Please wait. Contacting image service... loading
Hide article pages Show article pages
  1. Page 6
    Page 6 thumbnail
  2. Page 7
    Page 7 thumbnail

Article text

On this Page 6
'I'ASMX IAN CAMPAIGN.
'HON. H. DOBSOIN AT fIECI?IHANI CS'.
THE PROCBI.MS OF FIrN'AN'CE.
,Hon. Henry Dobson, a candidate for
the Federal Senate, addressed a meeting
at the 'Mechanics' Institute last evening.
There was a fair attendance, fIr. Robert
Carter presiding and in the course of
his introductory remarks expressing the
hope that every candidate would, be out
spoken on the gr'eat question of whether
they favoured a revenue tariff or pro
tection. (Cheers.)
Mr. Ddbson. said at last the hopes
and aspirations of Australia in the di
rection 'of union had 'been realised, and
under a constitution framed by the
people themselves. It now remained
for them under these new conditions
to work out the development of these
magnificent Australian states, and their
first duty would be the election of 'mem
bers of the Federal Parliament. He
proposed to dea'l first with the
IM1dERdAL ASPEOr'T
of federation.. Were they not proud of
their Imperial citizenship? 'If they were
not, then all .he could' say 'was they
ought to be. He showed by some in
teresting comparisons how great had
been the Empire's growth. Their first
duty .was in the matter of defence of
the enormous share of the surface of
Itne earth that had been won by the
grit and arms of the Anglo-Saxon race,
and to spread abroad the principles of
freedom, justice, and liberty. Could
anyone doubt the necessity of'their being
able to. defend themselves. His idea
was that there should be a small
amount of compulsion, enough to ensure
that every man should be taught to use
the rifle. He advocated, nothing ap
proaching conscription, but if their
citizens were trained to shoot and
drilled from time to time they would
have an army of men who could give as
good account of themselves, if the ne
cessity arose, as their boys had recently
done, and were doing now, on the South
African veldt. (Cheers.) So far they
had 'been 'most generously itreated by
the 'mother country in the matter of de
fence, but there was no doubt that in
the future Australia Iwould have to bear
a bigger share in the defence of the
Emrpire, and that it would cost them
more money than it had' done in the
past. General French nad advocated
an army of 10,000 men, Premier Seddon
had gone further and suggested one of
50,000, and probably if they took half
that figure they would have what would
at any rate make a very g'ood start.
Then, too, they wanted better and
biggershlps for theAustralian squadron.
He trusted the day was qluite gone when
any would desire to see an Australian
republic set up, and was sure none now
would dare to voice the cutting of the
painter, for nothing in history 'had done
so much to unite the Empire as the
South African war. (Cheers.)l Two
other links also bound' Australia to
Great Britain. The first was the right
of the Imperial authorities to appoint
the Governor-General and also the Go
vernors of the various states. For he
held that it was most desirable that they
should have State Governors, and so
keep the judicial office as free as pos
sible. The other link he referred to
was the right of appeal to 'the Privy
Couiell, which was 'the inherent right
pf every British subject. Next he would
deal with the'
CONSrrITT'r'iT ONAL AS ECT.
of federation. They had a constitution
that had 'been well described as 'the
most liberal in the world. Where
manhood suffrage existed it would be
utilised for the federal elections 'for both
Houses, and where adult suffrage pre
vailed it would ,be used. And' just here
he might say, if the 'few ladies present
would like to know his views, that he
thought women, If they desired it, had
the right to a vote, but at the same
time he must 'tell them that he adored
the old woman and abhorred the new.
(Laughter.) The responsibilities of the
people at the cnming elections were
very great, and he hoped they 'would
try to lift them a little above 'the level
of their local elections, and their duty
was to vote No. 1 for the man they
thought was the best of the candidates
who solicited their support. It was
most desirable that they should have a
strong Senate, for it would 'be the
nation's second thought, a chamber of
revision, and one that would, be able to
put on the drag when their democrats
wanted to go just a little too fast. Under
this heading he would deal with the
question of old age pensions. He con
sidered it was only right that some
better provision should, be made for
the old men and women who had got too
old to work for themselves. They had
treated their soldiers of the sword with
the liberality they deserved, and were
they going to do nothing £or the sol
diers of the ploughshare, except to open
the doors of the workhouse? (Cheers.)
At the same time he was no lover of
slipshod legislation, such as that re
cently introduced in Victoria by Sir
George Turner. Another important
subjeot was the establishment of courts
of. conciliation and anbitration for the
settlement of industrial disputes. It
would 'be a boon and a blessing iE
strikes and lock-outs could be made a.
thing of the past; but it took a man
with a judicial mind to determine the
question of these differences and do
justice between the employer and em
ployee, between capital and labour, and
enable them to go .hand in 'hand, as they
should, down the avenue of progress.
(Hear, -hear.) fHe 'favoured inter-state
penny postage, and' thought they were
bound to see- it. No doubt, too, over
sea penny postage would follow, but he
hoped Mr. Barton would go slow and
see that the 'financial problem was
settled first and t.he tariff fixed, and
then the ,moment they could afford It,
and not a -moment before, let them have
penny (postage. (Cheens.)
THE :FIIMANOfAL ASPIECT. .
!Inter-staite freetrade only began when
Ithe 'federal tariff (was issued. Such a
rtariff could hardly tbe framed during the
first session of Parliament, but it was
to lbe 'hoped 'that the. enormous advan
tages of an unfettered commerce
thrcughout .the Ciommonwealth 'would be
scoured early in 'rhe second session, or,
say, 'within 18 m'on'ths of its establish
wment. The separate 'tariffs of the six
Istates now yielded a total revenue of
7t½ .millions, and lit was believed that
a federal 'tariff ctf Customs and Excise
duties w.ould be imposed which would
'yield over eight mi'fllicns. 'Out of this
'large revenue the Federal Treasurer
Iwould return to ea.ch state, after de
ducting' t'he ecst cf collection and' the
share of each state in 'the expenses of
'the IFederal Government, 'the amount
Iwhich each state lead 'co'ntributed to
'wards such 'tariff. "This smode of re
turning to 'the states 'the 'balance yielded
[by the federal tariff 'must 'be adopted
iduring 'the first five years from the in
Icelition of the Commonwealth, unless
the constitution was 'altered, and 'urander
this mcde out of a 'tariff of 7½ mil
lions New South Wales Iwould receive
yearly £750,000 more than she required,
and Victoria wou:dl also receive revenue
in excess of 'her requirements, 'while
IPasmaniia, requiring about £1360,000 per
annum to carry on its state govern
mnent, would ireceive about £.165,000
short of the .required 'amount, and
Queensland and WVest 'Australia 'would
also have a shortage. Electons should
hbear in mind that, this shortage 'was not
a loss of revenue. 'The amount of
the shortage remained in their pockets,
and 'the 'workers, the clerks, and 'the
small traders and. farmors would receive
a very large measure of relief 'thr'ough
the Customs, far in excess of any relief
from .taxation which they could have
Obtained 'from a Tasmanian Government
.h'ad federation not been ,accomplished.'
If the Ibalance of the Customs and Ex
Icise revenue vwas ,returned to each state
on the basis of "population," instead of
"contribution," then Tasmania's yearly
shorta:ge (would be about £75,000, in
stead of £"1'65,000, 'the amount'of course
varying with the number of the ,popu
lation. If they were to 'be "one people
with lone destiny," it seemed only a
natural and just 'devel'opment of the
federal spirit 'to argue 'that they ought
to have
"ONE) PURSE."
If ever the Commonwealth had to im
pose direct taxation, it was most impro
Ibable that its Treasurer Iwould take ac
Ieount of the several 'amounts yielded 'by
eadh state; 'but the recenlits from such
a tax 'would no doulbt Ibe ,pooled, and the
(moneys 'applied generally to the pur
poses for which the tax was levied. In
the same 'way, 'why shlould not revenue
derived from the 'tariff he pooled, and
'the citizens of Ithe Commonwealth
!treated as "one people 'with one com
'mon purse?" This mode of dealing
Iwith the 'financial prdblem was one
which the representatives of Tasmania
might 'fairly contend 'for; it was not
'half so disastrous to them as 'returning"
the surplus on the "contributlion" basis;;
but some states, notably West 'Australia
and Queenslan'd, would suffer un'der such
a scheme, and in order to make it ap
tproach anythling like justice it was
quite iprobalble that for 'a time sutbsidies
might 'have 'to be granted, 'by 'the Fede
ral Government 'to some of the states;.
as was done under Ithe Federal 'Act in
Canada. At the end of five years from
January 1 last the surplus of .duties to
Customs and IExcise had 'to Ibe returned
'to Ithe states upon such 'basis as the
'Panliatment thought fair, and 'under this
pow?er the Parliament ,might establish a
'third 'way of dealing 'Nith the surplus,
and grant a sum to each state accord
ing to its needs, i.e., In proplortioUr to
,the sacrifice of revenue it had' made in
entering the Commonwealth. This
third ;plan 'had been suggested' and most
ably supported 'by Mr. Justice ,Clark
and Mr. R. M. Johnston, but there were
serious difficulties in the 'way of carry
ing it ou.t. It was important the elec
ttors should realise 'the cause of'
TASMhANrA'S SHORfPAtG{I
of revenue under a uniform tariff. It
was solely owing 'to the 'fact 'that the
purchasing power ofat Ithei:r people was
consideralbly less than that of the
average Australian. They had less
money to spend th'an 'the average Aus
tralian in goods 'which Ipaid a duty. Mr.
Johnston's figures 'had 'been quoted
throughoult, and 'whatever 'cheering
sotes 'or idesponding notes electors had
read contradicting such figures were
misleading, for the iStatistician gave the
reason 'for t'he Ipurchasing ipower of
Tasmanians being Ibelow Au.ralians'
generally, and that was tthat the wages
here were one-fifth .less t'han the wages
earned in 'Australia. When, therefore,
they had l6s 'to spend at 'the stores,
Australians had 20s, anlt 'with 'the extra
4a per head 'they could buy luxuries
which Tasmanians could not afford.
The ;moment the power 'to 'buy luxuries
wpas restricted a large falling off ,in Cus
ttoms duties 'was ,immediately 'felt, for it
Iwas the luxuries and semi-luxuries
which tielddd the langest 'amount of
duty. The difficulties of adjusting the
federal finances 'were therefore great.
but the reasons !for the .difficulties were
simple enough. The Convention could
see no'clear nmode of settling 'the Ifinan
vial problem, and It wisely 'left 'tliis to
tbe done by Ithe ropresentattlec cf the

lelectora in Parliament asemlble; who .tz
4would 'he.'rese?n.s.iJp 'to ,the people for tc
?hat .they did.. Taiking over the debts
*15oe0 not assist in settling ithe problem, tl
If books were 'to be kept and each state
as to bo e credited nvith only the exact v
amount of duities it raised less ex- g
penses, because the same result was (:
reached in the end, namely, that some
statee would have an excess and some
a shortage of revenue after 'the interest
'was paid, credited, or debited to them is
in the federal ledger. hi
g~RlFRENKIHM'ENrP AND TAXATION. .
l[t was clear, 'then, that Tasmania ts
imust be ,prepared to make up some de- a:
Ifl ency in revenue, and ithis could h
only be done by retrenchment and extra el
'taxation. The State expenditure for y
the current year was passed at £980,000, o0
(being an increase of £200,000 in five It
years. This expenditure was more It
than.the state could afford, and it 'would i,
[have to be ecut down. (Cheers.) It e:
cwas unjust to reduce the policeman and di
the railway employee 6d 'a d?ay, but the ti
expenses 'of government must be eut ic
idown, and the State smachinery must be Iw
adapted to the new conditions, More ti
kliredt taxation must 'be imposed, not, it ci
was to'be hoped, on land, which was .the it
raw material of every industry, 'but on N
those sources of wealth which ,now tl
escaped. The Dobson-Henry Govern- W
Saent Imposed an income 'tax 'which- d'
dislike it as they might-twas the best rf
tax ever devised for making each 'tax- r{
payer "'contribute in accordance with sl
Ibis arbility." When that Governmnelt 'W
left office 'the promises of fiscal reform t1
anade to the people were never fulfilled, t
and for the last 'few years those electors d
iho- .had possessed shares in' com
Ipanies bhad been compelled to pay 9d
ln athe £1 upon their dividends, and. yet i
their afar wealthier (brothers had, contri
?buted nothing upon the (income derived
from their fixed ,deposits and ,mortgages.
iAn all-round income tax, such as most,
If nt all, 'the other states had to pay,
'would only yield an additional £15,000 It
:per annum, and the fact 'that only a
very limited sum could be raised by '
kitrect 'taxation in the smaller states in
creased .the financial difficulties and
made it so essential that the
FEDDERAL TiA'RI1F ti
a'
should be adapted to the needs and cir- d
koumstaaces of the Oommonwealth. A b
revenue tariff yielding, he (believed., over
1-8,000,000 must be imposed. Freetrade a'
manust 'be held, be a sound ,
Iprinciple--(loud cheers)-and, with an ,n
finfeitered inter-state commerce, there v
twas enormous .room For development, I
the result being far greater prosperity (b
eth'an under a system which restricted qi
trade. Protection could not be sound. a
it rested upon no principle, and was en
tirely a question of expediency, in which
all ,were taxed, not to increase the puu
S'ic revenue, Ibuit -to 'benefit certain sec- tl
tions of their producers and n
(manufacturers. (Renewed cheers.) t:
Once decide to alpply a policy of 'pro- t1
Itection, and it could not Ibe justly ,deter- n
mined where it should begin and when b
it should 'leave 'off. Most of their in- t
idustries, 'without corunting minerals. h
twere naitural, as opposed 'to protected or F
:artificial Industries, and those engaged h
In them had after supplying the home r
:narket large surpluses for export. To t'
all these a .. . -. . a
=RE'RADE MARKET v
was. essential. Then, if to these the
mining industry-which had absolutely a
nothing to gain, (but everything to lose, h
trom protection-Ibe added, there was an c
overwhelming freetrade majority, whose
interests must as far as possible 'be sate
guarded. 'Bear in mind, however, that
the protectionist in Parliament 'would
appeal Ito t'he sense of justice and fair
play of the freetrader and federalist, C
and that 'the latter might (be induced to
listen, because justice was the fundk
tmental principle of all national :life. No
member of the Convention, outside West
Australia, ever conceived that !that state
mwould obtain special concessions in the
matter of Customs duties until Sir John
(Forrest 'based his claim upon justice
and argued strongly that 'it was not fair '
t'o expect 'his colony to join the Com- 1
moawealth unless the constitution 'took
into accounit the (fact that every. other
colony, including 'New South Whles, but
excepting his own, had established pro
ducers and manufacturers under a policy
wlhich had protected them for years.
The protectionist would argue then that
there was engrafted in 'the constitution
,the very 'principle' for which he con
itended,viz.;that the protected industries
should (be treated justly and leniently,
and that just as (the 'bloiw of 'inter-state
freetrade was softened to West Aus
tralia, so the same blow should be
softened in his case. Then, again, it
would be Ipointed out that :the electors
were'induced 'to vote "Yes" at the fede
ral referendum by promises 'made to
them that 'they should have protection
againsit the outside 'vorld. It was just
as well to face these difficulties, but
those freetrade candidates 'who were re
'turned must apply their princi~ples as
far as they 'possilbly could, remembering
that the conditions landl laws under
Which Australia had thi'therto 'been de
'veloped could not be entirely ignored.
'An ultra-freetrader 'would pro~bably con
tend Ithat all the Iproducts of Newv Zea
iland should 'be allo.wed to enter the
Commonwealth 'duty ,free, but ilt. was
certain that the great bulk of the Aus
tralian farmers 'would expect that some
luties affording them a moderate
a·ounilt oi ,protection should be imposed
on the 'meat, grain, cheese, butter,
bacon, etc., coming from other ,parts of
'the world, including 'New Zealand, the
richest colony in the 'Empire. Mr.
l1id admitted that freetrade was inmpos
sibhle,- and the people would be given an
"'Australian tariff ifor an Australian
peeo~ple." ?N?o riticiinng could,? be effec
tively applied 'to the proposed taxrift till
the duties were made known. It was
indecent on Mr. Reid's part to at this
stage askl the electors to choose between
him and Mr. Bar'ton.
A voice-Look how Mr. Reid' jockered.
Mr. Barton out of the 'Federal Premier
shin.
Mr. Dobson-Oh, no.
Mr. D. Ingles--t was after Mr. Bar
ton had chosen his Ministly that MIr.
Reid made that statement.
Mr. Dobson-Ilut you "ca'nt difscuss a
tariff until you see figures. Let Mr.
Barton stand or fall by his policy, and
if it is against the in erest of Tas

"'miania,'and'I am elected, I phall be one ft
to vote against it. gI
A voice--lMr. Barton says it is pro- 0o
tection. w
Mr. Dobson was not going to be go- a
verned by phrases; he was going to be ti
governed by figures and, principles. P
(,Hear,, hear.) d
tUST1R'AJIIA v. PARTTY.
The attempt to raise "a clear-cut
issue" was only 'the old dodge of the
"outs" trying to eject the "ins," for a n
htraight-out fight Ibetween freetrade and s5
Protection seemed hardly possible. The
tariff nmust produce a very large sevenue,
and, ,while 'they mighlt 'hope !that the s
high duties of the past had. gone for ii
ever, high revenue 'duties 'whlich iwould
yield large sums would ,have the effect 3
of giving a fair measure of protection
to some of 'their important industries;
It seemed to bhe quite forgotten that the
nations of 'the 'world 'were so used to
exporting to Australia against high
duties that a considerable reduction of
these high duties 'would result in yield
ing a rlarge revenue. Sir Philip Fysh
twas evidently referring ito this phase of tl
the question when, in 'his recent finan
cial paper, 'he spoike of "a revenue 'tariff
incidentally affording protection," and
IMr. Barton probably .meant the sanme
thing when he said, the proposed tariff
would be "moderately.protective." The t
duty on every impoltant article in the
tariff 'would hbe fought over, and t.he
result would be a compromise; but
surely 'those of its 'who were rfreetradera
would have no cause to 'complain when
they had secured' :for ever freetrade tl
throughout the Comnmonlwesalth, reduced tl
duties from 25 per cent. and 30 per cent. ti
to, say, 12% per cenlt. and 15 per cent., D
obtained a large free list, vi'th raw
rnaterial of every description exempt
from 'duty, and 'they realised that the
sound prinmoiples they believed in 'were
gaining ground every hour in the judg
ment of the people. 'The first Federal ip
Ministers had very large responsibili- u
ties 'thrust upon 'them, and ought to be IY
loyally supported, unless MIr. 'Barton's tl
policy was such that menobers, :believ- *
ing it to be injurious, felt bound to
vote against it. 'No such injury as
would justify hurling :from. office the
federal leader and his colleagues before
they had had time to give proof of their
ability could possibly arise because a
duty here and there was 5 per cent. n
higher or lower. The motto. ought to be ti
"Australia first and' party afterwards," tl
and it 'was 'to ,be ,hoped 'that iMr. Barton t
'would receive the generous support of
members, Ito 'w hich his invaluable ser
'vices to the cause of unity entitled. 'him.
It his 'policy on the 'whole was believed d
by the majonity not to be in the best I
interests 'of the Commontve'alth, ,he 'must r
accept the consequences.
THE INDUSTRIAL 'ASPECT.
In conclusion, 'Mr. Dobson 'dealt with
the industrial aspect of 'federation,under
which they would have inter-state free-.
trade, which would restore confidence,
the basis of all commercial life. More
money 'would be invested, more labour d
be wanted, wages would 'be better
these were some of the blessings that
he predicted would' follow federation.
He hoped they in Tasmania would' up
hold the traditions of the Anglo-Saxon F
race, and follow in the footsteps of
the dear Queen who had: gone, and who,
as Tennyson had said, had wrought her a
people lasting good. He trusted' they a
would uphold 'the best traditions of the c
Empire--for it was character after all, .
and not 'freetrade or protection, that t
mnade the man-and 'with technical edu
cation be able to hold their .place., The
British IHmpire 'was at the top of the
tree, and though other nations were try
ing 'to grasp what they ,had. got he
hoped the Anglo-Saxon race would be
able to hold its own. They were be- I
come a united' people-one people, not I
only in religion, not only in laws and i
institutions, but in the iprivileges and t
honours of Empire, and, above all, in
the unspeakable privileges of one com- 1
mon freedom. (Loud' cheers). t
THE TAIRFF'F ISSUE:
After a few remarks from Mr. 'Ingles
.criticising some of the statements made
by Mr. Dobson, Mr. -Houghton asked the
candidate whether, in the event of his
election and the Governor-General's
speech containing a proposal for pro
tective duties, he would' support the
Barton Caibinet or vote w'ith the free
trade party.
Mr. Dobson might first of 'all remind
his friend that Mr. Barton nwas not fool
enough to put into 'the speech anything
they could ,put a handle to. The ques
tion could not be discussed until they
saw the duties. What extent of pro
tection .did his friend consider 10 or 15
per cent. duties?
Mr. Houghton-It depends on what
articles they are put. He thought the
electors had a right to know what party
Mr. Dobson would support before they
put him into the Federal Parliament.
Mr. Dobson replied that he had al
ready said in the most distinct manner
that Mr. Barton, in his opinion, was en
titled to fair suIport,.and that support
he would give until he found that his
(IMr. Barton's) policy conflicted in
something more than a merely literal
degree with his ('Mi'. Dobson's) freetrade
principles.
Mr. G. Cragg asked Mr.. Dobson
Swhether he would support a revenue
a tariff or Mr. Barton as a rmoderate pro
tectionist.
Mr. Dobson said the tariff must be for
revenue purposes, 'hut if they insisted
on one for revenue purposes only he was
afraid they 'would be disappointed in
, the result. He would 'certainly not be
a party to turning Mr. 'Barton'out be
cause some duty or other had a protec
tive incidence.
SMr. Cragg moved a vote of thanks to
Sthe candidate. He regretted, however,
that 'he had not been a little more de
1 finite upon the tariff question.
,g 'Alderman Storrer seconded' the mo
is tion. and expressed the opinion that thr
Scandidate had been straight and honest,
and not said aahything calculated to
Scatch"votes.
S The motion was carried, and acknow
ledged by the canhdidate, and. the usual
cdmdHlisen't to the chair brought the
.meeting to a close.
·.' I ________

$