UC-NRLF
SB E2
C. A. Kofold
UNITED AUSTRALIA.
PUBLIC OPINION IN ENGLAND
AS EXPRESSED IN THE
LEADING JOURNALS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM,
IB
SYDNEY : CHARLES POTTER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.
1890.
GIFT OF
C.fl.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
The Spectator 1
The St. James' Gazette 5, 125
Pall Mall Gazette 7
The Morning Post 9
The Globe 11,122
Manchester Examiner 12
The Daily News 13
The Star (London) 16
Edinburgh Evening Despatch 18
The Evening News (Glasgow) 18
The Times 20
The Standard 24
The Morning Advertiser 27
The Aberdeen Free Press 29
The Aberdeen Journal 32
The Birmingham Post 35
The Daily Chronicle (Huddersfield) 36
Hull Eastern Morning News ,38
East- Anglian Daily Times (Ipswich) 39
The Leeds Yorkshire Post 40
The Liverpool Courier « 42
The Manchester Courier 44
The Newcastle Journal 48
The Plymouth Western Morning
News.., 50
Shields Daily News 51
The British Australasian 53
Civil Service Gazette. . , 56
Bradford Telegraph 57
Dumfries Standard , . . 59
The Cornish Telegraph 61
Bullionist 65
Statist 66
Ayr Advertiser ..... 67
PAGE.
Richmond Herald 69
The Overland Mail 69
Edinburgh Weekly Scotsman 73
Falmouth and Penryn Times 73
Gloucester Journal 77
Hampshire Telegraph 79
Lincoln Gazette 80
Newcastle Leader 82
The Salisbury and Winchester
Journal 84
Exeter Gazette 86
Army and Navy Gazette 88
United Service Gazette 89, 94
Vanity Fair 96
Weekly Budget 96
Weekly Times 96
The West Briton (Truro) 99
The British Australasian 100
Glasgow Mail 102
The Scotsman 104
Hull Daily Mail 108
The Capitalist 109
Altrincham Guardian Ill
Brighton (Sussex ) Daily News 113
Birmingham Post 114
Glasgow Mail 119
Leeds Mercury 121
Evening News 125
Birmingham Gazette 127
Glasgow Herald , 130
The Eastern Morning News 132
Advertiser ... 134
Aberdeen Free Press ... , 135
APPENDIX.
CORRESPONDENCE , 138-140
OPINION IN INDIA 142
M224513
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
The Times of November 4th published the despatch of Sir
Henry Parkes of October 3Oth, addressed to Mr. Gillies, and
within sixteen days from that publication nearly every
influential journal in the United Kingdom joined in the
debate on Australian Federation. Among the first, The
Times, November 5th, says: — "No better method of testing
the strength of the desire for union could be devised than the
summoning of such a National Convention as Sir Henry
Parkes suggests." And the article concludes: — " Sir Henry
Parkes is a capable statesman, and his judgment is entitled
to all respect when he pronounces the time to be ripe and
the method to be feasible. ' If that is so, the difficulties will
gradually disappear, and the Federation of the Australian
Colonies will before long be accomplished." Later in the
discussion, November i6th, a leading provincial paper says:
— " Criticism is the fire through which all new proposals of
importance should pass, and if they cannot pass the ordeal
they are better dropped. It must be confessed that the
proposals of Sir Henry Parkes have come well, out of the
criticism that has greeted them."
In the following pages the principal articles of the English
press are reproduced, with the name of the journal and date
of publication. It will be seen that not only the London
daily papers, but the great provincial journals, from South-
ampton to Aberdeen, and most of the economic and official
publications, discussed the great Australian question.
VI
For convenience of reference the despatch of Sir Henry
Parkes of October 3Oth is here reprinted : —
Colonial Secretary's Office,
Sir, Sydney, 30 October, 1889.
Your telegram, explanatory of your views in favour of bringing the
machinery of the Federal Council into operation in giving effect to the
recommendations of General Edwards for the federalization of Australian
troops, reached me last week in Brisbane. Being extremely anxious to meet
your wishes, I lost no time in re-examining the provisions of the Federal
Council Act ; and I regret that I cannot concur in your view, that the
Council possesses the requisite power to constitute, direct, and control an
united Australian army. The subsection of clause 15, to which you specially
referred me, appears to supply evidence to the contrary. The two words
" general defences " are included in a long list of secondary matters, such
as "uniformity of weights and measures" and the " status of corporations
and joint stock companies," and it would be a very strained interpretation
that could give to those two words so used a definition of legal authority to
deal with a matter second to none other in the exercise of National power.
It is not for me to say what is the precise meaning of the words on which
you rely ; but it is contended that they cannot be construed to mean the
creation, direction, mobilisation, and executive control of a great army for
the defence of the whole of Australia.
For more than twenty years I have had the question of Australian federa-
tion almost constantly before me ; and I cannot be accused of indifference
to it at any time, merely because I had become convinced from earlier
examination, while others were adopting the scheme of the present Federal
Council at a later period, that no such body would ever answer the great
objects of Federal Government. Leaving the provisions of the Act as to
the legislative capacity of the Council, we are at once precipitated upon an
impassable barrier, in the fact that there does not exist in it or behind it
any form of executive power. Supposing, for example, that the Federal
Council's recommendations or enactments, for the movement of Australian
soldiers could be accepted, there could not be found anywhere a corres-
ponding executive authority to give effect to them.
The vitally important recommendation made by General Edwards is one,
in any light from which it can be viewed, of national magnitude and
significance. The vast sums annually expended by the Continental Colonies
for defence works and services would be of greatly enhanced value in time
Vll
of public danger, if the scattered and unconnected forces locally maintained
could be brought under one command, and, whenever advisable, directed to
one field of operations. I am satisfied that this cannot be done by any
existing machinery. The Executive Governments of the several Colonies
could not act in combination for any such purpose, nor could they so act
independently of each other. The Federal Council has no executive power
to act at all. The Imperial Parliament, on the application of the Colonies,
could, no doubt, pass an Act to constitute the Federal Army under one
command, and to authorize its operations in any part of Australia ; but the
Colonies could never consent to the Imperial Executive interfering in the
direction of its movements. Hence, then, this first great Federal question,
when looked at fairly, brings us, in spite of preferences or prejudices, face
to face with the imperative necessity for a Federal Government. And why
should we turn aside from what is inevitable in the nature of our onward
progress ? It must come, a year or two later possibly, but in any case soon.
I hope I need not assure you that this Government is anxious to work in
harmony with the Governments of the sister Colonies in the matter under
consideration, and is desirous of avoiding subordinate questions coloured by
party feeling or collateral issues. It is a question to be put to the mind and
heart of Australia, in view of the destiny of Australia, and on .which it is
hoped all sections of the collective population will unite without regard to
narrower considerations. Believing that the time is ripe for consolidating
the Australias into one, this Government respectfully invites you to join in
taking the first great step, namely, to appoint representatives of Victoria to
a National Convention for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an
adequate scheme of Federal Government. With much deference to the
views of the other Colonies, it is suggested that, in order to avoid any sense
of inequality in debate or any party complexion, the number from each
Colony should be the same, and should be equally chosen from both sides
in political life ; and that, in the case of each Colony, the representatives
should be elected by Parliament and receive commissions from the Governor
in Council. It is further suggested that six members from each Colony
would be a convenient number, both in regard to combining a fair represen-
tation of the two Houses, and at the same time not making the Convention
too unwieldy. In each case four members might be taken from the
Assembly, two from each side ; and two members from the Council, one
from each side. In the case of Western Australia, where only one House
exists, possibly only four members might be elected. If New Zealand
joined, the Convention would as a result consist of forty members.
vm
The scheme of Federal Government, it is assumed, would necessarily
follow close upon the type of the Dominion Government of Canada. It
would provide for the appointment of a Governor-General, for the creation
of an Australian Privy Council, and a Parliament consisting of a Senate and
a Blouse of Commons. In the work of the Convention, no doubt, the rich
stores of political knowledge which were collected by the framers of the
Constitution of the United States would be largely resorted to, as well as
the vast accumulation of learning on cognate subjects since that time.
Although a great and pressing military question has brought to the
surface the design of a Federal Government at the present juncture, the
work of a national character which such a Government could, in the interest
of all the Colonies, most beneficially and effectively undertake, would
include the noblest objects of peaceful and orderly progress ; and every
year the field of its beneficent operations would be rapidly expanding. I
devoutly hope that you will be able to take the view which I have briefly
explained, of the necessity now pressing upon these Colonies to rise to a
higher level of national life, which would give them a larger space before
the eyes of the world, and in a hundred ways promote their united power
and prosperity.
Permit me, in conclusion, to say that you place much too high an estimate
on my individual influence, if you suppose that the accession of New South
Wales to the Federal Council rests with me. In my judgment, there is no
person and no party here that could persuade Parliament to sanction the
representation of this Colony in the present Federal Council.
I have, &c.,
HENRY PARKES.
The Honorable Duncan Gillies, M.P., Victoria.
UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Spectator—
November 2nd, 1889.
THE project of consolidating the Australian continent into one powerful
state has taken a great step forward. Most of the colonies have been
willing to co-operate in the work, though only Victoria has been zealous ;
but New South Wales has hung back, and has even declined to enter the
Federal Council with limited powers which since 1886 has harmonised
many intercolonial disputes upon the jurisdiction of courts of law.
Moved, however, by some cause as yet unknown, but, it is to be presumed,
by a recognition of the danger to which the colony would be exposed in
the event of a great war, the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry
Parkes, stated publicly on Thursday week that the time had arrived
when a Parliament and an Executive must be created for all Australia,
to deal with international questions ; and that a convention from all the
colonies should be assembled to devise a plan for federation. As that is
the opinion of the other colonies also, New Zealand excepted, all
resistance has apparently died away, and we may expect within two
or three years to see a definite project for founding the new nation
forwarded to the Colonial Office for the assent of the Crown. There
are, of course, many visible difficulties and sources of delay ; but the
most important of them will, we believe, disappear, not so much from
argument as under the pressure of unrelenting facts. The first object is
to place the colonies in a position to defend themselves without assist-
ance from the mother country ; and the attempt to do that will involve
the formation of a Government, with considerable powers of legislation,
a separate revenue, and a strong, or at least an undivided, Executive.
If there is to be a common army, however popularly organised, and a
common fleet, however small, and fortresses for the defence of the great
harbours, there must be a chief in military command, yet responsible to
2- ^UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Spectator — continued.
the civil power ; there must be a central representative body to co-operate
with that civil power, and there must be a National as distinguished
from a Colonial revenue, levied at the discretion of the central power,
and without the intervention of provincial authorities. Those data
granted, we may trust to the national instinct which will speedily be
awakened to make the general Government sufficiently effective. The
colonies will, of course, be jealous of their independence ; they will, of
course, bicker as to methods of levying the taxes of the Dominion and
those of each colony ; and they may be fretful for a time about the
expense which any scheme of federation must involve ; but if the
project is accepted at all, the result is certain. The Convention
will soon discover that the Australian Legislature cannot work with
less powers than those of Congress ; it will be unable to discover a
common source of sufficient revenue except the Customs duties ; and it is
sure to leave the Executive sufficiently enfranchised, even if it does not
leave much power to the Viceroy. Our only doubt is whether it will
follow the example of the American Union, and reserve to the separate
provinces all powers not explicitly transferred to the Dominion; or
whether it will adopt the wiser precedent of Canada, and make the
central authority the Inheritor-General of all the authority not assigned
in terms to its constituent divisions. The whole question of nationality
ultimately hinges upon that, and upon that we should hope the American
Civil War had taught the world a sufficient lesson. There should, too,
be a provision for revising the Constitution under some process less
cumbrous and less liable to be defeated by sectional jealousy than the
one adopted in America, and a widely different scheme for the govern-
ment of territories not yet admitted within the Dominion. Canada did
not need that ; but Australia occupies a different geographical position.
Like the American Union, she will be practically isolated so far as the
fear of invasion is concerned ; but she is an island seated in an ocean
studded with rich islands which offer themselves to the first European
captor. Her people, too, have been bred under influences widely different
from those which made the Americans, and have shown already a desire
to be supreme in the Pacific, which cannot be gratified unless her Govern-
ment possesses means of ruling dependencies not admitted to political
equality. New Guinea alone is a kingdom in area, and New Guinea
belongs to Australia by a right almost as strong as that which binds the
Isle of Man to Great Britain.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 3
The Spectator — continued.
We confess we envy the task of the representatives to be assembled in
the Convention ; it is so infinitely superior to that of Members of Parlia-
ment. They will all be " plain men," little known outside their own
colonies, as, indeed, were the men who revised the American Constitu-
tion ; but they will, if they succeed, and above all if they agree, have
laid the foundations of a great nation, with a history which, as the cen-
turies advance, may be more interesting than that of the United States,
whose annals are almost exclusively internal. The great Southern State
will be an island, and, like every other island, cannot avoid incessant
relations with every other Power in the world. Water divides, but it
also unites, for it furnishes a perpetually open road. Australia as a
Republic cannot help being a maritime Power, and, from the days of
Phoenicia downwards, there never was a maritime Power yet without a
foreign policy. She is too liable to attack, too eager for commerce, too
clearly compelled to protect settlements and subjects at a distance from
her own shores. It is a fleet Australia will need rather than a militia,
more especially if she commits the imprudence of including New Zealand —
a separate world, twelve hundred miles off — within her own dominion,
and the possessors of fleets are never contented with the less interesting
annals of mere landsmen. Fleets imply adventure, though their owner
is but a city on the wrong side of the Mediterranean. The Australian
Colonies have already questions which, were they independent, would be
serious questions, with France and China and Holland, and they bear a
relation towards Further Asia not borne by any European Power. They
will not be organised into a State for ten years before they will be
trading, settling, and governing in the only splendid possession which
Europe has left for the next conquering Power, the great necklace of
rich, tropical islands, a necklace with two rows, which stretches down
from Japan to a point almost within sight of the Australian coast.
Australia is the natural heir of the Eastern Archipelago, an Empire in
itself, and will not be long a State before, whatever Europe may think
or feel, she will have claimed her heritage. Europe will be perfectly
powerless, and, in all probability, occupied as she will be with other
questions, profoundly indifferent.
The federation of Australia, great as may be the power thus founded,
will be witnessed here without the smallest jealousy. Nobody desires
to hamper Australia, even if she expands very rapidly. There is not a
trace of that contempt for Australians which our ancestors are said to
4 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Spectator — continued.
have felfc for the American Colonists, and none of the lingering jealousy
with which even the English regard all other successful Powers. Some
quality in the Australians not easily to be denned, though we should call
it cheeriness, attracts the English at home, and, but for the length of the
voyage, they would fill up the plains of the Southern Continent at a rate
which would hardly delight the workmen of Melbourne or Sydney. All
men here are willing that Australia should remain a Dependency ; but if
she declared her wish to rise into the position of an independent ally,
there would be, amidst some sorrow at the disappearance of a dream, but
little irritation. There are men among us, indeed, who think that, so
far from dreading Australian Federation, we should welcome it as the
first great step towards Imperial Federation. We are, we regret to say,
wholly unable to enter into that dream. We cannot even imagine Aus-
tralia, with her unimpeded career before her in the South, taking up part
of our burden in the North, helping to guarantee us against European
attacks, maintaining our empire in Asia, or submitting to the influence of
our democratic Parliament. No new people accepts that position except
for the gravest reasons, and why should Australia accept it ? What have
we to give in return for such a sacrifice except a maritime protection
which, in the very act of declaring her independence, she would assert
that she did not need 1 The Dominion may, indeed, be content to remain
for many years as a Federal Republic within the empire, as the Canadian
Dominion has done ; but it will be on condition that the empire defends
her without interfering in her internal government, or levying within her
coasts any taxation. The dream of the union of countries separated by
twelve thousand miles of sea is a dream merely, and would be one even if
England were willing that her policy should be partly directed from
Ottawa or Melbourne. It is as a powerful colony, soon to become a
powerful State, that England will welcome the Australian Dominion, all
the more willingly perhaps that Australia cannot, like Canada, merge
herself in a state already almost as strong as Europe in combination.
Australia must always remain alone, sufficient or insufficient to herself
— a fact which will, we hope, affect her organisation, as it most assuredly
will alfect the political temper of her people.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 5
The St. James' Gazette—
November 4M, 1889.
THE important despatch just issued by Sir Henry Parkes, the New South
Wales Premier, bears out what we said the other day in commenting on
a previous statement made by the same statesman. Sir Henry, who is
the most influential politician in New South Wales, or, indeed, in
Australasia, now formally and distinctly records his belief in Australian
Federalism. The immediate occasion is the report made by General
Edwards, the military commandant at Hong Kong, 011 the subject of the
Australian defensive system. This officer has advised, among other
things, the federation of the several Australian contingents and the
appointment of a single commanding officer for the whole body ; the
adoption of a uniform system of organisation and armament ; the estab-
lishment of a common military college for all the colonies ; and the
introduction for strategical purposes of a uniform railway gauge. Now,
it is clear that these objects can only be carried out by a common central
authority of some kind, and at present the only central authority which
exists is the so-called Australian Federal Council, in which New South
Wales has steadily refused to be represented. " Now," says Sir Henry
Parkes, "why not throw overboard this sham council, which has no real
executive power, which cannot command our troops, which cannot control
a national system of defence, which is only, in fact, a sort of deliberative
congress : why not get rid of this altogether and consider the question of
a real federation of the colonies'?" The question of defence, when looked
at fairly, brings us, in spite of prejudices or preferences, face to face with
the necessity for federal government; and "why," he continues, "should
we turn aside from what is inevitable in the nature of our onward
progress 1 It must come, a year or two later possibly, but in any case
soon." The New South Wales Premier goes on to suggest that a formal
intercolonial convention, consisting of six members from each colony,
should be assembled in order to consider a scheme of Federal Government
more or less on the Canadian type. In fact, if ail succeeds as Sir Henry
Parkes hopes, before long there will be another great dominion under the
British Crown — the Dominion of Australia, not much inferior in resources
and population to the Dominion of Canada.
That the movement is a healthy one is, on the whole, clear enough.
If there is to be an Australian people instead of merely a collection o
small provinces, there must be a common central Government for common
purposes. It is, perhaps, not quite so clear why the system of union
6 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The St. James' Gazette — continued.
should be federal. Federalism is very much in favour just now ; but it
is nowhere a complete success, and in one or two places it has proved
uncommonly like a failure. The excuse for adopting it in the case of a
number of distinct States like those which constituted the original
American Union, or a number of districts, separated by racial and religious
differences, as was the case in Canada, is sufficiently valid ; but where
you have a population practically homogeneous, inhabiting regions not
divided from one another by very strongly marked natural or physical
peculiarities, it might at least be argued that there is no particular
occasion to stereotype the somewhat cumbrous and awkward federal
arrangement. An autocratic reformer with a free hand might perhaps
decide that the best constitution for Australia would be a single central
Government and central Parliament, with county councils for each colony.
But as local vanity and local patriotism count for a good deal, it is not
to be supposed that any one of the colonies would consent to deprive
itself of its legislature, its executive, its government, its ministry, and all
the other paraphernalia of statehood. At any rate, Australian union,
whether it comes by federation or by some other means, is a consumma-
tion which Englishmen and English politicians need not regard with
anything but pleasure. It is true that each successive step towards the
federation of a group of colonies increases their tendency to national
existence and to national self-consciousness. The Australians have been
frank enough in their dealings with the Home Government for some time
past, and if they are federalised no doubt they will make known their
wishes and their views with more bluntness and candour than ever.
Even in the memorandum to which we refer, Sir Henry Parkes says
plainly that the colonies would " never consent " to allow the Imperial
Government to exercise any control over an Australian army. In fact,
a central Australian Federal Congress would be a body very little inclined
to receive direction either from the Imperial Parliament or from its
nominees, the ministry of the day. It would be, from one point of view,
a long step forward towards the goal of colonial separation ; but then,
from another point of view, it might also be a step towards the somewhat
shadowy ideal of Imperial Federation. It would be easier to deal with half
a dozen great colonial congresses, bearing some proportion in dignity and
importance to the Imperial Parliament itself, than with three or four
and twenty trumpery little provincial legislatures. By whatever means
the "golden link " is eventually found which will bind together, more
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 7
The St. James' Gazette — continued.
securely than by the complicated and insecure strands of the Colonial
Office, the various members of the empire, it is more likely to be fashioned
by Dominion Parliaments than by small local assemblies. For these
reasons the action of the energetic New South Wales Premier will be
watched both with sympathy and interest in this country. How he will
succeed in bringing protectionist Victoria and free trading New South
Wales under the same government we confess we do not quite see. But
if he does succeed he will have done good service to the whole of the
Anglo-Saxon world. The federation of a group of contiguous colonies is
a good thing in itself, and a better thing if it offers some prospect of
leading to the eventual federation of the Empire.
Pall Mall Gazette—
November 4=th, 1889.
BY far the most important piece of news to-day is the despatch which Sir
Henry Parkes has addressed to the Premiers of the other Australian
colonies on the subject of federation. By an instructive coincidence the
publication of this despatch has occurred simultaneously with the report
of the festivities given by the Sultan to the German Emperor. It shows
how little the real drift of Imperial affairs and the true perspective of
Imperial concerns are understood as yet among us, that the two chief
organs of a government which professes above all things to be Imperialist
should devote columns of criticism this morning to chances and changes
in Eastern Europe, but have not a word to say on the new departure
taken at the Antipodes. Decidedly Europe is too much with us. Except
so far as it offers a field for coming to a friendly understanding with
Russia, the future of Eastern Europe is no concern of ours ; but the
future of Australia is of enormous concern every way, both in itself —
as a greater England — and for its bearing on the Empire as a whole.
But for all that our statesmen, and the journals who reflect their views,
and the public which takes its cue from the journals, will be far more
interested in taking count of the turn of the German Emperor's phrases
and of estimating the value of the Sultan's smiles than in watching the
development of a policy which, conceived in the fertile brain of Sir
Henry Parkes, may be destined to mould the future of the whole British
Empire.
8 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Pall Mall Gazette — continued.
Unlike Mr. Gladstone, who is out of office, Sir Henry Parkes, being
in office, has tabled his plan. Some of it is contained in the despatch
which is published this morning ; the rest of it was explained in the re-
markable speech which he delivered two or three months ago in connection
with the Western Australia Bill. It is essential, to a right understanding
of the matter, to read the two documents together. The despatch,
which appears in to-day's papers, suggests that the time has come for
superseding the existing " Federal Council " of Australia by a genuine
federation of all the Australian Colonies — with New Zealand, if possible,
included — on the Canadian basis. That is what Sir Henry Parkes pro-
poses in the present ; but for his view of the future, we must go back to
his speech of last summer. We give here the most significant passages : —
" It has always appeared to me — and the more I reflect the more
forcibly it appears to me — that there can be no federation except upon a
common basis of equality ; and that there can be no true and lasting
federation by a great central Power — I will not use the word dominant
Power — with a number of weaker or inferior Powers. ^ . . But I do
see very clearly that there may come a time, and that time not very
remote, when these Australian colonies may be brought into agreement
as one great Australian people. I do see a time when the North
American colonies may be brought more into the position of one great
and united people. I do see a time when the South African colonies
may be brought together into one great Anglo- African people. And I
see that if a grand and powerful congerie of free communities, such as I
have grouped in three parts of the world, becomes steadily formed, they
may enter into an alliance with the parent State on something like a
broad ground of equality. I see that, I think, clearly enough — that
there might be a union of empire on such lines as I have imperfectly
foreshadowed, and to which I have called attention on former occasions.
. . . . I think there is a promise of unprecedented usefulness for
the British people by uniting as one in all parts of the world where our
language is spoken."
Sir Henry Parkes, it will thus be seen, is for Imperial Federation, like
the rest of us; but he is for federation at two removes. First, the
Australian colonies are to federate amongst themselves. Then they are
to federate with the mother country. Perhaps the scheme is premature,
even in its initial stage. Sir Henry Parkes seems to admit as much him-
self, when he says, " it must come — a year or two later possibly — but in
any case soon." But whether destined to be realized a little sooner or a
little later, it marks the line of future development. Sir Henry Parkes
has rendered the same kind of service by his despatch as Mr. Gladstone
rendered by his Home Rule Bill. He has brought the federation of the
Empire within the range of practical politics.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 1)
Pall Mall Gazette — continued.
It is impossible to say what answer the colonies will immediately give
to Sir Henry Parkes. Every one knows that there is great jealousy
between them. New South Wales, it was supposed, held aloof from the
so-called " Federal Council " because Victoria had the initiative in it.
Now that Sir Henry Parkes has regained the lead, it is possible that
Victoria may draw back. But decidedly Sir Henry has the logic of
events in his favour. New South Wales always maintained in public
that the reason why it held back from the former scheme was that the
scheme was futile. The so-called Federal Council was not genuinely
representative, and having no executive behind it it had nothing to do.
It was, in fact, little more than an intercolonial Debating Society, and
Sir Henry Parkes argued that the cause of federation as a measure of
serious and practical politics, was not advanced by confusing it with the
formation of a Colonial Ministers' Debating Club. The good sense and
good faith of Sir Henry Parkes' objections have been shown by the pro-
posal he has now made for converting the semblance of Federation into
a reality, and by the fact that the proposal has grown out of a practical
difficulty. The Australian Colonies have been organizing their defences,
but no machinery exists for placing those defences under a common com-
mand or concerting them in a common scheme. It is said by the anti-
Imperialists in Australia that a reaction against the policy of sending
the New South Wales contingent to the Soudan was the cause of the
recent growth of the " nationalism." It looks as if the organization of
the defensive contingents would pave the way for merging that national
movement into one for federation at two removes.
The Morning Post—
November ±th, 1889.
AN important despatch, addressed by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of
New South Wales, to the Victorian Premier, the Hon. Duncan Gillies,
appeal's in another part of our impression. The exceptionally interesting
character of that document it is scarcely necessary to point out. For
should the proposal of Sir Henry Parkes be accepted by the Australian
Colonies, and become the basis of united action by them, nothing less
than an entirely new departure will have been taken in the weighty
matter of Australian Federation, In order to understand the proposal
10 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Morning Post — continued.
now made, it is well to recall the outlines of the existing condition of
affairs. In the year 1885 a measure was passed enabling the whole of
our colonies in the South Pacific to unite in a scheme of federation. Of
this Act they all took advantage, with the exception of New Zealand,
South Australia, and New South Wales, and in January, 1886, the
Federal Council thereby constituted held its first meeting. Without
going into the details of the legislative powers of that body, it is sufficient
to say that they are held by Sir Henry Parkes to be entirely inade-
quate to the real requirements of Australian Federation. The conten-
tion of the Premier of New South Wales is that the provisions of the
Federal Council Act are wholly insufficient for the vitally important task
of providing for the defence of the colonies. Sir Henry Parkes cannot
discover that the Council " possesses the requisite powers to constitute,
direct, and control an united Australian army." And even assuming
that the Council does possess these powers, there " does not exist, in it or
behind it, any form of executive power." That is to say, no machinery
exists for combining under one command the scattered and unconnected
forces locally maintained by the several colonies, in view of a great com-
mon danger. It is true that the Imperial Parliament could constitute a
Federal army ; but the colonies themselves would not brook Imperial
interference with its movements. Hence a vista of fatal complications is
opened up to the imagination. The remedy which Sir Henry Parkes
proposes for the present unsatisfactory state of things is as follows. Be-
lieving that " the time is ripe for consolidating the Australias into one,"
he invites Victoria to send representatives to a great national convention
" for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme of
Federal Government." Sir Henry Parkes has addressed similar despatches
to the Premiers of the other colonies, and, in view of that fact, it may be
fairly surmised that a most important problem in the development of the
destinies of Australia is within measurable distance of a determined
attempt at solution. As to the lines of the scheme of Federal Govern-
ment which Sir Henry Parkes is desirous to see adopted, they would
coincide closely, he assumes, with the Canadian type. This would
involve the creation of a Governor-General, Privy Council, and a Parlia-
ment of two Houses. Combined colonial defence would be the first and
chief object of the federation, that being the point — though the most
important point of any that could possible come within the purview of
such a scheme — in which Australian Federation, in its present incomplete
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 11
The Morning Post — continued.
form, is apparently wanting. But, besides this, Sir Henry Parkes adds,
the work which such a Federal Government could and would undertake
would "include the noblest objects of peaceful and orderly progress."
Possibly the existing arrangement may be thought to be equal to the
requirements of the various colonies in many respects. But Sir Henry
Parkes' indictment of the Act of 1885 from the standpoint of colonial
defence, reveals the nakedness of the land to a rather alarming extent.
The public will, unquestionably, await with the deepest interest the recep-
tion which the bold initiative of Sir Henry Parkes is destined to receive
at the hands of the other Australian Premiers.
The Globe—
November kth, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, Premier of New South Wales, has issued a circular
despatch to the Premiers of the other Australian colonies inviting them
to send representatives to a national convention to be called together for
the purpose of devising a new scheme of Australian Federation. The
existing system is, he thinks, inadequate to the requirements of colonial
defence. He cannot concur in the view that the Federal Council, as
constituted by the Act of 1885, "possesses the requisite power to con-
stitute, direct, and control a united Australian army." Moreover, there
is no form of executive power behind the Council to give effect to any
commands it might conceive itself capable of issuing. Sir Henry Parkes
therefore, desires a scheme of Federal Government of the Canadian type,
with Governor-General, Privy Council, and two Houses of Parliament ;
in fact, a complete legislative and executive machine, subject only to the
supremacy of the Crown, as the only means of securing an adequate sys-
tem of defence, as well as other benefits, to the Australian Colonies. An
excellent idea — as an idea — indeed, and one which will, doubtless, obtain
the support, in an abstract and academic way, of everybody in Australia,
But practically we are not very sanguine as to the success of Sir Henry
Parkes' patriotic attempt. The several colonies, as all the world knows,
are unable to agree among themselves, especially with regard to fisca
matters. New South Wales and Victoria are at daggers drawn on that
score, and those who know both colonies openly scoff at the idea of union
between the two for any object whatever. It is needless to add that the
12 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Globe — continued.
military aspects of the scheme would be matter for most careful considera-
tion on the part of the Imperial Parliament. While, therefore, we wish
the Australian Colonies all possible success in their struggle to evolve for
themselves the form of Government best suited to them, we must remind
them that before they can aspire to a complete system of federation they
must learn to forego those mutual dissensions which are an insurmount-
able obstacle to such a scheme.
Manchester Examiner —
November ±tk, 1889.
THE very remarkable letter addressed by the Premier of New South
Wales to the Ministerial heads of the other Australian Colonies illus-
trates the difficulties with which the cause of federation is confronted
in our Antipodean possessions. The Premier of Victoria had proposed
that the machinery of the Australian Federal Council created by a recent
Act should be put into operation for the purpose of giving effect to
General Edwards' recommendations for the better defence of all the
Australian colonies. Sir Henry Parkes returns an elaborate refusal,
which he intimates is an expression of the general opinion of New South
Wales, at the same time that he makes an alternative proposal. He
objects to the present Federal Council, not only that its statutory powers
are inadequate for such a purpose as the management of a common
Australian army, but that it blocks the way to a really satisfactory
Federal Council being established. What Sir Henry Parkes wants is an
Australian Parliament and Executive, modelled on the Canadian pattern.
His letter to the Hon. Duncan Gillies was, of course, written in ignor-
ance of the statement recently made by the Marquis of Lome as to the
very serious difficulties experienced in working the Canadian Federal
system. More than that, his argument is based at the outset on a refusal
to recognise the plain meaning of words. His plea is that, because the
clause in the act authorising the Federal Council to take measures for
providing a proper system of "general defences " for Australia also refers
to such matters as the regulation of weights and measures, therefore the
Council has no such power as the words quoted imply. It might just as
well be argued that because the connection between elementary education
and cattle disease is not quite self-obvious, therefore the British Parlia-
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 13
Manchester Examiner — continued.
merit could never have relegated the administration of these matters to
one and the same department of the Government. But, unfortunately
for Sir Henry Parkes' argument, it did ; it was only the other day that
the care of cattle disease was taken from under the charge of the Privy
Council and committed to a distinct department. Sir Henry Parkes
may or may not succeed in his plan for setting up an Australian Con-
federation which will be independent in all but the name, but it is surely
an unpropitious beginning that he should commence by twisting plain
words out of their only obvious meaning. The likelihood is that his pro-
posal will lead to a long wrangle between the colonies, for New South
Wales cannot be more jealous of her seniority than Victoria is keen
to resent any pretension to superiority on her part, while Queensland
believes that she is better and more important than either. If these
rivals cannot agree upon such a comparatively simple affair as the
concerting of measures for common defence, what probability is there of
agreement being arrived at on the multitudinous points of diverse interest
suggested by Sir Henry Parkes' proposal ?
The Daily News—
November 4th, 1889.
THE letter from the Premier of New South Wales to the Premier of
Victoria, which we publish this morning, is an important event in the
history of our Australasian Colonies. The immediate cause and origin of
the document are indeed of secondary interest. But constitutional and
political changes often spring from occurrences which seem too small for
them, though their real source is at once deep-seated and little suspected.
General Edwards, who was sent out to Australia to examine and report
upon its means of defence, has recently reported in favour of the federal
action of Australian troops. The Prime Minister of Victoria, Mr.
Duncan Gillies, at once telegraphed to the Prime Minister of New South
Wales, Sir Henry Parkes, suggesting that the provisions of the Federal
Councils Act might be employed to carry out the recommendations of
General Edwards. Sir Henry Parkes, in his very able and statesmanlike
reply, points out that, in his opinion, the Federal Council does not possess
the powers attributed to it by Mr. Gillies. Sir Henry Parkes makes out
a strong and plausible case, although it must be remembered that he has
14 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Daily News — continued.
a bias in favour of the view which he so lucidly expounds. He desires
the establishment of an institution far more considerable than the Federal
Council, and he is therefore naturally predisposed to disbelieve in the
adequacy of the Council for the purpose indicated by Mr. Gillies. Sir
Henry's argument is briefly this : He finds that in the Act " general
defences " are included among a number of delegated subjects, such as
weights and measures, and he refuses to infer from a single phrase so
placed the right of the Australian continent to set up an army of its own.
Sir Henry Parkes opposed the Federal Councils Bill at the time of its
preparation, not regarding it as adapted to secure those objects which he
has pursued for the last twenty years. He is a federalist, at least so far
as Australia is concerned, and he dislikes the Federal Councils Act as
stereotyping a sham federalism. New South Wales will have nothing to
do with it. Few people will, we suppose, deny, whether they like federa-
tion or dislike it, that the Act of 1885 was a very small and tentative .
measure. We see no answer to the contention of Sir Henry Parkes that
even if the Federal Council could order the enrolment of an Australian
army there is no executive force to carry out its decrees. While cordially
concurring with General Edwards' advice, and holding it essential to
the safety of Australia, Sir Henry Parkes is convinced that it cannot at
present be followed : —
"The Executive Governments of the several colonies,'' he says, "could
not act in combination for any such purpose, nor could they so act inde-
pendently of each other."
The Federal Council is helpless ; and thus, by a process of exhaustion,
Sir Henry arrives at the depressing conclusion that nothing can be done.
He proceeds to deal with the obvious suggestion that Parliament
might constitute a federal army. " But," he significantly observes, "the
colonies would never consent to the Imperial Executive interfering with
the direction of its movements." This emphatic declaration may be
commended to the notice of those who think that spick and span contri-
vances for " federalising the Empire " can be exported from a benevolent
metropolis to her aspiring offshoots. Her Majesty's Australian subjects
are doubtless extremely loyal, but they are also extremely businesslike,
and no sentiment of the " hands all round " type will induce them to
forego one jot or tittle of their practical independence. Sir Henry
Parkes, who picks his way with admirable astuteness over the hidden
pitfalls and smouldering ashes of this burning question, suddenly finds
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 15
The Daily News — continued.
himself, with skilfully simulated surprise, " face to face " with the alter-
native of Federal Government. " Why," he asks, " should we turn aside
from what is inevitable 1 " We might answer that death is inevitable,
but that wise men do not live in constant contemplation of it. Sir
Henry Parkes, however, is convinced in the first place that Australasian
Federation will come very soon, and, in the second place, that it is
eminently desirable. He urges upon the Premiers of the sister colonies
that " the time is ripe for consolidating the Australias into one." It is
difficult to say how far Sir Henry Parkes represents in this respect the
public opinion of the great continent which has been civilised and culti-
vated by English enterprise, or of the islands of Tasmania and New
Zealand. Hitherto the issue of protection versus free trade, differently
regarded in New South Wales and in Victoria, has been an apparently
insuperable obstacle. Now, Sir Henry Parkes with warmth and sincerity
invites Mr. Gillies
" to appoint representatives of Victoria to a National Convention for the
purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal
Government."
Sir Henry Parkes must have had his plan ready for some time. He
is prepared not only with principles but even with details. He pro-
poses that each colony should send six representatives nominated by its
Parliament in equal proportions from both political parties. Four of the
six would come from the Assembly, and two from the Council ; while
Western Australia, which has only one Chamber, and that not a
democratic one, would be sufficiently represented by four delegates.
The most satisfactory feature of these proposals is that they come
from Australia herself, and not from the Mother country. If any
English statesman, however eminent, had laid it down as a maxim that
there should be a Governor-General of Australasia, with a Senate, a
House of Commons, and a Privy Council, he would have been open to a
just charge of presumptuous meddling. It remains to be seen whether
Sir Henry Parkes' letter will obtain active support from Victoria or
from New Zealand. But without New Zealand the combination would
be fatally incomplete. Nothing, says Sir Henry Parkes, will ever per-
suade New South Wales to enter the present Federal Council, so useless
does she regard it. But the other colonies have entered it, and their pro
gress towards federalism is therefore, by the hypothesis, not so far
advanced. The analogy, from which Sir Henry Parkes reasons, is the
16 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Daily News— continued.
Dominion of Canada, and certainly the parallel is an ingenious one.
There are, of course, many points of difference, and all political analogies
have an inherent weakness of their own. While on the one hand Canada
is compact, and does not include two islands a thousand miles from the
continent, on the other hand the Australian Governments have no such
discordant element to deal with as the French Canadians. The matter is
entirely within the proper competence of Australasian opinion, and the
Imperial Parliament will gladly ratify any conclusion at which the Aus-
tralian colonies may jointly arrive. We shall hear on this occasion no
factious nonsense about the dismemberment of the Empire, and Sir
Henry Parkes will not be accused of conspiracy with traitors or
murderers. It is just as well that stay-at-home Britons should bo
reminded from time to time what a speck Ireland is in the dominions
of the Queen. To Irishmen Home Rule is vital, and therefore English-
men are bound to examine it with care. But the idle talk about
"disintegration'' is not so much controversial intemperance as sheer
lunacy. The separation of Ireland from Great Britain would be disas-
trous to the smaller country, and is, happily, impossible. Irishmen
have fought side by side with us, and if necessary would do so again.
A power so vast, so comprehensive, so irresistible as the British Empire
would be if its scattered forces were combined, excites irreverent
laughter when it betrays symptoms of panic over an Irish Parliament.
There is no real connection between the policy of Sir Henry Parkes
and a brand new Constitution, with a Federal Legislature at West-
minster. That may or may not come in the course of ages. Tho
Australian Federation proposed by Sir Henry Parkes, though it has been
stimulated by military necessity, will, if adopted, be still more fruitful
in promoting the peaceful progress of communities with so great a
future before them.
The Star (London)-^
November ±th, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES has started a big ball rolling in Australia. The
military adviser whom we sent out to advise the Australians on a common
scheme of national defence has reported in favour of a Federal Australian
army, and Sir Henry Parkes takes up the cue and boldly tells the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 17
The Star (London) — continued.
colonies that the time has come for a federated Australia. He does
more ; he invites a representative conference of all the colonies to
consider the question, and he indicates the direction which the movement
should take by pointing to the Canadian Federation, with a glance still
more significant at the Constitution of the nited States.
On, the reception given to this document by the sister colonies will
depend the future of Australia for many years to come. The time is ripe
for a movement of this kind. It has been in the air for some time past.
The colonies have obviously reached a period of development when, if
they are not to grow up into a series of disunited, rival, and mutually
jealous states on the European pattern, some new bond of union must be
found in place of the ever- weakening connection with the mother country.
The feeble effort in this direction made by the Federal Councils Act of
1885 has been tried and found wanting. New South Wales wisely stood
out of the arrangement thus created. Her wisdom is shown by Sir Henry
Parkes' conclusive demonstration to-day, that for one of the first and most
important duties of a federated authority — the control of the defences of
the federation — this nondescript council has neither the authority nor the
machinery. The only solution of the difficulty is a real Federal Govern-
ment, with a central Executive, Council, and Parliament.
WHAT will our Imperialists over here say to this 1 They are silent on
the subject this morning. The Morning Post gives Sir Henry Parkes an
article, but carefully refrains from committing itself to any definite view.
The Pall Mall Gazette will be thinking it over while we are writing.
But we can safely assure them all of this, that if a federated Australia
comes it will not be a step in the direction of Imperial Federation as
Imperial Federation is now understood. The very man who starts the
movement has recorded his opinion that Imperial Federation is an empty
dream. Sir Henry Parkes is all against " cutting the painter " ; but, in
spite of that, he is proposing the first step to the creation of a United
States of Australia. It may be as some Australian Radicals believe, that
this great Federal State, if it ever comes, will in turn enter into a federal
alliance with the United Kingdom ; but everything points to the con-
clusion that the only federation of this kind which can come is a federation
of independent states, into which the Australian States might enter on
the same footing as the United States of America. But this is a matter
for the twentieth century or the twenty-first.
18 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Edinburgh Evening Despatch —
November 4th, 1889.
THE telegraphic announcement from Sydney that Sir Henry Parkes, the
Premier of New South Wales, had at length intimated the adherence of
that colony to the principle of Australian Federation is an event of
first-rate magnitude. Practically it removes the last formidable obstacle
to the ultimate adoption of that great scheme, which should prove a
worthy rival of that which has brought strength and prosperity to the
Dominion of Canada. New South Wales, for certain reasons of its own,
has hitherto been the only colony to hold aloof from the federation
movement, but, of course, its opposition was fatal. What are the
motives which have produced this sudden change of position are not fully
explained, though they are not difficult to divine. New South Wales
has remained staunch to Free- trade, while the other colonies, and
especially Victoria, have been wedded to Protection. Unfortunately the
Protectionist feeling in New South Wales has been rapidly gaining
ground, the position of the Ministry is becoming less certain, and con-
siderable discontent has been created by the mismanagement of the rail-
ways and several public departments. Various boundary questions also,
such as the withdrawal of water from the sources of the Murray for
irrigation purposes, and the inconveniences of the rival tariff arrange-
ments, have likewise produced a feeling that sooner or later something
must be attempted to remove the constant and annoying friction. Sir
H. Parkes now admits that federation must soon come, and he loyally
offers to facilitate its accomplishment by suggesting a National Conven-
tion, at which the colonies shall be equally represented, to consider and
report on the question. Many very critical details have still to be
settled, and grave difficulties and jealousies to be overcome before
federation can be a fact ; though, if it is taken up in the spirit displayed
by Sir Henry Parkes, there is every prospect of its triumphant success.
The Evening News (Glasgow)—
November 4th, 1889.
AN important development in Australian politics is announced to-day.
Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, has addressed to the
other Premiers of Australia an invitation to join in " an adequate scheme
of Federal Government." Sir Henry declares that there is an imperative
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 19
The Evening News (Glasgow)— continued.
necessity for such a scheme. He believes that the time is ripe for
consolidating the Australias into one, and he accordingly proposes, as an
initial measure, a national convention [of the various colonies, with the
view of devising a suitable measure. There is no cause for surprise in this
movement. It is natural that the Australians should desire to make the
very best of their unexampled opportunities as the pioneers of the New
World of the South, and, even if the measure suggested were inimical to
the interests of the mother-country, it would be unfair to condemn those
who are only discharging their duty. Of course, it is not yet certain
that the other colonies will agree to Sir Henry Parkes' proposal, and
until then it will be premature to closely scrutinize a scheme which is
yet but in outlines.
Meanwhile it may be noted that the primary purpose animating Sir
Henry Parkes has been that of providing Australia with an effective
land defence. The present comparative helplessness of the island-
continent is really an important consideration. In the event of a war
between Britain and a Continental Power, it is likely enough that
telegraphic communication would be early destroyed, and as the Home
force would be too busily engaged in Europe to permit of much aid being
offered to the colonies, the Britain across the seas would have to rely
largely upon its own exertions for any defensive operations that might
be necessary. Some preparations in the way of coast protection have,
with the aid of the mother-country, already been made, but Sir Henry
Parkes has perceived that without an effective land force Australia
might still be placed in a position of great jeopardy. His immediate
idea is a federal measure of defence, which would entail a combination
of the various colonial forces into one consolidated Australian army,
ready for the general protection. The enrolment of such a force might
offer some obstacles, but Sir Henry is hopeful of overcoming these.
Federation for this purpose would probably be only the preliminary to
federation for many other purposes, and on all of these, provided they
are legitimately intended for the welfare of the colonies, the mother-
country can look with a favourite eye. It is inevitable that the
Australia of the future shall be more cohesive than is the case now, and
whatever the precise relations may be between the Australians and
ourselves, this is one of those natural contingencies to which it is neither
desirable nor useful to object.
20 UNITED AUSTEALIA.
The Times—-
November 5th, 1889.
THE important despatch from Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New
South Wales, to Mr. Gillies, the Premier of Victoria, seems to bring us
an appreciable step nearer to the federation of the Australian Colonies.
Sir Henry Parkes has already shown that consolidation in a federal union
is, in his judgment, the natural line of evolution, what would be called
in America the manifest destiny of the Australian polity. He has been,
as he says, a federalist for more than twenty years, and he gave excellent
and eloquent reasons for the faith that is in him in a speech delivered
last August in the Parliament of his own colony, and 'printed in our
columns about six weeks ago. On the other hand, New South Wales has
not hitherto taken kindly, and does not even now take kindly, to the
embryo scheme of federation embodied in the Act passed by the Imperial
Parliament in 1885 for the constitution of a Federal Council in Austral-
asia. "In my judgment," says Sir Henry Parkes, frankly and emphatically
enough, " there is no person and no party here that could persuade Parlia-
ment to sanction the representation of this colony in the present Federal
Council." The explanation of this apparent contradiction is not far to
seek. The present movement towards federation in Australia has
acquired force and volume from circumstances not adequately provided
for in the Federal Council of the Australasia Act. The Council con
stituted by the Act is weak as a legislature because its enactments only
become law by the assent of the colonies affected, and, as Sir Henry
Parkes points out, " there does not exist in it or behind it any form
of executive power." For this and other reasons New South Wales
has declined, and still declines, to send representatives to the Council.
But a question of vital importance to Australia as a whole has arisen,
which forces Australian statesmen again to look closely and seriously at
the problem of federation. This is the question of general defence.
General Edwards has recommended that the general defence of Austra-
lian territory should be made a matter of common concern to all the
Australian Colonies. The Government of Victoria appear to think that the
Federal Council possesses the requisite power to constitute, direct, and con-
trol a united Australian army. In this view Sir Henry Parkes finds him-
self unable to concur. He recognizes, on the other hand, that the question
must be faced. He examines in succession the several alternatives, such
as the creation of a common army either by the Federal Council or by
the Imperial Parliament, or the combination of the several Executive
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 21
The Times— continued.
Governments, otherwise independent, for the purpose of creating and
controlling a common army. All these he rejects for reasons of un-
doubted cogency, and he is thus driven to the conclusion that, a common
army being necessary for the purpose of the economical and effective
defence of Australian territory, that necessity leads by irresistible sequence
to federation. " Hence, then," he says, " this first great federal ques-
tion, when looked at fairly, brings us, in spite of preferences and
prejudices, face to face with the imperative necessity for Federal Govern-
ment, and why should we turn aside from what is inevitable T
The reasoning is cogent, and the practical consequences may be, indeed
we should rather say must be, momentous. It is possible, of course, that
sectional and separatist tendencies may still prevail for a time, and that
the Colony of Victoria, which has taken more or less kindly to the
Federal Council, may not take kindly at the outset to a proposal for
federation in a different form which comes from New South Wales. But
it can hardly be doubted that evolution in the federal direction is indi-
cated as the future destiny of the Australian Colonies alike by history,
' analogy, and the normal tendency of events. On this fundamental point
Sir Henry Parkes and Mr. Gillies appeared to be essentially at one. The
only difference is that Mr. Gillies and the Government of Victoria seem
ready to take the existing Federal Council as the germ of the future
polity, while Sir Henry Parkes would start afresh and summon a
National Convention, in which all the colonies should be equally repre-
sented, for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate
scheme of Federal Government, The difference is considerable, and its
adjustment may impede further progress for a time, but it is not in any
way vital. Federal Government arises, as Professor Dicey has pointed
out, when the several states participating in it desire union without desir-
ing unity. The first condition is absolutely indispensable. Without an
effective desire for union, capable of overcoming such exceptional and
separatist tendencies as are involved in not desiring unity, no federation
is possible. It remains to be seen, then, whether such an effective desire
for unity exists in the Australian Colonies generally, and, perhaps, as the
Federal Council Act has proved a comparative failure, and is, in the
judgment of the Government and people of New South Wales, unwork-
able, no better method of testing the strength of the desire for union could
be devised than the summoning of such a National Convention as Sir
Henry Parkes suggests. If the several colonies accept the invitation, it
22 UNITED AUSTRALIA..
The Times — continued.
is clear that they are primd facie willing to consider the expediency and
feasibility of entering into the federal bond. If they decline it, it is
equally clear that the question has been prematurely raised. The matter
is therefore entirely in the hands of the colonies themselves. If they
desire union without being willing to sacrifice their individual and
independent existence as self-governing communities, such union is possible,
and only possible, through federation. If they desire no such union,
cadit qucestio. But the desire for union, however feeble at the outset,
must inevitably be quickened by the growing necessity for common defence.
This is the strength of Sir Henry Parkes' position. He has found in the
need for common defence, as the American colonies found over a century
ago, a strong centripetal impulse and a powerful counterpoise to separatist
tendencies. Accordingly, he invites each colony to send six representa-
tives, appointed by Parliament, and chosen in equal numbers from each
of the two political parties, to the proposed National Convention, four
members being taken from the Assembly, and two from the Council in
each colony. Western Australia, having only one House, might, he
suggests, only send four representatives ; and thus, if New Zealand
thought proper to join the Convention, the total number of representatives
would be forty. This Convention would be empowered to discuss and
recommend for adoption a form of Federal Constitution. " The scheme
of Federal Government, it is assumed, would necessarily follow close upon
the type of the Dominion Government of Canada, and would provide for
the appointment of a Governor-General, and for the creation of an Aus-
tralian Privy Council and of a Parliament consisting of a Senate and
House of Commons."
Such is, in outline, the origin and character of that federal movement
with which Sir Henry Parkes, one of the foremost of Australian states-
men, has now definitely identified himself. It is premature as yet even
to attempt to forecast what may be its issue, proximate or remote. The
other colonies may decline the invitation. That will be a sign, either
that the movement is still premature, or that the colonies in general
prefer, with Victoria, to work on the lines of the Federal Council. Or
they may consent to enter the Convention, and then find themselves
unable to agree. A Federal Constitution is no easy thing to frame even
with the assistance of what Sir Henry Parkes calls " the rich stores of
political knowledge which were collected by the framers of the Constitu-
tion of the United States " ; and there is this important difference
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 23
The Times — continued.
between Australia and the United States, that the United States were an
independent and sovereign community at the time their Constitution was
framed, whereas the Australian Colonies are, and desire to remain, united
to the mother country. That difference, however, proved no insuperable
obstacle to the federation of the Canadian Dominion, and need not,
therefore, cause any greater difficulty in the case of the Australian Colo-
nies. The people of this country recognize that the question of federation
is one to be mainly resolved in and by the colonies themselves, and
it is obvious that many practical difficulties which now beset the Colonial
Office in its relations with the separate colonies would be smoothed over
by the union of the colonies in a single confederation. The real difficulties
in the way of federation will be found on the spot and not at home. The
experience of the United States and of the Canadian Dominion will
serve not only as an example, but also as a warning. The Constitution of
the United States is not without its defects, some of them little foreseen
by its framers, and federal institutions in Canada have not worked alto-
gether without friction, as the records of the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council would show. It will tax the ingenuity of Australian
constitutional statesmen to improve upon previous federal experience, and
to avoid errors into which their predecessors have fallen, while the cir-
cumstances of Australia will present special difficulties of their own. Of
these — to mention only a few — the selection of a capital will be one, and
the adjustment of a federal tariff will be another. Will Victoria be
willing to concede supremacy to seniority and to recognize Sydney as
the Australian capital and the seat of Federal Government, and will New
South Wales, on the other hand, consent so far to abandon her Free-trade
principles as to leave the external tariff an open question, to be settled
possibly, not to say probably, in a Protectionist sense, in return for the
establishment of intercolonial Free-trade1? These are questions which
will immediately arise as between New South Wales and Victoria.
Other questions of equal difficulty and importance will arise between
these colonies and their neighbours. Such questions are not insoluble,
as experience shows, where the desire for union is strong enough to
induce compromise, accommodation, and mutual concession ; but their
existence and the necessity for their solution suffice to show that it is one
thing to propose federation and another to accomplish it. Nevertheless
it is impossible for Englishmen not to wish well to this new movement
in favour of Australian Federation. Sir Henry Parkes is a capable
24 UNITED AUSTKALIA.
The Times — continued.
statesman, and his judgment is entitled to all respect when he pronounces
the time to be ripe and the method to be feasible. If that is so, the
difficulties will gradually disappear, and the Federation of the Australian
Colonies will before long be accomplished.
The Standard —
November 5th, 1889.
THE despatch addressed by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South
Wales, to the Hon. Duncan Gillies, the Victorian Premier, and to the
Premiers of the other Australasian Colonies on the subject of Australian
Federation, will be read in this country with sympathetic interest,
with absolute dispassionateness, and, we may add, with a certain
amount of sceptical curiosity. It has been provoked bv the invitation of
the Victorian Cabinet to bring the machinery of the Federal Council into
operation, for the purpose of giving effect to the recommendations of
General Edwards for the combined action of the various Australian
troops. The Premier of New South Wales doubts, in the first place, the
legal competency of the machinery thus appealed to ; and, in the second
place, he states bluntly that the Parliament of New South Wales could
never be persuaded to change its resolution not to be represented in the
Federal Council. Finally, he suggests the creation of a totally different
method for the Federal action of the Australasian Colonies. Before,
however, explaining and commenting 011 his suggestions, we think it
necessary to point out Avhat is the Federal Council to which Victoria
makes appeal, and which New South Wales altogether refuses to recog-
nize. Four years ago, the Imperial Parliament passed an Act, known as
"The Federal Council Act of Australasia." In the preamble of that
measure it was recited that it had become expedient to constitute a
Federal Council of Australasia, for the purpose of dealing with such
matters of common Australasian interest, in respect to which united action
is desirable, as can be dealt with without unduly interfering with the man-
agement of the internal affairs of the several colonies by their respective
Legislatures. It was then enacted that there shall be in and for her
Majesty's Possessions in Australasia a body called the Federal Council of
Australasia, possessing certain functions, power, and authority, which the
Act proceeded to define. Each colony was to be represented in the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 25
The Standard— continued.
Council by two members, except in the case of Crown Colonies, which
were to be represented by one member each ; the number of representa-
tives to be increased by her Majesty, by an Order in Council, at the
request of the Legislatures of the colonies. We need not recapitulate
the matters which are declared to be within the limits of the functions
of the Federal Council ; for hitherto, owing to the refusal of New South
Wales and New Zealand to be represented, it has had only a partial and
tentative existence. Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia,
and Fiji availed themselves of the provisions of the Act, but it is obvious
that the absence of representatives from so important a colony as New
South Wales must have rendered their co-operation imperfect, if not
nugatory. In the conclusion of his despatch Sir Henry Parkes remarks,
" Permit me to say that you place much too high an estimate on my
individual influence, if you suppose that the accession of New South Wales
to the Federal Council rests with me. In my judgment, there is no
person and no party here that could persuade Parliament to sanction the
representation of this colony in the present Federal Council."
It must not be supposed, however, that this reluctance, thus forcibly
expressed, arose out of any objection on the part of New South Wales to
Australian Federation. On the contrary, Sir Henry Parkes seizes on the
occasion to show how eager the colony of which he is Premier is to attain
and promote that object. We need not waste time in following him
through his contention that the Federal Council does not possess the
requisite legal power to constitute, direct, and control a united Australian
Army ; for, though we confess ourselves unconverted by his arguments,
we are free to allow that, as he contends, " there does not exist in it, or
behind it, any form of executive power," and that the creation of such
authority would be extremely difficult. What confers real and lasting
interest on the despatch of Sir Henry Parkes is the proposal it contains
for an entirely different method of procedure, aiming at a much larger
and wider end. In spite of preferences or prejudices, he says, Australians
iind themselves, when they look at the matter fairly and frankly, face to
face with the imperative necessity of a Federal Government ; and why,
ho asks, should people turn away from the inevitable 1 But Sir Henry
goes still further. He expresses the opinion that the time is ripe for
consolidating the various Australian Colonies into one ; and he invites
the Victorian Cabinet to appoint representatives to what he calls a
National Convention, for the purpose of devising and reporting on an
26 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Standard — continued.
adequate scheme of Federal Government. His plan is, that in order to
conciliate all the Colonies, and to avoid inflicting on them any sense of
inequality, the number of representatives from each Colony shall be the
same, and that the number in each case shall be six, equally chosen from
both sides of political life. He suggests, moreover, that four of them
might be taken from the Legislative Assembly of the colony, and two
from the Legislative Council. The scheme of Federal Government to be
aimed at would follow close on the type of the Dominion Government of
Canada, and would provide for the appointment of a Governor-General,
and for the creation of an Australian Privy Council, and of a Parliament
consisting of a Senate and of a House of Commons. In a word, by way
of answer to the proposal of partial and experimental federal action on
certain matters, Sir Henry Parkes submits and urges a scheme of whole-
sale and complete federation, which would deal not only with the question
of military defence, but would lift the colonies to a higher level of national
life, increase their prosperity, add to their dignity, and deepen their con-
sciousness of a common existence, common interests, and a common future.
It may be said at once that the question is one wholly and entirely for
the Australian Colonies to consider and decide among themselves. The
mother country will neither raise nor feel any objection to their closer
union among themselves. Whatever they can agree upon will receive
the cordial endorsement of the Crown and of the English people. But
following the various expressions of opinion already uttered by our
kindred at the other side of the world, we cannot help thinking that the
time is by no means so " ripe " for genuine Australian Federation as Sir
Henry Parkes believes it to be. It is in vain that the Colonies of
Australia are agreed upon the desirability of a closer bond of union, so
long as they are completely at issue as to what form and character that
union is to take. All the world over, men are found to be in tolerable
accord concerning what are called principles of government. The diffi-
culty and the discord begin when the attempt is made to apply them.
Hitherto, the important Colonies of Victoria and of New South Wales
have manifested a disposition to pull in different directions, and it can
hardly be doubted that this divergence arises, consciously or unconsciously,
from the latent wish in both of them to play the part of leading Colony
in Australasia. We do not say that the Protectionist views of Melbourne,
and the Free-trade proclivities of Sydney, do not spring from something
deeper than the antagonism that arises from rivalry. But it is impossible
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 27
The Standard — continued.
to review the relations of those two colonies with each other, and with
the other less populous and less prosperous colonies, without coming to
the conclusion that in each case the sense of their own importance is cal-
culated to stand in the way of the early fulfilment of such a scheme as is
indicated in the despatch of Sir Henry Parkes. At the same time, the
difficulty which is so obvious may, in due course, be overcome. The
mother country can do little or nothing either to accelerate or to retard
the growth of Australian Federation. But it is satisfactory to know
that should what is now but a dream and an aspiration become a reality,
it will be just as easy for England to cultivate parental relations with an
Australian Dominion as it now is to maintain them with a number of
separate colonies. The bond that unites the colonies to the mother
country is one of affection, tradition, and sentiment ; and we see no reason
why that should be in the smallest degree weakened by any arrangement
the colonies may come to among themselves. England is proud of its
strong, brave, enterprising children in the Pacific ; nor are they likely to
do anything to lessen that pride, or to lessen the force of what may
honestly be called a reciprocal attachment.
The Morning Advertiser —
November 5tk, 1889.
WHY should not Australia form a great federation, like the Dominion of
Canada? The question has often been raised, both in the Australian
Colonies and in the mother country, and it is one of enormous import-
ance. There have been difficulties hitherto which have appeared insur-
mountable for the present, and it is by no means certain that they are
capable of being surmounted now. The correspondence which has passed
between the Premiers of New South Wales and Victoria, and especially
the despatch from the former to the sister colonies which we published
yesterday, prove, however, that a strong desire exists in the colonial mind
for the achievement of the object. New South Wales has up to this
time refused to have anything to do with the Federal Council, which finds
favour with the Victorians, and Sir Henry Parkes avows his conviction
that there is no party or individual in that colony who could persuade the
Colonial Parliament to alter its policy in this respect. The vital objec-
tion to the Council, according to the politicians at Sydney, is that it has
28 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Morning Advertiser— continued.
no coercive jurisdiction. It does not possess the power of enforcing its
decisions, and there is no authority behind it capable of doing so. Sir
Henry Parkes and those who agree with him want to have a real Federal
Government, if there is to be any federation at all. This would mean, of
course, the consolidation of all the Australian Colonies into a single State,
with two Houses of Parliament and a Federal Executive, each Colony
remaining a self-governing country for the purpose of managing its own
internal affairs. The principle has now been in operation in Canada for
a good many years, and, despite a little friction now and then, it has
undoubtedly worked well. The time has now arrived, in the opinion of
Sir Henry Parkes, for applying it to Australia, and he invites the
co-operation of all the Colonies for the purpose of elaborating a plan to
carry the idea into effect. Federal union is, he maintains, inevitable
sooner or later, and why should not the question be faced at once 1 The
New South Wales Premier has sketched out the first steps to be taken,
and it will be for the other Colonies to accept, modify, or reject his pro-
posals.
The first thing to be done is to arrange for a conference, and in the
constitution of such a conference, Sir Henry Parkes proposes that all the
Colonies should be equally represented. He suggests that six delegates
should be commissioned from each of them, four selected from the repre-
sentative Assembly — two from the Ministerial side, and two from the
Opposition — and two from the Legislative Council, one selected from the
majority and the other from the minority. In the case of Western Aus-
tralia, where there is but one legislative chamber, four members might,
perhaps be considered a sufficient representation. If New Zealand came
into the scheme the conference would consist of forty members. Its
work would, of course, be deliberative only. Sir Henry Parkes suggests
that the Canadian example would naturally present itself as the type to
be followed in the construction of a Federal Constitution, while " the rich
stores of political knowledge which were collected by the framers of the
Constitution of the United States would be largely resorted to, as well as
the vast accumulation of learning on cognate subjects since that time/'
If the delegates were able to agree, the results of their discussion would
have to be approved by the several colonial Legislatures and sanctioned
by the Imperial Government. The response to Sir Henry Parkes' appeal
Avill be looked for with interest both in the Colonies and at home. We
cannot pretend to guess what sort of reception the suggestion will obtain.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 29
The Morning Advertiser — continued.
It may be that the time for consolidating the Australias into one, to use
its author's phrase, is not so fully come as he imagines. There may be
separate interests or prejudices which will prove too strong even for the
convocation of a conference, and, if the conference should really be held,
these separate interests or prejudices may prove insuperable obstacles to
union. Only a very wide and minute acquaintance with colonial opinion
could justify a confident judgment upon either point. The matter is
entirely one for the colonists themselves to decide, and we in this country
are, of course, prepared to leave it altogether to their decision. We
could not coerce them if we would, and there is assuredly no desire to do
so. But, with the example of Canada before us, we cannot but think
that federation is the sound policy for the Australians to pursue, whether
it is to come next year, the year after, or in ten years hence. We quite
agree with Sir Henry Parkes that it will have to come, and should be
pleased to find that colonial opinion is sufficiently ripe to bring it about
at an early period. The greater scheme of the federation of the whole
empire cannot be retarded by the closer union of those provinces which
are most nearly connected with each other, and, if the idea is capable of
being realized at all, should be accelerated by it.
The Aberdeen Free Press—
November 5th, 1889.
THE letter which Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, has
addressed to the First Ministers of the other Australasian Colonies, marks
an important stage in the creation of a united Australasia. It has for
many years been a matter of conviction to intelligent observers of the
political movements of the time, that at no very distant date the various
Colonies of Australasia would unite into a single State. Union in these
days is a law and necessity of progress. Every great and progressive
country on the face of the earth supplies an illustration of the fact. On
the continent of Europe we have the instructive cases of Germany and
Italy, and in America those of the United States — in which the central
authority is rapidly growing in power and in popular confidence at the
cost of the sectional and subordinate state authorities — and Canada.
Another illustration of a different but not less instructive sort, is furnished
by the case of the Turkish empire. Here we have not union, but disin-
30 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Aberdeen Free Press— continued.
tegration — the cutting off' here and there of slices of territory and their
establishment into " autonomous " — soon to be independent — States, or
their incorporation with other and neighbouring countries — a process the
reverse of what is to be witnessed elsewhere, and the result of the decay
and dissolution of the Ottoman power. It is not the least weighty of
the considerations relating to the Home Rule controversy in this country
that we have to go to Turkey — a nation that is notoriously in a moribund
condition — to find a parallel for the measure proposed for the parlia-
mentary disintegration of the United Kingdom. In Australia, as in
every healthy and progressive country, the political forces of the time are
making, not for disintegration, but for union — not for the greater inde-
pendence or separateness of the several sections, but for the sinking of
existing differences and the building up of the whole into a single and
homogeneous state. Of necessity, in such a process the first stage must
be that of federation. It would be impossible, and would be inexpedient
even if possible, to advance at one step from the condition of absolute inde-
pendence of each other which at present exists to the fusion or amalgama-
tion of the several colonies into a single State. The law of nature, in the
political and social as in the physical world, is that of progress by growth ;
and the federal union of a group of political communities is a fit and
natural and even necessary preliminary to their attainment of the higher
and more perfect form of organic development. There is no reason to
doubt that in Australia, as in the United States and elsewhere, experience
will show that between the purely local authorities on the one hand and
the Federal Parliament and Executive on the other the part to be played
to any useful purpose by the provincial governments will be one of ever
diminishing importance and utility.
The first definite step taken in the union of Australia was the forma-
tion at the Colonial Conference of three or four years ago of the present
Federal Council. That body, as is known, has no executive authority,
and merely exists for purposes of deliberation and the discussion of
matters of common interest to the several colonies. But if it has done
little in one sense, it has done a great deal in another in familiarizing the
Australians with the idea of federation or union, and in directing atten-
tion to the many matters in regard to which the interests of the people
as a whole would be promoted by the existence of a strong, central, repre-
sentative government. The Federal Council was certain to develop in
time into a Federal Government of this kind, and the process of
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 31
The Aberdeen Free Press — continued.
development promises to be more rapid than many could have anticipated.
For here is Sir Henry Parkes, who may be described as occupying the first
place among the statesmen of Australia and the representatives of Aus-
tralian political opinion, advocating federation without any circumlocu-
tion or reservation whatever, and calling upon his fellow-Ministers of the
different colonies to take the matter at once in hand. His letter is in
the nature of a manifesto on the subject, and whatever the immediate
response of the several colonial Governments may be, it cannot fail to
greatly advance opinion and the ultimate realization of the project. The
occasion of the despatch being written has been the emergence of a diffi-
culty with respect to the authority of the Federal Council in regard to
the "general defences" of the country. Sir Henry Parkes, differing from
the Premier of Victoria, does not think that the Council possesses power
to direct the creation or control the operations of an army of defence for
the whole of Australia. So he goes at once to the root of the matter, and
proposes that the Council should be cleared out of the way, and that there
should be set up a Federal Government, as to whose possession of the neces-
sary powers no one could raise any question. The different Governments,
he points out, could never act in combination for the purpose of general
defence, and to the direct interference of the Imperial Government in the
matter the colonists " could never consent." Hence, then, he proceeds: —
"This first great federal question, when looked at fairly, brings us,
in spite of preferences or prejudices, face to face with the imperative
necessity for federal government, and why should we turn aside from
what is inevitable 1 In the nature of our onward progress it must come,
a year or two later possibly, but in any case soon, I hope. This Govern-
ment is anxious to work in harmony with the Governments of the sister
colonies in the matter under consideration, and desirous of avoiding
subordinate questions coloured by party feeling or collateral issues. It is
a question to be put to the mind and heart of Australia in view of the
destiny of Australia, and a question on which it is to be hoped all sections
of the collective population will unite without regard to narrower
considerations. Believing that the time is ripe for consolidating the
Australias into one, this Government respectfully invites you to join in
taking the first great step — namely, to appoint representatives of Victoria
to a National Convention for the purpose of devising and reporting upon
an adequate scheme of Federal Government."
The question of defence, Sir Henry Parkes goes on to remark, is only
one of many things in respect of which the federation of the colonies
would be of great advantage. " The work of a national character which
a federal government could, in the interest of all the colonies, most
32 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Aberdeen Free Press — continued.
beneficially and effectually undertake would include the noblest objects
of peaceful and orderly progress, and every year the field of its beneficent
operations would be rapidly expanding." It will be observed that Sir
Henry speaks not only for himself, but for his Government, and when
the Government of the oldest and most important of the Australian
Colonies goes so far as to make a definite proposal for the meeting of a
" National Convention " to consider the question of federation, we may
be sure that colonial opinion is by no means in a backward condition on
the subject. The progress of the movement will be watched with interest
in this country, and the scheme for the union of Australia into a single
state or " nation " will have the best wishes of the British people.
The Aberdeen Journal—
November 5th, 1889.
THE subject of Imperial Federation has been for some years prominently
before the public in all parts of the vast empire under the benignant
sway of our Empress-Queen ; and all sound politicians and patriotic men
are agreed as to the desirability of the various parts of the British Empiro
being knit more closely together. It is, however, generally admitted
that the issues involved are so vast and complicated that any attempt to
force an abstract scheme prematurely could only end in failure, and
would in all probability intensify the evils which it was intended to cure.
All sound political thinkers agree in declaring that constitutions grow
and cannot be made, and it is therefore evident that a great incorporating
union of all parts of the British Empire cannot grow up in a day. There
is, however, no reason why all tendencies which make in this direction
should not be encouraged. It cannot be denied* that a federation of the
Australian Colonies would be a most important step towards Imperial
Federation, and the letter which Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New
South Wales, has addressed to the Hon. Duncan Gillies, the Victorian
Premier, and the despatches similar in tone which he has sent to the
Premiers of the other Australian Colonies, would seem to indicate that
public opinion at the antipodes is tending rapidly in the direction of the
federation of the Australian Colonies.
The correspondence took its rise from a telegram from the Victorian
Premier relative to a proposal in favour of bringing the machinery of the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 33
The Aberdeen Journal — continued.
Federal Council into operation, for the purpose of giving effect to the
recommendations of General Edwards for the federal action of the Aus-
tralian troops. Sir Henry Parkes frankly admits that, in his opinion, it
is exceedingly desirable that there should be a federal Australian army
under one command, authorised to act in any part of Australia. He
maintains, however, that the Federal Council does not possess the requisite
power to constitute, direct, and control a united Australian army.
Further, he is of opinion that such authority could not be conferred upon
the Federal Council, as it is a purely deliberative body, and has no execu-
tive to carry out its decisions. This argument is to all appearance
thoroughly sound. He grants that, as a conceivable way out of the
difficulty, it is quite possible for the Imperial Parliament, on the applica-
tion of the colonies, to pass an Act constituting a federal Australian army,
and authorising it to operate in any part of Australia ; but he argues that
the colonies would never consent to the Imperial Executive controlling the
movement of such an Australian army. There can be no doubt that in
reasoning thus Sir Henry Parkes is interpreting colonial feeling quite
correctly, and it is therefore obvious that a united Australian army is only
possible under a satisfactory scheme of Australian Federation. By such a
view of the situation Sir Henry Parkes shows that Australians are brought
face to face with the imperative necessity of Federal Government, and he,
therefore, on behalf of New South Wales, invites the other Australian Colo-
nies to appoint representatives to a National Convention for the purpose of
devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal Government.
Sir Henry Parkes further indicates that in his opinion the scheme of
Federal Government would necessarily follow close upon the type of the
Dominion Government of Canada, and would provide for the appoint-
ment of a Governor-General, and for the creation of an Australian Privy
Council and of a Parliament consisting of a Senate and a House of
Commons. This is undoubtedly a very large proposal ; but in formulating
his scheme Sir Henry Parkes has made it easier for the proposed
National Convention to begin its work as soon as it is appointed, as
his suggestions can now be considered carefully throughout all the
Australian Colonies. We do not for a moment suppose that such largo
organic changes will be 'made hurriedly. Nor is it desirable that they
should be, but it is satisfactory to see that matters are moving in this
direction. There can be no doubt that, when federated, the British
Colonies in Australia would, as Sir Henry Parkes maintains, rise to a
c
34 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Aberdeen Journal — continued.
higher level of national life, occupy a much larger space in the eyes of
the world, and in many ways promote their united power and prosperity.
Moreover, the consolidation of such a large and important part of the
Greater Britain beyond the seas would add greatly to the influence of the
British Empire in the counsels of the world. It would also in all prob-
ability pave the way in the more distant future for the larger Imperial
Federation. In the matter of Australian Federation, the initiative is
coming, as is most essential, from the colonies concerned, and as soon as
they are ripe for the change we feel sure that the Imperial Government
will readily support the movement.
We have already indicated that, in our opinion, any attempt to grapple
in fulness of detail with the subject of Imperial Federation must be
deferred to a distant future ; but this is no reason why we should not
encourage every aspiration, both in the Mother Country and in the
colonies, for a closer connection. We have frequently had occasion to
insist on the truth of the doctrine that trade follows the flag, and it is
well known that our colonies are our best customers. In these days
when our products are practically shut out of some foreign countries, and
hampered in others through severely restrictive tariffs, our manufacturers
are, as a matter of self-interest, bound to give special attention to
Colonial markets, and it may fairly be made a question as to whether it
is not the duty of British statesmen to give special attention to the
development of trading facilities with our colonies. We hear much
of the benefits of free trade, and free trade within the bounds of the
British Empire, though it might to some extent imply the imposition of
restrictive tariffs on foreign goods, might possibly be an ideal worth
aiming at. In any case it would, if practicable, be helpful in advancing
the prospects of Imperial Federation, In Canada, for example, there is
some talk of a scheme for reciprocal free trade with the United States,
on the basis that the Canadian tariff against British goods be made as
onerous as that of the United States. Would it not be preferable that
we should seek to induce our Colonists to repeal the tariffs against us
on the understanding that we should give them an advantage over the
shippers of the United States in our markets ?
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 35
The Birmingham Post —
November Mi, 1889.
AUSTRALIAN Federation, as a step towards Imperial Federation, seems to
be brought at length within the reach of practical politics by the states-
manlike letter which Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of the parent colony,
has addressed to the Prime Ministers of the other colonies ; and as we
read his lucid and cogent argument for Federal Government, we feel that
we are already within measurable distance of a Dominion of Australia,
second only in population and importance to that of Canada. Thus far,
it must be confessed, the federal movement has not met with much
favour in Australia, and the existing Federal Council serves only to
emphasise the difficulties of agreement on such a question by the con-
spicuous absence from the Board of New South Wales, the oldest, the
most liberal, and most progressive of the colonies. This abstention,
however, is not due to any want of sympathy with federation in the
parent colony, but simply to the conviction of her leading men that a
Federal Council without executive authority is a mockery and a delusion ;
and it is because of the new illustration of this fact furnished by the
difficulty of arranging a scheme of colonial defence that Sir Henry
Parkes exhorts his fellow-Ministers to abandon the sham for the reality,
and to embrace a genuine and practical system- of federation. General
Edwards, the military commandant of Hong Kong, who had been called
in to advise on a comprehensive scheme for the defence of the Australian
Colonies, recommended among other things the federation of the several
Australian military contingents under the command of a single officer,
the adoption of a uniform system of organisation and armament, the
establishment of a common military college, and the introduction for
strategical purposes of a uniform railway gauge. The wisdom and pro-
priety of these recommendations are recognised on all sides, but it is
clearly impossible to have a common army for a number of separate
colonies without any sort of nexus or common controlling authority, and
therefore it is that the New South Wales Premier urges the substitution
of a genuine Federal Parliament, with executive authority, for the
present merely consultative body, in which New South Wales is not even
represented. This question of colonial defence, he points out, brings us
face to face with the necessity for Federal Government ; and " Why," he
asks, " should we turn aside from what is inevitable in the nature of our
onward progress. It must come a year or two later possibly, but soon."
Sir Henry goes on to suggest that a formal intercolonial convention,
36 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Birmingham Post — continued.
consisting of six members from each colony, shall assemble in order to
consider a scheme of Federal Government, more or less on the Canadian
model, with Governor-General, Privy Council, and two Houses of Parlia-
ment, and he suggests that in time a similar solution will probably be
found for the kindred problem in South Africa. With a federated
Australia, Imperial Federation, if thought desirable, would be a com-
paratively simple matter ; but in any case the bond between the colonies
and the parent country would be rendered stronger and closer, and the
defence of the colonies be greatly simplified. Whether Sir Henry
Parkes' scheme will commend itself to general acceptance by the other
colonies at present, we venture to doubt, because of the jealousies, rivalries,
and conflicting interests which still divide them, more particularly on tariff
questions ; but we have little doubt that the more the proposal is con-
sidered the more desirable it will appear, and that in a year or two, if
not sooner, the good seed which the New South Wales Premier has sown
will have taken root and brought forth a valuable harvest, in which tho
Mother Country will have a share.
The Daily Chronicle (Huddersfield)—
November 5th, 1889.
MOST important to the future of our Empire is the movement now going
forward in Australia in favour of one Federal Government for the whole
of the Australian Colonies. Even the most enthusiastic of Imperial
Federationists has admitted that until local federation is an accomplished
fact in Australia and South Africa, it is hopeless to expect its consum-
mation on a larger scale. Difficulties, very similar in character to those
.which make the federation of the Empire seem an impossible task, beset
the patli of those who would bring about a federation of the British
Colonies in the South Pacific. But there is the case of Canada to show
that, hopeless as may appear the accomplishment of such a work, it is
one well within the power of determined men to achieve. Local
jealousies and local divergencies of opinion are obstacles of no mean
kind, but it is possible, by taking a wider view of such matters, to rise
superior to mere local considerations, and look upon the benefit of the
whole as of infinitely greater importance than the concerns of one colony
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 37
The Daily Chronicle (Huddersfield) — continued.
alone. It is satisfactory to find that upon a matter which immediately
affects the whole of the colonies the question has been raised. If an
agreement is possible upon one subject it should be that of local defence.
The Australian Colonies have, in more than one conspicuous instance,
shown a gratifying spirit of patriotism, and it may well be that on such
a question as the one of defence they will not allow anything but the
most extraordinary difficulties to stand in the way of united action. If
a common ground of action is found upon one question, it is compara-
tively easy to secure a similar course upon others. In Australia, as with
the Empire at large, customs will certainly be an almost insurmountable
obstacle to union. The intercolonial exchange merely adds to the
difficulties of the situation. But if the necessity for defence brings the
colonies together, the benefits thus conferred upon each will lead to an
increase in the subjects upon which united action will be taken. It is easy
to think of several — such as postal, railways, telegraphs, coinage, &c., upon
which a common ground of work might be found. Upon the advantages
of union for defensive purposes there will probably be no difference of
opinion. All will agree that in this is a basis for united action which could
not be improved upon. It is true that one colony may have a more extended
seaboard than another ; but all, in the case of war, would be open to
attack, and one could not suffer without all being, perhaps indirectly,
but nevertheless deeply, affected. The proposal is specially significant,
too, because it comes from New South Wales. Even amongst Australian
Colonies New South Wales is known as the most progressive, and her
influence will do much to forward the movement. Rightly or wrongly,
the impression has gone abroad, to the effect that New South Wales has
been the great obstacle in the way of Australasian Federation. With that
difficulty removed, as it must be to a certain extent when the invitation
to a Conference comes from New South Wales and from Sir Henry
Parkes, progress ought to be made. The isolation of the Australian
Colonies is one from which they have suffered in various ways. Had
they been united in one federated whole, Lord Granville would possibly
have dealt differently over the New Guinea question to the course he
ultimately followed. It will be remembered that Queensland had already
taken possession of the island in order that no other European Power
should gain a footing in the South Pacific. It is understood that the
Colonists withdrew on the distinct understanding that no European
Power had any desire to establish a colony in New Guinea. This was
38 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Daily Chronicle— continued.
followed by German annexation of a portion of the island, and then a
British protectorate was proclaimed over what was left. The Austra-
lasians look with much jealousy upon the establishment of colonies by
other European nations in the South Pacific. They have suffered severely
from the near neighbourhood of the French penal settlements of New
Caledonia, and do not wish for further experience of a similar kind. A
united Australasia would, upon these and other matters, be able to speak
with tenfold stronger force than are the isolated colonies, even if, for the
nonce, they are united upon one subject. Like older nations, the truth
of the proverb that union is strength is making its way with them, and
they are beginning to realise the value, both direct and indirect, of being
able to speak with effect. Much remains to be done before it will be
possible to compliment the Britain of the South upon the possession of a
union, which, for all outward purposes, shall be strong and efficient. If
Australasian Federation is brought about, it will be a long step towards
that more comprehensive federation wrhich all believers in the future of
our race must desire.
Hull Eastern Morning News —
November 5th, 1889.
THE idea of Imperial Federation is being rapidly developed. The
Prime Minister of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes, has just sent a
despatch to Mr. Gillies, the Prime Minister of Victoria, in which he
makes some practical proposals for federalising the Australias. The
necessity for doing this has arisen in a perfectly natural way. The naval
defence of Australia has recently been settled " in the spirit of federa-
tion," as Mr. W. H. Smith put it, by the agreement of most of the
Australian Colonies to maintain ships and crews sent from England for
the purpose. The question of an army then arose, and General
Edwards, who was sent out, has reported in favour of the federal action
of Australian troops. But Sir Henry Parkes says (and says reasonably)
that the existing law, the Federal Councils Act, 1885, does not empower
any federal authority to enrol troops ; and even if they were enrolled,
there is no executive to control them. Accordingly, Sir Henry Parkes
proposes a convention to consider not only the means of giving effect to
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 39
Hull Eastern Morning News — continued.
General Edwards' recommendations, but also the means of consolidating
the Australian Colonies, including New Zealand, into one Power. In
this convention each colony, he proposes, shall be represented by six
delegates, to be taken from the Assembly and the Council from both
parties ; and four from Western Australia, which only has one House.
This would make a total of forty members, who would then have upon
them the task of devising a Constitution. Sir Henry Parkes suggests
as an analogy the Dominion Government of Canada. This plan is
definite enough, and practical enough. It remains to be seen what
reply will be given by the Premiers of the other colonies to whom it has
been submitted. The late Premier of Victoria expressed himself in
favour of Imperial Federation, and so it is to be hoped that the jealousy
which is supposed to exist between New South Wales and Victoria will
not prevent their acting together on Sir Henry Parkes' proposal. Sir
Henry Parkes is known to hold the opinion that each Australian Colony
by itself would be too weak to enter into federation with England, but
that an united Australia might very well do so. Accordingly, this plan,
which he has evidently considered with care, and now sets out in an able
despatch, would be the first step towards creating this united Australia.
Ifc is Imperial Federation at two removes.
East Anglian Daily Times (Ipswich) —
November 5th, 1889.
ALL doubt about the views of Sir Henry Parkes on the Australian
Federation problem is entirely set at rest by the letter which he has
addressed to the Premier of Victoria, the colony which stands in much
the same relation to New South Wales as did the tribes of Manasseh
and Ephraim towards each other in Old Testament days. Sir Henry
Parkes has been known as an opponent of Australian Federation, and
the opposition of this distinguished Colonist has been set down to no
better reason than the jealousy of New South Wales, which refused to
follow the lead of Victoria, a colony which has already adopted the
Federal Council Act. Read in the light of his letter to the Victorian
Premier, Sir Henry's opposition to the adoption of that Act assumes
a totally different, and altogether more creditable, aspect. He has
40 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
East Anglian Daily Times (Ipswich) — continued.
opposed the adoption of the Act because he does not believe in its
practical value. The military authority whom the Home Government
sent out some time ago to advise the Australian Colonies on the question
of their military defence, has reported in favour of a Federal Army for
the various Australian Colonies. The Premier of Victoria thereupon
telegraphed to Sir Henry Parkes to suggest that this Federal Army
should be established under the provisions of the Federal Council Act,
the very Act which New South Wales and its Premier have refused to
adopt.
Sir Henry Parkes, in response to this request, has sent an elaborate
reply, setting forth his reasons for holding that the Federal Army cannot
be established under this Act. The reasons he gives show why he has
been opposed to its adoption for other matters. The Act does not provide
for the establishment of an executive, which means that if the Federal
Council did anything at all, it would have to submit to constant inter-
ference from England — an interference which the most loyal Colonist
would not submit to. Sir Henry shows that he is in earnest for
federation on different lines — on the lines, in fact, of the Canadian
Dominion — for he invites the various colonies to appoint representatives
to discuss how such and such a federation might be arrived at. It is in
every way a good thing for England that so great a step forward should
have been made in the direction of placing the Australian Colonies in the
same mutual relations as those of the Dominion. One great obstacle to
the federation of the Empire is that at present the colonies would not
meet the Mother Country on anything like equal grounds, and while this
is the case, the colonists, not altogether unreasonably, are too jealous of
their independence to federate. If, however, a South African and
Australian, or better still, Australasian Dominion, were in existence,
then they could in a few years meet us with a sufficient approach to
equality to disarm suspicion, and render common action possible.
The Leeds Yorkshire Post—
November 5*7i, 1889.
AUSTRALIAN Federation, in some form or another is, no doubt, inevitable .
but it would be unwise to assume that it is so near as many people
are inclined to think from Sir Henry Parkes' remarkable letter to the
UNITED AUSTRALIA.
-il
The Leeds Yorkshire Post — continued.
Premiers of the Southern Colonies. Intercolonial jealousy is one of the
most potent factors in Australasian politics. It has found vent in a
violent war of tariffs, in the construction of railways by one colony on a
different gauge to that of its neighbour, simply and solely in order to
prevent traffic finding its way across the border line which separates the
two, and in a hundred other ways, which can only be appreciated by
those who have resided on the spot. With this feeling in the ascendant,
it is highly improbable that the colonies will be speedily brought to
agree to a federal system of government which will necessarily involve
the abandonment of many cherished local aspirations. The selection of
a seat of government for one thing will be an obstacle of a very formid-
able kind. Melbourne, " the Queen city of the South," will not play
second fiddle to Sydney, nor will Sydney to Melbourne, and even if both
these cities are able to adjust their differences, Adelaide and Brisbane will
not be left out in the cold. The same difficulty will be found in dealing with
every other detail of the system, whether it ^relates to representative
taxation or to matters to be relegated to the Council. Local jealousy, in
fact, is so strong that the mere circumstance that the proposal has been
mooted by the Premier of New South Wales is as likely as not to render
the idea extremely unpopular in Victoria. Evidence of the working of
this feeling was given some time ago, when Victoria ostentatiously
dissociated itself from the movement, of which Sir Henry Parkes placed
himself at the head, for securing the right of a colony to a voice in the
election of its Governor, and it has been forthcoming over and over again
in matters of less importance. Sir Henry Parkes is a great man in
Sydney, but that Melbourne has no love for him or his views we shall
probably soon discover.
Viewed from the Imperial standpoint, there is nothing to fear in a
well-considered scheme of Australian Federation. On the contrary, we
should be distinctly the gainers by the change, for instead of, as at
present, having to deal with a number of small local governments, all
worked on narrow party principles, we should have one strong united
Executive capable of voicing the opinion of the whole of the island
continent. To appreciate the advantage of this we have only to remem-
ber what happened a few years ago in regard to the question of Australian
naval defence. The representatives of various colonies who met in
London agreed to pay a certain contribution to the Imperial Exchequer
for a squadron which was to be exclusively located in Australian waters.
42 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Leeds Yorkshire Post— continued.
Queensland, for purely party reasons, repudiated her share in the
transaction, and to this day declines to contribute a penny towards the
support of the ships. Had we been dealing with a Federal Government
such a contretemps would of course have been impossible, for an arrange-
ment once entered into would have to be loyally carried out. Apart,
however, from this consideration, there is much' to be said in favour of
federation. The Australian military forces, as fine a body — man for
man — as is to be found in the world, would gain immensely in efficiency
by being put under one head, and the Empire at large would benefit by
the moral force which a united army would bring. Trade would be
improved by the adoption — which would be inevitable in the long run —
of a common tariff and by the removal of the present senseless local
rivalries which seriously retard the development of the country.
The Liverpool Courier—
November 5th, 1889.
THE inhabitants of the Mother Country will await -with interest the
answers which may be given by the various Governments of Australia to
the important proposal which has been made to them by Sir Henry
Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales. The recent investigations of
General Edwards were made on the basis of military federation pure
and simple. The Federal Council has had before it only a limited ideal
of unity, the foundation of which is the naturally strong sentiment of
self-preservation. Sir Henry Parkes points out that even if a great
colonial army could be created on the lines recommended by General
Edwards, there is no executive power vested in the Federal Council or
lying anywhere behind it to control the mobilisation or direct the opera-
tions of such an army in time of need. Supposing, in other words, an
army for the defence of the whole of Australia to exist, the first essential
would be the power of concentrating its full strength under one command
upon any given point. The Federal Council has no executive power
whatever ; the individual Governments have none ; and though the
Imperial Executive might, no doubt, have the power to direct the federal
army, such interference would, without fail, give rise to friction and cause
resentment. Sir Henry Parkes, therefore, proposes to begin at the
beginning. He believes that the time is ripe for consolidating the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 43
The Liverpool Courier — continued.
Australias into one — otherwise it would be necessary, from his point of
view, to abandon the federal army scheme altogether — and accordingly
he asks the other colonies to join New South Wales in taking the first
step — a convention. Each colony, he suggests, should select six mem-
bers— four from the Assembly and two from the Council — equally
representing both sides of political life. As Western Australia has only
one House, probably four members would fairly represent its views, and
if New Zealand were to join, the Federation Convention would thus
consist of forty members, who should duly receive their commissions
from the Governor-in-Council. The scheme of federation is also shadowed
forth, as it suggests itself to one who has studied the matter profoundly
for more than twenty years. Sir Henry thinks " it would necessarily
follow close upon the type of the Dominion Government of Canada, and
would provide for the appointment of a Governor-General, and for
the creation of an Australian Privy Council, and of a Parliament
consisting of a Senate and House of Commons." Such are the proposals
made, and it remains to be seen whether they will be favourably
entertained.
It must be candidly admitted that the fact of their coming from the
Premier of a colony that has from the outset boycotted the Federal
Council, will tend to their prejudice. It may be quite true that the
letter of Sir Henry Parkes is entirely consistent with the attitude of
New South Wales throughout, and it goes without saying that his
proposals should be considered purely on their merits. But it is useless
to argue for an ideal state of things in the face of an actual position.
" Why should we turn aside from the inevitable ? In the nature of
our onward progress it must come." There is much force in these words
of Sir Henry Parkes ; but the most desirable, and even inevitable, con-
summations have often been unduly delayed by prejudices, jealousies, and
the strife of parties ; and the manifestly keen conflict of those forces
among the sister colonies at the Antipodes has not been lessened, or the
way to a good understanding made more smooth, by the persistent
refusal of New South Wales to recognise the Federal Council. For our
own part, we are disposed to concede almost every point contended for
by Sir Henry Parkes. Probably the provisions of the Federal Council
Act do not under the phrase "general defences" confer the power to
constitute, direct, and control a united Australia. Very likely the neces-
sary machinery does not exist. In favour of the plea that federation
44 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Liverpool Courier — continued.
should begin, not with a federal army, but with a Federal Government,
the presumption is strong ; and in any case the Mother Country has no
reason to dread, but every ground for favouring, Australian Federation
on Canadian lines. In our opinion it would be one more step, and a very
material one, towards that larger federation which, though it has not yet
been brought from the sphere of the ideal to that of the practical, is
growingly contemplated by members of the Greater Britain in all parts
of the world.
However much may be vague and problematical in regard to the
question of the larger federation, it is obvious that it should begin with
the greatest possible consolidation of neighbouring parts. In other word.s,
the interlocking process ought to be initiated by the promotion of local
unity, so that when the turn of the Imperial Federationists comes they
may have to deal with a comparatively small number of bodies with well-
defined relations and dimensions, instead of an infinitude of atoms each
with a multitude of microscopic rival interests to conciliate. At the same
time it should be remembered that half a loaf is better than no bread.
Five colonies deplore that New South Wales will not join the Federal
Council ; Sir Henry Parkes, on behalf of the latter colony, laments that
the other five will not begin with the great work in a businesslike way.
Clearly there must be concession on the one side or the other, or no
advance can be made. It is to be hoped the proposals of Sir Henry
will be impartially considered ; but we cannot forget that they do riot
come from a neutral party, but one who, on the contrary, has all along
maintained a non f)ossumus attitude. Should this fact be found to
prevent such a reply as he could wish in every case, might not the New
South Wales Premier with advantage descend somewhat from his present
lofty altitude 1 A small beginning, and even a blundering one, would
soon compel the adoption of as much of his programme as is essential for
the common wellbeing of Australia, while standing still can only intensify
existing jealousies.
The Manchester Courier
November 5th, 1889.
THE circular letter despatched by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New
South Wales, to the Premiers of the other Australian Colonies is sure to
be read with a great deal of interest, not only in Australia, but in all
1XITED AUSTRALIA. 45
The Manchester Courier — continued.
parts of Greater Britain. The question of colonial defence engaged the
attention of the Colonial Congress which met in London a year or two
ago, and one result was the despatch of a distinguished expert, General
Edwards, to investigate and report upon the best means of enabling the
colonies to provide against attack. Every colony in Australia has some
organisation for the purpose of local defence. But, as is well known,
there exists a good deal of rivalry, not to say jealousy, between the
different colonies, and there has been no concerted action, and, indeed, no
common basis of organisation. It does not require much acquaintance
with military science to recognise how weak and unsatisfactory such a
happy-go-lucky arrangement is in these days, when success in war depends
upon the most accurate co-operation of all the forces engaged. General
Edwards made a series of recommendations with a view to secure some-
tiling like uniformity. The principal were the federation of the several
Australian contingents, and the appointment of a single commanding
officer for the whole body ; the adoption of a uniform system of organisa-
tion and armament ; the establishment of a common military college for
all the colonies ; and the introduction for strategical purposes of a uniform
railway gauge. It is these recommendations which have drawTii forth
from Sir Henry Parkes the letter to which we refer. In 1885 a Federal
Council Act was passed, which was designed to provide machinery for
common action on the part of the Australian Colonies. It was not
altogether a success, because New South Wales, for some reason or other,
declined to have anything to do with the Federal Council. It is said that
this refusal on the part of New South Wales was due to the jealousy with
which the inhabitants of that Colony regard Victoria. That may or may
not be the case, but it is quite certain that there is very considerable
rivalry between the two Colonies, New South Wales having adopted the
principle of free trade, while Victoria is rigidly protectionist. A trace of
this jealousy is certainly to be detected in Sir Henry Parkes' letter to
Mr. Duncan Gillies, the Victorian Premier, who invited the Premiers of
the other colonies to express their opinions on the recommendations of
General Edwards.
Mr. Gillies had declared himself in favour of utilising the machinery
provided by the Federal Council's Act for carrying these recommenda-
tions into effect. Sir Henry Parkes broadly asserts, in reply, that " the
Council does not possess the requisite power to constitute, direct, and
control a united Australian army." Of the value of his constitutional
46 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Manchester Courier — continued.
objections we are not in a position to speak, though at first sight they
seem rather trifling. But there appears to be more force in his statement
that, whatever technical powers may be conferred on the Federal Council
by act of Parliament, there exists "an impassable barrier in the fact that
there does not exist in it or behind it any form of executive power."
He goes on to illustrate his contention : " Supposing," he says, " for
example, that the Federal Council's recommendations or enactments for
the movements of Australian troops could be accepted, there could not
be found anywhere a corresponding executive authority to give effect to
them." He meets the rejoinder that the Imperial Parliament could pass
an Act to constitute a federal army under one command, by bluntly
stating that " the colonies would never consent to the Imperial Executive
interfering in the direction of its (the federal army's) movements." He
reserves, however, his coup de grace for the conclusion of his letter. He
asserts that " there is no person and no party here that could persuade
(the New South Wales) Parliament to sanction the representation of this
colony in the present Federal Council." Of course, if Sir Henry Parkes
is right, there is an end of the scheme so far as the machinery of the
Federal Council is concerned ; for if New South Wales stood aloof, there
could be none of that uniformity without which the scheme would be
useless. Sir Henry Parkes, however, does not meet the appeal with a
simple non jwssumus. On the contrary, he comes forward with a big
scheme of federalisation. He says that he believes the time has arrived
for consolidating the Australias into one, and he proposes that a national
convention should meet for the purpose of devising and reporting upon
an adequate scheme of Federal Government. Sir Henry Parkes suggests
that each colony should send six representatives impartially selected from
the Ministerial and Opposition sides of the respective Parliaments. If
New Zealand would join in the conference there would be altogether
forty representatives assembled. Sir Henry Parkes further suggests that
the scheme of Federal Government should follow closely upon the type of
the Dominion Government of Canada, and would provide for the creation
of an Australian Privy Council and of a Parliament consisting of a Senate
and House of Commons. We must wait some time before we can form
any opinion of the success of Sir Henry Parkes' appeal. It is as likely
as not that the same reasons which deterred New South Wales from
taking part in the Federal Council may influence the Ministers of Victoria
in approaching this proposal, Victoria may decline to follow the lead of
New South Wales.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 47
The Manchester Courier — continued.
Meanwhile there is no reason why Englishmen should not examine the
issues raised by this proposal. That sooner or later the different colonies
of Australia must amalgamate in some form or other is a proposition
which has never been questioned. It is entirely a matter for the colonies
themselves to decide. As to the form such an amalgamation should take,
there are likely to be different opinions both here and on the other side
of the world. Federation is not an ideal form of government, and
wherever it has been adopted it has owed its origin to the necessity of
reconciling antagonistic interests. This is obviously true of the United
States, of Switzerland, and in a miner degree of Canada. So far as
Australia is concerned, the conflicting interests are imaginary and
sentimental rather than real and substantial. It would seem to outsiders
that the best thing the Australians could do would be to adopt a common
Constitution and unite under a single Government. But there are, of
course, the jealousies of the different centres of Government to be con-
sidered, and great influence would be brought to bear by the classes
directly interested to prevent the abolition of the provincial legislatures.
But this, as we have said, is for the Australians themselves to decide.
For Englishmen the interesting question is whether the amalgamation of
the Australias would be a step in the direction of separation or not.
There is in Australia a not uninfluential minority which does not disguise
its belief in the cry of " Australia for the Australians," and which looks
forward to the establishment of an independent nationality in the
Antipodes which shall rival in strength and prosperity the United States
of America. But so far, at any rate, the minority is insignificant com-
pared with the majority which refuses to snap the golden link. There is
no Englishman who does not desire to see our Colonies brought into closer
and ever closer union with the Mother Country ; but it is also true that if
Australia deliberately expressed her wish to set up for herself, no stronger
weapon than vehement persuasion would be used to prevent the realisa-
tion of her ambition. It is true that the connection with the British
Empire exposes the colonies to certain risks, in the event of a war ; but,
on the other hand, the might and prestige of the Empire are potent
safeguards for the tranquillity and peace of the colonies. Anything which
tends to promote the prosperity and welfare of our brethren beyond the
seas will be welcomed by Englishmen without any arriere pense'e. If the
union or federation of the Australias promises to increase their prosperity
we shall not ask whether it be the first step which leads to separation or
48 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Manchester Courier — continued.
not. If our colonists parted company with us to-morrow, there is not
one which could say that the Mother Country had selfishly sacrificed their
interests to her own.
The Newcastle Journal —
November bth, 1889.
IT was clearly foreseen during the earlier stages of the movement towards
federation among the colonies of Australia that any really efficient scheme
of common defence would ultimately have to be placed under a central
and supreme authority. When Imperial and Colonial Federation, and a
great plan of Imperial and Colonial defence, became facts, the absolute
necessity of a closer bond, a more compact organisation, and greater unity
of operations on an emergency of war, could no longer be a subject of
uncertainty. In various ways the topic has been canvassed for two or
three years ; but it is only within a recent period that the energetic
action of Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, has brought it
fairly within the region of practical politics. The facts of the case arc
few and simple. A fine volunteer force now exists in the colonies.
There are not only well drilled and well equipped land forces in Australia,
but a very superior naval reserve of coast volunteers protects all the
chief commercial ports, and they are organised in connection with vessels
of war furnished by the Imperial Government. In some manoeuvres, not
long ago, combining the chief features of our volunteer operations at
Easter, or in the autumn, with our naval operations at Milford Haven,
the Australian volunteers were put through all the movements of repel-
ling an attack in force by a hostile fleet bent on landing an army. On
that occasion the ability of the various corps was shown to great
advantage, all the operations being conducted with efficiency and success.
At the same time, the additions to the Russian fleet in the Pacific led to
a corresponding increase of our own squadron on that station, and the
despatch of a superior class of vessels to the naval stations in Australia.
It was felt also that arrangements for the prompt mobilisation of all the
Australian defences by land and sea was essential to complete the system .
of mutual protection, and to make that effective, some fresh arrange-
ment was also required by which the various colonies might be enabled
to act in war, as one strong united Power under a permanent and
responsible executive Directorate and a Secretary for War.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 49
The Newcastle Journal — continued.
For such an arrangement, as Sir Henry Parkes has pointed out in his
letter to the Victorian Premier, the existing provisions of the Federal
Council Act are entirely inadequate. No authority is given by the Act
to an executive head or any kind of executive power, such as is
absolutely indispensable in carrying out any combined plan of colonial
defence. Even if the Federal Council were agreed upon a certain line of
action, they are without the means necessary to carry it into execution.
Federation may be adopted, it is obvious, by a number of contiguous
States for very simple purposes ; and such as do not involve very close
union, or any vital identification of local and general policy. It may be
as loose as that of the States of ancient Greece, with no provision for
united action, except on great emergencies, when arrangements were
made of a temporary character, in no way binding them to permanent
union. The bond, as in Switzerland, may be really administrative and
executive, or the exigencies of general defence may develop a solid,
homogeneous combination, such as was produced in the United States,
and cemented almost to the consistency of a great empire by the terrible
ordeal of the war between the North and the South. In many respects
the Australian Colonies find themselves in the position of the North
American Colonies before they became independent of the mother
country ; and without some better provision than they now possess for
their defence they might, in the event of war, even with assistance
similar to that given by our Government to the North American colonists
against the French armies, be just as unfortunate as those who fought
under Generals Monro and Webb in 1757.
The Dominion of Canada is an example of federation which perhaps
our Australian Colonies have no desire to follow any more, however, than
that of the United States. But if the union of the colonies for mutual
defence, as well for the defence of the Empire, is to be real and effective,
some means must be found of making Colonial Federation at least as
substantial for military and naval purposes as that of the two great
divisions of North America, one still in connection with Great Britain,
and the other separated from it more than a century ago. At present
there are military and naval forces belonging to the separate colonies,
but there is no colonial army, no colonial navy ; nor is there any arrange-
ment by which all, or some of these separate forces could be directed to
a certain threatened point, in obedience to a sudden decision arrived at
by the whole or a majority of the colonies. Some kind of military and
50 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Newcastle Journal — continued.
naval government is essential to the inception and execution of any
military or naval enterprise ; and it does not exist, so far as regards the
Australian Colonies. If it must be set up, it is not easy to see how the
present loose relation of the colonies can be continued ; or how the
erection of a central authority for war purposes will be practicable with-
out the addition in the first instance of some system of Federal Govern-
ment. The obstacles to such a fusion in Australia are neither few nor
small ', but in pointing out that, without a closer bond, the costly works
and forces raised during the last four or five years will be useless either
to the Empire or the colonies on an emergency, Sir Henry Parkes only
states the conviction of many who have taken all along the most
prominent part in pushing forward the project of Imperial and colonial
defence. A National Convention is the proper body to discuss such a
question ; and the fact that it will probably be held, at the suggestion
of Sir Henry Parkes, is a proof that in those matters it is .wise
for the Imperial Government to leave the colonies to their own devices
until they elaborate a plan for the consideration of our Queen and
Parliament.
The Plymouth Western Morning News—
November 5th, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, as Premier of New South Wales, has sent a letter
to the Hon. Duncan Gillies, the Premier of Victoria, in favour of the
federation of Australia into one great dominion, upon the model of
Canada. Now that the Germans are becoming her near neighbours, and
that difficulties are arising with New Guinea which may produce a series
of distressing wars, the Australians want an army and a navy. Their
six million inhabitants have no effective Constitution in common, the
jealousies aroused by separate autonomies having hitherto stood in the
way of organic union, and Sir Henry Parkes is anxious to create an
institution which would bring under one command the scattered and
unconnected local forces. So strong is the dislike of Imperial interference
that Sir Henry Parkes declares " the colonies would never consent to
the Imperial Executive interfering " in the movements of what would
still be the Queen's army. The colonies, in other words, must have
separate armies, and Sir Henry is anxious for federation. " In the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 51
The Plymouth Western Morning News — continued.
nature of our onward progress it must come. A year or two later,
possibly, but in any case soon." He proposes, therefore, a National
Convention, consisting of six members from each colony, the federation
to embrace New Zealand. In this Federal Assembly measures would be
taken for creating a stable Federal Government, with a Senate and a
House of Commons, with a right to elect its own Governor-General, and
to create a Privy Council. The only tie with the mother country would
then be one of sentiment, which would last as long as loyalty to the
Crown inspires the hearts of the Australian people. We have no doubt
that Australian Federation will arrive. It is inevitable. But unless it
is followed by the federation of the Empire it will involve colonial
independence, and the exercise by the Australians of the right which
they undoubtedly possess, if they chose to exercise it, to sever the tie
which now binds together the vast majority of the English race.
Shields Daily News—
November 5th, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the Premier of New South Wales, has addressed an
important letter to the Premier of the sister Colony of Victoria, on the
subject of the federation of Australia. It is, of course, due entirely to
the partial and limited manner in which the great continent of Australia
was first colonized that there is the present disseverance of government
amongst its various parts. If the colonization of Australia had been set
about deliberately, and organized as the Socialists appear to think it
possible to organize human society, no doubt the population as it poured
in would have been evenly distributed at suitable points, and a form of
government would have been arranged for both local and general require-
ments. But in practical life the movements of mankind are not so
regulated. The Government of England used New South Wales at one
time as a sort of dust-heap for Great Britain ; incorrigible or specially
wicked criminals were deported there, to be out of the way of law-abiding
citizens at home. Then came the discovery of gold there, and a vast
influx of people to the country, especially to a part so far distant from
New South Wales that it was for all practical purposes a new colony,
and, as Victoria, made for itself a separate importance and existence.
52 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Shields Daily News— continued.
With modern means of communication, it would be far more easy to
have a central government now than it was in the " gold fever " days of
five-and-thirty years ago, but as things have happened, the two regions
have formed entirely separate colonies. Western Australia, a younger
sister, is now of considerable population and importance ; so is South
Australia. Nor is the expansion of Australia by any means finished.
Its population will increase, for the vast tracts of country, as yet entirely
wild or very sparingly occupied, will support very many more inhabitants
than the natural growth of its citizens and the immigration of capital
and labour together will give for some time to come. Australia is an
expanding nation, with a future before it that no eye can prophetically
discern. It is impossible to foresee what will be the future relations of
this young and vigorous offspring to the mother country. What it is at
present can clearly not be a permanent arrangement. Our child \vill
cling to us so long as it cannot entirely support itself. So soon as it can
stand alone it will assert its independence. What relationship there
will be after that depends on sentiment and family feeling, and on the
knowledge that we must possess on both sides that by keeping the family
together we all gain in consideration and authority and safety in the eyes
of the rest of the world. To drop metaphor, it is idle to suppose that
England can permanently govern Australia imperially. What does it
mean now1? It means simply that whenever there is a conflict of
opinion about what is best to do, the opinion of the clerks of the
Colonial Office is to over-ride the opinion of the Australians themselves.
Australia has no representation in the Imperial Parliament, her views
and her claims cannot even be formally laid before the British nation's
representatives. It is purely a question for the Colonial Secretary for
the time being, whether he will or will not, in any given matter, accede
to the wishes of the colonists. If this bond be drawn too tightly, it will
snap. The immediate question which has elicited Sir H. Parkes' letter
is a proposal for the foundation of a United Australian army. It
appears strange, perhaps, that a colony free from the burden of a war
tax should wish to impose one on itself. But as matters go, this is a
first step towards independence. The German colonization in neigh-
bouring islands has made the Australians see that they cannot rely on
being outside the European complications of the future. Circumstances
might very conceivably arise in which an army to defend the shores of
Australia against the attacks of an enemy of England might become
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 53
Shields Daily News— continued.
necessary. But Sir H. Parkes maintains, and probably with perfect
accuracy, that if such a force were embodied now, it would be under the
control and at the disposal of the Imperial Government. The " Federal
Council," created by Act of the Imperial Parliament five years ago, has
no authority to direct general defensive operations all over Australia
Hence, if an army is to be formed for the defence of the Colonies, it is
first necessary that they should combine one with another to procure a
Federal Government, enabling all the various Colonies of the great
Continent of Australia and the neighbouring islands, and including
New Zealand, to form a Parliament to direct their common affairs.
Sir H. Parkes urges the other Premiers to induce their Parliaments to
join in a formal conference with this end in view. Should this most
important step be taken, it will be either a further unfastening, or a first
step towards drawing more firmly, the bands which unite the mother
country with her great Australasian family. Which way the event will
tend will largely depend upon the sense and wisdom with which it is
treated by the Colonial Office at home.
The British Australasian —
November 6zA, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the veteran Premier of the mother colony, has now
elaborated his views of the steps to be taken towards bringing about the
federation of Australia, or perhaps Australasia. We say " perhaps,"
because he considers New Zealand a doubtful quantity. Sir Henry
Parkes maintains, as he always has done, that the existing machinery for
the Federal Council of Australia is unworkable when applied to the
measure of federal unity he and other statesmen of New South Wales
desire ; and he adds that it is unsuitable even for that federation for
purposes of defence such as General Edwards has advocated in his
report, which, by the way bids fair to become a memorable historical
document. In this contention there is no doubt that Sir Henry Parkes
is strictly right. The power of retirement from the Council, and the
express stipulation that the Council cannot commit any colony to a
money expenditure undoubtedly render the present Act a very imperfect
and half-hearted affair. This, however, was quite admitted by Lord
54 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The British Australasian— continued.
Derby when he was Secretary of State for the Colonies. His words, on
moving the second reading of the Enabling Bill, on the 23rd April, 1885,
are well worthy of repetition, and we, therefore, make the following
lengthy extract from them : —
"Before I state what the Bill is, I may as well explain what it is not.
It is not a Bill which deals in any way with that question of Imperial
Federation of which we hear so much. It does not touch, except in-
directly, the relations existing between the colonies and the mother
country. It is not even a measure for Intercolonial Federation in any
complete and organized shape. It simply provides, as the title states, for
the creation of a Federal Council, charged with certain duties, which are
described and defined in the clauses. Further, it is not a compulsory,
but an enabling Bill. No colony is bound by it to join in the arrange-
ment which it sanctions unless that colony spontaneously decides so to
do. The initiative must be taken by the colony itself ; all that the
Imperial Legislature undertakes is to give its sanction to a scheme which
would be ultra vires for the Colonial Legislatures to deal with on their
own unassisted authority. Under this bill five colonies — Victoria,
Queensland, South Australia, West Australia, and Tasmania — will be
enabled, and are now prepared, to become federated for certain purposes.
Two colonies, New South Wales and New Zealand, have hitherto declined
to join. Of these two colonies so standing aloof, one, New Zealand, is
so far distant, and so little connected with the affairs of the Australian
Continent, that its continued separation, if it should remain in the same
mind as at present, would not, as I conceive, affect the working of the
scheme. It will be entirely a question for New Zealanders themselves ;
their junction or their abstention will not interfere with the other States
concerned. In the case of New South Wales, I cannot deny that a good
deal turns on whether that colony comes into the federation or not. It
is the oldest of the Australian Colonies ; it holds a central position ; it is
the rival of Victoria in importance, having a rather smaller population,
but a larger amount of trade, of revenue, and of territory. I do not
deny that the continued standing out of New South Wales would be a
serious, possibly a fatal, blow to the organization which we are creating.
But I entertain a sanguine hope that the objections of the New South
Wales Legislature will not be permanent. I believe the feeling there to
be one rather of doubt than of hostility, and it is mainly in order to
remove as far as possible any obstacle to the accession of New South
Wales that I have inserted in the Bill the proviso in clause 31, by
which any colony which may on trial be dissatisfied with the arrange-
ment is enabled to secede. That proviso has been the subject of much
discussion, and it would riot have been inserted if complete agreement
among the colonies had been arrived at, or if this were to be considered
as the final form which Intercolonial Federation is likely to assume. But
the whole scheme is tentative ; it is experimental, and in a certain sense
it is provisional ; and, under these circumstances, it seems expedient to
leave large facilities for future change. We had proposed a clause
dealing with the question of expenditure involved in the action of the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 55
The British Australasian— continued.
Council; but on reference to the Colonial Governments that was objected
to, and it has been dropped out in deference to their objections. The
result will be that no decision involving expenditure can have effect
given to it without the consent of the Legislature of each colony, which
is a point on which they have laid great stress ; and it, in fact, reduces
the power of the Council in all cases where expenditure is involved to
that of an advising or recommending body. I do not believe that any
one here is likely to be opposed to the principle of federation in the
abstract, and I need not therefore defend the Bill against attacks from
that side. The criticism which I anticipate is rather on the score that
this Bill gives federation t>nly in a very rudimentary and imperfect
form. That I admit ; and I agree that it would be much more satisfac-
tory to all of us if we could deal with the question in a more effectual
and conclusive manner. A federated Australia, forming, as Canada
does, a single State, united for all except purely local purposes, would be
a new power in the world. But the mere difference in their fiscal policy
is sufficient at present to prevent it, and we must go at their pace, not
ours."
Thus Lord Derby clearly looked upon the Federal Council as a stepping
stone, and when Sir Henry Parkes urges that it is not a complete
measure, he is perfectly in the right. Lord Derby looked forward to a
more complete Parliamentary union, and if the time has now come when
that larger and more complete measure can be carried into effect, there
will certainly be no delay here in obtaining the requisite Imperial
sanction.
Now, what steps does Sir Henry Parkes propose towards bringing about
a more complete union of the Australian Colonies'? He suggests, in the
first place, the holding of a National Convention to which each colony
shall appoint four members from the Assembly, and two members from
the Council, Western Australia, having only one Chamber, to send four
members instead of six. Including Tasmania, this Convention would
consist of thirty-four delegates, and if New Zealand joined it the total
would be increased to forty. He further is of opinion that all parties
should be represented, and that their labours should be directed towards
the framing of a Constitution for an Australian or Australasian Parlia-
ment, to consist of a Senate and a House of Commons, as well as for the
appointment of a Governor-General and an Australian Privy Council.
Such a Legislature should be national in its character, and he urged his
arguments in the powerful language of which he is known to be a master.
It is evident that Sir Henry Parkes has taken up the question of federa-
tion warmly, and when he does so, he can never be accused of advocating
half measures.
56 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The British Australasian— continued.
How will liis despatch be received by the other colonies 1 There may
not unnaturally be some disinclination shown, as Sir Henry Parkes has
at all times been off-hand with them when they have approached him on
the subject of the Federal Council, to accept dictation from him at the
present time. But really it would be most regrettable that any feeling
of chagrin should be allowed to mar a proposition which, for the first
time, appears likely to bring New South Wales within the charmed
circle. Should the Convention be accepted by the other Colonies, as we
hope and think it will be, there is no doubt that questions of the greatest
moment will be brought before it. It appears to us impossible that the
question of a national fiscal policy should be ignored, and, as we pointed
out last week, the only way it seems possible for such extreme protec-
tionists as Victorians, and extreme free-traders as the rulers of New
South Wales, to be brought together is to agree to average the differences
in their respective tariffs. If it should be found that the colonies are
even now prepared for a complete union after the style of the Canadian
Dominion, it is essential that they should evince a willingness to com-
promise points of difference such as they have not hitherto displayed.
Civil Service Gazette—
November , 1889.
THE very important problem of the organization of the military forces of
the several Australian Colonies under one uniform system, and the con-
stitution for the purposes of defence of an Australian army, and the still
more important one of the federation of the Australian Colonies for the
purposes of general government and administration, have made a con-
siderable approach towards solution. Some four years ago, when the
idea of an Australian Federation was seriously entertained, adhesion to it
was voluntary, and hitherto New South Wales and New Zealand have
held aloof from it. Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, has
been the principal opponent of the project of federation ; but he has now
come round, and has been a strenuous advocate of it. Speaking at
Tenterfield last week, Sir Henry Parkes is reported to have declared that
the time had come for a distinct Executive and Parliament for Australia
to deal with national questions, and suggested that a Convention of
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 57
Civil Service Gazette — continued.
representatives of all colonies should be assembled to devise the con-
struction of a Federal Government and Parliament. As he has been
the chief opponent to the policy of Australasian union or federation, it is
highly possible that New Zealand will soon adopt the policy which he has
now distinctly and energetically recommended. By what means the
desired objects may be attained — whether by the action of the existing
Federal Council, or by that suggested by the Prime Minister of New
South Wales, it seems certain that a great step has been taken towards
the foundation of that Australasian Federation or union which is so much
desired by the truest friends of Colonial and Imperial interests.
Bradford Telegraph—
November Gth, 1889.
THE despatch addressed by Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales,
to his fellow-Premiers in the Australasian Colonies, is one of the most
important items of news to English people which has been published for
many a long day. Sooner or later the federal idea was bound to make
headway in our Antipodean Colonies, but Sir Henry Parkes' action has
at once bridged over the chasm which separated the probable from the
merely possible, and brought the question of federation within the region
of practical politics. Hitherto New South Wales has held aloof from all
proposals with this end in view. Of all the colonies she alone refused to
join in the first feeble efforts towards a united Australia which were
embodied in the Act passed by the Imperial Parliament in 1885 for the
formation of a Federal Council. What the reasons were for the attitude
adopted it is difficult for us at home with the imperfect sources of infor-
mation we possess to judge. Intercolonial jealousy was freely ascribed
as the cause on one hand, whilst the small section in this country who
love to play the role of carping critic on any project which has for its end
the knitting together of the scattered parts of Greater Britain in closer
ties, were not slow to indulge in unpatriotic exultation over the position
as a proof that New South Wales wanted to cut adrift rather than draw
nearer to the mother country. The first-mentioned cause was probably
near the truth, for the rivalry between New South Wales and the sister
colony of Victoria is one of long standing, and the latter played a
58 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Bradford Telegraph— continued.
prominent part in the Federal Council scheme. Whatever was the
reason, however, Sir Henry Parkes' despatch shows that it arose from
no lack of love for the mother country, which to the colonists of New
South Wales as well as those in other colonies of the Southern hemisphere
is still " home," and associated with all the proud and tender recollections
which cluster round the word. Sir Henry not only confesses that he has
been a federalist for the last twenty years so far as Australia is concerned,
but also sees the time when there shall be an Imperial Federation
embracing within its wide-reaching grasp all parts of the earth over
which the Union Jack now floats and the English language is spoken.
The only difference between Sir Henry Parkes' federation scheme and
that which has been generally promulgated here, is that he considers a
federation of the difierent groups of colonies should precede the federation
of the colonies with the mother country ; that instead of a federation of
individual colonies with the parent State it should be a federation of free
nations, of which the parent State would indeed be the head but in which
the other component parts would enter into the alliance " on something
like a broad ground of equality." The Australasian Premier takes as wide
a field of vision as the most ardent Imperial Federationist could desire. In
his mind's eye he sees not Australia alone as one united kingdom, too strong
to be attacked, and unquestioned in her supremacy in the southern ocean;
but his mental vision also perceives a time when the Anglo- African colonies
will also be federated into one great people, as powerful and supreme in
Africa as the former will be in the huge islands and Asiatic kingdoms
which lie to her north. He also foresees a time when the North American
colonies will be a great and united people, and it is his hope, as it is the
hope of all those who have desired and worked for Imperial Federation,
that these will unite firmly and indissolubly with the mother country into
a " grand and peaceful congerie of free communities." In such a union
he says he thinks there is " a promise of unprecedented usefulness for
the British people," and " so say all of us " would be the echo from this
side of the globe, could it find audible expression. The tone of the
despatch must be particularly galling to the persistent opponents of the
federation idea, coming as it does from the quarter where they had
hoped their own un-English and unpatriotic ideas principally flourished.
It marks the utter failure of all the scorn and contumely poured upon
the federal idea since it was first mooted by the late Mr. Forster and a
few other patriotic, far-sighted men, who had penetration to look into
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 59
Bradford Telegraph— continued.
and plan a little for the future. Federation is a question irrespective of
party, and draws its leaders from all parties. Its purpose is for defence,
not defiance, and if achieved, its results could not but be beneficial, both
to the colonies and the United Kingdom. There have been differences
of opinion as to whether it had better be achieved directly as between
the parent State and the individual colonies, or whether, as Sir Henry
Parkes advocates, federation of the different groups of colonies should
precede the greater federation. We believe that the latter course is the
wisest. The movement for Imperial Federation ought not to be
burdened by the differences of adjoining colonies. These must first
adjust their local differences before there can be any hope of working
amicably in the councils of the empire, or even taking an efficient share
in mutual defence. The preliminary difficulties are serious, especially as
regards the question of customs duties where intercolonial opinion is
strongly divided, but the example of Canada shows that they are not
insurmountable. Colonial federation must come before Australia can
commence to achieve her evident destiny. Without it, the different
colonies would resolve into so many independent and hostile republics,
and in the Southern seas we would sooner or later have a repetition of
the mutual bloodshed and devastation which has marked the career of
the Spanish republics in South America. For this reason we wish Sir
Henry Parkes' proposals the fullest success, and trust that it may not be
many years before Australia is united into one Dominion under a
Government which would of necessity be something after the type of
that of Canada. There would be one important difference, however.
Australia stands alone. There is no possible rival or compeer in her
quarter of the world. Population only is needed to ensure a future for
the English race there which should make every Briton's face who thinks
of it flush with pride.
Dumfries Standard —
November §tli, 1889.
THE despatch which Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South
Wales, has addressed to the Hon. Duncan Gillies, the Premier of Victoria,
is a remarkable sign of the times. It is an expression of the promptings
of that great law of political necessity which compels kindred peoples to
60 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Dumfries Standard — continued.
co-operate for common ends in a federal union. The United States, the
Canadian Dominion, the German Empire, are more or less perfect
examples of this system. But we do not need to go so far afield to find
the federal principle. It lies at the very basis of the union of England,
Ireland, and Scotland. Neither the Union of the Crowns, nor later the
Union of the Parliaments, destroyed the individual identity of the three
nations. We secured a single sovereignty, and a central source of
legislation and administration in the field of common interests. Had
this been all, all might now have been well with the Union. But the
mistake was unfortunately made of committing the management of
purely national affairs to the federal, or, as we call it, the Imperial
authority. It is this mistake that Home-rulers seek to rectify. When
they shall have achieved their purpose, it will not be the introduction of
the federal principle. It will only be the restriction of that principle to
its proper sphere. By providing England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales
each with a legislature and executive of its own for its own affairs, we
do not lessen the dignity of the federal authority or impair the Union.
We increase the one and strengthen the other, by the removal of petty
details, which national councils alone can properly attend to, and which
are a constant distraction and annoyance in the hands of the central
authority.
What Sir Henry Parkes desires to bring about is the federal union of
the Australian Colonies for the defence and furtherance of mutual
interests. It seems that General Edwards had made a recommendation
for the federal action of Australian troops. But Sir Henry fails to
discover that the Federal Council Act confers upon the Council — from
which New South Wales has kept aloof — power to constitute, direct,
and control a united Australian army. But even if the Council's enact-
ments for the movement of troops could be accepted, there could not be
found anywhere, he says, a corresponding authority to give effect to
them. The executive Governments of the several colonies "could not
act in combination for any such purpose, nor could they so act inde-
pendently of each other," and the colonies " could never consent to the
Imperial Executive interfering in the direction " of the movement of
colonial troops. Here, then, on the question of colonial defence the
Australian statesmen are brought face to face with what Sir Henry calls
the " imperative necessity for Federal Government." And why, he asks,
" should we turn aside from what is inevitable to the nature of our
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 61
Dumfries Standard — continued.
onward progress 1 It must come, a year or two later possibly, but in any
case soon." Therefore, in the name of New South Wales, he invites the
other Colonies of the Pacific to appoint representatives to a convention
" for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme of
Federal Government." He suggests, " in order to avoid any sense of
inequality in the debate, or any party complexion," that the number from
each colony should be the same. Six he thinks a convenient unit — in
each case four from the Assembly (two from each side) and two from the
Council (one from each side). In the case of Western Australia, where
there is only one Chamber, four members might suffice. Altogether the
Convention would consisfc of forty representatives, and from such an
assembly he is hopeful of a scheme proceeding on the lines of the
Canadian Dominion that would command universal acceptance.
Could not our own statesmen take a leaf from Sir Henry's book and
refer the solution of the Irish question to the patriotic counsels of a
convention consisting of equal numbers of English, Irish, and Scotch
members of Parliament drawn from both sides of the House of Commons ?
Mr. Gladstone is now, and always has been, prepared to assist the Tories
to effect a settlement in a way that would meet the " legitimate aspira-
tions" of the Irish people without imperilling the supremacy of the
Imperial Parliament. It is requisite, as a writer in this month's West-
minster fieview urges with some vehemence, to have our domestic
difficulty adjusted quickly, in order to clear the boards for the larger
question of Imperial Federation.
The Cornish Telegraph—
Xovemler 7th, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the Premier of New South Wales, has addressed a
1 otter to Mr. Gillies, the Premier of Victoria, which will most likely be the
preface to a new and important era in the history of our Australian
Colonies. The letter was written in reply to a telegram in which Mr.
Gillies suggested that the Federal Council created by the Act of 1885
might be utilized to " constitute, direct, and control a united Australian
army," the formation of which had been advised by General Edwards,
who has recently examined and reported upon the means of defence
62 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Cornish Telegraph— continued.
possessed by the colonies. Sir Henry does not agree with Mr. Gillies,
and after a careful study of his letter, it is impossible to refrain from
admitting the collusiveness of his reasoning. He points out that the
Federal Council has no means of putting its decisions into force, that it
is simply a deliberative body, with no executive power behind it. It is,
in short, a boiler without an engine. Its creation was really an experi-
ment, and it has no element of permanency. In fact, it merely repre-
sents one short step towards the complete union, which all thinking
Australians are beginning to look upon, in Sir Henry Parkes' own
words, as "inevitable." The idea is not new. It has been in men's
minds ever since the gold discoveries made patent to all that Australia
would in the course of another century be a rich and populous country,
and the undisputed ruler of the South Pacific. Until quite recent times,
however, the question has not been a pressing one. The existing system
is obviously well adapted to meet all the requirements of a community
in its first youth, and colonists have been too busy with developing the
great national resources of their adopted country to trouble their heads
very much about any premature experiments in constitution-making.
The increase in population and wealth, and the development of an active
public life of indigenous growth, have aroused in Australians that self-
consciousness which is one of the first symptoms of emergence from the
chrysalis stage of nationhood. The young giant feels that he is no longer
a child ; it is time for him to assume the toga virilis, to adopt a form of
government which will consolidate his vast dominions, enlarge his citizens'
conception of their rights and responsibilities, and make his strength
more readily and more effectively available either for attack or defence.
Sir Henry Parkes thinks that the time for taking this momentous step
has come, and no man is in a better position to judge than he. It is
true that there is 110 such urgent necessity as there was in the case of
Canada, but Australia's good luck in escaping the dangers and compli-
cations which have beset some of her sister colonies should not render her
careless of the future. It should rather incite her to take measures to
strengthen herself and ensure her safety similar to those which Canada
has taken, and which, under the more favourable circumstances which
Australia enjoys, may be expected to produce yet more satisfactory results.
The Premier of New South Wales suggests as a preliminary step that a
National Convention should be appointed for the purpose of devising and
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 63
The Cornish Telegraph — continued.
reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal Government. It is pro-
posed that the number of delegates from each colony should be the same
and should be equally chosen from both sides of political life, and that
the representatives should be elected by the Parliaments of the several
colonies and receive commissions from the Governors. The task which
the delegates would have set them would be the drawing up of a scheme
of Federal Government, which, it is to be supposed, would be submitted
to the electors for approval just as the judgment of the citizens is
invited on the new constitution of an American State. The consent of
the Imperial Parliament would also have to be obtained, but this would
come as a matter of course. England would be only too glad to
see her powerful offspring adopting such measures to aid her develop-
ment and provide for her defence as experience certifies to be the best.
The time of irritating interference, dictated by the smallest and
most shortsighted jealousy, has happily gone by. No reasonable being
will imagine that the associated delegates will have altogether plain sailing
in this great business of constructing a federal constitution for Australia.
There is no very imminent danger threatening the island continent ; no
combination of circumstances in which the most obstinate is forced to see
plainly written the warning "federate or perish." Such perils as exist ar
visible only to those political seers who are blessed with that keen insight
into the ultimate issues of present developments which is the rarest and
most valuable gift that a statesman can have. Men of this kind are
forced now-a-days to lead by affecting to follow. They are obliged to
often subordinate their own opinions to others which they know to be of
doubtful soundness. In order to carry one vital point they have to give
way on several which are important though not all-important. The
mutual jealousies of the colonies, uncurbed by any strong common senti-
ment of fear, will doubtless throw many obstacles in the way. Such
questions as that of the centre of Government for the new federation, the
adoption or non-adoption of Free-trade between its various members, the
amount of power to be respectively possessed by the Federal Congress and
the subordinate Parliaments, will afford much ground for discussion, and
the debates upon them will not improbably reveal wide divergencies of
opinion. But if each member of the Convention enters it with the de-
termination to make everything secondary to the preparation of a work-
able scheme of federation, there can be small chance of this great
experiment ending in a fiasco.
UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Cornish Telegraph— continued.
Will the adoption of such a scheme bring the Australian Colonies
nearer to the mother country, and consequently bring all Anglo-Saxondom
nearer to the realization of that bright dream of a great and inviolable
brotherhood, or will it hasten what some regard as an unavoidable
separation? Will its final fruit, in short, be a federated Empire,
or a new Federal Republic1? There are many able men in both
hemispheres who look upon Imperial Federation as the pet craze
of a few unpractical political visionaries, as a proposition altogether
unworthy the consideration of working statesmen, and only useful
as a means of keeping a set of meddlesome and crackbrained
faddists out of mischief. The initiators of every great new departure,
social, political, or religious, have been ridiculed and denounced
by the people who mistake an entire lack of originality and a slavish
tendency to run in grooves made by somebody else for common sense.
The truth is, that some of the leading supporters of Imperial Federation
are practical and hard headed men in the best sense of those terms.
Lord Rosebery, the Chairman of the London County Council, and Mr.
Cecil Rhodes, the leading spirit in the formation of the great new South
African Company, are scarcely visionaries. Yet both are strong sup-
porters of and believers in Imperial Federation. After all, democracies
prefer to be led by men who are not altogether devoid of imagination and
sentiment, who recognize that nations cannot be governed as if they wero
merely huge and elaborate machines. There is some ground for hoping
that federation will not be looked upon by Australians as their final
process of national evolution, that they will regard it only as a phase in
their development, as a prelude to a yet grander fruition. If the men of
the new federation have that capacity for almost unlimited widening of
the mental horizon for which their race has always been noted, .and
which has evolved the elaborate English Constitution out of the rudest
and crudest elements, there is small fear that they will stop short with
the accomplishment of Sir Henry Parkes' project. Their success in that
undertaking will give them greater confidence in their own powers,
besides proving the value of combination. They will attack the infinitely
more difficult problem of Imperial Federation, or British Federation, as
it might more appropriately be called, with an increased belief in their
ability to overcome obstacles, with a strengthened faith in the desirable-
ness of the end in view. Long and toilsome will the labour be, but if
the task is hard and painful, the achievement will transcend in glory all
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 65
The Cornish Telegraph — continued.
man's previous exploits. The firm fixing on an unshakable foundation
of the colossal structure of a world-girdling Anglo-Saxon dominion would
be the mightiest forward movement ever made by mankind, the sure
pledge of the supremacy of the noblest instincts of our nature in the
future working out of the world's destiny.
Bullionist—
November, 1889.
WHATEVER pertains to the welfare and development of the British
Colonies cannot fail to be of paramount interest to the Home country.
In this light we must consider the action of Sir Henry Parkes,
Premier of New South Wales, who has recently despatched a circular
to the Premiers of the other Australian Colonies, writing them to send
representatives to a National Convention to be called together for the
purpose of devising a new scheme of Australian Federation. Sir Henry
Parkes is of opinion that the existing system has outgrown its usefulness,
and it now fails to meet the requirements of the colonies. This, as a
broad and general principle, we believe is quite true, for the develop-
ments of the Australian Colonies have been unparalleled in the previous
history of nations. The Premier of New South Wales cannot concur in
the view that the Federal Council, as constituted by the Act of 1885,
possesses the requisite power to constitute, direct, and control an united
Australian army. Besides, there is no executive power behind the
Federal Council to give effect to any mandates which it might feel
justified in issuing. What Sir Henry Parkes wishes to see is a scheme
of Federal Government fashioned after the Canadian model with
Governor-General, Privy Council, and two Houses of Parliament, subject
only to the supremacy of the Crown. Nothing less than this would be
regarded as an adequate means of securing a proper system of defence as
well as other benefits for the Australian Colonies. A federation of the
Australian Colonies would be a great step towards a general federation
between the Mother Country and all her colonies, but there is a serious
obstacle in the way in the fixed antagonism that exists among the
colonies themselves. For instance, in their fiscal policy, New South
Wales and Victoria are in direct opposition to each other, and until they
can approach to something like a uniformity in this respect, there is
E
66 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Bullionist — continued.
little hope that they can agree on a principle of federation. We wish
Sir Henry Parkes success in his well-intentioned projects, but we fear
the time has not yet arrived for this great step in Colonial progress.
Statist—
November, 1889.
THE despatch from the Prime Minister of New South Wales to the Prime
Minister of Victoria raises in a very effective and practical way the
question of Australasian Federation. The Australian Colonies are all
desirous of making adequate military preparation for their defence in
case of war. But General Edwards reports that for that purpose it is
necessary that the forces of the several colonies should form one army,
and be under a single command. The Prime Minister of Victoria seems
to think that the existing Federal Council can constitute one Australian
army, but Sir Henry Parkes, the Prime Minister of New South Wales,
is of a different opinion. He points out that the Act constituting the
Federal Council provides for 110 executive power. The Federal Council,
in fact, could act only after consultation with the several colonies, and
after obtaining their approval. This clearly is fatal to any military
organisation. Sir Henry Parkes admits that the difficulty might be got
over by a special Act of the Imperial Parliament, but he emphatically
declares that no Australian Government would agree to such a plan, and
it is very natural that the Colonial Governments should be extremely
unwilling to invite the action of the Imperial Parliament in such a
measure. If the Imperial Parliament can legislate for one matter
affecting the interests of two or more colonies, it clearly may legislate
for any other matter of the same kind. It is no doubt extremely im-
probable that Parliament would legislate except on the invitation of the
colonies themselves. But still we cannot wonder that the colonies
should be extremely unwilling to admit the principle that they must look
to London for legislation where matters affecting more than one colony
are concerned. Therefore, Sir Henry Parkes concludes that the necessity
for a confederation of all the Australian Colonies is proved ; and he pro-
poses that a conference should be held, at which all the colonies should
be represented. He suggests that each colony should send six members,
four chosen by the House of Commons, and two by the Upper House, or
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 67
Statist — continued.
where there is only one house, then only four members should attend.
He would thus give precisely the same representation to the least import-
ant as to the most important of the colonies, his object being to reassure
each that its own interests would he fully respected. It remains to be
seen whether the other colonies will accept this invitation. If they do,
then federation is immediately in view. It is well known that in Sir
Henry Parkes' eyes Australian Federation is but a step to the federation
of the whole Empire. He holds that the colonies separately are not in
a position to negotiate effectively with the Mother Country for proper
representation in the Parliament of the whole Empire. But if the
colonies were grouped together in great federations, then they would be
in a position to maintain their own interests. If his present proposal
bears fruit, there would be only needed a federation of South Africa, and
then the colonies could approach the Mother Country with a view to
opening up the question of Imperial Federation.
Ayr Advertiser —
November 7th, 1889.
IN all probability it will not not be long ere the question of Australian
Federation enters the region of practical politics. It is on the threshold
even now. The "grand old man" of Australian politics, Sir Henry
Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, has taken the initiative ; and
as the movement is one that is certain to take hold of a large section of
the Colonial public — if not the Colonial public en masse — we may expect
ere long to witness a drawing together of the different colonies for general
purposes that will mark the dawn of a new era in the history of our
Greater Britain in the Southern Seas. At the present time each of the
colonies, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland,
has its own legislative chambers, and attends to its own domestic concerns.
With the general weal, save in a moral sense, it does not concern itself,
but confines itself to matters that are specifically and exclusively its own.
Hitherto the system has worked on the whole sufficiently well, though a
rivalry in the matter of tariffs has been productive of some very palpable
friction; but it was evident long ago that a drawing together of the
different colonies for the general behoof was inevitable. Australia is
beginning to feel her own strength, and it is quite consistent with con-
tinued, even increased, loyalty to the Crown and to the Mother Country,
68 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Ayr Advertiser — continued.
that she should feel herself sufficiently strong to stand alone. With the
status quo, for example, in the matter of defence, Australia would be in
serious danger were this country to be engaged in a prolonged and exhaust-
ing struggle. The Queensland defensive squadron would hardly be sufficient
to protect its own extended coast line • and even Avere the cruisers of an
enemy to appear off Port Phillip Heads or in the Gulf of St. Vincent, and
threaten, in the one case, Melbourne, and in the other Adelaide, the Queens-
landers, in the condition of panic that would prevail, would never think
of sending their warships so far from home. But in the event of federation
for mutual defence, there could be nothing to prevent the Australian
fleet, under one commander, and equipped for its work, sailing hither
and thither wherever danger threatened, and thus rendering serious
attack on the coast a practical impossibility. A united Australia
would be impervious to attack. No fleet could ever be despatched
sufficiently strong to cope with its navy ; and no body of soldiers could
be landed on the Colonial shores that could not be satisfactorily
accounted for by the Australian soldiery, who, as in the case of the
fleet, could be handled where their concentration was most desirable.
The proposal of Sir Henry Parkes is not one that need excite any
alarm at home. It is founded on loyalty to the Mother Country ; and
instead of being a source of weakness, it might, on the contrary, be a
source of incalculable strength. Australian soldiers have already
fought side by side with our own in Egypt. That quarrel was not one
that concerned the colonists in any sense whatever. Osman Digma
might have swept the Egyptians before him, and the Madhi might have
set up an independent kingdom over the whole of the Soudan, without
Australia being a whit the worse. The real importance of the Colonial
loyalty lay, therefore, in the assurance that Australia has cast in her
lot, for good or for evil, with the Mother Country ; and just as the
bringing of the East Indian native troops to Malta indicated the great
force available in Hindostan, so the voluntary aid furnished by the
colonists of Australia was the index to an unknown future of mutual
help and unbroken friendship. It may be hoped, therefore, that the
proposal of the New South Wales statesman will be received at Home
by all political sections of the State with the best wishes for its
accomplishment. The federation aimed at is inevitable ; and it is as
safe as it is inevitable, so long as it is not regarded jealously or
factiously.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 69
Richmond Herald—
November ^//,, 1889.
THE question of Australian Federation is once more coming to the front,
Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, having addressed a
despatch to the Premiers of the various colonies on the subject. In this
document the New South Wales Government, through its Premier,
believing the time to be ripe for consolidating the Australias into one,
invites the Governments of the other colonies "to join in taking the
iirst great step, namely, to appoint representatives to a national conven-
tion for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme
of Federal Government." It is suggested that six members should attend
from each colony, and the scheme of government, it is assumed, would
follow close upon the type of the Dominion Government for Canada,
providing for the appointment of a Governor-General, and for the
creation of an Australian Privy Council and of a Parliament consisting
of a Senate and House of Commons. New Zealand is invited to join in
the scheme ; for it is manifest that a federation that did not include the
Great Britain of the South would be very incomplete, if indeed not a
failure. That federation will come one day there can be 110 doubt ; nor
can there be any doubt that when it does come it will prove a source of
blessing to the Australian Colonies.
The Overland Mail—
November Mi, 1889.
THE despatch which Sir Henry Parkes has sent round the Australian
Colonies, like the telegram of the Queensland Premier on the appoint-
ment of Colonial Governors, is undoubtedly a document of momentous
interest, but it has hardly excited in Great Britain much more than
the languid attention which the average Englishman pays to matters that
only indirectly concern him. If Australia is content with the present
arrangements — which are all in her favour — well and good ; if she should
prefer topiave some other arrangement, she can have it — or make it ; tho
Home Government will look on with amiable indifference, so long as it
is not asked to contribute money.
Sir Henry Parkes, who is by all odds the most eminent of Australian
statesmen, has not thought it worth while to consult the Colonial Office
before taking action which, whatever be his immediate motives, is a step
70 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Overland Mail — continued.
towards the establishment of Australian independence. The Colonial
Office will not protest. The British public, between ignorance and
indifference, sees no grounds for troubling itself about the matter. Indeed
the probability is — if we regard it simply as a business question — that
there would be no loss but a clear gain, so far as the Queen's Govern-
ment is concerned, in the secession of the South Pacific territories from
the Empire. The Home Government would be relieved of any responsi-
bility for their defence, for their ambitions of territorial extension in the
Pacific, for their relations to Germany, the United States, China, and
other Powers, for the protection of Australian citizens and their property
throughout the world or the vindication of their rights in foreign countries.
Those things the Australians would have to look after for themselves, and
pay for very likely through the nose. The Government of our self-
governing colonies is in most cases exploitation of the majority by a few
demagogues and capitalists. Independence would bring with it some
dangers and many burthens. It is hardly likely, for instance, that China,
whose fleet could blow the whole commerce of Australia out of the water
and possibly destroy its ports, would, were she dealing only with an
independent Australasian Federation, content herself with diplomatic
remonstrances. The Australians would have to be prepared to establish
their own diplomatic organization, to defend their own shores, and
vindicate their own interests. They would be called on to make immense
sacrifices, and the taxation necessitated by the exigencies of the new
position would not only test the resources of their statesmanship to the
utmost, but develop to an uncomfortable degree the divergencies
between the varying interests of the communities scattered over a
vast area, besides tending to contract their trade. The economic policy
which would be forced upon them by the organization of an indepen-
dent government would undoubtedly restrict, though it might not
destroy, the commercial and financial relations between Great Britain
and Australasia. On the whole then it is the colonies and not the
Mother Country that would suffer the most from separation. All this,
of course, lies on the surface, and must be in the mind of every intelli-
gent Australian who considers the present position, or the consequences
of altering it. Yet it is quite evident that a large and increasing pro-
portion of the population in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queens-
land is nursing, if not actually engaged in propagating, ideas of
independence. The chief supporters of the British connection are the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 71
The Overland Mail — continued.
immigrants and the old people — such as have not lost touch with the
" old country " ; but the native generation — " young Australia" — feels
little of the sentiment which makes the elders cling to the ties and
associations of the distant " Home." Climatic conditions in most of the
colonies are gradually divorcing the race physically and morally from
the type and standard of the Briton ; and this is true, albeit the first
generation from European parents, favoured by a sub-tropical climate
and unwonted good-living, has shown us some exceptionally fine
specimens of human physique. Scientific experts tell us that that will not
last. Tasmania and New Zealand may continue to grow fine men and
women, but the race on the Continent of Australia will only be kept up
to an approximate level with that of England and Scotland by constant
importations from the Mother Country, that is to say by the adoption of
a policy for promoting rapid immigration, and that is opposed by the
classes who control Australian politics. It would be unwise to cherish
delusions about Australia or exaggerate the promise of its destiny.
Scientific opinion seems to be that the race which will inhabit Victoria
or New South Wales a hundred or a hundred and fifty years hence will
no more resemble the English race than the South American Spaniard
represents the blood and spirit of the hidalgos. It is a moot question
whether the vast population which is predicted for the continent will
ever exist. Where gold is found population will collect so long as pro-
duction lasts, but the main industry must continue to be the rearing of
sheep and cattle. Australia will be made by her minerals and her grass.
She refuses to receive the only population suited to her sub-tropical
expanses, the Chinese and Hindoos, who could convert her .wildernesses
into gardens.
This is the country which Great Britain has partitioned out in vast
blocks to a few hundreds of thousands of people. Being English they
have worked with energy, have developed the gold and squatting interests,
and have borrowed a good deal of money in England. But as the direct
immigrants die out, a race is coming to the front which is not English in
sympathies, or energies, or culture. It talks about Australia for the
Australians. The answer from Downing-street would be, were it free
to speak its mind : — " By all means take Australia for Australians.
Were it not for the public sentiment in England, you might have cut the
painter any time this past twenty years, and we should have been grate-
ful to be rid of colonies which are always asking sacrifices and services
72 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Overland Mail — continued.
from the Mother Country and never contented. You want to appoint
your own Governors, to apportion Western Australia among a few score
of your big millionaires, to annex groups of Pacific Islands, to form a
federation and undertake your own defence — do it by all means. Sir
Henry Parkes tells us that ' the colonies could never consent to the
Imperial Executive interfering in the direction of the movements ' of an
army raised by its own colonies ! In that case we, on our part, cannot
undertake to provide for your defence by sea or land. You had better
go, and go quietly. We are English, and we don't want a theatrical
parting." That, we suspect, is what the British official in his heart of
hearts thinks and would say if he dare speak out. He is not deceived
by a bit of clap-trap like the sending of a few Australian troops to the
Soudan on a military picnic. The Australians are rich enough to a fiord
a demonstration of that kind, when it ministers to their amour propre
and happens to suit the political game of a popular statesman ; but official
Englishmen will not allow themselves to be misled by it, as to the true
feeling of the Australians. They take care to let us know at every turn
that they consider themselves independent and intend to remain loyal
only so long as it suits them. That might, it is true, be a long time, for
at present the balance of interest in the connection lies heavily on the
Colonial side, but Sir Henry Parkes' despatch shows that he, though a
loyal supporter of the Imperial connection, begins to feel that it will bo
useless to fight much longer against the tendency of Australian opinion
and he takes advantage of the very first attempt of the Imperial Govern-
ment to institute an organized defence for the Pacific Colonies, to tell it
practically that it has nothing to do with the matter, to criticise and dis-
avow its mode of procedure, and to propose that the colonies — including
Western Australia, which is as yet a Crown Colony of Great Britain ! —
should form a Federal Government and Executive, without reference to
Parliament or the Crown. The true significance of the move can only be;
understood by those who are acquainted with the inner sides of Austra-
lian politics, and has not been appreciated by the British journalists who
have written on the subject. Sir Henry Parkes begins to see that the
party in Australia which w^ants to cut the painter is rising in influence,
and, like a shrewd statesman, he wishes to be ready for any emergency.
The Colonial Office will be only too happy if he succeeds. The British
people will not be consulted.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 73
Edinburgh Weekly Scotsman—
November 9th, 1889.
THE telegraphic announcement from Sydney that Sir Henry Parkes, the
Premier of New South Wales, had at length intimated the adherence of
that colony to the principle of Australian Federation is an event of
first-rate magnitude. Practically it removes the last formidable obstacle
to the ultimate adoption of that great scheme, which should prove a
worthy rival of that which has brought strength and prosperity to the
Dominion of Canada. New South Wales, for certain reasons of its own,
has hitherto been the only colony to hold aloof from the federation
movement, but, of course, its opposition was fatal. What are the
motives which have produced this sudden change of position are not
fully explained, though they are not difficult to divine. New South
Wales has remained staunch to free trade, while the other colonies, and
especially Victoria, have been wedded to protection. Unfortunately the
protectionist feeling in New South Wales has been rapidly gaining
ground, the position of the Ministry is becoming less certain, and con-
siderable discontent has been created by the mismanagement of the
railways and several public departments. Various boundary questions
also, such as the withdrawal of water from the sources of the Murray for
irrigation purposes, and the inconveniences of the rival tariff arrange-
ments, have likewise produced a feeling that sooner or later something
must be attempted to remove the constant and annoying friction. Sir
Henry Parkes now admits that federation must soon come, and he loyally
offers to facilitate its accomplishment by suggesting a National Con-
vention, at which the colonies shall be equally represented, to consider
and report on the question. Many very critical details have still to be
settled, and grave difficulties and jealousies to be overcome before
federation can be a fact ; though, if it is taken up in the spirit displayed
by Sir Henry Parkes, there is every prospect of its triumphant success.
Falmouth and Penryn Times —
November Wi, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the Premier of New South Wales, has addressed a
letter to Mr. Gillies, the Premier of Victoria, which will most likely be
the preface to a new and important era in the history of our Australian
Colonies. The letter was written in reply to a telegram in which Mr.
Gillies suggested that the Federal Council created by the Act of 1885
74 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Falmouth and Penryn Times — continued.
might be utilised to " constitute, direct, and control a united Australian
army," the formation of which had been advised by General Edwards,
who has recently examined and reported upon the means of defence
possessed by the colonies. Sir Henry does not agree with Mr. Gillies,
and after a careful study of his letter, it is impossible to refrain from
admitting the conclusiveness of his reasoning. He points out that the
Federal Council has no means of putting its decisions into force, that it
is simply a deliberative body, with no executive power behind it. It is,
in short, a boiler without an engine. Its creation was really an
experiment, and it has no element of permanency. In fact, it merely
represents one short step towards the complete union which all thinking
Australians are beginning to look upon, in Sir Henry Parkes' own words,
as "inevitable." The idea is not new. It has been in men's minds ever
since the gold discoveries made patent to all that Australia would in the
course of another century be a rich and populous country, and the
undisputed ruler of the South Pacific. Until quite recent times, however,
the question has not been a pressing one. The existing system is obviously
well adapted to meet all the requirements of a community in its first
youth, and colonists have been too busy with developing the great natural
resources of their adopted country to trouble their heads very much
about any premature experiments in constitution making. The increase
in population and wealth, and the development of an active public life of
indigenous growth, have aroused in Australians that self-consciousness
which is one of the first symptoms of emergence from the chrysalis stage of
nationhood. The young giant feels that he is no longer a child; it is time
for him to assume the toga virilis, to adopt a form of Government which
will consolidate his vast dominions, enlarge his citizens' conception of their
rights and responsibilities, and make his strength more readily and more
effectively available either for attack or defence. Sir Henry Parkes
thinks that the time for taking this momentous step has come, and no
man is in a better position to judge than he. It is true that there is no
such urgent necessity as there was in the case of Canada, but Australia's
good luck in escaping the dangers and complications which have beset
some of her sister colonies should not render her careless of the future.
It should rather incite her to take measures to strengthen herself and
ensure her safety similar to those which Canada has taken, and which,
under the more favourable circumstances which Australia enjoys, may
be expected to produce yet more satisfactory results.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 75
Falmouth and Penryn Times — continued.
The Premier of New South Wales suggests as a preliminary step that
a National Convention should be appointed for the purpose of devising
and reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal Government. It is
proposed that the number of delegates from each colony should be the
same and should be equally chosen from both sides of political life, and
that the representatives should be elected by the Parliaments of the
several colonies and receive commissions from the Governors. The task
which the delegates would have set them would be the drawing up of a
scheme of Federal Government, which, it is to be supposed, would be
submitted to the electors for approval just as the judgment of the citizens
is invited on the new constitution of an American State. The consent
of the Imperial Parliament would also have to be obtained, but this
would come as a matter of course. England would be only too glad to
see her powerful offspring adopting such measures to aid her development
and provide for her defence as experience certifies to be the best. The
time of irritating interference, dictated by the smallest and most short-
sighted jealousy, has happily gone by. No reasonable being will
imagine that the associated delegates will have altogether plain sailing in
this great business of constructing a federal constitution for Australia.
There is no very imminent danger threatening the island continent ; no
combination of circumstances in which the most obstinate is forced to see
plainly written the warning " Federate or perish." Such perils as exist
are visible only to those political seers who are blessed with that keen
insight into the ultimate issues of present developments which is the
rarest and most valuable gift that a statesman can have. Men of this
kind are forced now-a-days to lead by affecting to follow. They are
obliged to often subordinate their own opinions to others which they
know to be of doubtful soundness. In order to carry one vital point
they have to give way on several which are important though not all-
important. The mutual jealousies of the colonies, uncurbed by any strong
common sentiment of fear, will doubtless throw many obstacles in the way.
Such questions as that of the centre of Government for the new federa-
tion, the adoption or non-adoption of free trade between its various
members, the amount of power to be respectively possessed by the
Federal Congress and the subordinate Parliaments, will afford much
ground for discussion, and the debates upon them will not improbably
reveal wide divergencies of opinion. But if each member of the conven-
tion enters it with the determination to make everything secondary to
76 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Falmouth and Penryn Times — continued.
the preparation of a workable scheme of federation, there can be small
chance of this great experiment ending in a fiasco.
Will the adoption of such a scheme bring the Australian Colonies nearer
to the Mother Country, and consequently bring all Anglo-Saxondom
nearer to the realisation of that bright dream of a great and inviolable
brotherhood, or will it hasten what some regard as an unavoidable
separation ? Will its final fruit, in short, be a federated Empire, or a
new Federal Republic 1 There are many able men in both hemispheres
who look upon Imperial Federation as the pet craze of a few unpractical
political visionaries, as a proposition altogether unworthy the considera-
tion of working statesmen, and only useful as a means of keeping a set
of meddlesome and crack-brained faddists out of mischief. The initiators
of every great new departure, social, political, or religious, have been
ridiculed and denounced by the people, who mistake an entire lack of
originality and a slavish tendency to run in grooves made by somebody else
for common-sense. The truth is that some of the leading supporters of
Imperial Federation are practical and hard-headed men in the best sense
of those terms. Lord Rosebery, the Chairman of the London County
Council, and Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the leading spirit in the formation of the
great new South African Company, are scarcely visionaries. Yet both
are strong supporters of, and believers in, Imperial Federation. After
all, democracies prefer to be led by men who are not altogether devoid of
imagination and sentiment, who recognise that nations cannot be governed
as if they were merely huge and elaborate machines. There is some
ground for hoping that federation will not be looked upon by Australians
as their final process of national evolution, that they will regard it only
as a phase in their development, as a prelude to a yet grander fruition.
If the men of the new federation have that capacity for almost unlimited
widening of the mental horizon for which their race has always been
noted, and which has evolved the elaborate English constitution out of
the rudest and crudest elements, there is small fear that they will stop
short with the accomplishment of Sir Henry Parkes' project. Their
success in that undertaking will give them greater confidence in their own
powers, besides proving the value of combination. They will attack the
infinitely more difficult problem of Imperial Federation, or British Federa-
tion, as it might more appropriately be called, with an increased belief in
their ability to overcome obstacles, with a strengthened faith in the
desirableness of the end in view. Long and toilsome will the labour be,
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 77
Falmouth and Penryn Times — continued.
but if the task is hard and painful the achievement will transcend in glory
all man's previous exploits. The firm fixing on an unshakable foundation
of the colossal structure of a world-girdling Anglo-Saxon dominion
would be the mightiest forward movement ever made by mankind, the
sure pledge of the supremacy of the noblest instincts of our nature in
the future working out of the world's destiny.
Gloucester Journal—
November Wi, 1889.
Is Imperial Federation the chimerical thing it is said to be 1 We may
or we may not live to see the day when all the British dependencies send
representatives to a great governing Council, when there shall be one
great Parliament to govern the affairs of an Empire on which the sun
never sets. At the present time Imperial Federation is considered but a
shadowy ideal. But a great step has been taken towards its realisation
by the important despatch just issued by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier
of New South Wales. Some five or six weeks ago Sir Henry Parkes
startled the Australian Colonies and the Mother Country by some very
definite statements he made in favour of Australian Federalism. The
New South Wales Premier is perhaps the most influential politician
in Australasia, and he speaks therefore with an amount of authority
that no one dare call in question. When he distinctly records his
belief in Australian Federalism his views deserve thoughtful considera-
tion. The matter came about in this way : General Edwards has
recommended that the general defence of Australian territory should
be made a matter of common concern to all the Australian Colonies.
The thing is self-evident, the only arguable point in connection with
it being as to ways and means, and the relative share to be taken
by the various colonies. But when Sir Henry Parkes looks at the
existing institutions of the country from which such a thing should come,
he is by no means satisfied. The Government of Victoria says that the
Federal Council possesses the power requisite to constitute, direct, and
control a united Australian army. There has long been a jealousy
between Victoria and New South Wales, and it is no surprise to find
that Sir Henry Parkes does not concur in the conclusion. Nevertheless
the question has to be faced. He carefully examines in succession the
78 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Gloucester Journal — continued.
several alternatives, such as the creation of a common army either by the
Federal Council or by the Imperial Parliament, or the combination of the
several Executive Governments, otherwise independent, for the purpose
of creating and controlling a common army, only to reject them. He is
thus driven to the conclusion that, a common army being necessary for
the purpose of the economical and effective defence of Australian territory,
that necessity leads by irresistible sequence to federation. " Hence,
then," he says, " this first great federal question, when looked at fairly,
brings us, in spite of preferences and prejudices, face to face with the
imperative necessity for Federal Government, and why should we turn
aside from what is inevitable 1"
The scheme for the general defence of Australia must be understood if
the foundation of the body to be called into existence to decide upon it is
to be well and truly laid. General Edwards has advised, among other
things, the federation of the several Australian contingents, and the
appointment of a single commanding officer for the whole body ; that a
military college should be established, common to all the colonies ; and
the introduction of a uniform railway gauge. If a scheme of such vast
importance is to be carried into effect it is clear that some more represen-
tative and responsible body than any that at present exists in Australia
must be founded. At present the only central authority is the so-called
Australian Federal Council, in which, by-the-bye, New South "Wales has
steadily refused to be represented. It is, moreover, not an Executive
Council. Herein comes Sir Henry Parkes' opportunity for pushing
forward his scheme for a real federation of the colonies. So convinced
is the New South Wales Premier that Federal Government must come
that he somewhat petulantly asks " why should we turn aside from what
is inevitable in the nature of our onward progress ; it must come, a year
or two later possibly, but in any case soon." To achieve the high aim he
has in view, Sir Henry Parkes invites each colony to send six represen-
tatives, appointed by Parliament and chosen in equal numbers from each
of the two political parties, to the proposed National Convention, four
members being taken from the Assembly and two from the Council in
each colony. Western Australia, having only one House, might, he
suggests, only send four representatives; and thus, if New Zealand thought
proper to join the Convention, the total number of representatives would
be forty. This Convention would be empowered to discuss and recommend
for adoption a form of Federal Constitution. " The scheme of Federal
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 79
Gloucester Journal — continued.
Government, it is assumed, would necessarily follow close upon the type
of the Dominion Government of Canada, and would provide for the
appointment of a Governor-General, and for the creation of an Australian
Privy Council and of a Parliament consisting of a Senate and House of
Commons." This, in outline, is the Federal Government which the New
South Wales Premier proposes, and everyone is interested to see what
response the other colonies will make. The greatest difficulty is between
New South Wales and Victoria. New South Wales is a free trade colony,
and Victoria protectionist. How to bring them under one Government
will prove a hard problem to solve. Nevertheless, no one disputes that
it would be a great and a good thing to federate the group of contiguous
colonies in Australasia ; and the federation of the Australian Colonies
affords some hope to those who believe that the day of the federation of
the Empire is at hand.
Hampshire Telegraph —
November Stk, 1889.
A NEW Australian question is upon us. General Edwards was recently
sent out to Australia to examine and report upon its means of defence,
and has reported in favour of the federal action of Australian troops.
The Prime Minister of Victoria, Mr. Duncan Gillies, at once tele-
graphed to the Prime Minister of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes,
suggesting that the provisions of the Federal Council's Act might be
employed to carry out the recommendations of General Edwards. This
did not meet the view of Sir Henry Parkes, who intimated that the
Federal Council did not possess the powers attributed to it by Mr.
Gillies. Sir Henry was an opponent of the Federal Council's Bill when
it became law four years ago. The Bill provided for the formation of a
Federal Council of Australasia, on which each colony was to be repre-
sented by two members, except in the case of Crown Colonies, which
were to be represented by one member each. Owing to Sir Henry's
opposition, New South Wales as well as New Zealand have held
aloof from the Council, so that the scheme has been federation only
in name.
Sir Henry Parkes' objection was that the Act attempted to galvanise
a sham federalism into life. He believes in a federation of the colonies,
80 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Hampshire Telegraph — continued.
but not in this federation. Touching General Edwards' proposals, he
says, " The Executive Governments of the several colonies could not act
in combination for any such purpose, nor could they so act independently
of each other." The suggestion is that Parliament might constitute a federal
army, and upon this he observes that " the colonies would never consent
to the Imperial Executive interfering with the direction of its move-
ments." Sir Henry is not content with destructive criticism. He thinks
that the time has come for consolidating the various Australian Colonies
into one ; and he invites the Victorian Cabinet to appoint representatives
to what he calls a National Convention^ for the purpose of devising and
reporting on an adequate scheme of Federal Government. To avoid the
sense of inequality, he proposes that the number of representatives from
each colony shall be the same, and that the number in each case shall be
six, equally chosen from both sides of political life. Four of them would
be taken from the Legislative Assembly of the colony, and two from the
Legislative Council. The scheme of Federal Government to be aimed at
would follow close on the type of the Dominion Government of Canada,
and would provide for the appointment of a Governor-General, and for
the creation of an Australian Privy Council, and of a Parliament con-
sisting of a Senate and of a House of Commons. Sir Henry Parkes, in
fact, advocates a real federation, which would deal not only with tho
question of military defence, but would increase the prosperity and
strength of the Australian Colonies by giving them the feeling that their
interests and future run abreast. The question is, of course, one for the
colonies themselves to decide, and we believe that whatever the present
may bring, the future of Australia will be in accordance with the
principles of Sir Henry Parkes.
Lincoln Gazette —
November 9tk, 1889.
AN American wit has said that most people are like eggs, so full of
themselves they can't hold anything else. What is true of individuals
is true of nations. England is so engrossed in the things imder her
eyes that she pays small heed even to the concerns of her children tho
colonists. Such trivialities as the squabble of " the strongest man on
earth," as the advent of Barnum's circus, are greedily studied, whilst the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 81
Lincoln Gazette — continued.
most remarkable things going on at the Antipodes pass unheeded. The
latest news from Australia is of startling importance, foreshadowing, as
it does, the future relations of the Australian Colonies to each other
and to the Mother-country. An English military officer, General
Edwards, sent out to report on Australian defence, has given it as his
opinion that it is a question on which all the colonies should take con-
certed action. The suggestion of the Premier of Victoria, Mr. Duncan
Gillies, that the Federal Council Act should be employed to carry out
the military recommendation, has called forth a despatch from the
Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes, which is likely to
prove a turning point in Australian history. Sir Henry Parkes, a born
seer, realizes that the moment has come when Australia must take a
decisive step. The Federal Council, he declares, is a nullity, has no
executive power to act, whilst direct intervention by the Imperial Par-
liament is out of the question. The time is ripe for the setting aside of
the Federal Act, and for a genuine federation of the colonies — New
Zealand probably to be included. " Why should we turn from what is
inevitable V asks Sir Henry. " In the nature of our onward progress it
must come. . . . It is a question to put to the mind and heart of
Australia." In broad outlines he sketches a lusty skeleton scheme
to which blood and muscle can hereafter be added. He proposes a
National Convention in which the five colonies should be equally
represented. He points to Canada as a desirable type of Federation, and
holds up for imitation the Constitution of the United States. It is to bo
no reckless start ; the Convention is to be guided by working models
whose success is abundantly proved. Sir Henry Parkes is one of the
most prevailing of statesmen. In spite of social disadvantages he has
struggled again and again to the top of the wave. He has something of
the sagacity of Lincoln, and he speaks with the force and directness of a
Cobbett. It is certainly within the possibilities, although he is a veteran,
that he may live to see himself Premier not only of one Colony but of
the United Colonies of Australia. It will be interesting to note what
the Australians think of the Federal proposition. At present they are
divided by jealousies and prejudices. Will they rise to the occasion ;
will each State forget itself ; sink differences and unite, as did America,
under one flag, one country, one Constitution, one destiny. This tremen-
dous question has arisen out of the defence problem. The Federation
dream of the poet has become the reality of the statesman. Are the
82 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Lincoln Gazette — continued.
Australians in the fit stage when they can seize the idea, act upon it,
and rise, as Sir Henry Parkes says, to that " higher level of national life,
which would give them a larger space before the eyes of the world, and
would, in a hundred ways, promote their united power and prosperity."
Newcastle Leader —
November 9zA, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the Premier of New South Wales, one of the most
experienced and ablest of Australian statesmen, has come to the con-
clusion that the question of Australian Federation has entered the region
of practical politics, and is now championing the reform with character-
istic energy. The question, it is true, is not new either to Australia or
to Sir Henry Parkes, who claims to have been an advocate of "genuine
federation" for thirty-five years. Hitherto the scheme has been kept
in abeyance, partly by the conflicting commercial policies of the colonies,
but mainly by the rivalry of New South Wales and Victoria. The new
start just made, however, looks like business. In his own province of
New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes is obtaining a great deal of public
support for the proposal. He is wisely basing his advocacy of the reform
on the broadest patriotic ground. He is seeking to extend the political
range and aspirations of the people from colonial or provincial to the
higher standpoint of Australasian interests generally. Not the advantage
of individual members, but the advantage of the family as a whole is his
present cry. Of course he does not contemplate or advise the abolition
of the provincial administrations. On the contrary, he wishes to see
them preserved and strengthened. He is a believer in local self-govern-
ment; but at the same time he believes that that principle can be
maintained and developed simultaneously with the constitution of a
Central Federal Government. Modern experience strongly supports this
theory, helping at once to explain and commend it. Sir Henry Parkes
is proposing no newfangled scheme. What he is contending for is the
principle on which the United States is founded — " one out of many,"-
unity with liberty ; — the principle, too, which has given birth to the
Canadian Dominion, and which must shortly be applied to South Africa.
The theory of Federation, it may therefore be assumed, is tolerably
familiar to our Australian cousins, and it must become more acceptable
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 83
Newcastle Leader — continued.
to them in proportion as they learn to think of themselves as Australians
and of their common heritage in the upwards of three millions of square
miles embraced within the Australian limit, instead of limiting their
political views and aspirations to the particular colony among the seven
provinces with which they happen to be connected by birth or residence
or business enterprise.
Federation is indeed the natural issue of political development in
Australia. The peoples occupying the different colonies are substantially
of the same race, and inheritors . of the same political traditions and
faiths j and the similarity of their tasks as well as their kinship should
facilitate the welding together of the seven provinces into one great
dominion. They have an enormous territory to develop, and the
magnitude of this work ought itself to induce them to seek the strength
which comes from unity. Externally they have the same interests to
defend and promote. They are practically united in holding views
regarding the influx of foreign criminals, the introduction of Chinese or
blacks, the assertion of fishery rights and such like, which may not
always harmonise with the Home or Imperial views ; and united they
are more likely to command respect for their peculiar opinions and
desires than they could expect to do if they remained separate. Then,
again, their growing appreciation of the value of their splendid estate,
and their determination to maintain possession of every part of it
against any possible interloper or reckless adventurer must convince
them of the need of larger and stronger means of defence than the
Imperial Government, more especially if it was entangled or was in
danger of being entangled in a foreign war, would care to provide ; but
they themselves could not supplement Imperial defence to any appreciable
extent unless they joined together to organize a fleet or an army.
Federation, moreover, would obviously give a roundness and a complete-
ness to their national life which are still wanting. For example, it
would call into existence a higher and common judicature — a Federal
Court of Appeal, along with a Federal Parliament and Executive ; and
thus the sphere of public life would be at once extended and elevated.
The adoption of federation, therefore, is only a question of time.
Whether or not Sir Henry Parkes is right in considering the question
now ripe for practical settlement, federation will sooner or later force
its way to Australia. In its present situation and outlook it is a law of
nature. Its attainment will not be hastened by compulsion. No State
84 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Newcastle Leader — continued.
need be forced into the union against its will, nor has any possible
dissenting State any interest or right to object to the union of the others.
Let those provinces which are ready for federation join together. If
even only two wish to federate, let them do so. If the Imperial Colonial
Department is wise it will leave the provinces to the freedom of their
will, encouraging federation perhaps as opportunity occurs, but doing
nothing to compel it. It should treat the reform as a question of local
self-government to be practically worked out by the people interested
themselves. Certainly the Empire has nothing to fear from Australian
federation. The strengthening of one of the parts brings strength to the
whole. Doubtless, as already indicated, a Federal Government in Aus-
tralia would be in a position to command greater respect for Australian
views or interests as these might be affected by Imperial policy, than a
single Provincial Government could expect to obtain. But it is well,
perhaps, for the Imperial Executive that the need for increased consider-
ation for outlying portions of the world-wide Empire should be enforced
upon it. Forbearance, or self-restraint, when practised in combination
with a general loyalty to one common interest — the power or disposition
to seek the good of all the members of the Imperial family in preference to
momentary individual advantage — is an ennobling and elevating influence
in public life. If Australian federation should impose it on Britain, it
is necessary also to remember it will likewise enforce a proportionately
heavy exaction on the Australian provinces. The separate colonies, it
is well known, are not agreed on the subject of Freetrade or Protection.
Sir Henry Parkes frankly acknowledges this difficulty; but he insists
that it must be regarded as a subordinate question. " In the bringing
about of federation (he says), the question of Protection or Freetrade
was a trifling matter as compared with the greatness of Australia, and
the duty of giving to Australia an Australian Government."
The Salisbury and Winchester Journal—
November Sth, ] 889.
Sin Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, has addressed a
despatch on the subject of Australian Federation to the Premiers of the
other neighbouring colonies, which will probably mark an epoch in their
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 85
The Salisbury and Winchester Journal — continued.
history. Ho proposes that a National Convention, composed of six
representatives of each Australasian Colony, chosen from both sides of
political life, should be summoned for the purpose of " devising and
reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal Government." The
events which have led up to this suggestion may be briefly explained.
It will be remembered that General Edwards, who was sent to Australia
to report upon its means of defence, recently recommended the federal
action of Australian troops. With the view of giving effect to this
recommendation, the Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Duncan Gillies,
addressed a despatch to Sir Henry Parkes, explaining his views in favour
of bringing the machinery of the Federal Council Act of 1885 into
operation ; and it is in reply to that message that the Premier of New
South Wales has put forward his important proposals. While most
anxious to meet the views of the other Australian Colonies, Sir Henry
Parkes is unable to accept the view that the Federal Council "possesses
the requisite power to constitute, direct, and control an united Australian
Army." He urges that even if the words " general defences," which
occur in the Act, give the Australian Colonies the right to enrol and
maintain an army of their own, the fact that there does not exist any
form of executive power to direct the movements of such an army pre-
sents an " impassable barrier" to practical action. In short, he believes
that the existing machinery is altogether inadequate to enable the
Executive Governments of the several colonies to act in combination for
the purposes of self-defence and protection. He wishes to see the
Australasian Colonies rise " to a higher level of national life, which would
give them a larger space before the eyes of the world, and would in a
hundred ways promote their united power and prosperity." To achieve
these great objects, he argues that the Australias must be consolidated
into one, with a Senate, a House of Commons, a Privy Council, and a
Governor-General of the whole of Australasia. He assumes that " the
scheme of Federal Government would necessarily follow close upon the.
type of the Dominion Government of Canada," and for the purpose of
devising some such scheme of Federal Government acceptable to all the
colonies, he warmly invites the other Australian Premiers to consent to
the appointment of a National Convention. What response will be made
to this appeal remains to be seen. We fear, however, that Sir Henry
Parkes does not represent public opinion in the Australian Colonies,
whatever may be the feeling in New South Wales, when he says that
86 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Salisbury and Winchester Journal — continued.
" the time is ripe for consolidating the Australias into one." Be that as
it may, the significance of his despatch is that the proposals it contains
for federation come from one of our colonies and not from the Mother-
country. That is as it should be, and is the most hopeful sign we have
yet seen of the practical realization of a scheme which would bind our
great Empire more closely together for the purposes of self-protection
and commerce.
Exeter Gazette —
November 9th, 1889.
THE despatch from Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales,
to the Hon. Duncan C. Gillies, Premier of Victoria, is full of import and
sound reasoning in the direction of Imperial Federation. Indeed, nothing
more sound has ever been uttered in connection with an object that is
much discussed by all statesmen, whether Home or Colonial, and that
which Sir Henry Parkes has said will be echoed not only by Lord
Salisbury but by every Liberal Unionist in the country, since it is
suggestive of a self-sustentation that is worthy of the offshoots of our race.
That the policy laid down by Sir Henry on the score of defence was
deemed to be highly suggestive and practical may be gathered from the
fact that no time was lost in " wiring " it to England. The telegram
came from Sydney, but there can be 110 doubt that its dispatch was
prompted by the Victorian Government, and that all the other colonies
on that continent are fully in sympathy with it. Hitherto there has
been much controversy in political circles in Australia and New Zealand
as to the powers of what is called the Federal Council — a Council which
was initiated by the Government of Victoria, and which held its sittings
at Hobart, in Tasmania. The representatives of this federation were
the Premiers of the colonies who adopted the idea, and no doubt they
found a visit to the garden of the South Pacific a very pleasant outing,
though all they could do in the way of legislation was rather suggestive
than practical, since New South Wales, the parent colony, and South
Australia, held aloof from the contract, on the ground, as Sir Henry Parkes
practically expresses it, "that the Federal Council had no executive power
to act at all in the name of Australia." But what it is important to notice
is that the scheme put forward by Sir Henry Parkes for the defence
of the country and ultimate federation follows the lines laid down by
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 87
Exeter Gazette— continued.
Lord Carnarvon in respect of Canada, or, what it is common to call, British
North America. The scheme heralds, in fact, another Dominion as powerful
and as progressive as any which the British Crown can boast. As, then,
consolidarity is what all are aiming at, it may be hoped that the thin end
of the wedge Sir Henry Parkes has inserted will be driven home ; that
the Australians may be of one mind in respect of defence and Customs
dues, and not divided, as they now are, by intercolonial jealousies and
conflicting tariffs. If Australia should be of one mind in this connexion,
there can be no doubt that the British Government would be in entire
sympathy with it, and that no time would be lost in drafting a measure
to give effect to a work of so national a character, because every year the
field of its beneficent operations would be rapidly extending. As will
have been gathered from the telegram, the idea is to make the Australians
self-sustaining, and to relieve the British taxpayer of a conviction which
somehow or the other he cannot get rid of that the Colonies are an
incubus on the rates. More than this, it is designed to show that the
statesmen of our other Englands are anxious to assist to sustain the
prestige of the old country out of their own resources. From this point
of view the " manifesto " of Sir Henry Parkes comes like a gleam of
sunshine now that the sun has left us and is about to radiate in all his
fulness in Southern latitudes. It is not a little singular that Sir Henry
Parkes, who has always been in controversy with the statesmen of the
other colonies on the Australian Continent, should — at the eleventh
hour, as it were, of a long political experience — have formulated a pro-
posal so full of significance as that under review. All we can hope is
that it will take root, and that Sir Henry may live to see his proposals
realized. He is an old man now, but, though old, he is stalwart. Perhaps
no man has had a more strange experience of life than he has, since when
he first went to New South Wales he worked as a storeman in an iron
store, then started in business on his own account as a toy-maker, and
subsequently became proprietor of the Umpire newspaper and Premier of
the Colony. An old chronicle says that " in 1848 he took an active
part in the election of the Hon. Robert Lowe," now Lord Sherbrooke,
for Sydney. Well may Shakespeare say, " It is a strange world, my
masters," in which a toy-maker may, by dint of energy, rise to such a
distinguished position as that now enjoyed by Sir Henry Parkes.
88 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Army and Navy Gazette—
November Wi, 1889.
THE letter of Sir Henry Parkes upon the question of a Federal Australian
Army, which appeared in the daily papers this week, puts the whole
matter into a nutshell for our convenience. As Sir Henry Parkes says, —
Who is to assume the responsibility of issuing the necessary orders
for the raising of this federal army, and who is to command the force
when raised ? The existing Federal Council has no executive authority
whatsoever. But without an executive authority no federal force can be
raised or mobilised ; nor could it be commanded even if, for the sake of
argument, it were assumed to exist. The rivalry between Victoria and
New South Wales, as two vast, contiguous, but entirely independent
colonies, precludes all likelihood of Victoria submitting to have the
head-quarters of the prospective "federal army" at Sydney, or of New
• South Wales being contented to place its youthful army of 20,000 or
30,000 able-bodied colonial soldiers under the command of a General at
Melbourne. And even if either of them could be induced to give way,
is it at all probable that New Zealand, with all its warlike traditions,
and containing many regiments of tried warriors who, unaided by
British troops, succeeded in doing what a large British force was unable
to accomplish — that is to say, cleared their country of the Maori
pests — is it at all probable that New Zealand would place its veteran
army at the disposal of an Australian Colony ? Clearly not. And the
Colonies of South and Western Australia, and of Queensland, are equally
independent in their notions. Perhaps some antiquated impressions
may remain in the minds of those in Great Britain that pressure
put on at the Colonial Office would persuade the various colonies to
combine 1 Here Sir Henry Parkes' letter gives a clear and unmistakable
opinion. " The Imperial Parliament," says he, " on the application of
the colonies, could no doubt pass an Act to constitute a federal army
under one command, and authorize its operations in any part of Australia,
but the colonies would never consent to the Imperial Executive inter-
fering in the direction of its movements." The result would be a federal
army without a federal executive to deal with its movements. So it is
manifest that the colonists cannot usefully be induced by Imperial
pressure to create and mobilise a federal force. What, then, is the
alternative 1 Sir Henry puts it in a few words : " Hence, then, this
first great federal question, when looked at fairly, brings us, in spite of
preferences or prejudices, face to face with the imperative necessity for
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 89
Army and Navy Gazette — continued.
Federal Government ; and why should we turn aside from what is
inevitable 1 In the nature of our onward progress it must come, a year
or two later possibly, but in any case soon, I hope." Here is the reply
to the entire question. Before the creation of a Federal Australian army
can be effected, the constitution of a Federal Government must be taken
into consideration. There is little doubt that Sir Henry Parkes speaks
with prophetic sagacity, and that ere long the Australian Colonies will
form a powerful Federal Republic, as an appanage of the British
Empire. It may be good for the latter, and it may not. But we can
never cease to regret the policy which withdrew the whole of our troops
from Australia and New Zealand. Had a half-battalion only been left
in each capital, they would have been as so many links connecting the
Home Government with the remote Dependencies, and would have kept
us " in touch " with our colonial cousins.
United Service Gazette —
November 9th, 1889.
OP late the question of Imperial Federation has hung fire. It is, there-
fore, refreshing to those interested in the subject to know that the question
is being debated in India, a country in which up to the present time it
has attracted little attention. Consequently we make no apology for
reproducing an article from the Statesman on this important subject, and
also a communication from a correspondent of that journal. Our con-
temporary says that the question of Imperial Federation is revived in
our columns by a writer whose communication, under the nom de plume
" Enthusiast," contains several errors of fact, attributable doubtless to
an imperfect study of the subject. At this distance it is difficult to
pronounce in a matter of this kind in regard to Australia and Canada,
without special means of information, which to be of value must be up
to date. But we know the Australian Colonies cannot agree among
themselves as to Customs duties and other matters of fiscal policy, in
consequence of one part of them being protectionists, another part free-
traders, and a third a mixture of the two. Their differences are such
that at the present moment Victoria and Tasmania are at open war on
the customs question, each resorting to retaliatory measures. How then,
90 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
United Service Gazette — continued.
it may be asked, can they be expected to agree on any active scheme of
Imperial Federation ? The first object to be obtained would be an
agreement among themselves ; and this, we fear, is not yet likely to
come about, although a good deal has been done in this direction by the
recent Conference of representatives of all these colonies, who met in
council to settle difficult points of intercolonial policy. Looking at the
question of Imperial Federation, not only as it affects Australia, but
Canada, our numerous Eastern possessions, and our dependencies in the
Mediterranean, we can only say, as we said years ago when the subject
was first mooted, that it cannot be anticipated that populations
residing so far apart from each other as Great Britain, Australia,
New Zealand, and Canada, would always think alike on questions
of foreign policy. A war that to an Australian might appear a
just and proper enterprise — say against France on account of the New
Hebrides question, or against China for bringing the Celestial Govern-
ment to terms in the matter of Mongol immigration — would hardly
present itself in the same light to a Dutch farmer at the Cape, or
to our colonies in America. Nor, on the other hand, do we think
the Australian Colonies would feel inclined to contribute to the expenses
of a war with the United States over the Behring Sea fishery dispute.
It is, moreover, very doubtful whether, even granting the most liberal
representation, our various colonies and dependencies would have any
real voice in determining the foreign policy of the Empire. The chances
are they would speedily be reduced almost to the insignificance of the
cplonial deputies of the French Republic — simply the mockery of a
political idea. Our correspondent " Enthusiast " recommends the
Imperial Government to issue " invitations to the Governments of the
self-governing colonies to send delegates to London to confer and report
on the possibility of establishing closer and more substantial union with
the mother-country." Such a step is unnecessary, for the union with the
mother-country could not be closer or more substantial than at present.
Each of the Australian Colonies has its Agent-General in London to
watch events of importance to the colonies, and to communicate them to
their respective Colonial Governments, to attend to the question of
emigration to the colonies in so far as concerns assisted emigrants, and
to represent to the Imperial Government the colonial claims wherever
the Imperial prerogative is concerned. A deputation of successful
Australian agriculturists — we suppose " Enthusiast " means squatters —
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 91
United Service Gazette — continued.
would speedily degenerate into a mere advertising medium or resolve
itself into a pleasant little jaunt for the delegates. We can understand
the visit of the American trade representatives to England, for they had
something to learn therefrom, though even in their case we suspect the
advertising element entered largely into the trip. With an Australian
deputation it would be otherwise. They could not represent the class it
is desired to bring to the colonies, for they would be prosperous men of
independent means for travel, whereas those whom they addressed would
be starvelings without the means of leaving the old country.
" Enthusiast" has not studied the subject sufficiently, or he would know
that the men that are required in Australia, as well as in America,
are not the paupers and scum of the agricultural population, but men
capable of obtaining an " honest independence," as " Enthusiast" puts it,
by hard honest work and perseverance. On the other hand, the men
that England can least spare are the farmers and agricultural class that
the colonists most want, while vice versa those the colonists do not
require are the men the home country would best like to get rid of.
As to a jaunt of this sort converting the delegates into eager advocates of
Imperial Federation, " as it would mean the safety and protection of their
property and the future greatness of the land of their adoption." The writer
forgets that the Australian Colonies do not look to Federation for pro-
tection. They regard it only as a means of union, more particularly in the
matter of fiscal policy. It has been declared over and over again in the
Australian Press that Federation could not give the colonies more pro-
tection than they already have got, while it would render them liable to
contribute to the defences of distant parts of the Empire with which they
have no concern. At present each colony, we believe, contributes, if not
directly, at least indirectly, to the support of the Australian Squadron.
Victoria has its two or three ironclads and a fleet of torpedoes, and two
other colonies are equally protected by sea, whilst every Colonial capital
is well fortified against invasion. With but one exception they all have
small standing armies, a militia, volunteers, and naval reserve forces ;
and, according to Major-General Edwards, who has recently inspected and
reported upon the military resources of Australia, these forces are in a
high state of efficiency. Where, then, we may ask again, would the
advantages of Imperial Federation, as it is generally understood, come in1?
The colonists are in a position to defend themselves, and have been so
ever since the withdrawal of the English redcoats from Australia in
92 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
United Service Gazette — continued.
1865, when the British Government tacitly admitted that the time had
come when her children under the Southern Cross might be left to look
after themselves. As was observed by the late Hon. JBede Dalley, it is
not a question of what relief Australia would require from the mother
country in case of Avar, but what measure of assistance it could give the
Empire. And the man who said this was the colonial statesman that
sent the New South Wales contingent to Suakim.
Into the subject of Imperial Federation as applied to India we need not
follow our correspondent ; for in his remarks on this head " Enthusiast"
simply slides into another and different question — that of associating the
native Princes with us in our armies — a matter which has really nothing
to do with Imperial Federation in the general acceptation of the term.
Our readers are aware that we have long urged the wisdom of throwing
open the commissioned ranks of our army to the sons of the native
nobility and aristocracy. By finding employment for them as officers in
our armies, we should be opening an outlet for energies which otherwise
may be exhausted in questionable pursuits. Russia acts more wisely, or
shall we say more liberally, than ourselves in this respect. She has
literally absorbed the talent of the warlike tribes in Central Asia in
consolidating her conquests in those parts, and with conspicuous success.
At the present moment the most notable, and judging from past events,
the most formidable element in the Russo- Asiatic Army consists of the
Turcomans — the very race that only after a stubborn resistance has at
length bowed to Russian rule — while Armenians hold high positions in
the ranks of the Czar's Army. France, again, has in Algeria and in her
African possessions generally adopted the same policy with excellent
results. And we believe it to be unquestionable that a similar course in
India would bind the native Princes to us and thereby greatly contribute
to the safety of the Empire. If our rulers could only be made to see it,
instead of relying on mercenaries for the defence of the Empire, there
lies ready to our hand, in parts of India, all the material for construct-
ing a genuine army officered by its own sons and animated throughout
by a spirit of loyalty and devotion to the British Crown which
would make it a source of real strength to us and the envy of the
world. But all this has nothing to do with Imperial Federation, except
in so far as it touches the question of enlisting the sympathies of the
Indian people, in the welfare of the Empire, by giving honorable
employment to them and satisfying their legitimate ambitions, born of a
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 93
United Service Gazette — continued.
warlike ancestry, for a military career. It will come some clay no doubt,
though meanwhile it will be dismissed as the dream of an "Enthusiast"
The following is the communication of "Enthusiast," above referred to: —
" Our Queen has received the most convincing proofs of the loyalty of
the independent Princes of India to the British rule in the eloquent
offers of military support which have been proffered by them, and there
can be no doubt that our greatest safety in this country lies in con-
ciliating and binding irrevocably the independent war-loving nations who
occupy the position of sentinels over the land we rule. At the same
time it must be a compact which will benefit both parties, for Great
Britain must ever give, where she receives, support. In this country we
are victims to chronic attacks of the Russian scare, and there can
be little doubt that a Russian invasion would be as injurious to the
independent native Princes as to British rule. A little reflection and
careful study of our geographical position will, however, show that we
should rather prepare ourselves to anticipate danger from China, in place
of allowing fear of Russia to engross our minds. China is a country
teeming with a countless population, who are intelligent, thrifty, and are
yearly becoming more and more proficient in the art of war. The fear
of death is unknown to the celestial, and the devotion to his country's
advancement, coupled with his belief in future happiness as a reward,
are the ruling passions of his life. Should the national flood-gate of
China once be forced open by the ever-increasing masses, there is nothing
to prevent its countless myriads sweeping over this country ; a human
deluge against which no divided force could stand. It is interesting to
note that our colonies and America are already fearing the danger of
receiving into their midst pioneers of a foreign Power, who once located,
spread in the same alarming way as imported rabbits — once a blessing,
now a plague, destroying all in their path and defying extermination by
their numbers. It is self-evident that in. this country we must do all in
our power to prevent internal dissension when we have such a powerful
neighbour as China on the look-out for fresh territory, and already busy
colonizing our latest possession, Burmah, and showing the wisdom of
serpents by marrying its women.
"Now Imperial Federation properly applied to India will open up
careers for the native Princes, their followers, and all the warlike popu-
lation of this great land, and will bind our fellow-subjects to us in away
that nothing else can ever attain ; and secure for us the lasting friendship
of the independent nations around us. There are|[numerous young
noblemen in this country eager to distinguish themselves, only lacking
the opportunity, and in despair of a career of glory and in the absence of
healthy excitement, they resign themselves hopelessly to sensual enjoy-
ments, which alas ! too often become hard masters when they should ever
remain the attendants on pleasure. There is no reason why these
noblemen should not prove some of the brightest ornaments of the Army
of Imperial Federation, and a few years passed by them with their troops
in British possessions out of India would improve these gentlemen just
in the same way as a few years of military foreign service improve and
94 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
r
United Service Gazette — continued.
qualify the sons of English noblemen for the later duties they have to
discharge in their native land. Those native Princes and gentlemen who
have visited England know what a kind and brotherly welcome awaits
them wherever the English language is spoken and their Empress reigns.
It is rumoured that the Queen of England and the Empress of this land
will have during the next few months to take a long sea voyage for the
benefit of her health. Now could a more glorious opportunity occur for
emphasizing the great interest her Majesty has ever taken in India, and
the affection she has always borne for its people, than by sailing to this
port and holding in Calcutta a Durbar of all the great Princes of the
land. It would be the most eloquent way of expressing a nation's
gratitude and appreciation of the loyal offers already received, for the
Queen mother to come and see her foreign children, and would also afford
a glorious opportunity for the Empress of India to found the Army
of Imperial Federation by having enrolled in her august presence all
those Princes who desire an opportunity of achieving military glory and
distinction in the world's history, and at the same time of showing their
devotion to the British Empire. The effect of such a step as the above
would do more to tranquilize Europe than all the sugared sophistry in the
world. A few days in Calcutta would suffice for her Majesty to
immortalize herself as no sovereign has ever yet done, and crown her
glorious reign by a royal act which would cement two great nations
together, and prove the real quickening of Imperial Federation, by
founding an army which would be the most effectual means of securing
peace and prosperity to the world at large, and prove an endless blessing
in the ages to come."
United Service Gazette —
November 9^, 1889.
THE question of the Imperial Federation of the Australasian Colonies has
again become en evidence in an important despatch addressed by Sir
Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, to the Victorian
Premier, the Hon. Duncan Gillies. It appears from this despatch that
the contention of the Premier of the sister colony of New South Wales
is that the provisions of the Federal Council Act, recently promulgated,
are wholly insufficient for the vitally important task of providing for the
defence of the colonies, and Sir Henry Parkes fails to discover that the
Council " possesses the requisite powers to constitute, direct, and control
an united Australian army." No motive power exists for combining
under one command the scattered and unconnected forces locally main-
tained by the several colonies in view of a great common danger.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 95
United Service Gazette— continued.
We rejoice to see that this question, which has for some considerable
time past been left in abeyance by the Australasian Premiers, has again
been keenly taken in hand by the oldest of the Australasian Colonies,
New South Wales, as represented by Sir Henry Parkes, and that the
grand scheme of Federation is not, after all, likely to be an idle dream.
Much, however, would seem to depend on the co-operation and united
support of the other Premiers with the views held and expressed by Sir
Henry Parkes and embodied in the despatch alluded to. The lines on
which they propose it should work would assimilate with those of the
Government of Canada, the head of the executive power being the
Governor-General • and the Australasian Army, which would include the
forces of Yictoria, New South Wales, Queensland, New Zealand, &c.,
being in like manner placed under the control of a Commander-in-Chief,
whose selection would probably be made by the Imperial Government.
The troops would become interchangeable one colony with another in
time of peace, and ready for mobilization in case of invasion. The forces
already organized in the colonies would, therefore, become the nucleus
of a great and powerful army, which, growing and developing with the
colonies themselves, would form in a time of emergency a powerful and
effective ally to the mother country.
Our reason for advocating the cause of Imperial Federation is a two-
fold one — Firstly, because it tends towards the strengthening and stability
of our great Empire ; and, secondly, because the proposed Australasian
Army and Navy will make a most useful and important inlet from our
army for the employment of officers of both Services, who frequently
find that promotion is not easily gained, and to whom a newly organized
Service would prove a great boon.
The inception of so important a scheme as Imperial Federation must
necessarily be slow, but we trust that in the very slowness of its growth
may consist its greater strength. We await, therefore, with the deepest
interest the result which the bold initiative of Sir Henry Parkes is
destined to receive at the hands of the other Australian Premiers, and we
hope that the Defence scheme will at all events be carried to a successful
issue, even if it should be found that the times are not yet ripe for carry-
ing out to the full extent the remaining portions of this grand scheme of
Federation.
96 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Vanity Fair—
November, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES' despatch to the Premier of Victoria is likely, in
connection with General Edwards' scheme for common defence, to pro-
duce important results. The Australians are pretty well agreed that a
common army and navy are necessary. They cannot be created without
some sort of Federal Union. This Federal Union may be at first limited
to purposes of defence ; but once the first step is taken, it is probable that
the scope of the Federal Council will be gradually extended. It has always
seemed to me that the question likely to be regarded with the minimum
of dissension was the naval and military question, and now it really seoins
as though it were about to form the first stage of a Federal Union.
Weekly Budget—
November 9</t, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the Premier of New South Wales, has addressed
an important despatch on the subject of Australian Federation to the
Premiers of the other colonies. In his opinion the constitution, control,
and direction of an united Australasian Army does not lie within the
scope of the Federal Council under the wording of the Act of 1885.
.Sir Henry Parkes proposes the holding of a National Convention for the
purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal
Government.
Weekly Times—
November, Wi, 1889.
THE important despatch addressed by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of
New South Wales, to the Prime Ministers of the other Australian
Colonies marks the practical commencement of a movement which all
Englishmen will watch with two-fold interest. First, because of the
noteworthy disposition on the part of our Australian fellow citizens to
draw closer the bands of union and to weld themselves into one mighty
nationality, just as Mr. Gladstone and those who are working behind
him are striving to persuade us here at home to reverse the tendency of
all our past history and split up the cradle of the Empire into fragments ;
and, next, with a hearty desire that the English-speaking races of the
great island continent of the South, with her numerous dependencies,
may solve the problem of self-government as successfully as the United
States of America did, and yet, if possible, may remain in at least as
close and abiding connection with the mother country as the great sister
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 97
Weekly Times — continued.
Dominion of Canada. In some respects, the solution should be an easier
and more lasting one. There are neither temptations or threats to fear
from a great contingent nationality such as may at any time be held out
to British North America by the United States. Whatever her future
destiny may be, it is almost certain that Australia, like the tiny island
from which the people sprung who have colonized her, will remain self-
sufficient and independent. The only question, of course, is whether the
various colonies will adopt some bond of union like that of the United
States, leaving each province self-governing and practically independent,
or whether it will imitate Canada, and set up a common centra]
Government, supreme in authority as well as entrusted with the
control of the national defences. And then we shall all watch eagerly
for the provision of some efficient but peaceful means of revising,
from time to time, whatever Constitution may be adopted, and settling
amicably the differences and difficulties which are almost sure to
arise. One shrinks instinctively from the possibility of such crimes
and blunders as once before in this century nearly split asunder the
splendid monument of Anglo-Saxon capability for liberty and ordered
government on the vast scale which the founders of the American
Republic initiated. Australia, with her happy traditions of unbroken
peace, will we trust, above all things, steer clear of the chances of a
war of secession. That she may be equally fortunate in the avoidance of
all foreign wars we must all heartily hope, but hardly dare so sanguinely
anticipate. Australia — unlike Canada or the United States — is bound
to become a great maritime Power, and her destiny as a trading and
colonizing nation will, and must be, something like our own — possibly on
a grander and vaster scale. She will most certainly regard the island-
spangled archipelago of the East as her heritage ; her's will be the task
of penetrating the mysterious secrets of the Antarctic circle ; her's,
beyond all doubt, the ultimate suzerainty of New Guinea, and, possibly,
of New Zealand ; and she will not have been independent, — or practically
independent — for a generation, before questions will have arisen between
her and some of the European colonizing Powers, in which she will only
be able to make her position good with an irresistible navy at her
command. That navy, however, will never — as some enthusiasts at
home seem to think — be at the service of the common Empire. It would
be ridiculous and unreasonable, for instance, to expect the Australians
to uphold a tottering supremacy which we had become unable to uphold
98 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Weekly Times — continued.
in India or Africa. But, on the other hand, it will be equally unfair,
when once Australia has set up in business for herself, to expect to
involve the rest of the English-speaking races in quarrels of local origin
which may arise between her and other countries. That, therefore,
seems to us one of the first considerations that should dominate the
councils of the forty delegates who are about to meet in the Convention
suggested by Sir Henry Parkes — the provision of a navy and means for its
sustentation and control by some supreme intra-provincial Government,
strong enough to disregard panic, wise enough to shun unnecessary and
embarrassing acquisitions, and honest enough to prevent the waste and
peculation we have suffered so long and so grievously from at home. An
army is quite a secondary consideration. The vast extent of the island con-
tinent renders her practically as safe from invasion as America herself,
but not, of course, from the chance of the great damage a hostile fleet
might inflict on her coast cities and harbours, and on her island
possessions. Next, of course, will come the difficulty of settling the
fiscal relations between the different colonies. We confess we do not
see any other source of obtaining a revenue for the common central
authority it is proposed to set up, except from the Customs duties, and
we do see the jealousies which are likely to crop up as soon as that part
of the question comes on for discussion. But we feel certain all such
difficulties will in time be surmounted. The race that has made her
what she is will never miss their great chance of proving what they are
made of, and, however they settle matters, they may count on an utter
absence here, at home, of the ill-will and jealousy that so miserably
retarded the efforts of our American brethren of the United States.
Whether Australia elects to remain a Dominion, still in connection with
the Empire, or it is her destiny to erect a great Republic on the Southern
seas, rivalling in splendour the vast Federation of the Stars and Stripes,
we shall all the same wish her the heartiest God speed. She will be the
farthest off of all our children, and yet the nearest. The twelve thousand
miles of sea that separate us, unite us all the more closely in a common
destiny. Our gift to her, above all others, will be the heritage of the
great traditions of the sea-borne flag that in all ages and on all waters
has made the Navy of England feared and honoured. Let us wish her
the wisdom to conserve and cherish them, and the happy fortune to sur-
pass them by the daring of her mariners, untarnished, if it may be, by
the stain of blood and the smoke of battle.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 99
The West Briton, Truro—
November II th, 1889.
THE prospect of a United States of Australia, bound together by the same
ties of "union and liberty" as the United States of America, is one which
has for many years enchained the imagination and inspired the thoughts
of politicians. Gradually, but surely, the Australian Colonies have grown
in wealth and population, but being so far removed from danger, and
relying so completely upon the mother country, they have been steadfast
in maintaining themselves in isolation and separation from each other.
Different ideas on economical and other subjects have also prevailed in
them, and this has to a great extent tended to keep them apart. Within
the last few years, however, they have awakened to the fact that they
were not, by their position, so entirely safe as they had supposed, and,
because of this awaking, a weak sort of Federal Council was established
in connection with them. There is now a widespread feeling amongst
Australians that this Council is not all that could be desired, and that the
Federal idea might bring the Colonies more closely together, and make
them much stronger against a common foe. Sir Henry Parkes, the Prime
Minister of New South Wales, has just written a letter to the Prime
Minister of Victoria, Mr. Duncan Gillies, in which he points out the
defects of the present Federal Council, and adverting to the necessity of
concerted action for means of defence says: — "This first great Federal
question when looked at fairly, brings us, in spite of preferences or
prejudices, face to face with the imperative necessity, the Federal
Government, and why should we turn aside from what is inevitable?
In the nature of our onward progress it must come — a year or two
later possibly — but in any case soon, I hope. I need not assure you
that this Government is anxious to work in harmony with the Govern-
ment of the sister colonies in the matter under consideration, and
desirous of avoiding subordinate questions coloured by party feelings or
collateral issues. It is a question to be put to the heart and mind of
Australia, in view of the destiny of Australia, and a question which, it
is hoped, all sections of the collective population will discuss without
regard to narrower considerations. " The matter has been so far thought
out by the writer that he goes on to give particulars as to the manner in
which the suggested Federal Government might be arranged, and he
specially instances as examples the Dominion of Canada and the United
States of America. When a man in the position of Sir Henry Parkes
writes in so distinct and confident a tone we are warranted in supposing
100 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The West Briton, Truro— continued.
that the movement is progressing, and may be realized within a* very few
years. Sundry newspaper commentators have jumped to the conclusion
that this letter of Sir Henry Parkes is a blow to the Imperial Federa-
tion idea, and a sign of the drawing away of the colonies from us ; but
we do not so read it. On the contrary, we think that an. united and
strong Australia would have less hesitation in joining hands with the
mother country, inasmuch as it could do so with less danger to its own
local independence, and on more equal terms.
The British Australasian —
November, 1889.
IT would de deplorable if Australians were to allow the mannerisms of
Sir Henry Parkes to stand in the way of that unity of their great con-
tinent, which now for the first time seems to be possible. So long as
New South Wales held aloof, it cut the heart out of federation, not alone
because of her large population and wealth, but because of her geographical
position; for how could Victoria federate with Queensland while 500
miles and more of, so to speak, hostile territory separated them ? We all
know Sir Henry Parkes' way of pooh-pooing the suggestions of his
neighbours. He is the Gladstone of Australia, and says, too, many
things on the spur of the moment which he would be prepared to render
more palatable later. He is quite right in asserting that the machinery
of the present Federal Council is inadequate to the needs of a Federal
Government, and to utilize that machinery for the establishment of a
closer union would be a clumsy method of procedure. But there is no
need to cry down the Federal Council as he always takes the opportunity
of doing. When the Federal Council Enabling Bill was before the
Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, it was only lost by one vote,
and had one man voted differently, New South Wales would have joined
that limited federation, and Sir Henry Parkes might have before this
discovered " that the time is ripe for consolidating the Australias into
one." But he has now discovered it, and the people of New South Wales
appear to be congratulating him upon the discovery, and the rest of
Australia should be ready if they are wise to welcome the prodigal's
return without scanning too narrowly the garb he wears for the time
being.
UNITED AUSTRALIA
The British Australasian — continued.
Vet we find from the telegrams forwarded from Melbourne this week
that Mr. Gillies is discussing with the other colonies Sir Henry Parkes'
manifesto in a lukewarm spirit ; and as he and they consider that the
Federal Council contains the nucleus of all that is required, there is no
need for Sir Henry Parkes' proposed convention. The meaning of this
is — and it is just as well to speak plainly — that as Sir Henry Parkes has
snubbed his neighbours upon this question up to the last, they will snub
him in return, and refuse to follow his lead in the matter. This feeling
may be natural to individuals, but the welfare of Australia should be
viewed from a higher eminence ; and, in acting in this way, both sides
appear to be surrendering the substance for the shadow. Neither side
will allow the other to score over the transaction, even though the profits
are to be divided equally afterwards. The very name of the Federal
Council acts upon Sir Henry Parkes as a red flag to a bull, and it is yet
harder for men who have taken such an interest in the Federal Council
as Victorian and Queensland statesmen have done to have it trampled on
as the New South Wales Premier would like to do.
Yet, whether it be Federal Council, or whether it be convention, we
have different names only to represent the same thing. Sir Henry
Parkes would have each self-governing colony send six members to the
convention. Victoria has petitioned Her Majesty to permit her to send
six members to the Federal Council, and were the one proposal or the
other adopted it would doubtless be that the same statesmen would
represent their respective colonies. So far, ho\vever, we prefer the pro-
posed convention, for the reason that it could be summoned together
more quickly, the Federal Council for the present being limited to two
members from each colony. If, too, wye read the summary of Sir
Henry Parkes' speech to his constituents at St. Leonards aright, he
is prepared to go great lengths — greater lengths than we expected of
him — to secure his scheme being accepted. He is prepared to entrust
his free trade policy to the decision of the Federal Parliament, affirm-
ing roundly " that the question of protection or free trade is a trifling
matter as compared with the greatness of Australia." Probably he is
the more ready to merge this free trade policy into the greater one of
Australian unity, because free trade in New South Wales is a risk
which no office would care to insure. It may succumb at any time, and
if it cannot be said that Sir Henry Parkes is now advocating a sounder
policy, he is at any rate adopting a surer and more lasting one. It may,
102 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The British Australasian — continued.
perhaps, be magnanimous on the part of Victoria and Queensland and
South Australia to accept the invitation of Sir Henry Parkes in this
matter ; but the people of Australia would at any rate know well why
they did it, and as they would be merely surrendering the shadow for
the substance they desire, let us hope that a short time will find that the
welfare of Australia has triumphed over provincial jealousies and
rivalries. For the present colonies will be the provinces of an
Australian Dominion at no distant date.
Glasgow Mail —
November 13th, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES, the Prime Minister of New South Wales, is doing
his utmost to bring about the federation of the Australian Colonies.
His idea is that New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South
Australia, and West Australia — perhaps also Tasmania, which is little
over 100 miles from the Australian shore — should unite, for purposes
common to all of them, under a Federal Government. There is in
existence a Federal Council, but it is incomplete, New South Wales
never having sent a representative, or in any way acknowledged its
authority over that colony. Indeed, the Council has little, if any, real
authority. It is but a Council for consultation and advice. The people
of New South Wales, as spoken for by their Prime Minister, want much
more than that. They want a real Government for the whole of
Australia, in matters concerning the whole, yet so constituted as not to
interfere with the Home Hule of any of the federated colonies. The
latter point is one upon which Sir Henry Parkes insists. He says that
federation need not and must not impair the rights and power of the present
Provincial Governments and Parliaments. The principal fault he finds
with the Federal Council is that it has no power to deal with the
question of federal defence ; and it is, above all, for the sake of federal
defence that he desires the establishment of a Federal Government.
There are those who will say that defence is an Imperial matter, and
doubtless it is; but a Government in London cannot easily conduct
defence at the other side of the globe, and the Australian Colonies have
been already authorized and encouraged to raise forces, man ships,
construct forts, and organize a defensive system of their own — a system
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 103
Glasgow Mail — continued.
auxiliary to Imperial defence, yet very largely free from Imperial
control. Sir Henry Parkes admits that the Imperial Parliament
could pass an Act for the federation of the Australian forces, but
says that the Imperial Government could not direct their move-
ments. Undoubtedly in a great war, with the ocean highway
between this country and Australia blocked by naval operations,
the Australians would have to rely in a great measure upon their
own resources, and to conduct their own defence, in the event of
attack. But federation involves much more than the question of defence.
One would naturally think that it would imply the adoption of a common
fiscal policy. But that is impossible in the case of the Australian
Colonies. Victoria sticks to protection, while other colonies enjoy free
trade — and it may be remarked free trade was established in New South
Wales mainly by the exertions of Sir Henry Parkes during a previous
Administration. Looking to the difficulty, if not impossibility, of
agreement, he would keep the tariff question outside the federal arrange-
ment. But pretty nearly everything else, not the exclusive business of
any one colony, would come under the consideration of a Federal Govern-
ment. Sir Henry Parkes declares that the time is fully ripe for federa-
tion, and that there is nothing in the shape of national life for which the
Australian Colonies are not prepared. Some of our Tory friends may
say that this declaration points to a complete national independence, and
amounts to rank treason. We do not see the treason, but we see the
foreshadowing of practical independence in Australian affairs. Australia
wishes to be able to stand alone, in the sense of not being a burden to the
Mother-country, and not being dependent upon her for help in any great
contingency. It is to that the Australians are moving, though their
strength is insufficient to enable them to reach it for a long time to come.
We do not fear the movement. Australia is thoroughly loyal, and has
not the slightest desire to sever the Imperial connection. Whatever will
make Australia stronger will make the British Empire stronger. What
the Grand Old Man of New South Wales — now in his seventy-fifth year —
is working for can only be regarded as Home Rule on a larger scale. The
Federation of Australia would be much the same as the Dominion of
Canada.
, UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Scotsman —
November IWi, 1889.
A VERY pretty political drama is being played on the Australian stage.
From the old country its developments will be watched with a keen
attention, which does not, however, rise to a painful degree of anxiety.
We are personally interested, like the Australians themselves, in tlm
question of an Australian Federal Union ; but it is the interest of
experienced elders. Distance gives us the advantage of seeing more
clearly than the chief actors themselves how the course of things is to
run, and that it is almost certain to have the customary happy ending,
in a bond of hearts being publicly clinched and defined by the signing of
a formal treaty of Union. In the meantime, the progress of the court-
ship of the " young people" at the other side of the world will afford a
little entertainment as well as instruction to the Mother-country.
Colonies who are " coming together" are, perhaps, best left to make their
approaches in their own way ; and observation of Australian events
seems to show that too great ardour on one side may beget shyness on
the other. A year ago it was New South Wales that was the pursued,
and Victoria, representing the rest of Australia, that was pursuing.
Now the tables are turned. The elder colony, in the person of Sir
Henry Parkes, is eagerly pressing the suit for a Federal Union, and it is
the other's turn to stand off and to feel or to feign coyness. As bene-
volent and interested onlookers, we know, of course, what all this means
and how it will end. Union is merely a question of the date and the
settlements. There may be some curiosity, however, to know why it
comes about that the veteran Prime Minister of New South Wales, who
till lately was regarded as looking coldly upon schemes of Australian
Federation, should now be all on fire to knit the colonies together.
Quite recently Sir Henry is reported to have said in a public speech that
before Intercolonial Union came there would be ten colonies to deal with
instead of the present six. The late Mr. William Westgarth, an enthu-
siastic advocate of both Colonial and Imperial Federation, had further
opportunities of sounding the mind of the New South Wales Premier
when he visited him a year ago in Sydney. He became aware that the
" Grand Old Man" of Australian politics was " in no humour for agree-
ments." " With the external quietness of an experienced statesman, it
was yet evident that, to his mind, there did not appear much present
hope of Intercolonial Federation" ; and his interlocutor is constrained to
admit that, while unable to conjecture exactly \\rhat was passing in the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 105
The Scotsman — continued.
mind of a venerable but somewhat enigmatical statesman, the prospects
of the Union movement were overclouded " by the delay or abstention of
his, the senior and most important, colony."
Now, however, not only is the Premier of New South Wales convinced
that "the time is fully ripe for Federation," but is anxious to have it
known that he himself is " the oldest advocate of a genuine Federation
of the Australian Colonies," and for five-and-thirty years has given it his
support. To the questions why he managed so well to dissemble his
wishes up till the spring of the present year, and how it comes about that
an Intercolonial Union which a twelvemonth ago seemed remote and
contingent should suddenly become near and urgent, Sir Henry Parkes
has, no doubt, his replies ready. He is an " old Parliamentary hand," who
knows how to conceal, under an appearance of " external quietness," and
oven repugnance, feelings ready to burst forth when there was a suitable
opportunity to give them free expression. Apparently that opportunity
has arrived. Sir Henry, when he said in effect that there would be no
Australian Union in his time, did not know how rapidly passing events
and his own resolution would ripen ; and the chance having come he has
hastened to formally "pop the question." There has never been much
question among thoughtful statesmen in this country, or in Australia,
either as to the advantages of a Federal Union among the colonies, or
as to the certainty that, sooner or later, such a thing would be brought
about. The difference of opinion has been as to the terms and the
method, and, in lesser degree, as to the agents in the work. The benefits
which the colonists themselves would derive from such a measure are
manifest and manifold. That these are real and not theoretical is shown
by the instance of the Canadian Dominion, where in some respects the
difficulties to be grappled with were more formidable than in Australia.
Formed into a great Southern Dominion, the Australian States would be
able to make their weight felt and their voice heard in a manner that is
not possible so long as they consist of a number of provinces of compara-
tively small individual importance. They could speak and act with the
united authority of an intelligent, energetic, and self-governing people,
who already number three millions of souls, and who possess a continent
as their heritage. They would be able to settle the questions in which
they are mutually interested, such as defence and fishery legislation, a
Federal Court of Appeal, " the influx of foreign criminals and the intro-
duction of inferior alien races." It is not said that the decision of
106 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Scotsman — continued.
United Australia on these and cognate matters would be invariably wise
and right, but it would be taken with a full sense of responsibility and
full guarantees that it represented the minds and wishes of a population
that may be presumed to know their own affairs best.
Politically, there is no reasonable ground for fearing that Intercolonial
Federation would weaken the bonds of loyal feeling and attachment that
unite the people of Australia to the Crown and the Empire. On the
contrary, there are good sound reasons for believing that it would draw
those bonds closer, and possibly clear the way and help to form a basis
for that scheme of Imperial Federation which so many desire to see, but
of which few or none can give us any tangible idea. The grumbling and
fault-finding which have so often been heard in Colonial quarters have
arisen partly because we have not been able fully to understand the
feelings and wants of the colonists, and partly because they have not
fully understood us. A Federal Legislature and Executive, could these
be called into existence, should go far to remove these causes of friction.
There ought to be no more occasion of complaint on account of " Home
neglect" or " Colonial fractiousness." An Australian or Australasian
Dominion would be able to step in, and fulfil the " manifest destiny"
marked out by its commanding position in the South Seas — a destiny
which, by reason of unreadiness on our part and over-readiness on the
part of competing Powers in the Pacific, is being rapidly circumscribed.
Financially, the measure could scarcely fail to be of advantage to all
concerned, though the terms of adjustment of debt and arrangement of
duties would be matter for long and troublesome discussion. In a well-
considered plan, the general interests ought to be benefited without the
local interests suffering hurt. What form an Australian Federal Govern-
ment and Legislature should take and what colonies it should embrace
would, of course, be matter for careful consideration both here and at
the antipodes. There would naturally require to be great care taken to
guard against the clashing of authorities or the unfair preponderance of
classes and districts. Distance would be one great difficulty in the
working of such a scheme, as in any scheme for the Empire at large.
There would be a natural desire to extend the bounds of the New
Dominion over as wide an area of land and ocean as possible ; while, at
the same time, the more the limits are enlarged the greater would be the
obstacles in the way of establishing a homogeneous and efficient authority,
controlling, subject to Imperial oversight, continent and islands, and
temperate and tropical regions covering a large part of the hemisphere.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 10?
The Scotsman— continued.
All these difficulties could be gradually surmounted were the primary
obstacle — that which is presented by the conflicting tariffs and fiscal
policies of the Australian Colonies — got out of the way. This is the
great stumbling-block in the way of Australian Union ; and, having once
got on the wrong track, the colonists will never be able to move on
smoothly with each other or with the Mother-country until they have
seen the wisdom of retracing their false steps. Sir Henry Parkes urges
that the question of Protection and Free-trade is "a trifling matter
compared with the greatness of Australia, and the duty of giving to
Australia an Australian Government." In one sense this is no doubt
true. But no one is more keenly alive than the New South Wales
Premier to the influence which the advancing or retarding of the question
of Intercolonial Federation will have upon the question of Free-trade or
Protection. Hitherto he has been afraid, and not without reason, that in
a Federal Union, empowered to deal with tariff questions, the predomi-
nating Protectionist views of the other divisions of Australia would
overbear and reverse the Free-trade policy which he has championed with
such good results in the senior colony. Evidently he has seen cause to
alter his views. Federation would be an absurdity if combined with the
maintenance of hostile tariffs as between federated States. It might be
different with regard to duties on goods imported from abroad, including
British manufactures. But the benefits accruing from the abolition of
Intercolonial Protection should ultimately prove to be a valuable lesson
in economic science to the colonists, teaching them that they will best
serve their own interests by taking the shackles off the trade with their
foreign and home customers. At all events New South Y^ales at present
seems less afraid of losing its Free-trade by the Federation experiment
than Victoria is of losing its Protective tariff. Melbourne thinks that all
the Union necessary can be reached by the development of the Federal
Councils, brought tentatively into being for the primary purpose of
obtaining unity of authority in certain civil and criminal procedure.
Sydney has not looked graciously upon the Federal Council experiments,
and pronounces for a large and early measure of Union. In spite of the
jealousies of rival colonies and statesmen the movement can scarcely
now be held back. In the long run, while greatly blessing a United
Australia, we may feel confident also that it will strengthen a United
Empire.
108 UNITED AUSTHALIA.
Hull Daily Mail—
November Uth, 1889.
THE desire for National Federation is spreading. As our readers are
aware, Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, has recently
taken energetic action Avith a view to bring about some scheme of
federation for the Australian Colonies, a proposal which finds much
favour in this country. Now it seems probable that the example set by
Australia will be followed by the Central American Republics. A Paris
correspondent, writing on the subject, says: — "The report that tlio
Republics of Central America were contemplating the decisive step of
uniting together into one nation on a federal basis appears, from what I
have learnt to-day, to be well founded. A few days ago the representa-
tives of Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
assembled at San Salvador, and signed the draft of a treaty of union.''
Thus it is evident that the feeling in favour of the principle of federa-
tion is extending and developing. Nor is this surprising, for it is simply
a practical recognition of the indisputable fact that union is strength, as
opposed to division and weakness. Separate States and Provinces feel
that so long as they are divided from each other they are weak and
defenceless, and liable to become a prey to the attacks of an enemy ; but
federated together they become powerful enough to protect themselves
and resist any assault that may be made upon them. Singly they are
too weak to make a stand against a formidable foe, to whom collectively
they may bid defiance. Could anything more eloquently or forcibly con-
demn the separatist policy now being advocated by the Irish Parnellites
and the English Radicals ? In this voluntary action of independent
States we read the strongest disapproval of the policy of disintegration
and separation that underlies the cry for Home Rule. Other countries,
which are acting from conviction and experience, are anxious to secure
the blessings and advantages of a system which the Irish party and their
English Radical allies are endeavouring to destroy. The former already
possess Home Rule, but they recognize the value of unity and federation,
the advantages of which they are endeavouring to secure. The advocates
of Home Rule and separation already possess national unity, which they
are endeavouring to destroy. On the one hand we have those who are
able to speak and act from experience striving to secure unity and
federation ; on the other, we have the champions of Home Rule seeking
to introduce, so far as this country is concerned, a new and crude system,
which, although novel to us, has been tried elsewhere and has failed.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 109
Hull Daily Mail — continued.
Surely under such circumstances it requires no words of ours to point out
which is the best course for Englishmen to pursue. It is clearly their
duty, both as patriots and politicians, to do their utmost to maintain
unimpaired the unity and integrity of the Empire, and to encourage the
important principle of Imperial Federation, which appears to be making
such steady progress amongst the most intelligent communities of the
world, rather than to favour a policy of dismemberment and separation.
The Capitalist—
November I6th, 1889.
SIR HENRY PARKES' despatch to Mr. Gillies, which surprised the public
last week, is an able State paper without doubt. The subject is highly
important, and must be dealt with as soon as possible. The reason for
delay is to decide upon the manner in which action is to be taken.
General Edwards has been commissioned to deal with the subject of
Australian military defence, and in pursuing his duties under the com-
mission he arrives at the conclusion that a system of defence which dealt
with each of the seven or eight Australasian Colonies aa separate units
must be tainted with an incurable defect of weakness. He therefore
strongly recommends united or federal action at least for the five con-
tinental colonies, if not for the other two or three insular ones. There
lias probably been some intercolonial correspondence resulting from
General Edwards' recommendations. The advantages of federation are
so obvious to the meanest capacity, when directed to the subject of
military defence, that it is quite impossible for any single colony to stand
out or to set up a scheme of isolation from its neighbours. To us here
at Home it would seem that nothing could be more simple than to bring
the subject under the notice of the Federal Council which already exists,
and there have it deliberately licked into working shape with all speed
possible. Some such course of action must have suggested itself to Mr.
Gillies, the Victorian Premier, and he seeks the co-operation of Sir
Henry Parkes, the leader of the New South Wales ministry. There-
upon comes out Sir Henry's manifesto of October 30. He will have
none of the Federal Council. He has re-examined the Act, and decides
that the Council possesses no power adequate to the occasion. What is
110 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Capitalist — continued.
wanted is to constitute, direct, and control an united Australian army,
and the Council has no power or authority to do any one of these things.
The Act under which the Federal Council exists includes " general
defence" amongst the matters with which the Council can deal ; but Sir
Henry argues that these two words are included in a long list of
secondary matters, and it would be a very strained interpretation to use
them as a definition of legal authority to deal with a matter of the first
importance in the exercise of national power.
The Federal Council Act is an Imperial measure passed in the session
of 1885 for the purpose of assisting the colonies to deal with matters
of common Australian interest, and legalising the proceedings of such
a body. Wherever united action was deemed desirable here was a
machinery which it was provided should not interfere with the manage-
ment of their internal affairs by the Legislatures of the respective
colonies, The Act provided for the constitution of the Council by
representatives of such of the colonies as should pass the requisite legis-
lative measures accepting the terms of the Federal Council Act. After
this agreement the Council can legislate for the colonies that have
assumed membership. Her Majesty's prerogative is reserved in all
cases, but subject to that the Council can exercise legislative authority
on the question of general defences, among other things, if referred to the
Council by the Legislatures of any two or more colonies. As soon as this
Imperial Act was passed, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and
Fiji brought the same into operation in their respective territories, but
New South Wales, South Australia, and New Zealand stood out, and
still decline to recognize the advantages of the Council. Nevertheless,
the Council has passed useful measures, such as authorizing civil
process throughout the consenting colonies in common, and enforcing
the judgments of Civil Courts in common. Very much could be
done by this Council in the direction indicated by General Edwards,
but it is hardly possible to deal with the subject of military defence
independently and without the concurrence of the Mother Country.
Sir Henry himself can see that the scattered and unconnected military
works and forces of the colonies would acquire additional value by a
unity of command, but he insists that the Governments of the several
colonies could not act in combination, nor could they act independently
of each other, and the Federal Council has no executive power to act at
all. This being so, it seems but natural that all should turn to Imperial
UNITED AUSTRALIA. Ill
The Capitalist — continued.
headquarters for leadership. But Sir Henry will have none of that.
The colonies, in his idea, would never tolerate the interference of the
Imperial Executive with the movements of an Australian army. To
meet all the difficulties of the position, Sir Henry calls for a different
kind of federation from that provided by the Council. He proposes a
Dominion, after the pattern of Canada, modified by a draft on the rich
stores of political wisdom collected by the framers of the Constitution of
the United States. By this ambitious plan the colonies would become
provinces with locally-elected Governors. There would be an Australian
Dominion Parliament and Privy Council, with a single Governor-General
as a link between the Federation and the United Kingdom. The scheme
is to raise the colonies to a higher level of national life, and we may
suppose, incidentally will evolve a system of national defence, as well as
many other good things. This grand manifesto burst upon the politicians
of the Empire like a peel of thunder from a clear sky. Mr. Gillies, who
appears to be a plain and plodding man, was considerably astonished no
doubt, and according to last reports adheres to his previous view that
the pathway to new arrangements lies through the Federal Council as it
exists. The declaration of Sir Henry Parkes is a grand stroke of
personal ambition for a larger leadership. The Federal Council is too
paltry. The political magician of Sydney must have a grand transforma-
tion scene, with Sir Henry himself raised from the level of Premier of
the Premier Colony, scorning to be a local Governor, and receiving the
homage of Australasia as First Minister of the Crown in the Australian
Dominion Parliament.
Altrincham Guardian —
November 16th, 1889.
THE letter of Sir Henry Parkes, the New South Wales Premier, has
now been before the public of this country for some days, and has excited
no small amount of comment, adverse and otherwise, but principally the
latter. In all great matters of this kind there is sure to be a consider-
able amount of criticism forthcoming, and it is best that it should be so.
Criticism is the fire through which all new proposals of importance
should pass, and if they cannot pass the ordeal they are better dropped.
It must be confessed that the proposals of Sir Henry Parkes have come
well out of the criticism that has greeted them. In New South Wales
112 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Altrincham Guardian — continued.
there is ample evidence of a very strong and rapidly-growing feeling in
favour of Australian Federation. So far as the public have been con-
sulted there, the decision seems to be in favour of it, and the majority of
opinions expressed here is undoubtedly in the same direction. Indeed,
it is difficult to see how the Federation movement can be opposed in this
country. If the Continent of Australia is desirous of combining in one
compact whole, no one in this country will seriously oppose the step.
Such a policy would be far more likely to leceive favourable than
unfavourable consideration from a British Government. Of one thing
we may be pretty confident : if Australia made up its mind to have
Federation, England neither could, would, nor ought to prevent it. The
severest criticism ventured upon here appears to be directed against the
consistency of Sir Henry Parkes and of New South Wales. It is pointed
out by some writers that Sir Henry has some urgent reason for intro-
ducing the question of Federation, that previously he has shown his
aversion to the principle by opposing the Federal Council scheme, in
which New South Wales has all along declined to join. The answer of
Sir Henry to this charge appears to us to be perfectly satisfactory. He
characterizes the Federal Council as a sham, a make-believe, and in this
charge he seems to be right. The Council is a mere consultative body,
having no legislative or executive powers. Such a Council does not
meet Sir Henry's views of the requirements of Australia. What he
desires to see established is an Australian House of Commons and its
Senate. He advocates the appointment of a Governor-General, a Privy
Council, and a Court of Appeal. In fact, he would convert the strug-
gling Governments of Australia into a second "Dominion of Canada.
This is a large, bold, and comprehensive scheme as opposed to the
present tinkering method. The question may have forced itself upon
Sir Henry's mind as the result of a fear for the safety of the Australian
Colonies in the event of a great war, but that does not alter the merits
of the case ; it simply renders action more urgent. All things considered,
the movement to join the Australian Colonies in a Federation appears to
be progressing fairly well. Opinion is being matured, and is distinctly
in favour of it both here and in the directly-interested regions. Many
difficulties will require to be overcome, jealousies will have to bo
removed ; but these obstacles have been surmounted before, and there is
no reason why they should be permitted to block the road now.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 113
Brighton Sussex Daily News—
November 18th, 1889.
A LARGELY supported meeting was held at the Egyptian Hall on Friday
to discuss the question of Imperial Federation, but they do not appear to
have advanced the elucidation of that shadowy problem to any substantial
extent. An immense deal of fervid patriotism was talked, and many
glowing references were made to the glory and greatness of the Empire,
but as for any suggestion of a practical scheme for working the com-
plicated machinery it is proposed to call into existence, that was perhaps
naturally considered to lie beyond the scope of the occasion. Lord
Kosebery addressed a series of admirably selected observations to the
conclave, as is his wont at all such gatherings, and included in his oration
not only a series of most happy phrases on the subject of Imperial politics,
but a most felicitous parallel drawn from the constitution of the
Amphictyonic Council and its influence on the destinies of Greece.
These are exactly the conventional materials for an Imperial Federation
speech, which is invariably rife with majestic periods, but singularly
deficient in solid suggestion. Lord Hosebery may be considered the
greatest authority on Imperial Federation, as it is a subject which he has
in a great measure made his speciality, and he is the man, if anyone is, to
enlighten us on what the phrase is intended to convey and what is the
working shape into which this visionary idea can possibly be embodied.
Unfortunately, in reading the speeches of that ardent Federationist, one
is left just as much in the dark as before. Imperial Federation looms as
a sort of phantasmagorial outline through a fog of hazy rhetoric and
obscuring sentiment, but no efforts of platform speakers and Egyptian
[{all meetings enable us to have a clearer view of its shape. Historical
parallels are valueless and delusive, while poetical allusions to our national
glory are inane and irrelevant. Lord Rosebery put it very truly when
he said that they were both viewed with suspicion by the commercial
mind. At the same time, he inaugurated his speech by assuring the
audience that Federation was not a question of poetry and imagination,
but a question of solid fact. That it is intended to bo so, we make no
manner of doubt, but that the solidity of the foundation has as yet been
laid seems to be open to decisive refutation. All that Lord Kosebery
.could point to in that direction was the Colonial Conference of 1888-89,
which he declares to be the germ of Federation, and he proceeded to
contend that ifc was through periodical conferences of the best available
mon that the idea was practically to be worked out. But the federative
IT
114 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Brighton Sussex Daily News— continued.
enthusiasts at the Egyptian Hall must have been content with very little
if they were satisfied with so slender and inorganic a suggestion as this.
The idea is far too shapeless to escape the " suspicion of the commercial
mind," for it may reasonably be asked, what is to be the conformation of
these conferences, in what respect are they to be representative, what are
to be the limits of their sphere of deliberation, and how are they to
alleviate a conceivable deadlock between the conflicting interests of the
Colonies and the mother country 1 All these points must meet with a
satisfactory answer before the permanent establishment of these Con-
ferences can fall within the range of practical politics, and yet, failing
these Conferences, Lord Rosebery declares Imperial Federation to be an
impossible dream. We are disposed to agree that it is a dream anyhow ;
but what is not an impossible dream is what Sir Henry Parkes enforced
upon his constituents in New South Wales the other day, and that is
Intercolonial Federation. It is high time that the Colonies of Australia,
instead of being separated by petty rivalries and jealousies, should be
banded into one harmonious whole. When that has been done it will be
time enough to think of what the relations of federated Australia are to
be with the home country, but federation must first take place in the
limb before it is extended to the body.
Birmingham Post —
November IWi, 1889.
THE question of granting a new Constitution to Western Australia • is
one which occupied considerable attention both at the Colonial Office and
in Parliament during the last session. It was left unsettled, and, probably
considering the importance of the issues involved, and the comparatively
small amount of public attention given to it in this country, it is well
that it should have been left over for thorough discussion after fuller
consideration. In the Australian Colonies themselves there is no want
of interest on the subject. Occasion has, in fact, been taken for the
enunciation of opinions as to the right of the existing colonies to interfere
in a settlement, which would, if they carried it into effect, very materially
affect the Imperial jurisdiction over the whole of what it has become the
fashion to call the Australian Continent. Such questions as Imperial
federation and national independence have been discussed, not only by
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 115
Birmingham Post — continued.
individual members of the Colonial Legislatures, but by the responsible
Ministers of the several colonies. It is evident that when the Western
Australia question is reopened, as it must be in the next session of
Parliament, it must be approached with a sense of its great importance,
and with a due regard to the state of colonial feeling as well as to
considerations of Imperial duty and policy. The case is divided into two
parts, of which the one that has nominally to be dealt with is com-
paratively simple, or would be so if it were not subject to complications
as to future intercolonial policy. The present conditions are these : —
Western Australia comprises a territory measuring 1,280 miles from north
to south, and 800 miles from east to west. It contains 1,060,000 square
miles, and is thus nearly nine times as large as the whole of Great Britain
and Ireland. The total population is only about 42,500, or considerably
less than that of the Local Board district of Aston Manor. This handful
of people are asking for the grant of a Constitution which will give them
responsible self-government, make them practically independent, and place
in their hands the disposal of the lands of the vast country and the settle-
ment of the conditions under which for the future it shall be populated
and settled. At present Western Australia is a Government colony —
that is to say, that, with a considerable admixture of the representative
element in the administration of its local affairs, such broader questions
as its intercolonial relations, the disposition of its lands, and the regulation
of immigration are practically under the control of the Imperial Govern-
ment. In reality, this only means that the territory is held in hand until
the population has sufficiently increased to justify the Imperial Govern-
ment in entrusting it with the control of so vast a territory. The question
as to whether that time has now arrived could hardly be answered in the
affirmative, if it could be considered apart from wider questions of colonial
policy. It is true that about thirty years ago a Constitution like that
now applied for was granted to Queensland, although its population at
that time was not more than 30,000. The area of Queensland, however,
was not much more than half that of West Australia. It was immediately
contiguous to New South Wales, the most important of the Australian
Colonies, and was therefore certain very speedily to share in the rapid
development which was taking place on the eastern coast of the con-
tinent.
It was clearly a question which required consideration whether or not
the time had arrived when the absolute control over lands so extensive
116 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Birmingham Post — continued.
should be transferred from the hands of the Imperial Government into
those of the few thousands of people who live upon but cannot be said to
populate them. It must be remembered that since the last Constitution
was granted questions of great importance as to immigration and the dis-
posal of land have arisen which cannot but affect the future policy of the
country. On the whole, the Colonial Department at Home arrived at the
deefsron that the demand for enfranchisement had been practically sus-
tained, and they submitted to Parliament a Bill for carrying it into effect.
Parliament, however, was not satisfied with the case made out, and tho
Bill was not passed. The main question raised was as to the future
control and disposition of the land, and it was maintained that the present
conditions did not justify such a treatment of the great area of Western
Australia as was proposed by the measure. This view of the case
aroused considerable manifestations of feeling, not only in the particular
colony affected, but in other parts of Australia. To listen to some of the
statements made it might be supposed that the Imperial Parliament
existed for no higher purpose than to meekly register and give forma}
effect to the decisions of the various colonies. To some extent this is the
case with regard to the self-governing colonies ; but that is only a reason
why great care should be exercised before the final step is taken with
regard to a new community. But, all this wild talk notwithstanding, it
was recognized that there was some force in the objection that the territory
affected was too extensive to be entrusted to the comparatively few people
who ask for its management. Proposals have therefore been submitted
by the colonists for a division of the area. There are now under con-
sideration two suggestions of this kind. One is to draw a line from east
to west, dividing the territory into two almost equal parts, and to give a
Constitution to the southern portion. The other is to make the dividing
line run from north to south so as to give only about one-third of the
country to the newly-constituted colony. Under either plan the suggested
colony would include the portion of the territory which is most thickly
populated. The latter proposal, although it would give the smaller area,
would leave to the new colony the whole of the western coast, and so
would probably furnish the best conditions for industrial growth and
consequent expansion both of population and of material progress. It
may be observed that the very fact that these modified schemes are
propounded is in some degree an admission of the force of the contention
that the Imperial Government has a right to decide upon the fate of the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 117
Birmingham Post— continued.
territory which is at present held in its name. Something has been said
in the colony about resistance to the idea that the unsettled lands belong
to the people of the United Kingdom to be used for their own purposes.
Such a resistance would be entirely superfluous, for no such idea is
entertained. The Imperial Government holds the territory in trust, not
for itself, but for the future occupiers, and is only interested in securing
that the prospects of the colony are not imperilled by too hasty present
legislation.
So far as the actual colony itself is concerned, we may suppose that the
question will be settled on the lines of one of the compromises that have
been proposed. That, however, does not exhaust the questions which have
been raised by the other Australian Colonies, and especially by New South
Wales. These are important, not only on account of their immediate object,
but on account of their ulterior principles which they are intended to
illustrate. In the first place, these colonies claim to have a voice not
only in the settlement of the Western Colonial Constitution, but in the
policy which is to be pursued with regard to that part of the territory
which would not be included in its operation. This is, indeed, a claim
to assume the position now held by the Imperial Government. It is not
surprising that the existing colonies in Australia should desire that all
future constitutions established on the continent should be based upon the
same broad lines of responsible representative self-government as those
on which their own are framed. But they go further than this. In the
Legislative Assembly of New South Wales a petition to the Queen was
adopted at the instance of the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Parkes. After
asking for the adoption of the proposed Constitution for Western Australia,
the petition urges "that any and every part of the territory of Western
Australia not included in the provisions of the new Constitution shall
henceforth be reserved for and as soon as possible be brought under a
form of government similar to that of the other colonies, and shall be held
exclusively for the purposes of Australian settlement and colonization by
persons from the other colonies and from Great Britain and Ireland." This
request is in itself remarkable, but it is made more so by the motives
which were plainly enough set forth in the debate in the Legislature, by
which it was unanimously adopted. One of these was the fear of a twofold
danger attending immigration. The colonists fear the importation of
convicts and paupers, and they fear an inroad of Chinese labour. As to
the introduction of convicts, it might be well assumed that the question
118 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Birmingham Post — continued.
had been finally and fully settled. England has long since acknowledged
that she has no moral right to evade her own responsibilities with regard
to her dangerous classes by transferring them to her colonial possessions.
With regard to pauper emigration the line may not be so distinctly drawn,
but a similar principle is generally admitted. As for assisted emigration,
any difference of opinion which may arise can be and will be settled with a
due regard to the wishes of the colonists themselves. The other branch
of the immigration question is that which refers to the possible intro-
duction of Chinese labour. This has already caused serious difficulty,
and the colonists are anxious that where there is no responsible Govern-
ment existing the wishes of the people generally throughout the continent
should be consulted. These difficulties as to the regulations of immigrants
can certainly be settled to the satisfaction of the colonists, although from
their point of view they would be most completely met when the whole
country is covered by entirely self-governing communities. Such a con-
dition would make possible some federal action on the part of all the
colonies. And this question of federation leads to what must be called the
most serious part of the colonial policy as indicated, or indeed plainly stated,
in the debate in the Legislature of New South Wales, by Ministerialists
and Opposition speakers alike. The granting of the West Australian
Constitution was advocated riot only for the sake of the colony affected, but
because such astep would make possible a scheme of Australian Federation,
and that with a view to future entire independence. There was no mis-
take or hesitation on this point ; the desire was openly and constantly
affirmed. No doubt its discussion at the present time is premature.
When Australia is sufficiently advanced in population and other
matters, if the same wish for separation from the mother country
exists, it will have to be met in a liberal spirit. That the question
is raised in this untimely manner is evidently to be partly accounted
for by a desire to protest against the proposal for what is vaguely
called Imperial Federation — a proposal which, though it is innocent
of practical suggestion or possibility of practical result, has not a
little alarmed most of our important colonies. Their reply to this idle
and visionary scheme is that instead of joining a nominal federation where
equality of representation would be impossible, they prefer to look forward
to a more limited federation of their own by which their independent
national existence would be secured. It would seem, then, that the
enthusiasts who are carried away by a phrase, the meaning of which they
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 119
Birmingham Post — continued.
cannot define, may probably do mischief by forcing on discussions which,
for the present at least, it would be wise and patriotic to postpone.
Next session will probably see the issue of the desired Constitution to
the limited area now proposed, and with it the indefinite adjournment of
the wider debate so prematurely raised.
Glasgow Mail—
November IQth, 1889.
THE full text of the Hon. Duncan Gillies' reply to Sir Henry Parkes'
recent circular letter on the question of Australian Federation has been
received. At the outset it discloses the fact that the vital matter at issue
has been the subject of confidential communications between Sir Henry
Parkes and his brother Premiers for months past. There is, of course,
nothing very remarkable about this fact in itself, because the federation
question is one that must of necessity occupy a good deal of the attention
of Australian statesmen. But it is always interesting to learn what is
going on behind the scenes, and it is not unimportant to note that the
question of national defences has simply been the means of bringing to
the surface a serious practical discussion already in progress between the
representatives of the different colonies. Mr. Gillies refers to a letter of
his own, dated August 12th, and marked "confidential." This was a
reply to two letters from Sir Henry Parkes on the subject of federation.
Presumably, Sir Henry must have addressed similar communications to
the Premiers of the other colonies. Mr. Gillies understood his proposals
in the sense in which they have since been explained to all the world —
as meaning the creation of a Federal Parliament composed of two Houses,
with an executive Federal Government constitutionally responsible
thereto, the Crown being represented by a Governor-General, and the
whole scheme following upon the lines of the Canadian Constitution. His
reply may be summed up by saying that it was simply an invitation to
New South Wales to join with her sister-colonies in endeavouring to
attain the desired goal through the agency of the existing Federal Council,
with which New South Wales has hitherto refused to have anything to
do. He pointed out that steps are being taken to enlarge the composition
of the Federal Council, and to make it more representative, and urged
strongly the advantages that might be gained if the parent colony would
abandon her present position of isolation. He even tried the effect of a
120 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Glasgow Mail — continued.
little personal blandishment upon Sir Henry Parkes. But the "Grand
Old Man of New South Wales " was not moved. As his circular letter
showed, he is still as hostile as ever to the existing Council, which he
treats rather as a stumbling-block than as a stepping-stone towards the
grand object of federation. The positions taken up by himself on the one
hand, and by the Victorian Premier on the other, are both now revealed
to the public. Mr. Gillies adheres substantially to the opinions expressed
in his private letter. Nevertheless he is perfectly willing that the
weighty issues raised by Sir Henry Parkes should be fully and openly
discussed. Instead of acceding to Sir Henry Parkes' suggestion as to the
calling together of a National Convention, however, he once more makes
a stand in favour of utilizing the machinery of the Federal Council. Ho
suggests that the representatives of the various colonies in the Federal
Council should meet Sir Henry Parkes and other representatives of New
South Wales to discuss, and, if necessary, to advise and report upon an
adequate scheme of Federal Government. By this method of procedure,
he urges, the Colonial Parliaments would be left quite unfettered, which
would not be the case supposing that by sending representatives to a
National Convention they committed themselves definitely to the position
that the time is ripe for establishing a Federal Parliament. Moreover,
by this plan, there would be 110 room left for the suspicion that the
members of the Federal Council were being discredited or thrust aside in
the determination of this important question. Mr. Gillies proceeds to
" show cause " why New South Wales should join with the other
colonies in utilizing the Federal Council. The question of national
defence, he urges, is one that must be solved, whatever is or is not done
in the matter of federation. Should Federal Government be agreed to, it
would take four or five years to bring it into effect ; but, supposing 110
agreement were arrived at, he asks whether the colonies are to remain
"a concourse of disintegrated atoms," so far as defence is concerned, and
whether the national interests of Australia are thus to be sacrificed
merely because of a reluctance on the part of the colonists to subordinate
individual preferences to the common good. Sir Henry Parkes main-
tains that the Federal Council Act does not provide sufficient powers for
the " creation, direction, mobilization, and executive control of a great
army for the defence of the whole of Australia." Mr. Gillies frankly
admits the fact. But he says that no such army is wanted. The scheme
under contemplation is much more modest. It simply involves the
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 121
Glasgow Mail — continued.
organisation of the forces in each colony, so that they shall be placed
under proper direction and control, and be made available for service in
any part of the Continent outside their own boundaries. For this pur-
pose Mr. Gillies holds that the Federal Council has quite sufficient
powers. Sir Henry Parkes objected that the Council has no executive
authority to enforce its decrees. Mr. Gillies replies that no executive
authority is necessary, and that the Council can meet all practical require-
ments by legislating, with the consent of the colonies, which must, of
course, be obtained beforehand. But what if New South Wales does not
consent 1 Then the whole project would fall through, or, at all events, it
would be maimed, and the Federal Council would be powerless to make
it complete. Mr. Gillies sees the difficulty, and exerts his strongest
arguments to induce New South Wales to fall in line with the other
colonies. His arguments, however, only tend to make it clear that New
South Wales holds a trump card of the situation, and it is not in human
nature to expect that she will give it up lightly. After all, the question
in dispute is not as to the end but only as to the means whereby that end
is to be attained. Australian Federation is bound to come. Mr. Gillies
wants to reach it through the Federal Council. Sir Henry Parkes has
no faith in that experimental institution ; he would clear the Board and
start afresh by means of his proposed National Convention. And by
Mr. Gillies' own admission he has strong arguments on his side. The
Victorian Premier is forced to confess that the work of national defence
could be better accomplished by a Federal Government than by the
Federal Council. But the problem is one which the colonists will have
to mark out for themselves. Whether New South Wales takes the lead,
or whether she chooses to follow in the wake of her sister-colonies, will
not alter the ultimate result — a result which we in the mother-country
shall await with interest and with perfect confidence in the loyalty and
goodwill of our Australian fellow-subjects.
Leeds Mercury —
November 19^, 1889.
THE despatch, of which we publish the text this morning, from the Premier
of Victoria in reply to Sir Henry Parkes' communication on the
subject of Australian Federation, brings into clear relief the difference
between the points of view of these two eminent Australian politicians.
Sir Henry Parkes, it is evident, is much more dominated than the Hon.
122 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Leeds Mercury — continued.
Duncan Gillies at present can be said to be by the idea of a united
Australia. The chief concern of the Premier of Victoria is to discover
with the least possible- delay some practical and efficient method of
organising concerted measures for Australian defence. He maintains
that although a Federal Government, clothed with the authority of a
Federal Parliament, such as Sir Henry Parkes has in view, " could do
much more, and do it much better " than the existing Federal Council ;
the latter body nevertheless could do all that is at present required for
defensive purposes, and could do it with the least delay. In Mr. Gillies'
view it is only necessary for the Legislatures of all the colonies to invite
the Federal Council to legislate upon the subject of the defences, and it
could without difficulty make all the provision requisite for joint action
for the object in view. It is true, as he acknowledges, that there would
be no coercive authority behind Acts passed by the existing Federal
Council, but the assumption of the whole situation is that every Austra-
lian Colony is anxious to act unitedly in the matter of defence. If that
assumption is right enabling Acts are all that are required. If it is
wrong, " then we are idling our time in considering the matter." There
is, no doubt, a great deal of practical sense in Mr. Gillies' contention, and
it may probably be assumed that he expresses the prevailing feeling of
the great colony of which he is Prime Minister. If so, Australian Fede-
ration is not so near as after Sir Henry Parkes' energetic despatch many
people here have been inclined to believe. But in any case it can hardly
be very far distant, and its approach, whether more or less rapid will be
viewed with sympathetic interest by wise politicians at home.
The Globe—
November IWi, 1889.
THE correspondence now taking place between the several Australian
Governments is of great pith and moment by reason of its bearing on
the question of Imperial Federation. All who have given thought to
that grand project are in agreement that the first step towards its realisa-
tion must be Colonial Federation. In the case of British North America,
that part of the problem has already received practical solution by the
creation of the Canadian Dominion. But when we turn to other parts
of the outlying Empire, the only satisfactory sign is the growth of local
sentiment in favour of closer connection for defensive purposes. This is
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 123
The Globe — continued.
the central subject of the correspondence between Sir Henry Parkes,
Premier of New South Wales, and Mr. Duncan Gillies, who fills the same
post in Victoria. They are agreed that it is highly desirable to formulate
a scheme for intercolonial defence, but beyond that somewhat abstract
proposition their views are more or less in conflict. Sir Henry Parkes
considers that the best course would be to submit the question to a Con-
vention specially summoned for the purpose. But the Victorian Premier
objects, in limine, to this proposal, his idea being that the present
Federal Council would suffice if strengthened by additional representa-
tives. The point thus raised may seem somewhat small to dispute about,
but it really covers a very important issue. The Convention proposed
by New South Wales would consider the whole question of Australian
Federation, political and economical as well as military, whereas the
Federal Council would have no power to go beyond the discussion of
federated defence. There is the further side-issue that New South Wales
has no representative at present in the Federal Council, having declined
to join it from the first, and, judging from Sir Henry Parkes' tone, this
disinclination is as strong as ever. Queensland, by the mouth of her
Colonial Secretary, sides with Victoria in this preliminary controversy,
and it may be anticipated that the other colonies which have sent dele-
gates to the Federal Council will take the same view.
It is deeply to be regretted that such a serious stumbling-block should
have presented itself at the very threshold. For outsiders to attempt to
judge between the disputants would savour of impertinence ; there are
wheels within wheels in colonial politics, whose movements only experts
trained on the spot can comprehend. When the average Englishman
thinks of Australia, he conceives it as a land split up into several settle-
ments for the sake of administrative convenience, but pervaded by the
same sentiments and the same aspirations. This is by 110 means a correct
conception ; there are long standing feuds and deeply ingrained jealousies
between several of the colonies, notably in the case of New South Wales
and Victoria. Each suspects its neighbour of meditating how to get the
upper hand in commerce, while even such an apparently off-question as
closer union for defence gives rise to feelings of disquietude. It is not
to be believed, nevertheless, that Australian statesmanship will prove
unable to grapple with all difficulties in solving the military problem.
The plain-spoken report of General Edwards on the dangers of the
present chaotic system of defence has created general alarm, and popular
12-1 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
The Globe — continued.
judgment would assuredly condemn any Government that stood in the:
way of reform. The fairest way of settling this initial dispute would be,
apparently, to submit the question of Convention or Federal Council to
the several Legislatures, the opinion of the majority to prevail. But we
doubt whether New South Wales would accept this simple method with-
out considerable demur, in presence of the likelihood that she would find
herself outvoted.
There is much strength and cogency in Mr. Gillies' argument that the
question of military defence should be first taken by itself. Were it
mixed upon with the larger problem of Colonial Federation, years would
elapse, he believes, before the united forces of the colonies were available
for employment at any threatened place. And since considerable delay
would necessarily be involved in assembling a Convention, as that could
not be done until the several Parliaments had considered the matter, a
prima facie case is made out for relegating the business to the Federal
Council. The world is at peace just now, and the British temple of
Janus has its gates shut for once in a way. But it would require con-
summate boldness to predict any prolonged continuance of this state of
things. Nowadays, the evolution of events marches very quickly ; an
astonished world has just seen an apparently stable Empire puffed away
like thistledown by the first breath of revolution. It behoves the
x\.ustralian Colonies, therefore, to guard themselves against danger from
without. They could, of course, always rely upon the assistance of the
mother country to the utmost extent it was within her power to give.
But that power might be circumscribed by circumstances ; it is easy to
imagine a situation in which John Bull would find his resources very
fully employed elsewhere. Australia must, therefore, be prepared to
take her own part, and we feel assured that there would be no lack of
spirit in her population to beat back any foe that attempted to raid her
ports. But patriotic spirit, unless backed by effective forces, might fail
to act with the necessary promptitude, and when too late our cousins
would have to regret the lack of unity which brought about the sacking
of Sydney, or the destruction of Melbourne, Adelaide, or Brisbane.
Australia is rich, public spirited, and full of the vigour and courage of
youth. Nowhere in the world can be found finer specimens of the
English race. But all these advantages would count for little were her
wide stretching coasts assailed by an enterprising enemy before her
system of defence was rendered efficient.
INCITED AUSTRALIA. 125
St. James' Gazette —
November 19th, 1889.
HAVING recently appeared in the entirely new character of an enthusiast
for Imperial Federation, Sir Henry Parkes has already got a chance of
proving his hitherto unsuspected zeal. In a public despatch addressed
to him on Wednesday last, the Hon. Duncan Gillies points out that one,
and perhaps the most important, of the objects and results of Imperial
Federation is to make arrangements for common military action amongst
the various colonies of Australia. Before any scheme of Federal Govern-
ment could be drawn up and ratified, it is certain that several years
would be spent in deliberations and negotiations. But there is no reason
why the military questions should not be decided at once. There is an
institution called the Federal Council, which, though it would be ineffi-
cient for the work of Constitution-making, and though it possesses no
executive authority, would be admirably qualified to draft a scheme of
common military defence. Let the Federal Council, with the consent of
all the colonies, present such a scheme to the different Parliaments ; and
let it be adopted by them, and, if necessary, be modified in detail. That
being done, Australia would already have advanced a long way towards
federation ; and meantime, the common interests of all Australia would
be safe-guarded by a common and mobilizable army.
Evening News —
November 2Qth, 1889.
WE are not surprised to learn that progressive Victoria declines to give
its approval to the federation scheme of the New South Wales Prime
Minister. His plan failed exactly for the reason we anticipated. The
other colonies in Australasia evidently regard it as an attempt to override
institutions already existing, better adapted to the scientific development
of the object aimed at. It is not that Victoria is less alive to the
advantages, not to say the necessities, of federation than is Sir Henry
Parkes, but Victoria argues that a framework has already been put
together, well fitted to produce the very result Sir Henry desires, but
that it is Sir Henry himself who has rendered that framework useless
by declining to use it. It is rather hard, argue the other colonies, that
the very man who has rendered the scheme they subscribed to abortive,
should now bring forward an alternative plan, in their opinion far less
practical, to bring about the same result.
126 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Evening News — continued.
When we first commented on the circular letter of the Prime Minister
of New South Wales, we remarked that it would awaken rivalries and
heartburnings that would otherwise not be apparent. To the other
colonies of Australia the action of the senior colony could not fail,
for the reason we have stated, to have the appearance of laying down the
law. It did, in fact, possess that very character of aggression which was
sufficient to ensure its rejection. We are bound to add, however, that
the opposition it has met with bears no appearance of ill-humour. On
the contrary, it is impossible to read the interesting reply of the Premier
of Victoria, Mr. Duncan Gillies, without being struck by the courtesy
and friendliness of its tone, as much as by the soundness of its arguments.
Mr. Gillies agrees with Sir Henry Parkes that the aim he has in view
is a desirable aim, but that there are more practicable means of
. carrying it into effect than those suggested by his correspondent. Why,
he asks in so many words, should not New South Wales send representa-
tives to the existing Federal Council ? The members of that Council are
representative men of the other colonies, and if they were to confer with
Sir Henry Parkes himself and other representatives of his colony, their
joint wisdom would speedily devise and draw up a scheme for the carry-
ing out of a well-constructed measure of federation. In this way not
only would much time be saved, but there would be the certainty that
the measure would be canvassed by men whose names would be a
guarantee that the document to which they should attach their names
would be favourably considered by the colonies they severally represented.
It is stated that Queensland, through her Colonial Secretary, Mr.
Morehead, has given her adhesion to the principles of the Victorian
despatch, and it may be calculated that the other colonies will not be
behindhand.
How Sir Henry Parkes may regard this reply, and in what spirit he
may take it, can only be a matter of conjecture. But if he be the states-
man his friends represent him to be, and if his great aim is the federation
of the Australian Colonies, and not merely the glorification of New
South Wales, he will respond favourably to the despatch of Mr. Gillies.
It would be profitless to carry the subject further until we receive his
reply. We hope he will give to it a patient and passionless consideration.
Federation is desired, in the first place, to carry out, on a sound footing,
the measures planned by General Edwards for the defence of the several
colonies. In their common interest that measure should not be long
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 127
Evening News — continued.
delayed. But if the differences of opinion between Sir Henry Parkes on
the one side, and Mr. Gillies and Mr. Morehead on the other, are to lead
to a war of words, resulting in no conclusion, the scheme of the defence
of the colonies may be postponed to the Greek kalends.
Birmingham Gazette —
November 20th, 1889.
THERE are increasing indications that the time is not very far distant when
we shall see a mighty change in the forms of government on the Austra-
lian Continent. The reply addressed by the Hon. Duncan Gillies, the
Premier of Victoria, to the letter of Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New
South Wales, expresses a strong doubt as to the possibility of Australian
Federation at the present time, but he nevertheless enters most warmly
into the proposal that a conference shall be held at which the whole ques-
tion may be fully discussed. It is necessary in order to explain the precise
position of matters that we should go back for a few months upon the
history of the federation movement. General Edwards, who was sent to
Australia to examine and report upon its means of defence, reported in
favour of the federal action of Australian troops. Necessarily the Austra-
lian force is a small one ; necessarily its smallness is aggravated by the
division of Australia into four distinct colonies, each with its own Gov-
ernment. Yet for defensive purposes their interests are identical, and
the necessity for having the defences upon a more sound basis has been
recognized of late years more fully than it used to be. When the report
of General Edwards was published, Mr. Gillies wrote to Sir Henry
Parkes suggesting that the provisions of the Federal Councils Act might
be employed to carry out the General's recommendations. The Act in
question was passed in 1885, and constituted a Federal Council " for the
purpose of dealing with such matters of common Australasian interest, in
respect to which united action is desirable, as can be dealt with without
unduly interfering with the management of the internal affairs of the
several colonies by their respective Legislatures." Sir Henry Parkes in
his reply to Mr. Gillies' letter argued that the Federal Council had no
executive power to act at all. But he proceeded to point out that this
question of defences brought the colonies face to face " with the impera-
tive necessity, the Federal Government." " In the nature of our onward
128 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Birmingham Gazette — continued.
progress," lie said " it must come — a year or two later possibly — but in
any case soon I hope." He expressed the desire of his own colony to
" avoid subordinate questions coloured by party feelings or collateral
issues." The time in his opinion was ripe for consolidating the
Australias into one. and he suggested the Dominion of Canada as a
model upon which to form the new constitution. He pleaded for such a
change to meet the necessity "now pressing upon these colonies to rise
to a higher level of national life which would give them a larger space
before the eyes of the world, and in a hundred ways promote their united
power and prosperity."
We have remarked that while Mr. Gillies says he has cause for grave
doubts as to the success of this movement for the present, there are no
reasons of which he is aware which should stand in the way of such a
serious and important proposal being fully considered in all its aspects.
The colonies represented by these two distinguished statesmen — Victoria
and New South Wales — embrace a population of two millions — that is
almost two-thirds of the entire population of Australia, Tasmania and
New Zealand. If we are justified in inferring from the earnest tone
of their letters that they are thoroughly sincere in their desire for " a
higher level of national life," the obstacles in the way of its realization
cannot be insuperable. There is a splendid future before Australia, and,
far though it is from the ordinary spheres of European or American
influence, it cannot on that account remain passive to all considerations
of national solidarity. True, the population is at present a mere speck
upon the broad surface of the continent, but it will increase, and that
rapidly. Will it be more likely to prosper split up as it is just now than
if it were bound together by powerful ties of Federal Government 1 Wo
cannot think so. Mr. Gillies urges that whatever decision may be come
to on the greater question, there is still the other question which must be
solved — viz., " to determine the steps to be taken now which will enable
Australia to unite her forces in any emergency, and therefore make her
defences effective." In this matter it seems to us the less includes the
greater. Although it may be found necessary to come to some such
arrangement as Mr. Gillies proposes with regard to Australian defence,
the arrangement cannot be more than provisional. Beyond the fact that
they owe allegiance to a common Sovereign, and speak a common language,
there is hardly a closer connection between the colonies of Australia than
between any similar number of the States of Europe. Until they arc
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 129
Birmingham Gazette — continued.
drawn into closer union than this common defensive action will scarcely
be possible. There is rivalry between the colonies on many points, and
they will never be defensively powerful until that rivalry is neutralised
by a common interest in some visible form of government. In setting
out his own scheme Mr. Gillies says it " simply enables the colonies of
Australia to do what they cannot do now, namely, act together for defensive
purposes." But he adds "that a Federal Government clothed with the
authority of a Federal Parliament could do much more, and do it much
better, goes without saying."
There are, no doubt, many who will look with anxiety and suspicion
upon this Colonial movement, and dread its consequences. If the
colonies unite in the form suggested, it may be said, they will not rest
content there. They will soon begin to discuss the advisability of throw-
ing off the Imperial yoke, easy though it is, in order to try their fortune
under an independent Republic. Well, upon that point we need not
attempt to prophesy. But England has had enough Colonial experience
to know that there is nothing to be gained, but everything to be lost, by
attempts to curb the progressive asperations cf her Colonial offshoots.
Above all else we must place the interest of the colonies themselves.
Where our mother tongue is spoken, and our fellow-countrymen under
similar laws are fighting the battle of life manfully and honestly, there
will always be inducements offered to what of surplus human energy this
to thickly populated island may produce. Even if Australia were an
independent Republic it would remain English to the core. But we are
convinced that those who dread separation are on a false track when they
raise obstacles to Colonial Federation. It is but a step in the direction of
Imperial Federation. The colonies are not likely to hastily throw off the
protection that the Imperial tie affords them, nor to abandon the prestige
which it confers. The Dominion of Canada is strong enough to stand
alone, and it has temptations enough to lean upon a nearer and scarcely
less powerful Government, yet there is no widespread discontent with
the rule of the Queen. Australia is far less able to declare itself in-
dependent. Therefore, in considering such a question as that discussed
by Sir Henry Parkes and Mr. Gillies, Englishmen should think of it
only as a Colonial matter, and if federation will advance the interests of
Australia it should be supported, without pessimistic calculations as to
remote future consequences. There should be no difficulty in the way of
arranging a conference of the colonies — that indeed must take place to
130 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Birmingham Gazette — continued.
consider General Edwards' report — and the ample materials at their
command should enable the delegates to draft a scheme of federation
that will commend itself to the Australians and be cordially approved by
the Imperial Government.
Glasgow Herald —
November 2Qth, 1889.
A FEW days ago the British public learnt from a despatch written by Sir
Henry Parkes, the Premier, of New South Wales, that he had conceived
a mammoth scheme of Intercolonial Federation, comprising an Australian
Dominion, a great army, and other wonderful things. Some cold water
is thrown upon Sir Henry's new and unexpected enthusiasm for consti-
tution-building by the practical and common-sense reply which Mr.
Duncan Gillies, the Premier of the Colony of Victoria, has sent to the
despatch in question. It would almost seem as though the New South
Wales proposal was intended mainly for consumption in this country,
where the history of the Intercolonial Federation movement is of course
but little known, and where the veteran Sir Henry Parkes enjoys a
deservedly high reputation as the champion of free trade in Australia.
Probably it is the rather exaggerated prominence given by the London
Press recently to Sir Henry Parkes' speeches, especially on the
question of Australian nationality, which has now induced the old Par-
liamentary hand of the Southern Hemisphere to advertise himself and
his crude and visionary projects for the immediate creation of an
Australian Dominion in order to meet a simple and practical demand.
Indeed, Australian colonists who remember the history of the " Federal
Council Act of Australasia," and the attitude of New South Wales
politicians and publicists in the matter, will feel inclined to resent the
effort of the New South Wales Premier to pose at this late hour as the
heavy father of Intercolonial Federation. All the practical work done
in connection with the latter movement would seem to have been done
by Mr. James Service, Mr. Duncan Gillies, and Mr. Alfred Deakin in
Victoria, and by Sir Samuel Griffith in Queensland, and done apparently
in the teeth of much opposition, jealousy, and ill-will on the part of such
New South Wales politicians as Sir John Robertson and Sir Henry
Parkes. When one Australian digger attempts to appropriate the mining
section belonging to another it is called "jumping a claim." Sir Henry
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 131
Glasgow Herald — continued.
Parkes would almost seem to have been engaged in an attempt to jump
Mr. Service's claim to be the real originator of Intercolonial Federation.
Mr. Duncan Gillies, in his replies of the 12th and 13th of last month,
does not remind Sir Henry Parkes of the past history of the Intercolonial
Federation movement. He endeavours to keep the discussion on prac-
tical lines, while admitting that the proposal submitted to him is a lofty
and ambitious one. Mr. Gillies is a cool-headed and cautious Scot, who
in his time has wielded the digger's pick and shovel. He professes
himself content to work on from small beginnings, and he argues that
the Federal Council Act of 1885 already contains the framework on
which much that Sir Henry Parkes now professes to desire can be built.
The Act of 1885 (48 and 49 Yic., cap. 60) was the result of several
intercolonial conferences held at Sydney in order to protect and provide
against certain specific dangers which five or six years ago were suffered
to threaten Australian interests in the Pacific. The French convict
settlements in New Caledonia, the proposal to form enormous colonies of
recidivistes, or incorrigible criminals, in the same place, the Ferry policy
of colonial expansion generally, and Prince Bismarck's supposed inten-
tions in New Guinea and elsewhere, had all caused alarm among Aus-
tralian colonists. Among the "several matters" which the Act of 1885
first gives the Council authority over are u the relations of Australasia
with the islands of the Pacific, and the prevention of the influx of
criminals." Although New South Wales and New Zealand took part
in the conferences at Sydney, and supported the resolutions then arrived
at, the introduction and passing of the Federal Council Bill excited much
vague jealously, and, as it would seem, senseless alarm among all classes
in the two latter colonies. In order to propitiate Sir John Robertson
and Sir Henry Parkes, and to set at rest these doubts and suspicions of
others, it was specially declared in the preamble of the Bill that the
Council should not "unduly interfere with the management of the
internal affairs of the several colonies by their respective Legislatures."
The Federal Act was, in short, crippled, and the authority of the Council
weakened, in order to appease the jealousy and to meet the fanciful
objection of the very politicians who now complain that the Act of 1885
is not sufficiently far-reaching and ambitious to satisfy their new aspira-
tions for dominion.
When the Federal Council held its first meeting at Hobart, in January,
1886, New South Wales, New Zealand, and South Australia refused to
132 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Glasgow Herald — continued.
send representatives or to acknowledge its existence in any way. Last
January, however, South Australia gave its adhesion to the Council and
sent a representative. There are many rather startling anomalies in the
Australian Colonies, and these the Federal Council has attempted to deal
with. In most criminal and civil cases the jurisdiction of Colonial
Courts does not extend beyond their own borders, and each Colony is an
Alsatia for all but the most desperate criminals belonging to their
neighbours. Recently, General Edwards, who has just completed an
inspection of the system of defence in the Australasian Colonies, called
attention to the want of practical arrangements for mobilising the various
defence forces which have been created in the colonies. It seems that
no two colonies have adopted the same military system. In some,
Volunteer corps exist ; in others there is a defence force enlisted and
paid for a specific period. Not a pound of military gunpowder has ever
been manufactured in any of the colonies, and although immense sums
have been spent upon fortifications and upon the latest guns and military
appliances, nothing in the shape of an arsenal exists. Mr. Gillies points
out to Sir Henry Parkes that the Federal Council Act can be extended
so as to create means of providing for these deficiencies, and it must be
said that his modest and carefully-thought-out reply contrasts favourably
with the vast and wandering aspirations of the older statesman in New
South Wales.
The Eastern Morning News—
November 20th, 1889.
MR. GILLIES, Prime Minister of 'Victoria, has replied to Sir Henry
Parkes' proposal to appoint a Convention of the Australias, in terms
which practically amount to a restatement of the position which Sir
Henry Parkes so ably demolished. The Colonial Secretary of Queens-
land has also replied to similar effect, and consequently it is not likely
that the Convention will be held. It will be remembered that Sir Henry
Parkes proposed a federation of the Australias, to be constituted by a
Convention, in order to carry out General Edwards' recommendations
about the defence of Australia by a federal army. He argued that the
Federal Council had no power to deal with the discipline of the army ;
and this Federal Council is regarded in his country as so poor and weak
an institution that New South Wales has never sent any representative
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 133
Eastern Morning News — continued.
to it at all. To this argument Mr. Gillies addresses himself, and
endeavours to prove that the Federal Council can deal with the army
question. It cannot control the discipline of a federal army, it is true,
but it can make suggestions which each State can carry into laws, But,
inasmuch as the raising of an army would involve many nice considera-
tions of federal command, overstepping the local boundaries of the
different colonies, it is obvious that if the Federal Council does not now
possess the power of dealing with such questions, the general understand-
ing which Mr. Gillies wishes to be ratified by the individual colonies
would be a very weak and unstatesmanlike instrument of government.
A central authority must, in those matters where it touches local authority,
override it ; under Mr. Gillies' plan it would depend upon it. Besides
this, New South Wales is not represented in the Federal Council ; and
this reply of Mr. Gillies looks as if he were endeavouring to put pressure
upon Sir Henry Parkes to sacrifice his objections to the Federal Council.
Nor is there any more force in Mr. Gillies' reply to the other part of Sir
Henry Parkes' proposal. He does not wish to see a Convention estab-
lished ; he thinks the Federal Council would do as well. Now, at first
sight, it sounds plausible to wish to arrive at federation, "not by the dis-
placement, but by the development, of the Federal Council." But Mr.
Gillies' plan would not be a development of the Federal Council. It is
no part of their duty to draw up constitutions. They would have to meet
informally ; it would be a mere meeting of unauthorised representatives.
Mr. Gillies thinks they might arrogate the functions of a Convention
without offending their constituents. But why should there not be a
formal Convention ? It looks as if Mr. Gillies only proposed this feeble
substitute of unauthorised councillors, in order to put Sir Henry Parkes in
the same hole, and force him to enter the Federal Council. The wish to
discuss federation without being committed to it is a bad reason, even if
it is not a pretence on his part ; and if the colonies mean business, they
need not be afraid of appointing their agents. If they do not, what
becomes of Mr. Gillies' argument, that no one will object to the Federal
Council arrogating these powers to itself 1 It is sad to see local jealousies
standing in the way of the acceptance of a really statesmanlike proposal •
but happily all the Australias profess the same desire for the same end —
Australian unity ; and, if Mr. Gillies' proposals can possibly be made to
yield some good, Sir Henry Parkes is not the man to let amour propre
stand in the way of this great political ideal."
UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Advertiser —
November 20«A, 1889.
THE Premiers of New South Wales and Victoria are in entire agreement
as to the advantages of federation ; their only difference is as to the time
and way of bringing it about. Mr. Duncan Gillies, whose despatch we
printed yesterday, tells Sir Henry Parkes that if they can agree upon
the establishment of a Federal Parliament and Executive he for his
part will be much gratified. It will seem to most people that when con-
currence has reached this point there ought not to be any insuperable
obstacle to the realization of the idea. Nor is it probable that any such
obstacle will present itself. The Australian Colonies wish for federation ;
the Imperial Government does not object to it, and the probabilities are
very strong, therefore, that they will be federated before many years have
passed. In the meantime, however, there is a question more pressing than
the creation of a common Legislature and Executive. That is the question
of defence. It must, as Mr. Gillies points out, take some years to carry
out the larger idea, but it may not be years before the colonies are called
upon to defend themselves. An Australian army and navy at the disposal
of an Australian Executive would doubtless be the most effective means
of defence, but before the colonies can make the arrangements to provide
themselves with these forces they may be obliged to do the best they can
with the means actually at their disposal. They cannot do this as matters
stand. New South Wales troops cannot serve in Victoria, and Victorian
troops cannot serve in New South Wales, and all sorts of practical diffi-
culties might interfere with united action at the moment when united
action became a vital necessity. Why not, says Mr. Gillies, provide for
this possible emergency at once without waiting for a more perfect
scheme, which, if it is capable of elaboration at all, will necessarily take
time1? A scheme for colonial defence could not possibly hinder the
accomplishment of the larger scheme, and might even hasten it. There
is sound sense in this argument, as it appears to us here at home, though
we cannot guess what Sir Henry Parkes and his friends may have to say
on the other side. We are quite unable to see, however, in what way the
proposal of the Victorian Premier could retard that which is advocated by
his colleague at Sydney. In any case it is satisfactory to those who wish
well to the Australian Colonies to note that there is a disposition to union
and co-operation. Now that it is clear that the only difference of opinion
relates to the modus operandi, we can entertain no doubt that the federa-
tion which all parties desire will, before very long, be an accomplished fact.
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 135
Aberdeen Free Press—
November 20th, 1889.
THE federation of the Australian Colonies seems likely to become an
accomplished fact sooner than could a short time ago have been believed
to be possible. The circular despatch addressed a few weeks ago to
the several Colonial Governments by Sir Henry Parkes, the Prime
Minister of New South Wales, proposing a conference for the considera-
tion of the question, showed that in the premier colony opinion was in
a surprisingly advanced condition on the subject. The reply now sent to
Sir Henry Parkes' communication by the Hon. Duncan Gillies, the
Prime Minister of Victoria, forms equally striking evidence to the same
effect as regards the other chief colony ; and from the fact that the
Queensland Government concurs in the views and suggestions of Mr.
Gillies, and other circumstances, there seems every reason to believe
that the federation movement is in a similarly advanced position
throughout the whole group of colonies, with the exception perhaps of
New Zealand, which, lying at some distance, and having interests in cer-
tain respects diverse from those of the others, will not improbably hang
back from the project for a time. Mr. Gillies does not, it is true, agree
with Sir Henry Parkes as to the manner in which the thing should be
gone about, but on the main question he is practically at one with him.
The difference between the two Ministers arises out of and has relation
only to the different positions taken by New South Wales and Victoria
in regard to the existing Federal Council. The former colony has never
taken part in the composition or deliberations of that body. For reasons
best known to itself, but which may be suspected to have some connec-
tion with the ambitions and pretensions of the colony — it was not long
since the proposal was made to appropriate for New South Wales the name
of " Australia" — it has refused to have anything to do with the Council.
And Sir Henry Parkes in his recent despatch went so far as to say, with
reference to this refusal, that whether his proposal for a conference on
the question of federation was agreed to or not, there was " no person and
no party here that could persuade Parliament to sanction the representa-
tion of this colony in the present Federal Council." Victoria, on the
other hand, has not only joined the Council, but, being the largest and
most important colony represented in it, has taken the leading part in its
proceedings. Mr. Gillies, therefore, is naturally averse to the idea of
setting it aside and ignoring its existence in the manner proposed by Sir
Henry Parkes. He urges that if the colonies are to confer together on
136 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
Aberdeen Free Press — continued.
the question of federation, the Federal Council, with New South Wales
represented in it, is the proper body to take the matter up. This is an
exceedingly reasonable contention. Presumably the several Govern-
ments send to the Council the men to whom, in any case, they would be
disposed to entrust the conduct of the federation project, and it would seem
to be the most natural course to charge those men at the meeting of the
Council with the consideration of the question. Mr. Gillies is less cogent in
another part of his argument. The present correspondence has arisen
out of a discussion in the colonies on the question of "general defence."
Sir Henry Parkes holds that the question can only be solved by calling
into existence a Federal Government and Parliament ; but Mr. Gillies
contends that the Federal Council, although it is merely a deliberative body,
and has no Executive power, could effect all that is required by means of
" legislation" on the subject of defence, each separate colony being trusted
to do its part in the way of raising the necessary funds and so forth.
This does not look a very practical suggestion. It is impossible to see
how an army could be raised or a navy built for the defence of Australia
as a whole, unless there were in existence a central authority for the
control of the services, and, if need were, the enforcement of the respon-
sibilities of the several colonies. Any project of " national defence" that
was dependent on the voluntary action of a group of independent
authorities would be certain to break down on the first emergency.
All that, however, is matter of secondary interest to others than the
Australians themselves. The real interest of the situation lies, not in
the question of how Australia is to organize its defences, or even the
question of how the scheme of federation is to be gone about, but in the
fact that opinion in Australia, as shown by the communications passing
between the several Colonial Governments, has practically arrived at the
stage of maturity, on the question of federation. The Prime Minister of
Victoria, as we have said, is practically at one with his brother Premier of
New South Wales as to the wisdom and expediency of federation, and there
seems no reason to doubt that in the other and smaller colonies the same
opinion now prevails. Mr Gillies is less confident than Sir Henry
Parkes that the time for federation has arrived, but says he " I wish I
could believe that it had." He refuses to yield to Sir Henry in his
desire to see the colonies united under a Federal Parliament and Govern-
ment, and he urges the claim of the Federal Council to be entrusted with
the consideration of the project, on the ground that that is the most
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 137
Aberdeen Free Press — continued.
likely way to promote the scheme — the idea being, as it is expressed in
the letter sent in reply to Sir Parkes' despatch from the Queensland
Government, that a Federal or Dominion Parliament should " supersede
the Federal Council by the development of the latter and not by its dis-
placement." The contest between Mr. Gillies and Sir Henry Parkes
thus comes to turn on the very small question of whether the Federal
Council shall or shall not be recognised by New South Wales. It is not
for a moment to be imagined that any difference on such a trivial matter
will be allowed to stand in the way of the realisation of the scheme of
Union when the scheme itself has been approved by the general
opinion of the Australian people. The difficulty may be described in
another way as arising from the jealousies and rivalries of the two prin-
cipal colonies. Neither New South Wales nor Victoria will be willing, in
the carrying out of the federation project, to do or consent to any
thing that may seem to imply a lowering of prestige, or acceptance of a
secondary position in the federal system. There will be difficulties
between them, for one thing, in regard to the question of where the capital
of Australia is to be located. Sydney and Melbourne will both claim
the honour of becoming the seat of the Dominion Government, and it
may be found necessary, for the sake of peace, to deny it to both, and
found a new capital somewhere else on " neutralised" territory. The
existing system of protection maintained by Victoria against the other
colonies as well as against the mother country, will also be an obstacle
to the carrying out of the federation proposal ; but it is to be presumed
that Mr. Gillies and his friends, in falling in with the proposal, must have
accepted the necessity for free trade as between the several colonies under
the new arrangement. There is but small chance, it is to be feared, how-
ever, of its being accepted any more than in Canada as regards the old
country.
138 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
APPENDIX.
IMPERIAL FEDERATION.
To the Editor of the United Service Gazette. — November 16th, 1889.
SIR, — I was very pleased to observe that, in your last issue, you
devoted your columns to a leading article in this cause.
The Australian Colonies afford to the mother country a magnificent
possession, and it is difficult for us in our little island home to realize the
fact that Australia possesses a coast line 7,750 miles long, and that the
Australasian group occupies in extent nearly two-fifths of the British
dominions, and is only about one-fifth smaller than the whole continent
of Europe ; that she possesses a well-defined railway system which taps
all her own centres of commerce, and daily brings to her capitals increas-
ing wealth and prosperity. Nature has been very lavish in her gifts to
Australia ; so much so, indeed, that it has become a by-word amongst the
colonists, "We do nothing for ourselves, Nature does all." However
that may be, there is no question that the great island continent
possesses untold wealth in minerals, that she has a climate, or rather
series of climates, which are most favourable to agriculture and all other
trades and industries ; her pasture lands teem with cattle and sheep, and
nothing seems to be amiss except the want of population. This, however,
is a problem that time will solve, and the hardy Anglo-Saxon race will
surely spread here as it has spread in America. With all these gifts in
her lap, surely " happy are such a people." However, the more immediate
question of the day which concerns them is that of the defence scheme,
and it has become one of paramount importance. The colonists wishing
to get the best advice on the subject, the aid of the Imperial authorities
was sought some short time ago, and which resulted, as most of your
readers know, in the engagement of Major-General Sir Wm. Jervois and
the late Sir Peter (then Colonel) Scratchley to report on colonial defences
generally. Principally from their suggestions, most of the capitals are
now strongly fortified seawards, the batteries defending Port Jackson
being on a very extensive scale. Landwards the principal dependence is
placed upon the Volunteer and Defence Forces, which in each of the
colonies are now numerically strong, with the formation of a superior
class of soldiery. Out of the Volunteers has been embodied the nucleus
of a small Standing Army, with most of its branches, under the name of
Permanent, Defence, or Militia Forces, which at short notice can be
made available for active service. The following particulars from the
"Australian Handbook for 1889" give us a good idea of the defensive
powers of the Colonies : — " An Australian fleet of some proportions is
being built up. The Colony of Victoria has a navy of its own, comprising
a line-of-battle ship, an ironclad, two gun-boats, and three torpedo-boats ;
New South Wales has a steam corvette and four torpedo launches ;
South Australia has a steel cruiser ; Queensland has two gun-boats ;
UNITED AUSTRALIA. 139
Tasmania a torpedo-boat, and New Zealand four torpedo-boats. The
boundaries of the Australian naval station have been modified by the
Pelew Islands, St. Andrew's and the adjacent islands being included
within the China station from July 1, 1885. The north boundary of the
Australian station has been defined as follows : — From 95 deg. E. longi-
tude by the parallel of 10 deg. S. latitude to 130 deg. E. longitude;
thence north to 2 deg. N. latitude and along that parallel to 136 deg. E.
longitude ; thence north to 12 deg. N. latitude and along that parallel to
150 deg. W. longitude; and on the south side by the Antarctic Circle,
including the numerous groups of islands situated within those limits.
The station is under the command of a Rear- Admiral. In the station is
included the Colony of Fiji. Sydney is the rendezvous and head-quarters
of the Australian Squadron, and it has been definitely decided that it
shall remain so. Garden Island, Port Jackson, has been fixed upon as
the Naval Store Depot. The Imperial fleet usually consists of an armour-
plated ship, carrying the flag of the Admiral, three screw corvettes, two
or three gun-boats, surveying-vessels, and schooners. So much for the
navy. Now for the army. The census of 1881 showed that the
Australasian Colonies could, if occasion arose, raise an army of over
450,000 males from twenty to forty, 'the soldier's age.' The numbers
which each colony could supply were as follows: — Victoria, 114,142;
New South Wales, 131,805 ; Queensland, 46,427 ; South Australia,
52,529 ; Western Australia, 4,354 ; Tasmania, 15,929 ; New Zealand,
86,514 ; total, 451,700 men. This number could at the present time be
considerably increased." Here, then, is a very solid foundation upon
which to build the fabric of Australian defence, and the importance to
England of having such an adjunct in time of peace and an ally in time
of war cannot be over-estimated. It is quite possible, however, that the
jealousy and spirit of keen competition and rivalry that exists at the
present moment between the colonists themselves may prove a stumbling-
block towards furthering the cause of Imperial Federation ; but these
difficulties have been overcome, as was shown in the case of Canada.
Much, however, has been done, and there is every hope that the measure
will soon receive the practical support of the neighbouring colonies.
New South Wales has started the ball rolling, and if Sir Henry Parkes,
the Premier, receives anything like proper support in the cause, which is
at least to be expected, we shall then be able to look upon Imperial
Federation, if not in its entirety, at all events the defence portion of it,
as within a very measurable distance of becoming an accomplished fact.
PATRIOT.
TRUE FEDERATION.
To the Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette.— November 19th, 1889.
SIR, — Mr. Parkin did not tell your representative how the Australians
received his notable argument that an independent Australia would fall
under France or Germany in a few weeks. It would take either country
an army of one hundred thousand men even to hold the seaports. On
140 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
the seaboard the army's position would be that of an army in Afghanistan.
They would hold no more of the country than was within rifle or cannon
range. The interior would be held by the Australians, and every foreign
soldier who wandered beyond his cantonment would, as in Afghanistan,
return no more. Neither of the Powers referred to by Mr. Parkin
could spare an army to occupy Australia for fear of weakening itself
against the other. Germany has, in fact, no army for foreign service at
all. France has such an army, but it is already fully employed ; and if
your Special Commissioner in Rome has come to a sound conclusion, the
Pope has only got to hold up his finger in order to induce France to
conquer Italy and lock up another army in Rome. It could not possibly
find a third army for Australia. There is another reason why neither
Government would ever despatch an expedition to Australia. It knows
that the English fleet would be sent after that expedition to out-steam
and ram the transports in mid-ocean. If such reasoning as Mr. Parkin's
is sound, the United States, with their crazy fleet and tiny army, are at
the mercy of any of the military Powers ; and yet the Americans fancy
they are pretty secure, and have administered a rap or two on the
knuckles both to France and Germany within the last quarter of a
century. The argument of Mr. Parkin was probably regarded by the
sturdy Australians with about the same amount of respect as Mr. Burns
or Mr. Tillett must regard Mr. Parkin's other argument that England is
bound to take into consideration the interests of the bondholders who
have lent money to Australia through the London Stock Exchange.
The interest on Australian loans is as safe as that on any other securities
in the world. No doubt the selling price of the bonds might be
fractionally affected for a time by the declaration of independence on the
part of Australia, but to the New Radicalism such a consideration weighs
lighter than a feather. Let us have none of " Parkin's Plan," but take
up " Parkes's Plan " — that is a great Federation, as advocated by Sir
Henry Parkes, not of those merely who will presently owe allegiance
to the young gentlemen in the stiff' collars, but of all English-speaking
men — a Federation above all things framed on limited liability lines, so
as to avoid the objections founded upon the rules of international law,
which every wise Australian sees to every plan of Imperial Federation
hitherto framed or sketched.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
PAN ANGLICANUS.
AN AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ARMY.
To the Editor of the St. James's Gazette. — November 20^A, 1889.
SIB) — Mr. Gillies' proposals, so far as the question of defence is con-
cerned, amounts to this : that the existing Federal Council, in conjunction
with representatives from New South Wales, should draw up a treaty of
defensive alliance, to be afterwards ratified by the various Colonial Legis-
latures. The futility of this, except as the merest temporary expedient,
UNITED AUSTRALIA.
will be at once apparent to every one in any way cognizant with the
organization of military forces. A simple aggregation of forces is a very
different thing from an absolute amalgamation of armies ; and, circum-
stanced as Australia is, the latter arrangement is altogether desirable —
from the point of view of effective value especially, but from that of
economy as well. The Victorian Premier urges that an arrangement
should be come to '' now" which shall provide for a combination of colonial
forces in an " emergency." But the arrangement he indicates is such as
might be come to by the various Governments in a week's time, and
without any previous understanding, in the presence of some urgent
emergency. Mr. Gillies' suggestions, briefly put, are these : — (1) Provision
should be made for the troops of one colony serving in another colony ;
(2) while not so employed they should be under the same military
authority as non-transferable forces ; (3) pay and allowances should be
fixed for troops serving out of their own " country," as Mr. Gillies puts it,
but out of their own colony, as he means. All these suggested provisions,
it will be seen, make for the autonomy of colonial forces, not for the
autonomy of a federal army. Now, while in India we have the Bengal,
Bombay, and Madras armies, these are all subject to the supreme orders
of one Executive ; but, notwithstanding that, the doing away with their
existence as separate armies is now, as it would seem, only a question of
a very little time.
Being deeply interested in what may be called the national development
of Australia, and having been a witness, almost from the first, of the
beneficial effects of federation in the case of British North America, I am
not blind to the fact that Mr. Gillies' ultimate aims in the matter are quite
as sound as those of Sir Henry Parkes. But, as in this case of a federal
army, it may be that efficiency and economy — the fundamental principles
of good government, as I take it — can be better attained, in respect of
other matters which are of common interest and concern to all the colonies,
by a union on the lines of the Canadian Dominion than by isolated,
even if harmonious, action. As has already been pointed out in your
columns, it is a matter of very little moment whether federation in
Australia should come about by means of the existing Federal Council or
by thrusting that body altogether aside. But seeing that the Federal
Council was from the first intended to lead up to the greater federation, it
would be an ungracious act on the part of New South Wales to insist on
its being ignored. Without an Executive that is superior to the moods and
tenses of individual Legislatures and Governments, however, I do not see
how an army and an army organization common to the whole of Australia
can be created, mobilized, and controlled. The same reasoning may lead
others to conclude that, without a Federal Executive and Federal Parlia-
ment, inter-colonial arrangements in other respects will be no better than
makeshifts.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
November 19. MILES.
142 UNITED AUSTRALIA.
OPINION IN INDIA.
THE Pioneer Mail of Allahabad, November 6th, 1889, has the following:—
" The Pall Mall Gazette lapses into something very like nonsense when
it talks of Sir Henry Parkes' Federation Scheme bringing Imperial
Federation within the scope of practical politics. Were the Australasian
Colonies united by a federal constitution to-morrow, the problem of
Imperial Federation would no more be solved than it was solved by the
British North American Act of 1867 ; but though it would not affect
what has hitherto baffled even abler men than Sir Henry Parkes, the
new scheme would mark an epoch in the history of Australasia. The
movement has been foreseen by the more sagacious among Australian
politicians for years past ; and just as it was the results springing out of
the American Civil War which hastened the union of the British
Colonies in the North, so it is the recognition of the urgent need of a
common defence against a possible invasion which gives perhaps the
strongest impulse in a similar direction in Australasia. A year or two ago
delegates from several of the colonies did actually meet in conference to
decide on the measures of protection more immediately called for, and
were a federal constitution to become an accomplished fact, this is the
chief question the new Chambers would take into consideration. This,
too, is the aspect of the new scheme of most importance from an Imperial
point of view. In the event of a great war the defence of the coasts of
Australasia would be a matter of grave concern to the Imperial Govern-
ment at the present time ; but with the intimate union of the colonies
for military purposes, and the elaboration of concerted measures by a
common council, many existing causes for anxiety would disappear. The
next most important advantage which might result, would be the adoption
by the different colonies of a uniform fiscal policy. At present each
colony has its own. One is a freetrader, some are slightly protective,
and others greatly so, — a state of things which cannot be beneficial to the
trade of Australasia as a whole. At the same time it is precisely this
question of the tariff, and the decision of how far its regulation ought to
be left to the Federal House of Commons, which Sir Henry Parkes will
probably find a most serious obstacle to the realization of his desires.
With tact and perseverance, however, there is no reason why he should
not succeed in the end, and in that case he will have conferred a signal
boon both on Australasia and the Empire."
Sydney : Charles Potter, Government Printer.— 1890.
09238
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