OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 295, 7 May 1889, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

[TBOM OVB OWN COBBXsroMDXNT.] Btdnxy, April 26. Contrast to anticipation the Easter holidays have been accompanied by fine weather. Towards the end of last week we had a deal of wet, but by Good Friday the sky had cleared beautifully, and up to Easter Monday not a drop of rain had fallen. The four days holiday at Easter are so often marred by wet weather, that it is gratifying to be able to record a more propitious time, more especially as onr citizen soldiers take their annual drill “under canvas," and a downpour of rain means not only great discomfort but frequently sows the seeds of future ill health. The encampment this year has been as successful as those which have preceded it. It is the fashion of some people to sneer at our volunteer soldiery, as though they were not worthy of comparison with regulars. But considering their very limited opportunities they do their work very creditably. The fact is that the esprit de corps of the volunteer is far and away before that of the rattan-driven recruit. As for the personnel, there can be no comparison between a body of men, who are really the flower of the Australian middle class, and the riffraff and off scouring from which the “regular” forces draw so large a proportion of their rank and file. A citizen soldiery is only possible in a free country. Where it is possible it is certainly the best kind that can be had. It has neither the insane thirst for " active service ” that so often characterises the professional soldier, nor has it his equally insane contempt for civil avocations. Of course soldiers of all kinds are an evil. But so long as they are a necessary evil, it is certainly good policy to choose that form which is least harmful. Ths encampment at Middle Head, which is specially devoted to artillery practice, was handicapped this year, owing to the illness ot a daughter of Sir Frederick Barley. With | ' true military chivalry the commandant, ■ Colonel Roberts, decided to forego the heavy gun exercise when It was represented to him that the concussions would have a disastrous effect on the patient's condition. The pre caution, however, proved ineffectual, as Mias Parley died on Sunday, Having thus shown Buch to their own credit that the rigour of military routine can ha set aside when humanity requires, it is to be hoped, the authorities will act on the precedent thus established when future circumstances demand it. When for instance there ia a viciously wot Easter, and all the exercise the men can get ia in the way of practising some hundred different ways of catching cold, rheumatics, and the like, It ia to be hoped the men will bo sent to their homes as speedily as possible, I to await a more favorable opportunity of increasing their military proficiency. The course of drill this year has proved comparatively uneventful. Last Easter there were day attacks and night attacks, surprise parties and sham fights of all kinds and descriptions. This year, however, the time pt disposal has chiefly been devoted to solid drill. This has bean rendered necessary by the adoption of a new system in the British army which the men have never yet had an opportunity of practising as a brigade, and in which the “ powers that he " have made UP their minds that they must be thoroughly grounded. Before the " ten days' continuous training “ are over there will probably bo a change in this respect. This is a new country, therefore. I suppose, we have no right to feel surprise at new fashions. The last departure from ordinary routine is the introduction of pantomime at. Easter. "Sinbad the Sailor," which was presented to Melbourne audiences at Christmas time, was hashed up lor the enjoyment Of the Sydneyites last Saturday, and met with quite as much sppreciation as if it had been strictly “in season." The fact is that Sydney holiday makers are not at all fastidious. These who cater for their amusement are even less so, and no one would be much surprised to see some enterprising )sseoc announcing " pantomime all the year round,"

Matters commercially have been very dull for some months past. The staple industries of the country have been depressed by drought, and, as there has been an almost entire stoppage of loan expenditure, the colony has peen thrown almost entirely on its own resources. I believe ft will eventually, be found that ths experience has been very salutary. The exports have come to balance tbs imports, which shows that we are as a community, beginning to pay our way by the results of our own industry. There has been, and still is, some distress among the unemployed and some painful instances of failure among those engaged in business, but not nearly so much as might have been expected Considering the drastic nature of the discipline. It is hoped, moreover, that the present Eqster will mark a turning point in the history of depression. Splendid rains have fallen over nearly the whole of the country and there is a general feeling that better times are at hand. When this feeling penetrates into bank parlors, a revival of trade may be looked for. Bntit must not be forgotten that in many cases pastoral properties are already pledged up to the hilt, and that the ravages of the last drought have caused the most serious misgivings as to whether some of them would not turn out to be a total loss. When the rain has made the gra;s grow, has fattened the stock, and made everything look green and flourishing, we may therefore expect to see a number of sales advertised, and a number of stations handed over to a fresh set of quasi-owners with a little money of their own behind them. In due time they like their predecessors will be squeezed dry, and will follpw in their footsteps. But the Banks, as long as matters can be kept going from one good season to another, will continue to do a profitable business and to pay handsome dividends. On the one hand they get the cream of the profits in good seasons, and in bad ones they squeeze 1 heir unfortunate customers. They tempt men to speculate in prosperous times, and when the pinch comes they ** shut down ” on them like a vice. Moral Look not on the wine when it is red, when it movoth itself aright,” and so on. Keep clear of your Bank manager's insidious advances when all things look rosy, and you won't find yourself compelled to head over to him all you possess when a phanga comas over the spirit of the scene, JbifS are two cl»e»e*who gte tolerably safe, the avowed servant, and the independent pro, printer who confines his operations within the limits of his own resources. It is the unfortunate nondescript who suffers—the man who poses as a proprietor, and has to keep up an appearance appropriate to the position, but who ia really bound hand and foot to some financial institution. He has neither the independence of the master nor the servant. He cannot even claim a aalary M the reward of hia most strenuous service. How many mon are there in the West, who, after years ot arduous struggle in the teeth of terrible difficulties and disasters, will find themselves dispossessed just as the tide is •bout to tflrn ?