Five Years Under the Southern Cross: Experiences and Impressions

by Frederic C. Spurr

Thus the miracle. Now for the prediction.

What will be the future of the great Golden West—that immense area of nearly one million square miles which comprises Western Australia? The question is inevitable, and it is of surpassing interest, not only to Australia, but to the entire Empire. A study of the map should convince any reasonable person that this “front door to Australia” is of no ordinary importance in the plan of Empire development. Vast coloured populations lie almost at this door. Facing the north and north-west are the millions of Java and Borneo and the islands, while India is but ten days’ steaming from the port of Fremantle. Beyond, in the north, lie four hundred millions of Chinese. With a discontented India, an awakening China, an overcrowded and ambitious Japan—all near at hand—the question, What will be the future of the Golden West? assumes a new and serious importance.

Let us consider the land to begin with. It is the “giant of the Australian States,” containing the vastest area and the smallest population (I am not including Tasmania). Until recently it has been largely neglected by the other States and by the rest of the world. For many years it lay stagnant, until the gold boom brought it into prominence. That immense “desert” which lies between Perth and Port Augusta has acted as a barrier between the inhabitants of Western Australia and those of other States. The coming of the railway, however, will change all that.

The future of the country, commercially, may be deduced from the story of the past. During the last few years what was practically a desert has become a garden. A mere handful of people have wrought the change. Silently, and without advertisement, plough and drill have been at work with amazing results. During the last twenty-two years—from 1890 to 1912—the population has grown from 46,290 to 304,627. When every allowance has been made for immigration and emigration—for the ebb and flow have been continuous—the natural growth in the way of births has been excellent and above the average. Yet the total population at present is ridiculous for so vast a territory. In the United Kingdom there are 370 persons to the square mile; in Western Australia there is one person to three square miles. It is evident that a great increase of population must take place before it is necessary to speak of overcrowding! This small population has really accomplished wonderful things. It has created a number of industries, all of which are capable of almost indefinite extension. It has cleared thousands of acres of “scrub,” and converted them into orchards and wheatfields. It has carried through, at a cost of over three millions sterling, one of the most successful schemes for pumping water. It has built a harbour at Fremantle at a cost of a million pounds. It has erected some noble buildings. It has established a splendid system of education. It is obvious that for such enterprises to have been conceived and consummated the natural wealth of the country is enormous. The people bear a heavy taxation with great cheerfulness. They can well afford it, and withal, as is shown by the figures I have previously cited, they are very thrifty, in the aggregate having saved some millions of money.

The total revenue of the State for the year 1890—the year before the gold boom—was £414,314. In 1912 it was £3,966,674.

The past achievements are a prophecy of future success. Professor Lowrie prepared two years ago certain estimates of the agricultural possibilities of the south-western part of the State. He predicted that in two decades the yield of wheat could be easily three times what it is at present; the yield of barley four times as much; the yield of oats seventy times as much; the yield of fruit fifteen times as much; the yield of potatoes twenty times as much; and the yield of dairy produce fourteen times as much; while sheep could be increased by 100 per cent. And this, remember, is an estimate for one part only of the State.

In the north-eastern part of the State the climate is tropical. It is capable of bearing an enormous amount of stock and timber, while almost any kind of luxurious vegetation can flourish under the generous heat of the sun. Tropical fruits also can be grown in profusion. A large trade is now done in pearl fishing, and this, too, can be increased; while in certain places the turtle abounds. The turtle industry is capable of great extension. One can imagine even a M. Louis de Rougemont quite contented with the size of these strange creatures. Fishing, pearling, and turtling offer great openings. All kinds of citrus fruits flourish in the State, together with the Smyrna fig, which reaches a state of perfection.

The commercial value of timber in this Golden West is enormous. The sandal wood grows in the north, and the jarrah hard wood in abundance everywhere. In other States there has been a cruel and wicked waste of valuable timber. The beautiful blackwood has been thrown in hundreds of tons to the flames; it “did not pay” to remove it to the coast. Surely Western Australia will never repeat this supreme folly! I have heard a whisper that some valuable ebony has been recently found in an out-of-the-way corner, but inquiries concerning it have elicited only the vaguest information.

What, then, with agriculture, gold mining, general minerals—including coal—pearling, fishing, timber, turtles, and fruit, the State has a reserve of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.

Water is always a difficulty in a country like this. Heaven is generous in its bountiful supplies of rain and springs, but man has not yet been wise enough to treasure the gifts so lavishly sent. There are rivers hundreds of miles long which have yet to be utilised for the necessary work of irrigation. Already the West, by its provision of water for the arid goldfields, has shown what can be done in the way of using to the best advantage the natural supplies which are confined to certain areas. And this country of young people, with the success of Coolgardie under its eyes, will know how to confer a like benefit upon other districts. With the practice of complete irrigation, the success of the country, agriculturally, is assured.