"EMPTY SPACES"

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 56, 3 September 1936, Page 17

"EMPTY SPACES"

AUSTRALIA'S PROBLEM

MENACE OF DROUGHT

PROSPECTS FOR SETTLEMENT

Loose usage of the term "empty spaces" as applied to Australia is exhaustively dealt with in the latest of the Bank of New South Wales's circulars. Other catch phrases, such j as "unlimited natural resources" and "plenty of good land in the north," are also dealt with, and the fallaciousness of many of them exposed. The belief that there are still in Australia vast areas that only need settlement _to bring them into conditions of high productivity persists, notwithstanding the well-known fact that much of Australia in -the interior is arid and otherwise unsuitable for occupation by settlers, similar to those who have developed the suitable farming lands of the. eastern States. . ....,..,.. .. ■■■: FALSE COMPARISONS. ' The fact/tjjaf Australia has a'large area and a,smalL population-lies at the root of much popular misunderstaridJing about its primary resources,, the circular points out. This sparse popu-■slatibn-isj^iiy cpinpaljed/ with , thepopulation of some counjrjles.pccupied by-people of similar race, and the 'disparity has. been taken as in itself proving that.Australia may.yet achieve an over-all density of population comj parable with lands of completely different geographical characteristics. ■■:■, Ah equally fallacious comparison is frequently drawn between Australia and the United States of America. The "areas are strikingly alike, Australia including 2,974,600; square miles and , the United States 2,973,800 square miles. Both have been settled principally by people from Europe, although the United States might be expected to have a slightly greater population because, of her earlier start. But the population of the United. States was 126,425,000 in. 1934, nearly; nineteen times as great as Australia's 6,706,000. It is obvious that such a difference in population does not indicate per se that Australia has a corresponding capacity to absorb people into unoccupied lands. It. would be nearer the truth to infer that the ratio between the ;populations of the two countries represents some index of their comparative natural wealth. Considering only'a few geographical qualities, it will be found that the United States of America lies entirely outside the tropics while Australia has two-'flfths of its area within the tropics; the former has over 60 per cent, of its area receiving a.rainfall of over 20 inches annually, while the latter has only 31 per cent.; only 9 per cent, of the former receives less than 10 inches of rainfall annuajly, while Australia has 36 per cent, receiving under this amount, and a still larger area is arid because of the greater evaporation in the tropical areas. Thus by examining only elementary climatic facts, it is found fundamental differences which show that sweeping comparisons between Australia and the United States •of America are ridiculous. Such reasoning applied to Australia and Europe is just as valueless. DESERT COUNTRY. It is considered more appropriate to compare Australia with Africa north of latitude lOdeg N. Deficient and unreliable rainfall is the major handicap to the occupation of much of Australia, 36 per cent, of the area of which has an average annual rainfall of under ten inches; and out of the total area of 2,974,600 square miles of Australia, some 1,250,000 square miles are described as desert. "With out present knowledge," the circular continues, "it may be stated that any land settlement scheme which aims at placing thousands of farmers in the far north1 is doomed to certain failure. This need not necessarily be the case indefinitely. For example, in Nigeria, with a monsoonal rainfall of 45 inches and on light soils, a native population lives by mixed agriculture and cattle raising. The average family income under these conditions is about £2 or £3 per annum. "It is suggested that by improved and mechanised farming methods Australians might multiply this income as has already been done with, rice growing here as compared with Asiatic countries. The field for such an extension is very small and we are not in a position.to put men on the land to attempt this until successful experiments have been-carried out. "The principal industry will continue to be cattle raising. There is definite room for an increase in the output of this industry by capital expenditure on improvements and. transport facilities. But if the most optimistic claims for increased production in this industry should be realised the increase in population will be small." ' Greater settlement and production in Australia, it is held, are possible, not in "the vast empty spaces" of popular usage, but in the areas already proved suitable for farming and which, although only a small portion of the continent, . constitute a large area in the aggregate.