The Federal Convention.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6025, 24 March 1891, Page 2

The Federal Convention.

- ' ■' ♦ Sydney, March 23. It is understood that the following resolutions have been decided on by the Financial Committee of the Federation Convention : — 1. That immediately on the federal constitution coming into operation the officers of the departments which come under federal control shall become federal officers. 2. Ail necessary lands, buildings, works md material, connected with the departments placed uuder federal control shall be taken over by the federal government on terms to be arranged. 3. That until a uniform tariff comes into force the existing tariffs shall continue, subject to such modifications ns the legislatures may make, and the duties ihall continue to be collected as at present, but by the federal officers. 4. That sifter the establishment of such v uniform tariff, trade and intercourse between the federated colonies, whether by means of internal carriage or coastal navigation, shall be absolutely free. 5. That after a uniform tariff has came into operation the surplus revenue may fully be discributed amongst the various colonies according to population ; but as the duties now contributed by the people of the various colonies are so unequal it would be unfair at present to distribute a surplus on this basis. The committee therefore recouimend that the revenue from Customs and excise be devoted first to payment of all expenditure authorised by the Federal Government, such expenditure to be charged to the several colonies according to population, the balance to be returned to the colonies in such s* wry that the amount paid by each colony for federal expenditure added to the amount returned 6hall be as nearly as can be ascertained the total amount contributed by each colony on the dutiable articles consumed. 6. That besides borrowing money on public credit for the purposes of federal expenditure and with v view of improving the general credit and avoiding complications arising out of the existence of various stocks held under different conditions, the Federal Parliament shall be empowered with the consent of colonial Parliaments to adopt a scheme for the consolidation of debts of the various colonies, each colony being held separately liable for its proportion of principal and interest. 7. It is estimated the total expenditure of the Federal Government will not exceed 11s 3d per head, a large proportion of which will practically be expended on wxistine: services, the control of which will be transferred to the Federated Government. March 24. The Constitutional Committee of the Federal Convention has decided that the Governor-General shall be appointed by the Crown, but the Governors of the various States are not to be so appointed. It has not been made public whether any conclusion has been arrived at as to the method of appointment of the latter. The Committee has agreed that the federation shall be called the Commonwealth of Australia. Clause 8 in the report furnished by the financial committee provides that the Federal Government be empowered to legislate on the following subjects : — Coastal beacons, buoys, lighthouses, navigation, shipping, postal and telegraphic systems, intercolonial rivers and the navigation thereof, quarantine, military and naval defence ; raising money by any mode or system of taxation for federal purposes, but all taxation to be uniform throughout the Federation ; salaries and allowances of the Governor- General, civil and other officers under the Federal Government ; trade and commerce ; cur- | rency coinage, banking, incorporation of banks, issue of paper money, bills of exchange, promissory notes as legal tender, bankruptcy and insolvency, patents, inventions, designs, trade marks, copyright, weights and measures ; appropriation of all moneys raised by the Federal Government. The Committee recognising that one of the main objects of the federation is freedom of commercial intercourse between the colonies, and that that cannot be accomplished until a uniform tariff and Customs excise is in force, recommends that the first business of the Federal Parliament be to frame the adoption of such a tni iff. The Judiciary Committee suggests that provision be inserted in the federal constitution for a visiting judiciary with power of federation in one Supreme Court, to be known as the Fedoral Union High Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Federal Parliament may create. The Judges shall hold office during good behaviour, and shall receive salaries fixed by the Federal Parliament. The Judges shall be appointed by the Governor-General with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, and they shall not be removed or suspended without an address from both Houses of the Federal Parliament. The judicial power of the federation shall extend to all cases of law or equity arising under the Constitution Act to disputes between two or more provinces. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in all eases affecting public ministers, and in all cases in which their province shall be a part. The Federal Parliament may from time to time confer original jurisdiction on the Supremo Court in such cases as it may think fit. In certain cases it will be optional for fche appellant to select the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal of Great Britain and Ireland to hear the appeal, bufc if he accepts the Supreme Court of the Federation, the decision of that Court shall bo final. Trials in connection with all crimes will be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the province where the crime was committed. , Sir S. W. Griffiths, Queensland, Mr C. C. Kingston, South Australia, and Mr J. A. Clarke, Tasmania, has been entrusted with the task of drafting a Constitutional Bill.