regarded not so much as infringements of liberty, but rather as a laudable exercise of self-control. There is truth as well as satire in Lowell's witty lines:
'Democracy gives every man
The right to be his own oppressor.'
One thing, however, is needful to enable Australia to realize her destiny, and that is increased population. Unoccupied lands are not only a passive hindrance to prosperity, but are a positive source of weakness and peril. In this, as in other respects. Nature abhors a vacuum, and covetous eyes may be cast on vast, unoccupied areas. If the coloured element is barred, the white must be encouraged. The diminishing birth-rate makes the matter more urgent. A country with merely a marginal population is as an empty shell, which may collapse at a touch. Prudence, as well as duty to others, impels to action. Mr. Deakin has already emphatically pronounced his opinion as to this pressing necessity. Western Australia has appointed a Commission to deal with the aspect of the problem in that State, New South Wales is taking active steps, and Queensland has always been alive to the requirement.
Among the matters which, owing to their importance and to the impotence of private initiative, demand State action, the adjustment of population should take a leading place. Systematic immigration is a comparatively neglected field, and might with mutual advantage be undertaken by the combined forces of the British and Colonial Governments. It may be noted that, while critics impress on Australians the necessity of attracting population, they often vehemently denounce measures for facilitating land settlement, which must form the basis for an increase of population. The resumption by Governments of portions of vast pastoral leases for permanent agricultural settlement has often been stigmatized as land robbery, and laws providing for the repurchase of large and sparsely-peopled estates for closer settlement have
