The Story ot a Goldfields Newspaper

so many there was a keen struggle for existence. A The Western Australian Historical Society high standard had to be maintained to live, especially INCORPORATED as the Goldfields community was cosmopolitan, amongst them being numerous well-educated, adven­ JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS turous and enterprising spirits attracted from all parts of the world by the lure of gold. None but the VOL. IV] 1949 [PART I most readable could survive. Of all those publications, only one is alive to-day-the Kalgoorlie Miner, which The Society does not hold itselj responsible tor statements made several years ago celebrated the fiftieth anniversary or opinions expressed by authors ot the papers of its first issue. published in this Journal The story of that paper, which I edited for the first thirty years of its existence, is one of the romances of the Australian Press. The story begins seventeen months after Paddy Hannan picked up the piece of THE STORY OF A GOLDFIELDS gold that made his name famous. The scene of the NEWSPAPER find was still called Hannans. It had become a collec­ tion of hessian humpies and tents with little or no A ROMANCE OF THE PRESS resemblance of a town. There was a miserable erec­ tion that served as a Post Office; trees stood in what KALGOORLIE EARLY DAYS is to-day Hannan Street. There were a few bag A Paper prepared by the Hon. SIR JOHN KIRWAN, K.C.M.G., shanties, at one of which -iquor was sold, and at others and read to the W.A. Historical Society on March 25, 1949. such stores as canned foods, tin dishes and digger requirements. Dust and fiies were prevalent, and there A remarkable feature of the early days of the Eastern was a great scarcity of water, which was mostly con­ Goldfields was the astonishing spate of newspapers densed and very expensive. that were issued in the various centres. During the Life was strenuous and hard. What had to be second half of the 'Nineties of the last century (some­ endured by Goldfields pioneers had to be experienced times, and not inaptly, called the "Roaring 'Nineties") to be realised. Scores of men lost in the bush perished I can recall the names of almost a score, including of thirst in dreadful agony; many others died speared several dailies, that were published within that area, by blacks, and countless numbers of the healthiest and an area that but a few years previously was a remote, strongest were the victims of typhoid, in the absence waterless, foodless, trackless Wilderness, hundreds of of doctors, nurses and proper food. Still, notwith­ miles from a railway, and inhabited only by a few standing these tragic troubles the community, con­ tribes of half-starved nomadic aborigines. sisting almost exclusively of young men, was bright In Coolgardie during those years there were two With hope. Gold was plentiful, and great activity dailies and a couple of weeklies; Kalgoorlie had two prevailed from daylight to dark. The alluvial work­ dailies and two weeklies, Menzies also had two dailies, ings were as full of life as beehives. In the immediate and Kanowna one daily; whilst Norseman, Bulong, vicinity of Mount Charlotte, Cassidy's Hill, Maritana, Broad Arrow, Leonora and Southern Cross each had Hannans Reward and other mines were rich near the weeklies. At the port of Esperance, from which, prior surface, and promised to be permanent. to the railway reaching Coolgardie in 1896, most of THE WESTERN ARGUS the Goldfields supplies were brought by teams, there About this time, two brothers named Mott, printers were two newspapers. It is not surprising that amongst from the Eastern Colonies, thought the locality could Page 4 The Western Australian Historical Society 6 The Story ot a Goldfields Newspaper 7 support a newspaper, and on November 24, 1894, they mayor and councillors and with the commencement published the first issue of the Western Argus as a in July, 1895, of the construction of a railway from four-page weekly. There were pessimists about in Southern Cross to Coolgardie. those days, as always is the case on goldfields. The writer of the leading article in the first issue wrote: A RECESSION .. We have been told that the paper won't payor last. Our reply is that we are quite prepared to risk it and Towards the middle of 1895 the prospects of Kal­ that we are come to stay." goorlie were not as bright as had been hoped. In fact, The news items in the first issue reported that a 1t was rapidly going downhill; hundreds of people were Money Order Office had been opened at Hannans and leaving each week. The alluvial had given out. The a telegraph messenger had been appointed. A later mines of Mount Charlotte, Hannan's Reward, Cassidy'S issue reports a meeting of the committee of the Racing Hill and the Maritana, which had promised well, Club, at which a suggestion was made that a racing proved disappointing. Most people regarded the Great track be laid out near the township, as "the present Boulder and neighbouring mines, which were a couple course is too far away." Mr. C. Cutbush is mentioned of miles southward, as mere "wild cats." What is as honorary secretary. Another issue reports a meet­ now "The Golden Mile" was constantly referred to as ing at which a committee was appointed to raise funds "Brookman's sheep farm." There was a proposal to to establish a hospital. A few days afterwards £8/15/­ "remove the Government offices from Kalgoorlie to was collected for the hospital at a boxing match in Kanowna, a mining centre 12 miles to the east. For Hannan street. Subsequently, a summons was issued months the Western Argus was a losing proposition against the participants, but because of the charitable financially. purpose of the match, the summons was withdrawn. At this time Mr. Sydney E. Hocking, with his brother An issue during December, 1894, gives interesting Mr. Percy S. Hocking, were the chief owners of the glimpses of life in those days. It says: Golden Age (daily) and the Coolgardie Courier .. Hannan Street presented a gay and festive appearance (weekly), both journals being published at Coolgardie. on Wednesday afternoon. On one side of the street cricketers were engaged in practice, watched by many Mr. Percy Hocking was a business man. The brothers spectators, whilst opposite an interesting quoit match was came from South Australia and were both young, able, being played by a local auctioneer and a well-kno,lfn energetic and enterprising. boniface. Several sums changed hands on the event. Mr. Sydney Hocking was an experienced journalist. Early in 1895 the name of Kalgoorlie was officiallY He had been a member of the literary staff of the adopted instead of Hannans. The leading article of Adelaide Advertiser and had also done considerable January 5 1895 begins with this statement: "The ~rrived' reporting for the Press at Broken Hill. He visited Kal­ time has when Hannans, or Kalgoorlie as it is goorlie to secure "copy" for his papers on the prospects now called, should be formed into a municipality." -or the district. He went underground at the Great Numerous issues deal with the scarcity and high cost Boulder and other mines, met the mine managers, and of water' with the need for police and for local courts having a shrewd, almost penetrative judgment of instead df litigants having to go to Coolgardie (24 miles the value of mines, he immediately realised the wealth distant) : with reports of meetings of the Progress of the Boulder group. He became quite convinced Committee' with accounts of the alarming number o~ fro~ that this group was immensely rich and was certain deaths typhoid fever, mostly of young men; with of long life. In his opinion the mining future of Kal­ ,the proclamation in February, 1895, of Kalgoorlie as a goorlie was vastly better than that of any other mining municipality; with the starting of the Great..:S0ulder centre in Western Australia. When he returned to battery on April 10, 1895; with the first electtons for 'Coolgardie, he said to his brother: "Let us sell every- 8 The Western Australian Historical Society The Story ot a Goldfields Newspaper thing here and shift to Kalgoorlie." This was arranged. Their friends said they were making the KALGOORLIE MINER mistake of their lives. Their partner, Mr. McCallum Smith, did not view the future of Kalgoorlie with On Saturday, September 14, 1895, Messrs. Hocking optimism, and did not join in their new venture. and Co. published the first issue of the Kalgoorlie Miner, whilst the Western Argus continued to appear Mott Bros. readily agreed to sell the Western Argus. weekly. The new daily comprised four pages, and the They were glad to get rid of it. They had become dis­ price was twopence. In the light of what has hap­ heartened. The future of the locality to them seemed pened since, the leading article in the first issue was gloomy, their headth was not good, and they were prophetic. It stated: anxious to return to the Eastern Colonies. They were " This town is rapidly taking its place as the capital ot agreeably surprised that there should be anyone pre­ the goldfields ot Western Australia and has already pared to purchase their interests, and so the Western become such an important centre that the appearance ot Argus, together with the building (a ramshackle the "Kalqoorlie Miner," the first and only daily paper published on the East Coolgardie field, will cause no hessian, wood and iron structure) also the land on surprise. Already the mines ot the district are so which it stood and a small handpress, with some old remarkable that they have thrown into the shade all properties in less [aooureti localities. Now this district is type, changed hands for £250. Many wiseacres were being appreciated at its true worth as the greatest gold quite satisfied that Mott Bros. had the best of the deal. mining camp ot the century. .Alretuis) the town is assuming The transfer was effected on August 12, 1895. The the importance ot an inland city and all the mercantile houses o] the Colony are jalling over one another in their Hocking brothers made plans for the immediate eagerness to secure business sites in the main street. improvement of the plant and building. The price of land, that sure barometer, has gone up by leaps and bounds, and on all sides the noise ot builders' The fortnightly return from the Great Boulder on hammers makes noise, ij not music, day and night. It is Western Argus not too much to expect that within a short space oj time August 22, 1895 (ten days after the Kalgoorlie will have a population ot 20,000. was purchased) showed a yield of 13100z. of gold from .... This journal will be an entirely independent organ, 160 tons. The Ivanhoe yield was 1870z. from 96 tons. owing allegiance to no political party and devoted to On September 5 following, the Great Boulder yield for advancing the interests oj the goldfields." the fortnight was 22120z. from 302 tons. The shares A partnership had been formed between the Hocking had a rise of 50/- in a few days. Mr. Sid. Hocking, Bros., Mr. Walter Willcock and myself. The firm in the Western Argus, commenting on the return, became a private company under the title of Hocking observed: and Co. Ltd. Mr. Percy Hocking was business mana­ ger, Mr. Willcock, who was a practical printer, was .. The mine has only just commenced its career as a head of the mechanical department, Mr. Sydney Hock­ gold producer, but it promises to beat the world's record tor average richness." ing attended to the columns dealing with mining, and I, as editor-in-chief, had complete literary control of From that onwards the consistent and rich crushtngs both papers. All four were directors of the company; from the Boulder mines began to convince the world I survived the others. that an Eldorado had been found. Progress and pros­ The success of both the Kalgoorlie Miner and the perity returned to Kalgoorlie. The Western Argus Western Argus, fmanclally and otherwise, was grew in size, circulation and value. The rapidly phenomenal. What is now "The Golden Mile" increasing gold yield, the influx of population and the revealed 'vast riches. Crushings from the Great expansion of business soon made it apparent that a Boulder group of mines yielded more and more gold. weekly publication would no longer be sufficient to­ People flocked to Kalgoorlie; the railway had reached serve the needs of the public. Kalgoorlie in September, 1896, and was extended to Menzies; the great water scheme was projected; busi- 10 The Western Australian Historical Society The Story 01 a Goldfields Newspaper 11 nesses of all kinds were established; millions sterling the Goldfields, I compare what happened there with were spent lavishly opening up new mines; circulation the complaints to-day about the shortage of housing figures of both papers rose and advertisers readily paid accommodation. In the late hectic "Nineties" men high prices. brought wives and families with them. Houses were Our resources in the way of production equipment very primitive and few in number, but there was no could not be secured in Australia to meet the increas­ grumbling. No outcry for accommodation was raised. ing demand, so Mr. S. E. Hocking was sent by the With timber cut in the bush, galvanised iron and owners to England, where he purchased what was then hessian, men knocked together shelters in which men, the best available printing and stereotyping plant, as women and children lived for years, and they did not well as several linotypes. The equipment was, in fact, moan about having to do it. Happily, there were no far in advance of anything of the kind then in Western restrictive building regulations, and Goldfields pioneers Australia. On its arrival it was installed in the pre­ speedily solved the housing problem, and without the sent commodious three-storey brick and stone Hannan aid of any Government. Street premises, which had just been completed ready In 1895 and for some time afterwards I lived in a for its reception. As skilled men could not at that somewhat ragged hessian structure that looked as if time be secured in Australia, Mr. Hocking engaged It might fall down at any moment. It was deep in the capable hands in London, and paid their passages to bush, and was near a hole of an abandoned mine Kalgoorlie. Readers of the Kalgoorlie Miner were sup­ which was well-named the "Hidden Treasure," for plied with the same cablegram service from London as after more than half a century the treasure is still the great dailies of the Eastern Colonies, and it was hidden. There were two or three camps not very far published on the same day that the reports appeared away from mine, and the occupants, like myself, hailed in Sydney and Melbourne. In addition, it maintained trom the Old Country. With a sense of humour, and an Australian telegraph service with news from the in contrast to the absence of life and silence of the various centres of the Continent, besides reporting bush, we used to [oklngtv call the locality after the local happenings. busiest part of London's West End, Piccadilly, a name At the beginning of this century Hocking and Co. that it retains to this day. ' Ltd. did not owe one penny of debt: in fact, the firm When more camps came, in order that each should had abundance of ready money in banks, and wisely be identified, boards with names were put up. In refused an offer of £150,000 (walk-in, walk-out) for front. of my shack I painted Buckingham. Palace. Not the purchase of the property that had been bought to be outdone, a friend whose place was even shabbier, five years previously for £250. A still higher offer called his Windsor Castle. What was our amazemerit made a few years later was also declined. The pound to find, a few days later, that in our vicinity there sterling was vastly more valuable in those days than were (also in a deplorably and sadly dilapidated con­ at present, but nothing occurred subsequently to dition) both Westminster Abbey and even the House occasion the owners other than satisfaction over the of Lords. I may add that in time Piccadillv became refusal of tempting offers of purchase. From the the main residential suburb of Kalgoorlle. 'Bucking.­ beginning to the present day the property has con­ ham Palace was one day lifted skv-hlvh bv a strong tinued in the possession of the original owners or their but festive and cheeky willy-willy, and blown miles descendants. away. On its site a fine spacious horne stands in the centre of a beautiful garden, and it is known as The THE ROARING NINETIES Palms. It is the residence of the widow of myoId When I remember the many tens of thousands who, colleague and partner, Mrs. S. E. Hocking. during the closing years of the last century, rushed to In 1895 Sir John Forrest made me a member of tlie 12 The Western Australian Historical Society The Story of a Goldfields Newspaper 13

first Kalgoorlie Cemetery Board-a position that was were stacked in the store and the fire blazed fiercely. unsought by me. The first work to be undertaken was When the fire burnt itself out, nothing seemed to be to remove to the cemetery the remains of men who had left but a pile of smouldering rubbish. It was felt been buried near where they died in the bush. The that a heavy loss had been sustained, as the paper was names of several of them could not be ascertained. In valuable, the price having risen during wartime 1896 Sir John Forrest also had me gazetted a Justice from £14 to £80 per ton. A few days after the fire, a -of the Peace. I had protested strongly that I did not close examination revealed that only the outer layers want either appointment, and explained that my news­ -of the rolls were burned and the rest of the paper paper work kept me so occupied that I had no time at could be used. For many months after that, each my disposal. He insisted, and replied that every man 'printed copy of the Kalgoorlie Miner had burnt edges. should find time to do some work for the public. Newsprint took some months to obtain at that time, and stocks once or twice went down to a few days' THE DANGER OF FIRE .supply before a shipment arrived. Especially in the very early days, owing to the inflammable nature of most of the buildings, there SOME LEGAL CASES was the constant dread of flres. For years after the erection of the edifice where the Kalgoorlie Miner is The Kalgoorlie Miner has not escaped law cases, printed and published, many of the Hannan-Street though in number they have been singularly few. In buildings were still of flimsy material. There was the 'October, 1898, I, as editor, and Mr. S. E. Hocking as constant dread of fires destroying whole blocks, publisher, were cited for an alleged breach of parlia­ especially as there was no water supply to quench the mentary privilege, at the instigation of the then fiames or a properly organised and equipped Fire -Government. Instead of being heard before the bar of Brigade. Fire insurance rates were so high as to be the House, the Legislative Assembly decided that the almost prohibitive. Like most of the business people, ,case be brought to the Supreme Court in Perth. the owners of the Kalgoorlie Miner preferred to risk The alleged breach of prlvilege arose through the remaining uninsured. The property more than once ,Kalgootlie Miner publishing a telegraphed report of a narrowly escaped destruction. bout of fisticuffs that was supposed to have taken place On one memorable night the dread cry of "Fire! " 'between two members of Parliament, one of whom was rang out, and buildings adjoining the Kalgoorlie 'a Minister. The report was telegraphed from Perth Miner office were quickly enveloped in fierce fiames late at night by Mr. (now Sir Hal) Colebatch, who was that lit up the literary and composing rooms where the a reporter on the staff of the Kalgoorlie Miner and at staff was busily working. The heat was stifling; it the time was the paper's Perth representative. Num­ was feared the fire would spread, but happily the wind bers of other newspapers in Western Australia and the changed, the conflagration was checked and the -Eastern Colonies published a similar report, but the danger passed. It was a narrow escape, but the work Kalgoorlie Miner, which was a severe critic of the -of the office went on as usual, and next morning the 'Government, was the only one proceeded against. Kalgoorlie Miner appeared with a full report of the fire. . , The evidence given in the case clearly showed that 'an Inspector of Police had given information about On another occasion, about January, 1918, as the the fight to the Press, also that neither of the defend­ printing of the paper was nearing completion in the ants were in the office at Kalgoorlle on the receipt of grey dawn of the early morning, a fire broke out in a the telegram, which arrived very late at night, or had newsprint storehouse at the back of the Kalgoorlie 'known anything about it until it had appeared in the Miner buildings. Scores of rolls of paper for printing paper. The Inspector when examined admitted that 14 The Western Australian Historical Society The Story of a Goldfields Newspaper 15 he had supplied the information as he had heard it and also he mentioned the name of the parliamen­ TEN-FOOT REGULATIONS tarian who, it was said, had got the best of the fight. As it was clearly proved that the defendants were not Towards the end of the last century the Kalgoorlie in any way to blame, the case was almost laughed out Miner came into prominence as the result of the pro­ of Court, mulgation of the "Ten-Foot Regulation," which limited the depth to which alluvial miners could work Mr. (afterwards Sir Winthrop) Hackett, editor of the in certain circumstances to ten feet. The paper cham­ West Australian, who was much older than I, was ever pioned the cause of the alluvial miners, of whom many kindly and in fact almost paternal in his disposition towards me, and although on many questions we dif­ thousands were then working their own claims, in fered politically yet we remained close friends. As a some cases the gold being found at a depth of 100 feet result of his recommendation to me, the brilliant Irish and even deeper. Mining had not reached the barrister, Mr. Moorhead, who subsequently was raised advanced stage of to-day. The law then permitted to the Bench, was lawyer for the Kalgoorlie Miner and what were called dual titles. It allowed diggers to during the proceedings he had everyone, not excepting work on leases to within 50 feet of a defined reef or the Judge, in a simmer of merriment. lode, and large numbers of men were successfully working alluvial gold on leases. An immense sensation The police officer was reduced in rank by his was suddenly caused by the issue of the Government's superiors and banished to Kimberley. Mr. Colebatch Ten-Foot Regulation. The Kalgoorlie Miner declared was most unjustly forbidden access to the Houses of that the regulation was ultra Vires, also that it was Parliament that he entered subsequently as a mem­ grossly unjust and ridiculed it as absurd. It asked if ber. He later had long terms of Ministerial omce, a nugget were found, one half of Which was 10 feet became Premier, was a member of the Federal Senate,. from the surface and the other half below that depth, represented the State in London for nine years as had the digger who unearthed it no claim to the lower Agent-General, on his return was re-elected to Par­ half? liament, and he is to-dav one of the best respected of The regulation came as a bolt from the blue, for the Australia's elder statesmen. Government had been encouraging the search for deep In a famous libel case the Kalgoorlie Miner was pro­ alluvial gold. It had, in fact, offered a reward of £500 ceeded against in the Supreme Court, Perth. by three­ to any person discovering gold in alluvial at a depth Goldfields Ministers of the Crown who had been of 30 feet or more below the surface, the money to be denounced as "rotten sticks" for having violated their' paid after 1000oz. had been taken from the find. What election pledges regarding the Esperance Railway. It tended to lend an ugly significance to the act of the was a political party case. There was much antagonism Ministry was that it was done at a time when the then between Perth and the Eastern Goldfields, hearing was pending of a dispute between a number especially Kalgoorlie. A Perth jury gave damages of diggers and a mining company, on the directorship against the Kalgoorlie Miner, damages that were sub­ of which was a member of the Ministry, Whilst the sequently reduced to an almost trifling amount when chairman was a strong Government supporter in Par­ the, venue was changed to Albany. What the general liament. The question involved was whether the pro­ public of Western Australia thought of the Ministers perty contained alluvial gold. The Kalgoorlie Miner concerned was shown at the general elections which' did not impute that these facts inft.uenced the issue took place soon afterwards. Not ~ly was the of the regulation, but the circumstances inflamed the minds of men who were suddenly deprived of liveli­ Government defeated, but nearly all its members and hood. followers were wiped ont of public life. There was considerable public indignation. Numbers The Western Australian Historical Society The Story 01 a Goldfields Newspaper 17 16 ------

of men were arrested for disregarding the ten-foot articles urged the separation of the Goldfields from regulation' and were sent to gaol, but immediately Western Australia. All aspects of the question were their places were taken by others, who also were fully dealt with. At its suggestion a meeting of Gold­ imprisoned. It was believed that there were thousands fields representtives, including members of Parliament, willing to accept imprisonment in defence of their mayors, chairmen of Road Boards, also leaders of rights-so many, in fact, that the gaol accommodation employers' and employees' organisations, assembled at would not be sufficient to hold all who were ready to Coolgardie and by 90 votes to one decided that a be incarcerated. There were those who indulged in petition addressed to Her Majesty Queen Victoria be wild talk of another Eureka Stockade, and large bodies drawn up, asking that the Eastern Goldfields, includ­ of police were drafted to the Goldfields. The Kalgoorlie ing the port of Esperance, be created a separate colony Miner kept constantly pointing out throughout the in order that it might join the Commonwealth as a trouble that the law should be obeyed whether it was State. just or unjust and that the ten-foot regulation was In furtherance of this purpose a powerful organisa­ the law, even if it was ultra vires, until the Supreme tion was formed called "The Eastern Goldfields Court said it was beyond the powers of the Minister Reform League," It was supported by the Labor for Mines to enforce it. These wiser counsels prevailed. Unions and the Chamber of Mines, also by every Gold­ The Kalgoorlie Miner promoted a fund to pay the fields local body and Goldfields members of Parliament. expense of testing the legality of the regulation. Whatever money was wanted for propaganda and other Eventually the Government annulled the regulation; purposes was readily subscribed. A branch of the the Supreme Court held that it was ultra vires and League was formed in London, and unofficial communi­ the diggers were released. Ultimately the law was' cation was established with the Colonial Office. Cir­ amended, abolishing dual titles, culars were sent to members of the House of Com­ mons, also to prominent individuals and newspapers FEDERAL UNION in England and in Eastern Australia. An arttcte of mine in the Review of Reviews for Australia dealing In the struggle for Federal Union at the beginning­ With the matter together with a map of the proposed of the century, the Kalgoorlie Miner was a most new State attracted wide attention and was com­ potent influence. The Western Australian Parliament mented on favorably in the Eastern Press. At the refused to afford the people a similar opportunity to request of the Reform League a lengthy petition to that given to those of the rest of Australia, namely, the Queen was drafted by three eminent Australian the right to vote for or against the acceptance of the lawyers, Sir Joseph Symon, the Right. Hon. C. C, Commonwealth Constitution, which had been drafted' Kingston and Mr. P. l\·lcM. Glynn. at a 'convention at which Western Australia was represented by ten delegates. A petition in favor of,' Albany showed a keen desire to be included within holding a referendum, which was signed by 23,000 the boundaries that had been defined for the Goldfields electors, had been presented to Parliament and con­ State. At a public meeting held in the Albany Town temptuously ignored. This petition was pomoted by­ Hall a resolution was unanimously carried to form a Mr. George Leake, Mr. (afterwards Sir Walter) James, local Separation League to act in conjunction with Mr. James Gardiner and other enthusiastic supporters: the Goldfields in petitioning Her Majesty the Queen of Federal Union. It was called "The Bill to the for separation from" The Swan River Settlement." A People Petition." Parliament was prorogued and it lengthy petition was prepared by lawyers and exten­ appeared as if there was no hope of West Australia sively signed in Albany and the district, the conclud­ joining the Federation as an original State. ing words of the petition being a humble prayer that Her Majesty" may be pleased to include the territory It was then that the Kalgoorlie Miner in a sertes of 18 The Western Australian Historical Society The Story of a Goldfields Newspaper 19

Within the boundaries hereinbefore defined in the by the referendum, it is certain that the electors of proposed new colony with all the rights, privileges and Western Australia would not have had the opportunity responsibilities of self-government." to come into the Commonwealth as an original State The Goldfields "Separation for Federation" Petition were it not for the separation movement. The Govern­ was signed by 27,733 adult residents of the Goldfields ment would not have given the electors the power to and forwarded through His Excellency the Governor vote on the question but for the well-grounded, fear to Her Majesty. It was enclosed in an artistically that if that were not conceded. the Eastern Goldfields designed casket mounted with local gold. The then prayer for "Separation for Federation" would have Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Joseph Cham­ been granted. The sympathy of the Imperial authori­ berlain, in a despatch to the Western Australian ties, as well as the strong support of the Eastern Governor, plainly intimated that its prayer would Colonies Federal leaders, were with the Goldfields. In receive sympathetic consideration if the electors of fact, the Secretary of State for the Colonies made no Western Australia were not allowed to vote for or secret of his desire for the Federal Union of all the against the Colony joining the proposed Federal six Australian Colonies. In a dispatch to the Western Union. The prospective loss of the Goldfields to Australian Governor referring to Federation he wrote: Western Australia frightened the Government. A " ~OUT r~sponsible advisers will also, of course, take into special session of Parliament was hastily called, the conSlderatlO~ the fact of the agitation by the Federal bill for a referendum was passed, and when a referen­ Parts), especialiu on the Goldfields, if Western Australia does not en~er as an original State. It appears to me of, dum of the electors was held on July 31, 1900 there the.u.tmost importance to the future of Western Australia was an overwhelming "Yes" majority. It was the first to torn. at once." occasion that adult suffrage came into operation. The In the West Australian of July 14, 1900, Mr. (after­ majority in favour of union was more than two to one. wards Sir Winthrop) Hackett is reported as saying in Perth and Fremantle gave substantial majorities in the course of a speech in the Perth Town Hall: support of Federation, but on the Goldfields the "Yes" vote was fifteen to one. "He could not conceive an English Government which contained a Ch.amberlain in its councils, refusing to give the GoldfieJds, n?t a rzght to separate, but a right to GREAT INFLUENCE OF NEWSPAPERS federate wtth the.IT brothers in the East. And if they wanted proof of it, they had it in the veiled invitation to Half a century ago, and further back than that, Western Australia to come into the Commonwealth OT to newspapers guided public opinion to an extent that take the consequences." can hardly be realised to-day. People then largely took their ideas and politics from the particular news­ INFLUENCE IN POLITICS paper they read. In those days an immensely larger percentage of the Colony's population lived on the For several years after Federation the Kalgoorlie Eastern Goldfields than at present. It was therefore Miner was a power in State politics, Whilst strictly not altogether surprising that for several years the maintaining its independence of all parties. Rightly Kalgoorlie Miner was most influential in the political or wrongly, it was supposed to have been responsible life of Western Australia. By means of its initiation for more than one so-called "Goldflelds Government." and advocacy of the Separation for Federation move­ From 1911 to 1916 there was a State Government in ment, the Government unwillingly was forced to sub­ office that included no less than six Eastern Goldfields mit the question to the electors of voting "Yes" or "No" Ministers. as to the Colony's joining the proposed Australian The Kalgoorlie Miner was always a strenuous advo­ Commonwealth. Despite the wishes of the vast cate of decentralisation, a question that was fought on majority of the people of Western Australia, as shown the construction of a railway to the Goldfields' natural The Story ot a Goldfields Newspaper 21 20 The Western Australian Historical Society

port of Esperance. Strong opposition to the project. of the disaster to the Highland Brigade at Magers­ was offered by powerful business interests in Perth rontem. Later, he was wounded and captured. Sub­ and Frernantle and the construction of the railway did sequently, he was a war correspondent in various parts. . not take place until it was too late to be of much of the world, was a voluminous contributor to maga­ avail for by then Fremantle was firmly established as, zines, and was the author of more than twenty novels. a port and centralisation to-day exists to such an Whilst the Kalgoorlie Miner was but a month or so' extent that one half of the people of Western Aus­ old another daily, the Hannans Herald, which was tralia are crowded together in the area comprising printed at Coolgardie, was brought to Kalgoorlte, Fremantle, Perth and the adjoining suburbs.. This where it was circulated in the afternoon. It was concentration of population in so small an area 1S truly edited by a dear old friend of mine, Harry Davis, later deplorable in a State that covers no less than one­ Mining Editor of the West Australian. His zeal for third of a great continent. newsgathering earned him the name" What's Fresh?" The Hannans Herald passed away and years later the SOME GOLDFIELDS JOURNALISTS success, financial and otherwise, of the Kalgoorlie The question may be asked, what of t?e n.umerous Miner, prompted the starting in Kalgoorlie of an Goldfields contemporaries of the tcaiaoorue Mmer? TQ. opposition journal, the Daily Standard, a venture that do justice to them would take far more time than I had plenty of capital behind it. After a vigorous life have at my disposal. Suffice it to say that. nearly all of about twelve months, it died a natural death and of them were short-lived. One by one they disappeared. the promoters lost heavily. Mr. Edward Irving, M.A., Some of them were excellent productions. The coot­ had been brought from the staff of the Melbourne garflie Miner was noted for its brillia~t articles. One Argus to edit the Daily Standard and after its demise of its editors, Frederick Charles Burleigh Vosper, who I was fortunate in getting him as my second in com­ came from Cornwall (England), was well-educated, mand at the Kalgoorlie Miner. He had graduated cultured a capable journalist, a quick thinker and a with honours at BaIliol College, Oxford, also he had rapid speaker who could sway crowds wit~ his elo­ both rowed and shot for the University. He was quence. His views were advanced, and when III Quee~s~ erudite, sound in his judgment, tolerant in his views, land for a speech in connection with a shearers' strtke and somet~ing of a Bohemian. His grandfather, of the last century, he was sent to gaol. After I:iS Edward Irving, was the celebrated divine and soul­ release he never cut his hair. Like an old-time cavalier stirring preacher of the last century, the friend of of the days of Charles the First it gracefully hung Thomas Carlyle and Jane Welsh. The columns of the down his shoulders in picturesque waves that seemed Kalgoorlie Miner were enriched by his scholarly permanent. In May, 1897, he was elected to the House articles on international affairs and literary SUbjects. of Assembly for North-East Coolgardie. His career He remained a member of the staff until his death was brief, for he died in 1900 whilst still a cornpara- when he was well over 70. tively young man. There were also associated with the early Goldfields Another notable early Goldfields journalist was Press many individuals who later in journalism and "Smiler" Hales, a South Australian, who had a paper­ other spheres became notable. John Edward Webb, The Mining Review at Coolgardie and later issued and who lately retired after many years as editor of the edited at Boulder The Miners' Right, which survived Sydney Bulletin, began his newspaper career in 1900 only a few months. When the Boer ~ar bro~e .out he as a junior reporter on the Kalgoorlie Miner. Another went to South Africa, and some of h1S descripttons of one-time editor of the Bulletin was an early days Gold­ the fighting there, as published in the London Daily fields journalist, namely, Andree Hayward. Others News, deserve to become classics, especially his account whose names come to my mind are "Bull-ant" 22." The Western Australian Historicat Society

McIntyre, "Dryblower" Murphy, Hugh Mahon, Thomas Walker, Wallace Nelson, Arthur Reid, Jack Drayton, Jack Bourke ("Bluebush"), Charlie Le Mercier and John Wilson ("Crosscut"). To a great extent the story of the Kalgoorlie Miner is the story of the Eastern Goldfields. It is now one of the two remaining morning dailies published in Western Australia. It certainly to-day has lost none of its news value or that pristine vigor that it con­ sistently maintained throughout the half century and more of its existence.