Borrowing and business in Australia

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 183051623X

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-222122

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Wood, Gordon L. http://d-nb.info/gnd/1239193688

Title:: Borrowing and business in Australia

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Oxford university press, H. Milford

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: xv, 267 Seiten; graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Part I. Characteristic features of australian business and an account of the early years

Collection:: Economics Books

10 THE EARLY YEARS AND THE induced by the grant of self-government. Shortly after Gover- nor Darling took charge of the administration in 1826 a group of British capitalists formed the Australian Agricultural Company! with the object of engaging in agricultural and pastoral operations in the colony. Plans were made for wheat- growing, stock-breeding, and coal-mining on a very ambitious scale; and these were based on a large grant of 1,600,000 acres of land at Port Stephens, on the Liverpool Plains, and on the banks of the Peel River. The nominal capital was stated to be one million pounds, and was mainly contributed from Great Britain. The introduction of this amount of capital into a community of fifty thousand people was the real origin of the crisis which followed. Huge purchases of cattle and sheep were made which had the effect of driving prices for stock up to unprecedented heights, and commenced a very fever of speculation. ‘Many who had been content before to earn a modest livelihood on the farm now mortgaged their lands to buy stock, those who had stock bought more, while many who saw the progressive value created from day to day bought and sold on speculation.’2 So general was the confidence felt in these transactions that credit was expanded in all directions; and both settlers and speculators purchased far beyond their capacity, finding them- selves ultimately unable to repay either principal or interest. Attention was chiefly centred on the raising of sheep to the neglect of almost every other branch of rural industry. The results of such a relatively large importation of capital are directly traceable in the figures for overseas trade. Imports commenced to mount rapidly, and a situation of the ugliest complexion quickly developed. How large was the discrepancy between inward and outward trade can be seen by the statistics for the years concerned.? L Vide Records of the Australian Colonies, Parliament of the Commonwealth. ¥ Braim, History of New South Wales, pp. 100 ef seq. Imports AND Exports of NEw SoUuTH WALES Deficiency. 1827 1828 1820 & 362,324 570,000 601.004 x 70,314 90,050 161.716 * 292,010 479,950 439.288

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