A New Zealander In Sydney Town

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 920, 13 March 1930, Page 9

A New Zealander In Sydney Town

Ot--' O i) vvi / SYDNEY, March 8. j white Australia TX'Spite the strenuous efforts of Jock rden a t the A.C.T.U. Congress in Melbourne lUi s week, the Australian labour Party is likely to adhere to its 1 li battle-cry —a white Australia. The £rime Minister, Mr. Scullin. whose influence is most distinctly felt in the or( . moderate section of his party, is leased with this decision. For the official Laboui movement to be officially associated with the Pan-Pacific j Secretariat, with its policy in favour I „f the admission of “black, brow-n, or brirdle' into the Commonwealth, uoukl be political suicide. The saner) elements controlled by Mr. Scullin realise that only too well. In the past Mr. Garden proved an embarrass- j {pent to Mr. Fang, the State leader of ; rbe party. Mr. Scullin evidently intends to profit by that experience. q )H. Lawrence's Death Even if Australians never liked 'Kangaroo. ' T>. H. Lawrence’s contribution to their literature, they could not deny its brilliance. “Kangaroo” is a book that will live. Much of it ff as written on the South Coast, only ) a few miles from Sydney. Lawrence i came unheralded and unsung. He I was out of Australia again almost be- ! tore people realised that that eccentric j genius had been among them. Explaining the antipathy that undoubtedly exists among many Australians toward a certain type of Englishman, the novelist attributed it to the hostility engendered by the military class toward their unfortunate prisoners in the early days of so-called colonisation. The theory is interesting. His death this week, in his forties, will be regretted by admirers throughout the world. Mr. E. Murray Fuller, the Wellington art collector, was one of the few fortunates who saw Lawrence's exhibition of drawings in London last year before the police took action. Mr. Fuller told me that he was amazed at Lawrence's skill and, although some of his studies outraged possible convention, they were none the less interesting artistically because <f that fact. find of Vaudeville With the closing of Fuller’s National Theatre, for a quarter of a century the fion\e of vaudeville, the conquest of Sydney by the talkies is practically complete. Sir Benjamin Fuller recently declared that many thousands of pounds were lost at this theatre, in tiie past a little goldmine for the Fuller brothers, during the lafet year. There was no option but to close the theatre, and to give the people what they wanted. In an Oxford Streetbound tram yesterday I sat opposite a tr.an who, with script in hand, quietly studied a role. One of the last of the vaudevillians iu constant employment. He alighted at Clay’s Theatre which, as far as I am aware, is the last all-vaudeville, or rather vaudevillecunwovue, theatre in the whole of Sydney. Fullers' theatre, incidentally, has been reopened with talkies under the title of “The Roxy.” “All Quiet” Held to be Obscene Curiously enough It has taken a Sydney magistrate, a city which prides itself on its tolerance in all tilings, to declare “All Quiet on the Western Front” obscene. Other books that Mr. Camphin, S.M., placed ip the same category were: “Aristotle,” "Venus and Adonis,” “Ariane,” "The Decameron.” and several volumes such as “The Bad Girl” and "Retribution,” obviously' written for catch sales. It is rather late in the dny to pass judgment on “All Quiet.” Every Intelligent person in the community has read it, passed judgment on it, and accorded it a place on the bookshelf, and deservedly so. as the finest piece of peace propaganda possibly ever written. ,Tlie offending bookseller was Lew Parkes, for years pincipal publicity expert with the Fuller management. For the last year 0" so, however, he has been in business for himself as a bookseller in Martin Place. ■bhn Brown. Millionaire There was no more discussed or abused man in the whole of Australia than John Brown, the coal baron, whose death took place at his home yesterday at Newcastle. A millionaire several times over, a noted breeder of stock, patron of the Turf, and commerical magnate, his interests were many, and his associations varied. Yet the public at large knew little of the tali, gaunt, silent old man, tiough his features were very' familiar t> the people of Australia. An esseni ally hard fighter in the many disputes that have centred around his exunsive coal holdings in the North. John Browm was regarded as a fair antagonist. What is more, he was always held in esteem as a man of his ’ ord. If he said he would do a thing ire miners knew that he would never tudge from he attitude he assumed. Re closed one of his most profitable nines for several years simply because ie would not tolerate any more indus'dal trouble there. It has been said 'bat the death of his young wife, early ]n John Brown's married life, embittered him. Great wealth and political nfluence probably brought him little happiness. His tastes were simple and “is wants few. Yet on occasions the millionaire would entertain on a most 'avish scale, especially when he took 'be Federal Chief Justice, Sir Adrian j Rfiox, and other intimate friends, on beep-sea fishing expeditions. ERIC RAMSDEX.