Goodman & Co., A. Graf, Grocott & Sherry, Glover & McKowen, J. G. Inoe & Co., Johnson & Webster, J. C. Juta & Co., J. M. Legate & Co., Lorentz & Co., Mendelssohn & Bruce, H. Michaelis, Pearson & Co., Remington Typewriter Agency, W. Saphra, J. J. Simpson, Isodor Traube, M. P. Vallentine, A. Wilson; Wilson, Hedding & Co., M. J. Wood.

Pretoria.-Afrikannsche Boekhandel, Algemeene Transvaalsche Boekhandel, Argus Company, C. Basson & Co., R. O. Basson, W. E. Burmester & Co., J. H. de Bussy, M. R. Fraser & Co., Hoveker & Wormser, E. O. Meyers & Co.

TIMBER.

Johannesburg-Bardsorf & Co., Beckett & Co.; W. P. Brown & Co., Limited; French South African Trading Company, Griffiths & Co., Grey & Harrison, Harvey & Co., Henwood & Co., W. Hosken & Co., Holland & Vardy; Hunt, Leuchars & Hepburn; W. F. Johnstone & Co., Johannesdals Timber Company, Lingham Timber and Trading Company, H. Mosenthal & Co., Norwegian African Company, Parker Bros; Parker, Wood & Co.; Phillip Bros., Rand Hardwood Company, Rand Timber Company, Rand Wood-Working Company; Rens, Herron & Co.; M. M. Stytler & Co.

Pretoria.-Beckett & Co., Cairncross & Zillen, W. Francis & Son, Izaak Haarhoff, Henwood & Co.; John Jack, Limited; A. Johnson & Co., Lingham Timber and Trading Company, Mosenthal Bros. & Wolff.

WALL PAPERS, OIL, AND COLORS.

Johannesburg.-T. Alcock & Co., Bellgrove & Snell, Bretherton & Welch, H. Evans, Garthorne Bros; Gordon, Mitchell & Co.; Henwood & Co., Kaufmann Bros., G. J. Kettle & Co., T. G. Litchfield, Paddon & Brook, Wolff & Elias.

FEDERAL MOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIA.

*

Under date of April 16, 1898, I sent a brief report on the history and progess of the federal movement in Australia, and on June 6, the same year, after the constitution had been defeated by the people three days previous, in a supplementary report I said:

In my opinion, the federal movement as applied to the colonies above mentioned, to wit, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, is dead for many years to come.

* See CONSULAR REPORTS No. 216 (September, 1898), p. 19.

Though the opinions then expressed were based upon a seemingly universal feeling among the people of all classes throughout the colonics, subsequent events have proven them erroneous, and I find the present situation a proper opportunity for again reverting to the question.

This federal movement presents a commercial aspect of considerable importance to our exporters. I will call attention to a few

phases of Australian affairs of interest to our people.

The total import and export business of New South Wales for 1898 with all countries was £45,495,422 ($221,107,751), distributed as follows:

Our trade in staple articles has increased during the last five years 127 per cent, and now equals about 91⁄2 per cent of the total business of this colony, whereas five years ago less than 3 per cent of her trade was with us.

In 1898, we had a trade with New South Wales in staple goodsaside from wheat, flour, and bullion-of £1,859,753 ($9,038,400), nearly every article of which came in competition with like articles from the United Kingdom.

At present, the ports of New South Wales are the freest on the globe, and in none of the Australian colonies are there any discriminating or differential duties. In this and all other Australian ports. the United Kingdom meets the world on equal terms, but what changes the consummation of the federal scheme may bring about is a matter for speculation.

In my former report, I made brief reference to a possible "preferential" tariff by the federal parliament, should such a legislative body be created by the adoption of the proposed federal constitution. I may now say that, as it is considered by many that federation is within measurable distance,* this question of preferential tariffs in Australia may be worthy the attention of our statesmen and commercial classes.

Last year, this colony, under a law requiring a minimum vote. of 80,000 to carry the bill, rejected the constitution by a vote of 70,996 to 65,619. The other colonies, though they had given good

*NOTE BY BUREAU OF FOREIGN COMMERCE.--The vote in New South Wales, which was taken ca June 20, 1899, resulted in a majority in favor of tederation of over 20,000.

majorities for the bill, did not deem it wise to federate without New South Wales, the most wealthy and populous of the group, and the whole movement was thought to have come to a protracted standstill.

But the discussion during the federal campaign seems to have left the question nearer the hearts of the people.

A conference of premiers was held in Melbourne on January 28 last, and by mutual concessions an amicable agreement was reached, with a proposal that the constitution bill be submitted to the people of the respective colones for approval or rejection by referendum, and, as New South Wales had proven the chief obstacle to federation-Queensland not yet having entered-it was decided that the question be first submitted to this colony.

Save securing the federal capital to New South Wales-by a compromise to the effect that it should not be less than 100 miles from the metropolis-and providing an easier method of amending the federal constitution, little was gained for this colony by the conference, and a new and bitter contest arose.

When parliament convened, an “enabling act" submitting the amended bill to the people was passed by the lower house or legislative assembly, but rejected by the upper house. This "upper house" is composed of life members, appointed by the Government for the time being. As a rule, the members are elderly, respectable, wealthy, and conservative men, rather out of touch with the people.

Parliament was prorogued on March 29 and by a "constitutional power" the premier, an advocate of the federal cause, strengthened his side in the "upper house" by the appointment of twelve new members.

On April 11, parliament was reconvened and soon the enabling bill was passed and the referendum, or vote of the people on the amended constitution, is to be held on June 20 next.*

The other colonies will undoubtedly accept the bill if it is carried in New South Wales.

Under the proposed federal constitution, nearly all taxes or moneys for local, State, and federal purposes are to be collected by and through the federal machinery. This will necessitate a heavy "federal tax," and as any considerable excise tax, so long as all the states are striving to develop every industry, is improbable, a heavy duty on imports seems a foregone conclusion. There is a stong likelihood that this federal tax will assume a "protective" form, which would affect our trade, as well as all foreign trade, very materially.

As near as I am able to form conclusions from the data at hand, I would think that the average duty on, say, thirty leading articles

*See footnote, p. 105.

imported from the United States into these colonies would range thus: Victoria, 35 per cent; South Australia, 25 per cent; West Australia, 20 per cent; Tasmania, 26 per cent; Queensland, 35 per cent. In New South Wales, everything imported from the United States is free, except tobacco and a few articles under the head of spirits. On tobacco, if entered for local manufacture, the duty is IS. (24.3 cents) per pound; otherwise, 3s. (73 cents) per pound; cigars and cigarettes, 6s. ($1.46) per pound.

It is possible that the new tariff may provide preferential duties. for products from Great Britain. The movement among a class of British statesmen and business men to "consolidate the Empire" is not new to our reading people. About three years ago, Mr. Lowless, member of the British Parliament, came to Australia to find the sentiment of the colonies regarding imperial union and reciprocal trade. Mr. Lowless met little encouragement in Australia, but his presence and purpose impressed itself on many active and retentive minds.

Canada has set the example of preferential duties, and with Australia federated and a scale of duties necessarily high, a similar movement here should not be surprising.

The recent fiscal changes by the English Parliament, placing a duty on wines, have brought a protest from the Australian colonies and at the same time an expression of sentiment in favor of reciprocal trade with the Mother Country.

SYDNEY, May 10, 1899.

GEO. W. BELL,

Consul.

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS AT VICTORIA.

Under date of June 6, 1899, Consul Smith, of Victoria, writes: The scheme for the extensive improvement of Victoria Harbor, to which reference was made in my last annual report,* has secured recognition by the municipal and Dominion governments.

The representatives of Victoria in the Dominion Senate and House of Commons have secured a definite promise from the Government of the Dominion that a harbor commission bill will be passed during the present session to especially consider this project, and hopes are entertained that it will be indorsed and approved. The commission is to consist of seven members, three to be appointed by the Dominion Government, one member elected by the taxpayers of Victoria, one by the board of trade, another by the shipping interests, and mayor of Victoria.

the

* See Commercial Relations, 1898, Vol. I, p. 319.

I inclose a map* showing the proposed "reclamation and improvements" embodied in this plan, which are of the most extensive nature, involving the expenditure of $6,000,000 and five years' labor. The following extracts from the Victoria Colonist of June 4, 1899, give an outline of the scheme:

The greater portion of the harbor is at present neither land nor water, and the passage available for steamers is tortuous, never 300 feet wide, crowded with rocks and shoals on every side. The proposition is to remove all these rocks and shoals, to use them in the reclamation of solid land, and to deepen the whole area of the harbor, from the open at Maclaughlin Point to 30 feet at low water, and to increase its available width and area.

It is proposed to close the lower harbor by temporary dams, to pump out the water, and excavate an area of about 167 acres to a depth of 30 feet, inclosing it within a wall built up of the rocks now impeding navigation, and filling in the balance behind with the excavated waste material, thus reclaiming about 109 acres of land that would become some of the most valuable property in the city. This reclaimed land in the upper and lower harbor will together have a frontage towards the water of about five miles. Very little material will be required in the construction of the work beyond that now actually lying at the bottom of the harbor. The temporary dam at the mouth of the harbor would be about 1,350 feet across, with an opening left in the center about 85 feet wide, and could be completed without interfering with the shipping entering or leaving the harbor. The central opening would be closed by caissons during one tide, whenever all was in readiness. The dam with its extensions would form a temporary landing quay about 40 feet wide.

Ware

It is part of the proposition to connect the present V. & S. Railway by a branch with the central station on the Indian reserve, and also to extend these joint railways by harbor tracks along the wharves as far as James Bay; to construct coal bunkers in the lower harbor, and spacious dry docks and marine ways in the upper harbor of capacity sufficient to take the largest ships frequenting these waters. The harbor tracks would be fitted with hydraulic cranes and capstans. houses would be built as the demand arose, and all the most approved appliances installed for the most economical and expeditious handling, storing, and transshipping of freight, and for the accommodation of the shipping frequenting the port, and at the same time the charges kept down to rates that should make this the most desirable harbor on the Pacific coast. These works would be gradually carried to completion out of surplus revenue.

The estimated total outlay is about $5,290,000. This expenditure would be extended over four or five years, the bonds being issued as the demand arose; and, although the bulk of the income would accrue on the purchase of the property, the charges for interest on the loan would rise but gradually, with the expenditure on works of improvement that would in themselves be revenue-producing. Thus the revenue during the first four years would, it is estimated, exceed $560,000; whereas the interest on the gradually issued bonds would not exceed $470,000, the surplus revenue being carried to capital account, thus reducing the amount required to be obtained on loan by about $90,000.

Instead of any direct grant of money from the city in aid of this great public undertaking, it is proposed that the city should convey the mud flats and other adjacent vacant spaces, to be filled up and converted into useful public property, from which an annual rent could be collected, which property would in due course become taxable to the city.

* Filed for reference in Bureau of Foreign Commerce.