federation

When early-twentieth-century Britons spoke of "race," what they invariably meant was "culture." (60) Such an understanding allowed men such as Curtis to hold two seemingly incongruent positions: one, that the British "race" was the world's most advanced; and two, that non-Britons could become members of the British "race" if properly "educated." In accepting this position Curtis was developing the ideas of federationists such as Joseph Chamberlain and the Canadian archbishop McGoun.

In 1897-98, the Constitution's framers, all committed federationists (the majority directly elected by the colonies' voters), spent close to a total of four months in meetings around the country, spread out over a full year.

For many years Catholic activists, including Federationists, had been advocating proportional representation because they believed it would provide the Catholic Church with direct representation in parliament.

The federationists made a crucial decision: among the powers that the six colonies would not cede to the national government were the powers to determine land use and powers over Indigenous welfare.

Having 'made Federation a burning political process' (87) but suffered personally in the process, Moran was reluctant to become directly involved in the 1898 referendum campaign, despite pleas from federationists. He did indicate to inquirers that he thought the 1898 Bill should be accepted, despite its faults, because 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'.