 1844-45, 271 ; superior class
of immigrants attracted to Port Phillip, 322, 823 ; proportion of revenue
devoted to immigration, 341 ; arrivals during gold fever, 1851-54, 364 et
seq. ; immigrants' homes, 366 ; the general desire to make fortunes and
go "home," 369; character of immigrants, ii., 24, 25; Immigration Bill,
and agent in England appointed, 74 ; checks to immigration, 100 ;
petitions for State assistance, 248 ; hostility to, 248, 352. See Emigra-
tion, Shipping.

Imports during gold fever, 1852-54, i., 369, 380; waste and pilfering, 369;
congestion at the wharves, 370, 377 ; flour from California and Chili,
375 ; miscellaneous goods consigned on speculation, 377 ; dutiable goods
refused by consignees, sold by Customs, 377, by wharfingers and lighter-
men, 378; resulting losses, 378; excessive imports, 1885-91, ii., 297;
reduced, 1892, 315 ; imports, 1867, 1868, 1889, 1900, 351. See Exports.

Income tax proposed, 1893, 319, 320 ; introduced, 1894, 322.

Indented Head, named by Flinders, 1803, i., 24 ; Batman's original Settle-
ment, the " Plymouth Bock " of Victorian colonisation, 104 ; distantly
seen by Mitchell, 1836, 94 ; conveyed by blacks to Batman, 109 ; and
occupied by his party, 112 ; appearance there of Buckley, 124 ; Pen-
insula (Bellarine) surveyed by Wedge, 122, 127 ; visited by Gellibrand,
143 ; occupied by Swanston's cattle, 146 ; Wedge sojourned there, 149.

Industries. See Manufactures, Protection.

Ireland, B. D., defends Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50 ; elected M.L.A., 65 ; opposes
Haines' Land Bill, 78 ; Solicitor-General in Chapman Ministry, 79 ;
Attorney-General in Heales Ministry, 85 ; retires from office, 88 ; joins
O'Shanassy Ministry, 88 ; rejected at election, 1864, 114 ; condemns grant
to Lady Darling, 140 ; against Education Bill, 1867, 164 ; and Chinese
residence tax, 234.

Irish immigrants, i., 247 et seq.; Irish disloyalty, ii., 231. See Duffy,
O'Shanassy.

Irrigation, Irrigation Act and Irrigated Lands, ii., 253-256. See Mallee,
Public Works, Water Supply.

Irving, Prof. M., Commissioner of Public Service, ii., 243.

Isaacs, I. A., M.L.A., seceded from Patterson Ministry, 1893, Attorney- General,
Turner's Ministry, 1894, ii., 321.

JEFFCOTT, Mr. Justice (afterwards Sir Wm.), his appointment, i., 261; resigns,

1845, 262.
Jenks, Prof., his work The Government of Victoria, referred to on the Land

Laws, i., 208 ; on Hotham and his Ministers, ii., 59.
Johnston, J. S., deputed to Geelong to dissuade electors from voting, 1848, i.,

295 ; elected to first Victorian Legislative Council, 338, 340 ; Minister of

Land and Works, ii., 87.

Jones, C. E., M.L.A., on the Darling Grant, ii., 141.
Jones, Joseph, M.L.A., Minister of Public Works, ii., 185.

KALIZOIC (Esthetical) Society, ii., 265.

Kelly Gang of Bushrangers, ii., 223 et seq.

Kennedy, Thomas, Ballaarat reformer, ii., 32, 34, 35.

Kerferd, G. B., M.L.A., joins Francis Ministry, ii., 162 ; succeeds as Premier,
172 ; resigns, 176 ; joins new McCulloch Ministry, 184 ; Service Ministry,
211 ; Service-Berry Ministry, 241 ; Judge of Supreme Court, 249 ; ap-
pointment vindicated and justified, 250; his death, 250; against Chinese
immigration in case Ah Toy v. Musgrove, 273 ; delegate Federal Conven-
tion, Sydney, 1883, 333.

Kerr, Wm., Town Clerk, Melbourne, his connection with the " Separation
Movement," i., 284 ; edits the Patriot and the Argus, 325 ; drafts " Con-
victs' Prevention Act," 347.

374 INDEX

King, Governor P. G., urges settlement of Port Phillip, i., 25; sanctions re-
moval of establishment to the Derwent, 44 ; with regret, 46.

King, Capt. P. P., accompanied Bourke to Port Phillip and made map, i., 163,
167, 168 ; street in Melbourne named after him, 166.

Kingston, C. C., goes to London to assist in passing Commonwealth Act, ii.,
338.

Knopwood, Rev. B., at Port Phillip, 1803, i., 30 ; sermons, 35.

Kyte, Ambrose, gives £1,000 towards exploring expedition, ii., 105.

LABILLIEBE, P. P., his History of Victoria referred to, i., 42, 149, 398.

Labouchere, Bt. Hon. H. (Lord Taunton), on a proposed Federal Assembly for
Australia, 1857, ii., 330.

Labour and labour questions : Labour immigration, i., 204 ; disorganisation of
labour during gold fever, 374 ; rates of wages, 1856, ii., 71 ; unemployed
provfded for on public works, 100, 101 ; labour and wages ample in 1865,
fallen to a deplorable condition in 1895, 116 ; dearth of labour, 1884-86,
248 ; strikes and labour troubles, 254 ; labour largely concentrated in
Melbourne, 257, 356 ; relief works refused by Gillies, 1890, 278 ; the great
maritime strike, 1890, 278, 288 ; labour diverted into artificial channels,
351 : affected by burdensome duties, 351 ; unemployed, how produced,
352 ; labour organisations representing the people, 257, against State-
assisted immigration, 248 ; Trade Unions' influence, 278 et seq. ; Mel-
bourne Trades Hall Council, 278 ; Amalgamated Miners' Association,
279 ; Shearers' Union, 279 ; Carriers' Union, 279 ; Seamen's Union and
Corinna case, 280 ; Cooks and Stewards, 280 ; Stevedores, 281 ; Carters
and Wharf Labourers, Gas Workers' Unions, 282; Marine Officers' As-
sociation, 280 ; Institute of Marine Engineers refuse to strike, 282 ; gas
supply stopped, Government takes action, 283 ; mass meeting held, 283 ;
H. H. Champion, English labour leader, advising moderation is de-
nounced, 284 ; International Labour Conference (Sydney) orders shearers
to cease work, 284 ; afatuitous step, work generally resumed, 285 ; Marine
Officers withdraw from the Trades Hall Council, 285 ; finances of labour
movements, 287 ; effect of labour strikes, 1893, 291.

Lalor, Peter, Ballaarat reformer, ii., 30, 34 ; chosen leader, 37 ; defends Eureka
Stockade, 40 ; wounded, 41 ; £200 offered for, 44 ; he escapes capture,
45 ; represents Ballaarat in Legislative Council, 46 ; votes for censure of
Hotham and his Ministers, 60; M.L.A., 65; declined knighthood, 161;
Minister of Customs, 183; elected Speaker, 213; voted £4,000 on his
vacating position, 261, 270.

Landells, G. J., second in command Burke's Exploring Expedition, ii., 105 ;
quarrels with leader and returns, 106.

Lands proclaimed Port Phillip, i., 152; surveyed, 157; first sales, 169, 172,
200-213, 391-395 ; land speculation, 1838, 172, 213, 250 ; in 1840, 251 ;
large land grants in Western Australia, 179 ; Crown lands regulations,
N.S.W., 194, 196, 201 ; land grants in N.S.W., 200, 208 ; area alienated,
201 ; fixed prices, 201 ; Special Surveys, 202, abolished, 203 ; Crown Lands
Sales Act, 1842, 203 ; policy of Land Acts of Victoria, 204 ; cultivated land,
1841, 204 ; grazing licences, 204 ; Act of 1846, regulations, 1847, as affecting
the squatters, 206 ; settled, intermediate and unsettled districts, 207 ; land
funds used for immigration purposes, 253 ; land under cultivation, 1851,
305; sales at Geelong, 1837, 311, 312; Wakefield system, 314; public
demand for land, 352, 353 ; Latrobe advises amendment of Orders in
Council, 355; land alienated to squatters under pre-emption claims to
1854, 356 ; British Act repealing that of 1842, gives absolute control of
lands to the colonists, 358 ; land " boom," 1853, 364 ; heavy fall in value,
1854-55, 364; land speculation in the suburbs, 379; cry of "unlock the
lands," 380 ; land out of cultivation during gold fever, 375, 380 ; sales,
1853-54, 690,000 acres, 381 ; grants for University and colleges, 385 ; land
alienated and unsold, 1856, ii., 71 ; land sold at absurdly low price, 100;
source of future troubles, 71 ; Haines' Land Bill, thrown out by Upper

INDEX 375

House, 78 ; Land Convention, 80 ; Service Land Act, 1860, 81-83 ; Heales'
Land Act, 85, 86 ; character of the selectors, 86 ; " Occupation Licences,"
86, 87 ; Duffy Land Act, 1862, 88-90 ; the land revenue and railways,
93 ; Heales' Bill to amend Duffy's and create " poor squatters," 113 ; land
under cultivation, 1865, 116 ; Land Act, 1865, 119 ; its results, 120 ; Land
Act of 1869 (in force until 1878) passed by McPherson Ministry, 152 ;
its provisions, 153 ; lands alienated by these Acts, districts favoured, 153 ;
towns fostered, 154 ; land taxation, 193, 194 ; Commissioners appointed,
195 ; Act passed by Assembly, 195, and by Council, 196 ; Mallee Land Act,
246 ; land under culture, 248 ; land boom of 1888, and its effects, 292 ;
Land Act, 1898, 323; Land Tax proposed, 324; land legislation experi-
mental, 344 ; much settlement makeshift, 345 ; land under cultivation in
1866 and 1900, 351, 355 ; land alienated up to 1900, 355 ; holdings mort-
gaged, 355. See Geelong, Melbourne, Portland, Squatters.

Landsborough, W., expedition in search of Burke and Wills, ii., 110.

Lang, Dr. J. D., on land policy, i., 206; on character of immigrants, 1841-42,
248; elected for P.P. district, 1843, 280; a champion of Separation, 283;
his speech hi N.S.W. Legislative Council, 286, 287; his character and
colonial history, 289 ; visits Melbourne, 290 ; urges new petition to the
Queen, 290 ; is feted, 1846, 292 ; goes to England " a thorn in the cushion "
of the Colonial Minister, 292 ; his Phillipsland quoted, 312, 313 ; and
Presbyterian controversy, 326 ; on the first Legislative Council of Victoria,
341 ; desires Duffy to remain in N.S.W., ii., 68.

Langhorne, George, and Melbourne Aborigines Mission Station, i., 222; buys
allotment, Melbourne, 395.

Langlands, Henry, chairman at mass meeting in Melbourne on the Ballaarat
disturbances, ii., 47.

Langridge, G. D., M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs in Service-Berry Ministry,
ii., 241 ; in Munro Ministry, 289.

Langton, Edward, Free Trader, M.L.A., opposes Darling Grant, ii., 141;
Treasurer in Sladen Ministry, 145 ; in Francis Ministry, 162 ; against
Education Bill, 1867, 164 ; retires from Ministry, 173 ; votes against
Service's Modified Tariff, 175 ; on the Public Finances, 277.

Latrobe, C. J., Superintendent P.P. district, i., 177 ; his instructions, 177 ;
powers, 178 ; arrives Melbourne, 1839, 169, 177, 245 ; character and
early administration, 240 et seq. ; on the aborigines, 228, 231 et seq. ; his
salary 241, 259 ; reception, 241 ; unpropitious elements, 246 ; addresses,
246 ; orders wharves, lighthouse, 246 ; purchases allotment and builds
" Jolimont," 251 ; his modest establishment, 322 ; reserves park lands and
botanic gardens, 256 ; social interests, 257 ; denounced as adverse to
"Separation," 258; receives first mayor and councillors, 266; settles the
Henty claims, 86; opposes Land Act, 1846, 206; welcomes Bp. Perry,
1848, 269; on V.D.L. "Expirees," 272; petition for his recall, 275,
291 ; firm in not allowing convicts to be landed, 275 ; pronounces for
" Separation," but against a representative body, 291 ; denounced by Town
Council, 291 ; shocked at Earl Grey's election to Legislative Council, 294 ;
proclaims Separation Act, 1850, 299 ; goes to Sydney to assist in prepara-
tion of Electoral Bill, 301 ; lays foundation-stone of Princes Bridge, 1846,
and opens it, 1850, 300, 308 ; his services as Superintendent acknowledged by
Earl Grey, 303 ; proclaimed Lieut.-Governor of Victoria, 1851, 302 ; chooses
Executive Council, 340, 341 ; his anxiety and strain during gold fever, 342
et seq. ; ii., 5 et seq. ; suggests export duty on gold, 15 ; consents to Convicts
Prevention Act, i., 347 ; difficulties with the squatters, 352 ; assailed by
the Press as their tool, 353, 354 ; advises Colonial Office to amend Orders
in Council, 355 ; his care for immigrants, 367 ; attacked by Argits, " Wanted
a Governor," 380 ; inaugurates waterworks, 330, 384 ; his efforts on behalf
of Education, the University, Public Library, etc., 386; last four years of
his administration, 387; destructive " metropolitan " criticism, 387 ; resigns,
sends wife and family to England, 388 ; her death, 388 ; his departure for
England, May, 1854, 386 ; leaves Melbourne a well-paved, fairly lighted

376 INDEX

and convenient Metropolis, 384; advises Duffy to go to Australia, ii., 66;
his death, 1875, i., 386.

Le Souef, Wm., Protector of aborigines, i., 230.

Levien, J. P., M.L.A., Minister of Mines, ii., 241.

Liquor, sale prohibited on goldfields, ii., 14; limited number of licenses
issued, 15, 19.

Literature, art, music, science, latent forces for their development, ii., 70, 222,
264, 356 ; imported literature, i., 324. See Press.

Lloyd, G. T., referred to, i., 110, 160 ; searches for Gellibrand and Hesse, 161.

Loans. See Debt, Education, Railways, Water Supply.

Local Government (Municipal), i., 279, 309, 384 ; ii., 74 ; borrowing, i., 381 ;
Local Government Act, 1874 : Municipalities, shires, road boards, manage-
ment, powers, etc., ii., 173 ; illegal borrowing, 174 ; Municipal Councillors'
Indemnity Act, 174 ; mining and other towns and their populations, 1875,
177 ; subsidies to, 260. See Debt, Geelong, Melbourne, etc.

Loch, Henry Brougham, Lord Loch, Governor, 1884-89, ii., 251 ; on Federation,
general prosperity, etc., 1886, 257 ; opens and closes Exhibition, 1888, 266 ;
visits England, 1889, 269 ; High Commissioner South Africa, 274.

London, foundering of the, in Bay of Biscay, ii., 136.

Longmore, Francis, M.L.A., joins Duffy Ministry, ii., 157; in Berry's Cabinet,
213 ; and Irish disloyalty, 232 ; loses seat, 237.

Lonsdale, Capt. Wm., police magistrate, and Superintendent of the Settlement,
1836-39, i., 153-178 ; street in Melbourne named after him, 166 ; favours
name of " Glenelg " for that town, 165 ; appointed treasurer, 251 ;
President Mechanics' Institute, 257 ; sells his allotment to Croke, 260 ;
interim-Mayor of Melbourne, 1842, 266; Secretary Executive Council,
340; retires, 359; ii., 59.

Lorimer, Sir James, M.L.C., Minister of Defence, ii., 253 ; attends Colonial
Conference, London, 1887, 268.

Lome, Marquis of, Governorship offered to, ii., 251.

Lowe, Robert (Viscount Sherbrooke), and pastoral lands, i., 207 ; speaks and
votes for Separation of Port Phillip, 288 ; suggests low franchise in
Australian Government Bill, 1850, 298 ; criticises Australian Constitu-
tions Bill, 1855, 362 ; advises Duffy to go to Australia, ii., 66.

Loyalty of Colonists attested by Trollope, Forbes, Froude, Davitt, ii., 339 ;
evinced during visit of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, 150 ; during
South African War, 342 ; of Australian Natives Association, 340.

Lyttelton, Lord, and the Australian Government Bill, 1850, i., 298.

McAiJSTEB, Lachlan, purchases Melbourne allotment, 1837, i., 392 ; sends
McMillan with stock to Gippsland, 1839, 317.

McArthur, D. G., opens branch of Bank of Australasia, i., 171 ; on Committee
of Finance, 1854, 383.

Macarthur, Major-Gen. Sir Edward, administers Government on death of
Hotham, ii., 62.

Macartney, H. B., Dean of Melbourne, his arrival, 1848, i., 269.

Macbain, Sir James, President L.C., succeeds Higinbotham as President of
Exhibition Commissioners, 1888, ii., 268.

McColl, J. H., M.L.A., £2,500 voted to his family, ii., 261.

McCombie, Thomas, and P.P. Gazette, i., 325; advises against election of
Members for Legislative Council, 1848, 292, 295; proposes Earl Grey,
293 ; on Gold-finding Committee, 337 ; animosity to Latrobe, 387.

M'Crae, Andrew M., his connection with the " Separation Movement," i., 284.

McCrae, G. G., reference to his legends of the aborigines, i., 216.

McCulloch, Sir James, action in relation to transportation to Western
Australia, i., 277; elected M.L.A., ii., 65; Member of Committee on
Federation, 1857, 331 ; with Haines forms his first Ministry, 76 ; joins
Nicholson Ministry with Service, 81 ; and anti-Chinese legislation, 1862,
234 ; forms new Ministry, 91 ; under Sir Charles Darling virtual ruler of
Victoria, 112 ; attitude towards Protection, 119 ; tacks Tariff to Appropria-

INDEX 377

tion Bill, 122 et seq. ; sends it again to Upper House separately but with
aggressive preamble, appeals to country, returned with increased majority,
128 ; Tariff Bill again sent up and rejected, 130 ; crusade against the
press, 131 ; fears publication of Colonial Office correspondence, 132 ; and
the " Darling Grant," 141 et seq. ; refuses to submit to dictation and
resigns, 145 ; after interval of two months forms new Ministry, 145 ;
supersedes McPherson who joins him, 1870, 154 ; his growing conser-
vatism, 154 ; divorced from Higinbotham no longer the popular idol, 155 ;
his squatting interests, 155 ; overthrown by the Protectionist Party, 156 ;
knighted, 160; Agent-General and K.C.M.G., 160; attitude towards
Education Bill, 1867, 164 ; votes against Service's Modified Tariff Budget,
175 ; on Payment of Members, 180 ; on increase in expenditure, ousts
Berry and forms new Ministry, 1875, 184 ; scene with Higinbotham, 185 ;
his Budget, 186 ; withdraws proposal for land, property and income, taxes,
186 ; his " Iron Hand " government, 186 ; denounced by Berry and his
colleagues as a traitor to the popular cause, etc., 187 ; stops " Stone-
walling " with the Iron Hand, 188 ; leaves Victoria, 252, 331.

McCulloch, Wm., M.L.A., Minister of Defence, Turner Ministry, ii., 321.

Macedon, Mt., discovered and named by Mitchell, 1836, i., 94 ; ascended by
Gov. Bourke, 167 ; its present aspect and associations, 168.

Mackay, Angus, Minister of Mines, ii., 162.

McKean, James, M.L.A., expelled for reflection upon members, ii., 190.

M'Killop, G., excursion into Gippsland, 1835, i., 396 ; attends first public
meeting Melbourne, 1836, 150.

McKinlay, John, expedition in search of Burke and Wills, ii., 110.

McLean, Allan, Minister of Lands, Munro Ministry, ii., 289 ; displaces Turner
Ministry, 1899, 321, 326.

Macleay, Alex., Colonial Secretary, speaks in N.S.W. Legislative Council
against Separation of Port Phillip, i., 288 ; eventually votes for it, 291.

Macleay, George, accompanies Sturt, 1829, i., 69.

McLellan, Wm., Minister of Mines, ii., 185.

McMillan, Angus, discovers Gippsland, i., 317-321; Lakes Victoria and
Wellington, Rivers Nicholson, Mitchell, Avon, McAlister, and Glengarry
(Latrobe), names country "Caledonia Australis," 1839-40, 318.

McPherson, J. A., forms Ministry, ii., 152 ; passes Land Act, 1869, and is put
out, 154 ; joins McCulloch, 1870, as Minister of Lands, 155.

Madden, Frank, M.L.A., ii., 324.

Madden, Sir John, Minister of Justice in McCulloch Ministry, ii., 185 ; in
Service Ministry, 211 ; Chief Justice, 317 ; Lieut.-Governor, 326.

Mails overland to Sydney, etc., and by sea in 1837-39, i., 169, 170, 175;
between Melbourne and Europe, 328, 329.

Mallee district visited by Gov. Hopetoun, ii., 275 ; increased settlement of,
323 ; Mallee Land Act, 246 ; Mildura, 159. See Irrigation.

Manhood Suffrage introduced, i., 363.

Manifolds, settlers, Geelong district, i., 176.

Manners-Sutton, Sir J. H. (Viscount Canterbury), Governor, ii., 135; Disraeli
on his fitness, 135 ; opens Parliament, Jan., 1867, 137 ; the Darling Grant
and " deadlock," 142 ; advises concurrence in the vote, 143 ; accepts
McCulloch's resignation, communicates with Fellows and Sladen, 145 ;
refuses dissolution to Duffy, 161 ; his judicial impartiality, 178 ; returns
to England, March, 1878, 178.

Manufactories, i., 256 ; manufacturing to be promoted by Parliament, ii., 114 ;
manufactories, mills and machinery, 1865, 116 ; local manufactures at
Exhibitions, 1866, 220; foreign exhibits, 1880, 221; artificial industries
restrict real production, 293 ; Factories Acts, 322. See Protection.

Marine Board, ii., 254.

Maryborough town, ii., 21; fetes Gov. Hotham, i., 389; railway, ii., 177.

Meagher, Irish rebel, i., 292 ; ii., 68.

Melbourne, site of, surveyed by Grimes, 1803, i., 26, 97 ; reserved as village
by Batman, June, 1835, 97, 111; founders and founding of, 97-127; its

378 INDEX

appearance in 1835, 121 ; first house built, 122 ; Fawkner arrives, 129 ;
Gellibrand sees about a dozen huts, Jan., 1836, 141; "the Settlement,"

1836, 145 ; first clerical service, 146, 147 ; first " case " and award, 148 ;
first magistrate arrives, 148 ; settlement called Bearbrass (?), Bearhurp (?),
also " Batmania," 149, 165 ; its first recorded population, statistics of
stock, etc., 149 ; township plotted, 157 ; first census, 158 ; first banquet,
158 ; site visited, 1837, streets and town laid out, and named by Gov.
Bourke after the Prime Minister, " Melbourne," that at the Port after
the King, " Williams town," 165-168; first and second sales of town lots,

1837, 209-212, 391-395; value of these in 1890, 212; third sale held at
Sydney, 1838, 213; town visited by Backhouse, 1837, 170; by Lady
Franklin, aboriginal corroboree held, 1839, 173 ; population, buildings,
suburbs, churches, club, on arrival of Latrobe, 1839, 169, 242-245 ; first
immigrants from Great Britain, 247 ; Melbourne Harbour Trust, Me-
chanics' Institute and Athenaeum, Hospital, 257 ; town incorporated,
1842, 257 ; its original boundaries and Constitution, 263-268 ; Supreme
Court established, 1841, 258 ; new building opened, 262 ; contrast with
present palatial Courts, 263 ; old burial ground, 263 ; first Mayoral pro-
cession, 266 ; first rate struck, Is. in the £, 266 ; distraint against defaulters,
267 ; rate lowered, 267, suspended, 268, and improvements stopped, 268 ;
6d. rate levied, 1845, 268; Town Hall, present site granted, 1849, 268;
erected into Bishopric, 1848, 258, 268 ; first Election, contest of members
for Legislative Council, N.S.W., wars of " Orange and Green,"
Riot Act read, 281 ; martial law proclaimed, 282 ; Chronicles of
Early Melbourne, by Edmund Finn quoted, 283, etc. ; Earl Grey elected
member for N.S.W. Legislative Council, 294 ; great demonstrations on
receipt of news of the " Separation Act," fancy dress ball, Princes Bridge
opened, etc., 299, 300; the gaol, 306; Public Library and National
Gallery, 306 ; Working Men's College, 306 ; Yarra punts and Princes
Bridges, 306-309 ; Post and Government Offices, Custom House, etc., 309 ;
social aspects, 1845-51, 321 et seq. ; under disadvantages — water supply,
want of system of sewerage, 329, 330; inundations of the Yarra, 329 ;
effects of " Black Thursday," 333 ; adult male population drawn to gold-
fields, 1851-52, 365 ; Melbourne as affected by the influx of population,
social derangements, the overcrowded town, temporary immigrants'
homes, Canvas Town, 366-375 ; building operations in town and suburbs,
368 ; congestion of goods at wharves, 370, 377 ; stranded families, extor-
tionate prices, storage of luggage, 370 ; sales by the impecunious, and " Rag
Fair," 371 ; dissipation among Fortune's devotees, 372 ; public-houses,
372 ; streets at night, 372 ; inquests during 1853, 373 ; streets by day,
drays, waggons, bullock teams, startling orgies, 373 ; diggers' weddings,
374 ; theatres, concerts, dancing, circus and other amusements, 374 ;
busy merchants, 374 ; disorganisation of labour, 374 ; cost of living, 375 ;
commercial troubles, 375 ; auctioneering, 377 ; Corporation indebtedness
begun, 381 ; in 1854, well-paved, well-lighted and a convenient Metro-
polis, 384 ; Exhibition, 1854, ii., 220 ; excitement caused by Ballaarat
riots, 46 ; troops asked for from Tasmania, 46 ; mass meetings held, 47 ;
gas-works inaugurated, 61 ; first Election under responsible government,
63 ; rates of wages, 1856, 71 ; open-air meetings in Eastern Market,
invasion of Legislative Chambers, etc., 83, 84 ; progress of the city
between 1856 and 1862, 97 ; demonstrations against Legislative Council,
1867, 144; visit of Prince Alfred, 150; Exhibition, 1880 (q.v.), opened
221; the era of extravagance, 253 et seq.; public buildings, 260; man-
sions, extravagant house decoration, 263 ; luxurious living, 264 ; Centen-
nial Exhibition, 1888, gives impetus to artistic side of Melbourne life,
music, painting, etc., 264 et seq.; sobriety and order of the crowds, 266;
effects of speculation and land boom of 1888, 291 et seq. : population
attracted and rise in values of houses and land, 294; inauguration of the
Commonwealth, 1st Jan., 1901, 328; too many people congregated in th«
Metropolis, 356.

INDEX 379

Mercer, Major George, Member of P.P. Association, i., 102; his shares,
131 ; selection of land, 133, 144, 145 ; his mission to England and his
correspondence with Lord Glenelg, etc., 182 etseq. ; purchases Melbourne
allotment, 1837, 393 ; presides at " Separation" meeting, Melbourne, 13th
May, 1840, 283 ; one of deputation to London, 1841, 285.

Metropolitan Board of Works (Melbourne), ii., 254.

Michie, Archibald, defends Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50 ; elected M.L.A., 65 ;
Member of Federation Committee, 1857, 331 ; joins McCulloch Ministries,
76, 91 ; anti-Protectionist, 119 ; supports Protectionist Tariff, 121 ; rejected
at poll, 128 ; Attorney-General in McCulloch Ministry, 1870, 154 ; Agent-
General, 1874; knighted, 1878, 161 ; fathers Education Bill, 1858, 162.

Military, first contingent under Capt. Lonsdale, i., 156 ; increased under
Latrobe, 244 ; during gold fever, pensioners spared from Tasmania, and
regiment sent from England, 344 ; invoked to keep Hotham's official
regulations, 390 ; military sent to Bendigo, ii., 17 ; more troops asked for
from Tasmania, 17 ; troops sent to Ballaarat, 33 ; attacked on their en-
trance to town, 34 ; cavalry charge the crowd, 37 ; Eureka Stockade cap-
tured, 41-43 ; N.S.W. contingent sent to Soudan, 1884, 340, 341 ; various
contingents sent to South Africa, 1900, 342. See Defences.

Miller, Henry, wealthy colonist, elected first Victorian Legislative Council,
i., 340 ; on Committee to formulate Bill for New Constitution, 360 ; Chair-
man Bank of Victoria, ii., 95 ; attends Melbourne mass meeting on
Ballaarat disturbances, 37 ; opposes Haines' Land Bill, 78 ; Commissioner
of Customs, 79 ; joins McCulloch Ministry, 91.

Mining on private property, ii., 246; on waste lands, 10. See Goldfields
Management.

Ministries. See Government, Responsible; also Haines, O'Shanassy, Nicholson,
Hsales, McCulloch, Sladen, McPherson, Duffy, Francis, Kerferd, Berry,
Service, O'Loghlen, Gillies, Munro, Shiels, Patterson, Turner, McLean.

Mitchel, John, Irish rebel, i., 292 ; ii., 68.

Mitchell, Sir Thomas, expedition to Australia Felix, 1836, i., 81, 87-95, 334 ;
" The Major's Line " becomes the Overlanders' route, 175 ; on the abori-
gines, 217; candidate for P.P. district, 1843, 280; the Mallee country,
ii., 246.

Molesworth, Robert, prosecutes Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50 ; Solicitor-General, 59 ;
judge, i., 323.

Moor, Henry, Member Melbourne Town Council, i., 267 ; proposes its abolition,
267 ; elected mayor, 267.

Municipal affairs. See Local Government.

Munro, James, financier, M.L.A., proposes vote of want of confidence in Gillies
Ministry, ii., 276 ; leads Opposition, 277 ; on the maritime strike of 1890,
286 ; forms Ministry, 289 ; takes Agent-Generalship, 289 ; his connection
with the Real Estate Bank, 308 ; and Federal Bank, 310 ; his recall, 317.

Murchison, Sir R., on gold in Australia, 1844, ii., 1.

Murphy, Francis, elected Speaker Legislative Assembly, ii., 69 ; re-elected,
114, 129 ; knighted, 161.

Murray, Lieut. John, with the Lady Nelson at Western Port, Dec., 1801,
with Lieut. Bowen discovers Port Phillip, Jan. and Feb., 1802, i., 19-23.

Murray (Hume) River discovered by Hume and Hovell, 1824, i., 54 ; recrossed,
60 ; Sturt's voyage down the river to the sea, 1830, 71-75 ; Mitchell's
journey up the river from the Darling, 1836, 89 ; recrossed, 94.
Murrumbidgee, crossed by Hume and Hovell, 1824, i., 52 ; proposed as
boundary for P.P. district by Lord John Russell, 285 ; and for new
colony of Victoria by Westgarth, 1851, 302.

NAYLOB, Rev. Mr., goes in search of Gellibrand and Hesse, i., 162.
Nelson, gold-ship, robbery, i., 345, 346.
New Caledonia and convicts, ii., 247.

Newcastle, Duke of, disallows " Convicts Prevention Act," i., 348 ; leaves
colony to revise its own land laws, 355, 356 ; against constituting any

380 INDEX

colony the seat of supreme government in Australia, 358 ; on claims of
the squatters, 388 ; on Governor's salary, ii., 91.

New Guinea, annexed by Queensland, 1883, ii., 246, 333 ; Germany takes N.E.
part, 247.

New Hebrides and the French, ii., 246, 247, 333.

New South Wales, limits of the territory, i., 136. See Western Port, Port
Phillip and Portland Bay Districts, Separation, Victoria, Colony of;
stock from Sydney side, 147 ; population from Sydney side, 285 ; during the
gold fever, 365 ; attitude of her statesmen towards Federation, 327 et seq. ;
joins the Commonwealth, ii., 337. See Barton, Dalley, Dibbs, Parkes, Reid.

Newspapers. See Press.

Newtown, suburb of Melbourne. See Collingwood and Fitzroy, i., 243, 264.

Nicholson, Dr. Sir Charles, elected for P.P. district, 1843, i., 280; speaks in
favour of " Separation," 288.

Nicholson, Wm., i., 323; joins Anti-transportation League, 276; on Gold-
finding Committee, 337 ; defeated for first Victorian Legislauive Council,
338 ; on Committee to formulate Bill for New Constitution, 360 ; proposes
vote by ballot for Parliamentary Elections, ii., 61; commissioned to
form Ministry, 61 ; fails to do so but carries the vote, 62 ; defeats Chap-
man Ministry, forms new one with McCulloch, Service and Fellows, 81.

Nickle, Sir Robert, Commander of Forces, goes to Ballaarat, ii., 36; proclaims
military law and restores order, 46 ; his death, 62.

Nimmo, John, Minister of Public Works, ii., 253.

Norman, Capt., in the Victoria sent to rescue of diggers at Port Curtis, ii., 99 ;
takes party to Gulf of Carpentaria in search of Burke and Wills, 110.

Normanby, Marquis of, Governor, ii., 208; his administration, 210; opens
International Exhibition, 1880, 221 ; his term closed, 1884, 251.

O'BBIEN, Smith, Irish rebel, i., 292; ii., 68.

O'Grady, M.L.A., against proposal, Education Commission, 1867, ii., 164.

O'Loghlen, Sir Bryan, Attorney- General in Berry Ministry, ii., 195, 202 ; con-
sulted by Gov. Bowen on its irregular financial proceedings, 201; and
reform of Legislative Council, 205 ; Acting Premier and attitude towards
Argus, 208 ; carries vote against Berry, 216 ; forms Ministry, 217 ; his
weak and colourless administration, 230; against Irish disloyalty, 232;
and anti-Chinese legislation, 235; obtains dissolution, loses seat, 237;
Ministry wound up by J. M. Grant, 239 ; re-elected for Belfast, 274 ; on
the maritime strike, 286 ; Attorney-General in Patterson Ministry, 318.

Omeo district, i., 317, 396 ; goldfields, ii., 7, 8.

Orton, Rev. Joseph, Wesleyan Minister, conducts first clerical service at
settlement on site of Melbourne, i., 146.

O'Shanassy, John, i., 323, 339, 340 ; on Goldfinding Committee, 337 ; on
opening the land for settlement, 354; attends mass meetings in Mel-
bourne on Ballaarat disturbances, ii., 47 ; member of Goldfields Commis-
sion, 53 ; his advice sought by Hotham, 55 ; opposes ballot, 61 ; member
for Kilmore, first Legislative Assembly, 63 ; welcomes Duffy, 67 ; formally
presents him with a retaining fee of £5,000, 68; in Opposition, 73;
on Federation Committee, 1857, 330; defeats Haines, forms his first
Ministry, 75; defeated, 76; opposes Haines' Land Bill, 78; joins Chap-
man Ministry, 79 ; which is defeated, 81 ; forms new Ministry, 88 ; resigns,
90; Chairman of Colonial Bank, 95; assists railway loan of 1858, 95;
again in Opposition, 114 ; protests against tacking Tariff to Appropria-
tion Bill, 123; knighted, 1874, 161; opposes Heales' Education Bill,
1862, 163 ; opposes Service on Education matters, 212, 238 ; and Berry,
213 ; against Irish disloyalty, 232 ; loses seat, 237 ; his thirty-two years'
active political career, 237 ; death, 238.

Outtrim, A. R., M.L.A., joins Munro Ministry, ii., 289.

Ovens River discovered by Hume and Hovell, 1824, i., 55 ; diggings, ii., 8.

Owens, Dr., Bendigo, speaks at Melbourne on behalf of the diggers, ii., 47.

Oxley, Lieut., and Lieut. Robbins examine Western Port, i., 46,

INDEX 381

PALMBB, Dr. J. F., i., 323 ; Mayor of Melbourne and Speaker of first Victorian
Legislative Council, 840, 342 ; and Royal Commission Report on Squat-
ting tenure, 358; with Gov. Hotham receives Ballaarat deputation, ii.,
32; and Foster, 55; M.L.C., 65; President L.C., 69; knighted, 161.

Parker, E. S., Protector of the aborigines, i., 217, 224 ; his N.W. district, 226;
his reports, 233 ; on numbers of natives and whites killed, 235.

Parkes, Sir Henry, invites Duffy to N.S.W., ii., 67 ; presses him to remain, 68 ;
attitude on the Chinese question, 271 ; speaks in Melbourne on Federal
Union, 1867, 332; submits draft of Bill for Federal Council, 1881, 332;
his article in Melbourne Review, Oct., 1879, advocates a Parliamentary
Union for N.S.W., Victoria and South Australia, 332 ; suggests Con-
vention, 334 ; denounces sending contingent to the Soudan, 341.

Parliament. See Government, Responsible.

Pasley, Capt., M.L.C., Minister of Public Works, ii., 59.

Pastoral interests recognised by Gov. Bourke, i., 137, 138; ruined in 1842,
254 ; revived by " boiling-down " process, 1845, 255 ; Wool Lien Bill
enacted, 283. See Squatters.

Patronage, political, ii., 349. See Duffy, Higinbotham, Service.

Patterson, J. B., M.L.A., Minister of Public Works, ii., 183; and Irish
disloyalty, 231 ; on exit of O'Loghlen Ministry, 240 ; Premier, 1893, 290,
318 ; ineptitude of his Ministry during banking crisis, 1893, 314 ;
knighted, 318 ; Minister of Public Works during strike of 1890, 318 ; de-
feated at poll, 1894, 320; resigns, 321.

Payment of Members, ii., 87; £150, £300 and £500 per annum proposed,
180; the "Keystone of democracy," 181 ; "the general question," 181;
Bills thrown out by Legislative Council, 181 ; Select Committee reports,
182 ; Act passed, 1870, 182 ; renewed for three years, 1874, 182 ; subject
comes up again, 1877-78, causes deadlock, 196 et sey. ; Act passed
authorising payment to present Parliament, 202 ; Act passed for Payment
of Members of Assembly only, 214 ; its weak spot, 348.

Peacock, A. J., M.L.A., Chief Secretary Turner Ministry, ii., 321.

Pearson, C. H., historian and critic, member of Berry Ministry, and " Em-
bassy," ii., 206 et seq. ; Minister of Education, 253 ; Secretary to Agent-
General, 318.

Penal Department (Victoria) reformed, ii., 102, 103, 104. See Crime.

Penal Laws of England in 1786, i., 1. See Transportation.

Pender, Michael, purchases town allotment, Melbourne, for £19, 1837, i., 392 ;
sold in 1877 for £33,000, 212.

Perry, Bp., his arrival in Melbourne, 1848, i., 268 ; his irrational spirit and
antipathy to Roman Catholicism, 269 ; retires 1874, 270.

Phillip, Arthur, appointed Governor of Convict Settlement, N.S.W., i., 2, 3;
takes command of the First Fleet, 4.

Pioneers, Letters of, published by Trustees of Melbourne Public Library,
1899, i., 146, 174, 238.

Pohlman, R. W., i., 323; judge, returning officer P.P., 1848, returns writ for
district "no Election," for Melbourne "Earl Grey," 293; Member
Executive Council, 1851, 340.

Police, i., 279, 282 ; half the force deserts to goldfields, 344 ; owing to increase
of crime increased police protection demanded, 347 ; expenditure, 1852-54,
382 ; police venality on goldfields, ii., 11, 14, 26, 28 ; force at Ballaarat
strengthened, 32; cut down rioters, 34, 36; their conduct described as
" brutal," 43 ; police force in Melbourne, Dec., 1854, 48, 49 ; police and
the Kelly gang, 229. See Crime.

Population : first census, 1836, i., 158 ; 1836, 209 ; 1841, 204 ; population on
arrival of Bp. Perry, 1848, 269 ; character and distribution of, 1851,
304, 305, 306 ; influx during " gold " period, 1852-54, 364 et seq. ; at the
arrival (1839) and at departure (1854) of Gov. Latrobe, 388; 1856, ii., 70 ; 1857
and 1863, 100; 1875, 176; mining population in 1858 and 1861, 98;
aggregate population, 1886 (one million), 257 ; 1891, 336 ; 43 per cent.
in Melbourne and suburbs, 116 ; no real increase 1895-1900, 323 ; popula-
tion needed, 356.

382 INDEX

Port Albert (Alberton), i., 207, 269, 316 ; visited 1841 by McMillan, 319 ; and by
Orr's party, 321.

Port Phillip, discovered, surveyed and taken possession of by Lieut. Murray
and Mr. Bowen in the Lady Nelson, Feb. and March, 1802, i., 20, 21, 22;
entered and surveyed by Flinders in the Investigator, April and May,
1802, 23, 24 ; its shores surveyed by Lieut. Bobbins and Surveyor Grimes,
Jan. and Feb., 1803, 25 ; eligible settlement on the Yarra, 26, 46 ;
abortive convict settlement on shores of, 1803, 27-46.

Port Phillip Association, its objects and plans, i., 102, 131; Batman "purchases"
country on northern and western shores from blacks, 108, 109 ; opposi-
tion to claims, 132 ; stock brought from V.D.L., 140 141, 142 ; pro-
claimed trespassers, 136 ; claims ignored by Bourke, 157 ; Mercer's negotia-
tions in England, 145, 182, etc. ; legal opinions of Lushington, 188, 189 ;
of Burge, 191, 192 ; its proceedings and collapse, 179-194. See Batman,
Gellibrand, Mercer, Wedge.

Port Phillip District, character and prospects of settlers, 1836, i., 154, 155 ;
opinions of the Sydney and Launceston Press, 159, 309 ; visited by Gov.
Bourke, March, 1837, 163-168; a Lieut. -Govern or, Judge and establish-
ment recommended, 168, 169 ; population, 1837, 209 ; Supreme Court
opened, 1841, 258; main provisions of the Constitution Act of N.S.W.,
1842, 278, 279 ; six representatives from district chosen, 1843, 258 ; several
resignations and vacancies filled, 282 ; at next Election, 1848, no candidates
proposed, 293 ; Earl Grey elected for Melbourne, 294 ; fresh writ issued,
Geelong the place of nomination, 295 ; Australian Government Act, 1850,
passed separating district from N.S.W. and formation of the colony of
Victoria (q.v.), 296-302; in 1850 "avast sheep walk," 316; self-govern-
ment in July, 1851, ends the romantic era of the colony's existence, 334,
335 ; fifty years after, ii., 327. See Melbourne, Portland Bay, Separation,
Western Port, etc.

Portland Bay, whalers at, 1832, i., 77 ; arrival of the Hentys in 1834, 77 ;
visited by Mitchell, 1836, 81, 93 ; by Wedge, 127 ; acts of aggression upon
aborigines, 184 ; the outlet for district between the Wannon and Glenelg,
315; Portland town surveyed and land sales, 1839-40, 85, 86, 207, 269,
314 ; officials appointed, 314. See Henty family.

Presbyterian bodies, i., 326 ; their union, 326.

Press, pugnacity of, i., 262-266; attitude towards transportation, 275; Sydney
press denounce P.P. Association, 180; press panegyrics on Latrobe,
241 ; denunciations of him, 258, 302 ; of Melbourne Corporation, 266 ;
issues stopped during rejoicings for five days on receipt of " Separation
Act," 300 ; power of press, 325 ; on the gold discovery, 338 ; goads the
Government into expenditure, 381 ; journalistic nagging against Latrobe,
388 ; press and mining centres, ii., 21 ; ungenerous taunts towards Latrobe
and Hotham, 73. Early newspapers : Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston,
V.D.L., Fawkner), i., 159, 166; Sydney Gazette, 159; True Colonist (Hobart),
160 ; Melbourne Advertiser (Fawkner), 170, merged in P.P. Patriot (Bour-
siquot), 241, 263, 324 ; P.P. Gazette (Arden, McCombie), 170, 241, 266,
324, 325; P.P. Herald (Cavenagh), 266,309, 324; Argus (Kerr, Edward
Wilson, Higinbotham), 242, 275, 325, 340, 347 ; Geelong Advertiser, 313 ;
Diggers' Advocate, ii., 30. See Age, Argus.

Price, John, Inspector Penal Department, murder of, ii., 103.

Privy Council, Judge Willis' appeal, i., 261 ; case Ah Toy v. Musgrove, ii.,
273 ; Right of Appeal to P.O. under Commonwealth Act, 338.

Produce, exports of, 1851, i., 305 ; 1852-54, 380 ; 1885-91, ii., 297 ; 1898-99, 324 ;
1900, butter, wine, wheat, rabbits, etc., 353-355. See Agriculture, Gold,
Imports, Wheat, Wool.

Protection : Customs Tariff, simplicity of, during gold fever, 1852-54, i., 377 ;
protection to native industry, and its advocates, 1864-65, ii., 115; its
results in Victoria, 1895, 116 ; causing 45 per cent, of the population to
gravitate to Melbourne and suburbs, 117 ; protection most needed by the
operatives : Factory Acts, Wages Boards and Courts of Arbitration, 117 ;

INDEX 383

under protection the Government regarded as the mainstay of all industry,
118 ; Tariff tacked to Appropriation Bill, 123 ; sent up separately, 129 ;
but with aggressive preamble, and rejected by Legislative Council caus-
ing deadlock, 130 ; Protectionist Party overthrows McCulloch Ministry,
156 ; its failure, 172 ; Service seeks to reduce Tariff, 174-176 ; his speech
on the Protectionists' policy, 238 ; Border duties and Customs Officers,
Tariff wars and Riparian rights, 327 ; Protection deposed colony from
pride of position in Australia, 350 ; fallen behind the mother-colony in
1896, 351 ; its main results to the masses, 352. See Berry, Free Trade,
Government (Responsible), McCulloch, Manufactures.

Public Service, The, ii., 242 ; Commissioners, 243 ; a growing incubus, 259 ; cost
in 1889, 260; percentage reduction of wages and salaries, 319. See
Patronage, Railways.

Public Works, revenue devoted to, i., 341, 382, 384 ; works accomplished, 1856,
ii., 70 ; unemployed engaged on, 100, 101 ; Government Offices, Parlia-
ment Houses, Law Courts, Governor's Residence, Schools, Royal Mint,
Graving Dock, etc., 176, 260. See Melbourne Harbour Trust, Railways,
Telegraphs, Waterworks.

RABBITS, eradication, ii., 353 ; now a source of profit, 354.

Raffaelo, Carboni, Ballaarat rebel, ii., 81, 38 ; prisoner, 44 ; acquitted, 50.

Railways : Melbourne and Hobson's Bay, Geelong and Melbourne, Melbourne
and Mt. Alexander, i., 385 ; Report of Committee and progress of, from
1855, ii., 92 et seq. ; cost in 1858, 95 ; servants and trades unions, 96 ;
opening of lines to Ballaarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo), 1862, 96 ; exten-
sions— North-Eastern, Bendigo and Echuca, Ballaarat to Clunes, Mary-
borough and Dunolly, Ballaarat to Ararat, Geelong to Colac, Melbourne to
Sale, 1875, 177 ; proposed new lines, 236 ; management, 1862, 242 ; under
Commissioners, 245 ; accident at Windsor, 245 ; through line to Sydney,
1883, 249 ; increasing expenditure, 248, 260 ; Railway Bill (Gillies) and
Standing Committee to consider new lines estimated to cost £41,000,000,
276 ; Commissioners suspended, 316 ; and compensated, 317 ; control and
management, 349-350 ; loans, 93, 94, 95, 188, 238, 248, 275, 296, 349 ; loss
in working, 96, 116, 177, 350.

Ramsay, Robert, Minister of Education, ii. , 185.

Read, C. Rudston, Assistant Goldfields Commissioner, ii., 11.

Rede, Robert, Goldfields Commissioner, ii., 26, 34, 36, 38.

Referendum proposed, ii., 324.

Reform League (Ballaarat) and its chief articles, ii., 29 ; efforts to avoid
bloodshed, 38 ; mass meetings, Melbourne, 47 ; its Radical programme,
48 ; all demands in time conceded, 51 ; new Reform Association, 63 ; its
demands, 64 ; continued agitation in the Metropolis, 80 ; People's Con-
vention, 79, 82 ; Loyal Liberal Convention, 144 ; Reform and Protection
League, 191, 209.

Reid, G. H., Premier, N.S.W., summons other Premiers to Hobart, Feb.,
1895, ii., 336 ; Federal Enabling Bill passed, 337.

Religion, services and places of worship in Melbourne, 1838-39, i., 170 ; hold
of the pulpit, 325 ; Nonconformist opposition to State aid, 361 ; £50,000
conserved in New Constitution Act, 1855, 363, ii., 70; State aid ex-
tinguished, 1874, 155. See Churches, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic,
Wesleyan.

Reserves, parks and gardens, i., 256.

Revenue. See Finance.

Roadknight, Thomas and Wm., early settlers, i., 150, 151, 176, 394, 395.

Robbins, Lieut., examines Port Phillip, discovers the Yarra, 1803, i., 26 ;
reports it eligible for settlement, 48.

Robertson Brothers, members of the P.P. Association, i., 102 ; their allotment,
134 ; visit their domain, 140 ; walk around Geelong Harbour, 143.

Robinson, G. A., and the remnant of Tasmanian aborigines, i., 223.

Robinson, J. P., represents Melbourne in Legislative Council, N.S.W., 1844,
i., 282 ; speaks in favour of separation of P.P., 288.

384 INDEX

Robinson, Sir Wm., Acting Governor, ii., 270.

Robson, Robert, journal of Batman's expedition, i., 104, 110.

Rolfe, George, Minister of Customs, ii., 152 ; defeats Mr. Byrne, 152.

Roman Catholic immigrants, i., 249; interests of, 281; and the Orangemen,
325 ; education, ii., 166, 170 ; Dr. Quinn reconciles Duffy and O'Shanassy,
87. See Geoghegan, O'Shanassy, Smyth.

Royal Society of Victoria, ii., 97 ; and Burke Expedition, ii., 105 et seq.

Rucker, W. F. A., agent Derwent Bank, i., 170 ; buys Melbourne lot, 394.

Rusden referred to, i., 110, 112, 148, 257, 284.

Russell, Lord John (Earl), on Henty claims, i., 86; Melbourne Street named
after, 166 ; on land policy, 205, 206, 254 ; on transportation, 270 ; Mel-
bourne meeting denounces his Government, 275 ; on division of the
territory, 284 ; and boundaries, 285 ; on Australian Colonies Bill, 1849,
298 ; introduces new Bill, 1850, 298 ; Dr. Lang on his land policy, 312,
313 ; on a Federal House of Delegates, 1849, ii., 329 ; on a General
Assembly, 1853, 329. See Grey, Earl.

Russell, Robert, surveyor at Port Phillip, i., 156; plots township, 157 ; Mel-
bourne in 1839, 242 ; on financial troubles, 1842-43, 254.

Rutledge, W., squatter, M.L.C., his " Special " Survey (Kilmore), i., 263 ;
carries resolution on Crown leases, 354.

SABQOOD, Sir Frederick, M.L.C., Minister of Defence, ii., 241, 289.

Separation of P.P. District from N.S.W., agitation begun, i., 247, 283 ; La-
trobe denounced as adverse to, 258 ; movement stimulated by a sense of
injustice, 278 ; championed by Dr. Lang, 283 ; first petition to House of
Commons, 1840, 283 ; petition to the Queen, 1841, 285 ; movement
favoured by Lord John Russell, opposed by Lord Stanley [Earl of Derby],
285 ; league formed and petitions presented from all public bodies and
inhabitants generally, 286 ; Lang's motion in Legislative Council, 286,
287 ; debate thereon, speeches of Lowe and others, motion rejected, 288 ;
Lang urges new petition to the Queen, signed by six representatives,
handed to Gipps, is forwarded to Lord Stanley, who requests a recon-
sideration of the subject, report on boundaries, form of government, etc.,
290 ; Latrobe pronounces in favour of Separation, is against a representa-
tive body and suggests a nominee Council, which is recommended by Execu-
tive Council, N.S.W., to British Government, 291 ; Earl Grey promises
consideration, 292 ; delay causes impatience, 292 ; no candidates nominated
at next Election, 1848, 293 ; new writs issued and members elected, 294,
295 ; news of proposed Bill constituting new colony of Victoria, 1849,
296 ; delays reported, large meetings held, threatening resolutions passed,
296 ; Bill introduced House of Commons, 4th June, 1849, 297 ; read first
time llth June, its progress delayed, 298 ; Gladstone, Lyttelton and
Lowe speak, 297, 298 (note) ; new Bill introduced by Lord John Russell,
Australian Government Act, called locally the " Separation Act," passed
5th Aug., 1850, 299; news received, llth Nov., great demonstrations,
proclamation made, 12th Nov., 299, 300 ; Separation Day observed, 15th
July, 1851, afterwards annually on 1st July, 302; fifty years after, ii.,
327. See Port Phillip District ; Victoria, Colony of.

Service, James, a dweller in Canvas Town, i., 368 ; ii., 171 ; elected M.L.A.,
65 ; seconds resolution defeating the O'Shanassy and Duffy Ministry, 76 ;
joins Nicholson Ministry, 81 ; his Land Act, 1860, 81-83 ; resigns Lands
Department, 84 ; visits England, 114 ; declined knighthood, 161 ; sup-
ported Heales' Education Bill, 1862, 163; return to political life after
several defeats, 1874, 170 ; his character, interest in Federation and unity
of the Empire, moderate and disinterested, his stand for absolute freedom
of commerce kept him out of Parliament ten years, 171 ; member for
Maldon, 172 ; Treasurer in Kerferd Ministry, 173 ; endeavours to modify
Protectionist policy, Government meets with opposition and resigns, 174-
176 ; on increase of expenditure, 184 ; on McCulloch's Budget and taxation
proposals, 186; on " stonewalling " tactics, 188; declines joining Berry

INDEX 385

Ministry, 1877, 192 ; his proposed land tax, 175, 194 ; on Berry Embassy
to London, 206, 207 ; forms Cabinet, 211 ; his Reform Bill rejected and
dissolution granted, 212 ; Berry's adverse vote carried, resigns, declines
Coalition and withdraws for a time, 213 ; his Castlemaine speech on loans,
reform, Free Trade and Protection, 238 ; on Australian Federation, 239, 332-
334 ; returned to House, forms Coalition Ministry, including Berry, 240,
241 ; his character in debate, 241 ; initiation of Public Service, Railway
Management and other Acts, 242 et seq. ; financial task, 247 ; difficulties
overcome, 248 ; lays down the insignia of office to take part in Federal
Council, 249 ; suggested knighthood, 252 ; appoints Commission on
Droughts, 254 ; attends Colonial Conference in London, 1887, 268 ; elected
Legislative Council, 274 ; on the public finances, 277 ; on the great strike,
1890, 286 ; invited to lead fresh Coalition, 317 ; on the sending of military
contingent to the Soudan, 341.

Shiels, William, M.L.A., Attorney-General in Munro Ministry, ii., 289; Premier,
Treasurer and Attorney-General, 289.

Shillinglaw, J. J., edits journals of Grimes, i., 25, of Knopwood, 30.

Shipping, first, from Great Britain to Port Phillip, 1839, i., 170, 247 ; forty-four
immigrant vessels arrived in 1842, 249.

Sievewright, C. W., Protector of aborigines, i., 224 ; his district, 226, 238 ; diffi-
culties, 227 ; Fyan's report on, 231 ; his suspension, 231 ; on natives killed
for raiding Whyte's Station, 236 ; attack of whites on natives at Smith and
Osprey's Station, 236, 237.

Simpson, James, member of P.P. Association, i., 102 ; his selection, 133 ; ap-
pointed honorary arbitrator, 146, 150 ; chairman of first public meeting,
150 ; represents P.P. Association in Sydney, 193 ; resigns magistracy, 260 ;
purchases Melbourne allotment, 394.

Sladen, Charles, settler, i., 323; Treasurer, L.C., ii., 59; elected M.L.A., 65 ; in
Legislative Council, objects to tacking of Tariff to Appropriation Bill, 124 ;
forms Ministry, 145 ; important service rendered, 146 ; knighted, 1875, 161 ;
Sladen-Cuthbert Bill for reform of Council, 204 ; on Berry Embassy, 207.

Slavery, abolition of, and treatment of aborigines, i., 218.

Smith, George Paton, Attorney-General in McCulloch Ministry, 1868, ii., 146.

Smith, John Thomas, i., 324 ; seven times Mayor of Melbourne, 265 ; erects
theatre, 327; elected first Legislative Council, 340; first Legislative
Assembly, ii., 63.

Smith, R. Murray-, M.L.A., Agent-General, ii., 231 ; on the state of the public
finances, 277 ; opposition to, 1897, 324.

Smyth, Rev. Father, Ballaarat, protests against burning of diggers' licences,
ii., 35 ; efforts to save bloodshed, 38, 39 ; assists Lalor to escape, 45.

Smyth, R. Brough, his Aborigines of Victoria referred to, i., 214, 217.

Socialism, State, its delusions, ii., 352, 353.

South Australia, migration of population from, during the gold fever, i., 365 ;
and her part in Federation, ii., 331, 332, 333, 334, 337.

Speight, Richard, Commissioner of Railways and Chairman of Board, ii., 244,
245, 246 ; suspended, 315 ; compensated, 316 ; his successor, 349 ; returns
to England, 350.

Spencer, Baldwin, his Native Tribes of Australia referred to, i., 214.

Squatters and land regulations, i., 206, 207 ; so-called squatting monopoly,
207 ; their enterprise, privileges, etc., 208 ; attitude towards aboriginal
Protectors, 227 ; interest in transportation, "exiles " and " expirees," 271,
272 ; prosperity of, before the gold era, 322 ; squatters and the mining
population and right of pre-emption, 350 ; their leases, " Disputed
Boundaries Act," and surveys, 351 ; Duke of Newcastle's reply to their
claims, 388; their prosperity after the discovery of gold and increase
of population renders them territorial aristocrats, 357 ; Royal Commission
and report on squatting tenure, 357, 358 ; their market for mutton during
the influx of population, 1852-54, 376 ; bitterly denounced, ii., 84 ; their
annual contribution to the Treasury and exportable products, 84 ; as
effected by Duffy's Land Act, 1862, 90 ; their alleged monoply of the land,

VOL. II. 25

386 INDEX

100; Heales' Bill to create "poor squatters," 113; the Shearers' Union,
279, 280 ; squatter less of an outlaw in N.S.W. than in Victoria, 351.

Stage and theatre, i., 326 et seq., 374.

Standish, Capt., Chief Commissioner of Police, ii., 226.

Stanley, Lord (Earl Derby), and colonial land policy, i., 206; opposes dis-
memberment or Separation of Port Phillip from N.S. W., 285, 286 ; receives
petition signed by P.P. representatives and requests a reconsideration of
boundaries, form of government, etc., 290.

Stawell, Wm. Foster, i., 323 ; at the Bar, 260 ; Attorney-General, 340 ; on
rights of the squatters, 352 ; drafts New Constitution Bill, 361 ; assists
in founding University, 386 ; prosecutes Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50 ; his
influence over Hotham, 54, 58 ; relieved of office and reappointed, 59 ;
elected M.L.A., 65 ; appointed Chief Justice, 75 ; knighted, 161 ; Acting-
Governor, refuses dissolution to Kerferd, 175 ; his impartiality in dissolu-
tions impugned, 185 ; resigns, 269.

Stephen, J. W., M.L.A., joins Francis Ministry, ii., 162 ; his Education Act, 1870,
165 ; first Minister of Education, 167 ; Judge, Supreme Court, 1874, 167.

Stewart, Mr. George, first Police Magistrate, Port Phillip, 1836, i., 148;
reports on the Settlement, 149, 152.

Stock, live, taken in at Cape, i., 12 ; sent from Tasmania to Portland by the
Hentys, 79; to Port Phillip, 134; property of Swanston, 140, 142, 145,
174 ; overland from the Sydney side, 1836-37-38, 174, 175 ; aggregate of, in
1851, 305 ; losses by floods and fires, 331, 332.

Strachan, James Ford, M.L.C., purchases Melbourne allotments, i., 392,
393 ; member of Goldfields Commission, ii., 53.

Strikes, ii., 254, 278 ; maritime strike, 1890, 280-288 ; effect of, 291. See
Labour, Trade Unions.

Strzelecki, Count, explores Gippsland, 1840, i., 317, 319, 320 ; discovers gold,
1839, ii., 1.

Stuart, Alex., Premier, N.S.W., delegate Federal Convention, 1883, ii., 333.

Sturt, Capt. Charles, his voyage down the Murray to the sea, 1829-30, i., 69-
76 ; and the aborigines, 217.

Sturt, E. P. S., Magistrate, Ballaarat, 1854, ii., 31 ; on the march of civilisa-
tion in a new country, i., 334.

Summers, Charles, designs memorial to Burke and Wills, explorers, ii., 111.

Sutherland, Joseph, i., 150, 176 ; purchases Melbourne allotment, 392.

Swanston, Capt. Charles, Hobart banker, member of P.P. Association, i.,
102 ; his selection of land, 133, 142, 145 ; stock, 140 ; station, 146, 160,
176 ; represents P.P. Association in Sydney, 193 ; purchases Melbourne
allotments, 392, 395 ; street named after, 166.

Sydney Cove, wrecked on Furneaux Islands, 1797, crew reach mainland of
Australia, near Cape Howe, i., 15.

TARIFF. See Government (Besponsible), Protection.

Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), coast sighted by First Fleet, Jan., 1788, i.,
13, 14 ; circumnavigated by Bass and Flinders, 17 ; the Black War, 99,
216, 218 ; a Bishopric, 1848, 268 ; Tasmanian colonists and their enterprise
in Port Phillip, 284 ; migration of population to Victoria during gold fever,
365 ; timber, 369 ; her part in Federation, ii., 331, 333, 335, 337, 338.

Telegraphic communication, ii., 97.

Templeton, J. M., Chairman of Public Service Board, ii., 243.

Therry, Roger, Judge, Supreme Court, 1845-46, i., 262.

Thomas, Capt., 40th Regt., captures Eureka Stockade, ii., 41 ; his report, 43.

Thomas, Wm., Protector of the aborigines, i., 217 ; on intertribal fighting,
219, 224; his district, Western Port and Melbourne, 226; his reports
contain ethnographical information, 233.

Thomson, Dr. A., of the P.P. Association, consigns cattle in the Norval, i.,
134; arrives on the Yarra, 146, 147; forms sheep station (" Kardinia ")
on site of Geelong, 146 ; attends first public meeting, Melbourne, 150,
151; calls upon Capt. Lonsdale, 154; his station visited by Gellibrand

INDEX 387

and Hesse, 160; welcomes Gov. Bourke to Geelong, 167; on Irish im-
migrants, 249 ; elected for P.P district, 1843, 279 ; resigns, 282 ; purchases
land, 311, 312; first mayor of Geelong, 1849, 313; purchases Mel-
bourne allotment, 392.

Trade, profits of, during the gold fever, i., 365, 376 ; market glutted, 1854, 378 ;
on the goldfields, 378. See Exports, Imports, Produce, etc.

Trade Unions' influence and strikes, ii., 278 et seq. See Labour.

Tramways in Melbourne, ii., 294 ; loans for, 297.

Transportation to American Colonies ceased, 1776, i., 2 ; to Botany Bay decided
on, 1786, 2 ; convicts in the First Fleet, their comparatively venal offences,
4-10 ; sent to Port Phillip, 1803, removed to Hobart, 1804, 27-46 ; convicts
employed on public works in Melbourne, 1839, 244 ; British Orders in
Council, 1840-49, 270 et seq. ; resistance to the British Government on,
in 1849, 258; introduction of "expirees" from Tasmania, 1846, 272;
Gladstone's inquiries, 272 ; Conditional Transportation approved by
Committee of Legislative Council, N.S.W., 272; petition by colonists in
favour of, to Earl Grey, 273 ; British Cabinet sends convicts and revokes
Order in Council of 1840, 274 ; opposition in Melbourne, 275 ; Randolph,
convict vessel, arrives in Hobson's Bay and proceeds to Sydney, 275 ;
meeting of protest in Melbourne, 275 ; petition to Crown, and convicts
ordered to be sent to Moreton Bay, 276 ; Australian Anti-Transportation
League inaugurated, 276 ; last convicts left England for the Derwent in
1852, Anti-Transportation League revived during gold fever, 345 ; Western
Australia continued to receive convicts till 1867, 277 ; Convicts Prevention
Act, 347 ; Sir Wm. Denison protests against, Duke of Newcastle disallows,
and suggests new Bill, 348 ; which when presented is passed with firmer
and more stringent clauses added : the Crown still withholding consent,
Council protests, 349 ; Hotham assents to measure for one year, and
circumstances caused it to remain on the Statute Book of Victoria, 850.
See Crime, Penal.

Trench, R. le Poer, Attorney-General, ii., 184 ; reappointed, 193 ; resigns, 202 ;
Commissioner of Land Tax, 195.

Trenwith, M.L.C., labour representative, ii., 278, 283 ; attacks Government,
286 ; gains experience, 288 ; on Berry pension, 325.

Trust funds and Colonial securities, ii., 269, 304.

Tucker, A. L., M.L.A., Minister for Lands, ii., 241.

Tuckey, Lieut. J. H., account of the voyage to Port Phillip, 1803, i., 28, 29 ;
his report on Port Phillip, 37-39.

Turner, George, M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs, etc., in Shiels - Berry
Ministry, ii., 320 ; Premier, 1894, his long tenure, retires, 1900, takes part
in Queen's Jubilee, 1897, knighted and made Privy Councillor, 321 ; his
Treasurership, 322 ; displaced by McLean, 1899, returns to power, 1900,
326 ; called to first Commonwealth Ministry, 326.

UNIVERSITY of Melbourne, lands granted, and Act of incorporation passed,
i., 385; academic life commenced, ii., 70; endowment under Education
Act, 1870, 168 ; and Sir B. Barry, 222.

VALE, W. M. K., M.L.A., joins Duffy Ministry, ii., 157.

Van Diemen's Land Co., i., 185. See Tasmania.

Verdon, G. F., M.L.A., Treasurer in Heales Ministry, ii., 85 ; adverse vote on
his Budget, 87; joins McCulloch, 91 ; attitude towards Protection, 119;
as Treasurer attaches Tariff to Appropriation Bill, 123 ; mission to London
on Colonial defences, 136 ; on Mint, 137 ; made C.B., 137 ; appointed Agent-
General, 146 ; knighted and resigns, 160.

Vern, Frederic, Ballaarat rebel, ii., 31 ; proposes to burn diggers' licences, 35 ;
forms stockade, 37 ; escapes during fight, 42 ; £500 offered for his capture,
44 ; sends letter to Age, 44.

Victoria, Queen, news received, 1849, that Her Majesty had promised to confer
her name on the new Colony, i., 296 ; patronised International Exhibition,

25*

386 INDEX

100; Heales' Bill to create "poor squatters," 113; the Shearers' Union,
279, 280 ; squatter less of an outlaw in N.S.W. than in Victoria, 351.

Stage and theatre, i., 326 et seq., 374.

Standish, Capt., Chief Commissioner of Police, ii., 226.

Stanley, Lord (Earl Derby), and colonial land policy, i., 206; opposes dis-
memberment or Separation of Port Phillip from N.S.W. , 285, 286 ; receives
petition signed by P.P. representatives and requests a reconsideration of
boundaries, form of government, etc., 290.

Stawell, Wm. Foster, i., 323; at the Bar, 260; Attorney-General, 340; on
rights of the squatters, 352 ; drafts New Constitution Bill, 361 ; assists
in founding University, 386 ; prosecutes Ballaarat rebels, ii., 50 ; his
influence over Hotham, 54, 58 ; relieved of office and reappointed, 59 ;
elected M.L.A., 65 ; appointed Chief Justice, 75 ; knighted, 161 ; Acting-
Governor, refuses dissolution to Kerferd, 175 ; his impartiality in dissolu-
tions impugned, 185 ; resigns, 269.

Stephen, J. W., M.L.A., joins Francis Ministry, ii., 162; his Education Act, 1870,
165 ; first Minister of Education, 167 ; Judge, Supreme Court, 1874, 167.

Stewart, Mr. George, first Police Magistrate, Port Phillip, 1836, i., 148;
reports on the Settlement, 149, 152.

Stock, live, taken in at Cape, i., 12 ; sent from Tasmania to Portland by the
Hentys, 79; to Port Phillip, 134; property of Swanston, 140, 142, 145,
174 ; overland from the Sydney side, 1836-37-38, 174, 175 ; aggregate of, in
1851, 305 ; losses by floods and fires, 331, 332.

Strachan, James Ford, M.L.C., purchases Melbourne allotments, i., 392,
393 ; member of Goldfields Commission, ii., 53.

Strikes, ii., 254, 278 ; maritime strike, 1890, 280-288 ; effect of, 291. See
Labour, Trade Unions.

Strzelecki, Count, explores Gippsland, 1840, i., 317, 319, 320 ; discovers gold,
1839, ii., 1.

Stuart, Alex., Premier, N.S.W., delegate Federal Convention, 1883, ii., 333.

Sturt, Capt. Charles, his voyage down the Murray to the sea, 1829-30, i., 69-
76 ; and the aborigines, 217.

Sturt, E. P. S., Magistrate, Ballaarat, 1854, ii., 31 ; on the march of civilisa-
tion in a new country, i., 334.

Summers, Charles, designs memorial to Burke and Wills, explorers, ii., 111.

Sutherland, Joseph, i., 150, 176 ; purchases Melbourne allotment, 392.

Swanston, Capt. Charles, Hobart banker, member of P.P. Association, i.,
102 ; his selection of land, 133, 142, 145 ; stock, 140 ; station, 146, 160,
176 ; represents P.P. Association in Sydney, 193 ; purchases Melbourne
allotments, 392, 395 ; street named after, 166.

Sydney Cove, wrecked on Furneaux Islands, 1797, crew reach mainland of
Australia, near Cape Howe, i., 15.

TABIPP. See Government (Kesponsible), Protection.

Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), coast sighted by First Fleet, Jan., 1788, i.,
13, 14 ; circumnavigated by Bass and Flinders, 17 ; the Black War, 99,
216, 218 ; a Bishopric, 1848, 268 ; Tasmanian colonists and their enterprise
in Port Phillip, 284 ; migration of population to Victoria during gold fever,
365 ; timber, 369 ; her part in Federation, ii., 331, 333, 335, 337, 338.

Telegraphic communication, ii., 97.

Templeton, J. M., Chairman of Public Service Board, ii., 243.

Therry, Roger, Judge, Supreme Court, 1845-46, i., 262.

Thomas, Capt., 40th Regt., captures Eureka Stockade, ii., 41 ; his report, 43.

Thomas, Wm., Protector of the aborigines, i., 217 ; on intertribal fighting,
219, 224 ; his district, Western Port and Melbourne, 226 ; his reports
contain ethnographical information, 233.

Thomson, Dr. A., of the P.P. Association, consigns cattle in the Norval, i.,
134; arrives on the Yarra, 146, 147; forms sheep station (" Kardinia ")
on site of Geelong, 146 ; attends first public meeting, Melbourne, 150,
151 ; calls upon Capt. Lonsdale, 154 ; his station visited by Gellibrand

INDEX 387

and Hesse, 160; welcomes Gov. Bourke to Geelong, 167; on Irish im-
migrants, 249 ; elected for P.P district, 1843, 279 ; resigns, 282 ; purchases
land, 811, 312; first mayor of Geelong, 1849, 313; purchases Mel-
bourne allotment, 392.

Trade, profits of, during the gold fever, i., 365, 376 ; market glutted, 1854, 378 ;
on the goldfields, 378. See Exports, Imports, Produce, etc.

Trade Unions' influence and strikes, ii., 278 et seq. See Labour.

Tramways in Melbourne, ii., 294 ; loans for, 297.

Transportation to American Colonies ceased, 1776, i., 2 ; to Botany Bay decided
on, 1786, 2 ; convicts in the First Fleet, their comparatively venal offences,
4-10 ; sent to Port Phillip, 1803, removed to Hobart, 1804, 27-46 ; convicts
employed on public works in Melbourne, 1839, 244 ; British Orders in
Council, 1840-49, 270 et seq. ; resistance to the British Government on,
in 1849, 258 ; introduction of " expirees " from Tasmania, 1846, 272 ;
Gladstone's inquiries, 272 ; Conditional Transportation approved by
Committee of Legislative Council, N.S.W., 272 ; petition by colonists in
favour of, to Earl Grey, 273 ; British Cabinet sends convicts and revokes
Order in Council of 1840, 274 ; opposition in Melbourne, 275 ; Randolph,
convict vessel, arrives in Hobson's Bay and proceeds to Sydney, 275 ;
meeting of protest in Melbourne, 275 ; petition to Crown, and convicts
ordered to be sent to Moreton Bay, 276 ; Australian Anti-Transportation
League inaugurated, 276 ; last convicts left England for the Derwent in
1852, Anti-Transportation League revived during gold fever, 345 ; Western
Australia continued to receive convicts till 1867, 277 ; Convicts Prevention
Act, 347 ; Sir Wm. Denison protests against, Duke of Newcastle disallows,
and suggests new Bill, 348 ; which when presented is passed with firmer
and more stringent clauses added : the Crown still withholding consent,
Council protests, 349 ; Hotham assents to measure for one year, and
circumstances caused it to remain on the Statute Book of Victoria, 350.
See Crime, Penal.

Trench, R. le Poer, Attorney- General, ii., 184; reappointed, 193; resigns, 202;
Commissioner of Land Tax, 195.

Trenwith, M.L.C., labour representative, ii., 278, 283 ; attacks Government,
286 ; gains experience, 288 ; on Berry pension, 325.

Trust funds and Colonial securities, ii., 269, 304.

Tucker, A. L., M.L.A., Minister for Lands, ii., 241.

Tuckey, Lieut. J. H., account of the voyage to Port Phillip, 1803, i., 28, 29 ;
his report on Port Phillip, 37-39.

Turner, George, M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs, etc., in Shiels - Berry
Ministry, ii., 320 ; Premier, 1894, his long tenure, retires, 1900, takes part
in Queen's Jubilee, 1897, knighted and made Privy Councillor, 321 ; his
Treasurership, 322 ; displaced by McLean, 1899, returns to power, 1900,
326 ; called to first Commonwealth Ministry, 326.

UNIVERSITY of Melbourne, lands granted, and Act of incorporation passed,
i., 385 ; academic life commenced, ii., 70 ; endowment under Education
Act, 1870, 168 ; and Sir B. Barry, 222.

VALE, W. M. K., M.L.A., joins Duffy Ministry, ii., 157.

Van Diemen's Land Co., i., 185. See Tasmania.

Verdon, G. F., M.L.A., Treasurer in Heales Ministry, ii., 85 ; adverse vote on
his Budget, 87 ; joins McCulloch, 91 ; attitude towards Protection, 119 ;
as Treasurer attaches Tariff to Appropriation Bill, 123 ; mission to London
on Colonial defences, 136 ; on Mint, 137 ; made C.B., 137 ; appointed Agent-
General, 146 ; knighted and resigns, 160.

Vern, Frederic, Ballaarat rebel, ii., 31 ; proposes to burn diggers' licences, 35 ;
forms stockade, 37 ; escapes during fight, 42 ; £500 offered for his capture,
44 ; sends letter to Age, 44.

Victoria, Queen, news received, 1849, that Her Majesty had promised to confer
her name on the new Colony, i., 296 ; patronised International Exhibition,

25*

388 INDEX

Melbourne, 1880, ii., 221 ; address of loyalty to Her Majesty, 1882, 231 ;
Jubilee celebrations, 1887, 262 ; 1897, 321 ; signs Charter of the Common-
wealth, 333 ; the one ruler through the history of the District of Port
Phillip and the Colony of Victoria, 339. See Governors.
Victoria, Colony of, constituted and proclaimed, 1851, i., 296-302 ; address to
Queen desiring the Colony to be constituted the seat of Supreme Govern-
ment in Australia, 359 ; its unique and noble heritage in 1856, ii., 70, 71 ;
progress under administration of Governor Barkly, 92 ; interest of the
Colony in exploration, 105 ; loss to Victoria of pride and place owing
to Protection, 116, 350, 351 ; basking in prosperity, 1865, in depths of
despondency, 1895, 116 ; talk of " cutting the painter," 128 ; visit of
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, 1867-68, 149 ; intense loyalty of his
reception, 150 ; prestige of the Colony raised by Exhibition of 1880, 222 ;
peace, progress, prosperity, 1883-86, 219, 252; the era of extravagance,
253 et seq. ; Victorian annals prior to this largely parliamentary, 257 ;
days of trial, lean years that closed the century, 291, 326 ; Colony becomes
a State of the Commonwealth, 327 ; retrospect and prospect, 327, 356 ;
material comfort of the people, 350 ; clogs upon the wheels of progress,
352 ; no privileged classes, 353 ; increase of population fairly distributed,
necessary to develop resources and make Victoria the ideal State of
Australia, 356. See Colonial Office, Government, Governors.

WAKEFIELD land system referred to, i., 314.

Walker, Thomas, Sydney merchant, elected for N.S.W. Legislative Council,
P.P. district, 1843, i., 280; speaks in favour of Separation, 288.

Walker, W. F., M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs, ii., 253.

Warrnambool town surveyed, land sale, etc., i., 207, 315, 316.

Waterworks, Yan Yean (inaugurated Nov., 1853), i., 330, 384 ; ii., 97 ; Water
Conservation Act, 1883, 246 ; loans, 254, 256, 296. See Irrigation.

Webb, R. S., first collector of Customs at Melbourne, i., 156 ; purchases town
lots, 212, 394.

Wedge, J. H., surveyor in Tasmania, i., 100; joins P.P. Association, 102;
surveys Port Phillip, 122, 125, 132 ; warns Fawkner's party, 123 ; visits
Portland, 127; names the "Yarra," 129; sojourning at Indented Head,
149 ; at first public meeting, Melbourne, 150, 151 ; expenses allowed, 196 ;
purchaser of town lots, 210, 392.

Welsh, P. W., director P.P. Bank, i., 172.

Wentworth, Wm., and Committee of Legislative Council, N.S.W., advise
conditional transportation of convicts, i., 272 ; introduces Wool Lien
Bill, 282 ; its effect, 283 ; opposed Murrumbidgee boundary for new colony
of Victoria, 302 ; on Australian Federation, ii., 329, 331.

Were, J. B., committed by Judge Walpole, i., 260 ; advocates Separation, 284.

Wesleyan town allotment, Melbourne, valued £40, eventually realised £40,000,
i., 211 ; immigrants' home established, 1852, 367.

Westby, Edmund, member Melbourne Town Council, i., 267.

Western Port discovered by Bass, Jan., 1798, i., 15 ; visited by Lieut. Grant,
1801, 18, 19 ; by Lieut. Murray, 1802, 19 ; excursion thither by Lieut.
Tuckey, 42 ; examined and condemned for settlement by Bobbins and
Oxley, 1804, 47 ; French expedition there, 1826, 63 ; Government expedi-
tion to, 1826-27, settlement formed and abandoned, 62-67 ; Batman and
Gellibrand's projected settlement, 1827, 101, 113 ; visited by Fawkner's
party, 119 ; by Gellibrand and others, 140 ; settlers around in 1840, 317 ;
visited by Strzelecki, 319.

Westgarth, Wm., i., 323, 338 ; joins Anti-transportation League, 276 ; elected
to N.S.W. Legislative Council in place of Earl Grey, 1850, 294 ; on Gold-
finding Committee, 337 ; elected to first Victorian Legislative Council,
338 ; on Committee for increased police protection, 347 ; on Goldfields
Commission, ii., 53.

Wetherell and Wright, Capts., expedition to Western Port, 1826-27, i., 63-67.

Wharves at Melbourne begun, i., 246; Melbourne Harbour Trust, 257.

INDEX 389

Wheeler, J. H., M.L.A., joins Munro Ministry, ii., 289.

White, Mr. John, surgeon-superintendent, First Fleet, i., 3, 4, 5, 9.

Whitty, Edward, correspondent of Melbourne Argus, ii., 66.

Whyte Brothers' Station on the Wannon, raided by aboriginal natives, March,

1840, and thirty killed, i., 235, 236.

Williams, Edward Eyre, at the Bar, i., 260 ; judge, 323.
Williams, H. R., M.L.A., Minister of Mines, 1880, of Railways, 1894, ii., 321.
Williamstown, site visited and named by Gov. Bourke, i., 165 ; first sale of

land, 210 ; lighthouse begun, 246.
Willis, J. Walpole, Judge, Port Phillip, i., 258 ; his courthouse, 263 ; quarrels

with Bar and Press, 258 ; his injudicious acts, removal by Gipps, appeal

to Privy Council, removal confirmed, 261 ; addresses the Mayor and Council

of first Corporation of Melbourne, 266.

Wills, W. J., accompanies Burke's expedition, ii., 105 et seq.
Wilson, Edward, of the Argus, i., 340 ; on Manhood Suffrage, ii., 77.
Wimmera River, discovered by Mitchell, 1836, i., 90, 92.
Wise, Capt., 40th Regt., ii., 32 ; mortally wounded at capture of Eureka

Stockade, 41, 43.

Wood, J. D., Solicitor-General, ii., 76 ; joins O'Shanassy Ministry, 88.
Woods, John, Minister in Berry's Cabinet, ii., 213 ; on the great strike, 1890,

286.

Wool, fall in price, ii., 309. See Exports, Produce, Squatters.
Woolley, Dr., Sydney University, lost in the London, ii., 136.
Wright, W. H.^ Chief Commissioner of Goldfields, ii., 12 ; advises reduction

of licence fee, 17, 18 ; on Goldfields Commission, 53.
Wrixon, Sir H. J., Solicitor-General in McCulloch Ministry, 1870, ii., 154 ;

Attorney-General in Gillies-Deakin Ministry, 1886, 253; states government

case before Privy Council in Musgrove v. Ah Toy, 273, 288 ; candidate for

Speakership, 289.

YALDWYN, W. H., member of Separation Deputation to London, 1841, i., 285.

Yarra and Saltwater Rivers discovered by Robbins and Grimes, Feb., 1803,
i., 25, 26 ; eligible for settlement, 46 ; Batman plans " township "
and " village," 111 ; " Yarra Yarra," named by Wedge (or " Yanna
Yanna," according to Gurner), 129 ; a town proposed by Gov. Bourke, 138
(see Melbourne) ; money spent on deepening, etc., 310 ; inundations and
floods, 329. See Batman, Fawkner, Melbourne Harbour Trust, etc.

Young, Adolphus, represents Port Phillip in N.S.W. Legislative Council, i.,
282 ; speaks in favour of Separation, 288.

Young, Charles, actor, i., 328.

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