786 THE FEDERATIONS AND THE UNION [PART IV
the scene was shifted to Melbourne, where in 1898 the draft
was agreed on, the financial problem being disposed of by
the famous Braddon clause, and the matter was referred
to the Parliaments of Australia. Queensland and Western
Australia, however, did nothing, and in New South Wales
there was much trouble, as the opposition to the federation
had grown strong among various parties. There was
a democratic opposition to the representation of all states
equally in the Senate, to the financial arrangements, which
would penalize the state in favour of Tasmania and Western
Australia, and to the change in customs policy which
was clearly inevitable! Therefore, though federation was
accepted by a majority, it fell far short of the majority
required, which had been increased in 1897 to a total of
80,000 votes.2 Hence federation seemed blocked, for though
the other three Colonies accepted it, it could not be real
without New South Wales. After a general election there,
Mr. Reid proposed in August 1898 to the Assembly certain
modifications of the agreement, which with changes it accepted
as adequate. A conference of Premiers held on January 29,
1899, at Melbourne,® saw the acceptance of the following
modifications in favour of the views of New South Wales :
(1) the lessening of the rigidity of the constitution by substi-
tuting an absolute majority of the members of the two Houses
for a three-fifths majority in the case of a joint sitting
arising out of a deadlock ; (2) the limitation of the operation
of the Braddon clause to ten years only, with power to the
Parliament to amend thereafter at will; (3) the insertion
of a clause permitting the Parliament to grant financial aid
t The Labour party also objected to the rejection of the referendum
for settling deadlocks.
* The voting in the Colonies for the Bill and against was as follows:
New South Wales, 71,595 and 66,228; Victoria, 100,520 and 22,099 ;
South Australia, 35,800 and 17,320; Tasmania, 11,797 and 2,716. The
percentages of voters to electors enrolled were respectively 49-88, 48.94,
39.44, and 46-5. In the voting for the candidates the percentages had been
51-25, 43-5, 30-9, and 25-0 respectively.
* Queensland now appeared for the first time since the Hobart Con-
ference of 1895.
