AUSTRALIAN CHIVALRY.

Waikato Times, Volume XL, Issue 3213, 28 January 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

AUSTRALIAN CHIVALRY.

English ljdlios who havo had occasion to reside in the Australian colonies complain' bitterly of the want of gentlemanly' courtesy and deferonco to womankind which oharnotorises the,native not, denied by anyono, male or; female, who has lived in tho colonies that the conduct of the men, more especially the youngmen.'ls characterised byi an'offensi ve. boori shness that :is utterly .unknowneither in Eurouo or '.America, .'i Ladies complain' that men, ; rushingalong a' street;' come into collision''witli them and knock them on one sidefwitliout a word'of-apology, .If there is the' slight-' est pressure for entrance into-a railway train;tlie men push in beforo;.the women, using tlimr "superior strength in a most unmanly manner. This is ribtonly,recognised by tho European visitors,- bnt is the subject of indignant oomment by, the better class ofi colonists,, and tho papers : which represent them, ■

Tho Melbourne Sun, writing on this subject, laments that the 1 emancipated woman of tho nineteenth century, 'with all thd advantages.of her position, , should bo treated,with the dogroo of irudeness which marks the typical young Australian. Speaking' of. women, it says " She' meats him—and beats him—in class and college, in literary and artistic'circles, in oflioo and in wart, and thus, as a rival, forfeits'the claim to speoial .consideration which as a dependent, 1 ' ,'; But,' on tho other hand, it is to bo 'remarked that nowhero havo women pressed to tho front more successfully than in America, and yet, in no part of the world are they accorded nioro respect and deference. ,In America her simple womanhood is entitled to the attentions which she receives from the other sex. In Australia, on tho contrary, .-whether in tho .street, our or in' the railway icarriage, a,place is npver yielded to a woman, pxceptin a fashion which makes her fool tho courtesy offered in so. nngranoful a miwiiioris mi' insult, whilst in a crush at n ticket: window, : tho question of box is utterly ignored. Even in the ball room, we are; informed that the young Australian wears tho garb of a gentleman, but in too many cases forgets' to mako his mannors cor'r'espond with his oostum?. ; It is snirgested that the Australian womcu havo failed to, claim that respect and deference whioh .Europeans and Americans admit'that the sex is entitled to; and it is even stated that in too many .instances, they may have taken tone from their masculine, friends, instead of sotting tho social standard themselves. :

It is singular tbaccount for the diyergenoo between tlie Americans a:id Australians in this matter, but llie'sooial habits, .whether for good or ovil, are so .readily followed by the rising g-eneratiou, that it is important in the highest degree that they should not be allowed to become'permanentand we can see no other ihodo to enforce women's'mission to'refino and elevate the tone.of-sooiety than thar.ladies shonld insist, as far as lies in their power, upon the observance of a 'Courteous manner towards themselves, wd ignore those who treat them as they should not jbe treated,-The Queen, V