CHAPTER V. YOUNG AUSTRALIA. THE CASE IS STATED FOR AND AGAINST.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1860, 7 June 1884, Page 6

CHAPTER Y. YOUNG AUSTRALIA. THE CASE IS STATED FOR AND AGAINST.

" You aro Anther hard on tho young Australian 1 ?, sir," I said, interrupting tho cynical gentleman who had interrupted mo, and to whom the nama of Canker was af tern aids ghen. Who ho was and his character will bo niado clear in good' timo. "It is the fashion now," I continued, "to run down the natives of the&e colonies, although they hnvo not yet had time to develop any national qualities, being in tho transition stage. Besides, old hoads don't grow on young shouldcis, and all Australians' shoulders aro young." "Very young," sneered Mr. Cankei ; "somo of them aio whiteheaded. But is it possible for you, sir, you who do appear possessed of somo slight sense— l am a good physiognomist — to stand up in defence of this idle, wretched race, who seem to have come into the world simply to flutter in the sunbram 1 } like buttei flies? I say, sir, they are wanting in every quality that makes n nation. lam glad, sir, I won't live to see the Australian nation, about which the ninnies of tho press aro so fond of scribbling. Tho press, sir, is a contemptible institution, a lying institution. If it didn't report cricket, and football, and boating, and horse-racing, and murders, and assaults, and swindles, and debauchery, the world would be better. The press toadies to the young fools, and makes them worse than they would bo." " Well," said I, waiving a discussion on the Fourth Estate, while willing to while away the timo before breakfast, as we danced over the soa, with this human crab-apple, "let us take up the question of the Australian race seriously, point J by point. Now m tho matter of physique, you must grant our youth equal those of any country. I need not go farther than those young athletes who were playing here to prove that." " A fine animal, sir," replied the cynic, " seldom possesses brains. Probably, in obedience to some natural law tho substance that should build up the white and gray matter of tho brain has gone to make flesh and muscle. These young men resemble somo creatures I have road of who have their brains — the little there is — in tho soles of their feet. If these young men are well made and strong, and active, it is because British blood still courses through their veins. Wait until two or three generations, and then sec what they'll bo like. They'll probably revert to the original form." "Oh, then," said I, "you belong to that school wliich believes that soil and climate modify even the best races, and persistently work towards an unalterable race. The North American reviewers hold that the Yankees aro reverting to tho Indian type, because they have become bony in structure, and* aquiline in feature, and the late Marcus Clarke it was, U Iremojnber right, who, following

up their reasoning, hold that Australians would rovcrt to the aboriginal type." " He was right, sir," criod Mr. Canker, rabbin g his hands, "perfectly right. 1 am independent, hir ; 1 nude a httlo monoy in the early days, and kept it, and live on the interest, so I am ablo to travel, and I l.avo studied the whito native? of theso colonies.. They arc revorting to the aboriginal vjpe, but of course there are differences at picsenfc, which will in time no doubt be obliterated to n great extont, and modified according to climaie, tho people of the colder parts being more enei gotic and intelligent than those of tho northern and lon land states." " So far as you have observed," said 1, wishing to diaw him out, " what have you found the spocial characteristics of young Australians ? " " To make myself clear," replied tho cynic, " it is necessaiy to deal first with special and thon with general characteristics. And thongh people say I am prejudiced and look persistently at tho dark j tints in tho picture, yet I have met none who refuso to acknowledge that my observations aro without foundation." " What, then, are tho special characteristics ? " i asked. " Theie aro two distinct type* of young Australians," lephed tho old man, "tho natives of the warm and the cool climates. Of the former tho Niiv South Wales natives may be taken as the example, of the lattor the Victorian*. At piesent their chaiacteristtcs nia widely difFeient. Then, of couise, there is a difference between town and countiy natives." "What is the latter typo," I queried. "To my fancy the New Soi'th Wales ono. The third generation has been reachpd in that colony, and the typo is more pronounced. And a «urious typo it is, a mixture of tho Spaniard and the Ouental. Theio nre two very distinct types oi natives in New South Wnles. The omintry native, especially if bom in the hot districts, ouch as the Gwjdir and tho Liverpool Plains, is the oharaotor pa eiocllentt. In parson ke is large, and genri ally well made, bat wibk a plaoid fuce, that is somewhat meaningless. I» disposition fee la lethargic to an extraoichnarj degiee, considering the race from wbich hn h,ib c«imo. He docs not ciro to work, but ho will do what be is told; ke raroly dosu anything out of his own head— it is too much trouble to think. Ho doeu not wire for loading ; even light novels aeem too heavy for him. Ho is g"n»rallY placid and goodnatured, seeming not to b> bothered with nerves. There isn't a spico of the devil in him, and you know a mnn is nothing without that. One would thmk that at a ceitam age, considering the heat of the climate, the Sie3 of lovo would make him energetic, but it isn't so ; he's jast as cool and apathetic in lovo as in anything else. If his girl loaves him for another fellow ho simply i.ays, ' There's plenty more,' and ono strange characteristic 1 have noted, that the country natives don't care to talk. They will sit in a chair, or loungo on a sofa, or travel with you for hours, and hardly utter a monosyllable. Englishmen can't do that ; thoy mu&t be reading, or talking, or working, or sleeping. In fact there is much in him that lebombles the characteristics of tho ongmal owner of the soil." '" 1 suppose," I interrupted, " the Sydney native is somewhat difTtrent ? " " He resembles in some dogroe, though remotely, the Melbourne aativo — the woist of all, ths tnftuit ten ibis. Tho Sydney native has a good d«a'l of the oasy-going, silent, lazy, and Btiffioient-f»r-the-d«iy-iiJ-th«-4Yil-thereof stj le of tha bush native, but superadded w e har« the placing of athletics before ever} thing «lsa. To him to bo a great cricketer or oaisniiin is mere glorious than triumphs in the great arena of the woild. His ono god is sport." " Does ihe Victorian country native resemble his New South Wales cousin? " I asked. " A little," replied the oiacle, " but not much. He is restless, will not stop at homo, laughs at his parents, thinks he knows everything, and believes tho chief ond of nun is to enjoy all tha world has without earning it by tho sweat of his biow. He will work, howe\er, and work hard, if there is money to be got. Money in tho main is his god, money wheiewith to buy pleasure. He is a restless, roving creataie, to be found everywhere, ever searching for wealth. As to the Melbourne native, I can't spoak of him, clover as he is, with patience. Ho is sensual with a cold, calculating sonsuahty ; he 13 greedy of gold foi the power it will givo ; ho respects ncifchtu parent, noi teacher, nor master ; he behoves neitlior in God nor tho dcil ; ho is incapable of lovo, or reveionco, or duty; ho is a clever, unscrupulous fiend " " Come, come," said 1, "that's too warm. Melbourne is a great city, and it is now mainly kept up by the natives " " Not a bit of it," (yiod the cynic, who was now in his glory, nding his hobby. "I tell you, go wheio you will, Mr, you will find that foreign-born men an at the head of everything ; that without theca theie would bo utter stagnation. They are tho merchants, the lawyers, the bankers, the manufacturer, tho writers, the legislators, the biain of the colonies. Without them Australia would bo a blank." " You woien't born in Australia ' " I asked. " Thank Heaven, no ! " he leplied. " Thn t probably explains many of your prejudices," I said. "As to what you have advanced I must concede a part, but daeline to accept your leading conclusions. That the Australian raoe should bo difleront to their progenitors is but natural, for the chmato, soil, and conditions are different. That they fchould be more free ia easily explained. Their parents experienced harshness and tyranny in their island home, and thoy have gone the other extreme in giving too much liberty to their clnldron. Tn time that will bo remedied as the character of the nation becomes settled, and it ceases to bo a tribe of nomadic diggers and bottlers. Tho Australian will never bo ko homeloving as his progonitors, for ho will live too much in the open air. The cold, moist clinnte of Gieat Britain, which keeps people within doors, Ins created that greatest of earthly institutions, tho English home. Such can hardly bo expected in a land w hero most of the timo is spent in the opan an . It is this, and tho greater freedom from heni y toil and hotter living, that makes the Australian fond of sport. As for tho other charges, want of reverence, atheism, worship of pleasuio and gold, before we condomn the young Austialun let us be sure the sarao untoward manifestations of this age aro not equally noticeable m the old world. Judging by tho American and English papers, and what we read of the continent, wo are not a whit worse than other people, not even in regard to brutal larriltinism, thougli they havo greater advantages, a 3ettled population and venerable institutions. That in the warmer districts our people will not bo as energetic as their parents ia but the result of a natural low — men cannot work in a hot as in a cold country, they do not requite to work so hard. In time the natives will take their proper positions as workers and rulers. But now, sir, for tho general characteristics of the Australians." During thi3 rather long raordium my auditor was shifting about restlessly, being one of those men who hate to hear anyone speak except themselves, and eager to contravene what I said, tho only distraction being hifa listening for the breakfast bell. Adjusting his spectacles, ho began. " I havo heard all that special pleading before," ho said, " but it is as shallow as tho Australian brain, and as selfish " Hero the"breakfast bell sounded, and without another word, but with an expression of torror on his face, which told of his fear of being too late and losing his seat, tho first Get of chops and the first cup of coffee, ho gathered himself up and rushed precipitately down stairs. Elderly cynics can appreciate the good things of this world. , (To be continwd.)