reputation upon the advocacy of Protection. So far was this policy carried that "ad valorem" duties of from 50 to 60 per cent were placed upon many articles, whilst the fixed duties often reached as high as 150 to 200 per cent. This created a reaction, and some of the duties have been modified in recent years; but still they are higher than in any Australian colony. The promises held out when the policy was introduced have not been carried out, and the bright hopes entertained have not been fulfilled. Victoria is a colony of such great natural resources that it was bound to progress in spite of its Protectionist tariff rather than because of it. Sir Graham Berry promised thirty years ago that he would make the colony a paradise for the working man. If it is so, then the working man does not realise his privileges, for nowhere in Australia is there greater discontent; whilst the problem of what to do with the unemployed is always present It is a theme of constant discussion in Parliament, and the renewal of a borrowing policy is mainly justified on the plea that work must be found for the workless. There is an Anti-Sweating League in Melbourne, which is mainly composed of members of the Protectionist Association, and the deliverances of the same men in their different capacities are strikingly inconsistent. On the one hand they claim that Victoria owes almost everything it possesses to the Protectionist policy, which has been a brilliant success. On the other hand they present reports of misery and destitution amongst factory workers, of unconscionably long hours and wretchedly poor pay, which could not be exceeded in heart-rending detail in the thickly populated lands of Europe.
Victoria has one of the most severe Factories Acts which have ever been enacted. Boards are appointed to fix rates of remuneration in various trades, such as furni-
