CHAPTER XXXII
THE OUTLOOK IN TASMANIA
I freely admit that Van Diemen’s Land greatly fascinated me. Its varied scenery, its mountains, its mild climate, its fertility, each left their impression. I was fortunate enough to fall into the kind hands of several gentlemen who have greatly helped in the making of Tasmania, and they made my tour not only a pleasure, but the means of acquiring a great deal of information about the actual state of the country and its immediate prospects. With two or three motor-cars at one’s disposal, driven by gentlemen who know the country through and through, and with authority to travel anywhere I chose on the State railways, my way was made exceedingly easy.
I promised in this chapter to write about Tasmania as a colony for the British people. Little Britain, in the North Sea, does not know very much about its possessions in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The average Englishman knows practically nothing about Tasmania. But he ought to know something about it. Tasmanians are not a self-assertive people. They do not advertise their country. Hence, for the many, it remains a land in the mist.
The area of the island, including the small islands to the north, is nearly seventeen million acres. About one-third of this space is under cultivation. The entire population is less than 200,000—about one-third the population of the City of Melbourne. The average population works out at six or seven persons to the square mile. It will be seen at once that the island is sparsely populated. The need of Tasmania is population, though not nearly to the same extent as Australia. Men who have the right to speak with authority upon the matter declare that Tasmania needs a population of one million persons in order that it may be profitably developed. The railways at present entail a loss of £70,000 per annum. A Special Commissioner has recently been appointed to try to grapple with this particular problem. He has instructions to make the railways pay. But they cannot pay until there is a larger influx of inhabitants.
Now, there are three things concerning Tasmania that should be of interest to very many Englishmen, both from the point of view of capital and the point of view of emigration, i.e. fruit, power, and minerals.
I have said that two-thirds of the land is not yet under cultivation. It is only right to say that at present there is little prospect of this territory being explored and subdued, and even if there were, it is doubtful if a great part of it is arable land. The forest is exceedingly dense, and men soon become “bushed.” When it is cleared it may turn out to be very valuable property, or it may not. But it is believed that part of this hidden country is rich in minerals, if not in soil. And, further, it is as likely as not that the land may bear apples, since it is demonstrated that an inferior soil can produce prolific crops of apples. Leaving aside, then, all that is doubtful, and dealing only with the Tasmania that is known, the possibilities of a great development of the country are bound up with fruit, power, and minerals.
Fruit, first of all. An immense development can take place in this direction. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of “bush” awaiting the coming of the farmer. We had a striking illustration of what may be done in an excursion to the Russell Falls. After leaving the fruitful Derwent Valley, and bidding farewell to the railway at Russell, we plunged into the bush. In every direction stretched out the scrub. Few people beyond tourists ever pass along this way. So quiet is the road that serpents come forth from the undergrowth and stretch themselves in the sunshine which floods the dusty route. We ran over two of these reptiles, one of them measuring five feet in length. Here and there we espied huts in which settlers were residing; from various points rose wreaths of smoke, an indication that the work of “burning off” was in progress. At the entrance to the Russell Falls we encountered a typical settler, who speedily showed us how quickly an energetic man can subdue the bush and make it fruitful. Eighteen months ago this man purchased seventy-two acres of land. Including the fees for survey, the land cost him £39, and he was allowed fourteen years in which to pay the money. A day or two ago he was offered £2,000 for the property. Wisely he declined the offer, for the prospects of his investment are worth more to him than £2,000. He is comparatively a young man, with a family of small children. Given health and strength, his future is secured, and all for an outlay of £39. The rest depends upon his toil. Already, in this brief period, he has planted 115 apple trees, and has made the ground bear a healthy crop of strawberries, raspberries, peas, hops, and potatoes. Past his door runs the river, in which, the night before our visit, over three hundred trout were caught by some fifteen fishermen, our settler himself being responsible for forty of these. Birds, fish, rabbits, and hares are all in the neighbourhood. The property contains about three thousand eucalyptus trees, which will all be felled and used for firewood. In two years’ time the railway will pass through this estate, and of course increase its value. At present the homestead is isolated. The nearest pillar-box for the reception of letters is some distance away on the roadside, and consists of an old candle-box secured to the stump of a tree. In a few years all this will be changed as the land is rendered fertile. What this man has done others are doing and others may do. This subjugation of the soil is one of the most healthful and lucrative of employments. It should attract a number of the right class of Englishmen.
At Moonah I saw the prospectus of a scheme for planting and developing orchard land. In the place named in the prospectus land is offered, right out, by the Government for ten shillings an acre. It carries 200,000 tons of firewood, and in ground crops and orchard would yield very speedily an amazing profit.
The fruit industry, then, I place first of all.
Next to this is the development of power. Tasmania is noted for its lakes, all of which are situated amongst the mountains at an altitude of 3,000 or more feet above the sea. A great scheme for utilising this water in the production of electric power is now actually in progress. Hobart can be supplied with power for lighting, heating, and locomotion, and the country en route from the lakes can all be opened up to the magic wire. This means a great thing for the island, and holds the promise of great developments. Tasmania may yet be able to show civilisation that smoke is entirely unnecessary in commercial and domestic life. Certain it is that the future of Tasmania will be materially affected by the introduction of electric power on the scale proposed. And Melbourne, which for a city under the Southern Cross has far too much smoke, might condescend to learn from Tasmania a lesson in sweetness and light.