ROUGH ON THE AUSTRALIAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 88, 4 October 1911, Page 4

ROUGH ON THE AUSTRALIAN.

Colonial people are glad that their rei latives at home occasionally find time to mention tlicm, but as a general rule the flyin«? critic is so snperlicial in his observations mul so unjust in his conclusions that Australians and New Zealanders merely smile. The dissection, in a Scottish paper, of the Australian character by a writer, '■O.J'Mf.," is more than ordinarily interesting. "I have travelled in many lands among many peoples, writes this critic, ''and find Ausiralians the most interesting of (hem all. Quite naturally the Australian conceives that lie is the lirst human consideration on earth. ft is unusual to find, either in the overgrown cities of the Commonwealth or in the waste places, where the real work of Australia is iinilerlaken. any person with a semblance of what the people of older countries would call 'manners.' The Australian scorns the small ordinary courtesies of life, lie is so accustomed to his fellows 'trying to take him down.' as ho calls it. Hint he attributes the basest motives to the most innocent stranger. He frankly regards the 'ncw-chuni' as a fool. As a rule, while (lie Australian is wasting his lime in regarding the uewchnni as a fool, the said new-chum is seizing the opportunities the Australian is 100 scornful to sec. The Australian becomes apoplctie and abusive if it i s suggested tlu-re are brains or muscles

of as good quality as his in other lands, and rushes -into print with columns of names of men who have won boxing matches or swimming races, who have been football representatives or who have played good cricket. lie rather pathetically believes that the atrocious ly ignorant people whom he sends to his Parliammt are statesmen, although the truth is that the political class in the Commonwealth is recruited not only from amongst the most ignorant, but from those whose chief business is to exploit their fellow men. The Australian is inconceivably rude, not only to the stranger, but to his own remarkable kind. The serving class assume intolerable airs of superiority. The shop assistant does the customer an honor in serving him; the tramway conductor snatches tickets and freely addresses his patrons as 'old bloke.' I am old and grey and worldworn, but I do not like a youth of eighteen to address me as 'old bloke'; nor was 1 particularly charmed when a cabman asked me, 'Where, to cully?' The Australian is seen in all his mental nakedness and his unutterable savagerv in the football field or on the racecourse—two [/laces where he is perfectly at home and absolutely natural. On such occasions he is wildly partisan and often murderous. I travelled from Sydney to Melbourne overland, and at a small station a peculiarly offensive man of about 00 years got into the carriage. He may have been quite sober; I cannot say. I can say that ho was dirty, ignorant, and monopolised the conversation. When lie. desired to expectorate he did so freely and without any apparent knowledge of provision for such exigencies. 'You seem quiet, Mister,' he said to me, snatching my paper from me and laughing immoderately, 'What the is wrong with yer?' 'i did not reply; I had nothing to say. I noticed that the particularly uncivilised ticket collected nodded cordially to this extraordinary person and did' not demand a sight, of his ticket. The person left the carriage at a further station, and I was very glad . 'That was a very rude old man,' I remarked to a gorgeously attired young man with quite a number of pieces of jewellery on a watehehain. 'Oh, I dunno!' replied the typical town Australian, 'that's the Hon. Mr.

M.L.C.—owns arf of Xoo South Wales!'" "fi.F.11." is less complimentary the further he goes 011. and his scornful disposal of the Xew Zealander is irritating: "After sampling these atrocious Australians T went to Xew Zealand to get a\vay_ from the everlasting 'blow.' It was a case of out of the frying pan into the (ire. Except that the New Zealander is less mentally alert than the Australian there is nothing to choose between them!"