OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 451, 8 May 1890, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

(FROM OCB OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Sydney, April 9. Polities and business have been pnt in the shade by the Easter holidays. Notwithstanding the unfavorable weather which has lately been experienced it proved gloriously fine, and the population turned out in force. In some of the favorite spots the crowd proved altogether too large for the very rudimentary transit arrangements. At Coogee, for instance, some five or six thousand people were all trying to get into the trams at once. Ladies were separated from their escorts, pushing and scrambling became the order of the day, and rowdiness and brute force reigned supreme. Scarcely any city in the world is so abundantly endowed with holiday resorts as Sydney. There are fully a score of beautiful nooks in the harbor. There is the whole stretch of the Parramatta Kiver, to say nothing of Mossman’s Bay and Middle Harbor. On the coast there are Narrabeen, Manly, the South Head, Bondi, Coogee, Long Beach, Little Bay, Botany, Lady Eobinson’s Beach, besides t ort Hacking and other picturesque camping grounds. By rail there are multitudes of delightful spots to be reached by the radiating lines which branch out in all directions—the Illawarra line, the Southern line, the Western line, the Eich mond line, the Campbelltown line, the Newcastle line. Then there are all the tram lines,each of which is a small railway by itself, and goes out into the country for miles. Yet with all thia plethora open to them, the good folks insist on crowding in altogether unmanageable numbers to two or three of them and have to endure untold discomforts in consequence. This Easter the National Park where our gallant defenders were camping and drilling and marching and countermarching was in high favor. But the pavilions at Botany and Coogee and Bondi, where there are dancing and a number of - other amusements, always attract a large number of young people, who generally, lam .sorry to say, are under no supervision and ar* very easily led astray. There is a danger that some of them may become public scandals, unless some strong and effective measures sre devised for preserving decency and order. The majority of these places, I am bound to say, sre well conducted. But there is a small minority of whom this cannot be said. Ooe drunken woman in a ballroom lowers or destroys the tone of the whole galbering, and a drunken woman, or worse still, a drunken girl, is by no means an uncommon sight. You would wonder whether these unfortunates ever bad any mothers to look after them. Sometimes the mother is of the sam* kidney, sometimes the struggle for existence is so severe that she has neither Strength nor inclination to spare for other duties, and sometimes, very often indeed, the young people of both sexes break loose at a very early age from all parental restraint, and reap * terrible harvest of misery in consequence. The cure of course lies in education, but no mere cramming with the three B’s will effect it. Moral training is what is absolutely pepessary, and the State, which has taken upon itself the fpnct|on of educator-general, will sooner or later be compelled to recognise tbs necessity. Hitherto, because the State finds it impossible,for obvious reasons, to teach religion, it has erroneously assumed that it is also absolved from the plain obligation of teaching morals, The subject is hardly so much as mentioned either in the instructions to the teachers or the standards to which the children are required to attain. And the result of omission is plainly to be seen in the existence and prevalence of that stigma of Australian civilisation—the •• larrikin " and bis. not less unlovely companion the “ largikinesa,” Excellent r*w material, however, are these same children of nature—rough, uncouth and foulmonthed as many of them are. They only need the care of the skilled instructor to be decent and useful members of

society. An important bye-election has gone in favor pt the government, The electorate of the fastings and Manning was called upon to elect a candidate in the room of Mr 0. J, Roberts, resigned, Two gentlemen wooed their suffrages, Mr McKinnon, a Protectionist, who has before contested the electorate, and Mr Vivian, a Freetrader. Both were backed by the full strength of their party, and the electorate was probably better canvassed than ever before. The Freetrader won by the parrow majority of 119 vptes out of a total of 2858. Tbe result makes no difference to the strength of pat ties, as Mr Roberts also styled himself a Freetrader. The notable impetus that has been given to the Freetrade cause by tbe powerful advocacy of Mr George pp doubt bad something to do with the result, and it is rather a matter for congratulation that the majority was not larger. The piesent position is not at all satisfactory, The extremists in both parties are far tpo ppweflul. ft surely ought tp be possible to initiate such a moderate degree of protec tion as would suit our own circumstances without rushing to such a length of abstract folly as has been witnessed in Victoria. Protection itself, like defensive warfare, is an evil, and is only justifiable to such an extent as is necessary to prevent a greater evil. To pgsume that it i? in itself good, and is more, pver sp good that it cannot be rushed too fast or too far, is to embrace a ruinous fallacy which will promptly demonstrate its own absurdity. There is not a movement in the world which does not require the check and guidance of wise judgment. On the other hand those who object altogether to Protection on abstract grounds are, to my thinking, quite as illogipal as those who object on abstract grounds to all kinds of warlike preparations. Peace at any price if once adopted by any Civilisation would be the warrant for its prompt subjugation by its neighbours. Free Trade at any price makes the nation which adopts it the dumping ground for the surplus production of all other countries, and renders it impossible, except under specially favorable eircomstanoes, for its own inhabitants profitably to engage in tbe industries which produce them. How to strike the juste milieu— the golden mean—is tbe only fiscal problem which is worthy of the consideration of the true Statesman. Unfortunately this is just the question which the so-called Statesmen, on both sides of the House, never seem to waste a thought about. gtha northern and western parts of the ly the floods continue their ravages, and heartrending stories are told pf tbe distress and privation which they have caused. The maize crop has been destroyed god the credit rf pany country storekeepers, who depend pjson it as their main stay, has been destroyed With it. Some of them are in Sydney now,

endeavoring to come to an arrangement with their creditors. The latter, I imagine, are willing to show all reasonable leniency, hut In some oases they have reason to suspect that their debtors are trying to use the Calamity unjustifiably in order to evade gather than postpone the payment of their just obligations. Sydney distributing houses are not in an enviable position just now. Between the banks on the one hand, who will be paid, whatever happens, and customers on the other, who declare they can’t pay and won't pay, and will go into the Insolvency Court if any attempt is made to enforce payment, they are, to nse the vulgar but expressive saying—" between the devil and the dpep jea.” However, it is fortunate that the *' bad marks " present only a small proportion of the business done, but quite enough, in tome oases, to take " the gilt off the gingerbread. 1 ’ If the weather remains fine, a magnificent season both for commerce and for pastoral and agricultural production is expected. Wo are all waiting for it with what patience we may, for depression has reigned for a long time and a revival of productive activity would be moot welcome. The astronomers tell us to prepare for another spell of bad weather. But they have been mistaken sp often that is to be noped'they are incorrect in this instance also. Jt seems pretty clear that the threatened drought, notwithstanding Mr Xgeson's prophecy, will not trouble us much daring the coming winter. Rather will precautions be required against fluke, lootrot and other diseases incident to prolonged rains and rank pasturage, It is also to be hoped that either by ensilage or haymaking some effort will be made to secure a portion of the superabundant forage .or tree in the dry season that is sure to come loaner or later, and thus avoid the misery *ad low that art caused by starvation!