The 20th century opened auspiciously for the island. Nature seemed to bestow her blessing. In Hobart 1 January 1901 was ‘a perfect, fragrant, exhilarating Tasmanian day’. After 53 years of rule by governors and Colonial Office officials, and a further 44 years as a self-governing colony, Tasmania entered the new Australian federation having voted in favour of the amalgamation by very large majorities in the two referenda of 1898 and 1899. The issue was stoutly contested but the outcome was never in doubt. Being the smallest and poorest of the Australian colonies Tasmania had nowhere else to go and could not seriously consider independence and isolation. Tasmanian politicians had shown interest in some form of federation when the issue was discussed in the 1850s and John West had written a series of distinguished essays promoting the cause. Throughout the second half of the century island leaders sought, with little success, to promote free trade among the colonies and were deeply frustrated by the protectionist trade policies of Victoria, which was the natural market for Tasmanian produce. Union with Victoria was often promoted, particularly among the Launceston business community, which characteristically looked north across Bass Strait rather than south to Hobart. As in the rest of Australia the momentum given to the cause by the Federal Convention of 1891 faltered; legislation endorsing the draft Constitution passed the House of Assembly but was shelved in the Legislative Council. A Tasmanian delegation attended the Federal Convention of 1897–8 in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne and island politics sprang into life with the approach of the federal referendum in June 1898.