BACKWARD RACE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24423, 8 October 1940, Page 8

BACKWARD RACE

COMPLACENT AUSTRALIANS FAMOUS MUSICIAN’S VIEWS STRONG CRITICISM $ (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND. Oct. 7. “The tragedy of Australia is that it does not realise its true position, and refuses any kind of criticism from outside. It is sublimely self-satisfied and complacent.” In these words Sir Thomas Boecham, the famous English conductor, summed up his views of Australia in an interview at Auckland to-day. He recently completed a concert tour of Australia, and is proceeding to Canada for a concer* tour, to be followed by a lecture tour ot the United States, afterwards returning to England, “Very few Australians realise the strange' paradox of their present world position,” he said. “For a generation past their public men, writers, and newspapers, aided by British politicians and the press, have been proclaiming Australia to be a land of untold possibilities, rich in every natural resource. and facing a great future. This flattering picture has been flaunted before the eyes, not only of the English, but of the Italians, Germans, Japanese, and every other powerful land-hungry nation

Stagnant Population

“What is the other side of the picture?” Sir Thomas asked. “In a continent almost as large as Europe is a stagnant population of hardly 7,000,000 (the birthrate is stationary), a growing concentration of city life to the disadvantage of the country, and, strangest of all, a more or less chronic condition of unemployment.” Sir Thomas added that if the Australians bad such a fruitful land, then they acknowledged themselves before the" world as one of its most backward and incompetent races. Discussing the intellectual side, he said: “There can be no reasonable doubt it is the most backward part of the British Empire, and contributes nothing to the world’s fund of creative literature, philosophy, art, drama, and music. I visited five great cities, and in not one of them is there a theatre at which a play was running.” A Common Barrenness He added that this barrenness in relation to the dramatic art was common practically to every other department of learning and invention. “The best proof of what I have said is Australia’s preoccupation with local politics when its future destiny is being decided 12,000 miles away by the protecting might of British arms and the steadfast courage of the British people.” Sir Thomas said. “Australia’s military contribution to the war up to the present is incomparably less than, for example. Canada’s and New Zealand’s.”