AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2496, 8 May 1909, Page 2

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

HER COUNTRY AND HER INSTITUTIONS.

IMPRESSIONS OF A CHRISTCHURCH M.P.

Mr G. W, Russell, M.P., chairman of the Board of Governors of Canterbury College, who returned to Christchurch recently after spending a few weeks in Australia, has brought back with him many interesting impressions of the Commonwealth and some of its cities. Ho went first to Tasmania, then to_ Victoria, and then to New South Wales. In all those states ho visited public institutions and inquired into sTilte systems and their effect on the people, paying special attention to education.

“I was delighted with Hobart,” he said to a reporter who interviewed him. That city has a fine system of electric trams and a lovely harbor, one of tho principal features of which is a flotilla of ferry steamers, which are always darting about-on tho water. The railway service is also a good one, and I used it as a means of seeing the country districts of Tasmania. That state just now' is in the same position as New Zealand was before she began the frozen meat trade and the dairying industry. There is probably no better field for sheep-growing in the world than Tasmania, yet a visitor who goes from Hobart to Launceston is surprised to note the small area of bush that lias been felled. He sees small farms cut out of the bush, but there is no general system of bush felling like there is iu New ■.Zealand. The fa'ct is, Tasmania is cursed with the large landlord evil. If the country were cut up and subdivided as New Zealand is, it would carry three times 180,000 people, which is the present population. There is practically no dairying industry there. Although* it produces the best sheep in Australia, there is hardly any meat export, the only attempt being in the north, where one or two refrigerating vessels carry slieep over to Melbourne for shipment Home. “I was greatly pleased to bo in Launceston again. It was my boyhood home, and there I met friends whom I had not seen for forty-five years. I visited my old school and was able to renew many pleasant associations. In going to Melbourne by the turbine steamer Loongana, which is.similar to the Maori, but about 600 tons less register, I was anxious to see the Yarra and to ascertain how far the conditions there resembled those connected with the proposed canal between Christ-' church and Sumner. Captain _ Sevren kindly invited me on to the bridge and explained the nature and effect of the ,works. The dredging of the estuary and the construction of harbor works cost about £6,00,000, and when I state that the Yarra, a mile or two above Melbourne, is only about the width of the Avon as it passes the Christchurch Hospital, it will be realised that a great work has been done. The port has been made capable of accommodating any of the inter-state steamers, and it is only the very ..large P. and 0. and the Orient boats that stay at Queen’s Cliff and do not go up to Melbourne itself. 1 met a gentleman who has had much experience of harbor works in Melbourne, and who showed me photographs of huge dredging machines which he has constructed and which are able to work at a depth of eighty feet, and consequently the work at our canal, as far as that point is concerned, if they dredge to thirty-five feet, required by the large steamers, seems to be simple enough. After seeing the Yarra, I think no one can doubt the practicability of our own canal.” Mr Russell describes Melbourne as “a modern and a magnificent city.” “It has fine wide streets,” he says, “and its footpaths are two or three times as wide as the paths of Christchurch. The city is beautifully ornamented by plantations and flower-gar-dens. The open spaces are one of the city’s great cliarin. Zooio £££*2 Gardens were a source of education and delight to me.” He is disappointed with Victoria s efforts to educate her children. As far as education is concerned, I am satisfied that New Zealand is at least twentv vears ahead of Victoria in regard to both primary and secondary systems of education. That State lias not got the impetus that is given to public opinion here by school committees and e’ective Education Boards. There are Boards of Advice in Victoria, which consist of from four to five people, selected from the shires, or counties, as we would call them, but there is difficulty in' filling the positions on the Boards. I met a gentleman who was a member of one of the Boards. II said that he and another member had been nominated, but it took months to ; find three other gentlemen to complete the membership of five. Ihe v'holo system is in the hands .of the Director of Education ancLthe Boards. The director, Mr Tait, is a very ab.e man, and lie realises the weakness of the centralising system, which he desires to nnprove. As far as I could asceita.lll, there is no State secondary system of education whatever in Victoria, i e secondary education is provided by sectarian colleges. They take the place of our high schools. .As for a system like New Zealand’s, 'by which a boy mav go from tho primary school to the secondary school and on to the university, without any cost to his parents, it seems to be absolutely unknown. I believe that during the next session of the Victorian Parliament a movement will be mado in the direction of establishing Government high schools for the State.” Mr Russell found time to run out forty or* fifty miles to Geelong, and saw some of Victoria’s fanning land. “There,” he said, “I saw the curse of the large landlord system again. Large areas of valuable land are locked up, and are only partly cultivated. If they were placed in the hands of the people under a system on the same lines' as our land for settlements scheme, the result would be a very large increase oi production.”: .. 5 In going bv- rail to Sydney, Mr Russell was lost in admiration ok Victoria s railway equipment. The luxurious perfection of the cars excited his warmest admiration. At-the same time,., evani with the wide gauge, sft 4in in Victoria and 4ft 84 in in New -South Wales, he does not think that for smoothness of running anil general work in or the Australian trains are superior to the bestlinos in New Zealand, which have a ■ gauge- of only‘ 3ft Gin. ' \h. He describes Sydney_ nS -a' city that grows'■upon the visitor, in . a remarkab’owav. Its magnificent harbor and its many bays make it 1 delightful place. “ Us* Uni'vergity.’' he says, “'is a splendid institution. There, as in Melbourne, T, had the pleasure, of meeting the administrative and .official ,heads, as well.' as several leading? ■> members obi the staff. My inspection of the Schools of EnaineeHug at both Sydney and Melbourne led ~ me to feel more satisfied than tv r w,tii .'no- iwutu— an oonnu.led ’by the Board of Governors of La 11&SM. ■ V . I . #

terbury College. Our institution is far ahead of Melbourne’s, and even in re--1 gard to Sydney, although everything there is on a larger scale, I feel that tho institution presided over by Professor Warren is in no important respect superior to the institution presided o»er by Professor Scott. There i? at the Sydney School a first-class workshop, and I think that we must also have one in Christchurch. On the whole, except in regard to magnitude, our own school is worthy of comparison with the larger one in Sydney.” He visited the splendid reading library in Melbourne, but ho was rather, disappointed with one aspect of the arrangements. When lie inquired' for the newspaper-room, lie was shown to a place where only two people were present. Ho went up to the counter and asked for the most recent issue of the “Lyttelton Times.” He was supplied with a copy, and was told to stand at one of the desks and read it there, and then return it to the attendant. He contrasted this arrangement with the methods adopted ill the Public Library at Christchurch; where every facility is given for consulting newspaper fifes. At Svdiiey lie was deeply interested in the Mitchell Library. _lt was established by the son of a wealthy sheep-owner. He began life as a lawyer. Later he became a recluse, and finally bequeathed .enormous sums of money, as .well as a collection of. books dealing with the colonies. With the cash bequest of about' £IOO,OOO the controlling board is able to make many purchases. The manuscript collection in the library is. one of its interesting features. In it there is Sir Joseph Banks’s diary or his journevs with Captain Cook, in which he refers to the time lie spent in New Zealand. All the letters written by Sir Henry Partes during his long career-as- a .public man I are also in the library. When Mr Russell was visitthis and other institutions, he felt some rc2^rot tlitit wo&lthy men of jNow ZealamUdo not seem to-be greatly inclined to help public institutions. The licensing laws of the States jut tracted his attention. “Those -will complain of the administration of our licensing laws,” he says, I-if they inquired into the Australian conditions, would admit that they have much to bo thankful for on account of wliat Ims been done to promote temperance. In Tasmania and Victoria the hotels remain open every night until il-oU o’clock. I believe that- on face nights, in both States, they are open until 2 a m. The licensing laws, indeed, seem to be very lax, especially m \ ictoria. There were many evils that I could not help noticing, and when I compare them with the strictness and the thoroughness with which our own licensing laws are administered I felt that wo were far in advance of those Australian. States. New South Wales has passed reform laws, and these are strictly observed by the licensed homes. In hydnev the houses close at 11 p.m. Mr Russell was in Melbourne when <4ir Toseuli Ward made the ofter of the Dr eaduought. He says that the offer created astonishing enthusiasm. _ Aus tralians were absolutely unstinted in expressing their admiration. A few nights later be was m Sydney anA attended a mass meeting, m the Town Hall there to urge the Australian Government to follow New Zealand s /example; It was one. of the most enthusiastic and patriotic meetings lie has ev« seen. The Lord Mayor referred in terms of the highest praise to Xew Zealand’s action, and every other speaker also expressed Ins admiration. Eveiy reference to New Zealand, soffer was ieceived with great applause. Finally, Mr G. H. Reid, who moved t.ue principal motion, said that if they wished to find the true leader in Australasia of that great .patriotic movement, they had to look, not within the bounds of the Commonwealth but across the Tasman Sea to Hi at gallant place, New Zealand. The audience broke out into cheers, which every New Zealanderpresent w'ae proud to hear. \\ hen 1 ar rived in Melbourne, on Friday, March 19, I found that on that day both the “Daily Telegraph” A Sydney and the “Ar<nis,” at Melbourne, had advocated the gift of an Australian Dreadnought. The idea caught on, both in Melbourne and Sydney. In the former city a big meeting at the Stock Exchange on the Saturday urged the 1 rime Munster, Mr Fisher, to make the offer. Meetings at various points of the state supported the proposal. In iact, it was cabled to London that Australia would present a Dreadnought. On the Monday the evening papers announced that Sir Joseph Ward had cabled Ins offer, and the news took Melbourne by storm. The Australians recognised the decisiveness of Sir Joseph’s action, and while admiring New' Zealand s pluck and loyalty were much chagrined that the Dominion had again ‘got in first. The Commonwealth Government, Air Russell said, seemed to bo possessed of the “Little England spirit. Mi Fisher who had the Labor Party at his back, did not feel justified in taking the lesponsibility Sir Joseph V ard had not hesitated to shoulder A Daily leleorapli” reporter waited upon Air Bussell m Sydney, and to him lie expressed his views on New Zealand s gift. The (rift of a W'arsbipvto the Mother Country,” he told the Sydney reporter, ‘ is not a matter , to be regarded merely from its intrinsic point of view. It sne wanted a hundred Dreadnoughts she could provide the money with which to buikl them herself; but what we New Zealanders are proud of is that we have perhaps given an impetus to the Mother Country in the hour of need, and something which should be the greatest- of all object-lessons .to any foreign Power that might eon temp, ate testing its strength against the Imperial navy.” , , , Passing from Dreadnoughts to tramways, Air Russell said that m Melbourne he saw the evils of private ownership in .tlieir most acute loun. Iho. trams' there- had a population ot oIU,000 to work on, aiul they carried only a total of about 60,000,000 passengers. In the whole of the-system there was only one short penny section. He understood that the company s concessions would expire-in about four years, anc he would not be surprised if the 1 - tor ism Government nationalised tlio train wavs’ and united them to the rai - vav svSeni. AYhat lie had seen ni MelKmfcSd Sydney, -),,d wns.aoraWy

strengthened his opinion that the Christchurch trams should have been nationalised rather than municipalised. Tho magnificent suburban railway system of Melbourne, and the nationalised electric tramway system in Sydney, were largely contributing to the enormous deveploment of those cities. They were pushed out from the centres, and they created traffic. People settled along the lilies with astonishing rapidity. The Christchurch Tramway Board of course, had limited finances, and it had lo move carefully, and could not do that kind' 1 of thing. Ho was impressed j with the manner of constructing a new line to La Perouse, about ten miles from Sydney, where a new' gaol as being erected. Tho wfiolo of the material was taken on the tram line t night. Tho line was not constructed like the - expensive tram lines in New Zealand. It was on the principle of r.n < dinary railway line, with ordinary sleepers and mullocky stone. The overhead gear was attached to poles made of small round trees cut down to the e osired size, and they were placed three-or four feet in the ground, with sufficient concrete to hold them securely. Air Russell could not ascertain the cost o£ tho line per mile, but he believes that some cheap system of. that nature could 1 be applied to the extension of- the tram lilies to Marshland, Belfast, and other places without the capitalisation being so high as to prevent the work beiug undertaken by the Christchurch Tramway Board. “I hold,” lie said, “that it would be a good thing to have our tramways nationalised, so that tho strength of the colonial finances should be behind them. It would certainly lead to an enormous growth of our cities.-” - -!;U - • . , \

Air Russell was treated very hospitably by the people of Australia; He has come back full of pride for his own country. He attended a lecture on evolution by Air G. Reid, and was invited to move the vote of thanks. In doing fio he said that he thought New Zealanders possessed more decision of character and strength of purpose than thoir Australian friends, and he attributed that to the fact that New Zealand’s climate and natural conditions compelled her people to fight against Nature all the time. Australians, on the other hand, lived in a pleasant, balmy atmosphere, where, even after a severe drought, Nature responded bountifully to showers of rain. New Zealanders had to fight practically for every blade of grass that grew'. His remarks in regard to New' Zealand seemed to be heartily appreciated by those present. “When I look upon the healthy conditions, morally/socially, politically and educationally in New " Zealand,” ho said in conclusion, “I am thankful that my lot has been cast in this country. I am more convinced than ever that, New Zealand has a great future before her, and that our destiny is to continue as we have done in the past on several occasions, and to stand in the front of the nations that make up the British Empire.” .