THE OUTLOOK IN TASMANIA
I freely admit that Van Diemen’s Land greatly fascinated me. Its varied
scenery, its mountains, its mild climate, its fertility, each left
their impression. I was fortunate enough to fall into the kind hands of
several gentlemen who have greatly helped in the making of Tasmania,
and they made my tour not only a pleasure, but the means of acquiring a
great deal of information about the actual state of the country and its
immediate prospects. With two or three motor-cars at one’s disposal,
driven by gentlemen who know the country through and through, and with
authority to travel anywhere I chose on the State railways, my way was
made exceedingly easy.
I promised in this chapter to write about Tasmania as a colony for the
British people. Little Britain, in the North Sea, does not know very
much about its possessions in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The
average Englishman knows practically nothing about Tasmania. But he
ought to know something about it. Tasmanians are not a self-assertive
people. They do not advertise their country. Hence, for the many, it
remains a land in the mist.
The area of the island, including the small islands to the north,
is nearly seventeen million acres. About one-third of this space is
under cultivation. The entire population is less than 200,000--about
one-third the population of the City of Melbourne. The average
population works out at six or seven persons to the square mile. It
will be seen at once that the island is sparsely populated. The need
of Tasmania is population, though not nearly to the same extent as
Australia. Men who have the right to speak with authority upon the
matter declare that Tasmania needs a population of one million persons
in order that it may be profitably developed. The railways at present
entail a loss of £70,000 per annum. A Special Commissioner has recently
been appointed to try to grapple with this particular problem. He has
instructions to make the railways pay. But they cannot pay until there
is a larger influx of inhabitants.
Now, there are three things concerning Tasmania that should be of
interest to very many Englishmen, both from the point of view of
capital and the point of view of emigration, i.e. fruit, power, and
minerals.
I have said that two-thirds of the land is not yet under cultivation.
It is only right to say that at present there is little prospect of
this territory being explored and subdued, and even if there were,
it is doubtful if a great part of it is arable land. The forest is
exceedingly dense, and men soon become “bushed.” When it is cleared it
may turn out to be very valuable property, or it may not. But it is
believed that part of this hidden country is rich in minerals, if not
in soil. And, further, it is as likely as not that the land may bear
apples, since it is demonstrated that an inferior soil can produce
prolific crops of apples. Leaving aside, then, all that is doubtful,
and dealing only with the Tasmania that is known, the possibilities of
a great development of the country are bound up with fruit, power, and
minerals.
Fruit, first of all. An immense development can take place in this
direction. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of “bush” awaiting
the coming of the farmer. We had a striking illustration of what may be
done in an excursion to the Russell Falls. After leaving the fruitful
Derwent Valley, and bidding farewell to the railway at Russell, we
plunged into the bush. In every direction stretched out the scrub. Few
people beyond tourists ever pass along this way. So quiet is the road
that serpents come forth from the undergrowth and stretch themselves
in the sunshine which floods the dusty route. We ran over two of these
reptiles, one of them measuring five feet in length. Here and there
we espied huts in which settlers were residing; from various points
rose wreaths of smoke, an indication that the work of “burning off”
was in progress. At the entrance to the Russell Falls we encountered a
typical settler, who speedily showed us how quickly an energetic man
can subdue the bush and make it fruitful. Eighteen months ago this man
purchased seventy-two acres of land. Including the fees for survey, the
land cost him £39, and he was allowed fourteen years in which to pay
the money. A day or two ago he was offered £2,000 for the property.
Wisely he declined the offer, for the prospects of his investment are
worth more to him than £2,000. He is comparatively a young man, with
a family of small children. Given health and strength, his future is
secured, and all for an outlay of £39. The rest depends upon his toil.
Already, in this brief period, he has planted 115 apple trees, and has
made the ground bear a healthy crop of strawberries, raspberries, peas,
hops, and potatoes. Past his door runs the river, in which, the night
before our visit, over three hundred trout were caught by some fifteen
fishermen, our settler himself being responsible for forty of these.
Birds, fish, rabbits, and hares are all in the neighbourhood. The
property contains about three thousand eucalyptus trees, which will all
be felled and used for firewood. In two years’ time the railway will
pass through this estate, and of course increase its value. At present
the homestead is isolated. The nearest pillar-box for the reception
of letters is some distance away on the roadside, and consists of an
old candle-box secured to the stump of a tree. In a few years all this
will be changed as the land is rendered fertile. What this man has done
others are doing and others may do. This subjugation of the soil is one
of the most healthful and lucrative of employments. It should attract a
number of the right class of Englishmen.
At Moonah I saw the prospectus of a scheme for planting and developing
orchard land. In the place named in the prospectus land is offered,
right out, by the Government for ten shillings an acre. It carries
200,000 tons of firewood, and in ground crops and orchard would yield
very speedily an amazing profit.
The fruit industry, then, I place first of all.
Next to this is the development of power. Tasmania is noted for its
lakes, all of which are situated amongst the mountains at an altitude
of 3,000 or more feet above the sea. A great scheme for utilising
this water in the production of electric power is now actually in
progress. Hobart can be supplied with power for lighting, heating,
and locomotion, and the country _en route_ from the lakes can all be
opened up to the magic wire. This means a great thing for the island,
and holds the promise of great developments. Tasmania may yet be able
to show civilisation that smoke is entirely unnecessary in commercial
and domestic life. Certain it is that the future of Tasmania will be
materially affected by the introduction of electric power on the scale
proposed. And Melbourne, which for a city under the Southern Cross has
far too much smoke, might condescend to learn from Tasmania a lesson in
sweetness and light.
And, finally, there is the development of minerals.
There are tin mines in Tasmania which have a world-wide reputation--the
Mount Bischoff and the Mount Lyell. They have both proved to be a
means of fortune to the shareholders. During the half-year ended
December 31, 1911, the ore smelted at the Launceston works yielded
1,417 tons of fine tin, and a good proportion of this came from the
Mount Bischoff mine. The dividends for the last half-year amounted to
thirty thousand pounds sterling, and when it is remembered that the
capital of the company is only sixty thousand pounds, it will be seen
that the earnings are remarkable. These mountains of tin show no sign
of diminution. Tasmania stands third in the world of tin production.
Beyond tin, there are copper, gold, iron ore, and coal worked in the
island, and it is practically known that the unexplored part of the
island contains minerals in abundance.
These three things, then, hold abundant promise for the future of
Tasmania from the commercial point of view, while the salubrious
climate establishes the claim of the place to be a grand health resort
for the southern and other peoples.
As I went from place to place in the island, and observed the
sparseness of the population, the situation assumed something of a
pathetic aspect. There is room enough for immigrants up to a certain
number. An influx of 800,000 persons would make Tasmania one of the
most prosperous places in the world. With such a population the
limitations of the island would always prevent the growth of those
disproportions between the classes which obtain in the great areas of
the Old and New Worlds. Tasmania might, well governed, become a model
State. Its situation in the sea puts it in touch with Australia, New
Zealand, and the islands. In the fruit season the great liners call at
Hobart for fruit. By means of these Tasmania has a direct connection
with Europe. That connection will be immensely strengthened when the
larger population arrives. On the other hand, the isolation of Tasmania
from the mainland will always preserve for the island a degree of
quietness of which hustling centres know nothing. The union of repose
and commercial and agricultural activity would be ideal, and it is
possible in Tasmania as in few places I have seen.
These facts are surely worthy of the consideration of the British
people.