it is worth while to glance

If the conflict of interests between two sections of the community suffices to keep the question of coloured labour on the list of permanent political interests, and the same cause operates to keep reorganisation of the land laws and construction of railways to open the back countries also constantly before the public mind, it follows almost as a logical deduction that a question which involves the interests of all sections, no matter how much divided, of the community will rise to the rank of supreme and universal importance. There is but one such question in Queensland, and that one is the question of Separation. With the exception of perhaps one man, and that one the author of the Constitution Bill which has been just rejected by the Upper House, there is probably no one in Queensland who cares about the matter in the least on the ground of abstract politics. It is purely a question of practical interest, and in proportion as the interests of any influential body of the population are for the time being affected or not affected by the actual condition of affairs, Separation fever passes through its acute or falls into latent stages. The desire for Separation is always, and, so far as it is possible to judge, gains persistently in force and steadiness through the many fluctuations to which it is subject .

To understand the desire in its general lines it is only necessary to look at the map. Brisbane, in the southern corner, lying almost upon the boundary of New South Wales, decides the smallest details of government of Cape York. The distance is very nearly the same as that from London to Gibraltar; the time which it takes with the present means of communication to go from Brisbane to the furthest point within the colony is within a few hours the same as the time which it takes to go from London to South Africa. Anti-Separationists contend that time and distance are alike annihilated by the electric telegraph, and that for practical purposes Brisbane is within five minutes’ communication with Cape York and Burketown. It is hardly necessary to point out that there is an immense amount of business which cannot be transacted by telegraph. The fact that all Government stores are kept at Brisbane is in itself enough to indicate the serious inconvenience to which outlying centres are liable. And if distance alone could indeed be annihilated by the cheapness and rapidity of telegraphic communication, the map has still another natural cause of division to indicate. The tropic of Capricorn cuts the colony in two. No argument can unify the needs of a tropical and non-tropical community. Queensland alone of the Australian colonies has attempted the systematic development of the tropical part of her territory. She has, therefore, to deal alone with the questions which this development has raised, and it is not surprising if, in the endeavour to do so, she finds herself in opposition to the present experience of temperate Australia. Nor is it surprising if the tendency of the leading public men, cradled in Australian tradition, educated in Australian thought, should be opposed to the recognition of new necessities and the modification of constitutional customs which they seem to call for. It is with the utmost reluctance that such a man as Sir Samuel Griffith, whose mind is attuned to the Australian pitch, can reconcile himself to even the temporary admission of a class of labour which cannot claim or exercise the hitherto proudly vindicated Australian right of self-government. Concession in this respect has been forced upon him by the logic of facts. It is none the less distaste-ful. Any legislation which he might ft el called upon to initiate with regard to it would all be of the safeguarding preventive description which the spirit of compromise suggests. No boldly creative measure of the kind could ever be looked for from him or from any politician of his type and training. Tropical Australia has yet to breed its own public men, and this is very generally felt. Before it can do so there must be a tropical community. There will probably be many in the future. North Queensland claims the honour of being the first Backup and Recovery Plan.

The elements of size and diversity of climatic conditions form the basis of the demand for Separation by the North and Central divisions. Before passing on to the details by which the demand is supported,at the map and realise that the subdivision which is asked for would create three colonies, each of them, roughly speaking, of about the size of France. Queensland, as it now exists, comprises 668,000 square miles. The proposed district of the Southern division would absorb about 190,000 square miles of this, the Central division would have 223,000 square miles, and the Northern division would take 255,000 square miles. Each division would have a share of sea-board and of back country, but the North, by its geographical conformation, would get from four to five times more sea-board than either of the other two divisions. The South would keep the rich agricultural districts of the Darling Downs. The North, by way of counterbalance, has the rich, though undeveloped, agricultural and mineral district of Herberton; and the Centre gets, behind Rockhampton, agricultural areas for which it claims that they are as good as any in the world. The respective populations of these three divisions are at present — South Queensland, 279,000; Central Queensland, 50,000; North Queensland, 81,000. Their relative representation in the Brisbane Parliament is — South Queensland, 45 members; Central Queensland, 11 members; and North Queensland, 16 members. On any question of taxation, distribution of revenue, expenditure of public money, raising of loans, land legislation, or other matters closely affecting the development of the country and touching the material interests of the electorate, the North and Centre can be out-voted by the South. This at first sight may seem fair, in view of the difference between the population of the South and of the other two divisions combined. But there is another aspect of the question, upon which the North and Central divisions lay great stress hotels in kowloon hong kong.