Note 35 — Chapter XVII

The grounds of Australian federation are a useful parallel for South Africa. I give Mr Bryce’s list (‘Studies in History and Jurisprudence,’ vol. i. p. 478): “The gain to trade and the general convenience to be expected from abolishing the tariffs established on the frontiers of each colony; the need for a common system of military defence; the advantages of a common legislature for the regulation of railways and the fixing of railway rates; the advantages of a common control of the larger rivers for the purposes both of navigation and irrigation; the need for uniform legislation on a number of commercial topics; the importance of finding an authority competent to provide for old-age pensions and for the settlement of labour disputes all over the country; the need for uniform provision against the entry of coloured races (especially Chinese, Malays, and Indian coolies); the gain to suitors from the establishment of a High Court to entertain appeals and avoid the expense and delay involved in carrying cases to the Privy Council in England; the probability that money could be borrowed more easily on the credit of the Australian Federation than by each colony for itself; the stimulus to be given to industry and trade by substituting one great community for six smaller ones; the possibility of making better arrangements for the disposal of the unappropriated lands belonging to some of the colonies than could be made by those colonies for themselves.”