national sovereignty or justified the coercive intervention of capitalist States, foreign in politics to Latin America.

Uruguay-Friction arose in November between Uruguay and Cuba, owing to a statement made by the Uruguayan delegate to the League of Nations, that under the Treaty with the United States Cuba's sovereignty was restricted. Cuba took such strong exception to the remark that she ordered her representative to leave Montevideo. On November 15, however, the Uruguayan Minister at Havana delivered to the Cuban State Department a note of apology from his Government, and friendly relations were thereupon restored between the two countries.

CHAPTER XI.

AUSTRALASIA: THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND.

THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

IN order that Mr. Stanley Bruce, the Prime Minister, might be free to attend the Imperial Conference in the autumn, the tenth Federal Parliament was opened at Melbourne on January 13. The General Election in November had given the Nationalist and Country Party Coalition control of both Houses, Mr. Bruce's majority of 27 in the House of Representatives being the clearest mandate ever enjoyed by a Commonwealth Ministry. Sir Littleton Groom was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in place of Mr. Watt, who had resigned, Mr. J. G. Latham having succeeded Sir Littleton Groom as Attorney-General a month earlier. Later in the year there were other Ministerial changes. On June 18, Senator Sir Victor Wilson, Minister for Markets, resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Paterson, a member of the Victorian Country Party. Senator G. F. Pearce, who found the administrative work too heavy for him, resigned the Ministry for Home and Territories to Major-General Sir William Glasgow. Mr. Pearce became Vice-President of the Executive Council and retained the leadership of the Government in the Senate.

In his speech opening Parliament, Lord Stonehaven, the Governor-General, referred to the sound financial position of the Commonwealth, evidenced by the successful flotation of a War Loan conversion of 67,000,000l., without the assistance of overseas money. Lord Stonehaven also announced a Bill forbidding the establishment of associations, having for their object the forcible disturbance of constitutional Government, and the dislocation of trade and commerce, which proved to be the outstanding measure of the Session. Mr. Latham, the Attorney-General introduced the Bill on January 29. Power to deport convicted

prisoners was given to the Government, provided such persons were not Australian-born. The Crimes Bill was, essentially, a re-enactment of the Unlawful Associations Act, which expired at the end of the World War, and provided that any body of persons which advocated or encouraged the overthrow of Government or the destruction or injury of property by violence was an unlawful association. Mr. Latham's Bill avoided the legal entanglements associated with the Immigration Act of 1925, which resulted in the High Court deciding against the Government in the deportation proceedings instituted against Walsh and Johannsen, the shipping strike leaders. It was strenuously opposed by the Labour Party, especially Clause 30 J, which was regarded as an attack upon trade unionism, but passed into law practically in its original form.

A cognate problem came up for discussion on May 20, when the House of Representatives agreed to the first reading of a Bill to alter the Constitution by the insertion of a clause giving power to the Government to protect public interests in the case of actual or probable interruption of essential services. Justifying the proposal, Mr. Bruce recalled the experiences of Great Britain during the general strike. At the same time the House of Representatives passed the first reading of the Alteration of the Constitution Bill (Industry and Commerce), giving the Commonwealth power to legislate for the control of trusts and combines. The Prime Minister said that the alteration was needed because industrial peace was impossible with the six States under different systems. The Bill would remedy the state of affairs by which the Federal Arbitration Court was judicially powerless. These constitutional changes were submitted to a referendum of the Federal electorate in September. The form of the questions to be submitted to referendum was settled by agreement between Mr. Bruce and Mr. Charlton, leader of the Labour Opposition. Mr. Bruce, in announcing the agreement to Parliament on June 10, said that the greater question of control of commerce and industry would be reserved for the Constitutional Session at Canberra. The Referendum poll resulted in a "no" vote against the Government proposals, which aroused both State jealousies and trade union distrust. While the Federal Labour leaders supported the arbitration proposals included in the referendum, State Labour opposed them.

In the House of Representatives on March 3, Mr. H. E. Pratten, Minister for Trade and Customs, moved resolutions validating the collection of duties imposed in the Tariff Schedule introduced on September 2, 1925, and made an interesting declaration on the effect of the new tariffs upon United Kingdom trade. After the introduction of the Tariff Bill, strong protests had been made against certain duties, particularly by the farming interests in Australia, and considerable changes were made to meet the criticism. On August 12 further amendments of the

Customs Tariff were introduced, increasing the duties upon iron and steel goods. The changes were confined to the intermediate and general rates, and did not alter the British preferential rate. The second reading of the Papua and New Guinea Bounties Bill was moved by Mr. Pratten on January 22. It placed certain products of the islands, such as coffee and cocoanuts, upon the free-list in the Australian Customs Tariff, and granted bounties upon other Papuan and New Guinea goods.

Defence problems were discussed in connexion with a report presented to the House of Representatives by Lieut.-General Sir Harry Chauvel, Inspector-General of Military Forces, in July, and the Defence Estimates presented by Sir Neville Howse, V.Č., on August 6. Sir Harry Chauvel suggested that as Australia was dependent upon the Imperial Navy for protection, the provision of proper naval bases justified special financial arrangements. Discussing General Chauvel's report on July 19, Mr. Bruce said that no expenditure could meet every possible emergency, but Australia was actually spending more per head of population upon naval defence than all the other Dominions put together. Sir Neville Howse, explaining the Defence Estimates, gave details of the developmental programme approved in 1924, which extended over five years, costing 1,000,000l. a year, exclusive of the capital cost of two 10,000-ton cruisers, two submarines, and a seaplane-carrier. In addition, during 1926-27, 4,069,0871. would be spent from revenue upon defence, excluding war services, and 587,500l. from Loan fund.

As part of a co-ordinate scheme to develop Australian resources by the application of scientific and business methods, Mr. H. W. Gepp, general manager of the Electrolytic Zinc Co. of Australia, was appointed Chairman of the Commonwealth Development and Immigration Commission for seven years at a salary of 5,000l. In this capacity Mr. Gepp accompanied Mr. Bruce to England. At the same time Mr. Gunn-- then Premier of South Australia-was appointed a Development Commissioner at a salary of 2,500l., Mr. Nathan, of Western Australia, becoming Vice-chairman of the Commission, without salary. The Government laid it down as basic policy that the industrial development of Australia should precede immigration. On May 18 Sir Hugh Denison was appointed Australian Commissioner in the United States. Other developmental work during the year included the introduction of a Bill on January 20, providing for the extension of the railway in South Australia from Port Augusta to Alice Springs, at a cost of 1,700,000l., this being a section of the promised Trans-continental Railway to Port Darwin. A Bill was also passed providing for the division of the old Northern Territory into two States, which will be known as North Australia and Central Australia. The boundary between the States is the twentieth parallel of south latitude, the area of each State being

about 250,000 square miles. It is proposed that a Government Resident shall administer Central Australia from its capital, Alice Springs, exercising authority under the Commonwealth Minister for Home and Territories. Northern Australia will be administered by another Government Resident, aided by an Advisory Council and a North Australian Commission, the first members of which are Messrs. Horsbrugh, Hobler, and Easton. In the course of the debate Mr. Bruce warmly repudiated the suggestion that these territories could be properly described as the "dead heart" of Australia. In May, the first passenger motor service made the journey from Adelaide to Port Darwin and back in thirty-eight days. Lord Stonehaven also visited the Northern Territory by aeroplane.

Interesting speeches upon inter-Imperial trade were made by Lord Stonehaven and Mr. Bruce at the annual luncheon of the Australian Association of British Manufacturers in Melbourne, on March 6, and informal Conferences upon British trade and immigration were held during the tour of the Empire Parliament delegates. Addressing the visiting Parliamentarians at Canberra, Major-General Glasgow reviewed the Commonwealth's administration in the mandated territories of New Guinea. In November, Australia, as the mandatory authority in New Guinea, was forced to send a small expedition to New Britain, in the Bismarck Archipelago, to punish the natives for the murder of three white gold prospectors. The expedition consisted of fourteen Europeans and fifty-seven native police.

A series of extensive bush fires raged in the forest districts of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia in the early part of February, the damage in the Dandenong ranges being considerable. In the Wagga district of New South Wales, the fires were the worst since 1900, and much valuable timber, fencing, and grass were lost. There were at least thirty deaths owing to the fires, the heaviest death-roll being in the Warburton district (Vic.), where twenty-two people perished. Though less widespread, the bush fires recalled the disastrous "Black Thursday of 1851. There were other serious bush fires in New South Wales in December.

As for State politics, a Conference of State Ministers opened in Melbourne on May 24 to discuss the financial relations between States and Commonwealth with Mr. Bruce and Dr. Page, the Federal Treasurer. After two days' debate, the Conference ended in complete disagreement, the States representatives refusing the Federal proposal that they should surrender the per capita payment of 25s. a year out of Federal revenue, receiving in return the entire right to income-taxation upon individuals. Mr. Bruce, however, intimated that his Government would not abandon their policy of entirely separating the finances of Federation and States. The per capita payment at present yields about seven

millions sterling per annum, and the income-tax proposals of the Government represented a fair quid pro quo. The acceptance of the Federal offer, however, by the States would have entailed the abandonment of all claim to share in the Customs revenue, and, therefore, would have necessitated an increase in direct local taxation in case of extra Budget expenditure. Hence the refusal of the States.

Several matters of political and economic interest arose in New South Wales, where Mr. J. T. Lang held office as Premier of a Labour Government. In New South Wales, Parliament consists of two Houses, the Legislative Assembly being elected on an adult franchise, while the Legislative Council consists of members appointed for life by the Governor on the advice of his Ministers. The New South Wales Labour Party, desiring single-chamber Government, proposed the dissolution of the Council, and, in December, 1925, Mr. Lang persuaded Sir Dudley de Chair, the State Governor, to nominate twenty-five new Labour members to the Council, his hope being that the Council would then agree to its own dissolution. The Bill abolishing the Council, however, was defeated by 47 votes to 41, and Sir Dudley de Chair refused to assent to the nomination of another batch of Labour members. His attitude led to strong attacks upon the Governor by the New South Wales Labour Party, and Mr. McTiernan, the State Attorney-General, was sent to London, "for the purpose of obtaining from the Dominion Office a definition of the powers of a State Governor." The controversy between Mr. Lang and his Governor raised the whole question of State Governors in Australia. In the previous year the Premiers of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania had sent a joint despatch to the Secretary of State for the Dominions, asking that the appointment of State Governors from the mother-country should be discontinued, and that all State vacancies in the office should be filled by Australian citizens nominated by the respective State Governments of the day. In a despatch dated March 3, the Secretary of State for the Dominions replied to the letter of the State Premiers. Mr. Amery pointed out that opinion in Australia on the subject was still acutely divided, and that His Majesty's Government could not abandon the existing procedure without evidence that Australian opinion was strongly in favour of the change. The State of Victoria, where Labour was not in power, refused to associate itself with the proposed change in State Governors. The New South Wales Labour Government, on March 9, passed a Bill establishing a forty-four hour week. The High Court of Australia, sitting at Melbourne, began the hearing of three appeals questioning the validity of this Act on the ground that it conflicted with Federal arbitration awards based upon a forty-eight hour week. The appellants were the Clyde Engineering Co., Messrs. Lever Bros.,