AN EMPTY AUSTRALIA.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17990, 6 February 1924, Page 9

AN EMPTY AUSTRALIA.

OUR GREATEST PROBLEM.

WHAT SINGAPORE MEANS TO US. (SPECIALLY WRITTEN TOS "THIS PSESS.")

(By W. FARMER WHTTE.)

vn. In tho August number of tho "Nineteenth Century," there is a striding article by Major-General Sir George Aston on "Japan and Singapore," in tho courso of which ho says:— "The rise of Japan as a sea Power marks a now epoch in tho history of mankind, of which it is difficult to foreseo the ultimate issue. Ten years after destroying the Chinese fleet, the newly-awakened Japanoso wrested the trident from Bnssia. In 1895 European Powers intervened to prevent Japaja from reaping tho fruits of her victory over China, and an alliance with Britain prevented the same course boons followed after her war with Kussia in 1905. . . . There are two possible causes of friction with Japan, ono economic, tho other racial. In the first Britain has a direct interest; the second affect? Australia and Canada. There can in any event be no question of an offensive against Japanese territory, or against Japan"s exclusive interests, Without a naval base at Singapore, and an adequate sea force based thereon, thero could be no question of a successful defensive against tho extension of those interests westward of Singapore, and southward to Australia. ... To cut a long story short, the United States and Canada (British Columbia) wish to limit tho number of Japaneso in their population: Australia v/ishes to exclude them."

Major-General Aston concludes with a quotation from Vice-Admiral G. A. Ballard, author of "The Influence of the Sea on the Political History of Japan," published in 1921, concerning the special position of Australia—'' The vast emptiness of that portion of the Empire is one of the most regrettable and disappointing features of our time." What Shall We Do? . What are we going to do about it? This is a question of vital import. Some months ago Admiral Sir William Clarkson, retired, second member of the Australian Naval Board, was suddenly despatched to the Gulf of Carpentaria to report upon the suitability of the McArthur Eivcr for the purposes of a commercial port. People were puzzled by the proceeding. Later it was suggested that the real object of the visit was to examine the spot with a view to its possible conversion into a subsidiary naval base, a connecting link between Australia and Singapore. And no doubt some such base must be established. The McArthur flows into the Gulf, and opposite it are' the Sir Edward Pellew group of islands, which convert the spot into an excellent harbour. Hero or at Darwin, or at some other spot in the north or north-west, which may be founds to bo even more favourable for the purposo, we may expect to see an, Australian naval base established.

Singaporo is centrally situated, but it has ita disadvantages from some points of view. It is surrounded by islands. There are islands, large and small, immediately to the north of it, and also to the east and south of it. From any of these islands the movements of the fleet might bo notified to a hostile Power. The ships could not hide themselves from observation. With a base in Northern Australia the position would be different, and the movements of the ships could be kept secret. They could pass out at night, and nothing be known about them. The probabilities are, therefore, that the Pacific fleet will be distributed between two or more bases, with Singapore as the principal repairing and fuelling base. Probably some such decision as this was reached at tho recent Imperial Conference.

Cockburn Sound. Apart from what has been done at Weaterhport, in Victoria, it is stated that something like £2,500,000 has been spent by the Commonwealth Government on tho construction of a naval base at Cockburn Sound, sear Fremantle. The work was begun about a dozen years ago, following on tho recommendations of Admiral Henderson, arid it continued spasmodically, But it has been stopped. There has been no work done there for many months past.

When Admiral Henderson made his report it was proposed that Australia should have a western and an eastern fleet, but the whole position has changed since then, chiefly as a result of the Washington' Conference. Whether the Cockburn Sound project will be proceeded with in conjunction with the Singapore scheme remains to bo seen, but I was told in Fremantle that the Federal Government had disposed of the dredges that have been lying idle there for months to the Minister for Works in New South Wales.

I have to thank a West Australian newspaper friend for affording me an opportunity of visiting Cockburn Sound, which lies about 12 miles south of Fremantle. We went out by car on December 31st, along a fairly good road, and I was able to get an excellent view of tho whole position. Right opposite is Garden Island, which is probably 15 miles long. There are two or three smaller islands north and south of it, and together they make a fairly good harbour of what would otherwise be little more than an open roadstead. Two or three breakwaters have been run out for a distance of about 150 yards, and there the work has stopped. Half-a-dozen large dredges and tugs wero lying idle in the sound. We walked out to tho end of a long jetty that has sagged dangerously on one side, and I noticed a large launch close by, apparently quite forgotten and uneared for, whilst another small boat tied with ropes to the jetty was quite under water. A number of old railway trucks that had been used for conveying the stone for the breakwater, a few cranes and a heap of old iron completed the picture. The quarantine station is situated down here, and just beyond it we had a glimpse of a large number of naval magazines—probably a dozen or more, surrounded by a high fenco.

Why Was it Chosen? What particular considerations dictated the choice of Cockburn Sound by Admiral Henderson, in preference to Albany,, which i 3 a iand-lccked harbour, and requires no dredging for the accommodation of big warships? Many people in Perth and Fremantle were puzzled over it at the time. They still are. They speak a3 if vested interests had something to do with the matter, but it i 3 not at all likely that Admiral Henderson Would allow others to die-

tatc to him in tho choice of a site for a naval base. Tho fact that Cockburn Sound is only about eleven days' steam from Colombo in a mailboat—probably seven days in the case of a fast warship—whilst Albany ia botween 300 and 400 miles farther south, may have been one factor in tho decision. For myself, I cannot say that I was much impressed by Cockburn Sound; but I am not a naval strategist. I can, however, see great possibilities in it as a commercial port. Yokohama, which was the port of Tokyo, and doubtless will bo again, is IS miles from tho Japanese capital, and there seems no reason why Cockburn Sound should not bo turned into a great commercial port. Perth lies on the Swan River about 12 miles north of Fremantlc, and tho mouth of the Swan—which is tho port of Frcmantle—is becoming terribly congested. The steamer Gorgon, on which I arrived from Java, was unable to find a berth, and passengers and luggage had to be lightered to the wharf. There were several very large ships anchored outside, waiting for an opportunity, to get in. It is truo that at this time the Japanese warships were in port, but it was said that the congestion had been like this for weeks past, and that it is proposed to further ] extend the wharfage accommodation \ip the river. From what ono could see this will be a very difficult and a very expensive undertaking, and whatever vested interests may have to say about it, the question for the Government to decide is whether the time has not come to turn Cockburn Sound to some account. In that event tho work that the Federal Government has done there will not have been dono in vain. Peopling tho North. So much for all this. We como back to the old question: What are we going to do to people the vulnerable (and valuable)'.north? What can we do? We are living in a fool's paradise if we imagine that fivo or sis million people can continue indefinitely to hold this,country; and, whatever may be said about peopling tho north with whites, there is no reason why we should not fill out other territeries. When ho was la3t in London, Mr Theodore (Premier of Queensland) said that, instead of having a population of 700,000, that State should be carrying 12 or 14 millions; and there is no doubt that Queensland could easily accommodato that number even without taking the more northerly portion of the State into consideration. In West- Australia, too, there is room for millions; and the other States should lose no time in filling up their empty spaces, it is an imperative necessity.

When it comes to the far north, the position is very different. Here we arc faced with a problem that will tax all our ingenuity. It is the testing-ground of White Australia. Coming down to llYemantle from Java on.the steamer Gorgon, and calling at north-western porta—Derby, Broome, Onslow, Carnarvon, and other , places—l had an opportunity of studying the problem at first-hand, bo far as it is possible for one to do on such a brief acquaintance. In addition to my own observations as to the effect of the climate upon the white people settled there, I discussed the matter at length with many residents, both ashore and on the boat. At every port wo took a number of passengers on board bound for the south, and they were all ready to talk freely about this question. What they said is of interost, in tho light of what Lord Jjeverhulme has been saying to us. One of our passengers was a man who formerly belonged to North Sydney, E. Delaney. He has been working on a pastoral property near Derby for the last 23 years, and this is his first trip south in all those years. He says he is 60; he looks about 47. "Is there anything wrong with me?" asks Mr Delaney. And he adds: "This is the best country in the world for a man. But it's no country for a woman and children, unless they go sonth every few years for a change." . Another passenger was Mr W. J. Chalmers, who came up from Bockhampton 33 yeara ago, and has only made four trips south in that time. Mr Chalmers knows this country as well as anybody, and is spoken of as the next member for Kimberley in the West Australian Parliament. I gave him a copy of the "Edinburgh lieview" for July last, containing an article on "The Future of Tropical Australia," by E. A. W. Gisborne, telling him I would like to discuss it with him. I do not know Mr Gisborno personally, but I have had correspondence with him. He lives now in Hobart, but he spent a good many years in the northern part of Queensland, and has made a special study of tho conditions of life up there and in the Xorthern Territory. Mr Gisborno 13 a frequent contributor to tho English reviews on their subject. Ideals have their place, he admits, but he contends that the White Australia ideal is an impossible one so far as the populating of our great north is concerned, and if we are to populate the north —whether it be the far north of Queensland, the Northern Territory, or tho far north of West Australia—it must be by coloured labour of some sort, with the whites as masters and directors in the work of development. That is what Lord Leverhulmo has been saying.

Is it a Whits Man's Country? Whoa Mr Chalmers had read the article he "said: "I have been all through North Queensland. I know the Northern Territory, and I know the north-

western part of Australia. I have lived for many years in the Derby district, and claim to know tho country and the people. It is all nonsense to say that white men cannot live there. They can live there; they have proved it.. And, what is more, those who have lived there for any timo.aro always nnxious to got back after they have been away in tho south for a while. But what is true is that people nro frightened away from the north by the articles wliich appear in some of the papers stating that tho north is no country for a white man. Aren't thero plenty of white people living in Singapore and Java? Of courso; there they have native labour to do all the hard manual work; but it is quito a mistake to suppose that the white men do no work. They are working in shops, and rubber and- sugar plantations, and so on. Certainly they aro no fools. They don't work very hard if a sweltering day comes—such as you get even in tho south at times—and usually they have a siesta in tho middle •of tho day. This is something that can easily be regulated. "All the same, I think it would bo a good thing to import coloured labour; there I agree with Mr Gisbome. So long as there were proper safeguards, I can see no harm in it. On the contrary, I can seo that a lot of good might come of it. With coloured labour we could grow an immense amount of cotton in the north. You will never get white labour to pick cotton —or. rather, I should say the cost of white labour would make it unprofitable. Of course, tho position may alter if tt really effective cotton-picking isachino should be invented. Then there are other things we might grow if we had coloured labour—-rice, coconuts, tobacco, tapioca, and, perhaps, tea. As the country was pat to more uso, more and more white people would bo attracted to it from the south and.elsewhere. • But, mind you, it is not suitable for close settlement. It will always be chiefly a pastoral country.. Cattle and.sheep will be the mainstay —and mining. Half, of the country has never been properly explored yet, and there ia no telling what mineral riches we may discover. '' Ono of our greatest troubles is that freights are such a big item, owing to oar distanco from the big tientral ports. . ■... ,; '" . ; : "Coming back to the question of climate," said Mr Chalmers, "I-would point out that whilst it is hoc in these parts, it is a dry heat, and so more suitable for white people than Java or the Malay States. Take tho mining settlement at Marble Bar, to which there ie a railway running out from, Port Hedland, a distance of about 100 miles. A* Marble Bar it is not uncommon to get a high temperature—it went up to 113 tho other day—but people live and thrive there. Tho days may bo hot, but you get cool nights, as a rule. Women and children ,both do well, but I agree with those who recommend a change to a cooler climate for children on reaching fivo or six years of age. They ca.n como back a little later on, and have tho best of health. It stands to reason that women are also the better for a change to a cooler climate every now and then, but it's ridiculous to say they can't live here." A Teacher's Views. A somewhat different statement was made to me by Mr Winter, headmaster of the 'Carnarvon School, who was on his way south on vacation, Mr Winter told me that ho was formerly teaching in Queensland, but resigned from the service to join that of West Australia. For eight years he was teaching at Derby, and then, after an appointment in tho south, ho was moved to Carnarvon. "I have hnd opportunities enough," he eaid, "of, comparing the children of the north with those of the south, and I say unhesitatingly that those of the north are in no way inferior. I would go further, and say that the children up here are, if anything, superior to those of the south, both physically and mentally. I have been teaching children of all ages, from five and six up to 15 or 10, and I have seen very few who aro suffering from the so-called ill-effects of the climate. And, let me add, that very few of them have been sent away for this 'cool change' that you have "heard bo much about.'' I leave my readers to judge of tho position for themselves. I can only sav that the people I saw up northmen, women, and children—appeared to compare very favourably with thoso of the south, and they all spoke well of the country. But what a few people there are! At Broome, half of them were Japanese (divers from tho pearling lnggers, which were laid up there for the cyclone season), Chinese (who secmod to own most of the shops), Malays, and Koepangers, who, like tho Japan-.: ese, arc indentured for the pearling! business. Yes —and a few aborigines.;; The last-named do most of the "odd; jobs about the place," including the;; wheeling of tho prams, of which there seemed to be a good number.