NORTHERN TERRITORY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3010, 22 February 1917, Page 5

NORTHERN TERRITORY

GILRUTH ADMINISTRATION CRITICISED '■

feOYAL COMMISSION SOUGHT

~ Under tho auspices of tho A.W.TJ. (states a Port Darwin correspondent of /the "ige")j_a meeting of citizens was '.hold in the Town Hall on Friday, when . a resolution supporting Senator NewJand's motion for a Boyal Commission on Territory affairs was carried, and much criticism of the administration was indulged in.. The meeting revived much of tlio_ bitter criticism which the Gilruth administration has received in the past.: The secretary of the A.W.U. described the Administrator as "a ■ despot of the worst character," and implied that the Administration was ;hand in glove with the capitalists to .Mil State control. One speaker re,ferred to the failure of tho domonstra..tion 'farms, with a loss of £100,000, &nd asserted that officialdom connived s: Bt bringing about tho'.downfall of tho "''white Australia" ideal. 'Another suggested that the Hotel Victoria,; ono of •the State hotels, which had been designated "Gilruth , a -white elephant," 'should be insoribed with tho motto— ■"Down with State control. Down with 'white Australia.' " The local meat "works, which should, according to one 'speaker, he taken over by .'the. State nominee town council, was ! and it was stated l that the old .'council tad been abolished in a spirit of vindictiveness, because it had dared to cross the path of the Administrator. Tho oreation of. a legislative council or advisory board to tho ■ Administrator Tvas urged, together with representation in the Federal Parliament. Tho meeting showed no abatement,in tho. bitterness and antagonism which oxists between tho Administrator andi tho party. The Territory problem has not be,'come easier with the first fivo years of Federal administration: the result has been a most costly,failure. ■■ No single industry bad been improved; the attempts at agriculture have failed, and are practically abandoned. A handful of settlers still cling to favoured spots, and may survive to be a pioneer band ,of settlers of the future, but the cost has been out of all proportion to the result obtained. The mining. output/ .■despite increased assistance, has stead- ■ ily declined with the decline of -the , Chinese population. The pastoral in.dustry has made no substantial adj vance, except the creation of meaii ;Works at Darwin, which will provide an easier outlet than before j but herds have declined, rather than increased. iPearling and buffalo hides show steady Recline. On the other.hand, wages and /the cost of living have advanced amazingly. The Chinese gardener and fisherman have gone, and there is no subVstitute. ■ ' ■ ■ Summed up briefly, the. experience of 'the first five years.of Federal administration -would seem to show that a '"white Australia" is impracticable, or .that Australia must bo awakened to the fact that only by a very great expenditure and great sacrifice , can it be Accomplished. "While wages are probably higher than anywhere else in the jvorldj efficiency is probably lower. The result ia that public works are costly '.beyond belief. •■■:■'- ■■■',

For Dr. Gilruth, it may be said that Bo one could have succeeded under the conditions of his administration. Labour troubles have been chronic, and ho has had finally to submit to almost all Remands. A 44-hour week for farm labourers, receiving • 75sr per week, meant that nothing could be produced at a profit. But this was not all,-for \*he. worlr-done in. the 44 hours ,was probably' not equal to that done in 22 hours elsewhere.' Labour's demands are such nowadays that no industry in the Territory, except perhaps the pastoral, can survive without Government bounties,, and' even, the pastoral industry could not survive if Labour insisted on white stockmen on stations in lieu of native boys. The ■Administrator has failed to meet public ■' opinion, and has invariably adhered to his own view. In this fact.-probably is 'the weak spot of his administration. Pew, if any, of-his innovations have heen kindly received. The alteration of hours for beginning work, the abolition of the district council,'the taking of park lands for Government residences and tue pastoral lease system are instances where the: desires of the people concerned wore not considered, and where the administration rode rough-shod over publio opinion. The demand for a royal commission is undoubtedly based on a desire for an opportunity for much mud-slinging which ■will achieve no purpose. It is a big, fcroad policy that is' required, and such a policy has never .vet been forthcoming. Its main plans must he (1) remove the isolation by a direct rail to the southern, capitals, (2) a high class civil service, well paid, permanent, with right of transfer, (8) a local- Legislative Council on Crown colony lines, (4) representation in the Federal Parliament, (5) recognition of the fact that the "white Australia" ideal is going to be tremendously costly, and a determination to see thd business through at any cost, (6) recognition of the fact that railway extension will he cheaper from Bouth than from north, and that settlement will probably come from south Tather than from north. Administrator's Reply. .The 'Administrator, Dr. Gilruth re'phed to the . statements contained jn the above message. It could not he said, he stated, that the' experimental farms were a failure. They were started about four and a half years ago and they had not cost .hundreds of thousands as asserted. The agricultural farms of 2500 acres had to m cleared and fonced. Two years ago they were scrub, and it was too-early jet to say whether or not they were a failure. He had never yet heard of bush country being turned to profit within a year. It had to he remembered also that |ho award prescribed a wage of £4 a week for a man driving horses. With reference to-the allegation that he was endeavouring to render a "white Australia" policy impossible he would say that no one had given a more emphatic statement that (the Territory could be dovelqa-d. by white men. S> J m d always insisted that neither the climate nor the soil prevented a white man working or living m the Territory. It was stated that the old council had been abolished By him m a spirit of vindictiveness. The old council was abolished by the Goviernment and a new body created, the majority of. members being elected on. adult suffrage. The townspeople elected four representatives and three were auaoinjed by the Government. As the Government gave a subeidy of 10s. for every pound of rates collected it seemed a fair thing that it should bo represented on tho council. Another statement was that not a. single industry had improved during the last fivo years. Seeing that the chief industry was pastoral, and tho freezing works had just been complot~ed, it was a little- early to condemn tho industries. It was true that the pastoral industry had not improved yet. Breeding stock could not be purchased from Queensland and brought across the border to stock the new country taken up. There was no doubt that when the freezing works were in full swing and cattle from Queensland wero available, tho industry would go .ahead by leaps and bounds. Reference was made to the fact that agriculturist:] £ad lefts ihek. holdings,- ißa coils b^

expected when men and their sons could earn £4 a weok each on freezfcig works and railway construction. One" man in June last purchased a wagon and team for £200. Ho employed a driver at 16s. a day, and by December ho got back his £200. Pearling was stopped at the outbreak of war, and the market for buffalo hides had ceased to exist. It was not true that the fivo years administration had proved a "white Australia" impossible. It was true that wages were higher in the Territory than .anywhere else in the world and efficiency probably lower, bub it was not tho result of tho climate. Tho allegation that ho had built official residences on park lands was untrue. Ho had taken up Crown lands, and before doing so took stops to inquire if they had been dedicated to tho council or any promise made by the Government of South. Australia, for their reservation.