Editing Andrew Inglis Clark (section)

==Clark and Australian Federation==

Clark positioned himself ambiguously with respect to the cause of Australian Federation. Clark was a delegate to the National Australasian Convention of 1891, and was a member of its committee which produced a draft constitution. However, he did not stand for the election of delegates to the Australian Federal Convention of 1897, and embarked on an overseas journey two days after it commenced.<ref>William Coleman,''Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914'', Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p.401.</ref> Instead of the Convention's proposal to compensate States' for their loss of tariff revenue subsequent to Federation by a guarantee of a share of Commonwealth revenue, he favoured the Commonwealth's assumption of States' debts. Despite the urgings of Federationists, Clark abstained from supporting the Federal cause in the subsequent campaign. A week before the 1898 referendum on Federation, he let it be known "It is not his intention to advise any elector on how to vote".<ref>William Coleman,''Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914'', Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p.39.</ref>