large again as that of France. Its population is a little under a
million. Sydney, with 220,000, is the only large town; there is not
another above 15,000. There is little agriculture and no
manufactures to speak of. At Newcastle, about 60 miles north of
Sydney, coal is found in abundance, and from there most of Australia
is supplied, but much of it is of a dirty and smoky kind, more fit
for steamers than for domestic use. Coal has now been found in
Gippsland, in Victoria, and it is a question of carriage to bring it
into use at Melbourne. The New South Wales coal is about 21s. a ton
in Melbourne. The pastoral interest (sheep farming) is the
principal, almost the only interest in New South Wales, therefore
when one drought follows another the whole colony is of course
depressed. At these times the public offices in Sydney are besieged
by crowds of men out of work, and the Government will employ as many
as possible, sometimes uselessly. This is a dangerous thing, for men
speedily acquire the notion that if they do nothing for themselves
the Government is bound to provide for them. But a man out of work
in Sydney or Melbourne is a different animal from the same man in
England. If offered 4s. 6d. a day for stone breaking he will object
that it blisters his hands. He wants not merely work, but work that
he happens to like, and any politician who will provide him with
work of this kind will be sure of his vote at the next election.
It is difficult to get at the truth about the state of the labour
market in New South Wales. The newspaper accounts are most
conflicting. One writer asserts that any man with honesty and
determination can make his living at any time; another speaks of the
numbers of skilled artisans who cannot get employment. But if some
of these latter have the fastidious tastes above mentioned, it will
be seen that the destitution is to a certain extent artificial. But
reasoning on these subjects speedily merges in the ocean of Free
Trade _v._ Protection, upon which I will not further touch. Sydney
is the oldest town in the Colonies, having been founded in 1788. It
has quite the air of an old established place--the abode of men for
generations. The principal streets run East and West the whole
length of the town down to the harbour, a distance of nearly four
miles. In the centre is Hyde Park, a prettily laid-out piece of 40
acres, but the most beautiful spot is the Botanical Gardens, which
slope down to the water's edge. Especial pains have been taken to
render them an admirable specimen of horticulture. Nearly every tree
and shrub that will grow in this climate is here to be found. Near
them is the "National Gallery," where may be seen many paintings
that a few years ago graced the walls of Burlington House. The chief
attraction during my visit was a copy of Miss Thompson's, "Roll
Call," said to be by the artist herself. L4000 was to be given for
it on proof of its authenticity, but it did not require the eye of a
connoisseur to judge that such proof was not likely to be
forthcoming, and so it proved. It is evidently an inferior copy by
another hand. The principal residential street is Macquarie Street,
which faces the public gardens. Six years ago an Exhibition was held
in these gardens. The building was mysteriously burned down, no
doubt by incendiarism, but it was never found out, though it was
jokingly said it was the act of some inhabitant of Macquarie Street,
for the building quite obstructed their view.
I have before said that rents in Melbourne are very high. In Sydney
they are much higher. The small house in which I boarded in
Macquarie Street was rented at L5 10s. a week, and the landlord
refused to make any repairs whatever, because, as he said, and truly
enough, he could any day get L6 a week. In a London suburb the rent
would be about L60 a year. Of course it was in the best situation in
Sydney. In the outskirts of the town there was much land
speculation. Land is sold at so much a foot, _i.e._ a strip of a
foot in breadth, and about 360 feet in length. There is in Sydney a
complete system of steam tramways, which run to the distance of six
or seven miles out of the town. Accidents to pedestrians are not
uncommon. Vehicles are hardly seen in the streets where the trams
run. One line goes out as far as Botany. I walked from there along
the famous bay which was so nearly having Sydney built upon its
shore. It lies about seven miles North of Sydney, and is almost as
quiet as when Captain Phillip landed a hundred years ago.
In New South Wales there are two Houses of Parliament and a
Governor, as usual. The Lower House is elected by universal
suffrage, but the Legislative Council is nominated by the Governor.
The late Governor was certainly not popular, in spite of what the
guide books say. Whether rightly or wrongly, there was a widespread
impression that, being a comparatively poor man he had been sent
out, like a Roman proconsul, to increase his private means. It is
certain that a Governor of New South Wales cannot adequately
discharge his numerous functions on less than his official salary of
L7000 per annum, and any appearance of parsimony is naturally
resented. It is not exactly the most suitable post for an elderly
diplomatist accustomed to the pomps and inanities of European
courts. The Attorney General of New South Wales, Mr. (now, I think,
Sir William) Dalley, is by many people considered the foremost
statesman in Australia. It was he, who, during the illness of the
then Premier, despatched the contingent to the Soudan. He is,
undoubtedly, a remarkable speaker, and has recently been created a
Privy Councillor--the only colonial statesman hitherto raised to
that dignity.
The Church of England flourishes in Sydney. There is the Cathedral
of St. Andrew, and many other churches. The Bishop (who is the
Metropolitan of Australia), Dr. Barry, the late well-known principal
of King's College, has done much by his broadness of view and
liberality of sentiment to lessen local religious differences. The
Roman Catholics have been building an enormous Cathedral, not yet
finished. They, too, are a numerous body. The memory of the late
Archbishop Vaughan, who died here in harness, is perfectly idolized
by them. The University of Sydney has an imposing building, on a
site overlooking the City, with a large hall and spacious lecture
rooms. The late Professor of Classics was Dr. Badham, the renowned
Greek scholar. The affiliated colleges are denominational, St.
Paul's, Church of England; St. John's, Roman Catholic; and St.
Andrew's, Presbyterian. There is, of course, a public library in
Sydney, but it cannot for a moment compete with that of Melbourne,
and, from a casual inspection, it did not appear to me that the
books were well selected. There is also a public lending library. In
Sydney there are a good many Chinese. Some of them are doctors. One
Chinese doctor professes to make a diagnosis of any disease by mere
inspection, and will then prescribe medicine to effect a cure in a
week, a month, or a year, according to the patient's wish, the less
the time the higher the price of the specific. I have heard that in
China people pay their doctors as long as they are in good health,
but when ill require their services for nothing. This appears a plan
worth trying elsewhere. Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity
of seeing more of New South Wales than Sydney and its immediate
neighbourhood. One of the favourite excursions from Sydney, is to go
by rail to Mount Victoria, about 80 miles, to pass over the
celebrated "Zig-zag," a specimen of engineering skill, where the
train climbs the mountain side, and at one point is so many hundred
feet exactly above a point it passed some time before. To judge by a
photograph it must resemble the line over the Brenner Pass in the
Tyrol, where, near the station of Gossensass, there is a similar
zig-zag.
Some large stalactite caverns, called the "Fish River Caves," are
well worth a visit. Hitherto they have been nearly inaccessible to
the ordinary tourist, but lately the Government has appointed a man
to reside there, and the road has been made more practicable. From
Sydney I returned by rail to Melbourne. The distance is nearly 600
miles, and the train takes 18 hours including stoppages, so that a
very good speed is maintained all the way. At the frontier, which is
reached about 6 a.m., the traveller must change trains, as the gauge
is wider in Victoria than on the New South Wales lines. After
entering Victoria, the line passes through what is called the "Kelly
Country," where the famous bushrangers, Kelly and his associates,
committed their outrages some years ago. In a very short time Sydney
will be connected by rail with Brisbane, and there will then be a
continuous line from Adelaide through Melbourne and Sydney to
Brisbane, a distance of not less than 1,600 miles. This will no
doubt much increase the importance of Adelaide, because many people
will be glad to land from a steamer as soon as possible. A few days
after arrival at Melbourne, I returned by P. and O. steamer to
England, and as I am not prepared to inflict on any one an account
of so hackneyed a voyage, I finish at this point.
In ancient times colonists were sent out by Phoenicians or Greeks
(the Roman colonies were for military and political purposes) among
people who to them were barbarians (which, after all, only means
people speaking a foreign tongue) but who might be only a little
inferior to themselves in civilization. A Greek colony, for
instance, settled among the Egyptians, by whom the Greeks themselves
were accounted barbarians. The colonists to America from England two
and a half centuries ago, had to contend with somewhat similar
difficulties as the first colonists of Australia, but they had not
so many modern appliances. The Australian Colonies are particularly
interesting, because they exhibit people of an ancient civilization
and fixed customs thrown into contact with the elemental conditions
of life. They had to start at the very beginning, and that, too,
with an overplus of criminal population. Their success hitherto is a
testimony to the inherent vitality and tenacity of the English race,
and to sneer at them as if they were children, or to patronize them,
is not merely bad taste, but shows an utter ignorance of the facts.
In many things they have begun where we left off. They have had the
advantage of our experience, and in many things we may profitably
learn from them. For instance, when we hear much airy talk of the
nationalization of the land in England and other equally fundamental
questions for a country to have to consider, it would be well to
study the problem in Australia, where the greatest landlord is the
State. Amid the conflict of forces which make up the struggle of
life, it is not much use talking about rights and duties until the
actual forces at work are taken into calculation. Not at all that
might makes right, as Carlyle is often misrepresented to have said
(of which he pathetically complains), but right that in the long run
makes might; and the best social results are obtained by looking
from this point of view at the many difficulties of our present
existence.
M. HARLAND & SON, Printers, Phoenix Works, Manor Street, Hull.
End of Project Gutenberg's Six Letters From the Colonies, by Robert Seaton