advocate elective Ministries on the ground that the people would obtain
greater control over the Executive, that stability of government would
be promoted, and that the legislative efficiency of Parliament would
greatly be increased. They contrast the rapid dispatch of business by
local governing bodies with the waste of time and obstruction which
prevail in legislative assemblies. The biennial retirement of half the
members of the Lower House commends itself to them for the reason which
causes it to be opposed by men of conservative tendencies, that it
would do away with the form of minority representation which is
rendered possible in two-member constituencies by the widespread habit
of plumping. They have {29} been foremost in their advocacy of the
referendum and the initiative, and one of their representatives, Mr.
Batchelor, has introduced a Bill which provides for the establishment
of the referendum, and contains the striking clause that "If petitions,
signed by not less than one-tenth of the electors entitled to vote for
the election of members of the House of Assembly ... shall be presented
to Parliament praying that legislation shall be initiated on any
subject, the Attorney-General shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a
Bill to give effect to such petition; and such Bill shall be introduced
into Parliament as a Government measure." Mr. Batchelor believes that
legislation would be accelerated on subjects which fail to receive
attention because Ministries fear that they might alienate the
sympathies of some of their supporters.
The idea of the direct consultation of the people upon a particular
subject was put into practical effect at the recent elections, when
they were invited, in the form of an initiative, to say whether they
desired alterations in the law in regard to education. Primary
education in South Australia is free, secular and compulsory. No
religious instruction is permitted in the State schools, but the
Minister of Education has the power, on receiving a written request
from the parents of not less than ten children who attend any school,
to require the teacher to read the Bible to any pupils who are present
for that purpose for half an hour before {30} half-past nine, the time
at which the ordinary teaching commences. The direct reference to the
people was the result of a Parliamentary resolution instigated by the
advocates of denominational education, who contended that public
opinion was veering round in their favour and believed that they would
obtain a great accession of strength in the female vote which was to be
exercised for the first time. It was couched in the form of the
following questions, which were submitted to the electorate on a
separate voting paper on the occasion of the general elections:--
1. Do you favour the continuance of the present system of education in
the State schools?
2. Do you favour the introduction of religious instruction in the State
schools during school hours?
3. Do you favour the payment of a Capitation Grant to denominational
schools for secular results?
The wording of the first and second questions was calculated to act in
favour of the opponents of secularism, as the first would probably be
answered in the negative not only by those who support religious
instruction but also by many who believe that, in the present state of
the finances, education should not be free except to such as are unable
to pay for it. It was not made clear whether it was intended to apply
to the system as a whole or merely to its secular character. The {31}
second question would bring together all who favour religious
instruction, however much they may disagree among themselves as to the
form in which it should be given. During the progress of the campaign
the majority of the candidates declined to express their views upon the
matter, but stated that they would be prepared to abide by the popular
decision.
The following figures give the result of the reference for the whole
Province with the exception of the Northern Territory, which has a very
small electorate:--
1. Yes ... ... 51,744. No ... ... 17,755.
2. Yes ... ... 18,889. No ... ... 34,922.
3. Yes ... ... 13,428. No ... ... 41,975.
The classification of the papers is disappointingly meagre, as no
information can be gathered as to the number of supporters of religious
teaching and the capitation grant who were favourable to the other
leading features of the existing system, nor as to the extent to which
the friends of the capitation grant approved or disapproved of
religious instruction in the State schools. The returns show, however,
that, while 90,000 votes were given for Parliamentary candidates, some
20,000 persons either did not vote at all or gave an informal vote upon
the distinct issue, and that less than one-fifth pronounced against the
Act as it stands. The condemnation of the capitation grant is still
more emphatic, and if the {32} supporters of religious teaching have
less cause for dissatisfaction, it may be noted that in no constituency
were the affirmative in excess of the negative replies, and that as the
total number of votes given upon the first question was far larger than
that on the second and third, thousands who had voted affirmatively
upon the first must have considered that they had thereby returned a
negative reply to the others and should be reckoned as additional
opponents of religious instruction and of the capitation grant. It is
also noteworthy that, contrary to the general expectation, the country
districts gave a considerably higher percentage of votes in favour of
the present system than the seven constituencies which include Adelaide
and its immediate neighbourhood. The advocates of religious
instruction have announced that they intend to continue their efforts
to win over the majority to their views; in the meanwhile, they will
realise that the process must be slow and will stir up the various
agencies of the churches to increased activity in a sphere which is
particularly their own.
The secular character of State education, which dates from 1851, cannot
be shown to have had evil effects upon the conduct of the working
classes, who almost universally respect and obey the law and have an
air of confident independence which has been fostered by manhood
suffrage, high wages and a high standard of comfort. South Australia
was fortunate in her original settlers, and has always {33} attracted a
good class of immigrants. At present great benefit is accruing from
the rapid development of Western Australia, which has relieved the
pressure upon the labour market and increased the demand for South
Australian goods. The latest Savings Bank returns give the total
amount deposited as L2,713,000 and the number of depositors as 88,876,
a very satisfactory rate for a population of about 320,000, especially
when it is considered that the working classes also have large
investments in Friendly and Building Societies. In conclusion, the
visitor cannot but be struck by the entire absence of squalid poverty
and of overcrowding in tenements and by the orderliness of the people
and the high average of prosperity.
{34}
II
_DEMOCRACY AND ITS SAFEGUARDS IN NEW SOUTH WALES_
The necessity for safeguards against financial extravagance and
political pressure--The Crown Lands Act--The appointment of independent
Railway Commissioners--The Standing Committee on Public Works--The
Public Service Board--The unemployed, their numbers and treatment--The
democratisation of the constitution--The Labour Party, its history,
successes and aspirations.
The inhabitants of New South Wales, as of several other Australian
Provinces, lived for many years in a fool's paradise. They had
received a magnificent inheritance in the land and were able, owing to
the proved mineral resources of the country, to draw upon a practically
inexhaustible fund in the willing advances of British capitalists. All
classes vied with one another, especially in Victoria, in the
extravagant loans and expenditure which caused the crisis of 1893, the
greatest blessing, as many think, that has ever befallen Australia.
Regardless of the burdens it was imposing upon future generations, the
Parliament of New South Wales, with which I shall be dealing
principally in the present chapter, {35} constructed unnecessary public
works, allowed the Civil Service to be packed with the friends and
relations of those in power, and authorised roads and bridges almost at
the whim of each individual member. This condition of things could not
continue indefinitely: on the one side, a rapidly increasing debt, on
the other, an enormous army of civil servants, aspirants for employment
on public works and local claimants for a share of the expenditure of
loan funds, who were able, on account of the wideness of the franchise
and the numerous functions undertaken by the Government, to bring
pressure to bear upon the Ministry through their representatives in the
Assembly. It was essential that the power to borrow should be
curtailed; essential also that the possibilities of political pressure
should greatly be diminished. The former object could only be achieved
at the cost of a comparative loss of credit, the latter by a wise
recognition on the part of the electorate of the dangers of unfettered
State action under a democratic constitution.
The rapid growth of indebtedness cannot justly be laid solely to the
charge of the popular representatives, as, though the Legislative
Council has occasionally resisted Loan Bills, it does not appear to
have realised the dangers of the proposed expenditure. Nor was it in
human nature that it should have opposed the construction of railways
by which its members, mostly landholders, would enormously {36} be
benefited. Were their lands to be resumed by the Government, they
would obtain an enhanced price for them; in any case, many of them
would gain a large unearned increment. The members of the Council who
are nominated for life, similarly with Labour members, lawyers, and
others who represent particular sections in Parliament, have been
active mainly where their own interests have been concerned. In
pursuance of their right to reject measures of taxation, they threw out
Sir George Dibbs' Income-Tax Bill in 1893 and, two years later, Mr.
Reid's Land and Income-Tax Assessment Bill. As landholders they
objected to a land tax, and to an income tax as representatives of the
wealth of the community. Nor has the extravagance been due to payment
of members, which is regarded by some as the cause of all the evils of
Australia, as it was not inaugurated until after the greater part of
the indebtedness had been incurred; but the necessity for political
safeguards has been accentuated by the entrance into Parliament of men
who, owing to their pecuniary circumstances, are less able to resist
the demands of their electors, are deeply interested in the
postponement of dissolutions, and are more dependent upon their
re-election. It would be equally false to attach any blame to the
Labour Party, which did not make its appearance in the Assembly until
1891.
While the great diminution of borrowing and consequently of the
construction of public works has {37} lessened the opportunities for
undue political influence, many still exist, and the number would have
been far greater in the absence of recent legislation. How numerous
these opportunities might be, may be gauged from the fact that,
exclusive of some 10,000 railway employes, 20,000 persons were formerly
in the service of the State at an annual salary of L2,600,000; that
many thousands are tenants of the Crown, liable to be propitiated by
the reduction of their rent; that nearly half the population live in
unincorporated districts, in which the local expenditure is met out of
national funds, and that the unemployed continually clamour for rations
and employment upon relief works, the receipt of which, under the
existing law, does not entail political disfranchisement.
The first legislative recognition of this danger is seen in the Crown
Lands Act of 1884, which constituted Local Land Boards, consisting of
not more than three members to be appointed by the Governor in Council,
which were to consider all applications for land, insure the due
fulfilment of the conditions, residential or other, which are attached
to different forms of tenure, and appraise the rents of pastoral leases
and the rate of compensation for improvements. The practice of the
Ministry has been to appoint as chairman of a Board some experienced
official of the Crown Lands Department and, as his colleagues, persons
recommended by the residents in the district. I am assured that this
system of Land {38} Boards, whose decisions are subject to an appeal to
the Land Court, has worked satisfactorily and that confidence has been
promoted by the publicity of the proceedings. A full statement is
published periodically, for each district, of the areas still open for
settlement and of the conditions under which they can be taken up: the
Land Boards have to inquire into the _bona fides_ of the applicants.
The question of the remission or suspension of the payment of rent is
one of great difficulty in countries in which the Crown is the largest
landholder. If a discretionary power is given to the Ministry,
political pressure can be brought to bear upon them by tenants through
their Parliamentary representatives; if it be withheld, great hardship
may ensue. This is particularly the case in Australia, where the value
of a property may greatly be reduced by the devastations of rabbits or
other pests and the consequent deterioration in the grazing capability
of the land, or by a fall in the price which can be obtained for stock
or wool. The Land Acts of New South Wales recognise either of the
above causes as sufficient to entitle a pastoral lessee to a
reappraisement of his rent by a Land Board, and permit the suspension
of annual payments for one year in the case of holders of land under
conditional purchase who reside upon it, but compel the vast majority
of tenants of the Crown to abide strictly by the conditions of their
agreements, under pain of the forfeiture of their holdings. Cases of
individual {39} hardship, which would engage the attentions of a
private landlord, are, in the avoidance of a greater evil, left without
redress.
In 1888 two further measures were passed with a similar object, the
Government Railways and Public Works Acts. In a book recently
published by authority of the Government,[1] to which I have to
acknowledge my indebtedness, it is stated that the re-organisation of
the railway administration was rendered necessary by the excess of
political influence, the absence of expert control, and the
construction of new lines without sufficient regard to the prospects of
an early remunerative traffic, which had caused the capital expenditure
to have been nearly doubled while the net earnings had not increased.
Under the former Act, accordingly, the Government railways and
tramways, which are now about 2,600 miles in extent and have been
constructed at a cost of thirty-eight millions, were vested absolutely
in a Board of three Railway Commissioners to be appointed by the
Governor in Council. In order that their independence might be
secured, they were made irremovable except for misbehaviour or
incompetency, and then only upon a vote of both Houses, and their
salaries were charged on the consolidated Revenue Fund, which was
permanently appropriated to the required extent. They were entrusted
with the general management of the railways and with the {40}
appointment, subject to the regulations governing entrance into the
public service, and dismissal, of all clerks, officers and employes,
whose salaries and wages, however, are subject to the vote of
Parliament. The Government were fortunate in securing the services of
a very competent senior commissioner, who, with his colleagues, has
been able, without lowering the rate of wages, to reduce the percentage
of working expenses to gross revenue from 66.69 to 54.46 per cent., and
has increased the net return on capital from 2.85 to 3.60 per cent.
The result is the more satisfactory that the railways are not worked
solely with a view to profit, but in such a manner as to benefit the
population as a whole and to encourage the remote farmer and
pastoralist. The experience of the other Australasian Provinces which
established similar Boards proves it to be essential that the
commissioners should not only possess great commercial ability, but be
strong men who are able to withstand the pressure to which they will be
subjected and are regardless of the attacks which are likely to follow
upon their refusal of favours.
The Public Works Act provides for the appointment of a Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Public Works, which is to consider and report
upon all proposals for the construction of public works, except such as
are connected with the military or naval defences of the Province,
where the estimated cost exceeds L20,000, and upon any similar {41}
proposals involving a smaller expenditure, which may be submitted to it
by the Governor in Council. It consists of thirteen persons, eight
members of the Assembly and five of the Council, who are appointed for
the duration of a Parliament and receive remuneration at the rate of
three guineas for each sitting and thirty shillings a day for
travelling expenses where the sittings are held at a distance from
Sydney. The Secretary for Public Works nominates an equal number from
both sides of the House after consultation with the leader of the
Opposition; in the majority of cases these nominations are challenged
and the appointments are made by ballot of the whole House, which,
according to trustworthy information, leads to disreputable
negotiations between those who desire the additional salary and those
who are able to confer it. It has been suggested recently by a Royal
Commission, which reported that "the expenditure on public buildings is
in excess of what is necessary, owing to the system of political
interference, which is responsible for the erection of special post
offices in country townships where shops could be used, and of costly
courts of justice and other structures which are not required," that
all proposals for public expenditure involving a probable outlay of
more than L5,000, should be considered and reported on by a committee
consisting of the permanent heads of the Public Works Department, the
Treasury, and the Department on whose behalf the proposed {42}
expenditure would occur. But the adoption of this suggestion would not
go to the root of the evil, which lies in the manner in which small
public works of a purely local character are carried out in rural
districts. In the early days of the Province the Government, in order
to widen the area of settlement, constructed all roads, bridges, and
other local works out of national funds. As population increased,
municipalities were established, which rated themselves for local
purposes and received subsidies from the Government proportionately to
the amounts thus raised; but the Act of 1867, which contemplated the
extension of the system, provided that new municipalities, either
boroughs or municipal districts, could only be created upon the receipt
of a petition signed by a stated proportion of the prospective
ratepayers. The Councils of such municipalities have the right to levy
rates not exceeding two shillings in the pound in one year upon all
rateable land within their borders, and receive from the Government
during the first five years a sum equal to the whole amount actually
raised in this manner or from any other specified source of revenue.
This is gradually diminished until, at the end of fifteen years, no
further subsidies are received, except such as have specially been
voted by Parliament. At the present time, owing to the absence from
the Act of any compulsory provision, the incorporated districts of the
Province comprise somewhat more than half of the {43} population, but
less than one hundredth of the total area. Successive Governments have
recognised the evil, but have failed to pass a satisfactory Amending
Act which would establish some form of local government in the
unincorporated areas and compel them to pay a fixed portion of their
local expenditure. The estimates for such expenditure are framed by
the Public Works Department, and are based upon the reports of its
resident engineers and of the agents of the Government Architect. The
opportunity of the pushing rural member occurs upon the expenditure of
the unappropriated sum of money which is left in the hands of the
Minister, to meet requirements that cannot be foreseen; in this
connection, members may threaten a withdrawal of their support and
ministers may seek to win over new adherents. The reports of such
actions are probably much exaggerated, as there are many who delight in
vilifying the Assembly, but the popularity of a rural representative
depends undeniably on the number of public works which the Government
carry out in his district.
The next important step was the appointment, early in 1895, of a Royal
Commission to inquire into the Civil Service, which reported that the
Act of 1884, under which a Civil Service Board of five persons had been
constituted, had failed in its purpose, because the Board consisted
usually of men who had other duties to perform and had not the power to
fix the salaries or control the service, and {44} because the right was
reserved to ministers in special cases to make appointments without
either examination or probation. The Commissioners found that, owing
to the absence of any well-ordered system of classification, the
grossest inequalities and anomalies existed in the salaries of offices
attached to different departments or even to the same department, as,
to take an extreme case, that, in the department of the Government
Architect the official who designed the Crown Lands office and
supervised its erection was receiving less remuneration than the
principal messenger; and that, while the service contained many
high-minded and able officials, there were cases where incompetency,
neglect of duty, and even drunkenness had formed no bar to continued
employment. In accordance with their recommendations, founded on the
belief that Parliament could not directly cope with the matter, an Act
was passed in 1895 which constituted a Public Service Board of three
persons, to be appointed for a period of seven years in the same way,
and with the same securities for independence, as the Railway
Commissioners. The Board was charged with the duty of making a
thorough investigation, which was periodically to be repeated, into the
working of each department, and of fixing the number, grade, and salary
of the officials. Future appointments and promotions were to be made
by the Governor in Council, upon a certificate of the Board, subject to
the regulations in regard to competitive {45} examinations and an
obligatory period of probation upon entrance into the service. As the
Commission had reported that it should be possible to effect an annual
saving of a quarter of a million, special importance attached to the
provisions which enabled the Board to dispense with the services of
those who could not usefully and profitably be employed, such persons
to receive gratuities on a fixed scale upon their retirement. The
Board were sitting during my stay in Sydney and had to suffer from the
open hostility of those who had been affected by their decisions and
from abusive correspondence in the press. Their impartiality was
impugned, and they were charged with allowing themselves to be
influenced by the wishes of Ministers; but when the unpleasant task of
retrenchment has been completed, they will doubtless carry on a work of
practical utility unhampered by criticisms and accusations.