MR. FOSTER. FRASER AND HIS CRITICS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1037, 28 January 1911, Page 3

MR. FOSTER. FRASER AND HIS CRITICS.

. Sir —In your issue of Tuesday last it is indeed gratifying to nolo that your comments on Mr. Poster . Eraser's endeavour to .vindicate the nttitiulo adopted m his book on Australia. provo conclusively to all sober-mindedly disposed individuals that.there is attaching to tho poiicy of- tho paper ari impartiality and broadmmdednoss wliioh in' these degenerate days is of sufficient importance to warrant more than passing notice. ' I' seems . qnito : clear that tho spirit of Mr. Frasor's remarks has been grossly misconstrued, otherwise there would not have, been the occasion, for tho controversy which now engages public. attention. It has been inferred that his remarks savour only of those likely to proceed from prejudiced minds; such, if ono rightly understands his individuality, ,is not tho case, and I-am sure it was not .to his aggrandisement or pecuniary gam to bo unfair. Tho shortcomings of Australia,, like those of other countries, are more glaring to: strangers than to its denizens.'. On,the other hand, tho tilings •that are praiseworthy and evoke approval arrest the attention more forcibly.of the stranger than of the .natives. .If it were possible that Mr. Fraser was unjust in stating certain failings alleged to attach to tho country and its people, could it not bo equally, possible that ho gave them credit for virtues., that were not their.due. In .the latter respect,. not a single .Australian has admitted of such a probability, nor is likely to. To have consulted the wishes of tho Australian people as to what they would have lilted to-be said about themselves in the book ■they loathe would have been a stratagem likely to have contributed to a better understanding between tlio author and the Commonwealth people, Apparently their idiosyncrasies suggest that this would ho the enso, nnd thus havo nreclnded the umbrageoitsnoss of. their feelings. Apologising for the call this makes on your space— I am, etc., ~ li, W. MILLAR, January 24.