The Southern members are influenced by the fear that, under separation, they would lose the Northern and Central markets. To meet this objection, a resolution was moved in the Assembly by one of the members for Rockhampton that the separation of Central Queensland was desirable, but on such terms that the interchange of natural products between the two Provinces should continue to be free from tax or duty; but the proposal, which was seen to be fraught with endless difficulties, has not been regarded seriously. The question has also arisen in what manner the liability for the public debt would be distributed in the case of separation, but it is contended that the matter would be settled under the Imperial Act of 1861, under which both Provinces would jointly be liable for the whole debt, and machinery is provided for arbitration as to the proportion of it which would be borne by each of the Provinces.
The necessity for some form of decentralisation has been recognised, and partially acted on, by { 59} successive Ministries since 1877, when a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the best means of bringing about a more equitable distribution of the revenue. The system of Local Government, introduced in 1878 and extended in the following year to rural districts, lessened the direct control exercised from Brisbane, and handed over to elective Municipal Councils and Divisional Boards the expenditure of the revenue raised for local purposes. In 1887 local registries of titles to real estate were established at Townsville and Rockhampton, and Sir S. Griffiths introduced a Financial Districts Bill, to divide the Province into three districts and to provide for separate accounts of revenue and expenditure. The Bill was not passed, but separate returns have since been published, which do not, however, give a full statement of the contributions of the different districts to the revenue. In 1892 the same Minister introduced a Constitution Bill, in which he proposed to place Queensland under a federal system of Government, a General Assembly of the United Provinces, and three Provincial Parliaments. In the course of discussion the number of Provinces was reduced from three to two, to the exclusion of the Centre, which was to retain its connection with the South. The Bill passed the Assembly, and was thrown out by the Council, principally on the ground that it had not been supported by the statutory two-thirds majority. The Central Separationists were naturally opposed { 60} to the Bill in its amended form, and public opinion in the North was equally hostile. It was pointed out that the expenses of government would greatly be increased, even more than under territorial separation, and that the powers of the Provincial Parliament would be so limited, in the absence of control over the railways and the customs tariff, that the North would not enjoy the enhanced prosperity which, under an entirely separate Government, would make it indifferent to the additional expenditure. The appointment of a judge of the Supreme Court to reside at Townsville, and, since last year, at Rockhampton, has lessened the expenditure and loss of time involved in legal proceedings initiated in the Northern and Central Districts. In the Ministerial measure dealing with the election of delegates to represent Queensland at the Australian Federal Convention, which failed to become law owing to an insoluble deadlock between the two Houses, it was proposed that, of the ten delegates, three should be elected by the Northern and two by the Central Parliamentary Representatives, a greater proportion than would be warranted by their respective populations as compared with that of the South. The Premier, Sir Hugh Nelson, defended the liberality of this proposal on the ground that "it is of the utmost importance that in any federal constitution provision should be made for the division of existing Colonies and the terms on which such divisions shall take place;" adding { 61} that "the Northern and Central districts have a perfectly legitimate aspiration: they are looking forward to the day when they will be formed into separate states."