228 THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF 
and that this relief means much to the stability and prosperity 
of the continent.! 
(xi) That the direct increase to the country’s wealth-pro- 
lucing ability, at least as measured by revenue obtained, does 
not by any means comprise the whole total of the benefits 
conferred upon the community by the provision of capital assets. 
For example, in the case of railway construction we must con- 
sider (az) the saving in time of transit of goods and people 
which represents an all-round increase in productive efficiency ; 
(b) the commercial value given to vast natural resources hitherto 
lacking value because of inaccessibility ; (c) the impetus given 
bo the creation of fresh wealth in areas formerly barren or un- 
productive ; and (d) the great immeasurable social gains by the 
provision of the amenities of civilization. All these things 
constitute intangible assets or undisclosed profits in the national 
balance sheet.? 
(xii) Finally, but not least in importance from an Imperial 
point of view, the co-operation of Australian governments with 
British capitalists enables provision to be made in advance for 
reapportioning the population of the Empire. The benefit to 
be obtained by Britain through relief from her congested social 
conditions, is paralleled by the advantages conferred upon a 
country lacking both capital and labour for its development; 
and that these rearrangements of labour for efficiency in 
Empire production have a direct economic value that is im- 
possible of measurement.3 
It is to be observed that the foregoing arguments embrace far 
more than strictly economic considerations; and further dis- 
cussion of many of them, weighty though they be from the wide 
Imperial outlook or the narrower national viewpoint, can find 
no place in a somewhat technical analysis of this character. 
[t will, however, be strictly to the purpose to examine more 
narrowly the economic aspects both for and against external 
! Bastable, op. cit., p. 674: ‘The division of the charge over a longer period makes 
she proper apportionment of the burden far easier, and more especially allows of 
sufficient time for its full consideration.’ But, later, ‘The policy of paying all ex- 
penses out of taxation has been regarded as a salutary and wholesome check on 
the natural disposition to indulge in extravagant outlay’. 
* R. M. Johnston, op. cit., pp. 6 et seq. 
® See Phillips and Wood (edit.), The Peopling of Australia, for a full discussion of 
his aspect.