n power generally resented the Opposition's interference,
and at times just out of "sheer cussedness," refused to move in the
matter at issue, forgetting that more than probably in a few months they
themselves would be sitting disconsolate and minus their Ministerial
salaries on the Opposition benches, while their late opponents scored
heavily by quickly giving effect to the proposals they themselves had,
through that "sheer cussedness," failed to adopt in the interests of the
country. Considering how short-lived Cabinets were in the early years of
Federation, there was little risk, if any, in carrying out the above
plan.

As a very heavy expenditure would have to be incurred in establishing an
arsenal, small arms and explosives factory, it was incumbent on me to
prove to the Government that such an expenditure was not only justifiable
from a national insurance point of view but that it could be made
actually a money-saving proposition, apart from the fact that, by
utilizing Australian products and labour, as well as local inventive
talent, all the money spent would remain in the country instead of
passing on into the hands of strangers.

In order to ascertain the probable expenditure of a plant capable of
turning out from thirty to forty thousand rifles per annum, I personally
arranged for confidential agents to make thorough inquiries in England,
America and Germany, and while awaiting their report to me I gave my
attention to the selection of a suitable site.

The coal mining town of Lithgow, situated some eighty miles west of
Sydney, possessed so many advantages that my choice was soon made.
Leaving Sydney, the plain extends as far as Penrith, which lies at the
foot of a high range happily named the Blue Mountains. The train which
serves the western districts climbs its way to Katoomba and Mount
Victoria, the highest point, through wonderfully picturesque scenery, and
then descends rapidly to low levels, emerging at the town of Lithgow, a
branch line connecting it with the southern railways system via Blayney
and Young. The coal deposits at Lithgow are extensive; large fields of
iron ore are available at no great distance further west. Iron and steel
works on a big scale were in process of being established. Every
consideration pointed to the suitability of the site, and, as a matter of
fact, no voice was raised against it.

Later on I received the reports of my agents. Those from Germany were
unsatisfactory. A