Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Third of a Century.] FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1914. AUSTRALIA ATTACKED.

A book written by Mr C. E. Jacomb and entitled "God's Own Country: an Appreciation of Australia," is the subject of comment in English papers, an! well it might be. When Mr Jacomb called his book an "appreciation," he could only have used the word derisively, as he sweepingly condemns Australia, and everything Australian is anathema to him. While candid books on the Dominions are to be welcomed, there can be nothing but-condemnation for the one in question. The author frequently lapses into unmerited abuse, and many of his statements will not bear examination. Mr Jacomb lived six years in Australia, but nothing iv the country pleased him. According to him, the men are ugly, the women waddle and are immoral, the food is bad, and the scenery is without beauty. He declares that he "has not seen one pretty landscape in Australia." Again, "their

show beauty spots . . . are absolutely ugy and commonplace." That a man should make such statements seems absolutely beyond the understanding of the average person and any colonial knows that they aro. utterly absurd. As one critic puts it: "May heaven give him more discerning eyes when'next he leaves his native land." We will go further and hope that he will not again leave the Old Country, at all events, not if it is his intention to write a book on the next country unfortunate enough to be visited by him. But to return to the "appreciation.''' The writer of this combination of ridiculous statements, says that Sydney Harbour is "overrated." We wonder if he has ever entered it at early dawn "and witnessed the gradual unfolding of its wondrous variety. He failed to detect ."one spot of beauty" in a ' ' .■■.! ■•■7 ' ;

a lengthy railway journey. Australians, think of it; not one spot of beauty!

So much for Mr Jacomb's comments on the country, we will next turn to what he says about the people. The fact that he refers to "convict ancestry" can be passed over. The man who disinters this line of criticism is only worthy of our pity. When he states that Englishmen landing in Australia find the greatest difficulty in making themselves understood, or in comprehending what is said to them, we begin to have doubts as to whether the writer of such piffle has ever been in Australia. He need not even have visited the country to know of the utter absurdity of his statement. Here are a few more gems from this embittered writer's truly wonderful collection: "Australia systematically produces ugly men," "in six years' residence I have not seen six good-looking Australian men.'' Among Australian women he has not seen '' six cases "in which their physical charm remains beyond the early twenties. "With hands glued to their sides and every muscle apparently held tense, they pass 'down the street wobbling from side to side." "Australian clubs are drinking saloons first and foremost.'' The quotation of the above extracts will give colonials some idea of tho kind of book Mr Jacomb has loosed upon the innocent English public. That a man who claims to have spent six years in Australia should write such unadulterated rubbish is hardly conceivable, and it is to be deplored that a publisher was found for his book. It may be that the somewhat florid advertisements setting forth tho attractions of the Dominion require .some counteraction, but the book under review goes to the opposite extreme, and no one will thank the writer for his "appreciation." It is quite evident that Mr Jacomb has no intention of returning to Australia, but should he do so, and fall into the hands of some patriotic colonials he would probably find material for a book even more condemnatory of Australia and things Australian.