DOCSLIB.ORG

Australia Since 1890

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Australia Since 1890 So we must fly a rebel flag, As others did before us; And we must sing a rebel song, And join in rebel chorus. 1 We’ll make the tyrants feel the sting O’ those that they Australia, would throttle, They needn’t say the fault is ours, If blood should stain the wattle. 1890–1914 Worker, 16 May 1891 pages Australia up to 1890 The people The six Australian colonies had begun as British settlements and in 1890 the population was still predominantly of British origin. SampleSydney, in New South Wales, was originally founded as a penal colony in 1788 and convictism figured prominently in the early history of the other colonies, with the excep- tion of Victoria and South Australia. However, with the phasing out of convictism, the achievement of self-government and the development of their economies, the colonies were by 1890 free, dynamic societies in which transplanted British institutions were being changed by the effects of the Australian Australia since 1890 environment. There was a strong belief in social strenuous, with much heavy manual labour. In and political democracy. Australia was seen as a rural areas long-established squatters lived in land where hard work and equal opportunity comparative comfort, but small ‘cocky’ farmers could overcome class distinctions and enable struggled to make their farms viable. Bush the individual to gain a rightful place in society. workers often camped out in huts and tents The trade union movement emphasised collec- while engaged in contract or seasonal jobs like tive action to bring about social and economic fencing and shearing. equality. In the cities most people lived in terrace or semi-detached houses and sanitation was still Urbanisation fairly primitive, with refuse often draining into open street channels. Women had few labour- By the 1890s the colonies were becoming saving devices in the home and the 1901 census increasingly urbanised, despite the importance showed that 12 per cent of the work force of primary industries. The 1901 census found, (mainly female) was engaged in domestic that in a population of 3.7 million people, 35 per service. Although working conditions in the cent lived in the capital cities and 21 per cent cities were not as bad as those in Britain, lived in country towns. The cities and their exploitation, particularly of female workers, was ports were very much the focal point of each not uncommon. colony. They had developed as the administra- However, overall, the standard of living for tive and commercial centres, and the growth of workingpages people in Australia was among the road and rail transport strengthened this trend. highest in the world. Factory Acts regulated They were also the main ports of call for inter- conditions of work, while trade unions gained colonial and overseas trade. Manufacturing was benefits for their members in some industries. becoming increasingly concentrated in the Family life was strong and church was well capitals as well. Beyond the cities, population attended. Picnics, sporting events, shows and was sparse and widely dispersed because the circuses provided a diversion from the weekly geography favoured extensive pastoral and agri- routine. Entertainment included opera, theatre cultural land use. Country people were strongly and musical comedy, while the gradual achieve- self-reliant. However, they looked to the colonial ment of the 8-hour working day made Saturday governments in the capitalSample cities to help provide a half-holiday for many when people could take the resources needed to offset the costs of dis- part in organised sport. Cricket and Australian tance, adverse seasons and land development.1 rules football (begun in Melbourne in 1866) were national sports by 1890. Indeed, the Social life first overseas cricket tour to England—by an In 1890 life was rigorous for the average Aboriginal team—had taken place in 1868, and Australian. Population centres were often iso- the first Australia–England Test match was held lated by long distances and poor roads. Working in Melbourne in 1877. Horse racing too was conditions in both the country and city were popular, attracting people from all walks of life. 2 Australia, 1890–1914 pages Sydney in the 1890s governments. Gradually, government schools Source: NSW Government Printer were set up, but the church schools continued to be subsidised. In 1851 South Australia abol- What is the main form of Sampletransport shown ished state aid to denominational schools, and in this photograph? How would this have between 1872 and 1895 the other colonies did likewise. changed by 1914? ? There was a strong belief that all children had the right to the same level of education. As Education a result, the colonial governments passed Acts By 1890 most children in Australia were receiv- providing free, compulsory and secular educa- ing an education. The Christian churches had tion. However, the government did not have a established the first schools in the colonies, and monopoly of education as the churches contin- they were financially assisted by the colonial ued to run their own schools. The Catholic 3 Australia since 1890 Church in particular protested against the sheep industry after 1820 the Aborigines were abolition of state aid and developed its own dispossessed of their land and therefore their system of primary and secondary education. means of survival. They tried to resist the Also, state school education was not entirely European invasion by mounting a skilful form secular as local clergy were allowed to take of ‘guerilla’ warfare against the settlers. How- religious instruction in government schools. ever, they were no match for men on horseback Each colony developed its own centralised carrying firearms. Units of ‘black troopers’ were education system. Centralisation of control facil- sent out to crush Aboriginal resistance. itated the equitable provision of educational The plight of the Aborigines did not go resources throughout both urban and rural entirely unheeded. Governors attempted to areas. When the colonies federated in 1901, they protect the Aborigines and punish those who retained responsibility for education. massacred Aboriginal people.2 Reserves were Schools were modelled on English schools established to try to protect the Aborigines, in both curriculum and organisation. There and Christian missions provided sanctuaries was strong emphasis on loyalty to the British for some Aboriginal tribes. However, these Empire. The major focus was on primary edu- efforts were largely to no avail. As the pastoral cation. Gradually state secondary schools were industry expanded, the Aborigines were dis- set up. Technical schools and universities were posessed of their traditional lands by the white also established. In WA, technical education settlers. began in 1900, while the University of Western pagesEuropean settlement had a disastrous Australia was opened in 1913. impact on Aboriginal numbers. In 1788 there were about 700 000 Aborigines in Australia according to recent estimates, but by 1890 this The Aborigines number had been reduced to only about 60 000. Early in its history Australia was seen as a place In Tasmania the Aboriginal population was where Australians could build a way of life that completely exterminated. This enormous de- was free from the class privilege, poverty and cline in Aboriginal numbers was due mainly to social degradation found in other parts of the the effect of European-introduced diseases such world. However, the indigenous people, the as influenza, measles and smallpox, as well as Australian Aborigines, wereSample excluded from this poor diet and malnutrition. concept. Moreover, the overall impact of Up to 1890 the position of the Aboriginal white settlement on the original inhabitants was people continued to worsen. Despite official catastrophic. attempts to ‘protect’ Aborigines, the idea gained For several thousand years the Aborigines ground, reinforced by Social Darwinism, that had practised a semi-nomadic hunting and gath- the Aboriginal race would eventually die out. ering lifestyle that was in tune with the natural While white Australians generally regarded environment. The advent of white civilisation Aborigines as inferior, they often used them for destroyed this equilibrium. At first there was their own purposes. White men exploited native fairly limited contact between Europeans and women for sex and many ‘half-caste’ children Aborigines, but with the rapid expansion of the were born from these unions. As tribal groups 4 Australia, 1890–1914 broke up, many Aborigines were employed as horsebreakers and stockmen on sheep and cattle stations. But they were rarely paid wages equivalent to the whites. Aborigines were also employed in the pearling industry, centred on Broome. But although they made excellent skindivers, they received only a small food and clothing ration instead of a wage. Some Aborigines picked up casual work in rural areas where they came into contact with bush workers whose habits of drinking and gambling they readily acquired. However, while bush workers believed fiercely in mateship and unionism, they made little effort to involve Aboriginals in labour unions. The Chinese This was another racial group that was badly ‘Outside, Sir! Outside!’ treated in Australian society. Chinese were attrac- Mrs Australiapages (to John Chinaman): ted to the goldfields in the eastern colonies during ‘I’ve had quite enough of you! the 1850s and tension often arose between the “No admittance,”—Not even “on business”!’ Source: National Library of Australia Australian and Chinese diggers, resulting at times in riots and the expulsion of the Chinese from the diggings. Colonial governments imposed an entry tax and a poll tax on Chinese What does this cartoon reveal about to discourage further Chinese immigration. Australian attitudes to Chinese immigration? With the decline of alluvial mining, racial tensions eased and the restrictive laws were ? repealed. However, a furtherSample influx of Chinese in the 1870s to the Queensland goldfields led to Economic development renewed calls for their exclusion.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Story of the Commonwealth Bank by D.J
    The Story of the Commonwealth Bank By D.J. AMOS, F.C.I.S. VERITAS PUBLISHING COMPANY PTY LTD Printed and Published by Veritas Publishing Company Pty., Ltd., P.O. Box 1334, Midland, DC. Western Australia, 6936. Tel/Fax +61 8 9574 6042 ISBN 0-9594631-6-X Copyright (c) D.J. AMOS, F.C.I.S. 1986 Third reprint 2009 This booklet is downloaded from www.socialcredit.com.au downloaded from www.socialcredit.com page 1 “The Commonwealth Stories” No. 1. The Story of the Commonwealth Bank. No.2. The Story of the Commonwealth Fleet (of Steamers). No.3. The Story of the Commonwealth Railway and the Note Issue. No.4. The Story of the Commonwealth Woollen Mills. No.5. The Story of the Commonwealth Oil Refineries and the Search for Oil. No.6. The Story of the Commonwealth Wireless Service. downloaded from www.socialcredit.com page 2 Lament of the Commonwealth Bank A hand-maiden, where once I ruled A Queen from sea to sea! No task too vile to set me to, Who strove to make you free. God! Did I once stand upright from My frightful servitude, And wear upon my beaten brow The crown of nationhood? As in a dream I see them pass, My deeds of long ago, My bright Homes, filled with happiness, In peace and comfort glow. My Credit flows in running streams To help you in your need; It saves you from the usurer’s grip, And private banker’s greed. When Ruin turns his grim face on Your primal industries, My ships steam swift, and carry forth Your produce overseas.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Management Plan
    CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN UNSW Cliffbrook Campus 45-51 Beach Street, Coogee Cliffbrook, eastern elevation, November 2016 Level 19 100 William Street Sydney NSW 2011 (02) 8076 5317 May 2017 0.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 0.1 Introduction This Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the UNSW Cliffbrook Campus, No. 45-51 Beach Street, Coogee, New South Wales, has been prepared at the request of the University of New South Wales. The Campus is located within the Municipality of Randwick. Part of the Campus is listed on the State Heritage Register under the auspices of the NSW Heritage Act 1977. The same area of the Campus is listed as a heritage item by Schedule 5 Part 1 of the Randwick Local Environmental Plan 2012 (Randwick LEP 2012). This CMP is concerned with the heritage listed area of the Campus only, referred to as the Study Area. This CMP has been prepared to guide proposed new works on the site. 0.2 Objectives The brief required the preparation of a CMP for the Study Area following NSW Heritage Division guidelines. 0.3 Authorship This CMP has been prepared by Alice Fuller, B. Appl. Sc. (CCM), M.Herit.Cons. (Hons), and James Phillips, B.Sc. (Arch.), B. Arch, M.Herit.Cons. (Hons), of Weir Phillips Heritage. 0.4 Summary History At the heart of the Campus lies a building known as Cliffbrook, a dwelling erected for Sir Dennis Miller, first Governor of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in c.1922. This Cliffbrook was the second dwelling of this name to be erected within the immediate area.
    [Show full text]
  • STOP the British Crown Plot to Crush Australia's Unions
    Letter of Transmittal Dear Fellow Citizen, Excepting the special case of World War II, when our entire nation was in mortal peril, the Australian labour movement today faces the worst threat to its existence since the fi erce onslaughts of the early 1890s, when troops were deployed to crush the shearers and dockers. Then, British fi nance caused a depression by pulling its funds out of Australia, which produced untold misery. Today, the same City of London circles have created a speculative bubble without precedent since the Lombard banks in Italy collapsed in the 1340s, and are at- tempting to keep that bubble afl oat for a few more weeks or months by savagely looting the labour force. However, that will not stop the collapse, one uniquely predicted by American statesman and physical economist Lyndon H. LaRouche, in his famous “Ninth Forecast” of June, 1994. Many scoffed at LaRouche when he forecast: “The presently existing global fi nancial and monetary system will disintegrate during the near term...That collapse into disintegration is inevitable, because it could not be stopped now by anything but the politically improbable decision by leading governments to put the relevant fi nancial and monetary institutions into bankruptcy reorganization.” After the “Asian meltdown” beginning July, 1997, very few are scoffi ng today, though many—including the Australian government—are hysterically trying to deny the much more devastating fi nancial storms still to come. On Christmas Day, December 25, 1997, LaRouche added the following to his earlier forecast: “Since late October, cascading explosions of a global systemic fi nancial crisis continue to grip this planet.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Commonwealth Banknote
    Announcing the Auction of the first commonwealth banknote 23 march 2006 hotel intercontinental sydney australia NOBLE NUMISMATICS PTY LTD The first Commonwealth banknote Foreword We are immensely pleased to be offering Australia’s first Commonwealth banknote, Ten Shillings M000001, at our forthcoming auction 22-24 March 2006 in Sydney. The offering is unprecedented in Australian numismatic auction history and with a pre-sale estimate of $1.2 million the note is by far the most valuable of any Australian numismatic object offered at auction. For these reasons we decided to produce this special booklet in addition to our usual catalogue to explore and disseminate the history and importance of the note. For information on viewing the note or to arrange a confidential consultation please refer to the details on page 8. Thanking you for your attention, Jim Noble (Managing Director) ‘The time has arrived’ The origins of the first Commonwealth note issue can be found consultation with the banks raised unequivocal opposition. in the Australian Constitution, enacted at Westminster in 1900. It was the Labor Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, who revived Section 51 (xii) granted parliament the power to legislate with the concept in a policy speech at Gympie, Queensland on 30 respect to ‘currency, coinage and legal tender’. March 1909 and reported in The Argus the following day. In his address Fisher declared ‘The time has arrived when the Support for Commonwealth Commonwealth should have a note issue of its own.’ paper currency began soon after federation. The existing To Fisher it was clear the young Commonwealth required a system of private bank and stable, unified federal paper currency to facilitate its economic Queensland Government growth.
    [Show full text]
  • The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 Volume Xi Australia During the War
    THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA IN THE WAR OF 1914-1918 VOLUME XI AUSTRALIA DURING THE WAR AUSTRALIA DURING THE WAR BY ERNEST SCOTT Pmfcsor of Histow in the Vniwuty of Mdhe With 67 illustrations Sezientli Edition AUSTRALIA ANGUS AND ROBERTSON LTD. 09 CASTLEREACH STREET, SYDNEY 1941 Printed and Bcund in Australia by Halstead Press Pty Limited, 9-19 Nickson Street. Sydney. Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for trana- mission through the post as a book. Obtainable in Great Britain at Australia House and from all booksellers (sole agent for wholesale distribution-The Official Secretary for the Commonwealth of Australia, Australia House, Strand, London, W C.2); in Canada from the Australian Trade Commissioner, 15 King Street West, Toronto: in the United States from the Australian Government Trade Commissioner, International Building, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York; and in New Zealand from the Australian Trade Commissioner, D.1 C. Building, Wellington. First Edtliott . , . 1936 Srroitd Edition . , 1937 Third Editioii . , . 1938 Foiirth Edition . 1939 Fifth Edition . 1939 Sixth Edition . 1940 Sewnth Edition . 1941 PREFACE THISbook is a member of a series recording the participation of the Commonwealth of Australia in the Great European War, but it differs from its companion volumes in scope and subject-matter. They are concerned with battles-in Egypt, Gallipoli, France, and Palestine; with the activities of the young Australian navy; with medical services; with the occupation of territory formerly under German government. Substantially the greater part of those works relates to what was done by Australian soldiers, sailors, medical officers, and administrators outside their own country, though on duties vitally affecting Australia and the Empire to which she belongs.
    [Show full text]
  • An Inquiry Into Contemporary Australian Extreme Right
    THE OTHER RADICALISM: AN INQUIRY INTO CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN EXTREME RIGHT IDEOLOGY, POLITICS AND ORGANIZATION 1975-1995 JAMES SALEAM A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Of Philosophy Department Of Government And Public Administration University of Sydney Australia December 1999 INTRODUCTION Nothing, except being understood by intelligent people, gives greater pleasure, than being misunderstood by blunderheads. Georges Sorel. _______________________ This Thesis was conceived under singular circumstances. The author was in custody, convicted of offences arising from a 1989 shotgun attack upon the home of Eddie Funde, Representative to Australia of the African National Congress. On October 6 1994, I appeared for Sentence on another charge in the District Court at Parramatta. I had been convicted of participation in an unsuccessful attempt to damage a vehicle belonging to a neo-nazi informer. My Thesis -proposal was tendered as evidence of my prospects for rehabilitation and I was cross-examined about that document. The Judge (whose Sentence was inconsequential) said: … Mr Saleam said in evidence that his doctorate [sic] of philosophy will engage his attention for the foreseeable future; that he has no intention of using these exertions to incite violence.1 I pondered how it was possible to use a Thesis to incite violence. This exercise in courtroom dialectics suggested that my thoughts, a product of my experiences in right-wing politics, were considered acts of subversion. I concluded that the Extreme Right was ‘The Other Radicalism’, understood by State agents as odorous as yesteryear’s Communist Party. My interest in Extreme Right politics derived from a quarter-century involvement therein, at different levels of participation.
    [Show full text]
  • Before Sunset: the Bank & World War I
    Before Sunset The Bank & World War I I find Sir that the worries of a Battalion on active service are even more than those of managing a Savings Bank. – Ernest Hilmer Smith to Denison Miller, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 27 June 1915, Gallipoli Peninsular. Museum of Australian Currency Notes Open Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm Still image from film footage of troops departing for World War I in front of the Fitzroy Stevedoring Company, Woolloomooloo, Sydney. (National Film and Sound Archive Title # 45988) James Northfield (Australia, 1887–1973), His Future is in Your hands! Buy Peace Bonds, colour lithograph, circa 1918. James Northfield Heritage Art Trust © 14/2310 (Detail on booklet cover) Bank staff and soldiers outside the Commonwealth Bank’s Military Branch at the AIF Depot, Liverpool, New South Wales, 30 April 1915. PN-000260 Before Sunset | PAGE 1 Before Sunset: The Bank & World War I Soon after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia opened in 1912, it was called upon to perform a vital role as the nation’s central bank. During the years of World War I (1914–18), the Bank was required to manage the raising of funds for the war effort, and to ensure the payment of service people in foreign countries, among other duties. Under the leadership of its Governor, Sir Denison Miller (1860–1923), the Bank fulfilled these responsibilities, and raised £257, 719, 989, exceeding by almost £48, 000, 000 the goal it was set. The Commonwealth Bank continued to develop its role as the nation’s central bank until 1960, when the Reserve Bank of Australia was established.
    [Show full text]
  • Joseph Cook: the Reluctant Treasurer
    Joseph Cook: the reluctant treasurer John Hawkins1 Sir Joseph Cook, somewhat reluctantly, served for 16 months as Treasurer near the end of his political career, one of two former Prime Ministers to hold the position. By then he had left his radical origins well behind him and was a very conservative Treasurer. He transferred the note issue to the Commonwealth Bank. Source: National Library of Australia. 1 At the time of writing, the author worked in the Domestic Economy Division, the Australian Treasury. The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Australian Treasury. 71 Joseph Cook: the reluctant treasurer Introduction Joseph Cook PC GCMG is one of only two Prime Ministers to serve as treasurer after he held the higher office.2 By some accounts he is one of the most obscure Prime Ministers.3 Cook was physically robust and hard-working, tall and strongly-built. He did not drink or swear and had ‘no time for frivolity’.4 He was uninterested in sport, dancing or music. He opposed Sunday opening of Taronga Zoo lest it distracted people from church.5 But he was known outside the parliamentary chamber for his good manners, with a cheery smile for friends and ‘a tranquillity of soul’.6 He was ‘devoted to self-improvement’.7 While from the humblest of origins, by the latter stages of his parliamentary career, ‘in manner and language, he comported himself as though born to a public school and Oxford’.8 Initially a poor speaker he trained himself to become a parliamentary dalek: it was said ‘when he started out to deal a blow to a minister … he will not desist until he has exterminated him utterly’.9 Spending most of his career in opposition, ‘the habit of a decade of criticism never left him and … he had not developed that constructive side which is so essential for both ministerial and cabinet life’10 and possessed ‘few skills in negotiation.’11 Cook spent most of his federal parliamentary career as a loyal deputy, first to Reid, then Deakin and finally Hughes.
    [Show full text]
  • Monetary Policy in Australia 1920-1925 Selwyn Cornish And
    CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC HISTORY THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES MAKING A LAND FIT FOR A GOLD STANDARD: MONETARY POLICY IN AUSTRALIA 1920-1925 SELWYN CORNISH WILLIAM COLEMAN AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 2014-06 MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY ACTON ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA T 61 2 6125 3590 F 61 2 6125 5124 E [email protected] http://rse.anu.edu.au/CEH Making a Land Fit for a Gold Standard: Monetary Policy in Australia 1920-1925 Selwyn Cornish and William Coleman! 1 The Research School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, The Australian National University. Introduction On 4 February 1925 Sir Otto Niemeyer, Controller of Finance at the British Treasury, wrote to M.L. Shepherd, 0 fficial Secretary to the Australian High Commission in London, asking whether the Commonwealth Bank "ought not take steps to bring the Australian exchange banks to some glimmering of sense". The difficulty was that Australia, "a gold producing country, with an ample gold reserve of £25m, [was] actually importing gold, because the exchange banks are still charging 3% premium for pounds in Australia in spite of the fact that sterling was within 1- 1'12% of gold parity." South African banks, Niemeyer noted, had recently reduced their sterling discount and "it is obvious that your exchange banks ought to do the same without a moment's delay." If the banks demurred, he proposed that the Commonwealth Bank should itself "take the initiative in offering Australian pounds at a reasonable rate against sterling payment here". After all, the "present position", he asserted, "must be doing Australia great harm for no reasonable object whatever." (RBA C1.8-25/G/l, Niemeyer to Shepherd, 4 Febmary 1925) Thirty-four years later, in 1959, the Australian Treasury Representative in London, John Stone, discovered Niemeyer's letter in a closed file at Australia House and dispatched a copy to his superior in Canberra, Richard Randall, who, in rum, passed it on to the Deputy Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, E.B.
    [Show full text]
  • The 1930S: the Struggle Against London's 'Money Power'
    Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 26, Number 48, December 3, 1999 known as the Mercantile System out of the industrial revolu- The 1930s tion. The Victorian era had been one of great commercial expansion. With that rare genius for political invention, Glad- stone, Disraeli and other British statesmen sought a substitute for the old system of Crown Colonies. They found it in the The struggle against British Empire. The formula was to hand to the colonies the right to govern themselves providing they did not break the London’s ‘Money Power’ financial nexus with the City of London.” by Kelvin Heslop The City of London’s hold on Australia Lang then described how this great octopus entirely domi- nated Australia: When King O’Malley left parliament near the beginning of “The City of London provided all the capital required World War I, his enduring legacy was the Commonwealth for the development of the colonies. The City controlled the National Bank. He not only founded the bank, but then hand- ships, the wool and wheat exchanges, the insurance houses picked the man to run it for its first decade, Denison Miller. and all the other machinery of trade and commerce. O’Malley told Miller, in attempting to recruit him to head the “The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, as they called the Bank, “You have a chance to make history, Brother Miller, Bank of England, presided over the financial dynasty of the Australian history, which will become world history. Think Empire. It was supported by the Big Five, the major private the matter over deeply.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of the Commonwealth Bank
    NINTH EDITION (He Story of the Commonwealth Bank Bv I). J. AMOS, F.A.I.S. The Bank in Mourning for Sir Denison Miller, June. 1923. All Rights Reserved) - - - ONE SHILLING LTP E. J. McAlister & Co., 332.110994 Adelaide. Am6S 1940. "The Commonwealth Stories" No. 1.—The Story of tile Commonwealth Bank. No. 2.—The Slory of the Commonwealth Fleet (of Steamers). No. —The Story of the Commonwealth Railway and the Note Issue. No. 4.—The Story of tile Commonwealth Woollen Mills. No. 5.—The Story of the Commonwealth Oil Refineries and the Search for Oil. No. G.—The Slory of the Commonwealth Wireless Service. yfsmv pmos mi 3a £ - XW" • * '0 PREFACE TO THE NINTH EDITION. "The Story of the Commonwealth Bank" was originally delivered as a lecture before the Sturt Electoral Committee, Adelaide, and was first printed in pamphlet form in 1931. It exhibited the usual defect of all lectures, namely, condensation of the subject mat- ter to an extreme degree. The great and unexpected demand which arose for the pamphlet found me so closely occupied in other work that the second and third editions had to be printed practically unaltered, and I began to be more and more sensible of the need for amplifications and additions. These were accordingly made in the fourth (revised) edition, after which only minor additions, for the sake of clearness, were inserted in subsequent editions until the eighth was called for. It was then found necessary to continue the story up to Australia's entry into the second world war (1939), and also to include in it a short account of the note issue.
    [Show full text]
  • THE JUBILEE of the COMMONWEALTH BANK [By C
    93 THE JUBILEE OF THE COMMONWEALTH BANK [By C. M. TAYLOR] <Read at General Meeting of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland on 26 July 1962.) Just eleven days ago, on 15 July, there occurred the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of that well known national Institution, the Commonwealth Bank. Its beginning could be said to date back even fifty years before 1912, because forward-thinking citizens, idealists and planners had advanced proposals for the estabUshment of a government owned and operated national bank for many years before that time. However desirable this scheme was or might have been, it was, for very obvious reasons, quite impracticable before Federation. The idea of a Commonwealth Bank was plainly in the minds of the framers of our Constitution, for a section of it provides that "The Commonwealth shall have powers to make laws concerning banking, other than State banking, the incor­ poration of banks and the issue of paper money." KING O'MALLEY Shortly after Federation, there came into prominence one of the most colourful and vigorous characters in Australian politics, Mr. King O'Malley, who campaigned for many years, at first almost alone, for the establishment of the Bank and eventually won through. The late Hon. King O'MaUey came to Australia, actually to Brisbane, from U.S.A. in the early eighties, an aiUng young man in search of health. In his memoirs, he claims to have suffered from gaUoping consumption, but in those days, the term consumption was used to describe every chest complaint from advanced tuberculosis to a common cold.
    [Show full text]