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diff --git a/16664-h/16664-h.htm b/16664-h/16664-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6247a42 --- /dev/null +++ b/16664-h/16664-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7714 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Town Life in Australia</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {background: #ffffcc; margin: 10% 15% 10% 15%; text-align:justify} +/* top margin 1em, +right margin 2em, +bottom margin 3em, +left margin 4em */ + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {color:green; text-align:center} +blockquote {font-size: .9em} +p.poem {text-align:center} + +p.external {font-weight: bold} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Town Life in Australia, by R. E. N. (Richard) Twopeny + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Town Life in Australia + 1883 + +Author: R. E. N. (Richard) Twopeny + +Release Date: September 6, 2005 [EBook #16664] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOWN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat + + + + + +</pre> + +<h2>Town Life in Australia</h2> + +<h3>by</h3> + +<h2>R. E. N. Twopeny</h2> + +<h4>OFFICER D'ACADEMIE DE FRANCE, AND LATE SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL +COMMISSION FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA AT THE PARIS, SYDNEY, AND +MELBOURNE EXHIBITIONS.</h4> + +<h3>LONDON:<br> +ELLIOT STOCK,<br> +62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.</h3> + +<h3>1883.</h3> + +<hr align="center" width="50%"> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p>The following work was originally written as a series of +letters; but the epistolary form has only been partially +retained. As it has necessarily been carried through the press +without communication with the writer, who is now in New Zealand, +errors may possibly have been committed, for which the editor +rather than the writer is responsible; it is hoped, however, that +these will not be found numerous.</p> + +<hr align="center" width="50%"> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p align="center"><a href="#townlife-01">A WALK ROUND +MELBOURNE</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-02">SYDNEY</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-03">ADELAIDE</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-04">HOUSES</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-05">FURNITURE</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-06">SERVANTS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-07">FOOD</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-08">DRESS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-09">YOUNG AUSTRALIA</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-10">SOCIAL RELATIONS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-11">RELIGION AND MORALS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-12">EDUCATION</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-13">POLITICS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-14">BUSINESS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-15">SHOPS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-16">AMUSEMENTS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-17">NEWSPAPERS</a><br> +<a href="#townlife-18">LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, AND ART</a></p> + +<hr align="center" width="50%"> +<a name="townlife-01"></a> + +<h2>A WALK ROUND MELBOURNE.</h2> + +<p>Although most educated people know that Melbourne, Sydney, and +Adelaide are populous towns, I should doubt whether one +Englishman, who has not been to Australia, out of a hundred +<i>realizes</i> that fact. I well remember that, although I had +taken some trouble to read up information about Melbourne, I was +never more thoroughly surprised than during the first few hours +after my arrival there. And I hear almost everyone who comes out +from England say that his experience has been the same as my own. +In one sense the visitor is disappointed with his first day in an +Australian city. The novelties and the differences from the Old +Country do not strike him nearly so much as the resemblances. It +is only as he gets to know the place better that he begins to to +notice the differences. The first prevailing impression is that a +slice of Liverpool has been bodily transplanted to the Antipodes, +that you must have landed in England again by mistake, and it is +only by degrees that you begin to see that the resemblance is +more superficial than real.</p> + +<p>Although Sydney is the older town, Melbourne is justly +entitled to be considered the metropolis of the Southern +Hemisphere. The natural beauties of Sydney are worth coming all +the way to Australia to see; while the situation of Melbourne is +commonplace if not actually ugly; but it is in the Victorian city +that the trade and capital, the business and pleasure of +Australia chiefly centre. Is there a company to be got up to +stock the wilds of Western Australia, or to form a railway on the +land-grant system in Queensland, to introduce the electric light, +or to spread education amongst the black fellows, the promoters +either belong to Melbourne, or go there for their capital. The +headquarters of nearly all the large commercial institutions +which extend their operation beyond the limits of any one colony +are to be found there. If you wish to transact business well and +quickly, to organize a new enterprise--in short, to estimate and +understand the trade of Australia, you must go to Melbourne and +not to Sydney, and this in spite of the fact that Victoria is a +small colony handicapped by heavy protectionist duties, whilst +Sydney is, comparatively speaking, a free port, at the base of an +enormous area. The actual production does not take place in +Victoria, but it is in Melbourne that the money resulting from +the productions of other colonies as well as of Victoria is +turned over. It is Melbourne money chiefly that opens up new +tracts of land for settlement in the interior of the continent, +and Melbourne brains that find the outlets for fresh commerce in +every direction. There is a bustle and life about Melbourne which +you altogether miss in Sydney. The Melbourne man is always on the +look-out for business, the Sydney man waits for business to come +to him. The one is always in a hurry, the other takes life more +easily. And as it is with business, so it is with pleasure.</p> + +<p>If you are a man of leisure you will find more society in +Melbourne, more balls and parties, a larger measure of +intellectual life--i.e., more books and men of education and +intellect, more and better theatrical and musical performances, +more racing and cricket, football, and athletic clubs, a larger +leisured class than in Sydney. The bushman who comes to town to +'knock down his cheque,' the squatter who wants a little +amusement, both prefer Melbourne to spend their money in. The +Melbourne races attract three or four times the number of +visitors that the Sydney races do; all public amusements are far +better attended in Melbourne; the people dress better, talk +better, think better, are better, if we accept Herbert Spencer's +definition of Progress. There is far more 'go' and far more +'life,' in every sense of these rather comprehensive words, to be +found in Melbourne, and it is there that the visitor must come +who wishes to see the fullest development of Australasian +civilisation, whether in commerce or education, in wealth or +intellect, in manners and customs--in short, in every department +of life.</p> + +<p>If you ask how this anomaly is to be explained, I can only +answer that the shutting out of Sydney from the country behind it +by a barrier of mountains hindered its early development; whilst +the gold-diggings transformed Melbourne from a village into a +city almost by magic; that the first population of Sydney was of +the wrong sort, whilst that which flooded Melbourne from 1851 to +1861 was eminently adventurous and enterprising; that Melbourne +having achieved the premier position, Sydney has, with all its +later advantages, found the truth of the proverbs: 'A stern chase +is a long chase,' and 'To him that hath shall be given.'</p> + +<p>Passengers by ocean-going vessels to Melbourne land either at +Sandridge or Williamstown, small shipping towns situated on +either side of the river Yarra, which is only navigable by the +smaller craft. A quarter of an hour in the train brings the +visitor into the heart of the city. On getting out he can hardly +fail to be impressed by the size of the buildings around him, and +by the width of the streets, which are laid out in rectangular +blocks, the footpaths being all well paved or asphalted. In spite +of the abundance of large and fine-looking buildings, there is a +rather higgledy-piggledy look about the town--the city you will +by this time own it to be. There are no building laws, and every +man has built as seemed best in his own eyes. The town is +constantly outgrowing the majority of its buildings, and although +the wise plan of allowing for the rapid growth of a young +community, and building for the requirements of the future rather +than of the present, is generally observed, there are still gaps +in the line of the streets towards the outskirts, and houses +remaining which were built by unbelievers in the future before +the city. In the main thoroughfares you might fancy yourself in +an improved Edgeware Road. In a few years Collins and Bourke +Streets will be very like Westbourne Grove. The less frequented +streets in the city are like those of London suburbs. There +<i>are</i> a few lanes which it is wiser not to go down after ten +o'clock at night. These are known as the back slums. But nowhere +is there any sign of poverty or anything at all resembling +Stepney or the lower parts of an European city, The Chinese +quarter is the nearest approach thereto, but it is quite <i>sui +generis</i>, and squalor is altogether absent.</p> + +<p>The town is well lighted with gas, and the water-supply, from +reservoirs on the Yarra a few miles above, is plentiful, but not +good for drinking. There Is no underground drainage system. All +the sewage is carried away in huge open gutters, which run all +through the town, and are at their worst and widest in the most +central part, where all the principal shops and business places +are situated. These gutters are crossed by little wooden bridges +every fifty yards. When it rains, they rise to the proportion of +small torrents, and have on several occasions proved fatal to +drunken men. In one heavy storm, indeed, a sober strong man was +carried off his legs by the force of the stream, and +ignominiously drowned in a gutter. You may imagine how unpleasant +these little rivers are to carriage folk. In compensation they +are as yet untroubled with tramways, although another couple of +years will probably see rails laid all over the city.</p> + +<p>It is a law in every Australian town that no visitor shall be +allowed to rest until he has seen all its sights, done all its +lions, and, above all, expressed his surprise and admiration at +them. With regard to their public institutions, the colonists are +like children with a new toy--delighted with it themselves, and +not contented until everybody they meet has declared it to be +delightful. There are some people who vote all sightseeing a +bore, but if they come to Melbourne I would advise them at least +to do the last part of their duty--express loudly and generally +their admiration at everything that is mentioned to them. Whether +they have seen it or not is, after all, their own affair.</p> + +<p>In this respect a Professor at the Melbourne University, on a +holiday trip to New Zealand, has just told me an amusing +anecdote, for the literal truth of which he vouches. A couple of +young Englishmen fresh from Oxford came to Melbourne in the +course of a trip round the world to open up their minds! For fear +of a libel suit I may at once say I am not alluding to the +Messrs. Chamberlain. They brought letters of introduction to +Professor S----, who proposed, according to the custom of the +place, to 'show them round.' 'Have you seen the Public Library?' +he began. 'No,' answered the Oxonian. Shall I take you over it?' +continued the Professor; 'it is one of the finest in the world, +well worth seeing; and we can kill two birds with one stone by +seeing the Museum and National Gallery at the same time.' 'Well, +no, thanks,' was the reply; 'it's awfully good of you, we know; +but I say, the fact is books are books, all the world over, and +pictures are pictures; and as for minerals, I can't say we +understand them--not in our line, you understand.'</p> + +<p>The Professor now thought he would try them with something +out-of-doors, and proposed a walk to the Botanical Gardens, which +was met with 'Don't you think it's rather hot for a walk? +Besides, to tell the truth, one garden is very much like +another.' 'But these are very large,' persisted the Professor; +'not scientific gardens like Kew, but capital places to walk and +sit about in. There are a number of flowers there, too, which you +cannot see at home.' Oxonian No. 2, however, came to the breach: +'We bought a lot of flowers at a shop in Collins Street +yesterday, and we are going to send a hamper of ferns home; so +that if you won't think it uncivil of us to refuse your kindness, +we won't take up your time by going so far.'</p> + +<p>Although somewhat abashed, the Professor thought of several +other 'lions' which they might like to see, but was invariably +met with the same polite refusal, till at last he gave it up as a +bad job, and turned the conversation to general subjects. They +had taken up their hats, and were saying good-bye. The Professor, +who is a kind-hearted man, and was really anxious to be of +service to the two friends, felt quite vexed with himself that he +could do nothing more than ask them to dine. So, just as they +were parting with the usual mutual expressions of goodwill, he +asked in a despondent, almost prayerful tone: 'Are you quite sure +there is; nothing I can do for you? Pray make use of me if you +can, and I shall be only too delighted.' The reply was in a +rather nervous voice from the younger man, who blushed as he +asked the favour: 'Do you know anyone who has got a lawn-tennis +court? We should so awfully like to have a game.'</p> + +<p>The Professor introduced them to the head and to some of the +undergraduates of the affiliated colleges close by, and heard +very little more of them till they came to dinner with him a +fortnight later, the day before they were to leave Melbourne. The +conversation at dinner turned of course upon what they had seen +during their visit, with which they declared themselves immensely +pleased. But when asked as to the things which had most impressed +them, it came out that Sundays were the only days they had gone +out of the town; that they had not been to see a public +institution or building, except their bank and the theatres. +'Surely you can't have spent all your time at the club,' said the +Professor, 'though there is a capital library there; and, by the +way, did you ever play tennis at Ormond College?' And then came +the reply from both at once. It turned out that they had been to +Ormond College to play tennis twice a day, except when they +stopped lunch there. And then followed a technical description of +the college tennis-courts, the Australian play, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>But the cream of the story is not yet reached. The young men +were to leave the next day for Japan, and the Professor waxed +enthusiastic over the delights in store for them in that land of +the morning. He quoted anecdotes and passages from Miss Bird's +book, and repeated more than once that he envied them their trip. +'Well, yes, you know,' said the eldest, 'we've got several +introductions; and I hear there are lots of English in Tokio, so +that we are sure to get plenty of tennis.'</p> + +<p>There are not many people who are likely to be so frank, not +to say dull, as the Professor's friends; but how many people +there are who travel round the world and see nothing! There is a +moral in the story which is probably applicable to at least half +of my readers, more or less.</p> + +<p>Of the public buildings, which are scattered in considerable +numbers about the town, the largest are the New Law Courts, which +have just been erected at a cost of £300,000. They contain +130 rooms, and provide accommodation for the Supreme Court, the +County Court, the Insolvent Court, the Equity Court, and for the +various offices of the Crown Law Department. The plan is that of +a quadrangle, with a centre surmounted by a dome 137 feet high. +Still more elaborate and magnificent are the Parliament Houses +not yet completed, the front alone of which is to cost +£180,000. With regard to the architecture of these +buildings, there is ample room for difference of opinion, but +everyone will agree to admire the classic simplicity of the +Public Library, erected some twenty years ago, which is planned +with a view to the subsequent erection of a National Gallery and +Museum, to complete a really noble pile of buildings. And it is +well worth while to go inside. The Library is absolutely free to +everybody, contains over 110,000 volumes, and has accommodation +for 600 readers. An interesting feature is the large +newspaper-room, where scores of working-men can be seen reading +papers and magazines from all parts of the world. At the back of +the same building are the painting and sculpture galleries, with +which is connected a school of art and design. Behind these again +is a museum. In the galleries there are a few good modern +paintings, and a large number of mediocre ones. The statuary +consists mainly of well-executed casts and four marble statues by +the late Mr. Summers. The museum is only likely to be of interest +to entomologists and mineralogists, the collection in both these +departments being considered very good. The foundation and the +success of the whole of this institution are almost entirely due +to the late Sir Redmond Barry, who did almost as much for the +University, which has also been exceedingly useful and successful +from every point of view. As a building it is not equal to the +Sydney University, although it possesses a splendid Gothic Hall, +the gift of Sir Samuel Wilson, who now lives at Hughenden. In +connection with the University is an excellent Zoological Museum, +which is interesting to more than specialists.</p> + +<p>Other fine buildings are the Government Offices, the Town Hall +with its enormous organ, the Post Office, the International +Exhibition--all built on a truly metropolitan scale, which is +even exceeded by the palatial hugeness of the Government House, +the ugliness of which is proverbial throughout Australia. But, +perhaps, the class of buildings, which must in every Australian +city most excite the surprise of the visitor, are the hospitals +and asylums. There are no less than ten splendid structures in +Melbourne devoted to charitable purposes. The Roman Catholics +have built a fine cathedral, but it is not yet finished. The +Church of England is collecting money for a similar purpose. +Meanwhile the prettiest church belongs to the Presbyterians. None +of the other churches are in any way remarkable. Anyone who has +not seen the London Mint will find the Melbourne Mint worth a +visit. The Observatory contains one of the largest telescopes in +the world; and even if there are no races going on, the +Flemington Racecourse is a 'lion' of the largest dimensions. +There are four theatres, only one of which is well-fitted up. The +visitor will notice that drinking bars are invariable and very +disagreeable accompaniments of every theatre. One bar is +generally just opposite the entrance to the dress circle, an +arrangement which is particularly annoying to ladies.</p> + +<p>Altogether, the public buildings of Melbourne do the greatest +credit to the public spirit of the colonists, and offer +substantial testimony to the largeness of their views and the +thoroughness of their belief in the future of their country. +There is certainly no city in England which can boast of nearly +as many fine buildings, or as large ones, proportionately to its +size, as Melbourne. And this is the more remarkable, remembering, +that even in the existing hard times, masons are getting 10s. 6d. +a day of eight hours, and often a very dawdling eight hours +too.</p> + +<p>The Botanic Gardens, just outside the town, are well worth a +visit. They have no great scientific pretensions, as their name +would imply, but are merely pleasure-grounds, decked with all the +variety of flowers which this land of Cockaigne produces in +abundance. Besides these, there are several pretty reserves, +notably the Fitzroy, Carlton, and University Gardens, and the +Regent's Park, which are all well kept and refreshing to the eye +after the dust and glare of the town.</p> + +<p>The proportions of the commercial buildings and business +premises are on the same large and elaborate scale. Of the +architecture, as a rule, the less said the better; but everything +is at least more spacious than at home. The climate and the +comparative cheapness of land give the colonists an aversion to +height in their buildings, and even in the busiest parts of +Melbourne most of the buildings have only two stories--i.e., a +ground-floor and one above--and I can hardly think of any with +more than three. The sums which banking companies pay for the +erection of business premises are enormous. Thirty to sixty +thousand pounds is the usual cost of their headquarters. The +large insurance companies have also caught the building mania, +and the joint-stock companies which are now springing up in all +directions emulate them. The Australian likes to have plenty of +elbow-room. He cannot understand how wealthy merchants can work +in the dingy dens which serve for the offices of many a London +merchant prince. In this matter, contrary to his usual practice, +he is apt to consider the surface rather than what is beneath it; +and it is an accepted maxim in commercial circles that money +spent on buildings--which is of course borrowed in England at +English rates of interest--is amongst the cheapest forms of +advertising a rising business and keeping an established business +going. Nobody in a young country has a long memory, and nothing +is so firmly established but that it may be overthrown if it does +not keep up with the times.</p> + +<p>The general run of shops are little better than in English +towns of the same size, if we except those of some dozen drapers +and ironmongers in Melbourne, and two or three in Sydney, which +are exceptionally good. Of these it may be said that they would +be creditable to London itself. Both trades are much more +comprehensive than in England. A large Melbourne draper will sell +you anything, from a suit of clothes to furniture, where he comes +into competition with the ironmonger, whose business includes +agricultural machinery, crockery and plate. The larger firms in +both these trades combine wholesale and retail business, and +their shops are quite amongst the sights of Australia. Nowhere +out of an exhibition and Whiteley's is it possible to meet so +heterogeneous a collection. A peculiarity of Melbourne is that +the shop-windows there are much better set out than is customary +in England. It is not so in Sydney. Indeed Melbourne has +decidedly the best set of shops, not only in outward appearance, +but as to the variety and quality of the articles sold in them. +Next to the drapers and ironmongers, the booksellers' shops are +the most creditable. The style of the smaller shops in every +colonial town is as English as English can be. The only +difference is in the prices, but of that more anon when we go +into the shops.</p> + +<p>The river Yarra runs through the city, and is navigable as far +as its centre by coasting steamers and all but the larger sailing +craft. Above the harbour it is lined with trees and very pretty, +and in spite of many windings it is wide enough for boat-races. +Below it is uninteresting, and chiefly remarkable for the number +and variety of the perfumes which arise from the manufactories on +its banks. Next to the monotony of the Suez Canal, with which it +presents many points of resemblance, I know few things more +tiresome than the voyage up the Yarra in an intercolonial steamer +of 600 or 700 tons, which goes aground every ten minutes, and +generally, as if on purpose, just in front of a boiling-down +establishment.</p> + +<p>If the Australian cities can claim a sad eminence, if not an +actual supremacy, in the number of their public houses, of which +there are no less than 1,120 in Melbourne, I am sorry to say that +they are as much behind London in their ideas of the comforts of +an hotel as London is behind San Francisco. Melbourne is +certainly better off than Sydney or Adelaide, but bad are its +best hotels. Of these Menzies' and the Oriental are most to be +recommended; after these try the United Club Hotel, or, if you be +a bachelor, Scott's. The hotels, I think without exception, +derive their chief income from the bar traffic, with which, at +all but the few I have mentioned, you cannot help being brought +more or less into contact. Lodgers are quite a secondary +consideration. This is very disagreeable for ladies. The best +hotels, moreover, have no <i>table d'hote</i>--only the +old-fashioned coffee and commercial rooms; so that if you are +travelling <i>en famille</i> you have no choice but to have your +meals in a private sitting-room. For a bachelor, who is not +particular so long as his rooms are clean, and can put up with +plain fare, there need, however, be no difficulty in getting +accommodation; but anyone who wishes to be comfortable had better +live at the clubs, which in every one of the 'capitals' are most +liberal in their hospitality, and have bedrooms on their +premises. Visitors to the colony are made honorary members for a +month on the introduction of any two members, and the term is +extended to six months on the small subscription of a guinea a +month. The Melbourne Club is the best appointed in the Colonies. +The rooms are comfortable, and decently though by no means +luxuriously furnished, and a very fair table is kept. The +servants wear full livery. There is a small library, all the +usual appurtenances of a London club, and a racquet-court. The +other clubs, though less pretentious, are all comfortable.</p> + +<p>Your colonial rarely walks a step farther than he can help, +and of course laziness is well provided with cabs and omnibuses. +You can take your choice between one-horse waggonettes and +hansoms, though a suspicion of Bohemia still lingers about the +latter. Happily Mrs. Grundy has never introduced 'growlers.' The +waggonettes are light boxes on wheels, covered in with oil-cloth, +which can be rolled up in a few seconds if the weather is fine or +warm. It is strange that victorias like those in Paris have never +been tried in this warm climate. A few years ago Irish +jaunting-cars and a jolting vehicle called a 'jingle' were much +used, but they have slipped out of favour of late, and are now +almost obsolete. The fares are usually moderate, ranging from a +shilling for a quarter of an hour to the same coin for the first +mile, and sixpence for every subsequent one. Cabby is fairly +civil, but, as at home, always expects more than his legal +fare.</p> + +<p>Nowhere do omnibuses drive a more thriving trade than in +Melbourne, and they deserve it, for they are fast, clean, roomy, +and well managed. The price of labour makes conductors too +expensive a luxury, and passengers have to put their fare--in +most cases threepence--into a little glass box close to the +driver's seat. This unfortunate man, in addition to looking after +the horses, and opening and shutting the door by means of a strap +tied to his foot, which you pull when you want to get out, has to +give change whenever a little bell is rung, and to see that the +threepences in the glass box correspond to the number of +passengers. Yet not only does he drive fast and carefully along +the crowded thoroughfares, but it is difficult to escape without +paying. Several times when a 'bus has been crowded I have tried +the effect of omitting payment. Invariably the driver has touched +his bell, and if that is not attended to, he puts his face to the +chink through which change is passed, and having re-counted the +number of people in the 'bus, civilly intimates that 'some +gentleman has forgotten to put in his fare.' Where the omnibus +companies have not penetrated, waggonettes similar to those +previously described pioneer the road, and on some +well-frequented lines they run in competition with the +omnibuses.</p> + +<p>I don't know that it would be true to say that the number of +horses and vehicles in the streets strikes the stranger's eye as +a rule. A man accustomed to the traffic of London streets passes +over the traffic of Melbourne, great as it is for a town of its +size, without notice. But I think he cannot but notice the novel +nature of the Melbourne traffic, the prevalence of that light +four-wheeled vehicle called the 'buggy,' which we have imported +via America, and the extraordinary number of horsemen he meets. +The horses at first sight strike the eye unpleasantly. They look +rough, and are rarely properly groomed. But, as experience will +soon teach the stranger, they are far less delicate than English +horses. They get through a considerably greater quantity of work, +and are less fatigued at the end of it.</p> + +<p>A walk down Collins Street or Flinders Lane would astonish +some of the City Croesuses. But if a visitor really wishes to +form an idea of the wealth concentrated in Melbourne, he cannot +do better than spend a week walking round the suburbs, and noting +the thousands of large roomy houses and well-kept gardens which +betoken incomes of over two thousand a year, and the tens of +thousands of villas whose occupants must be spending from a +thousand to fifteen hundred a year. All these suburbs are +connected with the town by railway. A quarter of an hour will +bring you ten miles to Brighton, and twelve minutes will take you +to St. Kilda, the most fashionable watering-place. Within ten +minutes by rail are the inland suburbs, Toorak, South Yarra, and +Kew, all three very fashionable; Balaclava, Elsterwick, and +Windsor, outgrowths of St. Kilda, also fashionable; Hawthorn, +which is budding well; Richmond, adjacent to East Melbourne, and +middle class; and Emerald Hill and Albert Park, with a +working-class population. Adjoining the city itself are North +Melbourne, Fitzroy, Carlton, Hotham, and East Melbourne, all +except the last inhabited by the working-classes. Emerald Hill +and Hotham have handsome town halls of their own, and the larger +of these suburbs form municipalities. Nearly everybody who can +lives in the suburbs, and the excellence of the railway system +enables them to extend much farther away from the city than in +Adelaide or Sydney. It is strange that the Australian townsman +should have so thoroughly inherited the English love of living as +far as possible away from the scene of his business and work +during the day.</p> + +<p>The names of the suburbs afford food for reflection. Yarra is +the only native name. Sir Charles Hotham and Sir Charles Fitzroy +were the governors at the time of the foundation of the +municipalities which bear their names. The date of the foundation +of St. Kilda is evidenced by the name of its streets--Alma, +Inkerman, Redan, Malakoff, Sebastopol, Raglan, Cardigan, and +Balaclava, the last of which gave its name later on to a new +suburb, which grew up at one end of it. In the city proper the +principal streets are named after colonial celebrities in the +early days--Flinders, Bourke, Collins, Lonsdale, Spencer, +Stephen, Swanston, while King, Queen, and William Streets each +tell a tale. Elizabeth Street was perhaps named after the virgin +queen to whose reign the accession of the Princess Victoria +called attention.</p> + +<p>As you walk round you cannot fail to notice the sunburnt faces +of the people you meet. Melbourne is said to have the prettiest +girls in Australia. I am no judge. On first arrival their sallow +complexions strike you most disagreeably, and it is some time +before you will allow that there is a pretty girl in the country. +When you get accustomed to this you will recognise that as a rule +they have good figures, and that though there are no beauties, a +larger number of girls have pleasant features than in England. +What may be called nice looking girls abound all over Australia. +In dress the Melbourne ladies are too fond of bright colours, but +it can never be complained against them that they are dowdy--a +fault common to their Sydney, Adelaide, and English sisters--and +they certainly spend a great deal of money on their dress, every +article of which costs about 50 per cent. more than at home. In +every town the shop girls and factory girls--in short, all the +women belonging to the industrial classes--are well dressed, and +look more refined than in England. Men, on the other hand, are +generally very careless about their attire, and dress untidily. +The business men all wear black frock-coats and top hats. They +look like city men whose clothes have been cut in the country. +The working-men are dressed much more expensively than at home, +and there are no threadbare clothes to be seen. Everybody has a +well-to-do look There is not so much bustle as in the City, but +the faces of 'all sorts and conditions of men' are more cheerful, +and less careworn and anxious. You can see that bread-and-butter +never enters into the cares of these people; it is only the cake +which is sometimes endangered. or has not sufficient plums in it. +<a name="townlife-02"></a></p> + +<h2>SYDNEY.</h2> + +<p>I suppose that nearly everyone has heard of the beauties of +Sydney Harbour--'our harbour,' as the Sydneyites fondly call it. +If you want a description of them read Trollope's book. He has +not exaggerated an iota on this point. Sydney Harbour is one of +those few sights which, like Niagara, remain photographed on the +memory of whoever has been so fortunate as to see them. With this +difference, however--the impression of Niagara is instantaneous; +it stamps itself upon you in a moment, and though further +observation may make the details more clear, it cannot add to the +depth of the impressions. But Sydney Harbour grows upon you. At +the first glance I think you will be a little disappointed. It is +only as you drink in each fresh beauty that its wonderful +loveliness takes possession of you. The more you explore its +creeks and coves--forming altogether 260 miles of shore--the more +familiar you become with each particular headland or reach, the +greater your enchantment. You fall in love with it, so to speak, +and often I look up at the water-colour sketch of Double Bay +which hangs over my dining-room mantelpiece, and hope the hope +which partakes of expectation, that before long I shall see +Sydney Harbour again.</p> + +<p>And it is as admirable from a practical as from an artistic +point of view. The <i>Austral</i> and the <i>Orient</i> can be +moored alongside natural wharves in the very heart of the city. +There are coves sufficient to hold the combined fleets of the +world, mercantile and naval. The outer harbour is the paradise of +yachtsmen; the inner, of oarsmen. The gardens of suburban villas +run down to the water's edge along the headlands and points, and +there are thousands of unoccupied building sites from which you +can enjoy a view fit for the gods.</p> + +<p>One feels quite angry with the town for being so unworthy of +its site. Certainly, one of the greatest charms of the harbour +must have been wanting when it was uninhabited, and the view of +the city and suburbs as you come up into port is as charming and +picturesque, as that of Melbourne from Port Philip is commonplace +and repellent. But when you get near the wharf the charm +vanishes. Never was there a more complete case of distance +lending enchantment to the view. Not but that there are plenty of +fine buildings, public and private; but the town is still much +farther back in its chrysalis stage than Melbourne. Time alone +can, and is rapidly making away with the old tumble-down +buildings which spoil the appearance of their neighbours. But +time cannot easily widen the streets of Sydney, nor rectify their +crookedness. They were originally dug out by cart-ruts, whereas +those of nearly every other town in Australia were mapped out +long before they were inhabited. But if they were not so +ill-kept, and the footpaths so wretchedly paved, I could forgive +the narrowness and crookedness of the Sydney streets, on account +of their homely appearance. They are undeniably old friends, such +as you can meet in hundreds of towns in Europe. Their very +unsuitableness for the practical wants of a large city becomes a +pleasant contrast to the practical handsomeness of Melbourne and +Adelaide. The size and handsomeness of individual buildings is +lost in the Sydney streets. You look at the street from one end, +and put it down in your mind as no better than a lane; you walk +down it without noticing the merits of the buildings it contains; +whereas in Melbourne both the general effect and each individual +building are shown off to the greatest advantage; but there is a +certain picturesqueness and old-fashionedness about Sydney, which +brings back pleasant memories of Old England, after the +monotonous perfection of Melbourne and Adelaide.</p> + +<p>The most unpleasant feature about Sydney is, that there is a +thoroughly untidy look about the place. It is in a perennial +state of <i>déshabille</i>; whereas Melbourne nearly +always has its dress-clothes on. In keeping with the wretched +pavements, the muddy crossings, and the dust, are the clothes of +the people you meet in the streets. Nobody seems to care much how +they dress, and without being exactly countrified in their +apparel, the Sydneyites succeed in looking pre-eminently +dowdy.</p> + +<p>The water-supply is not always quite as plentiful as could be +wished; but on the other hand, there is an excellent system of +deep drainage, and the eye is not offended by open sewers, as in +Melbourne. You will notice that there are not so many private +carriages here, and fewer horsemen. The traffic appears greater, +but this is entirely owing to the narrowness of the streets. It +is not so rapid, as you will easily perceive.</p> + +<p>You land, as I think I mentioned, in the heart of the city, +and, unless you prefer Shanks's pony, must perforce take a hansom +to your hotel, or, if you have much luggage, two hansoms, for +four-wheelers are almost unknown. In compensation, the Sydney +hansoms are the cleanest and fastest you will ever have the good +fortune to come across. Steam trams run out to the railway +station, which is at the farther end of the town, and to all the +suburbs. There is practically but one hotel to go +to--Petty's--and that very inferior. In most matters of this kind +Sydney is only a second-rate edition of Melbourne.</p> + +<p>The beauties of Sydney are certainly rather natural than +artificial, and since one can always see a big town more or less +like Melbourne, whilst the scenery of Sydney Harbour is almost +unique of its kind, if I were obliged to see only one of the two +places, I would rather see Sydney. But although, Sydney is poorly +laid out, it must not be imagined that it is poorly built. On the +contrary. Its buildings are put in the shade as regards size by +those of Melbourne but if you had not seen Melbourne first, you +would certainly have been surprised by the number and size of the +public buildings of Sydney. The rich man loses his sense of the +proportionate value of moneys. But Sydney has the great advantage +of possessing superior building material in a red and grey +sandstone of great durability, which forms the substratum of the +whole district in which it is built, while Melbourne has mainly +to rely on a blue stone found at some distance, and has to import +the stone for its best buildings from either Sydney or Tasmania. +I must confess too, that I prefer the general style of +architecture in Sydney to that most common in Melbourne. First +and foremost, owing to the more limited area of the business part +of the town, the Sydney buildings are much loftier. Melbourne and +Adelaide always look to me as if some one had taken his seat upon +the top of them and squashed them down. Sydney is taller and more +irregular. It climbs up and down a whole series of hills, and +protrudes at all kinds of unexpected points. The city proper has +no very definite boundaries, and you hardly know where the city +begins and the suburbs end.</p> + +<p>Of the public buildings of Sydney, the handsomest are the +Treasury, the Colonial Secretary's office, and the Lands Office, +each four or five stories high, and close to the water's edge. +The Colonial Secretary's office is only second to the Melbourne +Law Courts amongst the completed buildings of Australia. It is +lofty, massive, and dignified outwardly, elegant and spacious +inside, although it has been fitted up in the most incongruous +fashion with odds and ends of third-rate statuary, imitation +bronzes, etc., until it looks like an old curiosity-shop. The +University, though comparatively an old building, still holds its +ground amongst the best, and may well be proud of its splendidly +proportioned hall, built in fifteenth-century Gothic. The Roman +Catholic Cathedral, which has just been opened, is also well +proportioned. The length is 350 feet; width within transept 118 +feet; width of nave and aisle 74 feet; height about ninety feet. +There is to be a central tower 120 feet high, and two towers with +spires which will rise to a height of 260 feet. The Anglican +Cathedral, though not large, is a handsome building with two +towers, in fourteenth-century Gothic. The Post Office will for +many years remain a fragment of what may or may not be a handsome +building. The Town Hall has evidently been built with the idea of +at all hazards making it larger than the Melbourne Town Hall. So +far it is a success. But architecturally it is nothing more than +a splendid failure--over-decorated and ginger-bready. Curiously +enough it is built upon the site of the burial-place of the early +settlement---forming a sort of Westminster Abbey for the first +settlers. There are four theatres, but none well fitted or +decorated. Palatial hospitals and asylums of course abound, but +the Parliament House is wretchedly small.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately Sydney has very few reserves, and those few she +keeps in bad order, with the exception of the Botanical Garden, +situated on an arm of the land almost entirely surrounded by +water. It is the most charming public garden I have ever seen; +inferior to that of Adelaide in detail, but superior in the +<i>tout ensemble</i>. Almost equally beautiful is the situation +of Government House, a comfortable Tudor mansion, but rather +small for purposes of entertainment.</p> + +<p>Amongst the commercial buildings, the new head offices of the +Australian Mutual Provident Society are pre-eminent. They cost no +less than £50,000. The banks are not equal to either the +Melbourne or the Adelaide banks. But the insurance offices, +warehouses, etc., though not nearly as numerous, are quite up to +the Melbourne standard in size, although for the reasons already +given they do not show to so great an advantage as their merit +deserves. Of the appearance of the shops I have already written +in my letter about Melbourne. They are not so fine as in +Melbourne nor so well stocked, and are pretty much on a level +with those in an English town of the same size.</p> + +<p>The names of the principal streets proclaim the age of the +town. George Street and Pitt Street are the two main +thoroughfares, and there are Castlereagh, Liverpool, and William +Streets, while King, Hunter, Bligh, Macquarie, and Philip +Streets, and Darlinghurst preserve the names of the first +governors. The suburbs first formed preserve the sweet-sounding +native names--Wooloomooloo, Woolahra, Coogee, Bondi. Of a later +date are Randwick, Newtown, Stanmore, Ashfield, Burwood, and +Petersham--the last four along the railway line.</p> + +<p>The good people of Sydney do not spend their money so much +upon outward show as the Victorians. Hence the number of large +houses in the suburbs is very much smaller. But whereas the +country around Melbourne for miles is mostly flat as a pancake, +the suburbs of Sydney literally revel in beautiful building +sites. For choice, there are the water frontages below the town +or up the Parramatta river, which is lined with pretty houses, +whose inhabitants come up to Sydney every morning in small river +steamers. The principal suburbs, however, are much closer to the +city than in Melbourne, being connected by steam tramways instead +of railways. New suburbs are also springing up along the railway +lines, but until the railway station is brought into the centre +of the town, they can never be nearly so populous as the +Melbourne suburbs. <a name="townlife-03"></a></p> + +<h2>ADELAIDE.</h2> + +<p>I began with a comparison between Melbourne and Sydney, towns +of 280,000 and 220,000 inhabitants respectively. The capital of +South Australia, Adelaide, with its 70,000, stands, of course, +upon an entirely different level; but it possesses, to an even +greater degree than Sydney, all the peculiar characteristics of a +capital city. If any comparison can be made between Adelaide and +its sister capitals, it is with Melbourne rather than with +Sydney. Adelaide is a thoroughly modern town, with all the merits +and all the defects attaching to novelty. It does not possess the +spirit of enterprise to so adventurous a degree as Melbourne, but +neither does it approach to the languor of Sydney. In this +respect it has discovered a very happy middle course. There is +certainly something very provincial about the attitude of the +town towards the rest of the world, but this helps to make it the +more distinctive, and conduces largely to its progress. It 'goes +without saying' that there cannot be the same number of large +buildings as in the larger cities, that their proportions cannot +be so large, that there cannot be the same facilities for +business or for pleasure. But the emulation produced by the +achievements of its big neighbours has resulted in making +Adelaide a far more advanced town for its size than either of +them. Proportionately to population, everything in Adelaide ought +theoretically to be on a fourth scale of its like in Melbourne. +As a matter of fact, most things are on more than half-scale, +many on a two-thirds, and a few things, such as the Botanic +Garden, the Exchange, the Banks of South Australia and Adelaide, +are unsurpassed.</p> + +<p>For its size, I consider Adelaide the beet-built town I know, +and certainly it is the best laid out and one of the prettiest +and most conveniently situated. It nestles, so to speak, at the +foot of a range of high hills on a plain, which extends seven +miles in length to the seashore. The approach by rail from either +Port Adelaide or Glenelg is uninteresting, but directly you get +out at the station the first impression is pleasing. The streets +are broad and laid out in rectangular blocks as in Melbourne, and +the white stone used for most of the buildings makes the town +look particularly bright and lively, showing off the bustle and +traffic to advantage. In the background are the hills, while on +one side is the suburb of North Adelaide, on an incline divided +from the city by a broad sheet of artificial water, running in +the bed of the river Torrens through a half-mile deep belt of +'park-lands,' which encircle the square mile forming the city +proper, and separate it from the suburbs.</p> + +<p>The conception of this belt of verdure, on which none but +public buildings may be erected, dividing the working part of the +town from the residential part, has always seemed to me a +masterpiece of wisdom in city planning, and hardly less admirable +are the five open reserves inside the city which serve as its +lungs. Ultimately the city proper will probably be almost +entirely reserved for business purposes. Already very few people +live within the belts who can help it, although high prices are +given for sites for residences on each of the four terraces +fronting the belts. Except that Adelaide is perfectly flat, while +Melbourne is built on two sides of a valley, Adelaide may not +inaptly be described in the words of a visitor who was returning +to England by the Peninsular and Oriental route, as 'a smaller +but better Melbourne.' The style of architecture is not quite so +florid, but the extreme squatness of the buildings is far more +noticeable here. It is no merely that the buildings are actually +lower, but the look lower from being built on the flat.</p> + +<p>Of the public buildings, the finest is the Post Office, which, +though it wants an extra story to make it dignified, is, in my +opinion, preferable to either the Melbourne or Sydney Post +Offices. The new Institute, the Anglican Cathedral, which is +lofty, the Town Hall, the Supreme Court, the Banks of South +Australia, of Adelaide, and the English and Scottish Bank, and +the new vice-regal residence on the hills, are all fine +buildings, which would attract favourable notice in Melbourne or +Sydney. Nominally there are three theatres, practically only one, +but that is undoubtedly the prettiest and best in Australia. But +the pride of Adelaide is its Botanic Garden, which, though +unpromisingly situated on a perfectly level spot, with no water +at hand, has been transformed, by means of artificial water and +artificial hillocks, into the prettiest garden in the world The +area is only forty acres, but every inch has been turned to the +utmost advantage, and this is really a garden, while the Sydney +Gardens--mark the plural--are more park-like, and those of +Melbourne can hardly be called gardens, in the strict sense of +the word.</p> + +<p>The drainage is defective, but the water-supply good. There is +still a great deal to be done to the footpaths, and until quite +recently the municipal arrangements were in every respect almost +as bad as those of Sydney. But an able, energetic, and liberal +mayor, Mr. E. T. Smith, in the course of two years so stirred up +the citizens that pavements have been laid down, additional +gas-lights provided, the Torrens artificial lake constructed, the +squares and park-lands transformed from untidy wildernesses into +handsome oases, and the general aspect of the city entirely +transformed. I do not know that I ever saw so much done entirely +at the initiative and by the energy and persistence of a single +man.</p> + +<p>Of the shops there is not much to be said. They are not at all +up to the average of most of the institutions of the town, with +the one exception of those of the jewellers and silversmiths, the +work in which is original and artistic, throwing altogether into +the shade similar shops in Melbourne and Sydney. The cabs are all +waggonettes, similar to those used in Melbourne, but drawn by two +horses instead of one. Adelaide abhors hansoms. They exist, but +are never used by respectable people, who have come to look upon +them as unholy in themselves. The tramway system is the most +complete in Australia. All the trams are drawn by horses; to such +of the suburbs as are too thinly populated to have trams large +waggonettes for the most part run in lieu of omnibuses. Adelaide +is the only Australian town in which the American system of +buying land, and making a railway to bring population to it, has +been carried out. The idea was first tried with tramways, the +writer having taken some part in originating and promoting it. Of +the hotels of Adelaide, the best is the York. It is better than +the best, in Sydney, but inferior to the best two in +Melbourne.</p> + +<p>Owing to the excellent plan on which the city is laid out, it +is surrounded on every side by suburbs at the short distance of +half a mile, connected by horse-tramways. Beyond these, however, +there is the flourishing watering-place of Glenelg at a distance +of only seven miles by train; and now that the railway has been +carried into the hills, it will not be long before large suburbs +grow up in them. Wealth in South Australia is more equally +divided than in the sister Colonies. Hence there are only a few +large mansions, but comfortable six to ten-roomed cottages +abound. <a name="townlife-04"></a></p> + +<h2>HOUSES.</h2> + +<p>The inevitable 'newness' of everything cannot but strike the +eye disagreeably. This is especially noticeable in the buildings +and houses, few of which date back more than ten years. In the +growth of towns, as well as in the progress of individuals and +institutions, there are three periods to be gone through. Here +the first stage is that of the log-hut. This is succeeded by the +weather-board cottage, which in turn gives place to brick and +stucco. Finally comes the stone building with its two or three +stories. The log-hut stage is of course far past. The +weather-board cottage still lingers in the poorer outskirts of +Melbourne, but is extinct in Adelaide, and fast becoming extinct +in Melbourne. The choice now is between brick and stone. In +Sydney the abundance of stone on the spot, gives it the +preference; Adelaide, with less stone, builds chiefly in brick; +Melbourne, which has to get its stone from a distance, uses +hardly anything else but brick. This, of course, for private +houses. There are plenty of admirable stone buildings in +Melbourne, as I have already mentioned.</p> + +<p>Now that the brick and stone age is firmly established the +style of your house becomes a mere matter of pounds, shillings, +and pence. With wages at from nine to twelve shillings a day, and +with money so much dearer than at home, the Australian has +necessarily to pay a much higher rent for his house. Excluding, +of course, ground-rents, which make London houses so expensive, I +think one may fairly say that rents here are about double the +rate they are at home, and yet, <i>except for the rise in the +value of land</i> in the cities and their suburbs, house-property +is by no means a remunerative investment. Nevertheless, there is +always a great demand for it. The colonist is very fond of living +in his own house and on his own bit of ground, and building +societies and the extensive mortgage system which prevails enable +him easily to gratify this desire. I believe that at least ninety +out of every hundred house-properties in Australia are mortgaged +up to at least two-thirds of their value. Out in the suburbs +ground-rents are still low--very low indeed in comparison with +the selling value. The reason of this is, that it pays to buy a +house with a large piece of land attached, and to cut the land up +and sell it in building allotments a few years afterwards. If you +can get a fair rent for the house, the land will pay its own +way.</p> + +<p>Architecturally speaking, there is little to admire. If the +public buildings fail in this respect, the private houses have at +least the advantage over them, that for the most part they do not +pretend to any architecture at all. Many of the architects are +self-taught, and have served little or no apprenticeship to the +profession. Indeed, it should rather be called a trade, since +they often are merely successful builders, who have taken to +planning and superintending the erection of buildings, instead of +erecting them themselves. This is one reason why private houses +incline rather to the practical than to the beautiful. Another +cause is the practical spirit of the colonists, which looks upon +expenditure for mere ornamental purposes as wasteful and +extravagant. Unless a man is really rich, he cannot afford the +imputation of extravagance which any architectural expenditure +will bring upon him. With his business premises it is different. +Everyone understands that a merchant spends money in ornamenting +his business premises, just as a tradesman dresses his +shop-window. But the tradesman does not dress the drawing-room +window of his private house. Neither, therefore, the merchant. +Besides this, it cannot be too thoroughly understood that +Australia is before everything a money-making place, and that +anything like unremunerative expenditure with no possible chance +of profit is considered foolish in all but a man who has made his +fortune. With money so dear, and the chances of turning it over +rapidly so frequent and so remunerative, such expenditure becomes +little less than a sin. Everything ornamental not only costs +twice as dear in actual money, but the money itself is worth at +least twice as much as in England.</p> + +<p>Really large houses of the size of the manor-houses and halls +which are scattered over England in tens of thousands, can be +counted in Australia in scores. Of these but few have any +architectural pretensions. Houses of this class cannot be built +under £10,000 here, whereas in England they would cost from +£4,000 to £5,000 and can be bought still cheaper. If +there is any style which colonists particularly affect, it is the +castellar. Both in the large houses I have just been speaking of, +and in the ordinary wealthy man's house which has cost him from +£3,000 to £5,000, turrets and flagstaffs abound. The +passion for flagstaffs must, I think, be derived from the fact +that most of the people who build these houses have had a long +sea-journey from England, and retain a little ozone in their +composition. There is also something assertive about a flag. A +man who has a flag floating on his house is almost sure to have +some character about him. Not unfrequently, when the builder of a +house intends to live in it himself, he wishes to imitate his old +home in England, or if he has risen in the world, some particular +house of the village or town he was brought up in, which he +admired in his boyhood. The man who builds for himself at least +takes care to build soundly, and to have his rooms large and +lofty.</p> + +<p>By far the majority of houses are built by speculators; which +means that they are very badly built, run up in a tremendous +hurry, constructed of the cheapest and nastiest materials, with +thin walls--in short, built for show, and not for use. Everything +looks very nice in them when you walk round just after they are +built, and it is only after you have lived in them eighteen +months that you begin to understand why the owner was in such a +hurry to sell, and would not hear of letting the house to you, +even at a good rent. You know something of this in London, but +not nearly to the same extent as here. In these speculative +houses there is often some little attempt at ornamentation--a +bow-window thrown out, or the veranda lifted to form a Gothic +porch, or the drawing-room brought out beyond the rest of the +house, so as to form what is known as a T cottage, though it +should rather be a P, with a protrusion of the drawing-room +representing the straight line, and the body of the house the +loop of the P.</p> + +<p>But the favourite type of Australian house is laid, out in an +oblong block bisected by a three to eight foot passage. The first +door on one side as you go in is the drawing-room, on the other +the dining-room. Then follow the bedrooms, etc., with the kitchen +and scullery at the end of the passage, or sometimes in a lean-to +at right angles to the hinder part of the house proper. This kind +of cottage is almost universal in Adelaide amongst the middle and +upper middle classes, and invariable in the working-class +throughout Australia. In the other colonies the upper middle +classes often live in two-storied houses; i.e., ground-floor and +one floor above. Their construction is almost as simple as the +cottage, the only difference being that the bedrooms are on the +upper story, and that a pair of narrow stairs face the front-door +and take up half the passage-way, directly you get past the +drawing and dining-room doom doors. The cottage is not high +enough to strike the eye, but the squareness, or more properly +the cubeness, of these two-storied houses is appalling. They look +for all the world like houses built of cards, except that the +cards are uncommonly solid. For my own part, I should never care +to live in a two-storied house again, after experiencing the +comfort of never having to go upstairs, and having all the rooms +on the same floor. At first one is prejudiced against it. I was +so, until during my second year in Australia I had to live on the +third floor in Sydney. It was only then that I realized the +advantages of the simpler plan.</p> + +<p>The strong light and heat of the sun has the effect of a +window-tax in limiting the size and number of the windows. A few +French windows are to be found in Adelaide, but the old sashes +are almost universal. Of, late a fashion has sprung up for +bow-windows, which, however pretty, have here the great +disadvantage of attracting the sun unpleasantly. Shutters are not +much used. Venetian blinds are more common. On a hot summer day +it is absolutely necessary to shut all windows and draw down the +blinds if you wish to keep at all cool. About five o'clock, if +there is no hot wind, the house may be opened out.</p> + +<p>Nearly every house that can afford the space has a veranda, +which sometimes stretches the whole way round. The rooms are +usually lofty for their size, in winter horribly cold and +draughty, in summer unbearably stuffy in small houses, the +science of ventilation being of recent introduction. Even in +large establishments all the living-rooms are almost always on +the ground-floor, both on account of the fatigue of going up and +down stairs, and owing to the paucity of servants. As a rule, the +kitchens are terribly small, and in summer filled with flies. How +the poor servants manage to exist in them is more than I can +understand. It is no wonder they ask such high wages. In a few +larger houses a merciful fashion has been adopted of making the +kitchen a mere cooking galley, the cook preparing the dishes and +doing all that does not require the presence of fire in a large +back-kitchen. Happily every house has a bath-room, though it is +often only a mere shed of wood or galvanized iron put up in the +back-yard. In many of the poorer households this shed does double +duty as bath-house and wash-house, or the wash-house consists of +a couple of boards, with a post to keep them up, and a piece of +netting overhead to keep the sun off. In larger houses, both +bath-rooms and wash-houses are much the same as in England. +Nearly all families do their washing, and often their ironing +also, at home. Of the sanitary arrangements, it is almost +impossible to speak too strongly; they are almost invariably +objectionable and disgusting.</p> + +<p>There are very few establishments large enough to indulge in +the luxury of a servants'-hall, and sculleries and pantries are +much smaller than in England. Even the ordinary entrance-hall of +an English house has to shrink into a mere enlargement of the +passage. All over the house, in fact, the accommodation is on a +much more limited scale, unless it be with regard to stables, +which, owing to the low price of horses, are more numerous, if +less luxuriously appointed.</p> + +<p>If the upper and middle classes suffer from want of room in +their houses, and are wont to huddle much more than people in the +same position would at home, the working-man is not much better +off, although his four or five-roomed cottage at twelve shillings +to fifteen shillings a week is more easily within his means than +the five shillings a week that he paid in England. I do not of +course mean that the working-man here knows anything of model +cottages, such as are seen on large estates in England. I should +even say that during the first year or two after his arrival +there is little improvement in his habitation; but before long he +acquires a small freehold, and with the aid of a building society +becomes his own landlord. Directly he has reached this stage, an +improvement is visible in his condition. It is difficult to +over-estimate the social value of the work that has been done by +building societies. In the suburbs of the large towns you see +whole townships built entirely by these societies; every +inhabitant of these townships in the course of a few years +becomes a proprietor, and the society further aids him by making +loans to him on mortgage of his property. It is the defect of +these townships that the houses are all as like one another as +peas in a pod--four-roomed squares or six-roomed oblongs built of +red brick, and with every detail exactly the same; but their +plainness and similarity does not detract from their manifest +virtues.</p> + +<p>Terraces and attached houses are universally disliked, and +almost every class of suburban house is detached and stands in +its own garden. These gardens are laid out much in the English +fashion; but there is little need of greenhouses, and unless you +have water laid on to your lawn, it is difficult to keep it green +in summer. In Adelaide but few people try to keep lawns; the +summer sun is too scorching, and towards February and March the +gardens look dreadfully dried up. But on the other hand, flowers +of all kinds grow in abundance, and to a size which they rarely +attain in colder climates. The garden needs little attention +beyond the summer watering and you can get flowers all the year +round. Fruit-trees grow with wonderful rapidity and bear most +abundantly.</p> + +<p>With the aid of the hills you get several climates within a +small area, and in Adelaide especially the abundance of flowers +and fruit is all that can be desired. There is naturally some +tendency to coarseness, especially in the fruit. The price of +labour makes it difficult to keep large gardens in good order. +For this reason few people keep large gardens. Another thing that +accounts for the smallness of the gardens attached to middle and +working-class houses, which are often no more than patches, is +the speculation in land. The smaller the portions into which the +speculator cuts up his building sections, the more he gets for +them. I myself on one occasion bought an eight-acre section of +land in one block for £1,100, cut it up into blocks of an +eighth of an acre each, and resold it within six weeks for a +little over £2,000. This land-speculation is quite a +feature of Australian life, and at certain periods it is +difficult to lose money by it. Large gardens are generally long +leaseholds or freeholds belonging to rich people, who will not +sell during their lifetime. At their death their gardens are cut +up into small blocks and yield large profits. Nor do I think that +the love of gardening is at all common here; it is not a +sufficiently exciting occupation. <a name="townlife-05"></a></p> + +<h2>FURNITURE.</h2> + +<p>I closed my last letter with an account of the way in which +houses are built here. I am now going to try to describe their +contents. And perhaps the best way to do this will be to describe +a type of each class of house, omitting all exceptions, which are +necessarily numerous where so large a field has to be +covered.</p> + +<p>We will begin at the top of the tree. Whilst the ambition of +the wealthy colonist not unfrequently finds vent in building a +large house, he has generally been brought up in too rough a +school to care to furnish it even decently. His notion of +furniture begins and ends with upholstery, and I doubt whether he +ever comes to look upon this as more than things to sit on, stand +on, lie on, eat off and drink off The idea of deriving any +pleasure from the beauty of his surroundings rarely enters into +his head, and it is not uncommon to find a man who is making +£5,000 a year amply satisfied with what an Englishman with +one-tenth of his income would deem the barest necessaries. The +Australian Croesus is generally very little of a snob, though +often his 'lady' has a taste for display. When this desire for +grandeur has led them to furnish expensively, they are unable to +furnish prettily, and usually feel much less comfortable in their +drawing-room, in which they never set foot except when there is +company--than when their chairs and tables were made by a working +carpenter or with their own hands out of a few deal boards.</p> + +<p>One or two millionaires have had upholsterers out from +Gillow's and Jackson and Graham's to furnish their houses in the +latest and most correct fashion, and many colonists who go on a +trip to England bring back with them drawing and dining room +suites; but even then there is an entire want of individuality +about the Australian's house--which is the more remarkable seeing +how much his individuality has been brought out by his career, +and shows itself in his general actions and opinions. He may know +how to dogmatize on theology and politics, but when he gets down +to furniture he confesses that his eye is out of focus. The +furniture imported or (in Melbourne) made by the large +upholsterers is, with few exceptions, more gorgeous than pretty; +whence one may reasonably infer that the taste of their +customers--when they have any--is better suited by the grandiose +than the artistic. But most of the expensively furnished houses +show plainly that the upholsterer has been given <i>carte +blanche</i> to do what he will. Look at his shop-window, and you +may make a shrewd guess at his customer's drawing-room.</p> + +<p>Nor is the furniture universal in Australia, as one would +naturally suppose, after the style of that in Italy and the South +of France. The frowsy carpets and heavy solid chairs of England's +cold and foggy climate reign supreme beneath the Austral sun. The +Exhibitions have done something towards reforming our domestic +interiors, but it will be a long time before the renaissance of +art as applied to households, which appears to be taking place in +England, makes its way here in any considerable force.</p> + +<p>But instead of generalizing, it is time we should go through +Muttonwool's house room by room. On entering the drawing-room the +first thing that strikes the eye is the carpet, with a stiff set +pattern large enough to knock you down, and of a rich gaudy +colour. You raise your eyes--find opposite them the regulation +white marble mantelpiece, more or less carved, and a gilt mirror, +which we will hope is not protected from the flies by green +netting. Having made a grimace, you sit down upon one of the +chairs. There are nine in the room besides the sofa--perhaps an +ottoman--and you can take your choice between the 'gent's' +armchair, the lady's low-chair, and the six high ones. If they +are not in their night-shirts you can examine the +covering--usually satin or perhaps cretonne. The pattern is +unique, being, I should think, specially manufactured for the +colonial market. Bright hues prevail. Occasional chairs have only +lately been introduced, and the whole suite is in unison, though +harmony with the carpet has been overlooked, or rather never +thought of, the two things having been chosen separately, and +without any idea that it would be an improvement if they were to +match.</p> + +<p>As for the make of the chairs, they are to be found in plenty +of English middle-class drawing-rooms even now. The shape may be +named the 'deformed.' The back is carved out into various +contortions of a horse-shoe, with a bar across the middle which +just catches you in the small of the back, and is a continual +reproach if you venture to lean against it. The wood of which the +chairs are made is mahogany, walnut, or cedar. The large round or +oval table which stands in the middle of the room is of the same +wood, and so are the card-table, the Davenport, the chiffonier, +and that Jacob's-ladder-like what-not in the corner. In some +houses the upholsterer has stuffed the room with useless tables. +Of course there is a fender and fire-irons, and probably a black +doleful-looking grate, which during two-thirds of the year is +stuffed with paper shavings of all the colours of the rainbow and +several others which good Mother Nature forgot to put into it. On +the chimney-piece is a Louis XVI. clock and a pair of ornaments +to match. A piano, tune immaterial, is a <i>sine quâ +non</i> even in a middle-class house, but when Muttonwool has got +all these things--in short, paid his upholsterer's bill--he +thinks a ten-pound note should cover the rest of his drawing-room +furniture. Household gods are terribly deficient, and it would +not be difficult to fancy yourself in a lodging-house. There may +be a few odds and ends picked up on the overland route, and a set +of stereotyped ornaments bought at an auction sale or sent out as +'sundries' in a general cargo; but of <i>bric-à-brac</i>, +in the usual acceptation of the term, there is little or +none.</p> + +<p>As for the pictures, they are altogether abominable. Can you +imagine a man with £5,000 a year (or £500, for that +matter) covering his walls with chromos? The inferior kinds of +these 'popularizers of art,' as the papers call them, have an +immense sale here. Even when a wealthy man has been told that it +is his duty to buy pictures, the chances are that he will attend +an auction and pick up rubbish at low prices, rubbing his hands +over what he considers a good bargain; or if he wants to tell his +visitors how much he gave for his pictures he gets mediocre work +with a name on it. A recent number of the <i>Adelaide Punch</i> +has a caricature entitled ''Igh Art in Adelaide,' which though of +course a caricature, is worth quoting as showing how the wind +blows: 'Tallowfat, pointing to a picture in a dealer's shop, +<i>loq.</i>: "What's the price of that there thing with the trees +and the 'ut in the distance?" Dealer: "That, sir! that's a gem by +Johnstone" (a local artist of some merit)--"twenty guineas, sir." +Tallowfat: "Twenty tomfools!" "What d'ye take me for? Why, I +bought a picture twice that size, with much more colour in it, +and a frame half as thick again, and I only paid ten for it! Show +us something with more style."' A few men have good pictures, but +I hardly know anyone who has any good engravings. Muttonwool can +see no difference between a proof before letters and the +illustrations from the newspapers, which may be seen pasted on +the walls of every small shop and working-man's cottage. That +there is a taste for pictures here is undeniable. But that is +common to every child till it knows how to read, and will want a +deal of educating before it can be called 'art.'</p> + +<p>We will now go into the dining-room, which is probably the +best furnished room in the house. It is not easy to make a +dining-room look out of joint provided you are not particular +about the cost, though there is a very wide margin between the +decent and the handsome. The upholstery is much the same as in an +ordinary upper middle-class house in England--sofa, sideboard, +chiffonier, two easy and eight or ten upright chairs in cedar +frames and covered with leather, marble mantelpiece and clock, +Louis XVI. glass, and a carpet which is at any rate better than +the drawing-room one. If there is a breakfast-room it is a +smaller edition of the dining-room. The study is chiefly +remarkable for the absence of books, or for an inappropriateness +to the owner's tastes which smacks of a job-lot. The bedrooms are +disappointing. Pictures and knick-knacks rarely extend beyond the +'company' precincts. Muttonwool would think it a waste of good +bawbees to put pretty things in the bedrooms, where no one but +the family will see them. In these rooms he is <i>au naturel</i>, +and with all his good-nature and genuineness he is rather a rough +fellow. The brute is expelled from the drawing-room, but he jumps +in again at the bedroom window. As for the servants' rooms, +anything is good enough for them. Probably the master himself was +contented with still less in his younger days. The kitchen is +ordinarily very poorly provided with utensils. Ranges and stoves +are only found in the wealthier houses, the usual cooking +apparatus being a colonial oven--a sort of box with fire above +and below, which is very convenient for burning wood, the usual +fuel throughout Australia.</p> + +<p>I think this is about as much as need be said about an average +wealthy Australian's house; but before going on to describe +middle-class homes, I must ask you to remember that all large +colonial houses are not furnished on this wise. There are a large +number of people in Australia, and especially in Victoria, who +have as good an idea of how to furnish as other middle-class +Englishmen--though perhaps that is not saying much. But in +articles of this kind I am obliged to strike an average. The type +of house I have described is the most common. You must leave a +marain on either side of it according to the education and tastes +of the owner. And here let me note that in Melbourne houses are +certainly more expensively, and perhaps better furnished than in +any of the other towns. The Victorians have a much greater love +of show than any of their fellow-Australians. Where a Sydney man +spends £400 on his furniture you may safely predict that a +Melbourner will spend £600. Consequently the furniture +establishments in the latter city are much superior to those in +the former, and that although, owing to the enormous duty-25 per +cent.--but little English furniture is imported into +Victoria.</p> + +<p>Let us now hie us to humbler abodes, and visit an eight-roomed +cottage, inhabited by a young solicitor whose income is from +£500 to £1000 a year. Here the whole drawing-room +suite is in cretonne or rep, and comprises the couch, six chairs, +and lady's and gent's easy-chairs, which we saw before at +Muttonwool's. The carpet is also ditto. The glass, ornaments, +etc., are similar, but on a smaller scale; and if there are any +pictures on the wall they are almost bound to be chromos, for +whilst Croesus sometimes invests in expensive paintings, the +middle-class, who cannot afford to give from £100 upwards +for a picture, will make no effort to obtain something moderately +good, such as can be easily obtained in England for a very small +outlay. The gasalier is bronze instead of glass. The real +living-room of the house is the dining-room, which is therefore +the best furnished, and on a tapestry carpet are a leather couch, +six balloon-back carved chairs, two easy-chairs, a chiffonier, a +side-table, and a cheap chimney-glass. In the best bedroom the +bedstead is a tubular half-tester, the toilet-ware gold and +white, the carpet again tapestry. Throughout the house the +furniture is made of cedar. The kitchen is summarily disposed of; +Biddy has to content herself with d table, dresser, safe, +pasteboard and rolling-pin, and a couple of chairs. Her bedroom +furniture is even more scanty--a paillasse on trestles, a chair, +a half-crown looking-glass, an old jug and a basin on a wooden +table. Even in the houses of the wealthy poor Biddy is very badly +treated in this respect. In Muttonwool's house, if he keeps two +servants, they both sleep in one room, and not improbably share +the same basin. Servants are undoubtedly troublesome to a degree +in Australia, but it is not altogether a satisfactory feature in +colonial life that the provision made for their comfort is +literally nil.</p> + +<p>Having seen the £600 a year cottage it is almost +needless to visit the £300 and £400, belonging to +clerks and the smaller shopkeepers. The style is the same, but +the quantity and quality inferior. For instance, the drawing-room +carpet is tapestry instead of Brussels; the dining-room furniture +is covered with horse-hair instead of leather, and so on. We will +go into the next cottage--less pretentious-looking and a little +smaller. The rent is twelve shillings a week, and it belongs to a +carpenter in good employ. Here there is no drawing-room, but the +parlour aspires to comfort quite undreamt of by an English +tradesman. Our old friends the horse-hair cedar couch, the gent's +and lady's chairs together with four balloon high chairs, turn up +again. There is a four-foot chiffonier, a tapestry carpet, a gilt +chimney-glass, a hearthrug, a bronze fender and fire-irons, and a +round table with turned pillar and carved claws. In the parents' +bedroom are a half-tester bedstead with coir-fibre or woollen +flock mattress, two cane chairs, washstand, toilet-table, glass +and ware, towel-horse, chest of drawers, and a couple of yards of +bedside carpet. The two youngest children sleep in this room, and +three or four others in the second bedroom, where the bedsteads +are less showy and the ware very inferior. The carpet is replaced +by china matting. The chest of drawers does duty as a +toilet-table, and there are of course no such luxuries as +towel-horses. Yet, take it all in all, Chips has much to be +thankful for.</p> + +<p>With labour so dear as it is here, it is wonderful to think +that a working-man can furnish, and furnish comfortably, a +four-roomed cottage for £27; and yet this is what has +recently been done in Melbourne by my friend Hornyhand, who is a +common labourer, earning only eight to nine shillings a day, and +paying about as much a week for rent. He is really uncommonly +well off, everything in his house being brand-new; and yet, as he +tells me, he is absolutely at the root of the honest social +tree--the worst paid of the working-classes. I think it worth +while to subjoin his bill. He certainly has not gone in for +luxuries, but then he is of a frugal mind. If he wanted it, his +house could be as well furnished as Chips'; but he doesn't see +any object in wasting money on that kind of thing, and is content +with little:</p> + +<pre> +Parlour. £ s. d. + +Cedar polished couch, covered with horse-hair 2 10 0 +Four cane-seat chairs, each 7s. 6d. 1 10 0 +Cedar polished table, 3 ft. 6 in., on claws 1 10 0 +Maple rocking-chair, with elbows 0 17 6 +Carpet 1 5 0 +Hearthrug, 8s. 6d. fender, 9s. irons, 6s. 6d. 1 4 0 + +Bedroom. + +French bedstead, 4 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. 6 in. 1 15 0 +Pair paillasses 12 6 +Woollen flock mattrass 1 0 0 +Woollen flock bolster and 2 pillows 8 0 +Washstand, and rail attached 10 6 +Toilet table, to match 10 6 +Toilet glass, 14 in. by 10 in. 8 6 +2 cane-scat chairs (Albert), 6s. each 12 0 +4 yards matting at 9d. 3 0 +Toilet-ware, six pieces 12 6 + +Second Bedroom. + +2 French bedsteads, 3 ft. by 6 ft. 6 in. at 30s. 3 0 0 +4 paillasses, at 10s. per pair 1 0 0 +2 woollen flock mattrasses, at 16. 3d. each 1 12 6 +2 bolsters, flock, at 4s. 6d. each 9 0 +2 pillows, flock, at 3s. each 6 0 +Toilet chest of drawers +(to serve for toilet table), cedar 2 5 0 +Toilet glass, 14 in. by 10 in. 7 0 +Washstand, 2 ft. 6 in. 12 0 +Wash, etc., 6 pieces 12 6 + +Kitchen. + +Deal table, turned legs, varnished 10 6 +2 wood chairs, each 4s. 6d. 9 0 +Safe in Kauri pine 10 6 +Pasteboard and rolling-pin 4 0 + + £27 7 0 + +Note.--That if he had not had two children to provide for in a second +bedroom, nor indulged in the luxury of a chest of drawers, the whole of +his furnishing would only have cost him £17 3s. +</pre> + +<p>Before closing this letter, a word as to what may be called +the accessories of the household. But few families have any large +quantity of plate, and electro has almost entirely superseded +silver; metal is not common for dishes, and is quite unknown for +plates. Nor is the crockery at all a strong point even in the +wealthiest houses. In the shops it is almost impossible to get +anything satisfactory in this line; and until the exhibitions, +nine Australians out of ten had no idea what was meant by +hand-painted china. The difference between china and earthenware +is, it goes almost without saying, little if at all appreciated, +much less that between hand-painted and stamped ware. The display +of cut-glass at the exhibitions was almost as great a revelation +to colonists as that of porcelain; hitherto all middle-class and +most wealthy households have been contented with the commonest +stuff. Table-cloths and napkins are also very second-rate, and +sheets are almost invariably of calico. <a name= +"townlife-06"></a></p> + +<h2>SERVANTS.</h2> + +<p>That servants are the plague of life seems to be an accepted +axiom amongst English ladies of the upper middle class. When I +hear them discussing their grievances over their afternoon tea, I +wish them no worse fate than to have the management of an +Australian household for a week. It is not every Englishwoman +whose peace of mind would survive the trial. Many a young English +wife have I seen unhappy in her married life in the colonies, +mainly on account of her domestics. And yet I doubt whether the +colonial mistress makes as much fuss about her real wrongs as the +English one about her imaginary grievances. Of course she can, if +drawn out, tell you enough ridiculous stories about her servants +to fill a number of <i>Punch</i>; but if they are only fools she +is well content, and it is only when she is left servantless for +two or three days that she waxes wroth.</p> + +<p>Where mistresses are many and servants are few, it goes almost +without saying that large establishments are out of the question. +Given equal incomes, and the English mistress has twice as many +servants as the Australian, and what is more, twice as competent +ones. Even our friend Muttonwool only has six coachman, boy, +cook, housemaid, nurse, and parlourmaid. I don't suppose there +are a hundred households in all Australia which keep a butler +pure and simple, though there must be several thousand with what +is generically known as a man-servant, who gets twenty-five +shillings a week, all found. A coachman's wages are on the +average about the same. The 'boy' gets ten shillings. Man-cooks +are rare. A decent female cook, who ranks out here as +first-class, earns from fifteen shillings to a pound a week. For +this sum she is supposed to know something about cooking; yet I +have known one in receipt of a weekly guinea look with +astonishment at a hare which had been sent to her master as a +present, and declare that it was 'impossible to make soup out of +that thing.' After a little persuasion she was induced to try to +make hare-soup after Mrs. Beeton's recipe, but the result was +such as to try the politeness of her master's visitors. This lack +of decent cooks is principally due to the lack of establishments +large enough to keep kitchenmaids. Would-be cooks have no +opportunity of acquiring their art by training from their +superiors; they gain their knowledge by experiments on their +employers' digestions; never staying long in one place, they +learn to make some new dishes at each house they go to, and +gradually rise in the wages-scale.</p> + +<p>Directly you come to incomes below a thousand a year, the +number of servants is often reduced to a maid-of-all-work, more +or less competent according to her wages, which run from seven to +fifteen shillings a week. At the former price she knows +absolutely nothing; at the latter something of everything. She +cooks, washes, sweeps, dusts, makes the beds, clears the baths, +and answers the, door. All is grist that comes to her mill; and +if she is Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none, one must admit +that an English-bred servant would not be one quarter so suitable +to colonial requirements. Of course she is independent, often +even cheeky, but a mistress learns to put up with occasional +tantrums, provided the general behaviour and character are good. +When we were first out here we used to run a-muck with our +servants about once a week; but now we find it better to bear the +ills we have than fly to others which we know not of. Our present +Lizzie is impertinent to a degree when reproved; but then she can +cook decently, and she is the first decent cook we have had since +we have been out here. When you have lived on colonial fare for a +few months, a good plain dinner covers a multitude of sins.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, four-fifths of our servants are Irish--liars +and dirty. These Irish are less impertinent than the colonials; +but if you do get hold of a well trained colonial, she is worth +her weight in gold on account of her heterogeneity. Your Irish +immigrant at eight and ten shillings a week has as often as not +never been inside any other household than her native hovel, and +stares in astonishment to find that you don't keep a pig on your +drawing-room sofa. On entering your house, she gapes in awe of +what she considers the grandeur around her, and the whole of her +first day's work consists of ejaculating 'Lor' and 'Goodness!' We +once had a hopeful of this kind who, after she had been given +full instructions as to how a rice-pudding was to be made, sat +down and wept bitterly for half an hour, till--her mistress +having told her to 'bake'--the happy thought struck her to put a +dish full of rice in the oven, <i>sans</i> milk <i>sans</i> eggs, +<i>sans</i> everything. Another Biddy, engaged by a friend of +ours, having to make a yeast-cake, put it under her bed-clothes +'just to plump it a bit.' A third, having been given a +bill-of-fare for the day, put soup, meat, and pudding all into +one pot, and served them up <i>au pot-pourri</i>.</p> + +<p>But if Biddy is trying to the patience, her stupidity is to a +mistress accustomed to English ways almost more bearable than the +'go-as-you-please'--if I may borrow a phrase from the new +American athletic contests--of the colonial young lady, who comes +to be engaged in the most elegant of dresses, bows as she enters +the room, seats herself, and smilingly remarks, that she has +heard that Mrs. So-and-So is wanting a 'girl.' After a little +discussion about the work, privileges, etc., and upon the +production of some written certificates--it is almost impossible +to obtain personal references, and if it were possible you could +not rely upon them--the engagement is made. The mistress requires +a solemn promise that the servant will come on a certain day, and +as often as not the day arrives without her. Our young lady has +been round to a number of mistresses and 'priced' their places; +she will not wilfully put you in a quandary, but if, after having +engaged herself to you, she hears of another situation where +there is less work or more wages, she takes it in preference, and +leaves you to manage as best you can. Even when you have got her +and found her suitable, you can never tell at what moment she +will be pleased to be off 'Tuppence more and up goes the +donkey!'--an inconvenience which is felt much more here, where +there is probably only one servant in the house, than it would be +in England.</p> + +<p>But if it were only higher wages which tempted servants away +the remedy would be easy; a few pounds more a year would be +cheerfully paid for the convenience of a continuity of one's +household arrangements. In one year we have had ten servants. As +there were no children, the place was an easy one; but that +seemed to make little difference. At first we kept two, but they +did nothing but quarrel; the cook left us on this account. We +took our new cook simply because she happened to be a friend of +the housemaid; but before long we found that it was out of the +frying-pan into the fire: the first two had quarrelled 'because +there wasn't sufficient work for two to do;' the second pair +played together so much that they never did any work. We banished +them both, and tried keeping only one servant, which many people +had assured us would prove more comfortable. So far they were +right. Hitherto my wife's time had chiefly been taken up with +looking after the servants, to see that they did their work; now +peace reigned in the house. We gave our maid-of-all-work fifteen +shillings a week; we thought we had found a real treasure, and +for a month everything went on wheels. But at the end of that +time, just when she was getting accustomed to our ways and we to +hers, Sarah gives a week's notice; she had no fault to find with +her mistress, but the place was too dull. We offered two +shillings a week extra but in vain. Our next stayed six weeks; +her reason for leaving was that she did not approve of the +back-yard. Number six stayed for three months; she was very +nearly leaving at the end of the first fortnight, but we won her +heart by giving her young man free access to the kitchen from 9 +o'clock to 10.30 every evening. Even then, however, she found the +place too dull. Number eight stayed two months; she left avowedly +because she did not care to stop too long in one place. The ninth +remained only a fortnight. She left because we objected to her +staying out after eleven o'clock at night, although we gave her +three nights out a week after half-past eight.</p> + +<p>When there are children in a middle-class family, a nurse-girl +is generally, but by, no means always, kept. Hers is the lowest +of all the branches of service, and is only taken by a young girl +just going out into the world. Trained nurses, such as are common +at home, are in great demand, and almost unobtainable. They can +earn a pound a week easily, and at such wages a man whose income +only runs into three figures is forced to put up with a +nurse-girl. She undertakes no responsibility, her duties being +confined to carrying the baby and screaming at the other children +if they attempt to do themselves any bodily harm. If you wish to +understand what the average nurse-girl is like, you have but to +walk through any of the public gardens; you will see babies +without number left in the blazing sun, some hanging half-way out +of their perambulators, others sucking large, painted 'lollies' +or green apples. The elder children, if they are unruly, are +slapped and sent off to play by themselves, while the nurse-girls +hold a confab on a neighbouring bench. Not that these girls are +necessarily bad, but they lack the supervision and training of a +head-nurse; they have been taught to look upon nursing as +derogatory, and never stay long enough as nurses to get an +experience in handling children. A few months of this, the lowest +stage of servant-galdom, and then they pass up into the +maid-of-all-work class. Thus it is that many mothers prefer +undertaking the duties of nurse themselves, and devote themselves +to their children often at the expense of their husbands, and +certainly of all social relations.</p> + +<p>Colonial servants are much too fond of change for change's +sake ever to stay long in one situation. A month's character is a +sure guarantee for another place, and only a week's notice is +required on either side before leaving. Hence servants are +engaged and paid by the week; they do not expect any presents or +perquisites, and it is not the custom to make them any allowance +for beer. On the other hand, they will not stand being allowanced +for tea, sugar, butter, or anything of the kind, and as a rule +they fare in exactly the same style as their masters. Every other +Sunday afternoon and evening, one evening every week, and +occasional public holidays, are the customary outings, though we +found it expedient to allow a good many more.</p> + +<p>The great redeeming-point about the servant-girl is the power +she acquires, of getting through a large and multifarious +quantity of work. She has frequently to do the whole house-work, +cooking, washing, and ironing for a family of six or seven, and +unless the mistress or her daughters are particularly helpful, it +is out of all reason to expect that any of these things can be +well done. Of course there are some good servants, but, +unfortunately for their employers, the butchers and bakers +generally have a keen eye for such, arguing with great justice +that a good servant is likely to make a good wife.</p> + +<p>The greater part of the high wages which servants get is spent +on dress. If ever they condescend to wear their mistress's +left-off clothes, it is only for work in the house; but the +trouble they take to copy the exact fashion and cut of their +mistress's clothes is very amusing. One girl we had frankly asked +my wife to allow her to take a dress she admired to her +dressmaker, in order that she might have one made up like it. +Whilst girls in the upper and middle classes are very handy with +their fingers, and often make up their own hats and dresses, the +servant-class despise to do this, and almost invariably employ +milliners, who often cheat them dreadfully, knowing that they +appreciate a hat or a dress much according to the price they have +paid for it, and the amount of show it makes. In hats and bonnets +this is specially noticeable; I have often seen our servants with +hats or bonnets on, which cannot have cost them less than three +or four pounds.</p> + +<p>The shortest and upon the whole the best way to get a servant +is by going to one of the numerous registry offices. Some of +these exist merely to palm off bad servants upon you; but there +are always offices of good reputation, which will not recommend a +girl they know absolutely nothing about.</p> + +<p>The needlewoman is little in vogue here; but as nearly +everyone washes at home, washerwomen are plentiful; their wages +run from four to five shillings a day, according to their +capabilities, food being of course included.</p> + +<p>In spite of constant shipments from England, servants are +always at a premium, and I need scarcely point out what an +excellent opening these colonies afford for women-servants. +Unfortunately, but a very small proportion of the daughters of +the poorer colonial working-class will go into service. For some +inexplicable reason, they turn up their noses at the high wages +and comparatively light work offered, and prefer to undertake the +veriest drudgery in factories for a miserable pittance. At a +recent strike in a large shirt-making factory in Melbourne, it +came out that a competent needlewoman could not make more than +eighteen shillings a week even by working overtime, and that the +general average earnings of a factory girl were only eleven to +thirteen shillings a week. But so great is the love of +independence in the colonial girl, that she prefers hard work and +low wages in order to be able to enjoy freedom of an evening. It +is in vain that the press points out that girls whose parents do +not keep servants are accustomed to perform the same household +duties in their own homes that are required of them in service; +that work which is not degrading at home cannot be degrading in +service; and that they will be the better wives for the knowledge +of household work which they acquire in service. They might as +well preach to the winds; and there are more applications for +employment in shops and factories than there is work for, whilst +mistresses go begging for lady-helps. There is a sad side to this +picture as regards the social condition of the colonies, in +addition to the inconvenience to people who keep servants. The +girls who go into shops and factories, and have their evenings to +themselves, necessarily undergo a great deal of temptation, and +it is undeniable that they are not at all delivered from evil. +The subject is out of keeping with these letters, but unless some +means can be found to reconcile colonial girls to service, I fear +an evil is growing up in our midst which is likely to be even +more baneful in its effects upon the community than the +corresponding tendency to 'larrikinism' amongst colonial +youths.</p> + +<p>Since writing the above, an article on the subject has +appeared in the Melbourne <i>Argus</i> which is worth quoting in +<i>extenso</i>:</p> + +<p>'We have undertaken to consider whether anything can be done +to overcome the unwillingness which nearly all Australian girls +exhibit to enter domestic service. There is an abundant supply of +female labour in the colony, but unfortunately it is not +distributed in the way that would be most advantageous to the +community and beneficial to the women themselves. While household +servants can scarcely be had for love or money, the clothing +factories are crowded with seamstresses, who are content to work +long hours at what are very much like starvation wages. How is +this? We have shown that there is nothing in domestic work which +any true woman need consider degrading; that the most refined and +highly educated ladies have in all ages considered themselves +properly employed when busy about household affairs; that +servants have quite as many opportunities of forming matrimonial +connections as factory girls, and that their training fits them +to become much better, and therefore far happier wives. We have +no doubt that all this, or at least the greater part, would be +admitted by the seamstresses themselves: but nevertheless the +fact remains that to domestic service they will not go. There is +a feeling in existence amongst them that in some way or other +household labour is menial occupation, and that to undertake it +is to lose caste in the class to which they belong. We may call +this fantastic idea "vanity" or "false pride," or what we will; +but that does not do anything to banish it, or to render it less +potent for mischief. Seeing that so much is at stake--that +employers are clamouring for servants, and that women are sadly +in want of some occupation which would lessen competition and +raise wages in the sewing business--it is evident that society is +deeply interested in getting rid of the ridiculous notion. As a +first step towards that desirable consummation, let us endeavour +to analyse the impression which exists in the minds of those who +turn their backs upon household duties, and with their eyes open +devote themselves to a laborious and underpaid occupation.</p> + +<p>'A correspondent ( <i>The Argus</i>, December 16) informs us +that observation and the remarks he has heard made by factory +girls have led him to think that there are three serious +objections which the seamstresses have to domestic service. One +of these is--"The idea of degradation, attached to the position +of a 'slavey' in the minds of the lower classes themselves." As +we have seen that there is nothing degrading in the work itself +which servants are called upon to do, how comes it that its +performance is considered less honourable than sewing or serving +in a shop? The notion must take its rise in the conditions under +which domestic service is rendered. The sewing girl or the +shop-woman has certain business hours, outside of which she is as +independent as her employer, and as little amenable to control. +The household servant, on the other hand, is under discipline, +and liable to be called on to do this, that, or the other during +every hour of the twenty-four. From the time she gets up in the +morning to the moment she goes to bed at night, she has no hour +which of right she can reckon on as her own. If she wishes to go +out she must ask permission; if she wants to receive a friend, +she cannot rely on being left undisturbed. As a matter of fact, +servants in this colony enjoy a very large measure of liberty, +and those who are worth their salt very seldom have to complain +of want of consideration or indulgence. If they do not meet with +proper treatment, they can easily find situations where more +regard is had to their feelings and comfort. But the thought that +the leisure and freedom they enjoy is due in a great measure to +favour, and not to right, is the fly in the ointment of the +domestic's lot which renders it distasteful to many women, and +which causes it to be looked down on by those who exist under far +less favourable conditions. It seems to us that it is the want of +some definite respite from liability to work which constitutes +the "slavery" of which our correspondent speaks. If we are right +in our supposition, then it is evident that employers have it in +their power to take away the reproach from domestic servitude, by +assimilating the conditions of household employment to those +which attach to industrial occupations. Why should not servants +have regular hours of work, outside which they would be +absolutely free to go where, or to do as they please, without +asking permission or fearing interruption? If such arrangements +were to become customary, we can hardly doubt that the prejudice +against domestic service would die out. The attractions of higher +wages, equal freedom, better board, and more comfortable lodging +would soon do their work.</p> + +<p>'It may be said that such a change as we propose would +entirely alter the relations between mistresses and their +"helps." No doubt it would. But we may ask why the relations +between mistresses and servants should continue as they were in +semi-feudal times, when the relations of other classes of society +to each other have been resettled on an entirely different basis? +Nearly all sorts of service now are matters of simple contract, +and we know of no reason why domestic engagements should not be +regulated in the same way. It would be better for employers to +have a plentiful supply of efficient servants liable to work +eight or ten hours per diem, than a scanty stock of discontented +women whose services they can command day and night. With altered +relations, we should soon have a change of demeanour on both +sides. The correspondent we have quoted says that another of the +things which prevents seamstresses from "going into service," is +"the over-anxiety of mistresses that servants should know their +position." In a democratic country like this, where young people +are brought up with the idea that one man or woman is as good as +another, we can easily understand that any assertion of +superiority on the part of employers, or attempt to exact an +outward show of deference, is very galling to undisciplined +minds. Those who have been accustomed to be waited on from +childhood upwards, are never very careful to insist on those +forms and modes of address which at one time servants invariably +adopted. As long as they are well served, they are content to +sacrifice something to the modern spirit of equality. It is those +who have risen in the social scale late in life who are always +standing on their dignity and exacting homage. If the latter +class would moderate its pretensions, a stumbling-block would be +removed from the entrance to domestic service. We already have +several agencies for training servants; could they not add to +their duties the work of training mistresses in the ideas we have +set forth, and in any others which are likely to diminish the +distaste of Australian girls for household work? If they would +take the matter in hand in a practical way, and familiarise the +public mind with the notion of limited domestic labour, they +would, we believe, do much to promote the comfort of home life in +Victoria, and to improve the position of female labour.' <a name= +"townlife-07"></a></p> + +<h2>FOOD.</h2> + +<p>Generally speaking, food in Australia is cheaper and more +plentiful than in England, but poorer in quality. Adulteration +is, of course, as yet unknown, or but very little known, for the +simple reason that it costs more to adulterate than to provide +the genuine article. The working-man's food here is also +immeasurably better and cheaper. Mutton he gets almost for the +asking, and up-country almost without it. Bread is only +1¼d. to 2d. a pound, and all the necessaries of life are +good, healthy, and fairly cheap. But the richer man, who asks for +more than soundness in the quality of his food, finds himself +worse off than in London. Meat of the same quality as he gets at +his club in Pall Mall is not to be got in Collins Street for love +or money. The flour is the best in the world, and the bread +wholesome and sweet; but the toothsomeness of German and French +bakers is not to be had, and the finest qualities of flour are +all shipped to England instead of being used here. The dearness +of labour makes it impossible to give the same care to the +cultivation of fruit and vegetables; and though these are cheap +enough, the delicate flavour of Convent Garden is hardly +compensated by their superior freshness. In short, our food is +somewhat coarse, albeit wholesome enough.</p> + +<p>Up-country the meat is excellent; but in the towns it is not, +as a rule, so good as in England, as the sheep and cattle have +often to be driven long distances before they are slaughtered. +Prices vary according to the different towns, seasons, and +qualities from 6d. to 2½d. a lb. for beef, and from 4d. to +l½d. for mutton. Pork is from 9d. to 7d.; veal from 8d. to +4d. All kinds of fruit and vegetables, except Brussels sprouts, +are cheap and plentiful. I will quote one or two prices at random +from a market-book: artichokes, l½d. a lb.; tomatoes, 2d. +a lb.; beetroot and cabbages, 1s. 6d. a dozen; potatoes, 6s. a +cwt. During the season fruit is very cheap. Splendid Muscatel +grapes can be bought in Adelaide from ld. to 2d. a lb.; peaches, +3d. a dozen; apricots, 2d. a dozen; raspberries, 5d. a lb.; +cherries, 2d. a lb.; strawberries, 4d.; plums almost for nothing; +but by far the best is the passion-fruit. Neither vegetables nor +fruit, as sold in the markets and shops, are as good as those you +buy in England. The inferior quality is due to the +grow-as-you-please manner in which the fruit is cultivated, +pruning and even the most ordinary care being neglected; but you +can get as fine-flavoured fruit here as anywhere, and to taste +grapes in perfection you must certainly go to Adelaide.</p> + +<p>Of course meat is the staple of Australian life. A working-man +whose whole family did not eat meat three times a day would +indeed be a phenomenon. High and low rich and poor, all eat meat +to an incredible extent, even in the hottest weather. Not that +they know how to prepare it in any delicate way, for to the +working and middle, as well as to most of the wealthy classes, +cooking is an unknown art. The meat is roast or boiled, hot or +cold, sometimes fried or hashed. It is not helped in mere slices, +but in good substantial hunks. In everything the colonist likes +quantity. You can hardly realize the delight of 'tucking in' to a +dish of fruit at a dinner-party. I once heard a colonist say, 'I +don't like your nasty little English slices of meat: <i>we</i> +want something that we can put our teeth into.' Imagine the man's +misery when dessert came on the table, and he was asked whether +he would take a <i>slice</i> of pear! Vegetables are for the most +part despised, though the thoroughly old English dish of greens +remains in favour, and potatoes are largely eaten.</p> + +<p>Tea may fairly claim to be the national beverage. A large +majority of the population drink it with every meal, and you find +cases of this even in the metropolitan middle classes. With them, +however, it is more usual to drink beer with their mid-day meal, +and to have meat-tea in the evening. This practice extends +through the upper and middle classes, and into many wealthy +houses. Next to tea may be ranked beer, English or colonial, +which I have come to think is a necessity to the English-speaking +races. But no colonist drinks much at meals. He prefers to quench +his thirst at every opportunity that may occur between. In all +country towns, if you go to see a man on business, out comes the +whisky-bottle. If you meet an old friend, his first greeting is, +'Come and have a nobbler!' No bargain can be concluded without +it. If it is a warm day, you must have a nobbler to quench your +thirst; if it is freezing, to keep the cold out. There is no +trade at which more fortunes have been made here than the +publican's. The most exclusive and the most out-at-elbows find a +common meeting-place in the public-house; although it is only +fair to say that the custom of 'shouting,' as it is called, is +going--if it has not gone--out of fashion amongst the better +classes in the capital cities. Beer, or more frequently spirits, +form the favourite 'nobbler,' the price of which varies from +fourpence to eightpence in Sydney and Adelaide according to the +drink. In Melbourne all drinks are sixpence. There is a current +story--which I know to be true--of two well-known colonials, who, +on landing from the P. and 0. steamer at Southampton, immediately +entered the first public-house, and asked for 'two nobblers of +English ale.' Having drunk the ale, which was highly approved of, +one of them put down a shilling, and was walking off, when the +barmaid recalled him, and offered eightpence change. 'By G----!' +was their simultaneous exclamation, 'this is a land to live in, +where you can get two nobblers of English ale for fourpence! let +us drink our shilling's-worth.'</p> + +<p>Like their American cousins, the Australians are of opinion +that there is no liquid worthy to be mentioned by the side of +'champagne.' It requires some education to acquire a taste for +claret. To the uninitiated sherry and port are chiefly palatable +for their spirituousness; but everyone is born with a taste for +champagne. It does not follow that everyone knows what +constitutes good champagne. No merchant or lawyer, or anyone +whose income is over £500 a year, dare give a party without +champagne. It is champagne which gives <i>ton</i>. For this +purpose it need not be very good.</p> + +<p>The <i>sine quibus non</i> are a well-known brand and a +'gold-top.' Moët's or Roëderer's <i>carte d'or</i> is +the party-goer's criterion of the success of the entertainment. +As soon as he sees the label, he swallows the wine, good or +bad--more probably bad, for most champagnes, like all other +wines, are 'specially prepared for the Australian market,' and +you know what that means. 'Body,' or what captious folk would +call 'heaviness,' is the first condition of good wine to the +colonial taste. The lower middle and lower classes also like it +sweet; but of course a man who drinks any quantity of wine +prefers it dry. Besides the champagne drunk for show, there +is--in spite of a 20s. a dozen duty--a large quantity consumed in +the way of nobblers, and at dinner by wealthy men. When a man has +made a lucky speculation, or has just got a large order, he +treats his friends to a bottle of champagne.</p> + +<p>I have not seen burgundy half a dozen times since I have been +here. The old colonist finds claret thin and sour; but the +younger generation are beginning to take to it, although there is +no wine harder to obtain here than claret. Nine-tenths of what +one buys is adulterated. His knowledge of <i>crûs</i> being +naturally limited, the colonist likes to see on his wine a fine +label, one which makes the quality of the wine easily +comprehensible to him. Thus the most successful claret sold here +is divided according to degrees of nastiness into five ranks, and +you ask for So-and-So's No. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, irrespective of +vintage or year. 'Bon ordinaire' is of course unobtainable, but +you can get 'Chateau Margaux,' duty paid, at from 40s. to 50s. a +dozen. I was once asked to buy some wine bearing that label for +2s. 6d. a bottle. The names of one or two well-known wines having +reached your host's ears, he likes to show you by the name on the +label that he is giving them to you; and, unfortunately, Margaux +and Lafitte <i>labels</i> cost no more than any other.</p> + +<p>A good deal of sherry and port--even more brandied than for +the English market--is drunk. A wealthy man will never give you +colonial wine, not because it is necessarily worse than the +imported stuff on his table, but because it is colonial. Amongst +the middle classes it is beginning to find favour. A great deal +of extravagant praise has been lavished in the press on these +wines since the Bordeaux Exhibition, and I fear that many who +taste them for the first time will be disappointed. They are too +heady, and for the most part wanting in bouquet, whilst their +distinctive character repels the palate, which is accustomed to +European growths. But for all that, I cannot understand how men +with only moderate means living out here can pay large prices for +very inferior imported wines, when a good sound, palatable wine +is obtainable at from 15s. to 25s. a dozen. At the latter price a +Sauvignon approaching to claret, grown close to Melbourne, is +obtainable, which is really excellent; and the white hermitage +from the same district, as well as from the Hunter River district +in New South Wales, at 15s. a dozen, is also as good as one can +wish, short of a <i>grand vin</i>, although in none of these +wines do you entirely lose the <i>goût du terroir</i>, a +peculiar earthy taste resulting from the strength of the soil. +The cheapest wholesome wine I have ever drunk off the Continent +is a thin <i>vin ordinaire</i>, smelling like <i>piquette</i>, +which is sold at a certain rather low-looking shop in Melbourne. +It is quite palatable, and when heavily watered I can vouch for +its wholesomeness.</p> + +<p>The lightest of these wines contain about 18 degrees of +spirit, whereas, as you know, an 'ordinaire' has only about 8, +and a burgundy not more than 11 or 12. But the native wines which +are generally preferred by the colonists themselves are the South +Australian. In spite of a duty of 10s. a dozen, large quantities +of Adelaide wine are drunk in Melbourne. Its chief +characteristics are sweetness and heaviness. It may seem to you +incredible, but I have drunk a wine made from the Verdeilho +grape, and, grown near Adelaide by a Mr. C. Bonney, which +contained no less than 36 degrees of natural spirit, without a +drop added: 32 and 33 degrees are quite common, and the average +percentage in South Australian wine is about 28.</p> + +<p>In most cases the wines are named after the grape from which +they are made, though sometimes the less sensible course of +calling the wine 'claret,' 'sherry,' or 'port,' is adopted. I say +less sensible, because all colonial wines have a peculiar +flavour, which makes it difficult to mistake them for the wines +they profess to imitate. The Carbinet-Sauvignon grape, which I +believe is the principal one used in the Bordeaux district, +produces here a wine something like what you get on the Rhone. +The Riesling, a Rhineland grape, resembles a brandied hock; it +makes one of the best wines, and is often very palatable. The red +and white Hermitage grapes do best of all. The Muscatel makes a +delicious sweet wine in Adelaide, but it is very heady. I have no +doubt that in the course of time, and when more scientific +methods are pursued, South Australia will produce excellent ports +and sherries, as well as Constantias, Malagas, and madeira, but I +fear it will not be within the present generation. Claret, I +understand from experts, will never be produced, but hermitages +and wines of that type will be made in the course of ten or +twenty years which will be able to compete in the European +markets; long before this they should become useful for blending +with French and Spanish wines. As a rule the wine is already +sound and wholesome; and if one comes to think of it, taste is a +purely arbitrary matter. One forms one's taste according to a +certain standard to which one is accustomed. To a man accustomed +to colonial wines, clarets and hocks seem thin and sour. One +great difficulty which militates against the reputation of +Australian wine, is that of the untrustworthiness of all but a +few brands. Of course all vintages from the same grapes differ, +but there is a margin of difference beyond which a wine may not +go, and with many an Australian <i>vigneron</i> this margin is +frequently passed, owing to carelessness or inexperience in +manufacture. Another drawback is the difficulty of procuring all +but the most immature wine. Nearly the whole of each vintage is +drunk within twelve months after it is made. That Australian +wines will ever compete with the famous French <i>crûs</i> +I should very much doubt, but that they will in the course of the +next twenty years gradually supersede with advantage a great deal +of the manufactured stuff now drunk in England is more than +probable. At present the prices are too high for Australian wines +to find any large market at home. Although it is of course an +exceptional case, there is an Adelaide madeira which fetches as +much as 63s. per dozen within two miles of the vineyard. Nothing +now obtainable in Australia under 15s. a dozen would be worth +sending home, and by the time freight and duty is added to that, +the London price would be considerable.</p> + +<p>I have already made allusion to that peculiar phase of +Australian life--nobblerising; but, if I am not mistaken, the +impression left on your mind will be that the nobbler is either +of aristocratic champagne or plebeian beer. But there are two +other liquids--whisky and brandy--which play an important part in +nobblerising. The quantity of spirits drunk in Australia is +appalling. Whisky is the favourite spirit, then brandy, and +rarely Schiedam, schnapps, or gin. And what about drunkenness? +Statistically it is not very much worse than in England, but the +difference lies in the class who get drunk. Here it is not merely +the lower classes, but everybody that drinks. Not a few of the +wealthiest and most leading citizens are well-known to be +frequently drunk, though their names do not, of course, appear in +the papers or in the police reports. The state of public feeling +on the subject, though improving, is much as it was in England +twenty or thirty years ago. Society says, 'Capital fellow, Jones; +pity he drinks!' but no social reprobation attaches to Jones. He +may be known to be carried to bed every night, for all it affects +his reputation as a respectable and respected citizen. But with +the advance of civilization better times are coming in these +matters. It is no more so absolute a necessity to take a nobbler +as it was ten years ago. Drunkenness, if not reprobated, is no +longer considered a 'gentlemanly vice.' A man who drinks is +pitied. This is the first step. Before long blame will tread in +the steps of pity.</p> + +<p>But enough of drinking. It is not a pleasant subject. Besides, +I have not yet described the food of any but the working-class. +And if they live ten times better than their fellows at home, it +is equally true that the middle, and especially the upper, class +live ten times worse. It requires the tongue and the pen of a +Brillat-Savarin to give flavour to a Barmecide's feast; but as +victualling is as necessary a condition of existence here as +anywhere else, I must do my best to enlighten you as to our +situation in this respect. May you never have practical +experience thereof! If it be true that, while the French eat, the +English only feed, we may fairly add that the Australians 'grub'. +Nor could it well be otherwise under the circumstances. It is not +merely because it is difficult to entice a good cook to come out +here. If he really wants a thing, the wealthy colonist will not +spare money to get it; but how can you expect a man who--for the +greater part of his life--has been eating mutton and damper, and +drinking parboiled tea three times a day, to understand the art +of good living? Even if he does, he finds it unappreciated by +those around him; and there are few men fond enough of the +luxuries of life to be singular in their enjoyment. It takes a +lot of trouble to get and keep a good cook, and there is nothing +the Australian abhors like trouble. Consequently--I am now +speaking only of the wealthy--he adopts one of two courses.</p> + +<p>Either he gives occasional grand dinners, in which case he +imagines he has got a good cook because he is paying £60 or +£70 a year for him--no very large salary even in England +for a <i>chef</i>; or he is contented to live anyhow. In the +latter case he dines at his club (where, by the way, he gets a +very fair meal) in the middle of the day, and has meat-tea in the +evening. In both cases the family dinner is much the same. No. 1 +cannot see the use of having what he would call a 'spread' for +his own selfish benefit, and leaves his grand cook unemployed the +greater part of the week. The dinner consists of beef or mutton, +roast or boiled, potatoes and greens, bread-and-butter pudding, +and cheese. The details change, but the type is always the +same--what his wife calls 'a good plain English dinner, none of +your unwholesome French kickshaws,' which are reserved for +company. Fortunately his cook, if not very expert in the +'foreign' dishes required to be concocted for company, has +generally pretty correct notions within the limits of the family +dinner.</p> + +<p>But it is not so with No. 2, and with the large middle class +who all live in the same way. The usual female cook at 12s. a +week is not even capable of sending up a plain meal properly. Her +meat is tough, and her potatoes are watery. Her pudding-range +extends from rice to sago, and from sago to rice, and in many +middle-class households pudding is reserved for Sundays and +visitors. A favourite summer dish is stewed fruit, and, as it is +not easy to make it badly, there is a great deal to commend in +it. At the worst, it is infinitely preferable to fruit tart with +an indigestible crust.</p> + +<p>Ye gentlemen of England, who sit at home at ease, how +astonished you would be to see your daughter Maud, whose husband +is a well-to-do lawyer in considerable practice, setting the +table herself because she cannot rely upon her servant doing it +properly! And then she goes into the kitchen, and teaches cook +how to make pie-crust. If children are numerous, or her husband +is not getting on quite so well as could be wished, she will not +be able to have a servant to wait at table. What wonder, then, if +she gives up late dinner and has a meat-tea, at which everything +can be put on the table at once. A colonial-bred lady has +generally learnt something of good plain cooking, but the English +mistress often breaks down before the serious and multifarious +nature of her duties. It is by no means uncommon for her to be +suddenly left servantless for two or three days; and if she does +not possess great adaptability of disposition, the whole house is +bound to be at sixes-and-sevens, and all its occupants, including +herself, in anything but a pleasant state of mind. If a woman is +worth her salt, she will not mind these things, or rather she +will make the best of them; but it is not every English young +lady whose love for her husband, present or future, will carry +her through these domestic hurricanes; and, if not, she had +better not come out here, although husbands are plentiful. Except +amongst a very small class who can afford luxuries, the +girl-of-the-period is out of place in Australia. <a name= +"townlife-08"></a></p> + +<h2>DRESS.</h2> + +<p>I doubt whether in my preceding letters I have made the +distinction between Melbourne and its sister capitals +sufficiently plain. I shall perhaps best convey it by saying that +Melbourne is quasi-metropolitan, while both Sydney and Adelaide +are alike provincial in their mode of life. In the matters of +which I have been writing, the difference has hardly been +sufficient to warrant a separate treatment; but with regard to +dress, it becomes so noticeable, that not to treat of Melbourne +separately would convey a false idea. For in dress it is not too +much to say that the ladies of Melbourne are luxurious-a charge +which could scarcely be brought against Australians in any other +particular that I can think of. And take them all-in-all, they do +not dress badly; indeed, if one considers the distance from +Paris, and the total want of a competent leader of fashion, they +may be said to dress well, especially of late years. The highly +fantastic and gorgeous costumes for which Melbourne used to be +notorious are fast disappearing. Successful diggers no longer +take their wives into a shop, and ask how much colour and stuff +can be put into a dress for fifty pounds. Already outrageousness +is confined to a few, and when I say that it is generally agreed +to be 'bad form,' you will understand that its death-blow has +been struck and the hearse ordered. Bright colours are still in +vogue, but they are not necessarily loud or unpleasant beneath +the austral sun, and the act of combining them is beginning to be +understood. When one remembers how their houses are furnished, +and what their general style of living is it is astonishing to +find Melbourne ladies dressing so brilliantly and yet with so +little vulgarity.</p> + +<p>But it is not among the <i>grand monde</i>--if the term be not +ridiculous as applied to Victoria--that you must go to discover +taste. I am not sure that, class for class, the rich do not show +the least taste in their apparel. Many of them send to Paris for +their dresses, and pay sums, which make one's mouth water, to be +dressed in the latest fashion; but I fancy that the French +<i>modistes</i> manufacture a certain style of attire for the +Australian taste, just as the French merchants manufacture +clarets for the Australian market. It is a compound of the +<i>cocotte</i> and the American. Nor when she has got a handsome +dress does the Melbourne <i>grande dame</i> know how to wear it; +she merely succeeds in looking what a Brighton lodging-house +keeper once defined to me as a 'carriage-lady.' A lady of the +English upper middle-class dressed by a London milliner looks +infinitely better.</p> + +<p>There are some costumes worn by Victorian ladies which you +will never see worn by any other ladies; but for all that, the +middle and even the lower class am by no means destitute of ideas +about dress. Compare the Melbourne with the Birmingham or +Manchester factory girl, or the young lady in a Collins Street +retail establishment with the shop-girl in any but the most +aristocratic part of London; the old country will come out +second-best. And why is it? It is no easy question to answer; at +the bottom is undoubtedly that general love of display, which is +almost as characteristic of Melbourne as it is of Paris. But then +what is the cause of that? And a love of display, though it may +be and is amongst the wealthy productive of grand dresses, as it +is of grand dinners and grand furniture, does not make +taste--e.g., the Second Empire; and though it would be going too +far to say that the ladies of Melbourne dress tastefully, it is +within the truth to give them credit for a tendency towards +taste. Throughout England the middle and lower classes dress +hideously. Why should the first generation of Victorians show a +disposition to abandon the ugly? I leave it to some aesthetic +philosopher to find out the reason, and content myself with +noting the fact. If I wanted to moralize, I have little doubt +that the drapers' and milliners' accounts of these 'young ladies' +would furnish a redundant text, and that, although a large number +of them make up their dresses themselves from paper patterns or +illustrations in <i>Myra's Journal</i>. How they can afford to +dress as well as they do, they and their mothers best know; but +the bow here and the flower there are not costly things, and the +mere fact of being able to cut out a dress so as not to look +dowdy shows natural taste. It is the rarest of sights to see a +real Melbourne girl look dowdy. Her taste sometimes runs riot: it +is exuberant, and becomes vulgar and flash; but even then the +vulgarity and flashness are of a superior type to those of her +equals across the ocean.</p> + +<p>Sydney and Adelaide are distinctly superior to English towns +of the same size in the matter of apparel; but they will not bear +comparison with Melbourne. On the other hand, gorgeous and flash +dresses are very rare in the smaller cities. If they have not the +talent of Melbourne, neither do they share its blots. They go +along at a steady jog-trot, and are content to take their +fashions second-hand from Melbourne, but with modifications. +Their more correct and sober taste will not tolerate even many of +the extravagances of which London is guilty--such extravagances, +for instance, as the Tam O'Shanter cap, which was warmly taken up +in Melbourne. But with all this good sense, they remain +dowdy.</p> + +<p>I have said nothing hitherto of married ladies' dress. When a +colonial girl marries, she considers herself, except in rare +instances, on the shelf, and troubles herself very little about +what she wears. As a rule, she has probably too many other things +to take up her time. She has got a husband, and what more can she +want? He rarely cares what she has on, as soon as the honeymoon +is over. There is no one else to please, and I fear that colonial +girls are not of those who dress merely for themselves; they like +to be admired, and they appreciate the value of dress from a +flirtation point of view. Their taste is rather the outcome of a +desire to please others than of a sense of aesthetics. It is +relative, and not absolute. When once the finery has served its +purpose, they are ready to renounce all the pomps and vanities of +this wicked world. And if the moralist says that this argues some +laxness of ideas before marriage, let him remember that it is +equally indicative of connubial bliss. Once married, her +flirtations are at an end--'played out,' if I may use the +term.</p> + +<p>In another respect the Victorian is the direct opposite of the +<i>Parisienne</i>. If you leave general effects, and come to pull +her dress to pieces, you find that the metal is only electro, to +whatever rank of life she may belong. The general appearance may +be pleasing, but in detail she is execrable. Not but that the +materials of her dress are rich enough, so that my electro simile +will hardly hold water; but money does not make the artist. Let +us begin with the bonnet. Walk down Collins Street at the time of +the block on Saturday, and I doubt whether you can count half a +dozen bonnets which are both pretty and suitable to the face and +head of the wearer. <i>Bien chaussée et bien +gantée</i> might be Greek as far as Australia is +concerned, and if by chance you see a stocking or any portion of +the under-clothing, you will have your eyes opened. Whatever does +not meet the eye is generally of the commonest. It would be +thought a sinful waste of money to have anything particularly +good or expensive which other people could not see. The light of +Melbourne is never likely to hide itself under a bushel; external +adornment is the <i>mot d'ordre</i>. Ribbons and laces, or +anything that helps to improve the look of a dress, the colonial +lady will indulge in freely and even extravagantly; but you must +not penetrate her tinsel armour.</p> + +<p>Owing to the climate, hats are much more frequently in use +than bonnets, and if the merit of subdued tints is unappreciated, +it is not often that the eye is shocked by the glaring discords +to which Englishwomen are so prone. Fringes are much worn, and +the hair is often parted on the side. In spite of the heat, +<i>gants de suède</i> find very little favour; they look +dirty, and with a 25 per cent. duty cannot be renewed every day. +The usual English fashions find their way to Melbourne in about +eight months, and this is the more convenient, because your +summer is our winter, and <i>vice versa</i>. Spring and autumn we +agree to forget; this is rather a pity, because practically +nine-twelfths of our year are spring and autumn, and on a bright +July or August day the dress which is appropriate to a London fog +in December looks singularly out of place. Sealskins and furs are +worn till you almost imagine it must be cold, which during +daylight it hardly ever is in this country. In summer, suitable +concessions become obligatory, and dresses are made of the +thinnest and lightest materials. Pompadour prints and white +calicoes reign supreme, and look better than anything else. It is +then that the poorer classes are able to dress best, the material +being cheap. Winter stuffs are expensive, and to a great degree +their effectiveness is in direct ratio to their cost; but during +quite half of the Australian year the poor meet the rich, if not +on an equality, at any rate on much fairer terms than at home +with regard to dress.</p> + +<p>Servants, of course, ape their mistresses' dresses as in +England, and generally manage to produce a delightful sense of +incongruity in their attire; but for all that, they are much less +dowdy than English servants.</p> + +<p>So much for ladies' dress. Change the sexes, and the picture +is by no means so pleasing; for thorough untidiness of person, +there can surely be no one to beat the Australian. Above all must +one beware of judging a man's position by his coat. It is +impossible to tell whether the dirty old man who slouches along +the street is a millionaire or a beggar. The older his coat, and +the dirtier his shirt, the more the probabilities are in favour +of the millionaire. Perhaps he thinks he can afford to dress as +he pleases. The city men are more careful of their personal +appearance, and have kept up the shadow and image of London. They +wear shiny frock-coats and the worst-brushed and most odd-shaped +of top-hats, and imagine they are well-dressed; at least I +suppose they do, for they seem to have a sort of contempt for the +spruce tweed suits and round hats of 'new chums,' and such of the +rising generation as have followed their example and adopted that +fashion. Can you imagine yourself wearing a black coat and high +hat with the thermometer jogging about from 70º to 110º +in the shade? If the coat were decently cut, and of good cloth +and well-brushed, and the silk hat well-shapen and neat, I might +put you down a fool, but would admit your claims to be a dandy. +But as it is, most of our city men are both uncomfortable and +untidy. Their clothes look as if they had been bought ready-made +at a slop-shop. The tie they prefer is a black bootlace; if not, +it is bound to be of the most tasteless colour and pattern you +can think of. A heavy gold watch-chain and diamond ring is <i>de +rigueur</i>, but otherwise they do not wear much jewellery. Their +hair, like their clothes, generally wants brushing, and hands and +nails are not always so clean as they might be; but one knows +that for the most part they tub every morning: this is a +consolation.</p> + +<p>The bushman, at least, dresses sensibly. Wen he comes into +town, he puts on a slop-coat, but retains, if not a cabbage-tree, +at any rate a wide-brimmed, soft felt hat. Sacrificing comfort to +ceremony, he generally puts on a collar, but he often kicks at a +tie: he finds he must draw a line somewhere. But there is +something so redolent of the bush about him, that one would not +have him otherwise; the slop clothes even become picturesque from +the cavalier fashion in which he wears them. Note that his pipe +never leaves his mouth, while the city man does not venture to +smoke in any of the main streets. He is a regular Jack ashore, +this bushman. A bull would not be more out of place in a +china-shop, though probably less amusing and more destructive. +The poor fellow meets so many friends in town, that by the end of +the day he has probably had more nobblers than are altogether +good for him. It is a very hard life that he leads, and he takes +his pleasure, like his work, hardly.</p> + +<p>If the Adelaidians are perhaps the least got-up, they are +certainly the most suitably dressed of the inhabitants of +Australian towns. With them the top hat is comparatively of +recent introduction. Silk coats and helmets are numerous still, +though becoming more rare every day. Melbourne and Sydney think +it <i>infra dig.</i> to allow themselves these little comforts, +and Adelaide is gradually becoming corrupted. It must, however, +be added that the Adelaide folk are the most untidy, as the +Melbourne are the least untidy of Australians. Comfort and +elegance do not always go hand in hand. Tweeds are beginning to +come into use amongst the upper middle, as they long have in the +lower middle and lower classes. Capital stuffs are made at +Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, and Geelong; but the patterns are +very common. In a dusty place like this it is impossible to keep +black clothes clean, and tweeds give far the best wear and +appearance of any stuff. For my own part, I wear them winter and +summer.</p> + +<p>The working-classes can, of course, afford to be, and are, +better dressed than at home; for though clothes are in reality +much dearer, they are much cheaper in proportion to wages. They +do not often wear black coats in the week, but keep them for +Sundays and grand occasions. Directly an immigrant has landed, he +feels that his first earnings must be devoted to a Sunday +go-to-meeting suit. His fellow-men all have one, and he does not +like to feel himself their inferior, even with regard to a coat. +<a name="townlife-09"></a></p> + +<h2>YOUNG AUSTRALIA.</h2> + +<p>Hitherto I have been writing of the properties and adjuncts of +Australian life. It is high time to say something of the +colonists themselves. And, here I shall describe the types which +the colony has produced and is producing, rather than such +modifications as colonists born and bred in England have +undergone during their subsequent residence in +Australia--colonials as distinct from colonists.</p> + +<p>Perhaps of their first stage of existence the less said the +better. I have a holy horror of babies, to whatever nationality +they may belong; but for general objectionableness I believe +there are none to compare with the Australian baby. It is not +only that the summer heat and sudden changes of climate make him +worse-behaved than his <i>confrères</i> over the ocean, +but the little brute is omnipresent, and I might almost add +omnipotent. Nurses are more expensive and mothers less fastidious +than in England. Consequently, baby lives in the family circle +almost from the time of its birth. Nurseries are few and far +between. He is lashed into a chair by his mother's side at meals; +he accompanies her when she is attending to her household duties, +and often even when she is receiving her visitors. But if this +were all I would say nothing. French children are brought up in a +similar way; and in their case it certainly has its advantages as +far as the child is concerned, whatever may be the inconvenience +to the adults amongst whom it is brought. It is easy to avoid +families whose children make themselves nuisances to visitors. +But the middle and lower classes of Australians are not content +with the baby's supremacy in the household. Wherever his mother +goes, baby is also taken. He fills railway carriages and +omnibuses, obstructs the pavement in perambulators, and is +suckled <i>coram populo</i> in the Exhibition. There is no +getting away from him, unless you shut yourself up altogether. He +squalls at concerts; you have to hold him while his mother gets +out of the omnibus, and to kiss him if you are visiting her +house.</p> + +<p>It is little better when he gets old enough to walk and talk. +Having once made the household bow down before him, he is slow to +relinquish the reins of office. Possession is nine points of the +law. It requires a stern parent to make good the tenth. If the +child no longer cries or has to be kissed, he makes up for it in +other ways. He has breathed the free air of Australian +independence too early to have much regard for the fifth +commandment. To make himself a nuisance till he gets what he +wants is the art he first learns and to this end he considers all +means legitimate. Strict and <i>a fortiori</i> severe measures +towards children are at a discount in Australia, and, considering +the surrounding circumstances, by no other means can they be +rendered tractable. The child has no restrictions put on his +superabundant animal spirits, and he runs wild in the most +extraordinary, and often to elders, unpleasant freaks. Certes the +second stage is but little less unpleasant than the first,</p> + +<p>When it gets into petticoats or breeches, the child must be +treated of according to sex. And here <i>place aux +demoiselles</i>, for from this time upwards they are a decided +improvement upon their brothers. The Australian schoolgirl, with +all her free-and-easy manner, and what the Misses Prunes and +Prisms would call want of maidenly reserve, could teach your +bread-and-butter miss a good many things which would be to her +advantage. It is true that neither schoolmistresses nor +governesses could often pass a Cambridge examination, nor have +they any very great desire for intellectual improvement. But the +colonial girl is sharper at picking up what her mistress does +know than the English one, and she has more of the boy's +emulation. Whatever her station in life, she is bound to strum +the piano; but in no country is a good pianoforte player more +rare, or do you hear greater trash strummed in a drawing-room. +Languages and the other accomplishments are either neglected or +slurred over; but, on the other hand, nearly every colonial girl +learns something of household work, and can cook some sort of a +dinner, yea, and often cut out and make herself a dress. She is +handy with her fingers, frank, but by no means necessarily fast +in manner, good-natured and fond of every species of fun. If her +accomplishments are not many, she sets little value on those she +possesses, and never feels the want of, or wastes a regret, on +any others.</p> + +<p>Almost all girls go to school, but the home-training leads to +little obedience or respect for their teachers, and the parental +authority is constantly interposed to prevent well-deserved +punishments. Accustomed to form judgments early and fearlessly, +each girl measures her mistress by her own standard; and if she +comes up to that standard, an <i>entente cordiale</i> is +established, the basis whereof is the equality which each feels +to subsist independent of their temporary relations.</p> + +<p>At seventeen my lady comes out, though for the last two, if +not three or four, years she has been attending grown-up dances +at the houses of friends, so that the edge of her pleasure has +long been dulled. School once left behind, she looks upon +marriage as the end and object of life; but it must not be +supposed from this that she makes any attempt to catch a husband. +Young men are plentiful enough, and she does not care when her +turn comes. That it is bound to come she takes for granted, and +accordingly is always on the look-out for it. The camaraderie +which exists between her and some half-a-dozen men may lead to +something with one of them; and meanwhile she has time to +ascertain their dispositions and turn their qualities over and +over in her mind till some one's attentions become marked, and +she makes up her mind that she is suited or the reverse. She has +danced too much before she came out to care much for it now; but +in a warm climate, where verandas and gardens lend themselves so +readily to flirtation, she retains a due appreciation of balls +and parties, and gets a far larger number of them than an English +girl of the middle class.</p> + +<p>On the average, colonial girls possess more than their share +of good looks; but 'beauties' are rare, and the sun plays the +deuce with complexions. The commonest type is the jolly girl who, +though she has large hands and feet, no features and no figure, +yet has a taking little face, which makes you say: 'By Jove, she +is not half bad-looking!' Brunettes are, of course, in the +majority; and every third or fourth girl has beautiful brown eyes +and an abundance of coarsish hair--which, by the way, she +probably dresses in an untidy knob, all corners and no +rotundity.</p> + +<p>Her manners have lost the boisterousness of school days, but +still often want toning down according to English ideas. Her +frankness and good-fellowship are captivating, and you feel that +all her faults spring from the head, and not from the heart. She +is rarely affected, and is singularly free from 'notions,' though +by no means wanting in ideas and in conversation of a not +particularly cultured description. With a keen idea of the value +of money and the benefits to be derived from its possession, she +never takes it into consideration in choosing her husband: her +ideal of whom is above all things 'manly'--the type that used to +be known under the description of 'muscular Christians.'</p> + +<p>In religion her views are not pronounced. She attends church +pretty regularly, but is entirely free from superstition, though +not always from intolerance. Adoration of the priesthood is not +at all in her line. For politics she cares nothing, except in +Victoria where naturally she espouses her father's side warmly, +but in an irrational, almost stupid, way. Art is a dead letter to +her, and so is literature, unless an unceasing and untiring +devotion to three-volume novels be counted under that head. To +music, according to her lights, she professes, and often feels, a +strong leaning.</p> + +<p>There is one thing about her that strikes you disagreeably in +society. It is her want of conversation with ladies and married +people. To a bachelor, to whom she has just been introduced, she +will chatter away nineteen to the dozen; but, even in her own, +house, she has no idea of the social duties. Marriage, in her +opinion, is a Rubicon, which, once crossed, if it does not +altogether debar from the pleasures of maiden and bachelorhood, +at least makes it necessary for married folk to shift for +themselves. To talk or dance with a married man would be a +terrible waste of time; and as for married women, she expects to +join that holy army of martyrs in the course of time, and will +then be quite contented with the same treatment as she has meted +out to others. The politeness which springs from a sense of duty +to others is little known to the Australian girl. If she likes +you, she will make herself very pleasant; but if you are not +worth wasting powder and shot on, you must expect to realize that +disagreeable truth in all its nakedness.</p> + +<p>In many things a child, she often looks forward to her wedding +for the mere festivity of the occasion, and thinks how jolly it +will be to have six bridesmaids, how nice she will look in her +bridal dress, and how the other fellows will envy her chosen one. +Generally marrying two or three years younger than the English +girl, she would consider herself an 'old maid' at twenty-three; +and for old maids she entertains the very minimum of respect, in +spite of their rarity in the colonies. Once married, she gives up +to a large extent, if not entirely, the pomps and vanities of +which she has had her full during spinsterhood, and devotes +herself to her household, children, and husband. She usually has +a large family, and in them pays for all the sins of her youth. +She has had her fling, and for the rest of her life she lives but +to serve her children and make them happy, recognising that in +the antipodes 'juniores priores' is the adopted motto.</p> + +<p>The Australian schoolboy is indeed a 'caution.' With all the +worst qualities of the English boy, he has but few of his +redeeming points. His impudence verges on impertinence, and his +total want of respect for everybody and everything passes all +European understanding. His father and mother he considers good +sort of folk, whom he will not go out of his way to displease; +his schoolmaster often becomes, <i>ipso facto</i>, his worst +enemy, in the never-ceasing, war with whom all is fair, and +obedience but the last resource. Able to ride almost as soon as +he can walk, he is fond of all athletic sports; but it is not +till leaving school that his athleticism becomes fully +pronounced: thus reversing the order observed in England, where +the great majority of the boys, who are cricket and football mad +at school, more or less drop those pursuits as young men. He is +too well fed and supplied with pocket-money ever to feel the need +for theft, but it is difficult to get him to understand Dr. +Arnold's views about lying and honour. Though not wanting in +pluck, he lacks the wholesome experience of a few good lickings, +and can easily pass his school-days without having a single +fight. He is quarrelsome enough, but his quarrels rarely go +farther than hard words and spiteful remarks. At learning he is +apt, having the spirit of rivalry pretty strong in him.</p> + +<p>In all but one or two schools classes are too much mixed to +make a gentlemanly tone possible, and such little refinements as +tidiness of dress are out of the question. When he is at home for +the holidays, his mother tries to dig some manners into him (if +she has any herself); but he has far too great a sense of the +superiority of the rising generation to pay more attention to her +than is exacted by the fear of punishment. Unfortunately, that +punishment is very sparingly made use of; and when it is used, it +takes a very lenient shape, public opinion being strongly against +corporal punishment, however mild, and according to children a +number of liberties undreamed of in the old country.</p> + +<p>Indoors the Australian boy is more objectionable than the +English one, because he is under less restraint, and knows no +precincts forbidden to him. Generally intelligent and observant, +he is here, there, and everywhere; nothing escapes him, nothing +is sacred to him. Of course his further development draws its +form and shape from his previous caterpillar condition, and when +he comes to take his place in mercantile or professional life, he +is equally disagreeable and irrepressible.</p> + +<p>But such a young 'gum-sucker' must not be confounded with the +ordinary middle-class Englishmen who form the majority of the +professional and business men one comes in contact with in the +present day. The native Australian element is still altogether in +the minority in everyday life, and the majority of adults are +English-born colonists. What modification then, you will ask, +does the middle-class Englishman undergo in Australia? In some +ways, a deterioration; in others, an amelioration. The +deteriorating tendency shows itself in an increased love of +dram--and especially spirit--drinking; in apparel and general +carelessness; in a roughening of manner and an increase of +selfishness. The improvement lies chiefly in greater independence +of manner and thought, in a greater amount of thought, in +enlarged and more tolerant views, in less reserve and +<i>morgue</i>, in additional kindness of heart, and in a more +complete realization of the great fact of human brotherhood.</p> + +<p>In Australia a man feels himself an unit in the community, a +somebody; in England he is one amongst twenty-seven millions, a +nobody. This feeling brings with it a greater sense of +self-respect and responsibility. Altogether, then, it may be said +that the balance of the modification is generally on the side of +improvement rather than of deterioration. The Englishman in +Australia improves more than he deteriorates. And this is the +more true the lower you descend in the social scale. It may be +doubted whether the really well-educated man--the 'gentleman' in +short, to use the word in its technical sense of a man well born, +well bred, and well educated--generally improves in the colonies. +As a rule, I should say he deteriorates. He cannot often find a +sufficiently large number of his equals within a sufficiently +small area, nor keep sufficiently amongst them not to lose +somewhat in manner and culture. He develops the breadth, as +distinct from the depth, of his intellect. He learns a great deal +which he did not know before from the life around him, but he +also forgets a great deal which he has learnt.</p> + +<p>The great tendency of Australian life is democratic, i.e. +levelling. The lower middle-class and the upper middle-class are +much less distinct than at home, and come more freely and +frequently, indeed continually, into contact with each other. +This is excellent for the former, but not so good for the latter. +In the generation that is growing up, the levelling process is +going much further. The small tradesmen's sons are going into +professions, and the professional men's sons into trades. You +have the same tendency in England, but not nearly to the same +extent.</p> + +<p>Slight as is the division between the middle-class and the +wealthy class, I ought perhaps to say a few words on the latter. +Practically, as well as theoretically, there is no aristocracy in +Australia, and the number of leisured men is yet too small for +them to form a class by themselves. Still every day their number +is increasing; and although they almost all do a certain amount +of work, it is rather because, if they did not, they would find +time lie heavy on their hands, than because there is any +particular need for it. The wealthy squatter--which low-sounding +word has in Australia become synonymous with aristocrat--spends +the greater part of the year in supervising his station, although +generally employing a manager, whose work bears much the same +relation to his own, as that of the permanent head of a +department does to that of his political chief. Whenever there is +a race meeting or any other attraction, the squatter comes down ( +<i>not</i> up as in England) to town and spends a few days or a +few weeks there, as the case may be. If he is a married man he +probably keeps a town house, where his wife lives the greater +part of the winter, which is the 'season;' if a bachelor, he +lives at his club, which supplies him with lodging as well as +board.</p> + +<p>But he finds it hard work to spend any lengthened period in +town. The clubs are deserted for the greater part of the day; +everyone else has his or her work to do, and a lounger becomes +equally a nuisance to himself and to his friends. With no tastes +for literature or art, and little opportunity for their +gratification if he should chance to possess them, he is thrown +utterly on his own resources, and these rarely extend beyond +drinking and gambling. Both these pursuits are more fitted for +gaslight than daylight, and if indulged in too freely during the +day, pall in the evening, so that he has literally nothing to do +from breakfast till dinner. He cannot race or play cricket +quotidianally, so that he soon returns to his station, where he +stops till the next race meeting.</p> + +<p>The wealth of Australia has not yet passed beyond the first +generation. The majority of the wealthy have themselves made +their fortunes, and are not inclined to let them be squandered by +their sons, at least during, their lifetime. The number of young +men with no regular employment is at present very small. And it +is well it should be so. Else we should feel all the evils of a +plutocracy, purified neither by education nor public +opinion--evils which have already made themselves apparent in the +political system of Victoria.</p> + +<p>The Australian aristocrat has the greatest contempt for +politics, and thereby has forged a collar for his own neck. The +'Berry blight,' as it is called, which has fallen over Victoria, +is, to a great extent, a reaction against the selfish and +inconsiderate policy of the squatters when they were in power. In +such a crisis the mob has no time to be just, remembering only +that the aristocracy were never generous. Politically, I fancy +that the squatters will never again obtain power, except under +conditions which will make a return to the old +<i>régime</i> impossible. Socially, there are yet evil +days before Australia.</p> + +<p>There is a great deal of truth in the old saying--that it +takes three generations to make a gentleman and there is no doubt +but that the second is infinitely the worst of the three. Shortly +the country will pass through a period when an unearned increment +will fall into the hands of a half-educated class, whose life has +nurtured in them strong animal passions; but I see no reason why +we should not pass through the social as we are passing through +the political crisis, and obtain a modified aristocracy in the +third generation, which in the fourth should become as profitable +to the country as an aristocracy well can be.</p> + +<p>At present the old squatter drinks and gambles; his son will +drink less, gamble more--though it was not a young man who +recently lost £40,000 in a night's sitting at a club in +Melbourne--and lead a wanton life; but he will probably have the +sense to educate his children thoroughly, instead of taking them +away from school at seventeen, as was done with himself; and the +grandson will obtain some cultivated tastes which will make a +fight for it with those he has inherited. In the fourth +generation there should be an aristocracy, with as much +similarity of character and disposition to the existing English +aristocracy as the different circumstances of the two countries +will permit.</p> + +<p>The life of a wealthy woman in Australia is <i>ennuyeux</i> to +a degree. If she is a lady by birth and education, she must +necessarily feel that the advantages which wealth bestows are +squandered upon such provincialism as she is perforce subjected +to. To reign in hell is, after all, a very low ideal, and one +which can only be entertained by an inferior nature, so long as +heaven remains within reach. There are, of course, advantages in +being rich even in Australia; but the wealthy lady will naturally +draw comparisons between these and those which the same amount of +money would procure for her in London or Paris. She can import +dresses from Worth's, and carriages from Peters', but she cannot +choose them for herself; and if they should be really admirable, +who is there to appreciate their superiority to the surrounding +fashions?</p> + +<p>'How on earth am I to get on in Adelaide,' said a musician of +considerable merit to me, 'when, as you know, there is no one +with whom I can provoke comparisons?' The very superiority of the +man was fatal to his success. And so it is with the Australian +lady of taste. Nor does the misfortune stop there. Unless she +makes frequent visits to centres of taste, I will defy any woman +to retain her appreciation of good taste. Her own taste gets +dulled by the want of means of comparison. You will perhaps say +that taste in her surroundings is not everything which wealth can +bring to a woman. But if you come to reflect for a moment, you +will see that in the more comprehensive meaning of the phrase it +is. Dress is but one example of the surroundings which a woman +covets. I have chosen it because it is perhaps the commonest, +though of course not by a long way the highest,</p> + +<p>But wealthy ladies 'to the manner born' are not so numerous in +Australia that I need dwell long on the drawbacks of their +position. It is at any rate happier than that of the +<i>parvenue</i>, unless the mere fact of being +<i>arrivée</i> confers any special enjoyment. At what has +she arrived? At carriages, at dresses, at houses and furniture, +and at servants of a style she is totally unaccustomed to and +unfitted for. When you tremble before your butler, and have to +learn how to behave at table from your housekeeper, wealth cannot +be unalloyed pleasure. Without education and taste, the +<i>parvenue</i> has small means of enjoying herself except by +making a display which costs her even more anxiety and trouble +than it does money. Wiser is the rich woman who contents herself +with the same style of life as she was accustomed to in her +youth, adding to it only the things that she really wants--a more +roomy house, a couple of women-servants, and a buggy. Thus she +can feel really comfortable and at home; but unfortunately for +their own and their husbands 'peace of mind' these poor women are +too often ambitious to become what they are not. Even leaving +aside the discomforts which are always allied to pretentiousness, +the poor rich woman has a hard time of it. What can she do with +herself all day long? She has not gone through that long +education up to doing nothing which enables English ladies of +means to pass their time without positive boredom. She has no +tastes except those which she does not dare to gratify, and +becomes a slave to the very wealth whose badge she loves to +flaunt.</p> + +<p>The Australian working-man is perhaps too well paid to suit us +poor folks who are dependent upon him; but, for all that, +comfortable means bring an improvement in the man as well as in +his condition. It is very trying to have--as I recently had--to +go to four plumbers before I could get one to do a small job for +me, and still more trying to find the fourth man fail me after he +had promised to come. Such accidents are of everyday occurrence +in colonial life, and they make one doubt the advantages of a +wealthy working-class. But, independent and difficult to please +as the colonial working-man is, his carelessness is only a +natural consequence of the value set on his labour. Provided he +does not drink, you can get as good a day's work out of him as at +home. He will pick his time as to when he will do your job, and +hesitate whether he will do it at all; but having once started on +it, he generally does his best for you. Too often the sudden +increase of wages is too much for his mental equilibrium, and a +man who was sober enough as a poor man at home, finds no better +use for his loose cash than to put it into the public-house till. +But as a class I do not think Australian working men are less +sober than those at home. Those who are industrious and careful +in a very few years rise to be masters and employers of labour, +and are at all times so sure of constant employment that it is no +wonder they do not care about undertaking odd jobs. If their +manner is as independent as their character, I am far from +blaming them for it, though occasionally one could wish they did +not confound civility and servility as being equally degrading to +the free and independent elector. But when you meet the man on +equal terms in an omnibus or on other neutral ground, this cause +of complaint is removed. Where he is sure of his equality he +makes no attempt to assert it, and the treatment he receives from +many <i>parvenu</i> employers is no doubt largely the cause of +intrusive assertion of equality towards employers in general. +Politically he is led by the nose, but this is hardly +astonishing, since, in nine cases out of ten, his electoral +qualifications are a novelty to him. He carries his politics in +his pocket, or what the penny papers tell him are his pockets; +or, if he rises above selfish considerations he is taken in by +the bunkum of his self-styled friends. But in what country are +the free and independent electors wiser? Happily for Australia, +his Radicalism rarely lasts long, if he is worth his salt. He +becomes in a few years one of the propertied class, has leisure +to learn something of the conditions under which property is best +preserved and added to, and thus--according to the admission of +the leading Radical paper--Conservatism is constantly encroaching +on the ranks of Liberalism. Except under very rare circumstances +poverty in Australia may fairly be considered a reproach. Every +man has it in his power to earn a comfortable living; and if +after he has been some time in the colonies the working-man does +not become one of the capitalists his organs inveigh against, he +has only himself to blame.</p> + +<p>Of the three sections into which the working-class may be +divided--old chums, new chums, and colonials--the first-named +are, on the whole, the best. For the most part they began life +with a superabundance of animal spirits, and a love of adventure, +which have been toned down by a practical experience of the +hardships they dreamed of. They certainly drink most and swear +most of the three sections, but with all their failings there are +few men who can do a harder day's work than they. Barring pure +misfortune, there is always some good reason for their still +remaining in the class they sprang from. Though this is not +always strictly true, since a good many of them began life higher +up in the world than they are now. Still I prefer them to the +pepper-and-salt mixture which has been sent out under that +happy-go-lucky process--free immigration. When the colonies were +so badly in want of population, they could not stop to pick and +choose. Hence a large influx of loafers, men who, without any +positive vice, will do anything rather than a hard day's work, +and who come out under the impression that gold is to be picked +up in the streets of Melbourne. Under the name of 'the +unemployed' they are a constant source of worry to the +Government, whom they consider bound to give them something light +and easy, with 7s. 6d. or 8s. a day, and give rise abroad to the +utterly false impression that there am times when it is hard for +an industrious man to get work in Australia. Of course many of +our immigrants have become first-rate workmen, but such men soon +rise in the social scale.</p> + +<p>The best workman when he chooses, and the most difficult to +get hold of, is the thoroughbred colonial. Being able to read and +write does not, however, keep him from being as brutal as +Coupeau, and, except from a muscular point of view, he is often +by no means a promising specimen of colonization. It is from this +section of the community that the 'larrikins,' as they are +called, are recruited, roughs of the worst description, insulting +and often robbing people in Melbourne itself, and moving about in +gangs with whose united force the police is powerless to cope. +Sometimes they break into hotels and have 'free drinks' all +round, maltreating the landlord if he protests. In a younger +stage they content themselves with frightening helpless women, +and kicking every Chinaman they meet. On all sides it is +acknowledged that the larrikin element is daily increasing, and +has already reached, especially in Melbourne, proportions which +make it threaten to amount to a social clanger within a few +years. Of late their outbreaks have not been confined to +night-work, but take place in open daylight, <i>coram populo +et</i> police. No one exactly knows how to meet the difficulty, +and What shall we do with our larrikins?' is likely to replace +the former popular cry of 'What shall we do with our boys?' to +which some ingenious person furnished the obvious answer, 'Marry +them to our girls.' Corporal punishment for corporal offences is +in my opinion and that of most of the serious portion of the +community, the only remedy which is likely also to act as a +preventive; but however desirable it may be acknowledged to be, +there is a difficulty in bringing it into use in communities +whose sympathies are so essentially democratic as those of +Victoria and New South Wales--for in Adelaide the police has +still the upper hand. The votes of these very larrikins turn the +scale at elections. Their kith and kin form a majority of the +population, and therefore of the electorate. However much a +member of Parliament or a Minister may recognise the necessity of +meeting a social danger, he can hardly afford to do it at the +expense of his seat.</p> + +<p>At the time of the Kelly trial practical demonstration of the +latent sympathy with crime in Melbourne was afforded. Thousands +of persons, headed by the Chairman of Committees of the House of +Assembly, actually agitated for the reprieve of the most +notorious, if not the greatest, criminal in the annals of +Australia, a man whose murders were not to be counted on the +fingers; and all this because for over two years he had set the +police at defiance, and after a life of murder and rapine had, +shown the courage of despair when his only choice was between +being shot by a policeman or hung on the gallows. In many +respects, as, I have elsewhere intimated, our free political +system makes the social outlook here far more promising than in +Europe; but larrikinism is a peculiar danger already well above +the horizon, against which we seem powerless to deal. Some set it +down to the absence of religious teaching in the State schools, +but its real point and origin seems rather to lie in the absence +of parental authority at home and the unpopularity of the old +proverb: 'Spare the rod and spoil the child.' <a name= +"townlife-10"></a></p> + +<h2>SOCIAL RELATIONS.</h2> + +<p>My last letter was necessarily, from the nature of its +subject, a little flaky--a charge to which all these notes must +more or less plead guilty. Though the heading of this one differs +slightly, it must practically be a continuation of the same +subject.</p> + +<p>The first social relation, like charity, begins in the family +circle, and was incidentally touched upon in my last. Between +husband and wife the relations in Australia are, on the whole, +probably as satisfactory as in any other part of the world. Both +generally marry from love, and whatever may be the general effect +of love-matches, it cannot be denied that more than any others +they tend to promote pleasant relations between the 'two +contracting parties,' as the French would call them. Amongst the +wealthy, as everywhere else, there cannot of course be the close +marital intimacy of the middle classes; but not only is +infidelity less common than in London, but moreover, the +proportion of the wealthy who keep up the style which produces +the quasi-separation of domestic life is far smaller. Husband and +wife have grown rich together; they have taken counsel together, +and lived an open life, as far as each other are concerned, ever +since they were married. Against this the usages of society, +dressing-rooms and lady's-maids are of little avail. You may +chase the second nature out by the door, but it jumps in again at +the window.</p> + +<p>In the middle and lower class the comparatively cribbed, +cabined, and confined existence is also of the greatest service +to that community of thought and action upon which conjugal +happiness to so large an extent depends. Domestic occupations +also occupy the thoughts of the wives, and business those of the +husbands, so continually, as to leave few moments of mental +vacuity for Satan to introduce mischief into. Of an evening the +clubs are almost deserted, and their few occupants are nearly all +bachelors, or married men who have left their wives in the +country, having come down to town themselves on business. Drink +must be recognised as a factor on the opposite side, and a by no +means unimportant one; but there are many women who have no +objection to their husbands drinking, so long as they either +drink at home or come straight thither from the public-house.</p> + +<p>I wish I could give as favourable a view of the parental +relations. They are undeniably the weak point of family life in +the colonies. During childhood a certain obedience is of course +enforced; but public feeling is strong in favour of the naughty +boy and wilful girl, looking as it does upon these qualities as +prophetic of future enterprise. So many of our best colonists, it +must be remembered, were eminently wild in their younger days, +that it is no wonder they think 'there is something' in the +self-willed child. Their own life has been too much of a struggle +for them to be able to appreciate at their true value the gentler +qualities which in themselves would have been of little worth, +the victory in their earlier days having been to the physical +rather than to the intellectual. The child is naturally--for +surely disobedience is an 'original sin' with nine children out +of ten--only too disposed to take advantage of the views held by +its parents, and gradually as it grows older, disobedience passes +into disrespect and want of respect into want of affection. Such +a thing as perfect confidence, in the French sense of the word, +between a parent and his or her grown-up child is most rare. +'Everyone for himself, and devil take the hindmost, is the motto +of the young Australian. He cares for nobody, and nobody need +care for him, so far as his thoughts on the subject are +concerned. Maternal affection cannot, however, be easily +quenched, and consequently the child gets all the best of the +bargain.</p> + +<p>Social relations are wider, therefore less easy to speak about +decidedly, than family relations. In the early days there were +but few social distinctions. Everyone was hail-fellow-well-met +with everyone else, and the common struggle merged all +differences of birth, wealth, and education. In a charming little +work called 'Some Social Aspects of South Australian Life,' which +was published in Adelaide about two years ago', a most realistic +description is given of the sympathetic mode of living of the +first settlers; and as it has never been reprinted in England, I +extract a few sentences here and there, which may give some idea +of the primitive existence there described:</p> + +<p>'The necessaries of life were produced in abundance, the +comforts were slowly reached, and the luxuries had to be done +without. There was very little difference in the actual +circumstances of different classes--some had property and some +had none' (this was before the gold-fever); 'but property was +unsaleable for money, and barter only exchanged one unsaleable +article for another' (and yet these are the people who nowadays +groan about <i>money</i> going out of the colony, and would +measure its prosperity by the excess of exports over imports).* +[* The parentheses are my own.] 'Nobody employed hired labour who +could possibly do the work himself, and everyone had to turn his +or her hand to a great deal of miscellaneous work, most of which +would be called menial and degrading in an old community. . . +Thus gradually the financial position of the colony improved by +means of the well-directed industry of the settlers, and they +owed much to the helpfulness and good management of the wives, +sisters, and daughters of each household. . . Perhaps, never in +any human society did circumstances realize the ideas of the +community of labour and the equality of the sexes, so fully as in +South Australia in its early days.' Youth and love, hope and +trust, were the only stock in marriage of young couples, so that +a new-comer is said to have remarked, 'Why, it is nothing to get +married here! A few mats, and cane-bottomed chairs, and the house +is furnished.' A wife was not looked on as a hindrance or an +expense, but as a help and a comfort,' says Miss Spence. 'Girls +did not look for establishments; parents did not press for +settlements . . . There was only one carriage in the colony for +many years, which though belonging to a private person, was hired +for such as wanted to do the thing genteelly . . . .' Social +position depended on character, and not on income.</p> + +<p>The same writer lays herself fairly open to the charge of +being <i>laudator temporis acti</i> in her description of the +present as compared with the past social life of the colonies, +though I am quite prepared to agree with her remark, that 'in +proportion as the conditions of life become more complex, they +should be met by more ingenuity, more culture, and a deeper sense +of duty;' and that 'the suddenness of our accumulation of wealth +has scarcely prepared our little community for some necessary +modifications of our social arrangements.' Therein lies the whole +source of both what is best and what is worst in the present +social life of Australia. Marriage, though still almost entirely +an affair of love, has yet learnt to take £. s. d. into +consideration, and none but the lowest class would be satisfied +with the kind of furniture described above. Education has +improved and is improving still more, far as it yet is from being +up even to the English standard. More leisure has also produced +novel reading with its consequent affectation of aristocratic +ideas and prejudices and disproportionate estimate of essentials +and superficials.</p> + +<p>Already each Australian capital has its 'society,' +distinguished from the [Greek characters] almost as clearly as in +London or Paris. In its own way, indeed, these societies are more +exclusive than those of the older metropolises, which from their +very size obtain a certain breadth of view. For obvious reasons +the component parts are not altogether similar, but their +governing idea is as much the same as the difference of +circumstances will permit. It would be difficult to define +exactly what opens the doors of Australian society, but is the +shibboleth any more definite in London? Distinction of some kind +or other must be presupposed. If that of birth, it must either be +allied to rank or have strong local connections. Is it not the +same in London, though, of course, on an infinitely larger and +grander scale? If that of wealth, it must storm the entrance by +social expenditure and pachydermatousness to rebuff. Wealth is, +of course, the predominating factor here, as rank in London; +because while in the latter case birth calls in wealth to furnish +it with the sinews of war, in the former wealth calls in birth to +teach it how to behave itself. Position is of small account, +though the line is always drawn at shopkeepers <i>in esse</i>. +Provided the candidate has cut the shop and opened an office, he +can be admitted on payment of the social fees, but only gradually +and laboriously unless his wealth is beyond criticism. The man +who sells you a dozen of wine in the morning sits by your side at +Government House or Bishop's Court in the evening, and the +highest officials are not unfrequently the least esteemed +socially. A happy consequence of this social jumble is, that with +certain exceptions, which are, of course, getting more numerous +as we advance in civilization, a gentleman can do anything here +and still be considered a gentleman, provided he behaves himself +as such; and the semi-menial employments of distressed +gentlewomen do not bring with them one half the loss of social +position that they generally entail in England. The smaller +community is more narrow-minded than the large, but its sight is +keener and more accurate in details. It is true that art, +science, and literature are entirely without status in Australia, +but then personal distinction of whatever kind is far more +get-at-able than at home.</p> + +<p>If it strikes a visitor as utterly ridiculous that a society, +the greater part of whose members are essentially +<i>parvenus</i>, should assume the tone and mode of thought of an +old-world aristocracy, we must yet acknowledge that that society +keeps up a great many traditions of refinement which are in great +danger of being lost sight of in colonial life. The outward and +visible sign may be absurd, but the inward and spiritual grace is +none the less concealed within it. That Australian society keeps +up a number of social superstitions which might with advantage +have died out during the journey across the ocean is undeniable, +but it is also true that it preserves at least an affectation of +higher civilization. It contains the majority of the gentlemen +and ladies by birth and education in each city, and they go far +to leaven the whole lump. The <i>parvenu</i> has the merit of +seeking after better things, and his imitation of aristocracy, if +it necessarily falls far short of the mark, at least removes him +a step or two above the way of thinking common to the class he +sprang from. His daughters, with that superior adaptability +inherent in women, are quick to catch the manners of the +gentlewomen who move in their circle, and become infinitely +superior to their brothers, even when the latter have been sent +to finish their education at Oxford, or Cambridge. It is +wonderful how much more easily a lady can be manufactured than a +gentleman.</p> + +<p>Of the hospitality of 'society' in all the towns it is +impossible to speak in too high terms. The stranger has but to +bring a couple of good introductions to people who are in +society, and provided he be at all presentable, the doors of the +most exclusive houses will be opened to him. Young men of +education and manners are everywhere at a premium, and the +colonies are still small enough for it to be a distinction to +have just come out from England. Unless you know your company it +is always wise to avoid asking questions about or making +reference to the earlier days of the people you meet. For all +that, you will hear everybody's history, often, I suspect, with +additions and exaggerations. In such small communities everybody +knows everything about everybody else, and the man who has gone +down in the world naturally delights in telling you of the time +when he bought half a pound of sugar at Jones's shop, or when +Brown worked in his garden while Mrs. Brown was his +scullery-maid, Jones and Brown being now two social leaders.</p> + +<p>Amongst men social distinctions are very slight. It is lawful +to be friendly with everybody and anybody in town, so long as you +do not visit at his private house. And yet for very obvious +reasons gentlemen are--except amongst the rising generation--much +more common than ladies. A number of wild young men of good +family and education have been poured out of England into +Australia ever since 1852, and many of them have become amongst +the most useful and respected colonists. But until recently there +was a paucity of ladies, and the majority of gentlemen had but +the choice between marrying beneath them or not at all. Hence +frequent <i>mésalliances</i>. You meet a man at the club, +and are delighted with him in every way. He asks you to his +house, and you find that his wife drops her h's, eats peas with +her knife, and errs in various little ways. I am purposely +thinking of no one in particular, but fear at least a dozen of my +acquaintances will think I am writing of them in making this +remark. And it is a sad sight to see a man dragged down in this +way, for very few men who marry beneath them can keep up the +manner and mode of living to which they were born and educated, +while those who do generally retain them at the expense of their +own married happiness. Nowadays there are certainly plenty of +young ladies in the towns, but for all that one constantly hears +of the sons of clergymen and army officers marrying the daughters +of grocers and farmers who were quite recently day-labourers. +With every freedom from caste prejudice, I am yet unable to see +anything but harm to the persons directly concerned in these +ill-assorted matches, whatever the good result to the community +may be.</p> + +<p>The centre round which society revolves is naturally +Government House, but a great many people go to Government House +who cannot be considered to be in society. To have been to a +Government House ball is no more, <i>mutandis mutatis</i>, than +to go to a Court ball at home. Neither will give you admission +into the inner circle; and though that circle may not offer any +but specious advantages and have but little to recommend it in +preference to three or four other societies in the town, +admission into it is coveted, and inclusion within its boundaries +is as much a reality as if its walls were of stone. In Melbourne +the scattered position of the suburbs and the extent of the +population splits up the <i>élite</i> into several local +societies, but there is yet one <i>crême de la +crême</i>. In Sydney the same thing takes place, though the +local societies are less numerous; but in Adelaide there is +practically only one 'society', the local aggregations of +individuals not being deserving of any more dignified name than +'cliques.' Of the three societies, that of Sydney is on the +whole, I think, the best. At Melbourne there are probably a +larger number of cultivated persons, but the distance between the +suburbs and the more extravavagant mode of living limits their +sphere. The Adelaidians are perhaps the most English of all in +their way of thinking, but they are also by far the most +narrow-minded. For pure Philistinism I don't think I know any +town that equals it. Shut up in their own little corner, they +imagine themselves more select than Sydney and Melbourne circles, +because they are necessarily smaller. And yet for +kind-heartedness these gossip-loving Philistines are not easily +to be surpassed. As long as things go well with you they will +talk against you; but no set of people are less open to the +charge of neglecting friends in misfortune.</p> + +<p>Class relations are, on the whole, excellent; and this is the +more to the credit of the lower classes, because the plutocracy +is utterly selfish in character, and does not interest itself in +those social duties, which are proving so effectual a prop to the +nobility and landed gentry of England. A certain animosity +subsists between the squatters or pastoral lessees and the +selectors who purchase on credit from Government blocks of land, +which were formerly let to squatters. At times this breaks out in +Parliament or at elections, but in spite of a determined attempt +by a section of the Victorian press to pit the 'wealthy lower +orders' against the horny-handed sons of the soil, class feeling +rarely runs high for any length of time. The reason is, that the +working-class are too well off for the occasional high-handed +proceedings of the rich to affect them sensibly. For an agitation +to be maintained there must be a real grievance at the bottom of +it; and the only grievance that the Australian democrat can bring +forward is, that having obtained the necessaries, he cannot +without extra labour obtain also the luxuries of life.</p> + +<p>From figures I have already given as to rents, wages, and +prices in general, you will have gathered that the cost of living +is, broadly speaking, cheaper than in England as regards the +necessities of existence, but dearer in proportion to the +complexity of the article. Anything that requires much labour, or +that cannot readily be produced in the colony, is, dearer; but, +on the other hand, it should be remembered that money is more +easily obtainable. Protectionist duties and heavy freights form +an effectual sumptuary tax; and as most of the duties are <i>ad +valorem</i>, first-class articles are heavily handicapped, and a +premium put upon the importation of shoddy. The wine-drinker +finds that he has to pay ten shillings a gallon on all he drinks, +which should certainly entice him to drink good wine; but the +only practical result discoverable is the small quantity of wine +drunk as compared with beer and spirits. If few people keep +carriages, there are buggies innumerable in every town; and for +every man who keeps a horse in England, there are, +proportionately to the population, ten in Australia.</p> + +<p>But perhaps the greatest element in the cheapness of colonial +life is its comparative want of 'gentility.' The necessity to +keep up appearances is not one-sixth as strong as in England. The +earthen pot cannot altogether flow down stream in company with +the tin kettle, but it can more safely get within a shorter +distance of its metallic rival. Rich men live in miserable houses +and wear coats which their valets would have nothing to do with +at home; struggling men are less ashamed of struggling, and are +not made to feel the defects of their condition so keenly. In a +society, the position of whose members is constantly changing, +the style of life is of less importance. The millionaire of +to-day hadn't a sixpence yesterday, and may not have one again +to-morrow. His brothers, sifters and cousins are impecunious, and +in small communities poor relations are not easily got rid of. +Constant intercommunication is thus kept up between class and +class, rich and poor; they learn better to understand each +other's position, and a clearer understanding generally leads to +mutual respect.</p> + +<p>Again, the distribution of wealth is far more equal. To begin +with, there is no poor class in the colonies. Comfortable incomes +are in the majority, millionaires few and far between. This is +especially the case in Adelaide, where the condition of the +poorer class is better, and that of the richer worse than in any +of the other colonies. In Melbourne the masses seem worst off, +and the display of riches, if not the actuality thereof, is most +noticeable. In Sydney the signs of wealth are not wanting to an +examiner, but a superficial observer would say that there were +not half as many wealthy men as in Melbourne. Few South +Australians get beyond the comfortable stage, and, on the other +hand, a greater number reach it. 'Squatting,' of course, supplies +the largest section of the wealthy class; but, especially in +Melbourne, gold-mining and commerce have contributed a large +quota. <a name="townlife-11"></a></p> + +<h2>RELIGION AND MORALS.</h2> + +<p>In no country in the world is the legal freedom of conscience +more firmly established than in Australia. All Churches and sects +are absolutely equal in the eyes of the State; and any attempt to +upset this equality would be resented, not only by the united +forces of all the other denominations, but even by a majority of +the only two Churches--the Roman and Anglican--who would ever +dream of aiming at supremacy. But thorough as is the repudiation +by the great majority of the community of the principles of State +aid or control of religion, the two Churches which I have just +mentioned occasionally raise their voices against secular +education by the State, and make spasmodic appeals for State +contributions to their denominational schools, which, however +little likely to succeed, are not altogether without a rational +foundation. But this is the utmost limit which State recognition, +or rather the cry for it, is ever likely to reach.</p> + +<p>In times past the Church of England has struggled to regain +the position she formerly held in the older colonies; but now +whatever efforts she makes in that direction are confined to the +ambition of being <i>prima inter pares</i>--a position which is +vigorously and even bitterly attacked by the other Protestant +sects whenever she either tries to assert it or has it thrust +upon her. These ex-Dissenters have a lively remembrance of the +yoke they endured in the old country, and even now that the +spirit of supremacy has so completely died out, they spring up to +do battle against any formality that recalls it to them. Thus, a +few years ago the whole colony of South Australia was convulsed +on the question of the Bishop's right to follow the Governor and +precede the Chief Justice at official ceremonies, and peace +amongst the devout was only restored by the Bishop's graceful +relinquishment of a position to which his legal right was +undeniable. Even now the title 'My Lord' as applied to Bishops +acts as a red rag on many ex-Dissenting bulls, and they are as +jealous of the slightest official preference of the Church of +England as if their dearest religious liberties were therein +involved.</p> + +<p>Legal and even official equality do not, however, always mean +social equality; and the Church still retains a superior social +position, a shadow of her departed State authority, which to some +of her old competitors--especially the Congregationalists, +Baptists, and Wesleyans--is the more galling because they are +totally destitute of the means of assailing it. Happily, through +the wise conduct of the Bishops of Adelaide and Melbourne in +meeting ministers of other denominations on a common platform, +whenever the cause of Christianity or of good and right in any +way can be served thereby, and in showing sympathy with them in a +multitude of ways, this unreasonable jealousy is losing ground +and a better feeling springing up; but there are yet too many +colonists that have felt the disabilities of Dissent in the old +country who are unable to put on the armour of forgiveness, or +rather of forgetfulness in the new. The enemy has lost his sting, +but they will not allow him to live on the remembrance of his +past greatness without a reminder of his present impotence.</p> + +<p>This impotence is in all ways, except socially, a certain +reality; for while the ex-Dissenting bodies have thriven and +waxed numerous and powerful upon the bread of independence, the +Church has languished for want of her accustomed prop. +Accustomed, not only to support their own ministers, but also to +pay tithes and Church-rates for the benefit of their rival, the +ex-Dissenters have simultaneously had their burden lightened and, +for the most part, their incomes increased by the change of +country. Besides this, they have to a certain extent felt +themselves put upon their mettle to show their superiority to +their old master, and thus they have put their best foot +foremost, with the good result which always attends such efforts. +Their ministers, better paid, and holding a higher social +position than in England, have naturally become a superior class +of men as a whole to those in the old country. Every day they are +advancing, towards a higher standard of education and manners. +Nor has the gain in education and position been accompanied by, +as far as I can see, any loss in earnestness or deterioration in +work. No one sect is sufficiently preponderant to admit of +that.</p> + +<p>The friendly competition between them has been beneficial to +them all; and, in spite of rivalry, the spirit of toleration +between Protestant sects is thoroughly observed. Unfortunately, +this toleration is not extended to the Roman Catholics. Their +doctrines are so directly in opposition to the prevailing +democratic and Protestant spirit of the community, that they have +come to be regarded as Ishmaelites, if not as Amalekites, +occupying ground which ought to belong to the faithful. An +Anti-Popery cry would at any time command success; and numerous +and influential as the Catholics are, directly they begin to +assert their influence all the other religious bodies unite to +counteract, and end by suppressing it. For a spice of intolerance +in this respect, and for a general Philistinism in its views on +all subjects, Australia is indebted to the middle-class +Protestant sects, who form the most important element in the +community; but to them also, in a large measure, it owes its +political and social stability, and all those standard moral +qualities which are the only safe foundation for a superstructure +of intellect.</p> + +<p>Because I have spoken so warmly of the good influence which +the ex-Dissenting or Protestant sects have exercised in +Australia, it must not be supposed that the Church has been +altogether a laggard. Probably no section of the English clergy +has worked harder and more manfully than that which has been +stationed in Australia. It is no fault of theirs if their sphere +has been limited and their good influence less effective than +that of their rivals. But they have been labouring under the +misfortune of being unsuited to the people and circumstances +amongst whom and which they live and work. Their sphere has lain +almost entirely amongst the upper and lower classes, and it is +neither of these that governs Australia. Where they came into +contact with the middle class, the power in the land, they have +been placed in the position of the round man in the square hole. +The men of the middle class have asserted their social equality +to, if not their superiority over, their clergy; and this an +English gentleman finds difficulty in admitting, still more one +who considers himself the minister of God to the people, rather +than of the people to God. The Thirty-nine Articles do not admit +of his recognising the orders of his nonconformist brethren as +equal to his own, and this has been set down to pride. +Altogether, the Anglican clergyman has been put in a false +position, to extricate him from which is taxing all the tact of +so politic a prelate as Bishop Moorhouse.</p> + +<p>The habit of paying no direct stipend to their clergymen in +England has led to a reluctance to contribute good salaries for +their support out here, where they must rely solely upon such +support; and the lowness of salaries, if not the hardness of the +work, has made the Anglican clergy in Australia as a class +inferior to their English brethren. Of course the clergy still +contains a large proportion of gentlemen within its ranks, but on +the score of ability I fancy the ex-Dissenters have the +advantage. Recognising this, Bishop Moorhouse is endeavouring +both to shame Churchmen into raising the stipend of their clergy, +and to procure for the congregations not only English gentlemen, +but as far as possible hard-working, practical, broad-minded men. +He has a difficult task before him, for already there are plenty +of colonial clergymen who are either inferior to nonconformist +ministers in cultivation, or stubborn adherents to a +<i>régime</i> which is impossible in Australia. These +weeds must be pulled out before you can sow fresh seed; and yet +it is hard to call men weeds who are serving the Church according +to the best of their lights, faithful, hard-working men, or +conservative old gentlemen, who are doing or have done a great +deal of good work, and whose failings cannot be attributed to any +fault for which you can morally reproach them.</p> + +<p>The Church is slow to adapt itself to colonial life. Amongst a +preponderating lower middle-class element Nonconformity, or +rather what is better known as Protestantism, is very popular. +Low Churchmen find they can get a better sermon at the chapel, +and can be hail-fellow-well-met with their pastor in these +extraneous denominations. Thus the Church loses many of its +former adherents, and while Anglicanism still remains the +religion of the upper class, it can in no way pretend to be that +of even a majority of the community.</p> + +<p>The Roman Catholics are on a different footing. For them no +compromise is possible, and they cannot as Roman Catholics but be +a state within a state. From time to time the priesthood incites +them to aspire to political power, but hitherto none of these +aspirations have borne practical effect, except in strengthening +the hands of their adversaries. At present they are agitating +more or less vehemently in each colony for State support to be +given to their schools, declaring that it is monstrous that they +should be made to pay for a secular education of which their +religion prevents them from taking advantage.</p> + +<p>At first a section of the Anglican party, comprising nearly +all the clergy, joined in this cry, but it became so evident that +the bulk of the population was determined not to return to the +old system, that they are beginning to desert the Catholics, and +are now more wisely and with better chance of success attempting +to amalgamate with the other Protestant bodies to obtain the +admission into the State schools of religious teaching on a broad +Protestant basis; i.e., of all the doctrines which are held in +common by all Protestant denominations (except the Unitarians), +to the exclusion of all doctrines on which the different sects +differ. The bulk of the Dissenters are, I fancy, indifferent to +any junction with the Church of England, and would just as soon +have no religious teaching as what they call a 'pithless +jelly-fish' religious teaching. But on this point I think public +opinion is undergoing a change, and the formation of a Protestant +party probable. The Catholics would consider such a concession as +infinitely worse than the existing purely secular system. The +omission of true doctrine would, as regards them, amount to an +assertion of false; and on their side in opposing the Protestant +party will be the Jews, the Freethinkers, and a large number who +would rather have no religious teaching than any quarrel over it, +and who are fairly satisfied with the existing state of things. +If the Protestants ever become strong enough to win the day, it +can only be at the expense of establishing a Catholic grievance +so strong as to be exceedingly dangerous. The fact that all +parties are now out in the cold, satisfies a rough-and-ready +conception of justice with which the politician has always to +reckon, but that all the Protestants should get a concession, of +which it is impossible for the Catholics to avail themselves, +would be manifestly unfair. Political expediency and justice seem +to be alike against the claims of the Protestant party, unless it +be resolved to grant aid to Roman Catholics and Jews only, which +is a possible, though not very consistent, solution of the +question.</p> + +<p>Ritualism is unknown, though the word is often applied to the +one or two High-Church services in the capitals where the choirs +wear surplices, or, worse still, where there are candles on the +altar--a word which is almost as much objected to as priest. +Broad and Low are decidedly the prevailing phases of +Churchmanship, and every year the Broad is gaining upon the Low; +the Low element consisting of those who were brought up in +England, the Broad of the generation which has been born in the +country. As this begins to predominate, the barriers between the +Anglican Church and the other Protestant denominations will be +lowered, and in course of time the differences between them will +be reduced to preference in the mode of conducting service. The +first step towards this was taken by the Bishop of Melbourne some +two years ago in forming the Pastoral Aid Society, the object of +which is to provide religious services in outlying districts in +the bush, where there are not sufficient settlers of either the +Episcopalian or Presbyterian Churches to make it possible to +supply a minister of either. The Society arranges that services +should be held in these districts alternately, according to the +rites of each Church, and that they should be visited alternately +by ministers of each.</p> + +<p>This system has proved of enormous value in keeping religion +alive in the bush, and paved the way for an experiment not long +ago in Melbourne itself, which has met with such general +approval, that it may be said to mark the commencement of a new +era in the Church of England, and even in ecclesiastical history. +With the consent of the Bishop and of his church-wardens, Canon +Bromby invited a Presbyterian minister--Rev. Chaos. Strong-to +read the service and preach in St. Paul's Church, he himself +taking Mr. Strong's pulpit. This precedent is certain to be +largely followed; and it is easy to see that the courtesy which +is extended to Presbyterian ministers will before long be +extended to those of the other Protestant denominations, and that +exchanges of pulpits between them all will become frequent.</p> + +<p>Churches abound in every Australian city, especially in +Adelaide, where they are so numerous as to excite the ridicule of +the less devout Victorians. I forget how many there are; but, at +any rate, they bear a very small proportion to the public-houses, +against which I think they may fairly be pitted. Still, there are +plenty of them; and no sinner will easily be able to find an +excuse for not going to church in the non-representation of his +particular sect. When I say 'churches,' I am using the term in +the official and colonial sense, for the word 'chapel' stinks in +the nostrils of a Dissenting community, and many of these +churches are not much bigger than an ordinary dining-room, and, +having been built for profane purposes, have no external odour of +sanctity beyond a black board, whereon you are informed, in gilt +letters, that the building belongs to whatever sect it does +belong, and that Divine Service is held there by the Rev. +So-and-So at certain hours on the Sabbath. But from this you must +not suppose that the two older churches have a monopoly of the +religious buildings which can properly aspire to that name.</p> + +<p>For the most part, ecclesiastical architecture is rather a +weak point with these newly-confirmed religions; but in +Melbourne, with the exception of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, +they possess far the finest churches, and in Adelaide and Sydney +their edifices are at least imposing. The Roman Catholics., +however, carry off the palm. In both Melbourne and Sydney their +cathedrals are of grand proportions. In all three cities their +other churches are large and lofty. The Anglicans have small +cathedrals at Sydney and Adelaide; but, in spite of their +including a majority of the wealthiest individuals in the +colonies, they find a great difficulty in raising money for +building purposes.</p> + +<p>As far as my experience goes--and I have 'sat under' the +principal ministers of each denomination in each town at least +once--the preaching is, for the most part, very poor. There are +certainly two or three exceptions; but 'what are they,' one is +irreverently apt to exclaim, 'among so many?' The shallowness and +often halting pace of these discourses is doubtless due, in large +measure, to the colonial love of <i>extempore</i> preaching. For +sermons read out of a book public opinion of all denominations in +Australia has the greatest contempt. Like English lower +middle-class communities, again, they like a good pronounced type +of doctrine from the pulpit. The lower regions are popular; but +most successful is the denunciation of the people over the way +who bow down to wood and stone, and commit sundry other +iniquities for which Protestants are in no fear of being +indicted.</p> + +<p>As you notice a man's general appearance and manner before you +can form any idea of his character, so I have described churches +and denominations before entering seriously into the question of +religion. If Churchmen--who will probably form the majority of my +readers--cannot but be grieved at the picture I have drawn, of +the condition of the Australian Church, they may at least take +comfort when I state that the preponderating feeling of +Australian cities is essentially Christian, according to the +received meaning of the word. The citizens are, for the most +part, of a distinctly religious turn of mind. They may not be, +and--except in Adelaide--are not, such good church-goers as at +home; but they have not drunk of the poison of infidelity, nor +eaten of the sweets of indifference. Amidst the distractions of +colonial life this could hardly have been the case, but for the +Puritan origin of so many of the more influential among them, and +the healthy competition between the various sects, as well as the +freedom from State control and interference already alluded +to.</p> + +<p>As in social matters Melbourne may be regarded as the extreme +type of Australia, so in religious matters Adelaide affords the +easiest text to preach upon. Essentially lower middle-class, +Nonconformist and Radical in its origin, South Australia might +well claim the title of the New England of the Antipodes. Even to +the present day, it preserves signs and tokens of the Principles +on which it was founded: its progress having been the gradual and +healthy growth of a Pastoral and agricultural colony, undisturbed +by the forced marches of gold-mining. In Adelaide middle-class +respectability is too strong for larrikinism, and imparts a far +healthier social and moral tone than obtains in either Melbourne +or Sydney; but for these advantages the little town pays the +small but disagreeable price of Philistinism. Want of culture, +Pharisees, and narrow-mindedness find a more congenial home there +than anywhere else in Australia; but, to my mind, these are a +cheap price to pay for the piety and real goodness which they +cloak.</p> + +<p>The Adelaidian may be unpleasantly conceited and +self-satisfied in religious matters, but then he is kind and +hospitable, religious and moral, and not so sophisticated as the +Victorian, who is probably a more agreeable person superficially. +Yet in neither Melbourne nor Sydney can religion be said to be +wanting. It is kept more in the background than in Adelaide, and +there is not so much of it as in the smaller town; but the +religious character of all three, taken either singly or +together, will, I think, compare favourably with that of any +other modern city or cities.</p> + +<p>Sabbatarianism is fast on the decline. The Sabbatarians are +still noisy and determined enough to keep the majority of our +public libraries, picture galleries, etc., closed on Sunday, but +this is more from public indifference on the subject than from +any general feeling that they ought to be shut. This becomes +evident from a visit to the suburbs on a fine Sunday. All the +world and his wife in private carriages and buggies, carts and +omnibuses, even on Shanks's pony, come away for an airing; and if +the weather only allows of it, there are many of these +holiday-makers who make a day of it, leaving their homes early in +the morning, with but a few who return to evening service.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the Sunday is soberly kept. In the less +strict families music is allowed, but never cards or games of any +kind. The man who proposed such a thing in Adelaide would be +<i>anathema maranatha</i>. The general feeling, is, that the +Sunday was made too wearisome in England to be supportable in a +common-sense community; and Sabbatarianism is gradually losing +ground day by day, as fast as the keeping up of appearances will +allow. There was a great outcry on one occasion because the +Governor of Victoria travelled on a Sunday; but this was rather +because there is a general feeling that unnecessary labour should +as far as possible be avoided on a Sunday, than from +Sabbatarianism in the ordinary sense of the word.</p> + +<p>Morality has so long been connected with religion that it is +difficult to treat of the one without more or less trenching upon +the province of the other. But there still remains something to +be said on this score. The commandments which are most freely +broken in Australia, are <i>par excellence</i> the third, and +then the sixth, in its minor sense of crimes of violence in +general. Young Australia makes a specialty of swearing. High and +low, rich and poor, indulge themselves in bad language +luxuriantly; but it is amongst the rising generation that it +reaches its acme. The lower-class colonial swears as naturally as +he talks. He doesn't mean anything by it in particular; nor is it +really an evil outward and visible sign of the spiritual grace +within him. On the prevalence of larrikinism I wrote at length in +a former epistle.</p> + +<p>Drunkenness comes next on our list of vices. That Australians +as a nation are more drunken than Englishmen, I do not believe to +be the fact; but what is undeniable is, that there is a great +deal of drunkenness amongst those who may claim to be considered +the upper classes here. An English gentleman of the present day, +whatever his other sins may be, does not get drunk, because it is +'bad form,' if for no better reason. If in Australia we were to +exclude as 'outsiders' all the leading colonists who are in the +habit of intoxicating themselves--to say nothing of the chance +customers--'society' would dwindle down to nearly two-thirds its +present size. But there has been a very appreciable improvement +in this respect during the last half-dozen years, and the tone of +public feeling on the subject is gradually approximating to that +of English society. The old colonists are not of course expected +to change their habits in their old age, but with the young +generation there is less tippling, and port, sherry, and spirits +are being replaced by claret.</p> + +<p>Of drinking as apart from drunkenness I have already said +enough. The seventh commandment is one of those unpleasant +subjects which one must deal with, and which one would yet prefer +to leave alone. Generally speaking, one may say, that while our +upper and lower classes are, if anything, rather worse in their +morals than in England, we make up for the deficiency by a +decided superiority amongst the middle--both upper-middle and +lower-middle--class. Conversation is perhaps coarser here; but +whatever may be the reality, the moral standard generally +accepted is superior to that of London. Such immorality as exists +is necessarily of a coarser and more brutal type. In Melbourne, +especially, the social sin is very obtrusive. Sydney has of late +been acquiring an unenviable notoriety for capital offences, and +it is not advisable for ladies to walk alone in the streets there +at any time of the day. On the other hand, in Adelaide no woman +who does not give occasion for it need ever fear that she will be +accosted.</p> + +<p>Larrikinism is certainly a troublesome phase to deal with; but +burglaries are exceedingly rare, and it may fairly be said, that +life and property are more secure in the Australian capitals than +in any European towns of the same size. As in all large cities, +the scum or dregs of the population gradually localizes itself, +and thus becomes easier of control, even though it may increase +in amount. And here, Adelaide has an advantage in being seven +miles distant from its seaport, which naturally retains a large +portion of the noxious element. Melbourne has two disadvantages, +which tend to make it the sink of Australia--firstly in its +metropolitan character and central position, and secondly in the +admission of a large number of bad characters at the time of the +gold-diggings. Sydney, of course, retains traces of the old +convict element--an element, however, which must be acknowledged +to have contributed to the good as well as to the bad qualities +which are peculiar to New South Wales. <a name= +"townlife-12"></a></p> + +<h2>EDUCATION.</h2> + +<p>That very profound saying about the victory of the German +schoolmaster has not been without effect even in this distant +land. During the last decade education has been the question +<i>du jour</i> here; not that we have studied it physiologically +and psychologically and culture-logically, as you have been doing +in England. Theologies are a little beyond our ken, and we leave +it to the old country to discover, by a harmonious combination of +deductive and inductive teachings, what education really is. Our +educational crisis has been merely legislative and +administrative; but it is no small transformation for us to have +emerged from the chrysalis state of clerical and private-venture +instruction into the full butterflydom of a free, compulsory and +secular national system. And that not before it was time. +Whatever may be the demerits of uniformity, State-interference, +secularity, etc., etc., it does not leave room for the same +incompetence in teaching and ignorance on the part of the +learner, as frequently occurred in the old happy-go-lucky fashion +of schooling. Australian children have all now the chance of +learning the three R's according to the latest and most approved +fashion, and if their parents choose they can also get a +smattering of history, geography, and one or two other things +into the bargain.</p> + +<p>The history of our educational evolution is perhaps worth +summarizing. In the early days of colonization the Church of +England spun an educational cobweb, which it has been very +difficult to sweep away, and which still remains in a fragmentary +state as an evidence of past good service. When the education of +the first settlers was in danger of being altogether neglected, +the Church put forth the greatest energy to meet their wants, +raising funds both here and at home to provide schools and +teachers. The Catholics, and later on other denominations, +followed her example; and thus, at a time when the State was +fully occupied with attending to more primary wants, an education +was provided which, considering the circumstances and viewed +according to the lights of those days, was highly creditable. The +State subsidized these schools, as well as others which were +established by private venture in townships where no denomination +was sufficiently powerful to establish a school at its own cost. +Boards were appointed to control the subsidies and roughly +estimate the teaching of each school, and in New South Wales +these boards had also power to establish national as opposed to +denominational schools wherever opportunity offered. You can +easily imagine how inefficient and extravagant this subsidizing +arrangement proved. In small townships where a single State +school could have given a good education to all the children in +the district, there arose two or three denominational schools, +all drawing money from the public purse, and yet each too poor +and too small to teach well. At last in 1873 Victoria led the way +in discarding the denominational schools, and starting at +enormous expense an official system of free, compulsory, and +secular primary instruction throughout the colony.</p> + +<p>In 1876 South Australia followed suit, though in that colony +the schooling is only free to those who cannot afford to pay a +fee of fourpence per week for children under seven, and sixpence +for older children. Finally in 1880 New South Wales also threw +off the yoke, which she had only borne longer than her neighbours +because her old system was far superior to theirs. Here, too, a +weekly fee of threepence per child is demanded, but no family may +pay more than a shilling per week, however large in number, and +in cases of inability the fees are remitted.</p> + +<p>All three Education Acts agree in their main bearings, though +differing considerably on points of detail. The system of +district and local boards of advice is largely made use of in all +of them, but the compulsory clauses have never been properly +enforced, principally on account of the great difficulty of doing +so in thinly populated districts. The word 'secular' admits of +different variations in each province. In Victoria moral truths +form the limit. In New South Wales an hour a day is set apart for +religious instruction from the mouth of a clergyman or other +religious teacher, if the parents do not object. In South +Australia Bible reading is permissible, but comment on the text +forbidden. It is yet too early to pass a definite judgment on the +new systems, but it is already evident that the teaching in the +State schools is much better than in those denominational schools +which survive. Vigorous efforts are still being made by the Roman +Catholic Church, with some aid from the Anglicans, if not to +upset the new schools, which has become impossible, at least to +regain a subsidy for their own, but, I fancy, with less and less +chance of success every year, in spite of the fact that in +Victoria the agitation is at present especially strong. The fact +is, that while a large number of people agree that purely secular +education is to be deplored, no feasible scheme can be propounded +for introducing religious instruction into the State schools +which will satisfy the demands of the Catholics. The Protestant +denominations might without difficulty agree upon a common +platform, and it is on the cards that they may, in spite of the +Catholic opposition, succeed in introducing a modicum of +religious instruction into the State schools. The Catholics +maintain that false religious teaching is worse than no religious +teaching, and will be satisfied with nothing less than a subsidy +to their own schools.</p> + +<p>In spite of the yearly immigration of a number of children too +old to learn to read and write in Australia, statistics show that +in 1878, out of 100 boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 21, +no less than 93 could read and write--a result which must be +considered creditable to the old 'arrangements.' But what the +statistics cannot show is the meaning of that phrase 'read and +write.' It is in quality far more than in quantity that the +teaching of the State schools is superior. To my thinking, one of +the best superficial proofs of their success is the number of +middle-class children who are sent to them even in the towns. +Previously these children had often grown to be nine or ten years +old without schooling or teaching of any kind, and even now much +of the time of the secondary schools is wasted in teaching simple +primary subjects, which ought to have been at the boy's +fingers-ends before he came to them.</p> + +<p>With the exception of an experimental higher school for girls, +recently established at Adelaide, the State in Victoria and South +Australia takes no part in providing secondary education. In New +South Wales it has begun to do so, but as yet only on a very +limited scale. To meet the wants of the colonists in this +respect, two classes of schools have been established: +denominational and private venture. The first class have often +got good foundations, and taken as a whole they may be compared +to the middle-class schools, which have recently been established +in several parts of England, the two or three best rising +decidedly above the level of the best of these, but not being +able to reach that of English public schools even of the second +class. Nor in spite of the vigorous efforts that are being made +in some quarters will a public school tone ever be possible in +Australia, so long as the majority of the boys attending are +day-boarders. In all day-schools the authority of the head-master +is necessarily impaired by that of the father, and the discipline +of the school by that of the home; but here this is more than +usually the case. The parents even go so far as to trench upon +the schoolmaster's domain, reserving to themselves the right of +deliberately breaking the school rules, whenever it is convenient +to them to do so. 'Some parents,' writes the head-master of what +is probably the nearest approach to a public school in Australia, +'keep their boys from school for insufficient reasons, and +without leave previously obtained, to carry a parcel, or to drive +a horse, to have hair cut, or to cash a cheque, or simply for a +holiday.' Being an old English public-school boy and master, and +fresh to colonial ways, he writes thus in his report for 1875; +but in the report for 1880 he has to acknowledge that he cannot +maintain the rule he had introduced, that no boy should be absent +from school except on account of ill-health or stress of weather +or after obtaining the leave of the head-master,'because I have +not received adequate support.' 'The school cannot, +single-handed,' he continues, 'press the point, if parents do not +like it. The strain upon me, individually, is too great, if I +have to remonstrate with a parent, or to punish a boy, on an +average about twice a week.' The boys cannot be got to come back +to the school on a certain day, or prevented from leaving before +the term is over, many parents being of opinion that little is +done the first week, and that therefore they may as well keep +their sons at home.</p> + +<p>How hard this is for the schoolmaster who has his heart in his +work, it is easy to see; and I was quoting an instance where a +man of great resolution and perseverance had made an attempt +under circumstances perhaps more favourable than could be +obtained in any other school in Australia; for the school was +certainly the best in the colonies from a social standpoint, and +very nearly so intellectually at the time he took it. He himself, +too, was summoned from England with the avowed purpose of +introducing the public-school system. In no other Australian +school would a five-years struggle of this kind be possible. Nor +would this be a solitary instance, for though naturally one +cannot gather it from published reports, the whole existence of a +schoolmaster in Australia, who wishes to do his duty, and +understands what that duty is, must be, on many important points +of discipline and sometimes even of teaching, one continual +struggle with the parents. In too many schools the parent not +only uphold their boys in direct disobedience to their masters, +but even encourage them in it out of personal dislike to them. In +a small community, the master who dares kick against the parental +goads soon finds the town too hot to hold him. He has but one +choice, either to sail with the parental wind, or to lower his +canvas altogether; and though a man of tact may make some +progress by trawling and tacking, at the best he must feel +disappointed at heart and his interest in his work half gone.</p> + +<p>Turning to the schools themselves. The divergence is so +considerable, that any remarks I make can have but a very general +application. At the best, the social tone is better than at your +middle-class schools; at the worst--I am still only speaking of +grammar schools and denominational colleges, the highest class of +secondary schools--it is no worse; while the moral tone never +falls to so low a level, and in some cases almost rises to that +of second-rate public schools at home. The Church of England +grammar schools are naturally the best in social tone, the boys +being drawn from a better class of parents; and I am by no means +sure that the morals and manners of boys do not, to a certain +extent, go together. In the special sense of the word 'morality,' +the best colonial schools can, I think, challenge comparison with +your, public ones; but the regard for truth needs strengthening. +On the other hand, theft is almost unknown. The same master from +whose reports I quoted above, tells me that he finds colonial +boys quite as tractable and amenable to discipline as English, +when the authority over them is paramount; but in most schools +this is far from being the case, the fault often, no doubt, lying +with the master's want of tact. I still have a lively remembrance +of the difficulty I had in keeping discipline on an occasion when +I helped to examine a well-known college; but then, even at the +best English public schools, the upper forms have a disposition +to 'try it on' when a new hand is set over them, as my own +reminiscences tell me.</p> + +<p>In the Victorian Schools, and in secondary, as in higher +education, Victoria offers infinitely superior advantages to +those of the other colonies combined. A feeling of <i>esprit de +corps</i> exists; not so strong, perhaps, as in English public +schools, but very strong considering the number of day-boys. In +the other colonies it does not take root at all firmly, or else +degenerates into party spirit--a tendency which it also shows in +Victoria, where it is moulded into better form by the masters. In +most schools the prefect system has been established, of course +with large modifications. It has difficulties to struggle against +in the democratic spirit of the country, and in the early age at +which the majority of boys leave school; but in its working shape +it seems to do good. This is especially the case at one or two +Victorian colleges, where the masters have established a mutual +feeling of trust between themselves and the boys; but at too many +the natural opposition remains. The masters get too easily +disgusted at what they consider the rough manners and ways of the +boys, and are contented to leave them to their own devices, so +long as they get through their work and obey the rules. +Consequently the boys become rougher and less amenable. Another +difficulty in the path of good discipline and tone throughout the +schools is the too advanced age at which boys come there.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest difficulties a head-master has to contend +with is, that there are practically no preparatory schools, even +in Victoria, to feed the large ones; and often, through a sudden +rise of his parents' circumstances, or from some other reason, a +boy is sent to school for the first time, at fifteen or sixteen, +knowing nothing beyond the three R's. Others are taken away in +the midst of school-work, either to go to Europe with their +parents, or because times are bad, and then brought back after a +couple of years with formed habits of idleness and independence +which it is difficult to subdue. Looking at the last report of +the Melbourne Grammar School, I find the average age of the upper +sixth to be 17 1/2 of the first form 13 1/3; but I fancy that at +the majority of schools the averages would be quite a year +younger in both forms.</p> + +<p>At schools, as at home, more liberty has to be conceded to +Australian than to English boys, and the circumstances of their +life make them more fitted for it. But masters complain that +parents of day-boarders do not take enough trouble to see that +their boys work, and leave them too much choice of studies. This +latter defect results from the strong feeling in favour of +individuality amongst colonists, which leads them to favour the +idea of each boy from the first striking out a line for himself, +without considering how far he is a competent authority as to his +own capabilities. Where parents do not interfere, obedience to +rules is generally well enforced and that, although punishments +are much lighter than in England, and the cane is only brought +into use for extreme offences. The staff of masters is usually +fairly strong as regards ability and attainments, but, as is too +often the case in England, the majority of them are neither +trained teachers, nor even with an aptitude for teaching; they +have simply taken to this particular profession because they +could get more immediate return from it than from any other. The +head-masters, or rather those of recent appointment, are, as a +rule, well chosen. Their salaries run from £800 to +£1,200 a year; and you can get either a first-class man, +whose health prevents him from remaining in England, or a good +second-rater for that sum. In some schools the council or +permanent board of governors work excellently with the +headmasters; but too often the Australian dislike to absolute +authority in whatever shape or form is so great as to induce the +council to become meddlesome; and unduly interfere with the +master.</p> + +<p>So much for the constitution of the school. The work though +also modelled after the English system, diverges from it +considerably to suit local requirements. English public-school +training is directed to lead up to University teaching; thereby +losing in amplitude and finish, but gaining in density and +stability of groundwork. But here, although the majority of boys +matriculate, they do not go to the University; and, to suit them, +the University has itself been forced to widen its basis. It has +become, to a large extent, an examining body for a kind of +<i>Abenturienten</i> certificate, and of necessity the +matriculation examination which serves this purpose has had to +extend over a wider area. These two circumstances, reacting the +one upon the other, have kept the school-teaching wide, whereby, +of course, it loses something in depth. Thus the master of a +leading school complains of the little time that is given to +classics--only less than a quarter of the total school-hours to +Latin, and no more to Greek, which is, moreover, an optional +subject.</p> + +<p>But before you begin to blame our system--which, I may +prophesy, will soon have to be adopted in England--you must +remember the central fact that nine Australian boys out of ten +finish their education when they leave school, i.e. at sixteen or +seventeen. Four of the nine go into business, three into the +bush, and the other two directly into professions. Obviously the +interests of the nine are of far more importance than those of +the one, and it is for their benefit that the system of education +must be arranged. As the country advances in civilization, we may +reduce the proportion of those who have to face the world +directly they leave school to 80 or even to 75 per cent.; but +even then it is only possible to consider the interests of the +minority to a certain extent. I will grant that that extent +should be greater than the numerical proportion, because the aim +of a school must keep a certain elevation if it intends to keep +above the average of schools; but it is impossible to make a silk +purse out of a sow's ear, and the <i>main</i> bearings of the +school must reflect the purpose for which the majority of boys +come there, if it is to be of any service, or to achieve any +legitimate success.</p> + +<p>For my own part, I am not altogether inclined to regret the +little attention that is paid to Latin and Greek. Mr. Matthew +Arnold's complaint of half-culture has always seemed to me to +savour of the pedagogue, and his school of the prig--though I use +these words in the better shade of their meaning. It would, I +believe, be a gain if the splitting of the educational system +into denominational schools had not taken place. A school with +200 boys--the usual size of our largest--cannot give the twofold +training, classical and modern, side by side, as most of your +public schools are doing now; but I am not sure that what the +classical side gains by such a division, is not lost by the +modern side as compared with the homogeneous system.</p> + +<p>School-work nowadays cannot be mere training and +foundation-laying. It would be absurd to expect it to cover every +department of the higher education, but there is a happy mean +discoverable between the two. A compromise can be established by +which, while a preference is given to such studies as science and +mathematics, which may be held to represent the inductive and +deductive training, boys may yet carry away from school a +reasonable amount of practical knowledge, which, if they do not +allow it to get altogether rusty, can be of use to them in its +direct application to their after-life, as well as in its +indirect influence. To meet some such views as these, the heads +of our best schools are allowing considerable latitude of +subjects in their upper classes; but in most cases it would +probably be better for the man if the boy's future career, being +once settled, and his own and his parents' tastes consulted, the +decision as to what optional subjects he should pursue were left +with the head-master, the parent, of course, retaining a right of +veto.</p> + +<p>But I am lapsing into an educational dissertation, and must +hasten back to colonial school-work. Leaving out of consideration +exceptionally clever boys, the average of learning at our better +grammar schools is higher than in middle-class ones, which form +the fairest standard of comparison obtainable, but lower than at +public schools. The four or five top boys in the upper sixth +would invariably be in the sixth at Harrow or Rugby: at times +eight or ten would. The rest of the upper sixth would probably be +well up in the upper fifth, or in what at Rugby is called the +'Twenty,' while the lower sixth would compare with the lower half +of the upper fifth, and higher half of the middle fifth. Here I +am taking as our standard our three or four best schools, all of +which, except the Sydney Grammar School, are Victorian. The two +South Australian colleges and other leading New South Wales +establishments fall far below this standard.</p> + +<p>I think I alluded before to the want of preparation for +secondary education, and the interruption of the age-equality of +the schools by the advent of boys of fifteen and sixteen, who +have to be put in the first or second form Between them, these +two causes lower the age-standard so much that one must, on the +average, estimate that a colonial boy is two years behind an +English one in point of education. This is most visible at the +beginning of school-life, where, as you will have noted, the +first form averages over thirteen years old, but is partially +made up by the superior rate of progress if the boy remains long +enough. At seventeen he should not be more than a year behind his +English contemporary.</p> + +<p>The setting up of the matriculation examination as a standard +up to which the average boy strives to make his way, has +undoubtedly had a beneficial effect. Being a reachable proximate +ideal, it works strongly upon every boy's <i>amour propre</i>, +egging on the average and lazy to work, and by a system of +honours holding out hopes of distinction to the able. The +practice of giving text-books for it encourages cram, and its +width allows of shallowness; but, to counteract this, distinction +in any particular subject is very highly marked.</p> + +<p>That there should be a disposition here to look coldly upon +the old-fashioned classical education is not wonderful. You are +beginning to have your doubts about its superiority even in +England. Here the majority of parents would just as soon bury the +past, and everyone who becomes a <i>bonâ fide</i> +Australian must feel that the history of his country is yet only +in embryo. Besides this, the tendency of a new country is towards +practical knowledge--small profits, and quick returns; and in +classics the outlay of time is considerable, the returns slow, +and the profit not always very perceptible. Science receives +daily increasing attention, as at home. Geography is better +realized by colonial children, and, I should fancy, better +taught. In fact, all English subjects, as they are called, get +their fair share. Mathematics, even in those lower branches which +come within the scope of a school, are not a favourite subject, +although about the same number of school-hours are devoted to +them as at home.</p> + +<p>The school-hours generally begin about nine a.m.; but school +lasts till twelve. Second school begins at two, and lasts till +four, when the day-boys go home. Half-holidays, ordinary or +extraordinary, are rare; but Saturday is always a whole holiday. +The main bulk of holidays are at Christmas, when some seven weeks +are usually given. The midwinter vacation rarely lasts a month, +and short breaks are allowed at Easter and Michaelmas, after the +fashion of all schools comprising any large number of day-boys. +As in England, the Easter term is the laziest; but here it is so +for a good and sufficient reason--the heat during that period +being often intolerable.</p> + +<p>Nearly every Australian school has a stable attached, in which +boys who ride to school put up their horses during school-hours. +It is most amusing to watch half a dozen 'fellows' galloping +their ponies up the avenue, not to be late for first school, just +as we used to scurry across quad to chapel of a morning! The +ordinary sleeping and living arrangements for boarders are much +the same as at home. At the Sydney State Grammar School, which is +in reality purely and simply a day-school, several of the masters +take boarders, in imitation of public-school boarding-houses. At +the Melbourne Grammar School the second-master has a house, the +property of the school; but, so far, there are not more boarders +than will fill the school-house.</p> + +<p>The bill of fare of public schools has, I believe--thanks to +scarlet fever and doctors--improved considerably since my day; +but I do not suppose it has yet reached the luxury of unlimited +meat and jam three times a day, with frequent bountiful supplies +of fresh fruit. It is as necessary to the credit of an Australian +school to keep a liberal table, as it is for an Atlantic +steamship company. Where several schools are pretty well on an +equality, the table often turns the scale.</p> + +<p>In Victoria, especially, the boys are inordinately fond of +games and outdoor sports of every kind; but too many of the +day-boys prefer playing cricket and football with local clubs to +joining in the school games, and this makes <i>esprit de +corps</i> only possible between school and school. There are no +divisions sufficiently strongly marked in the school to become +parties. Sixth and school are perhaps the nearest approaches; but +the day is far distant when intellectual differences will be +appreciated by grown-up colonists, much more by schoolboys; and +it is only in a few schools where a 'sixth' and 'school' match is +possible. Untidiness in dress, and indeed in all of their +belongings, is another of the colonial schoolboys' weaknesses. At +the Melbourne Grammar School the boys have studies which they in +a certain way appreciate; but they are quite content with the +bare floor and walls, and would despise the little attempts at +comfort and prettiness which an English boy makes. The latter's +pride in his study would be quite incomprehensible to the +colonial, who not unnaturally imbibes his ideas from the +rough-and-ready mode of living in his home. As for uniformity in +dress, he would be a bold master who would even attempt to carry +it out.</p> + +<p>What I have written of the grammar-schools and denominational +colleges of course applies more or less to all secondary schools. +There is at this moment near Melbourne a private-venture college, +which, owing to the great ability and reputation of its head, +ranks with the best Victorian grammar schools. I should doubt +whether the tone that is possible in a non-proprietary school can +easily be brought about in a private one, but in teaching power +it is certainly not inferior. With this one exception, the +private-venture colleges established in each suburb of the +different capitals are little better than the commercial +academies of England. There is the same bad tone, want of +sufficient numbers of boys of equal standing in the school-work, +and other disadvantages, which make the very name of a private +school malodorous. The boys are rough and unmannerly, the +discipline slack, the teaching staff inferior in ability and +social position. The public schools of Australia may not be all +that could be wished, but [Greek characters] that a boy of mine +should ever go to a colonial private school, unless it were a +preparatory school--a class of institution greatly needed and not +yet provided, because parents do not appreciate the need.</p> + +<p>The existence of three universities in a country with less +than two million inhabitants speaks well for the colonists' +appreciation of the higher instruction, which they themselves +have rarely had the opportunity of enjoying. The Sydney +University, founded in 1851, was the first in the field, but in +spite of fine buildings, affiliated colleges, able professors, +and a very fair supply of funds, it has never succeeded in +attracting any considerable number of students, and can hardly be +said to have won even a <i>succès d'estime</i>. No little +of its failure is attributable to the success which has attended +its Melbourne rival, founded in 1855, at the height of the +gold-fever, and which may be said to have been floated on gold +directly, and kept in deep water by it indirectly. Before Sydney +could recover the effects of the emigration of those years, +Melbourne was well under way, and the size and central situation +of the latter city contributed no little to the success of its +young university, which, under unusually politic as well as able +management, increased annually in size and usefulness, until now +no less than 1,500 students have graduated in its halls, and the +number of undergraduates attending its lectures exceeds 280. It +confers degrees in arts, laws, science, medicine, surgery, and +engineering--the standard for which is above that of Oxford and +Cambridge, and in medicine is higher than that of London itself. +All the professors are men of first-rate ability. Amongst them +are an F.R.S. (M. McCoy, Professor of Palaeontology), and Dr. +Hearn, the well-known authority on jurisprudence and +constitutional law. By acting as an examining body for the +secondary schools, the university has not only widened its sphere +of usefulness and materially raised the general educational +standard of the colony, but has gained influence in circles, into +which not even its name would probably otherwise have entered. +Already a certain healthy tone and <i>esprit de corps</i> obtains +amongst the students, and <i>ceteris paribus</i> a Melbourne +graduate is professionally to be preferred to an Oxonian or +Cantab., at any rate for colonial work. Thanks in no small degree +to its educating and civilizing influence on the community, an +anti-materialistic voice is beginning to make itself heard in +Victoria, and if it does not occupy itself too much with +politics, it promises to become an intellectual centre. It would +not be difficult to find faults in either its constitution or its +teaching, but it has the great merit of taking the trouble to +understand and keep abreast of the times. All things considered, +the Melbourne University may claim to have deserved the success +it has commanded, and to be one of the greatest achievements of +Victoria.</p> + +<p>The present prosperity and bright prospects of New South +Wales, together with the educational influence of the late +exhibition, and an opportune bequest of £180,000 by a +wealthy colonist, have lately stirred up the authorities of the +Sydney University to make a grand effort to justify its +existence. A medical school--<i>the</i> most successful side of +the Melbourne 'varsity is to be established, and other +improvements introduced. But although the principal, Dr. Badham, +is a better classic than any that the Melbourne University +possesses, there is an indolence and <i>laissez-faire</i> about +the Sydney University which must long keep it in the background. +Not until there is a thorough reformation in the whole style, +tone, and management of the university will there be any real +progress, and the centripetal influence of successful Melbourne +is so strong, that I do not believe Sydney will ever be able to +catch up lost ground, or even to considerably decrease the +interval between itself and its rival, advance though it may, and +undoubtedly will, when the present governing body has died out, +and the public insists upon an entirely new regime. As for the +Adelaide University, it is bound either to federate with +Melbourne on the best terms it can obtain, or to drag on in +extravagant grandeur. In five years of existence it has conferred +five degrees at a cost of £50,000, and the professors +threaten to outnumber the students. The vaulting ambition of the +little colony has somewhat o'erleaped itself; but by a federation +with Melbourne there would undoubtedly be practical benefit +gained, and little but sham glory lost. If Sydney would also +forego its jealousy, and acknowledge the success of its rival by +federating on a basis which should allow the Melbourne University +the position of <i>prima inter pares</i>, all colonies would +profit; but even if Sydney would federate--which I do not think +in the least probable--it could hardly expect its successful +<i>confrère</i> to meet it on terms of perfect equality, +especially as, comparatively speaking, Melbourne has little to +gain by federation.</p> + +<p>As regards the cost of secondary and higher education, it must +be considered exceedingly small, remembering that the value of +money is less here than at home; and that the salaries paid to +masters are from £50 to £200 a year higher than the +same men would obtain in England. The highest terms for boarders +at any secondary school are £80 per annum, and from +£50 to £60 is the usual charge. Day-boys pay from +£12 to £24, according to the school. The University +fees are very light, amounting to not more than £20 to +£30 a year, including all charges.</p> + +<p>As the Universities are purely teaching and examining bodies, +with but little control outside their walls, the religious +denominations are beginning to supply the want of a college +system such as obtains at Oxford and Cambridge, by founding +affiliated colleges in which the regime approximates as closely +to that of the English Universities as the circumstances of the +case allow. At Melbourne there are two of these colleges--Trinity +College, belonging to the Church of England, and Ormond College, +erected at the cost of some £70,000, and richly endowed by +a wealthy colonist, Mr. Ormond, belonging to the Presbyterians. +At Sydney, the Roman Catholics, the Church of England, and the +Presbyterians, have all three erected affiliated colleges, but +they are smaller and less successful than those at Melbourne, and +in a large measure serve merely as theological colleges for +training young men for the ministry. The Church of England in +Adelaide has also founded St. Barnabas College, where, however, +the relative importance of the two duties is reversed--the +college being more especially a theological college. The Sydney +colleges have not at all fulfilled the expectations which had +been formed about them, largely owing to the want of success of +the university; but the Melbourne colleges, and especially +Trinity College, which is the least richly endowed, and has the +smallest buildings, are doing excellent work. The atmosphere +which the students breathe in them is conducive to greater +steadiness of work and exertion to achieve university honours +than is generally found in the unattached student; besides, they +offer some social advantages, and are also morally tonic. In +founding Trinity College, which was the first of these +institutions in Victoria, four years ago, the Bishop of Melbourne +may be said to have conferred an educational boon upon the colony +only second to that which it owes to Sir Redmond Barry. Every +year it is increasing in usefulness, and I can well understand +that many parents who before preferred the expense of sending +their sons to Oxford or Cambridge, will now see their way to +allowing them to complete their education at the Melbourne +University.</p> + +<p>The provision for the secondary education of girls in +Australia is miserably poor. The only school that really combines +the social and intellectual qualifications requisite is to be +found at Perth, in Western Australia. At that school the teaching +is admirable and the social tone excellent. The only other school +where girls are well taught is the High School at Adelaide, but +being a day-school and a State-school, it cannot be expected to +pay much attention to the social side of education. The private +schools for girls attain but a poor standard in instruction, and +a worse one still, when socially considered. There is one in +Melbourne considerably superior to the rest; but if I had +daughters of my own, I should certainly not send them to any as +boarders, and would think twice before I sent them as +'day-girls', if the expression be allowable. But it is only fair +to these schools to say that my standard of what a girls' school +should be is very high. It is, however, satisfied by the Bishop's +Ladies College at Perth. <a name="townlife-13"></a></p> + +<h2>POLITICS.</h2> + +<p>The chief interest of Australian politics lies in their +relation to those of the Mother Country. Having imported their +whole constitution and law books holus-bolus from England, each +colony has been engaged ever since its foundation in fitting them +to its circumstances. The legislative equipment of the young +Australias corresponded pretty nearly to the tall hats and +patent-leather boots which fond mothers provided for the aspiring +colonists. An exogenous growth has prevented originality of +ideas, which for the most part have been supplied by English +thinkers, but the adaptability and less complicated social +machinery of a young colony have permitted the carrying into +execution of many valuable measures long before they emerged from +the region of theory in their native land. It would not be hard +to multiply instances where important reforms have been hastened +and made practicable in England by their adoption and favourable +operation out here, or avoided on account of their failure here. +Australia is the <i>corpus vile</i> on which England makes her +legislative experiments. In this direction there is a great deal +of useful information in the study of our politics to an +outsider; but to go into the question at large would take up a +three-volume publication instead of a short letter, and my +present purpose is merely to give an outline of the existing +situation in each colony, only touching upon so much of their +past history as is necessary for the understanding of their +present position.</p> + +<p>The most interesting, history is that of Victoria, the +youngest colony of the three, which up to the time of the gold +discoveries formed a district of New South Wales, not inaptly +named by its first explorer 'Australia Felix.' Practically, its +history may be said to date from these gold discoveries in 1851. +For the next five years adventurers of all nations and classes +flocked to the diggings, and quiet settlers from other colonies +left their sheep to look after themselves while they hastened to +reap a share of the golden harvest. Fortunately the diggings only +gave place to mines which are still a staple of wealth. But +during the period of the American war the gold tide ebbed too +swiftly, leaving high and dry not only diggers, but the +thousand-and-one classes who were indirectly dependent upon the +gold supply. The better portion of these found occupation on the +land--the richest in Australia, though neglected during the gold +mania. But there remained a large number without any visible +means of support, and not particularly inclined to go out of +their way to find any. What to do with this large class of +'electors' became the question of the day, until in 1865 Sir +James M'Culloch introduced a scheme for making work for them. By +turning the tariff into an industrial incubator he forced +manufactures into existence, and gave employment to those who had +nothing better to do. It was in this manner, to meet a temporary +crisis, and with no deliberate economical purpose, that the thin +edge of the protectionist wedge was introduced. When once the +purpose for which the duties had been imposed was served, the +originators of protection in Victoria thought they could be +quietly dropped. Needless to say, it was easier to call in the +spirit of Protection than to lay it again. The gold produce +continued to decrease, and the cry was for more duties and +heavier duties, until a please-the-people Ministry extended the +list to every possible article of manufacture, and raised the +duty to a prohibitive amount-for many articles as high as +27½ <i>ad valorem</i>. The colony has now committed itself +to an almost irrevocable extent. Even the relative idea of +imposing duties temporarily for the sake of giving new industries +a start, which marked the second stage of public opinion, is +giving way to the absolute one that Protection means more work +and higher wages whenever and wherever introduced. It may in +course of time be possible gradually to take 5 per cent off the +duties at a time. But any reduction of the tariff would instantly +put hundreds of electors--and very noisy hundreds too--out of +employment, and reduce the earnings of thousands, while the +general effect upon prices would take a long time to become +perceptible. At the present time, come Conservative, come Liberal +into office, neither's tenure would be worth twenty-four hours' +purchase if he made any attempt in that direction. The whole +subject of Free Trade and Protection has for the present +completely passed out of the region of practical politics.</p> + +<p>A distinguishing feature of Victorian public life is the +existence of an approach to definite political parties bearing +the same names and starting originally from the same bases as in +England, though their principles by no means correspond to those +of English Liberals and Conservatives. The main factor which led +up to these divisions was class dislike, embittered by the +remembrance that both plutocracy and democracy started in life on +an equal footing. The diggings caused a general shaking up of the +social bag, and the people who came out uppermost were mostly +those who had been lowest before. In matters political they +grabbed the public lands wholesale; socially they flaunted their +wealth more openly than was wise. <i>Du haut en bas</i> came +badly from those who had only a few years ago been +hail-fellows-well-met. On the other side was jealousy, embittered +often by a feeling that it was a man's own fault that he had not +got on better in the world. The change had been brought about too +suddenly to allow of people shaking down into their new +positions. In this state of public feeling demagogues were not +slow to see their advantage. They fanned the flames of discontent +and jealousy till they broke out in Mr. Berry's 'platform,' the +bursting-up of the landed estates, reform amounting to +revolution, protection <i>ad absurdum</i>, and so forth.</p> + +<p>For a short time feeling ran so high over the Reform Bill, as +almost to threaten civil war. One minister talked of settling the +question with 'broken heads and flaming houses.' Another boasted +at a public meeting that he had 'got his hand upon the throat of +capital'--all bombast, of course, but dangerous bombast at a time +of great public excitement. Happily a vent was found for these +angry passions in the ridiculous incident of Mr. Berry's +'embassy' to the Colonial Office, which set both parties +laughing, and after three years of turmoil which had led to +considerable commercial distress, everybody got tired of +agitation.</p> + +<p>The Berry Ministry died of ridicule. A Conservative Government +then enjoyed a short tenure of office, but committed suicide by +bringing in an impracticable Reform Bill. A second Berry Ministry +came into office, but not into power. It also lived a few months, +but with its dying kick it passed a measure which, though it +placed the Upper Chamber on a more liberal basis than any other +in Australia, and effected most important changes in its +constitution, was conservative in comparison with Mr. Berry's +first proposals. Hitherto members of the Upper House had been +elected for ten years, the qualification for the electorate being +the possession of property of the rateable value of £50 a +year. Now the electoral qualification has been reduced to +£10 house and £20 leaseholders, and the tenure is for +six years. The Lower House, or Assembly, has for years been +elected by manhood suffrage throughout Victoria, New South Wales, +and South Australia.</p> + +<p>Land reform has not yet advanced equally far, and will +probably be reserved for the next burst of democratic energy. The +view of 'the party' is that land should be made to pay a tax +proportionate to the increase which the State has, directly and +indirectly, effected in its value by railways and otherwise. The +more advanced section point out that the greater part of the land +was sold at ridiculously and dishonestly low prices to friends of +the powers that were. For this reason, and because the wealth of +the colony would, they contend, be increased in the gross, as +well as more equally distributed by the partition of the large +freeholds, the tax should be progressive, i.e. increasing in +percentage according to the value of the property, so as to +compel the large owners to sell, and establish something +answering to a peasant proprietary, or, more strictly speaking, a +yeomanry tilling its own soil. The Conservatives look upon such a +tax as nothing better than legalized robbery, and hold the most +pronounced views on the sacred rights of property. A <i>juste +milieu</i> will probably be found between the two courses, and +the existing land-tax be increased; but unless recent legislation +for Ireland inspire new views of property, I do not think a +progressive tax is to be feared. As regards the existing land +laws, I shall say something further on upon this point in +connection with those of New South Wales.</p> + +<p>After a bout of rabid Radicalism, Victoria now owns, or is +owned by, a half-and-half Ministry made up of the weakest members +of both parties. Its views are Liberal-Conservative, and +wishy-washy; its principal concern to remain in office. It serves +as a sort of Aunt Sally for both parties to shy at. But there is +no coalition strong enough to replace it. For nearly two years +now it has pursued the even tenour of its way, harmless and +unharmed, confessing where it has blundered, and dancing a +sword-dance among small matters of administration. So long as it +occupies itself with nothing of importance, it seems likely to +remain in office till the next General Election. In view of this +event, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen has introduced a four-million loan to +provide fifty-nine railways, which should conciliate the hardest +hearts of his opponents in every district; for these railways are +to be distributed most impartially, and if any districts have +more than a fair share, it is those where opposition is most +likely to be met. Unfortunately for the Government, a series of +accidents on the suburban railway lines have recently called +public attention to the fact that political influence is more +useful than competence in the obtaining of employment in the +railway department. The O'Loghlen Government have not been +greater sinners than their neighbours in this respect; but unless +they take the bull by the horns, and speedily bring in a measure +to hand over the management of the railways to a non-political +board, they are likely to be sacrificed to public indignation. +The failure of the loan will also be laid to their door and if +either Liberals or Conservatives can only organize themselves +sufficiently, the General Election will probably prove fatal to +them.</p> + +<p>Of all the Australian provinces, there is none with the +immediate resources and future prospects of the Mother Colony. On +her varied soils and amidst her different climates, wool, wheat, +wine, and sugar all find a roomy and congenial home. Gold, +copper, and tin are not wanting; and close to the seaboard she +has an unbounded supply of coal, which must eventually be of more +service in raising up manufacturing industries than all the +protective tariffs of Victoria. The early circumstances of New +South Wales were against its rapid growth. Founded as a +receptacle for convicts, a system akin to slavery soon took root. +Such of the early settlers as were neither gentlemen nor convicts +belonged to the lowest class, or joined it soon after they +landed. The colony was more than half a century old before it got +any backbone; and although the descendants of convicts have in +most cases proved excellent colonists, it took some time before +'trust in the people' could get the upper hand of fear. Even now, +when but few of the last convicts remain above ground, and the +masses of the population consist of immigrants in every way equal +to the other colonies, the spirit of Conservatism is still +ingrained in New South Wales. The shadow of the past still +lingers behind in its comparative social and political +stagnation, in an indolence and want of enterprise which is past +all understanding to the Victorian, and a cherishing of +prejudices long after they have been rooted out in the Sister +Colonies. Even that arch-Democrat Sir Henry Parkes can only +govern the colony by setting himself up as the reverse of Mr. +Berry.</p> + +<p>New South Wales is constantly claiming credit for its adoption +of a Free Trade policy, but even this was brought about more by +good luck than good management. The circumstances which gave +birth to Protection in Victoria never occurred in Sydney. No one +ever thought of such a thing. A light tariff, founded on no +particular principle, had been levied for many years for revenue +purposes; when, on the eve of a General Election, Sir Henry +Parkes, on the look-out for a good safe, cry, brought forward, +under the seductive form of 'remission of taxation,' the existing +tariff, which, though it manages to bring in as large a revenue +as the Victorian Protectionist one, limits considerably the +number of articles taxed. This was the first strike-out in the +direction of Free Trade. The subsequent buoyancy of the +circumstances of the colony, and the applause with which nearly +the whole Australian press greeted the plunge, have confirmed the +policy, and made it a safe political watchword. But a great deal +remains to be done before New South Wales adopts Free Trade as it +is understood in England. From the outward and visible sign to +the inward and spiritual grace, is often a far cry.</p> + +<p>In New South Wales, as in Victoria, large tracts of land have +been bought up at very low prices to form single estates. But the +province is much larger than Victoria, and thus feels the loss +less. It was here that the squattocracy was first successfully +attacked. In 1861 Sir John Robertson passed an Act by which any +person can select as much as 320 acres of Crown land in any part +of the colony at the rate of £1 per acre, only 25 per cent. +of which is payable on the spot, provided he subscribes to +certain conditions of cultivation and of residence on his +'selection.' This Act was subsequently copied in Victoria, and is +now being altered there so as to enlarge the area selectable to +640 acres. Although often leading to great injustice, this has +certainly afforded a healthy outlet for democratic passion. The +plutocracy of New South Wales have risen to wealth less rapidly +than in Victoria, and have lived much more quietly and with +little display. And thus it comes about that there is very little +class feeling in the colony, and politics are carried on without +any more dangerous outbursts than the personal conflicts of +excitable members of Parliament.</p> + +<p>Not only does party government not exist in New South Wales, +but burning questions are few and far between. Since 1878 the +lion has been lying down with the lamb, and the Parkes-Robertson +Coalition Government has had to raise a powerless opposition to +keep itself from death by inanition. Personal politics are always +more or less the order of the day, and Ministers are well content +that as much superfluous energy as possible should be spent on +petty squabbles between private members, and on such local +questions as the taking of railways through certain districts, or +the building of police-courts in certain townships. Of course, +when the General Election comes, they are bound to have something +to swear by, and as they are not particularly troubled with +either memory or conscience, they generally have no difficulty in +sailing before the wind, even if they have to 'bout ship.</p> + +<p>The late Premier, Sir Henry Parkes, has a special aptitude for +discovering which way the wind is going to blow, which places him +first on the list of living Australian politicians. Whilst +colonists have appreciated the compliment paid to them in the +flattering reception which he has recently met with in London, no +one who has lived in Sydney can forbear a smile at the idea of +Sir ''Enery' passing as a representative of the respectable +portion of the Australian community, to whom, for the most part, +he is only less obnoxious than Mr. Berry.</p> + +<p>The ink with which I wrote the last paragraph had not been dry +a fortnight, when the unexpected news came of the defeat of the +Parkes-Robertson Government on their Land Consolidation Bill. +Although the Parliament was still young, and there was no reason +to believe that it did not fairly represent the views of the +country upon the question at issue, Sir Henry obtained a +dissolution from Lord Augustus Loftus, who is credited with +having had no opinion independent of his Premier since his +arrival at Government House.</p> + +<p>The General Elections have resulted in an enormous majority +for the Opposition, and Sir Henry has resigned with the worst +possible grace, having forfeited any regret that might have been +felt for his overthrow by the abuse which he lavished on his +opponents when he saw that the elections were going against him, +and the ridiculous pomposity with which he has told the electors +that they were not educated up to appreciating him. As to the +cause of his fall, it may partly be attributed to the opposition +of the Roman Catholics or denominational-education party, and of +the publicans; but it is chiefly due to a strong feeling +throughout the colony, that the land policy inaugurated by Sir +John Robertson, just twenty-one years ago, has proved a failure, +and that it has raised up a warfare between the pastoral tenants +and the agriculturists, without any adequate advantage to the +latter.</p> + +<p>It is passing strange that the colony, which was the first to +introduce the democratic land system of 'free selection before +survey' into Australia, should be the first to abandon it; and +that the same Minister, Sir John Robertson, who came into note +through its introduction, should practically end his political +career with its downfall. The faults of selection before survey +were obvious from the first. The 'selector,' being allowed to +purchase in any part of the colony, used often to pick out the +heart of the squatter's leasehold run. It became, of course, the +squatter's interest to starve him out, and the selections, being +isolated instead of contiguous, were ill able to battle against +this opposition.</p> + +<p>The Bill on which the Coalition Ministry was defeated was +merely a digest of preceding Acts on the subject; and what +contributed no little to the fate of the Ministry, both in the +House and in the country, was the circumstance that not one of +them, except Sir John Robertson, took any interest in the Land +Reform question, and that, until his recent coalition with Sir +John, Sir Henry Parkes had been one of the most bitter opponents +of the measures, on the consolidation of which he staked the life +of his Government. Sir John had undoubtedly taken a back seat in +the Coalition Government, and it was partly to revive his failing +prestige that Sir Henry Parkes brought in a measure which was +notoriously indifferent to himself. His brilliant reception in +Europe and on his return to Australia had turned his head, and he +believed he could make the House and country swallow whatever he +chose. But his vaulting ambition o'erleaped itself, and in his +chagrin and mortification he has unveiled the mask of +respectability which he has worn for the last few years, and +given vent to language and sentiments which have seriously +injured the position he was achieving and the prospects of a +return to office. These should have been excellent, since the new +Ministry is weak in <i>personnel</i>, and has before it the duty +of framing a new land policy, which is much more difficult than +that of picking holes in the existing system. For the present +they have shelved the question by appointing a Royal Commission +to inquire into the working of the land laws. The programme for +the session, revealed in the Speech from the Throne, contains +nothing more startling than amendments of the Licensing Act and +Criminal Laws, and measures for the establishment of secondary +schools throughout the colony, and to abate the rabbit pest.</p> + +<p>The leading measures introduced by the Coalition Ministry +during their four years' tenure of office were, if we except a +Licensed Victuallers' Amendment Act, an Educational Act on the +basis of that existing in the other colonies, which served as a +trump-card at the 1881 general elections, and a measure for +constitutional reform, in which they were checked by the Upper +House in 1879. Sir Henry's object, like Mr. Berry's, was to +strengthen the hands of the Assembly, but unfortunately for his +scheme he had a very different class of electors at his back. As +happened over the Land Act, his weathercock failed to point in +the right direction. When the Council rejected his Bill, he +indulged in threats and fulminations which would have done credit +to a Berryite of the Berryites. But the country utterly refused +to back him up. It would not be roused into indignation on one +side or the other, and was utterly indifferent as to whether the +Council was reformed or continued as of old.. So after a few days +fuming and fretting, Sir Henry thought it wiser to let the matter +drop. The Legislative Council still remains nominated by the +Crown, the tenure of office being for life. On the Education Act, +Sir Henry's platform was the consolidation of a system of secular +education and the withdrawal of all grants in aid of +denominational schools. Here, as on the Land Act, he had held +other views in other times; but in this instance he caught the +direction of the wind correctly and sailed before it +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>In the new Ministry there is plenty of promise but little of +past performance, and withal a good many discordant elements. The +Premier, Mr. Stuart, is a good business man, of education and +manners, but that is all that can possibly be said for him. The +Minister for Education, Mr. Reid, is decidedly able, but very +young. The Attorney-General, Mr. Dalley, is a man of great +literary ability and a leader of the bar, but he has wretched +health. The rest of the Ministry are nonentities, and by omitting +one or two men whose respectability is hardly equal to their +ability, Mr. Stuart has raised himself up an Opposition out of +his old following. These will probably combine with Sir Henry +Parkes, and <i>qui vivra verra</i>.</p> + +<p>The colony, of South Australia has, to my thinking, been +peculiarly favoured. Conceived by political economy and born of +religious nonconformity, it has ever been the most sober and +respectable province of Australia. Thanks to Mr. Gibbon +Wakefield's principles, on which the colony was founded, but +little of the land fund has been squandered to fill the coffers +of influential squatters, and by a system of credit to small +freeholders in districts proclaimed suitable for +agriculture--i.e., free selection <i>after</i> and not before +survey-a large class of yeomanry have been established on their +own farms. The stamp of the lower middle class (chiefly +Dissenters) who formed the bulk of the early settlers has not yet +been erased from social and political life. Never making giant +strides, nor stumbling into pits of gold, like her nearest +neighbour, South Australia has yet progressed year by year at an +even jog-trot along the road of material prosperity. Although +copper-mining has contributed no insignificant quota to the +national wealth, the foundations have been laid in pasture, and +the main structure is built up in wheat-growing. Owing to a +combination of these circumstances, the division of wealth +approaches much nearer to equality than in any of the other +provinces. There are fewer rich and fewer poor. The standard of +wealth is lower. The condition of the working-class is better and +healthier; their chances of becoming proprietors and employers +are greater. The middle class preponderates, but its very size, +the diversity of interests it represents, and the stake it has in +the general welfare of the country, prevent it from abusing its +political power to any serious extent. Except with its aid, +neither the squatters nor the working-class can gain undue +advantages; and as this aid has rarely been lent without good +reason there is an almost total absence of class antagonism and +an excellent public spirit throughout the community, all classes +working well together for the common weal.</p> + +<p>Definite political parties there are none, except on the few +occasions when a stirring question has temporarily divided the +community. The spirit of the colony is thoroughly liberal, +without being democratic in the narrow sense. In most important +reforms--such as the withdrawal of State aid to religion; the +registration of landed property; the acquiring of Constitutional +Government, and the placing of the Constitution on a liberal +basis; the introduction of the credit system for the purchase of +small farms, and refusal to sell large tracts of country; and the +adoption of State Education--South Australia has either led the +way or been amongst the first. Thanks to the more advanced views +of the earliest settlers, the abuses to be done away with have +never been so flagrant as in the other provinces. Hence the work +of reform has in every case been carried out in a more just and +moderate spirit. The chief fault to be found in the political +temper of the people lies in their apathy. When they do go to the +poll, not a few of the electors prefer to vote for the candidate +whom they believe to have the most honesty and public spirit, +even if they do not happen to agree altogether with his political +views. But the preference of men to measures is by no means an +unmixed evil under the circumstances. A new country not only +offers great facilities for political adventure, but rarely sins +by going too slow, and when any policy of real import comes to +the front, the evil corrects itself in proportion to the +importance of the occasion. To this preference, also, it is due +that, although South Australian politics are for the most part +personal, yet the evils of personality are less prominent than in +the sister colonies. Political consistency is rated higher, and +the tone of the debates is infinitely better, than in New South +Wales, where there is the same absence of important questions. +Indeed, the Legislature is famed throughout Australia as being +the most hard-working and best behaved.</p> + +<p>With regard to Free Trade, a compromise has been adopted, and +there are not wanting signs of a disposition to follow the +example of New South Wales; but I fear this is rather out of +dislike to Victoria than from any abstract recognition of the +advantages of a Free Trade policy.</p> + +<p>Warned by the troubles to which the question of Upper House +reform gave rise in Victoria, the South Australians tackled it +last session, when both Chambers were on the best of terms with +each other, and an Act was passed by which the franchise was +reduced from £50 freeholders and £20 leaseholders, to +£20 leaseholders and £10 freeholders; the tenure of a +seat shortened from twelve to nine years; the colony divided into +electoral districts instead of voting in block; and a scheme +introduced for finally dissolving the Council in the event of the +occurrence of certain circumstances tending to produce a +deadlock. All parties were agreed as to the general principles of +the Act, and beyond a little skirmishing over matters of detail, +it passed through both Houses with as little excitement as any +petty measure. Public opinion has also declared itself in favour +of imposing a tax either on income or on property, which is felt +not to be paying its fair share towards the Government of the +country. A land-tax was talked of, but in view of the re-action +on the land question, which has extended in a modified shape from +New South Wales, and of the present distress of the landed +interest, such a tax is not likely to be imposed. Certain it is +that additional revenue to meet the interest on the money +borrowed for public works must be raised from some source. The +land revenue, which had been used for ordinary revenue purposes, +is now beginning to drop; and since the colony is but slightly +taxed, in comparison with its neighbours, it has no reason to +grumble at an increase of taxation. Amongst the more important +measures passed last session, was one for providing compensation +for improvements to selectors surrendering their agreements, and +for remission of interest to those who have reaped under a +specified average during the last three seasons. Another sets +apart a million of money for making a railway to the Victorian +border to place Adelaide in communication with Melbourne. The +distressed condition of the selectors, who have taken up land in +country which all experts pronounced unfit for agricultural +purposes, except in exceptional seasons, will necessitate a +measure next session to give special advantages for improved +cultivation. Here also, as in New South Wales, the antagonism +between the squatter and the selector, though less pronounced, is +beginning to be found artificial. Owing to the clause in nearly +all pastoral leases which provides for the resumption of all +lands leased for pastoral purposes at three years' notice, and +the want of inducements to capitalists to open up the interior, +local capital is travelling over to Queensland. The probability +is that the impossibility of selection beyond a certain area will +be recognised, and special inducements will be offered to persons +wishing to depasture unused land in the centre of the continent. +There is some talk of a trans-continental railway between +Adelaide and Port Darwin, which a syndicate has offered to +construct on the land-grant system. But it looks as if the +Government, which will never for years be able to construct the +line itself, were unwilling to allow anybody else to do it.</p> + +<p>The present Ministry, like its predecessor, which lasted four +years, is eminently respectable. The Premier, Mr. Bray, has shown +himself to be one of the best leaders of the House ever known in +Adelaide. The Minister of Education, Mr. Parsons, is distinctly +able. The Treasurer, Mr. Glyde, represents caution, and the +Minister of Public works, Mr. Ramsay, shrewdness and enterprise. +Altogether it is a strong combination of administrative ability, +and in Messrs. Bray and Parsons it has two good speakers. It +cannot be said that the Ministry has any particular policy, +though it represents the farmers and working-classes rather than +the propertied section of the community. It will probably make +use of the recess to find out what proposals are likely to meet +with least opposition, and the Opposition will pronounce no +definite opinions till the Ministry have made up their minds. And +this is the chronic state of affairs. On minor differences +Governments go in and out, but the broad lines of policy are laid +down by the country, and remain the same whoever may be at the +head of affairs. Nowhere is the theory of government by the +people more fully and fairly illustrated.</p> + +<p>To write with any comprehension on the politics of a country, +one should have lived in it and be acquainted with the principal +actors on its political stage. A mere visitor's impressions must +necessarily be superficial, however much they may be backed up by +reading. Hence, I shall only say as much about Queensland as is +absolutely necessary to the rest of my subject. Originally +Moreton Bay was a branch penal settlement of New South Wales, and +as only the worst and most troublesome characters were sent +there, the history of the district up to the cessation of convict +immigration in 1839, was none of the brightest. The discovery of +the Darling Downs led to a certain amount of pastoral settlement, +but it was not till its separation from New South Wales, in 1859, +that, Queensland really began to flourish. Ever since, with the +exception of two short periods of depression in 1866 and 1877-78, +the youngest of the Australian provinces has been catching up its +elder sisters with rapidity. The northern half of the colony +offers unlimited opportunities for growing sugar, cotton and +other semi-tropical products; and the area is so vast that there +are not wanting prophets who say that Queensland will, twenty +years hence, be the leading colony of the group. It is more than +probable that, long before that period, she will have split up +into two provinces--the older and southern settlement resembling +New South Wales in character, and the more recently occupied +northern district, with its semi-tropical industries, forming a +half-way house between Australia and India. A country of +squatters and planters is naturally Conservative in its politics. +This is the only colony where manhood suffrage does not obtain, +the qualification for the franchise being £100 freehold or +£1 leasehold. The members of the Upper House are nominated +by the Crown for life.</p> + +<p>The political parties of the day may be said to represent the +interest of Northern and Southern Queensland respectively. The +Ministry, at the head of which is Sir Thomas McIlwraith, +represents the Northern portion. Hence they have recently signed +a contract with an English syndicate for the construction, on the +land-grant system, of a trans-continental railway to join +Townsville and other north-east coast settlements with the Gulf +of Carpentaria. Reproductive works and free immigration form a +principal item in their policy; but that which has attracted much +opposition is a proposal for the introduction of regular supplies +of Cingalese. The Opposition, led by Mr. Griffiths, represents +the cooler climes, where coolie labour is little wanted, and +which cannot be benefited by the railway. These contend that it +would be impossible to confine the coolies to the sugar +plantations, and that they will interfere with the legitimate +labour of Europeans. They look for the support of the +working-classes. The Northern interests are those of planters and +capitalists.</p> + +<p>Although Western Australia occupies a third of the total area +of the continent, it has so little connection with the sister +colonies that it can hardly claim to be considered as a factor in +Australian politics. The colony was founded in 1829, under the +name of the Swan River Settlement, by a number of gentlemen, many +of them retired officers, to whom the Imperial Government gave +far larger land grants than they had capital to manage. For +twenty years both settlement and settlers had to struggle for +bare existence, until in 1851 they persuaded the Home authorities +to establish a convict station there. This supplied much-needed +labour for public works and a market for the stock and produce of +the settlers, while the maintenance of the convicts necessitated +the expenditure of £80,000 to £90,000 a year of +Imperial money in the colony. With these aids, the settlers kept +their heads above water, till, owing to the Victorian outcry +against what was termed 'a blot' on the already rather shady +'escutcheon 'of Australia, the immigration was stopped in 1868. +Since then the convicts have dwindled down from 5,000 to 500. +Happily the discovery of new pastoral lands occurred almost +simultaneously with the cessation of convict immigration, and the +colony has slowly but gradually progressed, until now it has a +population of 30,000 inhabitants. During the past year +exploration has been vigorously prosecuted. Large tracts of +country have been taken up for pastoral purposes by capitalists +in the other colonies, and several projects for the construction +of railways, to be paid for by grants of land, are now under +consideration by the Government. At the present moment nothing +but capital and population of a more energetic kind than the old +settlers seems to be wanting for Western Australia to become a +prosperous colony; and provided he is not afraid to rough it, +there is no part of Australia in which a capitalist--whether +large or small--can more remuneratively settle than in this out +of the way part of the world; and this I say after having myself +temporarily lost heavily there. Capital is the great need of +Western Australia. At present, you feel yourself more out of the +world in Perth than in Siberia. The people are poor, +old-fashioned, warm-hearted, and slow-going, with no belief in +the resources of their own country. Whatever wealth is made +there, is made by outsiders--mostly Victorians--who are gradually +galvanizing the place into life. But that Western Australia is +destined to become a great country, no one who has lived there +long enough to know something of it, and not long enough to +become impregnated with the prevailing indifferentism, can +doubt.</p> + +<p>The province is still under Crown Government, although there +is a Legislative Council, two-thirds of the members of which are +elected by £10 householders, which is yearly gaining power. +The advent of Constitutional Government will depend entirely upon +the progress of the colony; but at present it is far from being +desirable, the elected members of the Council being distinctly +the obstructive party, while the Governor and the Imperially +appointed officials are the only persons who look beyond the +squatting interest to that of the colony as a whole.</p> + +<p>The politics of the country consist of discussions as to +whether settlers should be bound to pay half the value of the +fences a neighbour has erected or wishes to erect between them; +whether the railway should be allowed to go through a certain +square in the township of Guildford; whether police protection, +at the expense of the whole colony, should be afforded to +settlers in the outlying districts, who are exposed to attacks of +natives. People living within hearing of St. Stephen's can hardly +imagine the virulence with which these petty questions are gone +into, still less that for months they have formed the only topics +of conversation. Liliput must, I feel sure, have been a far +noisier place than Brobdingnag, and with the kindest feeling +towards the most hospitable people in the world, I cannot forbear +a smile at the recollections of the boredom I underwent on the +subject of the Fencing Bill.</p> + +<p>Reviewing Australian politics as a whole, one notices that +whilst all the colonies are distinctly 'Liberal' in their ideas, +the shades of colour vary from Whiggism in New South Wales and +Queensland, to extreme Radicalism in Victoria, with South +Australia as the exponent of the more sober Radicals. The two +more important provinces have diverged considerably from each +other, partly from sheer opposition, but chiefly from diversity +of circumstances and constituents. Until recently, South +Australia was content quietly to beat out its own little track; +but the <i>rapprochement</i> between all the colonies, which +increased facilities of communication have brought about, is +yearly tending to lessen its individuality and to make it a mere +copy of one or the other of its big neighbours.</p> + +<p>In discussing constitutional questions it is well to remember +that, although all the Australian constitutions are founded on +analogy with the British, that analogy can easily be carried too +far. To begin, the main functions of the Colonial Legislature, +and the relations of the two Chambers towards each other, are for +the most part written down in black and white, their +constitutions allowing no room for the 'broadening down from +precedent to precedent,' which has enabled the British +constitution to work comparatively so smoothly. The latter grew +up naturally, the former were made to order. All parties in +Australia are agreed to follow British precedent where none is +provided in the Constitution Act; but there is a considerable +party who actually hold that the colonial constitutions being +modelled on the British, the spirit of the British constitution +should be followed, even when it does not altogether agree with +the letter of their own; and this, although it is obvious that an +Upper House on such a broad electoral basis as that of Victoria +or South Australia, affords almost as many points of comparison +with the House of Commons as with the Lords. A peculiar instance +of this feeling was shown in 1861 in New South Wales, where, the +Upper Chamber being nominated by the Government, Sir John +Robertson took advantage of the precedent established by Earl +Grey's threat, to swamp the Legislative Council with nominees in +order to pass a Land Act. Another difference besides the mode of +appointment lies in the different education and social status of +the members, about which I shall have something to say further +on.</p> + +<p>Happily there has so far rarely been any strain in the +relations with the mother country. It may be true that the +colonists are gradually getting less patient when the Queen's +assent is refused to an Act, but the Colonial Office is also +becoming more wary in refusing such assent. This leads on to the +general question of the probabilities of a separation. Certainly +there is no sign of any intention deliberately to cut the +painter; but by a rash act on the part of the mother country, or +if Australia were to suffer severely in a war in which she had no +concern, it might suddenly and unexpectedly snap. Such I believe +to be the true state of the case, unalterable either by +Imperialistic demonstrations at home, or ultra-Royalistic +effusions out here; although in the ordinary run of affairs +neither of these are without their use in keeping up a cordial +feeling. Even in semi-communistic Victoria there is at present an +unlimited fund of British patriotism, and, superficially, the +colonists are more loyal than Englishmen living in the land. But +present it has to be remembered that a majority of the +inhabitants are still English born and bred, and that the +circumstances of colonial life do not encourage the indulgence of +sentiment at the expense of material advantages. Where the +treasure is, there will the heart be also. When the purely +Australian element gets the upper hand, the keeping of the +British connection will become merely a question of advantage and +opportunity. In time of peace the advantage is decidedly on the +side of the present state of things. The events of war might +reverse the position.</p> + +<p>No unimportant tie is the disunion between the colonies +themselves. So far all attempts at Federation, whether proceeding +from England or from public feeling in Australia itself, have +completely failed. The subject was actually discussed at a recent +Intercolonial Conference, and again last session in the Victorian +House of Assembly. But I very much doubt whether all the talk +that is going on upon the subject will overcome the practical +difficulties within the present generation, unless there come +some period of common danger. Certain it is that if Federation is +to be brought about, the movement must be endogenous. At present +the way is blocked by the opposite commercial policies of +Victoria and Now South Wales. That practical experience will +point out the true solution of the Free Trade and Protection +controversy in Australia is hardly likely, when one notices the +present Protectionist movements in England; but in the course of +years, one may reasonably expect that a purely Australian feeling +will overcome this stumbling-block, and give us one tariff for +the whole of Australia. Such a feeling can hardly become +sufficiently strong to effect this object without encroaching +considerably on the ground now occupied by Imperial patriotism. +How true this is, is exemplified by the fact that the first, and +so far the only subject upon which there has been any Australian, +as opposed to provincial feeling, is Australian cricket, or more +properly the Australian Eleven. And in connection with this I +note that the matches against England are invariably called +International, which is not strictly correct. The two questions +of Federation and Separation are almost inseparably bound +together, though in time of war a federation would be possible +which would only bind Australia more closely to England. Then +will be the opportunity, not only for Federation, but for +Consolidation, or for Separation. Which it will be, must depend +largely on the course events take. As I pointed out above, if +Australia were to suffer severely, it might cause Separation; but +if, on the other hand, she felt that her liberties and well-being +were preserved by direct force of British arms, it is quite +probable that an irresistible feeling in favour of Consolidation +might arise, and Lord Carnarvon's dreams might be realized, +provided the British Government struck the iron while it was +hot.</p> + +<p>When Federation takes place, I think there can be little doubt +that it will take a shape similar to that of the United States; +and that in due course of years Federation, in this shape, will +become a fact, seems to me more than likely. Sir Henry Parkes's +idea of fusion seems applicable enough to Victoria and New South +Wales, if they could overcome their economical enmities; but that +South Australia or any part of Queensland should join is +impracticable. A year in New Zealand has been sufficient to +convince me that the abolition of the Provincial system there has +been far from an unmixed benefit. For most purposes, the colony +of New Zealand is merely a geographical expression. If the +distances between Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington +are sufficient to mar the fusion of the New Zealand Provinces, +how infinitely more impracticable would a central Government at +Albury be so far as Adelaide and Brisbane are concerned.</p> + +<p>The character and behaviour of the members of Australian +legislatures have to be considered in forming any just estimate +of colonial politics. Unfortunately, the little that is known on +the subject at home has revealed neither in a favourable light. +The rowdy members and rowdy scenes have <i>ipso facto</i> +attained prominence; but after carefully watching for myself, and +taking the opinions of those best qualified to form them, I +cannot but think that the generally-received opinion even in +Australia is incorrect, and that, taking all the circumstances +into consideration, both character and behaviour are far better +than one has reason to expect. Here, as in many other respects, +Victoria is the most pronounced example of what may be called +Australianism as opposed to Englishism. Up to the present moment, +she is the only Australian colony (I do not count New Zealand) +which pays her legislators, and consequently she has at once the +cleverest and the worst-behaved set. There are very few members +of her parliament who can claim to possess any real political +talent. But the general average of native as apart from trained +ability, and of clearness in expressing what they wish to say, +will--if we except the dozen leading men on each side of the +House of Commons--compare with that of the more august +assemblage. Nine-tenths of the Victorian members possess at least +the gift of the gab. In the excitement of the moment, grammar +goes to the winds, and <i>h</i> 's fall thick as leaves in +Vallombrosa, but they neither hesitate nor falter in their +speech, and are nearly all possessed of a good deal of useful +practical information. Their behaviour is certainly open to +exception, but so is that of the House of Commons. The only +difference is, that in Melbourne bad behaviour is almost the +rule, while at St. Stephen's it may be considered the exception. +Ministers and leaders of the Opposition give each other the lie +direct and think nothing of it, and unparliamentary epithets are +freely bandied about. At times there have been scenes unsurpassed +only in the French Assembly, and one or two members have kept up +a continued fire of uncomplimentary interjections. But it is only +fair to remember that the great majority of the House belong to +the lower middle class, and are found wanting, even if judged by +the not very elevated social and educational standard of the +colonies. Many of them have risen to their present not very high +estate from the lowest class. Amongst people of that kind you +cannot expect to find the tone of the House of Commons. The +unfortunate members cannot leave the manners and customs of their +class in the cloakroom of the House. Besides this, the questions +under discussion in Melbourne of late years have been +particularly inflammatory. When the appeal has been made from +reason to passions on the one side, and to pockets on the other, +the debates can hardly be anything but stormy; and if one +recollects that most of these encounters take place between the +present and the past lower orders, is it astonishing if irony and +sarcasm give place to Billingsgate?</p> + +<p>The recent exposure of grave political scandals in Sydney has +attracted attention to the seamy side of the political life of +the colonies. But such scandals, I would fain believe, are +exceptional. The tone of the Sydney House is little, if at all, +better than that of the Melbourne one, in spite of the members +being unpaid. Political adventurers--the curse of communities +like these--are perhaps not so numerous, for the £300 a +year paid to every Victorian M.P. offers special facilities for +the professional politician, but some light has recently been +thrown on their misdeeds. The questions under discussion in +Sydney are also less important. But the very unimportance of New +South Wales politics leaves open a wide door for strong language. +I have a vivid recollection of hearing one member talk about the +'effluvium which rises from that dung heap opposite,' alluding to +another member, who fortunately was well able to return the +compliment in kind. Both, however, are amongst the most useful +men in the House. Such amenities are mere matters of everyday +occurrence, ripples without which the debates would stagnate. The +pity of them is that they discourage men of education and +position from descending into the political arena, and even +corrupt the manners of those who do. Still, one must bear in mind +that, however much a low tone is in itself regrettable, it is no +criterion of the work of which the House is capable and which it +actually gets through.</p> + +<p>In South Australia the tone of the House is much higher than +in any of the other colonies. The general standard of ability is +not so high as in Victoria, but the social status and general +respectability of the members are considerably higher. The House +seems to be impressed with the idea that it is considered the +most respectable in Australia, and to strive to maintain its +reputation in that respect. So mild is the general tenour of the +debates, that an old House of Commons reporter assures me that +the South Australian Assembly is a more orderly body and far more +obedient to the Chair than St. Stephen's. Personalities of the +warmer kind are considered bad form, and one of the ablest men in +the House has completely lost all political influence from the +shadiness of sundry transactions which, in the sister colonies, +would most assuredly have been forgiven long before they were +forgotten. Of course the House is hot free from adventurers, but +they are of the better type, and have to conform to a fairly high +standard of political morality, if they wish to obtain office and +influence. As I stated before, the absence of burning political +questions, and the peculiar temperament of the colonists, has led +to a reputation for respectability being the chief recommendation +for a seat in the House. There is occasionally a little +'log-rolling' to obtain the construction of public works in +particular districts, but like everything else in South +Australian politics, this is very 'mild,' and the struggle +between the districts is never sufficiently strong to interfere +seriously with the common weal.</p> + +<p>In Queensland, in spite of a Conservative constitution, the +debates, if we may believe the fortnightly letters published in +the leading papers of Sydney and Melbourne, rival those of +Victoria in rowdyism. Personal animosity between members runs to +an unpardonable height, and the leaders of the two parties are +constantly making accusations against each other's integrity. +Political scandals are more numerous, if less important, than in +Sydney. Altogether, the impression that I have gathered is +unfavourable to the Brisbane Legislature.</p> + +<p>The most prominent politicians in Australia are Sir Henry +Parkes and Mr. Berry. Of these, Sir Henry Parkes is +unquestionably the abler. He is a fair administrator, a good +debater and leader of the House, has statesmanlike ideas, and but +for his overweening conceit might have risen to the rank of a +statesman. Mr. Berry's talent lies in a fluency of specious but +forcible speech appealing to the mob, rather than in debating +power. His vision is limited, and he is a poor administrator. +After these two I would place Mr. J. G. Francis, now the leader +of the Victorian Conservatives, who is decidedly able, and Sir +John O'Shannassy, whose adherence to the Catholic claims alone +keeps him out of a commanding position. Sir John Robertson may +perhaps claim to be placed before either of these two, but it +must be upon the ground of past performances rather than of +present action; he is emphatically a light of other days. Sir +Bryan O'Loghlen will never do anything remarkable; and the same +may be said of Mr. Stuart. South Australia has two good +administrators in Messrs. Morgan and Bray. The latter has +developed during his Premiership abilities for which no one had +given him credit. As a leader of the House, he has raised tact to +the dignity of a fine art. Mr. Patterson seems to me the ablest +of the Victorian Radicals. Mr. Parsons, of Adelaide, should also +make his mark. In Mr. Ward, South Australia possesses the most +brilliant speaker in the colonies but he has not sufficient +application or steadiness to become powerful. Mr. D. Buchanan, of +Sydney, is also clever, but his tongue runs away with his +discretion. Sir T. McIlwraith, Sir T. Palmer, and Mr. Griffith, +in Queensland, should of course be included in any list of +prominent politicians of the day, but unfortunately I do not know +enough about them to pronounce any opinion upon their abilities +which would be worth having. Amongst living politicians who are +not now taking part in politics, but whose names deserve to be +mentioned, are Mr. Service, Mr. Murray Smith, and Sir Charles +Sladen, who throughout the Reform agitation were the pillars of +the Conservative party in Victoria, and Mr. Douglas in +Queensland.</p> + +<p>Amongst the younger band of politicians, it is not difficult +to discern three Premiers <i>in petto</i>. Mr. Reid, of Sydney, +only wants more parliamentary and administrative experience, and +the more thorough understanding of the proportions of affairs +which a couple of years' residence in England would give, to +become the nearest approach to a statesman which Australia has +ever seen. In South Australia, Mr. Dixon shows a great deal of +promise. In Melbourne, Mr. Deakin's fluency of speech impressed +me considerably. Upon him will probably fall Mr. Berry's mantle. +All three of these rising politicians are young and enthusiastic, +but while Mr. Reid and Mr. Dixon are Australians in the widest +sense, Mr. Deakin's ideas seem to be unable to reach beyond the +colony in which he was born.</p> + +<p>The Land question, the Constitutional question, the +Transcontinental-Railway question, the Coastal-Trunk Railway +question, the Education question, the Immigration question, will +be seen to be common to all the Australian colonies.</p> + +<p>In Victoria and South Australia the constitutional question is +at rest for another decade; but though it is not at present on +the <i>tapis</i>, there is every probability that within the next +five years New South Wales will abandon the nominated Upper House +for one elected by a propertied constituency, such as that of the +South Australian and Victorian Legislative Councils. Within the +same period Queensland, or at any rate the southern part of it, +if it splits into two over the question, will adopt universal +suffrage. Very possibly the opportunity will also be taken to +make the Legislative Council elective, but probably on a much +less liberal basis than in the other colonies. Five years more of +progress such as she has made last year, and Western Australia +will become fitted for and obtain constitutional government. The +liberalizing of the Australian constitutions is entirely a matter +of time, but the direction is pretty well indicated. The length +of each step depends mainly upon whether it is made with the +goodwill of both Houses at a time when there is no urgent demand +for reform; or whether it is affected by obstruction on the part +of the Upper House; or whether, as seems likely to be the case in +New Zealand, it is brought about by the apathy of the Second +Chamber. I doubt, however, whether even Victoria has reached +finality in its Constitution, and it is difficult to prophesy +what form the Colonial Legislative Council of the future is to +take. Probably before Reform can take a new direction, there will +be Federation, with an Australian Senate.</p> + +<p>Many people think that the solution of the Education question +remains to be found. A Royal Commission was appointed last +session in South Australia to consider the bearings of the +existing system, and in Victoria there is already a strong +political party opposed to it. After such a complete reversal of +a policy which was supposed to be so firmly established as Sir +John Robertson's land system, no system in Australia can be said +to be finally established if there is any considerable number of +sufferers by it. Most sensible people--though they are certainly +not numerous--admit that the Catholics are really aggrieved by +being obliged to contribute towards a system of education of +which they cannot avail themselves, and many others regret the +omission from our educational system of so important an element +as religion. But the advantage of an uniform system of State +education is widely and generally appreciated. The present system +may be modified so as to give ministers of religion greater +opportunities for doctrinal teaching out of hours, and to allow +of broad Christian morality being taught as part of the +educational course. But I cannot think that a return to State aid +to denominational schools is at all probable; and if the next +half-dozen years pass over without such a change, the number of +electors educated under the existing system will make it +impossible. The Church of England was the only Protestant body +which originally objected to the secular system, because none of +the other Protestant denominations had schools of their own. Now +these are beginning to awake to the fact that the secular schools +are thinning their flocks, and producing a large number of +freethinkers in fact, if not in profession. They are therefore +openly becoming more inclined to joint action with the Anglicans, +not for the establishment of denominational schools, but for the +introduction of broad Christian teaching into the existing +schools. The Catholics, of course, hold that just as the existing +schools negatively produce Free-thinkers by the absence of any +Christian teaching, so broad Christianity would be mere +Protestantism; i.e., the negation of Roman Catholic doctrine.</p> + +<p>On the Land question we seem as far as ever from finality. The +reaction against the selection system will probably not extend to +Victoria because the quantity of land there is limited, and its +character for the most part superior. In South Australia the +solution will probably be in superior facilities for opening up +the interior or unoccupied lands, greater fixity of tenure to the +leaseholders, restriction of the land open to the operation of +the system of selection, easier terms to the selector, and +greater encouragement to both selector and leaseholder to improve +their holdings. In New South Wales the change must be more +radical, because, in the absence of the South Australian clause +which made survey precede selection, the evil which has arisen is +much greater. But the direction of the change will probably be +similar, though the selector will be less considered, and there +is not much totally unused land needing pastoral occupation. In +Victoria the selections are now being increased in size to one +square mile, and I think changes will gradually be made which +will make the large freeholders find it to their advantage to +sell. In Victoria and New South Wales there is a quantity of +freehold property used for pasture which is well fitted for +agriculture. South Australia, on the contrary, has pretty well +reached the margin of cultivation, and must seek to improve her +wheat-yield, not so much by enlargement of the area cultivated, +as by improvement in the cultivation of the area already under +crop.</p> + +<p>Victoria has completely abandoned Government immigration, but +New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland each grant free +or assisted passages to immigrants of a certain class. For the +last three or four years the immigration policy has been +slackened, but there is every sign that another push is going o +be made in this direction by South Australia, which had almost +entirely stopped free passages, and by Queensland. Beyond +question, one of the chief needs of Australia at the present +moment is a steady stream of immigration, and this can only be +obtained by more strenuous efforts on the part of the Colonial +Governments to make the position and prospects of the country +better known at home. Immigration raises the revenue and helps to +pay off the interest on our debt. It reduces the expenditure +proportionately to the population. It gives more employment, +since the new-comers must be housed and clothed and live; and it +supplies more labour, enabling fresh country and new industries +to be opened up. Population is the chief element of wealth and +progress in a young country like this.</p> + +<p>The contract which the Queensland Government has just signed +for the construction of a railway from Charleville and Point +Parker marks the beginning of an era of transcontinental railways +constructed by English companies upon the land-grant system. The +next will probably join Albany (King George's Sound) to Perth, +and the third will traverse the continent from north to south, +i.e. from Port Darwin to Port Augusta, and practically to +Adelaide. The advantages of the land-grant system are yet +insufficiently appreciated in Australia, but in this system I +believe there lies an enormous source of wealth. The Colonial +Governments cannot possibly afford to construct these lines +themselves; but if the contracts are made with discretion, the +advantages which the companies will reap, though sufficient, will +be as nothing compared with the enormous increase in the value of +the remaining land, and the addition to the productive power of +the colony. The railways from capital to capital will, of course, +be constructed by the Governments of each colony. Sydney is +already united to Melbourne, and in four years' time Adelaide +will also be connected. Brisbane, Maryborough, Rockhampton, +Mackay, and Townsville will all be joined in due course of time, +and by the land-grant system Point Parker, on the northern coast, +will be included. The next step must undoubtedly be the +connection of Albany with Port Augusta on the land-grant system, +and of Perth--or rather Geraldton--with the new settlements in +the Kimberley district. All this, I think, we may reasonably +expect to be done in the next quarter of a century. After that a +line will probably be constructed across the centre of the +continent from east to west, and the coastal trunk line completed +along the north-west from the Kimberley district to Port Darwin, +and thence to Point Parker.</p> + +<p>Just before the last mail left with this letter, the Parkes +Government in New South Wales exploded like a bomb-shell. A +fortnight after it was posted, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen wrought a +<i>coup d'état</i>. On the last day of January, Victoria +was amazed by the altogether unexpected news that the Ministry +had advised, and the Governor granted, a dissolution. The morning +papers had not contained even a hint of such a catastrophe, and +the publication of the Government <i>Gazette</i> containing the +proclamation was the first intimation of it which anybody outside +the Cabinet received. The grounds upon which the request of the +Ministry was granted were, that the House was so divided into +sections of parties that it was impossible to carry on the public +business; that the Parliament was moribund, having only six +months to live; and that the Government, which asked for the +dissolution, was undefeated. Both the Conservatives and Liberals, +and their leaders the <i>Argus</i> and <i>Age</i>, alike blame +the Governor for granting the dissolution, on the grounds that +the House was just as incompetent to transact business six months +ago as now, and that the Government would never have applied for +a dissolution but for the certain defeat which awaited them +directly the House met, on account of the failure of the loan. To +me, however, it seems that the Governor was perfectly right. +Admitting the undeniable truth of the objections I have just +quoted, it remains to be said that if the Government had waited +to be defeated in the House, no Government capable of carrying on +business could have been formed in such a House. As it is the +Government are absolutely certain to be defeated in the country, +and in a new House there is every chance of a strong Government +being formed. Mr. Service, the ablest of Australian politicians, +who led the Conservative Opposition to Mr. Berry's Government +throughout the constitutional struggle, and who has been on a +holiday in England during the present Minister's tenure of +office, has resolved to re-enter into politics. Although a +resolute opponent of the excesses of Berryism, Mr. Service is +more of a Liberal than of a Conservative, and I confidently +expect that the general elections will result in a Coalition +Government formed of the ablest men of either side, under Mr. +Service's leadership. Even Mr. Berry, in his election speech, has +announced 'moderation' as his watchword, and a longing for the +loaves and fishes of office will probably induce him to serve +under Mr. Service. Mr. Patterson, the ablest of the Radicals, may +be pronounced a certainty for the Ministry of Public Works. Mr. +Francis, the leader of the Conservatives whilst Mr. Service was +away, will be a fourth. For the remaining offices, Messrs. +Pearson and Deakin of the Radicals, and Gillies of the +Conservatives, are the most likely men. Such a Government of all +the talents, with Civil Service Reform as the first plank in its +platform, should rival the length and strength of the +Parkes-Robertson Coalition, which lasted four years, and would be +infinitely superior to it in ability. As for poor Sir Bryan +O'Loghlen, the services he has rendered to the country are little +likely to be appreciated at the poll, and all he will be able to +do is to rally into opposition the men who think Mr. Service +ought to have offered them portfolios. <a name= +"townlife-14"></a></p> + +<h2>BUSINESS.</h2> + +<p>The <i>Australian Insurance Banking Record</i> informs me that +there are no less than 24 joint-stock banking companies, with 750 +branches doing business in Australia. They all pay dividends of +from 6 to 18 per cent. to their shareholders, besides putting +handsome sums every year to their reserve funds, so that banking +business is fairly profitable here. The existence and prosperity +of so many banks in a community which, all told, is considerably +smaller than the population of London, is chiefly due to the +wealth of the small number of people who form it, and also to the +wider range of business which the banks undertake. Nearly +everybody who is worth £100 has a banking account, and most +people who have an account have overdrafts, which are given for +the most part on purely personal security. The banks also advance +freely on growing crops, wool on the sheep's back, and all kinds +of intangible security. Many of the largest merchants are to all +intents and purposes mere bank-agents. It is quite a common thing +for ordinary working-men to keep bank accounts; and all farmers, +even the smallest, are obliged to keep them; for in the country +specie payments are almost unknown, and the smallest sums are +paid by cheque. Even in the towns, residents usually pay any sum +over a pound by cheque. Although this practice has opened the +door to a good deal of fraud, its convenience is obvious. You +need never keep more than a few shillings in your pocket, and +your bank keeps all your accounts for you.</p> + +<p>In a community in which every class is largely dependent upon +his goodwill, the banker occupies the highest social position, +almost irrespective of his merits. It is this excessive +dependence upon the banks which largely accounts for the +excessive ups and downs of colonial life. In times when money is +easy the banks almost force it upon their customers. When it is +tight, many people who are really solvent are forced into the +<i>Gazette</i>, and a panic ensues, from which it takes the +country some time to recover.</p> + +<p>The tendency to merge large firms into limited liability +companies, which has extended lately from America to England, has +also been felt in Australia, though not to the same extent as in +New Zealand. In certain classes of business these come into +competition with the smaller banks, but each, as a rule, runs +hand in glove with a large bank, undertaking certain classes of +loans and supplementing the bank's business. They buy wool and +wheat freely in Melbourne, hold auction sales there, sell on +commission in England, advance upon wool on the sheep's back and +standing crops onwards; in short, merit their usual description +of loan, mercantile, and agency houses. Mortgage and land +investment companies are another class which has been springing +up of late. One company has been started professedly to deal +solely with wheat: several already exist which make wool their +only concern. Besides these, there are the usual run of mining +companies, which spring up epidemically and mostly have their +headquarters in Victoria. It is needless to say, that in these +companies it is a case of neck or nothing.</p> + +<p>Land is naturally the safest investment of any that offer +themselves in the colonies. Although every ten years or so there +comes to each colony a period of intense speculation in land, +with a consequent reaction, it is a generally accepted maxim, +that 'you cannot go far wrong in buying land.' There is always +the chance of making 50 to 100 per cent. in the year by a land +purchase, and at the worst you will get 10 to 20 per cent. per +annum, if you can only afford to tide over one, or at most two +bad years.</p> + +<p>On first-class mortgages the rate of interest varies from 6 +1/2 to 8 per cent. for large amounts. For small amounts 8 per +cent. is always obtainable by a man who keeps his eyes open. But, +beyond this absolutely secure class of investments, one +thousand-and-one small chances of making large profits with +little risk occur to every man who has got a few hundreds; and if +he fails to turn them to account he will have nothing but himself +to blame.</p> + +<p>In the early days there was of course no distinction between +wholesale and retail business, and in country towns the largest +firms still keep stores where you can buy sixpennyworth of +anything you want. Even in the towns the distinction is not +firmly established, and many of the wealthiest importers still +keep shops. Nor are the trades specialized to anything like the +same extent as at home; though, in wholesale trade, they are +becoming more so every day. Nearly the whole of the +extra-Australian trade is still with England--chiefly +London--though there is a small import trade with America and +China, and export to India and the Cape. The French and Germans +are both making strenuous efforts to establish a market here, and +the Germans especially are succeeding. A great deal of business +has been done of late by agents working on commission for English +manufacturers; but most of the larger importers have their buyers +in England. The tendency, however, is towards buying in +Australia, although it is opposed by the large wholesale +importers who are injured by closer connection between +manufacturers and small buyers.</p> + +<p>If, on the one hand, there are fewer of those old-established +firms in which strict traditions of honour descend from +generation to generation, so, on the other hand, the smaller size +of the towns gives less scope for barefaced swindlers. And thus, +if the standard of commercial morality is lower here than at +home, people are not taken in so easily, or to so great an +extent. Everyone is expected to be more or less of a business +man, and is looked upon as a blockhead and deserving to be +cheated, if he does not understand and allow for the tricks of +the trade. In Melbourne the heavy protectionist tariff has +brought about an almost universal practice of presenting the +customs with false invoices so skilfully concocted as to make +detection impossible. Within my knowledge this practice has been +resorted to by firms of the highest standing. Sharp practice +amongst respectable firms is also very common, and verbal +agreements are less trustworthy than in England. You are expected +to be on your guard against being 'taken in;' and if you are +taken in, no one has any compassion for you, the general opinion +being that a man who trusts to anything less than the plainest +black-and-white is a fool.</p> + +<p>Liberality to <i>employés</i> and in the details of +business is little known or appreciated. Exactly contrary to the +prevalent idea in America, the Australian merchant is most averse +to casting bread on the waters with a view to its return after +many days. He distrusts courtesy and liberality as cloaks for the +knave, or as the appurtenances of the fool. Loyalty is a phrase +little understood, and the merchant leaves as little to his +clerks' honesty or honour as he can possibly help. In business he +holds that 'Every man's hand is against his neighbour, and his +neighbour's against him;' and he pushes the aphorism to its +fullest logical conclusion, i.e., not merely to 'Believe every +man to be a knave until you find he is honest,' but 'Believe that +when a man is honest it is merely the more successfully to carry +out some rascality.'</p> + +<p>The old-fashioned English prejudice against bankruptcy has +been improved out of existence by the speculative nature of all +business, and the consequent frequency of insolvencies. Some of +the largest merchants have 'been through the Court,' as it is +termed, more than once; and provided there has been no open +swindle in the case, no opprobium attaches. Even when there has +been swindling, it is soon forgiven and forgotten. A man who has +been caught swindling is denounced at the time with an +exaggerated ardour which would make a stranger think that +swindles were almost as rare as the cases in which they are +discovered; but it is only just to recognise that the exposed +swindler has a fair chance given him of retrieving his +reputation, and perhaps of setting himself up again. The fact is, +that so much sharp practice goes on, that the discovered swindler +is rarely a sinner above his neighbours: he has simply had the +bad luck to be found out. If half the stories one hears are true, +half the business people in the colonies must be more or less +swindlers in small matters. I don't mean that they commit legal +swindles, but merely what may be called dirty tricks. On the +other hand, I know many business men in whose probity I could put +full confidence. But you require to live in a place some time, +and must probably buy your experience pretty dearly, before you +find these out. And even they in many trades cannot help +contamination. It is very difficult to mix thoroughly in business +without dirtying your hands; it requires no ordinary moral +courage to keep them clean when there is so much filthy lucre +about. A man who is determined never to diverge from the strict +path of honour finds himself of necessity at a disadvantage in +the commercial maze, and the best thing he can do is never to go +into it. His sense of what is right cannot but be dulled by the +continual grating of petty trickery. He is led almost before he +knows it into things from which he recoils with disgust, perhaps +too late to prevent them, and he has continually to be on the +watch for and to combat the trickery of others. I cannot say +that, generally speaking, I have much sympathy with the somewhat +smug self-righteousness of Young Men's Christian Associations, +but I must say that they have done a great deal of good in +putting a leaven of honesty into the commercial lump.</p> + +<p>The way in which a man changes his trade and occupation is +remarkable. One year he is a wine-merchant; the next he deals in +soft goods; and the year after he becomes an auctioneer. The +consequence of this is, that, although colonists acquire a +peculiar aptitude for turning their hand to anything, and a great +deal of general commercial knowledge, that knowledge is for the +most part very superficial. This accounts for the phenomenal +success which a newcomer who is a specialist occasionally meets +with in a line of business in which he is an expert, and also for +the failure which often attends the efforts of competent +specialists, who become discredited because they are not able to +do something properly, which in England would not be considered +to come within their province. To a man coming here to establish +himself in any business I would always give the advice to take a +subordinate position for a year in a similar business already +established. This will give him what is called 'colonial +experience,' for want of which many an able man fails at the +threshold.</p> + +<p>Amongst the peculiarities of colonial trade is a strong +preference for local manufactures, with the exception of wine. A +large manufacturer of agricultural machinery, who has just been +making a tour of the colonies, tells me that he finds merchants +actually prefer an inferior and dearer article locally made, if +it appears at all equal to the English one in appearance. In a +certain measure I believe this to be true. It is not merely a +patriotic or protective feeling of sentiment, but is to a great +extent due to the untrustworthiness of European manufacturers, +who constantly send out articles inferior to those ordered. The +French in particular sin in this respect. The Americans seem to +be most to be relied upon. Owing partly to the duty on wool, and +to the small number of articles which can be exported to America, +there is not nearly so much trade with the United States as might +be expected. If freights were lower, or our social relations with +America closer, there would certainly be many more American +manufactures in use than there are now.</p> + +<p>Generally speaking, it may be said that trade is far more +speculative and profits far larger than in Europe. Capital +requires and obtains at least half as much again in interest. The +openings for profitable speculation are greater. In squatting, +the losses are occasionally very large; but during a good season +the gains are beyond all English conception, if the rate of +increase of the flock, which is sometimes from 100 to 120 per +cent., be taken into consideration. You hear people say that the +day of the squatter is coming to an end in Australia, and that +money can no longer be profitably invested in sheep-runs. If this +be so, how is it that nearly every Melbourne merchant is also an +owner of stations? That sheep-farming can no longer be carried on +with so small a capital as in the early days may be true; but if +a man has the experience, and can endure the hardships of taking +up new country, he has still every prospect of success. It is in +the towns only that the acquisition of wealth is becoming more +difficult; but it may be laid down as a general rule, that in +town or country any man with over £5,000 will, if he goes +the right way to work and has ordinary luck, multiply his capital +by twelve in less than a score of years; and that the impecunious +man can at least find more elbow-room than at home. Clerks are +said to be a drug in the market; but that is a mere +<i>farçon de parler</i>, expressing the fact that they are +the worst-paid class in Australia. It does not prevent them from +getting better pay for less work than they do in England.</p> + +<p>In the professions, as may be imagined, first-class men are +rare. When we get them, it is either on account of their health +or their habits. A first-rate man can do better in England than +here, not only because the field is wider, but because the +standard of comparison is higher. Even a second-class man should +do better at home in the long-run, though for immediate results +there is no place like Australia. But the man who will do well to +emigrate is he who is just above the ordinary rank and file--the +<i>junior optimè</i> of his profession. The rank and file +will probably do better out here, but not so much better as to +compensate them for the change of scene and life; and the +Australian public will take little account of a man who cannot +show ability in some direction. For specialists there is not yet +much scope. Our social organism has not yet become sufficiently +heterogeneous, as the evolutionists would say, though it is +gradually progressing every day.</p> + +<p>Of all the professions, medicine certainly is the best +remunerated. It is not merely that a certain Melbourne surgeon--a +man, however, who would have made his mark in London--is making +from £8,000 to £10,000 a Year, and several other +leading doctors from £4,000 to £6,000; but that the +general average income is about £2,000 a year, and an +unknown M.R.C.S. can within a month of his landing walk into a +practice of £600 for the asking. Exceptions of course there +are to the prevailing high rate of income; but they proceed +mostly, not from incapacity--for there is plenty of that at +£2,000 a year and of drunkenness also--but from an +unwillingness to begin with the hardships of a bush life. To +start well from the first in town is possible, as has been +proved, but only under exceptional conditions; whereas the most +mediocre medico, with a mere license from Apothecaries' Hall, can +land himself in a good country practice. Provided he can stand +that life for three or four years without becoming a drunkard or +breaking down in health, his fortune is made. At the end of that +time he either takes an opportunity to buy a town practice for a +small sum, which, if he has either friends or ability, is his +best course, or if he has neither, he stays up in the country, +and equally obtains a fortune, though with much harder work. Bush +fees are large, but bush work is hard. The bush doctor may at any +moment be called upon to ride fifty miles to see a patient. In +town he would only get a half-guinea fee, or in Adelaide only +five shillings; but the circle is circumscribed, and it is +astonishing how many five shillings can be obtained in a day.</p> + +<p>In Melbourne and Sydney the bar still exists as a distinct +institution. In Adelaide, solicitors, attorneys, conveyancers, +proctors, barristers, are all united, and this reform, which +works admirably, will probably soon be extended to the other +colonies. What generally happens is, that one man with a penchant +for the forum goes into partnership with another whose forte lies +in the office; and thus, though all lawyers meet on an equality, +the two branches of the profession practically remain apart. But +the new régime offers great advantages to juniors, who are +thus no longer dependent upon attorneys, but are brought face to +face with their clients. The latter, in whose interest the reform +was chiefly made, have thus, also, far more freedom of choice as +regards their advocates. Comparatively easy as it is for a junior +to get a fair practice, the bar has too few prizes to make it +worth the while of the best men to stay out in Melbourne and +Sydney. There are a few exceptions, but very few, who make over +£4,000 a year, and in New South Wales the Chief Justice +only gets £3,000 a year. Hence a marked weakness in the +colonial bench of every colony, except Victoria, where the +salaries are higher. Here and there you see a first-rate judge, +but for the most part judges are ex-attorney-generals of the +administration which happened to be in office when the judgeships +fell vacant. Political distinction has become a <i>sine quâ +non</i> for a candidate for the bench. The leading counsel often +would not accept the office if it were offered them, and thus the +just-above-the-averages form the majority of judges.</p> + +<p>The worst paid of all professions are the clergy, and not only +are they the worst paid, but the hardest worked. The bishops get +from £800 to £2,000 a year, but there are very few +clergy whose stipends exceed £600, and the majority live +and die without getting any higher than the £350 to +£400 stage. Nor have they here the social compensation +which they enjoy in England. There is no Established Church, and +their position is not many degrees superior to that of the +ministers of other denominations. The latter, whose wants are +naturally less, are quite as well, and on the whole probably +better, paid. If they have any ability, £500 to £700 +is easily within their reach, and one or two distinguished +preachers get as much as £1,500 to £2,000. <a name= +"townlife-15"></a></p> + +<h2>SHOPS.</h2> + +<p>The principal shops are noticeable for their size and the +heterogeneity of their contents. At first I used to think that +this want of specializing was a relic of the days of 'general +stores,' which still reign supreme in the country towns. But, on +the contrary, the tendency is decidedly to increase the range of +retail business rather than to specialize it. For instance, it is +within the last five years that furniture, china and fancy goods +have become attributes of all the large drapery 'establishments, +and that the ironmongers have gone seriously into the +agricultural machinery, clock, china and fancy goods business. +Amongst these ironmongers there are two shops--Lassetter's at +Sydney, and McEwan's in Melbourne--which would attract attention +in London; and in Adelaide, Messrs. Steiner and Wendt's +silver-ware and jewellery shops have a style of their own which +does them immense credit. But, on the whole, Melbourne is +<i>facile princeps</i> in shops as in everything that may be said +to enter into the ladies' department. The windows' in the +fashionable part of the town are dressed anew every week, and +with a taste which reminds one of Paris. But in spite of this, +the best class of articles are difficult to get, and the few +shops that keep them charge almost ridiculous prices. One would +suppose that a better class of things would be obtainable in +free-trade Sydney than in protected Melbourne, for while freights +and commissions fall equally upon the just and upon the unjust, +an <i>ad valorem</i> tariff such as that of Victoria presses very +hard upon high-priced goods. But, as a matter of fact, the +metropolitan and fashionable character of Melbourne more than +counterbalances the tariff; and, so far as I can judge, you have +as good if not a better chance of getting an article <i>de +luxe</i> in the protectionist as in the free-trade city. Of +course the latter is the cheapest, but by no means so much +cheaper as the difference in tariff would imply, competition +being much keener in Melbourne.</p> + +<p>In Sydney, however, there is less adulteration and palming off +of inferior for good articles. A curious instance of this came +under my notice. Shortly after a recent imposition of an extra +five per cent upon boots, I bought a pair exactly similar to some +I had previously got at the same shop. The charge was exactly the +same as before; and on my asking the shopman how it was possible +for him to avoid raising his price, he candidly told me that +people were accustomed to pay a certain price for a certain +article, and that therefore he had been obliged to order an +inferior boot, made to look exactly the same. 'My customers won't +pay more, sir,' he added; 'and if I were to stick to the same +quality as before, they would go to other shops, where they could +get an inferior boot, looking just as good, for the old +price.</p> + +<p>Although there are some dozen places in Melbourne and +half-a-dozen in Sydney which are equal, if not superior, to any +in Birmingham or Manchester, the general run of colonial shops +are little better than in English towns of equal size, and their +style is as English as English can be, especially the smaller +shops.</p> + +<p>But in one respect there is a great difference. The English +shopman generally knows his business thoroughly, the colonial +rarely. Supposing, for instance, you want some article of +ironmongery in an English shop, the attendant shows you an +assortment to choose from, pointing out the special merits of +each variety of the article as made by different manufacturers, +and guiding, but not presuming to dictate, your choice. The +colonial, on the contrary, begins by asking an exact description +of what you want; and then, feeling sure that he knows much more +about your requirements than you do yourself, brings you very +likely something that will 'do,' but is not exactly what you +want. He does not enjoy the trouble of laying before you a +variety of things to choose from, and except in first-class shops +he does not seem to care much whether you buy or not. The result +often is, that you either are strong-minded enough not to buy at +all, or so weak-minded as to take <i>das erste beste</i> that is +put before you. Either is unsatisfactory. So far has this custom +of knowing everything proceeded, that at a leading dressmaking +establishment in Melbourne when a friend of mine was ordering a +dress, the fitter after the lady had chosen the stuff, and +pattern, said, 'Of course you'll leave the details to me, ma'am,' +the details including the length of the skirt and all the +gatherings and miscellaneous ornamentations, which make all the +difference between a pretty and a tasteless dress, and in which +individuality has a chance of showing itself. As regards civility +in the first-class establishments, there is little difference +from the obsequiousness of the old country; but what difference +there is, is in favour of the colony. In the second-rate shops +there is often an unnecessary assertion of the shopman's equality +with his customer, and a great indifference as to whether he buys +or not. In the small shops where the proprietor or his family +serve you themselves, the thermometer of civility registers a +rise again, though sometimes after a rough fashion.</p> + +<p>No mention of Australian shops is complete without an allusion +to the fruit and vegetable shops and markets, where every kind of +fruit and vegetable can be obtained at a very low price; the +varying climates obtainable within a small area enabling each +fruit to remain much longer in season than in England. <a name= +"townlife-16"></a></p> + +<h2>AMUSEMENTS.</h2> + +<p>The change to a more genial climate and clearer skies has not +been altogether without effect upon the temperament of the +colonists. Like the stock from which they spring their ideas of +pleasure are still limited. They are still, above all, a serious +people; no disposition to abate this seriousness has shown +itself, even in the rising generation. On the contrary, brought +up in a country where idleness is a reproach, they have the +serious side of life always before them. To 'get on' is the +watchword of young Australia, and getting-on means hard work. But +the more ample reward attaching to labour out here leaves the +colonist more leisure. And this leisure he devotes to working at +play.</p> + +<p>That 'all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy' is already +an accepted maxim, is exemplified by the numerous holidays and +the way in which they are spent. There must be pretty nearly a +dozen public holidays in the year. Saturday is always a +half-holiday. Nine till five are the accepted hours for the +clerk; half-past nine till six for the shop-assistant. The +eight-hour system is generally accepted in all classes of manual +labour. Some shops are open on Saturday evenings; but there is a +strong movement to abolish this system. The clerk is rarely +called back to work after hours. In all trades and professions +the hours and work of the subordinates are much less than in +England. When a public holiday falls on a Monday, Saturday for +most purposes becomes a whole holiday also. Christmas Day falling +on Monday in 1882, business did not begin again till Wednesday. +So on Friday everybody had to lay in their stock of bread and +meat to last till Wednesday morning. In wholesale business, in +the professions and amongst the working-classes, the whole week +from Christmas Eve to the 2nd of January is practically a +holiday. It is quite useless to attempt to do any business during +that period. In most places it is about Twelfth Day before things +get into trim again. During the first few days of the year the +work is done by half the ordinary staff The colonist certainly +endeavours to get as much pleasure as he can out of existence. He +has a full appreciation of the value of amusement. He is not +himself amusing, but he thoroughly enjoys amusing himself.</p> + +<p>The abundance of fine and temperate weather makes outdoor life +preferable to indoor during eight months of the year. Perhaps +this is a reason why the colonists live in such poor houses and +care so little how they are furnished. Town-life is a recent +invention in Australia; and town-life as it is known at home, in +the sense that numbers of people live in a town all their lives +and only go into the country for an airing, is quite unknown. The +majority of the population still lives, more or less, in the +bush. Our ideals are country ideals and not town ideals. For all +these reasons the principal amusements of the Australians are +outdoor sports of one kind or another; and if the interest taken +in them proportionate to the population be the criterion, this +may fairly claim to be the most sporting country in the world. In +Australia alone, of all countries, can any sport be called +national in the sense that the whole nation, from the oldest +greybeard to the youngest child, takes an interest in it.</p> + +<p>Cricket must, I suppose, take the first place amongst +Australian sports, because all ages and all classes are +interested in it; and not to be interested in it amounts almost +to a social crime. The quality of Australian cricket has already +spoken for itself in England. Of its quantity it is difficult to +give any idea. Cricket clubs are perhaps numerable, though yearly +increasing; but of the game itself there is no end. There is no +class too poor to play, as at home. Every little Australian that +is 'born alive' is a little cricketer, a bat, or bowler, or +field. Cricket is the colonial <i>carrière ouverte aux +talents</i>. As Napoleon's soldiers remembered that they carried +a marshal's <i>bâton</i> in their knapsacks, so the young +Australians all remember that they have a chance of becoming +successors of that illustrious band of heroes who have recently +conquered the mother-country and looted her into the bargain, +though the idea of gain certainly never enters into their heads +in connection with cricket. It may be, and it is most probable, +that English cricket will soon recover the laurels which the +Australians carried away in 1882; but I venture to prophesy that +from 1890 onwards, the cricket championship will, except through +occasional bad-luck, become permanently resident in Australia. +The success of the first Australian Eleven bred cricketers by the +thousand. If that eleven was picked out of, say, 10,000 men and +boys playing cricket, the present has been chosen from 20,000, +and by 1890 the eleven will be chosen from 100,000. Certainly, +very few of these can afford to devote themselves solely to +cricket; but most of them will play from five to seven o'clock +through six months of the year, and on holidays, half-holidays, +and odd moments through nine months. Some measure of the interest +which attaches to cricket can be gathered from the space devoted +to it in every paper, and the fact that during the tour of the +Australian Elevens the full scores of every match they played, +together with details of the more important matches, were cabled +from London every day, and this at 10s. 6d. a word. At the +intercolonial and international cricket matches in Melbourne, as +many as 23,000 persons have, on one day, paid their shilling to +gain admittance into the cricket ground, and 10,000 is about an +average attendance.</p> + +<p>The other day Parliament was most suddenly and unexpectedly +dissolved in Melbourne. In a place where political feeling runs +so high, the greatest excitement might have been expected over +such an occurrence. But 'Reuter,' who may be considered an +impartial authority, merely cabled to New Zealand, 'The +dissolution.'</p> + +<p>Chiefly owing to the impossibility of bringing about an +international football match, the popularity of football is more +local than that of cricket; but in Melbourne I think it is more +intense. Patriotism cannot, of course, be roused when no national +interests are at stake, but club rivalry is decidedly stronger. +Some measure of the popularity of the game may be gathered from +the fact, that the member who has sat in the last three +parliaments for the most important working-man's constituency, +owes his seat entirely to his prowess on behalf of the local +football club. In no other way has he, or does he pretend to have +the slightest qualifications. Of course there are numbers of +people amongst the upper and middle classes who still have a holy +horror of football as a dangerous game, and the want of unanimity +in rules prevents the two principal colonies from meeting on +equal terms. In the older colony the Rugby Union rules are +played. Victoria has invented a set of rules for herself--a kind +of compound between the Rugby Union and Association. South +Australia plays the Victorian game. I suppose it is a heresy for +an old Marlburian to own it, but after having played all three +games, Rugby, Association and Victorian--the first several +hundred times, the second a few dozen times, and the third a +couple of score of times--I feel bound to say that the Victorian +game is by far the most scientific, the most amusing both to +players and onlookers, and altogether the best; and I believe I +may say that on this point my opinion is worth having. Of course, +men who are accustomed to the English games, and have not played +the Victorian, will hold it ridiculous that the solution of the +best game of football problem should be found, as I believe it +has been found, in Melbourne. But I would ask them to remember +that the Victorian game was founded by rival public school men, +who, finding that neither party was strong enough to form a club +of its own, devised it--of course not in its present elaborate +state--as a compromise between the two. In corroboration of my +opinion I would point to the facts that, while Sydney is at least +as good at cricket as Melbourne, there are not a dozen football +clubs in Sydney (where they play Rugby Union), as against about a +hundred in Melbourne; that the attendance at the best matches in +Sydney is not one-third of what it is in Melbourne; that the +average number of people who go to see football matches on a +Saturday afternoon in Sydney is not one-tenth of that in +Melbourne; and that in Sydney people will not pay to see the +game, while in Melbourne the receipts from football matches are +larger than they are from cricket matches. The quality of the +attendance, also, in Melbourne is something remarkable; but of +some 10,000 people, perhaps, who pay their sixpences to see the +Melbourne and Carlton Clubs play of an afternoon, there are not a +thousand who are not intensely interested in the match, and who +do not watch its every turn with the same intentness which +characterizes the boys at Lord's during the Eton and Harrow +match. A good football match in Melbourne is one of the sights of +the world. Old men and young get equally excited. The quality of +the play, too, is much superior to anything the best English +clubs can produce. Of course it is not easy to judge of this when +the games played are different, but on such points as +drop-kicking, dodging, and catching, comparison can be made with +the Rugby game; and every 'footballer' (the word, if not coined, +has become commonly current here) knows what I mean when I say, +that there is much more 'style' about the play of at least half a +dozen clubs in Victoria, than about the 'Old Etonians' or the +'Blackheath', which are the two best clubs I have seen play in +England.</p> + +<p>Of athletic meetings there are plenty, but they do not attract +much interest as compared with cricket and football. Nor can +rowing be called a thoroughly national pastime, though both in +Sydney and Melbourne there are good rivers. The two colonies row +each other annually; and in Sydney, more especially, there is a +good deal of excitement over this event. But the interest felt in +rowing is not much greater than in England. It is a popular +sport, and that is all.</p> + +<p>Yachting is very popular in Sydney, the harbour being almost +made on purpose for it; but yachting is only a rich man's +pleasure. Lawn-tennis is as much in fashion here as at home, but +it is not cultivated with the same ardour. The best players in +Sydney and Melbourne would not be considered as more than +third-rate at home. Bicycling is gaining in favour in Melbourne +and Adelaide; Sydney is rather hilly for it. There are polo and +gun clubs in all three towns, but they are, of course, small and +aristocratic rather than popular.</p> + +<p>Fox-hunting there is none; but there are hunt clubs in the +principal towns who run after a drag--in Melbourne after a +kangaroo, and occasionally even after a deer. The country is of +course monotonous, and wants very good riding. There are no +sensational water-jumps even at steeplechase meetings, the +colonial horse not being accustomed to water. But it wants a good +horse to get over the unvarying succession of post and rail +fences. People who talk about the jumps in steeplechases at home +being hard should try a run over a colonial course of +4-feet-6-inch post and rails. The horses are accustomed to it, +but not so always the riders. Up in the bush there is plenty of +kangaroo-hunting to be got at almost any station. The squatters +often pay a shilling a head for kangaroos, and very fair sport +they afford when not too numerous. The wallaby is a smaller kind +of kangaroo which is also hunted.</p> + +<p>There are snipe to be shot in Australia; but wild duck is +really the best kind of shooting we get, and far more easily +obtainable. They are much more varied in kind than at home. +Rabbits are generally too plentiful to afford much fun. I have +pelted them by the score from the veranda of a station-house in +South Australia. At best they are poor sport. The kangaroos and +wallaby are generally too tame. Amongst other animals shootable +are the native bear--a sluggish creature looking like a small +bear; the bandicoot, a small animal with a pig's head and snout; +the native cat; cockatoos, parrots, eagles, hawks, owls, +parroquets, wild turkey, quail, native pheasants, teal, native +companions, water-hens, and the black swan and the opossum. Of +these the wild turkey affords the best fun. You have to stalk +them in a buggy, and drive in a gradually narrowing circle round +them till you get within shot. The opossum you shoot by +moonlight, getting them between your gun and the moon as they +jump from tree to tree. Teal are fairly numerous. Pheasants, +partridges, and quail, like the deer, were imported, and have +bred rapidly; but they are not sufficiently preserved.</p> + +<p>On fishing I am no authority; but I have always understood +that the fishing in Australia was very poor. Trout are being +acclimatized in Victoria, but the day of the angler has yet to +come.</p> + +<p>The population of Victoria is 880,000; of Melbourne and +suburbs, within a ten-mile radius, 280,000. During the Exhibition +year over 100,000 people paid a shilling, or more for admission +to the Flemington Race Course on the Melbourne Cup day. The usual +number on that occasion is 60,000 to 80,000. I don't know any +better way of asserting Australian, and especially Victorian, +supremacy as <i>the</i> racing country <i>par excellence</i>, in +comparison with which England, proportionately to her population +and her wealth, must indeed take a back-seat. There is not an +inhabited nook or corner of Australia where an annual meeting is +not got up, and well attended too. This meeting is the +<i>rendezvous</i> of the whole country-side, and generally ends +up with a dance, and what is colonially known as a 'drunk.'</p> + +<p>The large number of imported horses, the care taken in their +selection and the prices which have been paid in England for the +best sires, are sufficient proof that for strain of blood +Australia is not to be beaten in the world, whilst the progeny of +this imported stock has for distance beaten the best records of +the English turf. Thus while Kettledrum's 2.43 is the best +time--if my memory serve me right--on record for the Epsom Derby, +there have been several 2.43's in Australia, and three years ago +Darebin won in 2.41 1/2. And if it be objected that the +imperfections of the Epsom course account for the difference, I +would point to Commotion's victory in the Champion Stakes last +New Year's Day--three miles in 5.26. The times here are most +carefully taken, and whilst admitting that time can only furnish +a rough test of merit, the times I have mentioned are sufficient +to show that colonial horses can at least claim comparison with +those at home. Doubtless before long we shall see an Australian +colt running at Epsom; but the difficulties of age and transit +must always severely handicap any Australian horse performing on +the English turf.</p> + +<p>The Victoria Racing Club of Melbourne may fairly claim to be +the premier club in Australia, and in the perfection of its +arrangements and of the course at Flemington, it stands a head +and shoulders above any European club. Already it has an +excellent stand, and yet £30,000 have just been voted for +its improvement. The lawn is perfection. The hill behind the +stand would appear to have been made by nature in order to allow +the half-crown public to see the finish, as well as the +half-guinea folk in the stand. The course is flat as a pancake, +well turfed and drained. The surroundings remind one of +Longchamps. On race-days trains run out from Melbourne every ten +minutes; and, as you can buy your train and race ticket +beforehand in the town, you need never be jostled or hurried. +Everything works as if by machinery. It would really pay the +South Western officials to take a lesson at the Spencer Street +Station next Cup-day, to prevent the annual scramble at Waterloo +every Ascot meeting.</p> + +<p>The V.R.C. hold three race-meetings in the year at Flemington, +together with a steeplechase meeting in July. The principal +meeting is the autumn meeting of four days on the second of which +the blue ribbon of the Australian turf--the Melbourne Cup--is +run. One hundred and twenty-eight horses entered for this race +last year, and twenty-four ran. The latter number is considerably +below the average. The Cup is a handicap sweepstakes of twenty +sovs., the distance being two miles, and the added money only +£500. Altogether the V.R.C. gave £13,000 of added +money last year, the greatest amount given to a single race being +£1,000 for the Champion Stakes. Next to the V.R.C., the +Australian Jockey Club of Sydney ranks; but there are four other +racing clubs in Melbourne, two more in Sydney, and two in +Adelaide--all holding good meetings, which are well attended and +well arranged. The minor meetings in Sydney and Melbourne are, +however, getting to be mere gate-money and betting affairs, and +do not--with one exception--attract horses from the other +colonies.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the chief fault of Australian racing is the +prevalence of handicaps. We do not get so many short-distance +races as at home, but, unless there is a prospect of a keen +struggle between two special favourites, the public will not +attend weight-for-age races in numbers at all adequate to defray +their expenses, while a good handicap is always remunerative. The +V.R.C. does its best to hold out against popular feeling by +giving liberally to weight-for-age races, but without plenty of +handicaps they could not find money for the weight-for-age races, +far less for the luxurious arrangements of their courses.</p> + +<p>The colonial jockeys cannot be said to be at all equal to the +English, and for really good riding one must still go to the old +country; but every year an improvement is visible, and before +long we may reasonably expect that Australia will have its +Archer, or at least its Cannon.</p> + +<p>On all Australian courses the ring is kept well away from the +enclosure. Last year the V.R.C. obliged the bookmakers to take +out licenses to ply their craft at all on the course. And this +brings me to the subject of betting and gambling generally. If +the Australians are a racing community, so also are they a +gambling community. The popularity of the Melbourne Cup is +largely due to its being the great gambling event of the year. +Every township in the remote bush has its guinea sweepstake over +the Cup, every town hovel its half-crown one. The bookmaking +fraternity muster strong on all racecourses, and apparently make +an uncommonly good living out of their avocation. All kinds of +laws have been made against gambling, but they have proved +utterly useless. It is estimated that over a million of money +changes hands annually over the Cup. Everybody backs his fancy, +if only because, unless he is a strict Methodist, it would be +peculiar not to do so. One of the peculiar features of this +gambling mania are the numerous guinea sweepstakes got up every +year by a man named Miller and his imitators. Miller last year +had £120,000 entrusted to him for thousand and two thousand +guinea sweeps in the Cup alone. He takes ten per cent. for +management, and the rest is divided into so much for the winner, +a fair sum for second and third, and the balance amongst runners +and acceptances. Even those who draw a horse at all get +something. Miller has many imitators, two of whom have bolted +with the money entrusted to them; but deriving so liberal an +income from them--something like £5,000 a year he is hardly +likely to be dishonest.</p> + +<p>Passing from racing to horses generally. The riding capacities +of the Australians are well known. Nearly every one born in the +colonies learns to ride as a boy, and not to be able to ride is +to write yourself down a duffer. Horseflesh is so marvelously +cheap, that it is not taken so much care of as at home. In +outward appearance, the Australian horse has not so much to +recommend him as a rule, but his powers of endurance rival those +fabled of the Arabian. A grass-fed horse has been known to go as +much as 100 miles in a day.</p> + +<p>In 1796, i.e., only eight years after the establishment of a +convict settlement at Botany Bay, the Victoria Theatre, Sydney, +was opened with the famous prologue--</p> + +<pre> +'True patriots all, for be it understood +We left our country for our country's good: +No private views disgraced our generous zeal, +What urged our travels was our country's weal; +And none will doubt but that our emigration +Was proved most useful to the British nation.' +</pre> + +<p>The author was an ex-pickpocket; the actors were all convicts, +and the price of admission was the same all over the house--one +shilling, payable in flour, wheat, or liquor! Such a first night +must have been unique in the history of the drama.</p> + +<p>The modern Australian stage, however, only dates back as far +as 1853. How popular it had become may be judged from the fact +that Melbourne has four theatres, Sydney two, and Adelaide two, +besides concert halls. As in England, these theatres have nothing +to recommend them outside, nor can the interior arrangements be +commended. A large part of their beer revenue is derived from +drinking bars which are kept in connection with them. One of +these, though respectable enough, is generally unpleasantly in +close proximity to the entrance to the best seats in the house, +and the other forming a rendezvous for all the bad characters in +the town. The auditoria are nearly all badly ventilated, and ill +fitted up, the only exceptions being the Theatre Royal at +Adelaide, and the Bijou in Melbourne. The approaches and exits, +are for the most part poor. Boxes are unknown, and the stalls are +only second-rate seats. The dress-circle, which is considered the +best part of the house, consists of a kind of open gallery fitted +up like the stalls of a London theatre. Above are the 'gods,' and +below the pit. Prices of admission are very moderate; I have been +told that during Ristori's and De Murska's visits, as much as ten +shillings was charged for a dress-circle seat, but six shillings +is the highest charge that has been made since 1876. In any +theatre six shillings is the usual amount for the better +performances, the worst only asking four, and at some theatres +coming down as low as 3 shillings. Except when an Italian Opera +Company is playing, full dress is unnecessary, and even unusual, +at the theatre.</p> + +<p>The colonial taste in theatrical matters follows the English +pretty closely. Opera-bouffe and Gilbert and Sullivan are +preferred to everything else. Next in popularity is the 'New +Babylon' type of play. Low comedy also draws well; and I have +often wondered that Mr. Toole has not paid us a visit. Opera pure +and simple used to be more appreciated than it is; but as the +companies which produced it were always very second-rate, its +temporary disappearance is not altogether to be regretted. The +class of opera company that usually comes out here may be +imagined when I tell you that Rose Hersée was a favourite +<i>prima donna</i>! There are now sufficient resident operatic +singers of the third class to perform opera without assistance +from European stars; but by themselves these purely colonial +companies do not draw well, except in pieces of the 'Patience,' +or 'Tambour-Major' type. The Byron comedies are popular +throughout Australia. Thanks to a company which came out from +Enaland in 1880, and most of the members of which have taken up +their abode here, they have been much better acted than any other +class of plays. The modern society drama is not much appreciated, +partly because the life in which its action takes place is little +understood, and partly on account of the lack of the class of +actors required to make the pieces successful. Dion Boucicault is +still a favourite. Shakespeare is frequently played but, although +the stage-mounting has been exceptionally good, and we have had +such very fair actors as Creswick, and Hoskins, and +Scott-Siddons, a high, authority has recently declared that +Rignold's 'Henry V.' is the only Shakespearean performance, that +has paid for many years.</p> + +<p>The average quality of the acting on the Australian boards is +by no means good. The difference between first and second rate +art is not understood by a sufficiently large number of people to +make it profitable for such companies as the Bancrofts, and +Messrs. Hare and Kendall's, or stars of the first magnitude, to +come out here. Since Ristori was here in 1874, Scott-Siddons, +Creswick and Rignold, have been the best known actors we have +seen; although Marshall's Quilp, Vernon's Bunthorne, and +Hoskins's Touchstone, were impersonations of a high-class. +Soldene, curious to say, did not hit the popular taste. The +cardinal fault of colonial acting seems to me to be exaggeration. +Most of our actors are artificial and stagey; even those who +clear themselves of these faults seem to play down to the +understanding of their audience. The 'star' system is as +prevalent as in England. The stock companies are for the most +part very poor. Pieces which require a large number of persons on +the stage of course suffer. Colonial supernumeraries can only be +compared with those at country theatres at home. Considering the +circumstances, however, the scenery and mounting are as a rule +most creditable. The last two years, especially, there has been a +great improvement in this department. Melbourne is decidedly the +theatrical centre of Australia. It has twice as many theatres as +Sydney; most pieces are brought out there for the first time in +the colonies; its audiences are more appreciative and critical; +its stock companies are better. If a piece succeeds in Melbourne, +its success everywhere else is assured.</p> + +<p>Whether it is on account of the warmer climate I do not know, +but certainly the colonists are a more musical people than the +English. Of course I do not mean that there are any considerable +number of people here who really understand classical music, or +who play any instrument or sing really well. On the contrary, as +I think I have said in some other connection, there is no part of +the world where you hear so much bad music, professional and +amateur. But it is also true, that there are few parts where you +hear so much music. Almost every working-man has his girls taught +to strum the piano. Amateur concerts are exceedingly popular. +Most young people think they can sing, and Nature has certainly +endowed the young colonials with, on the average, far better and +more numerous voices than she has bestowed on English boys and +girls. Sometimes when you are bored in a drawing-room by bad +music and poor singing, you are inclined to think that the +colonial love of music is an intolerable nuisance. Especially is +this the case with me, who have been constantly interrupted in +writing by my neighbour's daughters strumming the only two tunes +they know--and those tunes 'Pinafore,' and 'Madame Angot.' But if +you are out for a walk on a summer's evening, and look into the +windows of working men's cottages, you will see the old folk +after their day's labour gathered round the piano in the +sitting-room to hear their daughters play. I cannot hold with +those who think a working-man's daughter should not learn music. +Their reasoning is illogical--for being able to play the piano is +in itself harmless, and may keep the girl out of mischief. +Further, it gives a great deal of pleasure to her parents and +friends, and often to herself as well.</p> + +<p>As for musical performances apart from opera, there are plenty +of them. Twice a week there is an organ recital in the Melbourne +Town Hall. Hardly a night passes without a concert of some kind +is going on. As in theatrical matters, Melbourne takes the lead +in all things musical. Last Christmas-week it was actually so +ambitious as to get up a Musical Festival. The Town Hall organ is +excellent. A good concert will always draw well. Ketten--who was +not a marvel--had crowded houses night after night, with no other +attraction but his pianoforte. Wilheling, who really deserved all +the praise he got, found ample success in Melbourne, and a fair +measure of it in Sydney and Adelaide. Arabella Goddard was, I +believe, well satisfied with her Australian tour, though it was +made when the population was not two-thirds of what it is now, +and much less cultured. The colonists are genuinely fond of +music, bushmen and townsmen alike. They may not know very much +about it, but they are anxious to learn all they can. They will +even pay to hear something above their appreciation, if the +<i>Australasian</i> tells them that it will improve their musical +taste. The orchestra in the Melbourne Town Hall will accommodate +500 performers, and the hall itself can seat 4,000 people. The +Sydney and Adelaide Town Halls are little smaller, and yet it is +no uncommon sight to see them filled whenever a good concert is +provided. Besides their town halls, each city has a smaller hall, +devoted to musical entertainments.</p> + +<p>The most remunerative spectacular representation is what the +most celebrated colonial impresario, Mr. R S. Smythe, calls a +'one-man show.' Mr. Archibald Forbes and Mr. R. A. Proctor both +made fabulous sums out of their trip to the colonies; and if +Arthur Sketchley failed, it was purely for want of a good agent. +In Adelaide, which, as a Puritan community, looks somewhat +askance at opera and drama, the popularity of good lectures is +beyond belief.</p> + +<p>In a horse-loving country circuses are of course popular. +Perhaps in no other part of the world can a circus obtain so +critical and appreciative an attendance. Christy Minstrels and +conjurors apparently do well, considering how very poor some of +the miscellaneous entertainments which visit Australia are, it is +most remarkable that they should contrive to get so good +audiences.</p> + +<p>Household amusements are much the same as at home, although +more frequently indulged in. The more frank relations between the +sexes make dancing a favourite pastime. In this less pretentious +social atmosphere a dance can be given without all the costly +paraphernalia customary in England, and a far larger class of +people are able to afford to give parties and balls. 'Assemblies' +are held every season in all the towns, the season being, of +course, in the winter months. Even the servants are accustomed to +go to balls, and a mistress would only make herself ridiculous +who looked upon their going to one as anything but proper. And +here I agree with the colonists. So long as her work is done for +the day, and provided that she does not go to so many balls as to +interfere with her capacity for doing her work, I cannot see what +impropriety there is in Biddy going to her ball. No doubt she +enjoys dancing, and how can it do her any more harm than her +young mistress? With all the universal love of dancing, which +permeates even the strictest Puritans amongst the young +colonials, there is very little good dancing to be met with. +People out here do not attach much importance to what are called +'accomplishments.' To dance is pleasant, but it would be a waste +of time to take trouble to learn to dance well.</p> + +<p>A mining population is always a gambling one and a +card-playing one. In Adelaide the old Puritan element still sets +its face as steadily as it can against cards as the devil's +playthings; but young Australia will not put up with any such +prejudices. Of course the mining townships are the centre of +gambling with cards; but the passion extends sufficiently widely +to do a good deal of harm. 'Euchre' is the favourite game, then +'Nap' and 'Loo;' but it would not be fair to call the Australians +a card-gambling people in comparison with the Californians. <a +name="townlife-17"></a></p> + +<h2>NEWSPAPERS.</h2> + +<p>This is essentially the land of newspapers. The colonist is by +nature an inquisitive animal, who likes to know what is going on +around him. The young colonial has inherited this proclivity. +Excepting the Bible, Shakespeare, and Macaulay's 'Essays,' the +only literature within the bushman's reach are newspapers. The +townsman deems them equally essential to his well-being. Nearly +everybody can read, and nearly everybody has leisure to do so. +Again, the proportion of the population who can afford to +purchase and subscribe to newspapers is ten times as large as in +England; hence the number of sheets issued is comparatively much +greater. Every country township has its weekly or bi-weekly +organ. In Victoria alone there are over 200 different sheets +published. Nor is the quality inferior to the quantity. On the +contrary, if there is one institution of which Australians have +reason to be proud, it is their newspaper press.</p> + +<p>Almost without exception it is thoroughly respectable and +well-conducted. From the leading metropolitan journals to the +smallest provincial sheets, the tone is healthy, the news +trustworthy. The style is purely English, without a touch of +Americanism. Reports are fairly given; telegrams are rarely +invented; sensation is not sought after; criticisms, if not very +deep, are at least impartial, and written according to the +critic's lights. Neither directly nor indirectly does anybody +even think of attempting to bribe either conductors of journals +or their reporters; the whole press is before everything, honest. +Although virulence in politics is frequent, scurrility is +confined to a very few sheets. The enterprise displayed in +obtaining telegraphic intelligence and special reports on the +questions of the day, whether Australian or European, is +wonderful, considering the small population. In literary ability +the public have nothing to complain of.</p> + +<p>Melbourne attracts to itself most of the able and clever men +in literature and journalism There is a pleasant press club there +called the 'Yorick,' which forms a sort of literary focus; and +for one clever, writer whom you find in the other colonies put +together, there are two in Melbourne. It is the only Australian +city which can claim to have anything approaching to a literary +centre. It is no wonder, then, that the <i>Argus</i> is the best +daily paper published, out of England. There are people who +assert that it is only second to the <i>Times</i>; but without +going so far as this, there is ample room for surprise on the +part of the stranger, and pride on that of the Australian, that +so excellent a paper can be produced amidst so small a +population, and under so great difficulties of distance from the +centres of news and civilization. The <i>Argus</i> will compare +favourably with the <i>Manchester Guardian</i>, <i>Leeds +Mercury</i>, or any other of the best provincial journals. In +many respects it will be found superior to them; but although the +amount of reading matter it contains is often larger than in the +<i>Standard</i> or <i>Daily News</i>, it cannot reasonably claim +comparison with them. The leading articles are able, though often +virulent; the news of the day well arranged and given in a +concise, business-like manner; the telegrams--European, +intercolonial, and provincial--are full, the expenditure in this +department being very large. Literary articles are more numerous +than in the London dailies, and are generally well executed. The +theatrical critiques, though the best in Australia, are somewhat +poor. The reports of parliamentary proceedings, public meetings, +etc., are exceedingly full and very intelligently given, and +their relative importance is well estimated. Throughout, the +paper is admirably proportioned and well edited, the paragraphs +being much more carefully written than in any London paper except +the <i>Times</i>. There is rarely a slipshod sentence to be found +in any part of the paper, which is the more remarkable as +slipshod writing is a noticeable characteristic of almost every +other colonial paper. The leading articles are for the most part +supplied by contributors not on the permanent staff, two +university professors being amongst the best known. They also +write reviews and literary articles, though the doyen in that +department is Mr. James Smith, to whom the <i>Argus</i> pays a +retaining fee of £500 a year. Art criticism is also in Mr. +Smith's hands; and although all his work is essentially bookish +and wanting in originality, he thoroughly understands his +subjects, and his style and language are excellent.</p> + +<p>The paper and type used by the <i>Argus</i> are similar to +those of the <i>Times</i>, and in the arrangement, contents, and +general style of the paper the same model has been followed. The +standard issue is an eight-page sheet about three-quarters the +size of the <i>Daily News</i>; but when Parliament is sitting, a +two or four-page supplement is nearly always issued; and on +Saturdays the number of advertisements compels a double issue, +which includes 'London Town Talk,' by Mr. James Payne, and about +half a dozen columns of reviews, essays, etc. On ordinary days +four to five out of the eight pages are always covered with +advertisements in small type, charged for at the highest rate +obtainable in the colonies. The published price is threepence, +and the circulation must be from ten to fifteen thousand.</p> + +<p>As the <i>Argus</i> may be considered as the type of the +Australian press at the highest point it has yet attained, it is +worth while to make a short examination of a casual copy. The +reading matter begins at the left-hand corner of page 6, with the +heading 'Shipping Intelligence,' under which we learn that six +steamers and one sailing-ship have arrived in Hobson's Bay on +December 21st, and that four steamers and one sailing-ship have +cleared out. Next comes a Weather Chart of Australia and New +Zealand, after the model of the one in the <i>Times</i>; and then +follow the observations taken at the Melbourne Observatory, a +synopsis of the weather, and the state of the tide, wind and +weather at twenty-two stations on the Murray, Murrumbidgee, +Ovens, and Goulburn rivers. About halfway down the third column, +we reach the heading 'Commercial Intelligence,' with a report +upon the state of the market, and the sales reported during the +day, auctioneers' reports, list of specie shipments, amount of +revenue collected during the previous day at the Custom House +(£7,498), stock sales, calls and dividends, and commercial +telegrams from London, Sydney, and Adelaide.</p> + +<p>The next heading is 'Mails Outward,' which are separated from +the leading columns only by the special advertisements, of which +there are over a column. It happens that this day there are only +two leading articles, whereas generally there are also two small +or sub-leaders. The first leader is on the finding of the +Coroner's jury anent a disastrous railway accident which has +recently taken place. The second on the preference of colonial +girls and women for low-paid factory-work, when comparative +independence, easier work, and much higher wages are obtainable +in domestic service. These two leaders occupy altogether nearly +three columns, and are followed by five columns of 'News of the +Day,' split up into fifty paragraphs.</p> + +<p>It is worth while to run the eye briefly through these +paragraphs, which might be headed +thus--<i>Résumé</i> of telegraphic intelligence; +short account of Dr. Benson, whose appointment to the Primacy is +announced by telegram; short account of the distribution of +prizes at the Bordeaux Exhibition; announcement of the arrival of +the P. and 0. mail at Albany, and of its departure from Melbourne +the previous day; short account of the trip of H.M.S. +<i>Miranda</i>, just arrived in the bay; ditto of the movements +of H.M.S. <i>Nelson</i>, and of the Orient liner +<i>Chimborazo</i>, with mention of some notable colonists arrived +by the last ship; summary in eleven paragraphs of the last +night's parliamentary proceedings; notice of a meeting to have a +testimonial picture of Sir Charles Sladen placed in the Public +Library; a puff of the coming issue of the <i>Australasian</i>; +account of an inquest; three notices of Civil Service +appointments; one of the intentions of the railway department +about excursion tickets, and another announcing the introduction +of reply post-cards; another that the Government intends +circulating amongst vignerons a report and pictures of the +Phylloxera vastatrix; a summary of the doings of the Tariff +Commission; a notice of the intentions of the Steam Navigation +Board; a list of subscriptions to the children's charities; a +summary of two judgments in the Supreme Court; of a will (value +£75,200); of a mining law case; of applications for probate +of a will, and for the custody of children; an account of a fire, +another of a distribution of prizes; a summary of the programme +of a Music Festival; announcements of the different theatre +performances, and seven subscription lists.</p> + +<p>The last column of the seventh page is headed 'Special +Telegrams.' Of these there are only five today: one about the +construction of Prussian railways on the Russian frontier, the +second about the French expedition to Tonquin, the third on the +relations between France and Madagascar, the fourth noting an +explosion at Fort Valerian, the fifth on the execution of +Oberdank. Then follow eleven messages from Reuter on M. Tisza's +speech on the relations between Russia and Austria; on the +Egyptian Financial control; the new Archbishop of Canterbury; the +Lough Mask murders; the health of Mr. Fawcett and M. Gambetta; +the trial of MM. Bontoux and Feder; the mails; monetary +intelligence; commercial intelligence, and foreign shipping +intelligence. This list gives not at all a bad idea of what +European news is considered of sufficient importance to be +telegraphed 15,000 miles.</p> + +<p>Turning over the page, a column and a quarter is occupied with +a general summary of European news by the P. and 0. mail, +telegraphed from Albany. Then follows country news by telegraph. +Between Sydney and Melbourne the <i>Argus</i> has a special wire, +which accounts for three quarters of a column of Sydney +intelligence on twenty different subjects. There is also nearly +half a column from Adelaide on nine subjects, and a "stick" from +Perth on three subjects. The list of overland passengers from and +to Sydney is also telegraphed from Albany. 'Mining and Monetary +Intelligence' takes up over a column, without counting another +column in very small type of 'Mining Reports.'</p> + +<p>Turning to the back page, we find that the first column forms +the conclusion of the Parliamentary Debates. A column and a half +has a large heading--'The Creswick Calamity,'--and is chiefly +composed of subscription lists for the sufferers and accounts of +meetings held in various parts of the country on their behalf. A +column and a quarter is headed 'Sporting Intelligence '(results +of small provincial race-meetings being telegraphed); a column is +devoted to 'Cricket,' and a third of a column to' Rowing.'</p> + +<p>We now take up the outside sheet, and find the whole of page +4, taken up by a report of last night's Parliamentary debates. On +the opposite page (9) the first three columns contain a full +report of the inquest in connection with a fatal railway accident +on a suburban line. Then comes a list of eighty-seven +school-buildings to be erected or completed at a cost of +£25,000. Three deputations take up nearly half, and the +Russell Street fire two-thirds, of a column.</p> + +<p>Opening the sheet, pages 10 and 11 are the only two with +reading matter. On 10 is a report of the Police Commission +Meeting, occupying two columns and a half; and reports of School +Speech Days--over three columns for eight schools. On page 11 the +first four columns are Law Reports; a column and a half is +devoted to a wool and station-produce report, and two half +columns to reports of meetings of the Melbourne Presbytery and +the Melbourne Hospital Committee.</p> + +<p>The remaining space is taken up by paragraphs under a third of +a column in length, with cross-headings as follows: 'Casualties +and Offences;' 'Police Intelligence;' 'The Death of Mr. Chabot;' +'New Insolvents;' 'University of Melbourne;' 'Friendly +Societies;' 'The Belfast Savings Bank Case (by telegraph);' 'The +Workmen's Strike;' 'Collingwood City Council;' 'A Recent +Meeting;' 'The Wellesley Divorce Case;' 'The Victoria +Agricultural Society.' 'Australian Electric Light Co.;' 'Public +Tenders;' 'Ballarat News;' 'Victoria Masonic Lodge;' 'Early +Closing Association;' 'The Tariff Commission;' '<i>Iron</i> on +Continuous Brakes;' and letters to the Editor on 'Holiday +Excursion Tickets,' 'Window Blinds for Omnibuses,' 'Swimming at +the State Schools,' 'The Musical Festival (3),' and 'Immigration +to Victoria.'</p> + +<p>An analysis of the advertisements of the <i>Argus</i> is +almost equally interesting as showing the heterogeneity of the +wants of the community. There are Births, 3; Marriages, 5; +Deaths, 6; Funeral Notices, 5; Missing Friends, Messages etc., 8; +Lost and Found, 13; Railways and Conveyances, 6; Shipping, no +less than four columns, including eight different lines of +steamers to Europe, of which six are English, and seven of +intercolonial steamers, of which three are owned in Melbourne, +one each in Sydney, Adelaide, New Zealand and Tasmania. The next +lines are Stocks and Shares, of which there are 18 +advertisements; Lectures, Sermons, Soirées, etc, 5; +Tutors, Governesses, Clerks etc., 45; which may be summed up +thus: Wanted, a traveller in the hardware line, cash-boys, a +copper-plate engraver, canvassers, junior chemists, five drapers' +salesmen, law costs clerk, an engineer and valuer for a shire +council, a female competent to manage the machine-room of a +clothing factory, a retoucher capable of working in mezzo +crayons, junior hands for Manchester and dress departments, two +first-class cutters for order trade, a good shop salesman, a +junior clerk, two clerks for wine and spirit store, a clerk +proficient in Customs work, two clerks, (simply), a general +manager for a carrying company, a grammar-school master with a +degree, and one to teach the lower classes; an organist and two +medical men, £400 and £500 a year guaranteed; an +accountant, private lessons in dancing, a shorthand reporter. The +persons advertising for situations under this heading are only 4 +out of 45; they are a matriculated governess, a dancing-master, a +doctor, a singing-master.</p> + +<p>The next lines are 'Situations Wanted,' 40; and 'Situations +Vacant,' 118. The relative numbers are here again suggestive. +Under the first heading I find a barmaid, three cooks, +carpenters' apprentices, three gardeners, two nursery +governesses, two housekeepers, three men desiring any employment, +seven nurses, a tailor, and the rest miscellaneous. The vacancies +are chiefly composed of 13 advertisements, from registry-offices +for servants of all capacities, married couples, gardeners, +housekeepers, butlers, plain cooks, parlourmaids, housemaids, +laundresses, waitresses, barmaids, cooks, laundresses, general +servants, nurses, needlewomen, lady-helps (3). Similar persons +are advertised for by private individuals; but besides these, I +find: Wanted a bullock-driver, a carter, a coachman, a shoeing +smith, three butchers, a bottler, two bakers, innumerable boys, +barmen, a compositor, several dressmakers in all departments, +half a dozen drapers' assistants, four grooms, sixty navvies in +one advertisement, millers, haymakers, woodcutters, spademen, +needlewomen, quarrymen, etc., two wheelwrights, a verger at +£120 a year, pick and shovel men.</p> + +<p>Turning over to the twelfth or back page, I find Wanted to +Buy, 12; Wanted to Sell, 35; Board and Lodging, 44; Houses to +Let, 67; Houses for Sale, 34; Partnerships, Businesses, etc., 44, +of which 12 are hotels; Wines, Spirits, etc., 16; Dress and +Fashion, 3; Auction Sales, 128, taking up 12 columns; Amusements, +24, taking up 2 columns; Stock and Station Sales, 11; Horses and +Carriages, 18; Produce and Provisions, 2 (Epps and Fry); +Publications and Literature, 6; Bank Notices, 2; Public Notices, +half a column; Business Notices, 53; Money, 41; Machinery, 23; +Medical, 30; Judicial Law Notices, 6; Tenders, 26, and Meetings, +9. There is also a column and a half of special advertisements +charged for at extra rates in the inside sheet just before the +leading column.</p> + +<p>Although the <i>Argus</i> has a very influential and +advertisement-bringing class of readers, and penetrates beyond +the limits of Victoria, by far the largest circulation in +Australia is that of the <i>Melbourne Age</i>, a penny four-page +sheet, published in Melbourne, which boasts of an issue of 50,000 +copies daily, almost all absorbed within Australia. Its leading +articles are as able and even more virulent than those of the +<i>Argus</i>. Its telegraphic intelligence is good, and in +dramatic and literary criticisms it is second only to the +<i>Argus</i> in Australia. But its news is comparatively poor, +owing to its being only a single-sheet paper, and it caters for a +far inferior class than the <i>Argus</i>. Its inventive ability, +in which it altogether surpasses the London <i>Daily +Telegraph</i>, has brought it the nickname of 'Ananias,' and it +is essentially the people's journal. Just as in politics the +<i>Argus</i> is not only the organ but the leader of the +ultra-Conservative party, even so the <i>Age</i> coaches the +Democracy. To its influence is mainly due the ascendency which +Mr. Berry's party held for so long, and the violence of the +measures which poor Mr. Berry took in hand. It was the <i>Age</i> +which originated the idea of the Plebiscite, and of the +progressive land-tax. It is protectionist to the backbone, having +commenced the cry of 'Victoria for the Victorians,' and fosters a +policy of isolation from the sister colonies. Prominent amongst +its leader-writers is Mr. C. H. Pearson, whose Democracy is at +once the most ultra and the most cultured, the most philosophical +and the most dogmatic. Another leader of the Radical party who +frequently writes for the <i>Age</i> is Mr. Dakin, the rising +young man of Victorian politics, who represents talent and +education apart from culture.</p> + +<p>The third morning paper in Melbourne is the <i>Daily +Telegraph</i>, a penny Conservative sheet which has never +attained any large influence or circulation, although edited by a +man of considerable literary ability. The evening papers are the +<i>Herald</i>, which is supposed to represent the Catholic party; +and the <i>World</i>, which is rather American in tone, but very +readable. Both are penny papers exerting very little +influence.</p> + +<p>In all the Victorian papers, of whatever party, it is +noticeable that Victorian topics, and especially Victorian +politics, occupy an almost exclusive share both of leading and +news columns; while the New South Wales and South Australian +papers devote far more attention to intercolonial and European +affairs. The fact is that Victoria is much more self-contained +and independent of the mother country than its neighbours. +Somehow or other there is more local news obtainable, more +going-on, in fact, in Melbourne than in Sydney and Adelaide put +together. Everything and everybody in Victoria moves faster. +Hence there is more to chronicle; and greater interest is taken +in what is going on in the colony. The political excitement of +the country is, after all, but an outcome of this national +vivacity of disposition. Half a dozen Berrys put together could +not raise one quarter of the feeling in Adelaide, far less in +Sydney.</p> + +<p>After the <i>Argus</i> I should place the <i>South Australian +Register</i>, published in Adelaide, as the best daily paper in +Australia. In style and get-up it is almost an exact copy of its +Melbourne contemporary, and its published price is twopence. In +reports and correspondence it is quite as enterprising, but its +leading columns and critiques being almost all written in the +office, are necessarily weaker. The whole paper is less carefully +edited, but its opinions are more liberal, and it is in no sense +a party paper. It May, indeed, be said that not even the +<i>Times</i> exercises so much influence in its sphere as does +the <i>Register</i>. It not merely reflects public opinion, but, +to a great extent, leads it, and it must be admitted that, on the +whole, it leads it very sensibly. It may be urged against the +<i>Register</i>, that its leading articles are wanting in +literary brilliancy as compared with those of the <i>Argus</i>; +but they are far more moderate and judicial in political matters. +The extraordinary merits of this paper, in so small a community, +are due partly to its having been, at a critical period in its +existence, edited, managed and partly owned by the late Mr. +Howard Clark, a man of great culture and ability, and partly to +the close competition of the South Australian <i>Advertiser</i>, +a twopenny paper which is well sustained in every department, and +noted for occasional leading articles of great brilliancy.</p> + +<p>The <i>Sydney Morning Herald</i> is the richest newspaper +property in Australia. It has correspondents in almost every +capital in Europe, including St. Petersburg--where the +<i>Argus</i> and <i>Register</i> are not represented--publishes +an immense quantity of news, and is edited by an able and +liberal-minded man. But the absence of competition makes it +inferior in enterprise to either the <i>Argus</i>, +<i>Register</i>, or <i>Advertiser</i>. Its leading columns are +sound but commonplace, and there is a fatal odour of respectable +dulness about the paper. A second paper called the <i>Daily +Telegraph</i> was established in Sydney in 1879, which seems to +be meeting the wants of the penny public, but it is very inferior +to the <i>Herald</i>, or to the second-rate papers in the other +colonies. In Adelaide, the evening papers are merely penny +reprints of half of the morning papers. In Sydney, the +<i>Herald</i> proprietors publish the <i>Echo</i>, a sprightly +little sheet; but the best evening paper is the <i>Evening +News</i>, which caters for the popular taste and is somewhat +sensational.</p> + +<p>The wants of the bushman, who relies on one weekly paper for +his sole intellectual food, and who, though often well educated, +is far away from libraries or books of any kind, have given rise +to a class of weekly papers which are quite <i>sui generis</i>. +The model on which they are all formed is the +<i>Australasian</i>, published by the <i>Argus</i> proprietors, +which is still the best known and the best. Some idea of the +enormous mass of reading-matter it contains may be gathered from +the fact that its ordinary issue is fifty-two pages, a little +larger than the <i>Pall Mall</i>, but containing five columns to +the page and printed in the ordinary small type used in most +daily papers, and known to printers as 'brevier.' To give an idea +of the character of its contents is difficult. It is partly a +newspaper, partly a magazine. The telegrams for the week are +culled from the <i>Argus</i>. If it were not for the addition of +a fortnightly intercolonial letter, the way in which the week's +news is given would remind me of the <i>St. James's Budget</i>. +It is divided into Parliament, town news, country news, +intercolonial, home (i.e. English), and foreign news, and may be +described as a classified reproduction of the more important news +in the <i>Argus</i>.</p> + +<p>There are generally three or four leading articles somewhat of +the character--but of course not the quality--of the +<i>Spectator</i>; and the notes on the first page of the Liberal +weekly are evidently imitated in a page of short editorial +comments called 'Topics of the Week.' 'Literature,' by which is +meant a two-column review of a single book and three or four +short reviews, is another heading. The 'Ladies' Column' contains +a leader after the manner of the <i>Queen</i>, fashion items, +notes and queries, and every other week an excellent English +letter by Mrs. Cashel Hoey, dealing with new plays, books and +social events in London. 'The Wanderer,' 'The Traveller,' 'The +Sketcher,' 'The Tourist,' head single or short serial articles of +one and a half or two columns in length, signed or not signed, +but always either well written or describing something new and +interesting. 'Talk on 'Change' heads a column and a half of +satirical or humorous notes, which are very much appreciated, and +form a more leading feature of the paper than their merit +warrants. The anecdotes are often new and always admirably told, +but the comments are weak. 'The Theatres' contains one general +critique of the newest play in Melbourne--sometimes two--followed +by short detailed criticisms, hashed up from the <i>Argus</i>, of +whatever is on the boards at the different theatres. 'The +Essayist' is one of the best features in the paper, though it +appeals to a very limited audience. Those written by a gentleman +signing himself 'An Eclectic,' are exceptionally good--better, as +a rule, than most similar essays in the <i>Saturday</i>. Dr. J. +E. Taylor's 'Popular Science Notes' are by no means equal to +those Mr. Proctor used to contribute. 'Original Poetry 'speaks +for itself. 'Miscellany' heads a column of humorous extract +paragraphs, chiefly from American papers. 'The Novelist' contains +a serial. 'The Story-Teller' a single story--original. This +department is always well sustained, and no expense is spared in +getting good work. 'All Sorts and Conditions of Men' has just +been running through the paper, Besant and Rice being favourite +authors here. James Payne, B. L. Farjeon and R. E. Francillon are +other contributors whose names come into my mind. Occasionally a +colonial work is chosen, and the proprietors do a great deal of +service in bringing out really promising authors.</p> + +<p>Besides all these standing dishes, there are, of course, a few +stray articles on all kinds of subjects. In a copy before me is +one of a series entitled, 'The Goldfields,' of special interest +to miners, and treating the subject technically.</p> + +<p>But the two departments which may be said to have made the +<i>Australasian</i> are the <i>Sportsman</i> and the +<i>Yeoman</i>, which, to all intents and purposes, are separate +papers incorporated with the <i>Australasian</i>. Of the +<i>Sportsman</i>, I don't think it is too much to say, that it is +the best sporting paper in the world, not excepting the +<i>Field</i>, and it fully deserves the supreme authority which +it exercises over all sporting matters south of the line. The +page begins with 'Answers to Correspondents.' Then come one or +two leading articles on sporting matters, which form the +stronghold of the department; then Turf Gossips, the Betting +Market, full descriptions of all Australian and the principal New +Zealand race-meetings, special training notes from Flemington, +Randwick and Adelaide, intercolonial sporting notes and letters +from special correspondents, winding up with 'Sporting Notes from +Home.' Cricket next has a leading article and notes, followed by +descriptions of the more important matches. Yachting, rowing, +coursing, pigeon-shooting, hunting, shooting, football, and +lawn-tennis all come in for a small share.</p> + +<p>The <i>Yeoman</i> is not much in my line, though it is looked +up to as a great authority upon all agricultural and pastoral +topics. Taking a current number, I find it begins with 'Answers +to Correspondents;' then comes the 'Weekly Review of the Corn +Trade;' 'Rural Topics and Events;' a series of short editorial +comments; a leader on' Wheat-growing;' 'The Crops and the +Harvest, by our Agricultural Reporter, No. IV.;' 'In the +Queensland Down County, No. VI.;' 'The Water Conservation Act, +No. III.;' 'The Melbourne Wool-buyers and the Wool-brokers;' +'Separating Cream by Machinery;' 'Selling Live Cattle by Weight;' +'Fancy Price of Breeders;' 'Competition between Draught Horses;' +'Butter Cows;' 'The Black Walnut at Home.' 'Public Trial of +Hornsby's Spring Binder;' 'Correspondence;' 'Horticultural +Notes;' 'Gardening Operations for the Week;' 'Plant Notes;' +'Notes and Gleanings;' 'Impoundings;' etc., etc., etc.</p> + +<p>So much for the <i>Australasian</i>, of which it must not be +forgotten that the <i>Sportsman</i> and <i>Yeoman</i> are only +component parts. As its name implies, it has a wide circulation +beyond Victoria. In the Riverine district and a considerable part +of New South Wales, it is the principal paper taken; and even in +New Zealand and Western Australia all hotels and many private +persons subscribe to it. To the wide area over which, and the +good class of people amongst whom it circulates, is largely due +the leading position which Victoria occupies in the minds of all +the other colonies, and the views they take of her politics. The +<i>Australasian</i> is of course Conservative, but not quite so +rabidly so as the <i>Argus</i>. It surveys politics from the +Conservative gallery. The <i>Argus</i> takes part in the +scrimmage and leads the Conservative forces. In commenting on +intercolonial politics, by which I mean those of the other +colonies, it always takes a mildly Conservative view, advocating +federation, caution in borrowing, and assistance to the +exploration and settlement of the interior. Not its least use is, +that it gives the people of one colony the opportunity of knowing +what is going on in the other colonies. Many of the articles are +signed with a <i>nom de plume</i>, under the cover of which +atheistical and even revolutionary views are allowed to express +themselves. In religious matters the <i>Argus</i> and +<i>Australasian</i> maintain an eclectic attitude. Outwardly they +are Christian in the widest sense of the term, but it is not +difficult to see that most of their writers are agnostics. On +social subjects, directly they get clear of contemporary local +politics, their views are progressive and enlightened, often +indeed original. It is curious to note that all the leading +organs of public opinion in Australia are strongly Conservative +and Imperialistic in their views of the foreign policy of +England. There is only one exception, to my knowledge, the +<i>Melbourne Age</i>, which advocates a non-interference policy, +and would not be sorry to see 'the painter cut.' On home affairs +the colonial press is naturally in sympathy with the Liberals, +but the <i>Argus</i> draws the line at the Clôture and the +Liberal policy in Ireland, which it opposes.</p> + +<p>Of the imitators of the <i>Australasian</i>, the +<i>Queenslander</i>, published by the proprietors of the +<i>Brisbane Courier</i>; the <i>Leader</i>, published by the +<i>Age</i> proprietors; and the <i>Town and Country</i>, by the +proprietors of the <i>Sydney Evening News</i>, are the best, in +the order named. The <i>Sydney Mail</i>, published by the +<i>Sydney Morning Herald</i>, is also a good compendium of +information on current topics. The <i>Adelaide Observer</i> is +little better than an abstract of the S. A. <i>Register</i>, and +the S. A. <i>Chronicle</i> is literally a reproduction of the S. +A. <i>Advertiser</i>. But all these papers are much more +provincial in tone than the <i>Australasian</i>, and have hardly +any circulation outside the colony in which they are published. +About two years ago a new independent paper was started in +Melbourne, with the programme indicated by its name--the +<i>Federal Australian</i>. It is very American in tone, and a +large portion of its space is devoted to rather second-rate +funniness. But the leading articles are good, and it has struck +out a most useful line for itself in a supplement called the +<i>Scientific Australian</i>, modelled on the <i>Scientific +American</i>. This portion of the paper is of great value, and if +only on that account it deserves to live.</p> + +<p>Monthly illustrated papers are published in connection with +the <i>Argus</i>, the <i>Age</i>, and the <i>Sydney Herald</i>, +and also independently by printing firms in Sydney and Adelaide. +The two Melbourne ones are by far the best, but they are very +dear at a shilling. The same may be said of the comic papers at +sixpence. The political cartoons in the <i>Melbourne Punch</i> +are often excellently imagined, but the execution is not +remarkable, and the reading matter is wretched. The conceptions +of the cartoons are also frequently coarse. The <i>Society</i> +paper has found its way here, via San Francisco. The most vulgar +is the <i>Sydney Bulletin</i>, which is, as a rule, coarse to a +degree; but it must be owned that it is also very clever and +exceedingly readable--qualities which its imitators altogether +lack. One knows quite enough about other people's business here +without having papers specially to spread it, and in such small +communities the <i>Bulletin</i> tribe are a public nuisance. But +yet they sell freely at sixpence a copy!</p> + +<p>The provincial press is, as a rule, feeble. Ballarat, +Sandhurst, and Geelong are the only three towns large enough to +support papers of the slightest value outside the place where +they are published. But these small fry are very useful in their +humble sphere, and are almost without exception respectably +conducted. How they 'pay' is 'one of those things which no fellah +can understand.'</p> + +<p>There are a number of newspapers devoted to the promotion of +the interests of the various religious bodies, the licensed +victuallers, and other trades. The best of these is the +<i>Australian Insurance and Banking Record</i>, which is most +ably conducted. The licensed victuallers support a weekly +<i>Gazette</i> in each of the principal towns. The Church of +England has two organs, one in Sydney, and the other in +Melbourne. The Temperance party, like their opponents, have three +papers devoted to the maintenance of their views, besides which, +they get a good deal of side support from the dozen or so of +religious sheets. The licensed victuallers seem to combine +sporting and dramatic items with the advocacy of what they call +the TRADE, and abuse of the Good Templars. The latter, however, +are still more vehement in abuse, and even less sensible in +argument.</p> + +<p>Besides the newspaper press, Australia possesses four +magazines, two published in Sydney and two in Melbourne. Of the +former, one known first as the <i>Australian</i>, and then as the +<i>Imperial Review</i>, is not worth mentioning, if, indeed, it +is not ere now defunct. The other, called the <i>Sydney +University Review</i>, a quarterly, has only just come into +existence with an exceptionally brilliant number, three articles +in which are fully worthy of a place in any of the leading London +monthlies. That it will continue as it has begun I should fancy +to be more than doubtful. The oldest established magazine is the +<i>Melbourne Review</i>, started about five years ago. For the +last three years it has been languishing. The most flourishing +magazine is the <i>Victorian Review</i>, which is only three +years old. The contents are very variable in quality. +Occasionally there is a really first-class article, and generally +there are one or two very readable. The quality has much fallen +off during the last eighteen months, but it affords a convenient +outlet for the young colonists to air political and social +crotchets, and to descant on philosophical theories. Now and then +the editor used to hook a big fish, such as the Duke of +Manchester, Professor Amos, and Senor Castelar, who have all +contributed to its columns. The philosophical articles are +naturally very feeble, but not unfrequently university professors +and others among the ablest residents in Australia make the +<i>Review</i> a vehicle for setting forth schemes and ideas, +which would not find admission into the newspapers. <a name= +"townlife-18"></a></p> + +<h2>LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, AND ART.</h2> + +<p>Strictly speaking, there is not, and cannot yet be, any such +thing as an Australian literature. Such writers as live in +Australia are nearly all English-born or bred, and draw their +inspiration from English sources. A new country offers few +subjects for poetry and romance, and prophecy is by no means so +inspiring as the relation of the great deeds of the past. But yet +there has been at least one amongst us who may claim to have had +the real poetic afflatus, and whose subjects were invariably +taken from the events of the life around him. This was Thomas +Gordon, the author of 'How we Beat the Favourite,' and several +other short pieces of verse of rare merit, and redolent of the +Australian air. George Brunton Stephens is another versifier, who +at times showed signs of genius; and it is not long since a Mr. +Horace Kendall died, who ran off sheets of graceful verses with +considerable talent and no little poetic fancy.</p> + +<p>In philosophy, history, and science, many of the Professors at +Australian Universities have written treatises worth reading; but +Australia has had so little influence either upon their subjects +or their mode of treating them, that their merit cannot be +claimed for this country. Perhaps the best-known writers of this +class, resident in the colonies, are Professor Hearn, author of +'The Aryan Household.' and Mr. Charles A. Pearson, the historian +of the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>Australia may boast of having furnished no uninteresting theme +to Henry Kingsley, and several minor English novelists. She has +sent to England no less rising a light than Mr. B. L. Farjeon; +but the few novels that are written and published here have never +attracted notice across the ocean, and rarely even in Australia +itself, if we except Mr. Marcus Clarke's 'His Natural Life.' +After Mr. Clarke come Mr. Garnet Walsh, Mr. Grosvenor Bunster, +and one or two prophets in their own neighbourhood, pleasant +writers of Christmas stories, clever dramatizers of novels and +pantomime-writers, but none of them with the least claim to a +wider audience.</p> + +<p>The circumstances of a new colony naturally cause additions to +the word-stock of the mother country. New occupations and modes +of living need new words to describe them, or, as often as not, +the settler not being of an inventive disposition, old words are +used in a new sense.</p> + +<p>The 'bush'--itself an old word used in a new sense--has been +most prolific in new phrases. Everyone who lives in the country, +whether on a station or in a farm, but not in a township, is +called a 'bushman,' although properly speaking this designation +only applies to a person who lives in the 'bush' or unsettled +country. 'Bushranger' is another word of the same derivation, +which it is needless to explain. Of course you know what a +'squatter' is. It is strange that the same word which in America +is used to denote the lowest class of settlers--the man who +settles upon somebody else's land and pays no rent--is here a +synonym for aristocrat. The term 'farmer' is applied exclusively +to the agriculturist, and a squatter would be very much offended +if you called him a sheep-farmer. The squatting class in +Australia correspond to the landed gentry of England. The farmer +is usually legally known as a 'selector,' because under the Land +Act he selects a piece of ground perhaps in the middle of the +squatter's leasehold and purchases it on credit for agriculture. +A 'cockatoo' is a selector who works his piece of land out in two +or three years, and having done nothing to improve it, decamps to +select in a new district. A 'run' is the least improved kind of +land used for sheep, but the word is used almost alternatively +with 'station,' which denotes an improved run. The run may be a +mere sheep-walk, but a station is bound to have a house attached +to it, and fenced 'paddocks' or fields. The storekeeper is the +lowest official on a station. Next above him is the +'boundary-rider,' whose duty it is to ride round the boundaries +of fenced runs, to see that the fence is kept in good order, and +that the sheep do not get through it. A 'stockman' is naturally +the man who drives the stock, and the 'stockwhip' a peculiar +short-handled long whip with which he drives them. A +'cabbage-tree' is an immense sun-protecting hat, rather like the +top of a cabbage-tree in shape. It is much affected by bushmen. A +'billy' is the tin pot in which the bushman boils his tea; a +'pannikin,' the tin bowl out of which he drinks it. A 'waler' is +a bushman who is 'on the loaf.' He 'humps his drum,' or 'swag,' +and starts on the wallaby track;' i.e., shoulders the bundle +containing his worldly belongings, and goes out pleasuring. A +'shanty,' originally a low public-house, now denotes any +tumble-down hut.</p> + +<p>Apart from bush terms, there are town appellations, such as +'larrikin,' which means a 'rough.' The word is said to have +originated with an Irish policeman, who spoke of some boys who +had been brought before the Melbourne Police Court as 'larriking +around,' instead of 'larking.' To 'have a nip' is to take a +'nobbler.' A white man born in Australia is a 'colonial,' +vulgarly a 'gum-sucker;' if he was born in New South Wales, he is +also a 'cornstalk.' An aboriginal is always a 'black fellow.' A +native of Australia would mean a white man born in the colony. +The diggings have furnished the expressive phrase 'to make your +pile.' A 'nugget'--<i>pace</i> Archbishop Trench--was a +Californian importation. When speaking of a goldfield a colonist +says 'on.' Thus you live 'on Bendigo,' but 'in' or 'at' +Sandhurst--the latter being the new name for the old goldfield +town. To 'shout' drinks has no connection with the neuter verb of +dictionary English. A 'shicer' is first a mining claim which +turns out to be useless, and then anything that does so. There is +room for a very interesting dictionary of Australianisms. But I +have no time to collect such a list. The few words which I have +given will serve as an indication of the bent of colonial genius +in the manufacture of a new dialect; and as they are given +without any effort, just as they have come to my mind in the +course of one evening's thinking as I write, they may fairly be +taken as being amongst the commonest.</p> + +<p>I have headed this letter 'Literature and Art,'so that I am +morally bound to say something about the latter, although there +is next to nothing to say. Australia has not yet produced any +artist of note. Perhaps the best is Mr. E. C. Dowling, and he is +a Tasmanian. Resident in Victoria is a M. Louis Buyelot, a +landscape artist of considerable merit. Excepting him, we have no +artists here whose works rise beyond mere mediocrity. Mr. Summers +was a Victorian, but his fame is almost unknown in his own +country. Thanks to Sir Redmond Barry, Victoria possesses a very +fair National Gallery attached to the Melbourne Public Library. +Some of the paintings in it are excellent, notably Mr. Long's +'Esther;' the majority very mediocre. For my own part I prefer +the little gallery at Sydney, which, though it has not nearly so +many paintings, has also not nearly so many bad ones, and owns +several that are really good, mostly purchased from the +exhibitions. Adelaide has also recently bought a few pictures to +form the nucleus of a gallery.</p> + +<p>By means of Schools of Design and Art, the colonial +Governments have, during the last few years, been doing all in +their power to encourage the growth of artistic taste, but the +whole bent of colonial life is against it. Art means thought and +care, and the whole teaching of colonial life is to 'manage' with +anything that can be pressed into service in the shortest time +and at the smallest expense. It is only fair to mention as a +tribute to the laudable desire of the people to see good works of +art, that no parts of the International Exhibitions were so well +attended as the Art Galleries, and that although the pictures +shown there were for the most part quite third not to say +fourth-rate. The press is very energetic in fostering taste, but +I don't think it is natural to the people. They like pictures +somewhat as the savage does, because they appeal readily to the +imagination, and tell a story which can be read with very little +trouble. It is significant of this, that there is hardly a hut in +the bush where you will not see woodcuts from the <i>Illustrated +and Graphic</i> pasted up, and that the pictures most admired at +the exhibitions were those which were most dramatic--such as a +horse in a stable on fire, and a showman's van broken down in the +snow through the death of the donkey which drew it. Next to +dramatic pictures, those in which horses, cows, or sheep appeared +were most admired, for here the colonist felt himself a competent +critic, and was delighted to discover any error on the part of +the artist. Scenery came next in the order of appreciation, +especially pieces with water in them, or verdure. Genre and +figure-painting were quite out of their line.</p> + +<p>Of Music I have written in my letter on 'Amusements'. As a +creative art it cannot yet be said to have an existence, although +Mr. Wallace composed 'Maritana' in Australia, and plenty of +dance-music is manufactured every day.</p> + +<h2>THE END.</h2> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Town Life in Australia +by R. E. N. 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