DESIRE OF THE WEST.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20828, 11 April 1933, Page 9

DESIRE OF THE WEST.

CONTROL OF CUSTOMS. BISHOP OF BUNBURY'S VIEWS. ITHE PEESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, April 10. One of the principal factors actuating those in Western Australia to secede from the Commonwealth Federation was the desire to get control of the imposition of Customs duties into their own hands, said the Rt. Rev. Dr. Cecil Wilson, Bishop of Bunbury, on his arrival at Wellington from Australia by the Wanganella. In a sense, he said, the move was merely bluff to get the Eastern States to come to better terms with the West. He felt that the people in Western Australia did not really desire secession. The tariff question in Western Australia was a burning one, Dr. Wilson continued. Take the case of agricultural machinery. For some time past this had been imported from Eastern States because the duties imposed by the Federal authorities almost prohibited direct importation from England. When the federation was constituted, Dr. Wilson said, it was arranged that there should be a committee that should always meet when there was any question of hardship arising between any of the individual States. Some years ago, however, tho Federal Government did away with this committee, leaving no body to which an appeal could be made. The principal thing that Western Australia desired was a free hand in its tariff policy. If, for instance, a factory was started in the West, manufacturers in the East promptly proceeded to dump goods there, the effect on which was to kill the new industry. Time after time factories in Western Australia had had to close down because of this dumping from the East. More Generous Treatment Wanted. If an imaginary line were drawn from the middle of the south coast to the middle of the eastern coast, he continued, it would be seen that five-sixths of the population of Australia lived in the territory cut off in the south-east corner. It was just possible that a mistake was made when Western Australia first went into the confederation. The western territory was further away from the east than New Zealand was, and when it was once suggested that New Zealand should be linked to Australia, 1200 reasons corresponding with the 1200 miles distance away were given by those opposed to it. If the Federal Government had not done away with the council or committee for the settlement of disputes arising between States and had treated the smaller States more generously, the move for secession would not have come. As a matter of fact, he said, the people did not want it. They could not get it anyway, as before any State of the federation could break away it was necessary to obtain the consent of other States. It was merely a move to force the hands of the Eastern States. There had been a suggestion of application being made to the British Parliament for the right to secede, but it was unlikely that that tribunal would go against the wishes of the other Australian States. Dr. Wilson said that Western Australia geographically occupied onethird of the area of Australia, while it supported a population of only 440,000. There were boundless potentialities there, and thousands of acres were waiting to be farmed. Some years ago he noticed that certain land in Canterbury was being sold from £75 to £BO an acre. On returning he made comparisons, finding that similar land in Western Australia was selling about £3 an acre. Assistance to Church. Western Australia, Dr. Wilson continued, was the only portion of Australia in which the Church was still receiving assistance from the Homeland. This was because the population was so small and the distances so great that many of the parishes were not able to support themselves. Hard times in England meant that the Church at Home was not able to help as much as it had done in the past, and some of the clergy were returning, but they would pull through, he said. Dr. Wilson is the senior Bishop m Australia, and believes that he is third or fourth in seniority in the Anglican community in the world. He was 17 years Bishop of Melenesia, six years aassistant Bishop ol Adelaide, and 15 years Bishop of Bunbury. His wife is a daughter of Archbishop Julius. He has come across principally to visit his two daughters, Mrs Christopher Cross, wife of the vicar of Waihao Downs, and Mrs R. Harman, Christchurch. He was appointed Bishop of Melenesia in 1894, and published last year a book entitled The Wake of the Southern Cross.