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WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RAILWAYS.
Beferring to the project for the construc
tion of a line from Port Augusta to Kal
goorlie, the "Kalgoorlie Miner" of October
3 observes:—"The Federal representative
for Perth, Mr. J. M. Fowler, is undoubtedly
the ablest of the advocates of the transcon
tinental railway, and not even Sir John
Forrest can surpass his enthusiasm and
earnestness in promoting that great na
tional project. Yet at the municipal recep
tion at Kalgoorlie on Saturday Mr. Fowler
could not but honestly and candidly admit
that the fiest way to defeat the transcon
tinental railway was to talk Esperance. The
fact is that the more Australia knows about
the anti-Federal spirit of the dominant
party of West Australia, the more remote
becomes the chance of the eastern States
approving of the transcontinental railway.
Mr. Fowler stated that now Esperance was
continually being brought up in the eastern
States in connection with the transconti
nental line. That is but natural. The truth
cannot be suppressed, and the other States
are slowly but surely beginning to realise
that the reason why the Western Austra
lian. goldfields are refused access to the natu
ral port is the fear that the cheap food
stuffs of the East might be placed at reason
able prices on the goldfields market to the
disadvantage of Western Australian pro
ducers. There would, of course, be no fear
of the transcontinental railway, with its
necessarily high freight charges, opening
the goldfields market to Eastern producers.
Hence the popularity of the transcontinen
tal line and the unpopularity of the Espe
rance line in the coastal districts. The
greatest enemies of the transcontinental
railway are indeed those in Western. Aus
tralia, who foster an anti-FederaL spirit,
and by refusing to provide Esperance with
a railway from these fields, are grossly and
deliberately interfering with the spirit of
inter-State free-trade, which is the very es
sence of Federation. Mr. Fowler knows
that the knowledge of this undeniable fact
does incalculable harm in the eastern States
to the transcontinental project. As he
pointed out, if the Esperance railway were
built there would be just as much need as
ever for the transcontinental line. The
best -way to get the support of those who
now-object to the anti-federalism of West
ern Australia as far the State Parliament
to build the Esperance railway, or, as
Mr. C. C. Kingston advocated, for the
Commonwealth to build it in conjunction
with the transcontinental line."
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