Parliament
reconvened on 15 May 1877 .[1] Before then, on 17 April 1877 , Douglas
resigned his Maryborough seat, for on being appointed as premier he had also
taken on the position of vice-president of the executive council and was still
the minister of lands.[2] He immediately announced his intention to
re-nominate for the seat, and his subsequent nomination, being the only one
received, resulted in him being re-elected unopposed on 27 April 1877 .[3] Douglas’s
decisive actions in addressing the Chinese and Pacific Islander issues meant
that by the time parliament opened it was widely considered that the new
ministry would implement the previous Thorn ministry’s program in an energetic
and determined manner.[4]
This
confidence was somewhat diminished when the ministry released its Treasury
estimates the following month. Concern
was expressed over the increase in departmental expenditure for loans to pay
for projects that were considered incapable of generating sufficient revenue to
repay the outlay expended on them.[5] Moreover, the business community was
concerned over Douglas’s proposal to pay for
ongoing railway construction by land sales along their routes, [6] preferring them to be paid for through loans.[7]
This led to
the Douglas ministry being perceived in some quarters
as incapable of administering the finances of the colony.[8] Douglas
ignored this disquiet and announced that all six proposed railway lines would
go ahead.[9] There was widespread support for this
expenditure, although the Brisbane Courier fretted over whether Douglas had the “firmness to practice the economy in
administration.” As the paper
presciently noted, if he did not, then “it will destroy his ministry and his
reputation as a politician.”[10]
The
parliamentary session of 1877 was the longest parliamentary session in the
colony so far, sitting for almost six months.[11] While Douglas
had restricted Chinese immigration and innovatively funded the construction of
railways, it was generally felt that the government’s accomplishments were “not
commensurate with the number or length of sittings.”[12] Much of the blame for this was laid at
Douglas’s feet,[13]
the Telegraph newspaper devastatingly observing that Douglas
was simply too nice and too much of a gentleman to control his party and
belittle the opposition.
The premier’s gentlemanly courtesy, great patience and
forbearance, and incessant efforts to conciliate individuals on the opposite
side and retain supporters who were suspected of being slippery was carried to
an excess which amounted to a serious blunder.[14]
Douglas possessed the requisite ambition, experience,
knowledge and social standing to be a successful premier. Unfortunately, he lacked the ruthless
ambition and desire to win at all costs by advocating his own agenda at the
expense of all others; the admirable qualities that raised him to the
premiership could not keep him there. He
had “premier material, but not party calibre.”[15] A different set of skills was required to
hold power, and Douglas lacked them. Palmer and Macalister had them in abundance,
but not Douglas. He was unable to disregard his convictions as
Macalister did, or subscribe to views not sincerely or conscientiously held as
Palmer did.[16] Douglas, in
many ways, was the wrong man for the job.[17] He did his best, governing according to his
ideals and his principles, but it was not enough.
Despite this,
the session was seen as a victory for Douglas and his government. As the Brisbane Courier remarked, any
session which passed both ground-breaking legislation restricting Chinese entry
to the colony and an innovative Railway Reserves Bill - legislation,
“which will leave its mark on the Queensland of the future” - had to be
considered a successful one.[18]
One day after
the parliamentary recess, Douglas restructured
his ministry, transferring Thorn from public works to the secretary for lands.[19] Douglas
vacated this post in order to take up the post of colonial secretary, which
William Miles had left to succeed Thorn as secretary of public works.[20] Thorn was thus relieved of the responsibility
for railway expenditure, the government believing him incapable of effectively
and impartially managing the large expenditures involved.[21] As the Brisbane Courier delicately put
it, the problem with Thorn was “that he was not unlikely to be influenced by
political motives in dealing with demands for the expenditure of public money.”[22] These changes were favourably received and
were widely seen as strengthening the ministry.[23] On 6 February 1878 Thorn, in order to travel to England,
resigned from his post and was succeeded by James Francis Garrick.[24] Again, this replacement was seen as
strengthening the government.[25]
[1] Brisbane
Courier, 14 May 1877 ,
p. 2. Bernays incorrectly gives the date
as 24 April. (Bernays, p. 79)
[2] Queensland Government Gazette Extraordinary, vol 20 no 30, 8 March 1877 ; “The
Acceptance of the Premiership by Mr. Douglas.”
Brisbane
Courier, 20 April 1877 ,
p. 3; “Topics of the Pavement.” Brisbane Courier,
21 June 1877 , p.
6
[3] “Maryborough.” Brisbane Courier,
27 April 1877 , p.
5; Maryborough.” Brisbane Courier, 3 May 1877 , p. 3. While members were forced to re-contest their
seats on accepting offices of profit under the crown, it was usually a
formality, with few ever being opposed.
[4] Brisbane
Courier, 14 May 1877 ,
p. 2
[5] Brisbane
Courier, 9 June 1877 ,
p. 4
[6] Ibid.
[7] The Telegraph, 5 November 1877 , p. 2 & Brisbane Courier, 22 October 1877 , p.
2. As the Brisbane Courier
remarked, Douglas should “at once boldly ask
for a loan for the full amount which will be required to secure the money while
the times permit.” The paper was
sceptical that land sales could generate sufficient funds, within a reasonable
time, to pay for the proposed railway constructions. (Brisbane Courier, 9 June 1877, p.4)
[8] Brisbane Courier, 9 June 1877 , p.4
[9] The cost was £720,000. For a
detailed account see, Queensland 1900: A Narrative of Her Past, Together
With Biographies of Her Leading Men, p. 148 & The Telegraph, 5
November 1877, p. 2
[10] Brisbane
Courier, 9 August 1877 ,
p. 2. See also Brisbane Courier, 20 August 1877 , p. 2
[11] The Telegraph, 5 November 1877 , p. 2; Brisbane Courier, 2 November 1877 , p. 2. However, the second session of 1867 had more
actual sitting days, 89 compared with 80 in 1877. (Queensland Votes and Proceedings, vol
1, 1878, p. 346)
[12] Queensland 1900, p.
148; Brisbane
Courier, 2 November 1877 ,
p. 2 and 8 September 1877, p. 6
[13]Brisbane Courier, 22 October 1877 , p. 2
[14] The Telegraph, 5 November 1877 , p. 2.
As Charles Buzacott, a leader writer for the Brisbane Courier
observed; “Mr. Douglas, despite scholarship and long parliamentary experience,
was not a success as leader of the house.
There was little point in his speeches and it was often difficult to
understand to which side of a question he leaned, until the vote came. He was so scrupulously anxious to do the
right thing and avoid the wrong.” (Quoted
by Roger Joyce. The Papers of R. B.
Joyce (1928-1984), National Library
of Australia, MS 7691, Box 105, chapter 5, p. 297)
[15] Mason, p. 162
[16] Ibid.
[17] As Coote remarked on his expectations after Douglas ascended to the
premiership; “I can readily suppose him to be courteous in manner; and imbued
with a proper sense of the decorum due to his position, and I believe that
whatever may be his inconsistencies, he will not be untruthful, in which he
will furnish a strong contrast to some of his predecessors.” (William Coote. “Our Leading Public Men. No. 1.
The Hon. John Douglas.” The
Week, 19 May 1877 ,
p. 616)
[18] Brisbane
Courier, 2 November 1877 ,
p. 2
[19] Brisbane
Courier, 8 November 1877 ,
p. 2
[20] Governor Kennedy was pleased with this arrangement, especially with
Douglas becoming colonial secretary. (Kennedy to Colonial Office, 7 November 1877,
CO 234/37)
[21] The Australasian, 19 January 1878 , p. 86
[22] Brisbane
Courier, 9 November 1877 ,
p. 2
[23] “Summary for Europe.” Brisbane
Courier, 5 December 1877 ,
p. 3; Brisbane Courier, 9 November 1877 , p. 2
[24] Queensland
Blue Book for the Year 1899.
Brisbane, Government Printer, 1900, p. 6
[25]Brisbane Courier, 5 February 1878 , p. 2
