A MONTH IN AUSTRALIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 August 1921, Page 6

A MONTH IN AUSTRALIA.

SOME EXPERIENCES AND IMPRESSIONS.

“I do not aught extenuate Nor set down aught in malice.”

Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.P. for Wai tomo, writes as follows to a New Ply mouth friend:^ —

I think a few lines about great Australia, where I put in a month in the States of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, may be interesting to many in the land of the Maori and fern. I had good opportunity, owing to the kindness of the various Governments and members of the Legislatures, in seeing much in a short time, by railway and motor trips. What impresses a New Zealander is the immensity of Australia, and the national spirit in the direction of manufacturing and developing the undoubted vast natural resources of timber, iron, steel, coal, cement, etc.

In all the Staten I have visited there have been “Australian Days,” and the huge shops have been miniature exhibitions of goods made entirely in Australia by workers. The displays of clothing, hats, and boots, furniture and machinery, was a revelation. The prices were also , in a direction that knocked the high cost of living very considerably. The leading papers show, by comparison with recent periods, a fall up to 30 per cent. Jias taken place within the past few months. All this change has come about, in my opinion, owing to the disparity between imports and exports, and, of course, it will take some time before matters can be adjusted, and a tightness of the financial cheat is experienced just now iu all the States. RAILWAY SYSTEM. The railway system in all the States is fully 25 years ahead of our Dominion, and I speak with an experience gained by travelling just on 4000 miles. The sleeping berths are two in each carriage, with lavatory and toilet accommodation in each. There is not that interminable request of producing tickets, as after the ticket is shown at the turnstile the holder is not asked for it until he readies his destination, when Tie produces it before departing . through another turnstile. I did’ one journey from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, a distance of 1052 miles, which is known as the trans-Aueitralian line, and is under the control of the Commonwealth Government. This journey was. done, with a. number of stoppages, under three days. It is a magnificent service, the cars being beautifully fitted up. with lounge parlor and observation ears attached. One of the runs on this line is through 300 milts of country without a curve, and not a bridge on it. On three occasions, travelling on Main Trunk line between To Kuiti and Marton, the passengers had to detrain and change to others, owing to slips on the line, and 1 remember the tramping through the mud, and every passenger being his own porter. I met with a similar experience on a train from Brisbane to Sydney on May 31, when a slip occurred between Glencoe and Ben Lomond. The latter place is 4000 feet high, and it was a trying time for passengers, who had to carry their luggage to the train that came from the Sydney side. Landslides on the railways in Australia are most unusual, and this one upset the traffic for a week, and indicates the heavy rainfall, which otherwise is a blessing to Australia.

REVENUE RETURNS.

After all said and done, there is only one thing that counts in any country, and that is the fiscal position. The returns of the various States, as published at the end of May, were distinctly reassuring. For Queensland, the returns for 11 months of the present year totalled £10,788,790, as compared with £9,412, 187 for the • .rresponding period of last year. Every department in the Slate showed an increase. New South Wales’ Customs for the same as Queensland’s showed a contribution of £13,866,500, as against £9,60-1.061. Victoria Customs, for the same, period, was £29,866,635, compared with £19,499,882 of last year. T was unable to get the South Australian returns; but West Australia showed a slight increase in revenue returns. Taken altogether, the fiscal portion of the States showed a rising barometer, and with a forward policy in Queensland and Western Australia of developing the hinterland, and the other States marching forward to develop the primary and secondary resources, I see no cause for pessimism in Australia.

NEW ZEALANDERS TN THE STATES.

I was struck by the number of our Dominion people 1 met with. If I placed the number at 50.000 it would be a conservative estimate. 1 base this conclusion on the fact that in one year in the doldrum days in New Zealand over 15.000 New Zealanders left for Aus tralia, and I remember the steamer Manaponri. on which I loft for Australia, with SOO exiles on board. Many of them never returned, except to visit Afaoriland. Some of my fellow passengers on that occasion occupy important pi'-i’tiom; in rhe various States, and many warm talks we had about the dear*old fern land, to which their mem-

ories turn fopdly. In conclusion, I cannot express sufficiently how grateful I feel io the members of the various ( State Governments for the facilities with which they provided me for seeing their country, and their industries and scenery. I. saw wheat and fruit-growing countries, railway workshops employing over 5000 men, scenery and gardens (like the Rosary in Centennial Gardens. Sydney, with over 000 varieties of roses), visited all the Parliament buildings, and I plac Adelaide, from a town-planning point of view, easily first. Newcastle, from anindustrial point of view, with its cup per, steel, iron, coal and shipping, icoming, and that very soon, as the Sheffield of Australia, and the Returned Soldiers’ Club easily the - best appointed T visited in the States.