promise he claimed that new powers should be conferred on the Commonwealth Parliament, so that it would be able to deal with trade and commerce within as well as between the States, and in particular that it should have power to regulate prices and control monopolies. Pricefixing during the war had been sustained by a decision of the High Court, which, somewhat unpectedly, had treated it as an exercise of the power of defence. But it was claimed that unless the Constitution were amended the control of intraState trade and commerce, including the right of price-fixing, would revert to the States. Here, however, Mr. Hughes had an experience of the difficulties of his position as a Nationalist leader. The party was agreed that the time had come for a general revision of the Constitution, and on the whole, that if prices or wages were to be regulated by law, the task should be carried out by an authority having jurisdiction over the whole of Australia. But it was as a whole opposed to so extensive and indefinite an increase of Commonwealth power as had formerly been championed by Mr. Hughes; and in all the States but Queensland it had a majority in the State Parliament. Mr. Hughes was compelled, therefore, to propose a bargain with the State Premiers in order to prevent a schism within the party. After negotiations with them which were not wholly successful, he proposed that the Commonwealth should be entrusted with authority to deal with what he described as the aftermath of the war, that a referendum should be held at the General Election by which the necessary additional powers should be secured for the Commonwealth, that these powers should be exercisable for a limited period only, and that before the end of 1920 a Convention should be held to prepare a general scheme of constitutional revision. This compromise was supported by the Nationalist members in the Federal Parliament, and was accepted by some Labour members as a step towards unification which could not be retraced without considerable difficulty. But it was never accepted by the Nationalists in the country, and it was opposed by the farmers, not on constitutional grounds, but because it foreshadowed the increase of government interference with trade and commerce. Labour manifesto furnishes documentary evidence of the decline in political vision and in sense of responsibility which began in the party at the time of the first conscription referendum, and has not since been arrested. It contains a series of promises without suggestion of the means necessary for their redemption. Offers are made to invalids, old age pensioners and others involving new expenditure to the amount of some seventeen millions per annum. The Government is to take control of banking and insurance businesses to an unspecified amount. The compulsory system of naval and military training is to be abandoned in favour of a voluntary army on a more democratic basis. This proposal is followed by a demand for the more complete self-determination of Australia, and for a change in her position as a member of the British family of nations. The campaign began with an incident which, unfortunately, can be regarded as to some extent characteristic of both leaders. Mr. Hughes, on his return, declared himself to be the friend of the soldiers, and promised to do for them whatever they asked. He was no doubt sincere, but the promise was stated in the same vague terms as his other proposals. Shortly afterwards the New Zealand Government made a promise to pay the members of the Expeditionary Force a gratuity of Is. 6d. per day. Thereupon the soldiers de

The

manded that Mr. Hughes should translate his promise into action and make a gift to them at the same rate. . . . Mr. Hughes . . . announced that the payment must be made, and stated that it would take the form of non-negotiable bonds, which would be taken at their face value for repatriation purposes. . . . Mr. Ryan, however, saw his chance, and announced that the Labour Party would pay the same amount in cash. . . . Thereupon began a competition between the two leaders in which the last thing considered was the interest of the community as a whole. Ultimately the Government made an arrangement by which bonds were to be taken at their face value by certain large employers, and the greater part were to be redeemed out of the first instalment of the German indemnity. . . . It is due to the soldiers to say that the greater number refused to take any part in what looked like an auction sale of their interest in the country to the highest bidder. This incident is also in one respect typical of the spirit in which the campaign was conducted between the two leaders. It became very largely a personal contest between Mr. Hughes and Mr. Ryan. Mr. Hughes insisted on his services as the defender of the White Australian policy at the Peace Conference and on Mr. Ryan's lack of loyalty or patriotism. Mr. Ryan's general answer was to say that Mr. Hughes had imposed unnecessary sacrifices on Australia, and that the Nationalist Government was incapable of dealing with profiteering through its association with large commercial businesses. The attention of the electors was never seriously directed to the crying needs of the country, to its growing taxation, to its heavy burden of debt, to disclosures of extravagant expenditure, which have been made during the war by one commission after another, or to the steady decrease in production which has been caused mainly by the drought but partly by the attraction of loan expenditure in the big cities." -Round Table, March, 1920, PP. 432-436."The General Election [1919] was fought very largely on the Labour proposal for the unification of Australia. In the spring the Labour Organisations published a highly interesting programme on this important problem. It was apparently the intention of the Labour Party to advocate an entire change of the Australian Constitution, with the setting up of a Constitution more comparable to that of the Union of South Africa."-Annual Register, 1920, p. 301.-"As a result of elections held in Australia in December [1919] the Nationalists in the lower House controlled 39 seats, the Labor party, 26, and the Country party (anti-labor), 10. In the Senate the Nationalists had 35 seats and Labor 1. In the new parliament, which met on February 26, Premier Hughes was severely criticised for his attempt to rid the country of strikes by use of the war power vested in him; his order prohibiting banks or any one else' from giving money or goods to strikers proved abortive. By its new tariff Australia provides three sets of rates: the British preferential, to be applied to imports from the United Kingdom; intermediate, to be granted upon the conclusion of reciprocity treaties; and general rates, to be applied to all countries not entitled to either of the other tariffs. While the new tariff will undoubtedly bind Australia more closely to the empire, its object as stated by the Premier is 'to protect industries born during the war and to encourage others that are desirable and will diversify and extend existing ones."E. D. Graper and H. J. Carman, Record of political events (Political Science Quarterly, Supplement, Sept., 1920, p. 105).-See also TARIFF: 1919-1920:

World wide tariff tendency.-In 1920 the term of the governor-general, Sir R. Munro-Ferguson expired and he was succeeded by the Rt. Hon. Lord Forster. A list of the governors-general since the proclamation of the Commonwealth is as follows: Marquess Linlithgow, 1901-1903; Lord Tennyson, 1903-1904; Lord Northcote, 1904-1908; Earl of Dudley, 1908-1911; Lord Denman, 1911-1914; Sir R. Munro-Ferguson, 1914-1920.

1920.-New Guinea (German) given as mandatory under League of Nations. See BRITISH EMPIRE: Treaties promoting expansion: 1920; NEW GUINEA or PAPUA: 1920.

1920.-Press Conference at Ottawa. See BRITISH EMPIRE: Colonial and imperial conferences: 1920 (August).

1921.-Australia's mandate published.-Premier Hughes endorsed as representative to the coming Imperial Conference.-"Australia's mandate for the former German islands in the Pacific south of the equator was published on Feb. 9 [1921] by the League of Nations Council. It also published Japan's waiver of the clause respecting equal trading opportunities, which, however, the declaration said, should not be considered acquiescence by Japan."-N. Y. Times Current History, March, 1921, p. 502.-"Premier Hughes was defeated in the Australian Parliament on April 14 by an adverse majority of two, which, however, was purely accidental. In a plea to the members, he [Premier Hughes] stated that the vote made his position impossible, and that he could not attend the coming British imperial conference unless there was a clear indication that the vote did not mean censure or an attempt to take the control of business out of the hands of the Government. He received an emphatic endorsement on April 20, when resolutions reiterating confidence in the Government and declaring in favor of Premier Hughes as Australia's representative at the imperial conference were passed by a vote of 46 to 23. [Since then] debate on the Empire's foreign policy has occupied the attention of Parliament." -N. Y. Times Current History, June, 1921, p. 510. 1921.-Imperial conference.-Question of Anglo-Japanese alliance.-Declaration of dominion rights.-Reparation receipts apportioned. See BRITISH EMPIRE: Colonial and imperial conferences: 1921; and 1921: Treaty of Versailles. 1921.-Electoral system. See SUFFRAGE, MANHOOD: British Empire: 1921.

See

1921. Unrest over Japanese in Pacific. JAPAN: 1918-1921: As third of great World Powers.

Charities. See CHARITIES: Australasia.

Child welfare. See CHILD WELFARE LEGISLATION: Australia.

Conservation, irrigation and forestry. See CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Australia.

French colonies. See FRANCE: Colonial empire. Masonic societies. See MASONIC SOCIETIES: Australasia.

Missions. See MISSIONS, CHRISTIAN: Islands of the Pacific.

Mythology. See MYTHOLOGY: Indonesian mythology: Australian mythology.

Race problems.-Reasons for dread of Asiatic immigration.-Demand for white Australia. See RACE PROBLEMS: 1904-1913.

Railroads, Trans-Australian. See RAILROADS: 1908-1918.

Social legislation. See SOCIAL INSURANCE: New Zealand.

Suffrage. See AUSTRALIAN BALLOT; and SUFFRAGE, MANHOOD: British Empire: 1921.

ALSO IN: A. W. Jose, History of Australasia.E. Lewin, Commonwealth of Australia.-Gordon

and Gotch, Australian handbook (annual).-W. P. Reeves, State experiments in Australia and New Zealand.-T. A. Coghlan, Labour and industry in Australia.-A. T. Clark, Labour movement in Australasia.-F. Johns, Australasia's prominent people.

AUSTRALIA, Constitution of. The following is the "Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia," as passed by the Imperial Parliament, July 9, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. ch. 12) (see AUSTRALIA: 1900). The text is from the official publication of the act:

Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established: And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.

2. The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at any time after the proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth.

4. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth shall take effect, on and after the day so appointed. But the Parliaments of the several colonies may at any time after the passing of this Act make any such laws, to come into operation on the day so appointed, as they might have made if the Constitution had taken effect at the passing of this Act.

5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Constitution. shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every State and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be in force on all British ships, the Queen's ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth.

6. "The Commonwealth" shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia as established under this Act. "The States" shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the northern territory of South Australia, as for the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such colonies or territories as may be admitted into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called "a