3

point that the eyes of the (Government
ought to be fixed and not on the question
 of the minimum from which an
individual can extract a decent living.
13. By way of illustration of the
foregoing it may be worth while to
mention that we saw in Queensland
several artesian bores, yielding some
hundreds of thousands of gallons of
water per day. The water is distributed
 over the sheep stations in
shallow surface drains. This is no
doubt a cheap method of distribution,
but there must be heavy losses by
seepage and evaporation. The cost of
distribution by pipes to the points
where the water is most required may
be prohibitive to-day, but it suggests
itself as an improvement. which capital
might be induced to effect, given suffisient
 security of tenure,
14. In the case of cattle-ranching,
the arguments for freehold tenure and
large areas are even stronger than in
the case of extensive sheep grazing.
Cattle-ranching on a large scale, as
distinguished from the more intensive
occupation of breeding and fattening
store cattle, is pursued in more
remote and inaccessible areas than
even the most extensive sheep grazing;
and the history of most countries comparable
 with Australia shows that it
generally precedes sheep raising in
such areas by many years and, in a
sense, prepares the way for it. Cattleranching
 is practically confined to
North-West Queensland, the Northern
Territory, and the north and northwest
 of Western Australia. It is an
undertaking which, properly conducted,
 involves very heavy capital expenditure
 on fencing and paddocking
large tracts of country, and on the development
 of water supplies, and involves
 a long walt before profits can
be expected. Indeed, we believe that
the experience of most ranching companies
 is that profits in the end are
to be expected rather from the appreciation
 in land values brought about
by ranching operations than directly
from the sale of ranch cattle. In our
opinion, fresh capital is very unlikely
to be attracted to cattle-ranching in
Australia on a serious scale unless
those providing it can be granted very
larce areas with an option exercisable

ifter a reasonable period, say, ten
rears, from the commencement of their
perations to obtain freehold at a
orice fixed at the commencement.
15. Given these conditions, we see
20 reason why Australia should not
ake her proper place among the
sattle-ranching countries of the world,
ut the industry appears to De
languishing at the present time, and
0 be unable to support the large
aumber of meat export works that
rave been established to deal with its
oroducts. These, indeed, seem to us
50 be excessive in number. We were
somewhat astonished to learn from a
nemorandum submitted to us by the
representatives of the Queensland
reef cattle industry that, whereas
shere are in the Argentine Republic
30,000,000 head of cattle and 11 exdort
 works with daily killing capacities
of from 800 to 4,000 cattle, there are
‘n Queensland the same number of exsort
 works, namely, 11 (several of
hem, as we saw for ourselves, situated
lose to one another on the Brishane
River), with a total daily killing
apacity of about 4,000, and only
3,200,000 head of cattle in the State.
The average actual yearly killing for
she period 1914 to 1920 in the Queens
and export works was stated at
372,441 head of cattle, or rather more
shan 1,000 head a day, representing
only rather more than one-fourth of
‘he total killing capacity of the 11
vorks. It seems obvious that the
cilling industry should be concenrated
 either by the amalgamation of
sxisting undertakings or by the
slimination of the less efficient.
16. Lest it should be thought that
we have too little sympathy with the
deal of closer settlement we will observe
 that we have laid stress in our
nain report (Part II, paragraphs 40
ind following) on the desirability of
he more intensive development of land
ready settled or partially settled in
Australia, rather than of further exensive
 development. It is to the
‘ormer rather than to the latter ohect
 that we think that effort and
rapital should be devoted. The spread
of closer settlement should follow by 2
natural process. As the productivity
nf Tand intensively develoned increases