adopted by the local legislatures affecting the general interests of the mother-country, the Australian Colonies, or their inter-colonial trade should be submitted by the officers administering the several governments before their own assent is given." The necessities of trade which called forth this, the first suggestion of a single control, have been to the last the central fact upon which the federal movement has depended, at once the most formidable obstacle— "the lion in the path"--and the great impelling force.

That the evils foreseen by Sir Charles Fitzroy would grow with the increase in the number of the colonies was apparent to the Committee for Trade and Plantations to which in 1849 Earl Grey referred the subject of the better government of the Australian Colonies. The Committee reported that the separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales-which they recommended—would probably be followed by differences in tariff which would become a grave inconvenience as the number of settlers on both sides of the dividing line increased; and to prevent this they proposed that a uniform tariff for Australia should be fixed by the Imperial Parliament. For the adjustment of this tariff from time to time there was to be a General Assembly, representative of all the colonies, to be summoned from time to time by a GovernorGeneral. The mode of constituting the General Assembly· was indicated, and to it were to be committed, besides the tariff, postal communications, inter-colonial transit, the erection and maintenance of beacons and lighthouses, port and harbour dues on shipping, and the regulation of weights and measures. The General Assembly was to have power to establish a General Supreme Court with original and appellate jurisdiction, and generally to enact laws upon subjects referred to it by the Legislatures of the colonies. Finally, there was to be allowed to the General Assembly a power of appropriating funds for the purposes committed to it.1

1 For the full report, see The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration, vol. i., Appendix.

The Constitution Bill of 1850, introduced by Earl Grey, adopted the scheme of the Committee for Trade and Plantations for the establishment of a general executive and legislative authority in Australia to "superintend the initiation and foster the completion of such measures as those communities may deem calculated to promote their common welfare and prosperity." The scope of the General Assembly was extended in the Bill by a proposal to put the "waste lands" of the colonies under that body as a means of preventing the dissipation of the resources of the colonies by the competition of different land systems, and the Government promised consideration to a suggestion that a Supreme Court should be established for the settlement of disputes between the colonies. Neither in Parliament nor in the colonies was the measure cordially received. In England the fact that the colonies had not asked for such superintendence and supervision, in Australia jealousies among the colonies and of the Colonial Office combined to make the scheme unpopular. The General Assembly clauses passed the Commons, but were withdrawn in the Lords. The amendments required could hardly be made without communicating with the colonies. Meanwhile the immediate object of the Bill-the separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales-was pressing, and the establishment of a General Assembly could be dealt with at some future time.

That part of the scheme which concerned a General Executive, however, did not require legislative sanction; and Earl Grey had not abandoned his scheme. Accordingly, in 1851 Sir Charles Fitzroy was appointed "Governor-General of all Her Majesty's Australian possessions, including the Colony of Western Australia," and the Lieutenant-Governors were instructed to communicate with the Governor-General in matters of common interest. Not less important were the Commissions appointing the Governor-General Governor of each of the colonies, for they enabled him by a visit to any colony at once to

assume the administration of government there.1 But Earl Grey left the Colonial Office in 1852, and the nursing policy was abandoned. In the future, suggestions for the government of Australia must come from the colonies themselves, and on matters of common concern the Home Government must be well assured that the colonies were thoroughly agreed before any action could be taken. In 1855 the Lieutenant-Governors became Governors, and in 1861 the Duke of Newcastle determined not to renew the commission of Governor-General in the Governor of New South Wales, on the ground that such a title indicated "a species of authority and pre-eminence over the Governors of other colonies which . . . . could not with justice be continued, and if continued could not fail to excite dissatisfaction very prejudicial to their common interests."

In Australia the expediency of a general, or as it soon. came to be called a federal, government for Australia demanded too much political foresight to capture the popular imagination. Earl Grey's hopes were, however, shared by Wentworth and Deas-Thomson in New South Wales, and by Mr. Charles Gavan Duffy in Victoria. In 1853 Committees of the Legislative Council in New South Wales and Victoria were preparing Constitutions embodying responsible government in those colonies. Wentworth succeeded in inducing the Legislative Council of New South Wales to declare in very emphatic terms for a scheme substantially the same as Earl Grey's, and Victoria more guardedly recorded an opinion in favour of occasionally convoking a general assembly for legislating upon subjects submitted to it by any legislature of the colonies. The Constitution Bills forwarded to England, however, dealt purely with the affairs of the two colonies respectively, and a Government whose hands were very full in 1855 did not see its way on the thorny path of constitution making for the colonies.

But Wentworth, who had returned to England, and Mr. Gavan Duffy, who had come to Victoria, and Deas-Thomson

1 See Jenks, Government of Victoria, 155-6.

pursued the subject with zeal; and the year 1857 was one of promise for the federal cause. The "General Association for the Australian Colonies," under Wentworth's auspices, adopted a Memorial to the Secretary of State, which indicated matters in which the difficulty of securing joint action had already been experienced, and, after urging the duty of Her Majesty's Government to anticipate the wants of the colonies, sketched out the scheme of a permissive bill for the establishment of a General Assembly. The Legislatures of the colonies were to appoint an equal number of representatives to a Convention for framing a Constitution for a Federal Assembly. There was no mention of a federal executive, and the expenses of the Federal Assembly were to be apportioned amongst, and provided by, the Legislatures of the colonies. The body contemplated was in fact not very different from the Federal Council established in 1885. The list of federal subjects is, however, an extensive one, and bears witness to the growing inconvenience of separation. The reply to the Memorial was written by Mr. Herman Merivale, and was a non possumus. The Secretary of State was sensible of the difficulties which had been experienced, and was aware that they were likely to increase. He did not think, however, that the colonies were prepared to give such large powers to the Assembly in respect to taxation and appropriation as were involved in the tariff and many other matters to be submitted; and even if they were to assent in the first instance to the establishment of such a scheme, the further result, in his opinion, would probably be dissension and discontent. He would readily give attention to any suggestion from the colonies for providing a remedy for defects which experience might have shown to exist in their institutions and which the aid of Parliament was required to remove. If the establishment of some general controlling authority should be impracticable, he trusted that much might be done by "negotiations between the accredited Agents of the several Local Governments, the results agreed upon between such Agents being embodied

in Legislative measures passed uniformly and in concert by the several Legislatures." More important were the steps taken in the colonies. Independent action was taken in New South Wales and Victoria by the appointment of committees of the Legislature to consider the subject of federation. Mr. Charles Gavan Duffy's Committee was the first to conclude its labours, and its report is a striking statement of the case for federation. After affirming that there is unanimity of opinion as to the ultimate necessity for federal union, the report proceeds:-" We believe that the interest and the honour of these growing states would be promoted by establishing a system of mutual action and co-operation amongst them. Their interest suffers and must continue to suffer while competing tariffs, naturalization laws, and land systems, rival schemes of immigration and of ocean postage, a clumsy and inefficient method of communication with each other and with the Home Government on public business, and a distant and expensive system of judical appeal exist. The honour and importance which constitute so essential an element of national prosperity, and the absence of which invites aggression from foreign enemies, cannot perhaps in this generation belong to any single colony in this southern group, but may, and we are persuaded would, be speedily attained by an Australian Federation representing the entire. Neighbouring states of the second order inevitably become confederates or enemies. By becoming confederates so early in their career, the Australian Colonies would, we believe, immensely economize their strength and their resources. They would substitute a common national interest for local and conflicting interests and waste no more time in barren rivalry. They would enhance the national credit, and attain much earlier the power of undertaking works of serious cost and importance." Finally the Committee recommended a conference of New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia, and laid down with minuteness the questions which such a conference would have to consider. The New South Wales.