AUSTRALIAN HOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 176, 26 July 1911, Page 8

AUSTRALIAN HOURS.

IMPRESSIONS OP A COMMONWEALTH VISIT.

[(By EDWARD TREGEAR.) PART I. - : (Concluded from last Saturday.)

. 1 had scarcely been in Sydney a couple of hours -when, as I was passing along the front of the General Post Office, there came the sound of "Whirring" from overhead, and k>! close above' 4he roofs of the tall buildings flew an aeroplane. The first sight of an aero-' ijjlane in motion, with its graceful birdlike movement, and the impassive figure of the aviator controlling its evolutions, must always cause a thrill in tile breast of an observer, and the incident was so unexpected that it came with additional force. I could not help feeling "These Sydney people are very kind to have such a novelty Teady -for"me - ," •although I knew 1 had nothing whatever to do with the voyage of the air-runner. For two hoars afterwards the pavements iwere thronged (at corners and open spaces) with hundreds of patient people looking longingly and lingeringly upward' in the hope that the aeroplane might 3&gain cross the field of vision. T wended my way towards the office of the "Worker" newspaper where I hoped to see some of"my friends, but it iEook mc a long time, for the attraction of the shop windows was great. The shops alone would take days of exploring and description. Miles of them. JeweJlers, stationers, drapers, hardware dealers; all fitted with desirable books and lovel}' fabrics and attractive "notions." Even those who, like myself, have no hist for possession, can find pleasure in ■the sight of so many graceful and useful products of skill, industry, and patience. The sweet-shops, the- confectioners and the fruit stores are all full of such profusion of diinties that'they fill one with R sense of opulence which if not realisable for oneself may be for others. Yes, shopping- and seeing , shops in Sydney are a pleasure to thoee who come from smaller places whose inhabitants are few. , At last I got near the end of Georpp. street and found my way to Bathurs,;street, in which stands the "Worker" office. There, &o my great delight, I saw Ittr. Watson, the late Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, and we found many interesting subjects to discuss. New ■Zealandors will always regard 3lr. WatSon as one of Australia's celebrated men, more even for the way in which he laid clown his honours than for the changes he effected in politics. He stands to us as the representative of fearless, flawless ihonesty. Mr. Lamond, the editor, was away in Victoria, but Mr. Boote, of Queensland —'who has lately joined the Sydney staff—gave mc the gTip of fellowship. All those of us (and there are mam') who have for years looke.d to the "Brisbane "Worker" as the;, embodiment of literary eouriige- and' ability, ■have learned to watch week after week for the wise writing, caustic yq,t touched ~ at times with pathetic tenderness, which ma.de" the transfer of Mr Boote a gain .'■; -for,. New. .SoutV./Wales.and ;a ! loss to , Queensland. I hope that, if I have any rea-ders, and these are not interested in labour questions, they will pardon my frequent references-to the subject, because I visited Australia mainly to inquire into such questions and gain information of value to: workers. ~ ... I then visited the Hon Mr Beeby, Minister of Education and Labour; one who is well known to many of us through his late visit to New Zealand with the Hon. Mr. Holman, now Acting State Premier. From these two Ministers and • from Mr Carmichael; Minister of Rail- • "ways', I received unending kindness during my stay in New South Wales.—kindness which won for them the gratitude of my friends as well as of myself. Not only by ministerial dinners and luncheons was '"hospitality shown; .citizens, .professional - ;men" and literary people. , all •• conspired against-my Dodily discipline with' profuse ; invitafeons-.<to meals and visits-.-which -- -they"-mercifully giving mc ■ motor drives and motor launch excur- ■ sions to aid digestion. Two lunches, one ~. given mc by Mr. Irvine at the Metro- .... pole, and another by the Lord Mayor of .Sydney, Sir Allen Taylor, at the Town ■ Hall, were especially ".-ttjf be" remembered| .not for the luxurious 'tables only, but , for the intellectual tone and brightness which, prevailed. I care little for the • pleasures of the- table,;■■■but-*-for those • round the table, much, domei hours passed with Judge,Murray,;tne .Govemer of , New Guinea (lums'elf a. visitor to Ausy/tralia), nnrl pleasant conversation, rer "novring old acquaintance;;•'■■jvitli Judge. ' 'Backhouse-of* the Districfc-Conrt, are-'-to 'bo remembered especially. The latter's ■; -interesting report on the New Zealand Arbitration Court has oeen read all over ' .the world and debated very widely, while ■' fin invitation from the former to visit ..." and stay with him at Point Mores*./ ."was. a_£reat temptation. I find that if - J try to mention by name a tenth of the generous hosts who showed mc hospitality and attention I should exhaust "rrv space entirely, but I have many • things to say not so wholly, personal, so i-must turn to other topics. . ( Accepting the invitation of the Trades and Labour Council. I visited the Trades Hall at their usual weekly meeting on • a Thursday evening. The building is a preat nest of offices occupied by secretaries of different industrial unions, and r the general meeting hall is a fine room .. which was that evening crowded to the

doors. I was kindly welcomed to the Council toy the president, and made a speech in reply in which I dwelt on the ; 'interest New Zealanders are taking in . 'New South Wales, particularly, in .their handling of labour questions while a labour ministry is in power. I was almost ■incapacitated from speaking by a cold, but added that I -"would give £ "public -address later" after I had .returned" from Melbourne. ;il was promised, warm support and a full ' audience, but thevnddress -wae not given, 'as nn unfortunate circumstance pre- « vented (Coronation festivities) a hall 'from being provided. During my visit to ,Sy.dney I .stayed ■■with-some dear old-friends of mine, Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Fotbcs, in their beautiful home at Kiilara, KiHara is a charming nvoorled suburb, situated some miles out on the Hornsby line of railway. To return home each evening I had to cross ■on the North Shore Ferry line to MilBpm's Point, and in doing this . .(as...well as nn visits to Manly, Mossmans, WatBon's Bay, etc.) I learnt one thing well, ' L viz., to fall in. love with; beautiful Sydney. Those who have never seen Sydney, or who have -only stayed at hotels in the towii itielf, will consider, doubtless, that use exaggerated language when .1 say that Sydney Is a lovely City of Dreams. Aβ the evening closes dawn, every Joay of the endless chain of bays J takea'on a^Snys'ticr"jJerfect , "t'e'a i uty;'' '"One

bay is full of soft pearly grey shadows, another is flushed with rose, another with shades of lila-c and heliotrope, another with amber and crimson. .All are full of subdued and exquisitely modulated tones of colour. The great buildings of the city, dimmed and softened with veils of haze, loom against the gold and orange Irght behind them as if they were castles in fairy-land. Wherever one moves some new charm floats into view, till the eyes are full'and lips grow silent. Evening after evening I have" .watched "Sydney of Sunsets," and every evening with thankfulness thnt life has allowed mc to receive one m.")re delightful impression of beauty before I face the dark. But darkness itself here only reveals auother phase of witchery".in this, Cleopatra of the Southern.Sea.3." Moving pnt of-every bay or clustered round the numerous wharves, float the ferry steamers with tiers of electric lights from end to end; darting hither and thither, glifc terihg, sparkling, glancing agamst the bases of the piles of buildings whereon the arclights of the city make long curvlines of stationary radiance. Then comes the magical moonlight, with its peculiar glamour to win our hearts, until one can receive no more, describe- no more, but only feel that one is alive—at last.

It must not be supposed that in being shown the better parts and lovelier aspects of Sydney I forgot the purpose of my errand. A few days after my arrival, one of the newspapers published a map showing in dark shading the •'sinful part" of Sydney. I was asked if I intended exploring these shady recesses. I replied. that I Was not a, dent of criminology, and would leave the Chinese opium dens and the haunts of the larrikin "pushes" to men whose business it was to propound remedies for these abuses. For myself I wished only to see workers at their occupations, and the industrial quarters of the city. I spent time going through the factories, particularly in the clothing and whitework trades. From huge establishments like Hordern's to the small factories among the Chinese (rnr-Tiy of whom employ white or half-caste-Chinese girls) of the once-notorious district called "the Rocks"—the oldest part of Sydney—l inquired into the condition and rewards of labour. There was little to find'fault w'th in regard to sanitation or ventilation, and the physical standard of '.he workers was far above that which I expected to find. The women and girls | were by no means of the. pale anaemic type one generally associates with monotonous work in a warm climate. Of course, as with us, there were exceptions, but the average appearance was high in health value, and there were numberless fine specimens of womanhood. The weakness (and it is a terrible weakness) of New South Wales industrially is in allowing home-work at "all. We have practically stamped it out in New Zealand, but as long as homework is permitted there will be cruel "sweating" in prices, and danger to members of the general public who purchase goods sometimes produced in improper and infectious surroundings:

As to the workers' dwellings, thousands of the skilled tradesmen and artisans have homes in sea-side suburbs, or in pleasant places among the lines of railways "■ and of trains. Along the line which leads to National Park I passed through far less attractive parts of Sydney. Not in these were beautiful houses with green trees and flower-beds sloping to the sea. Street beyond street of barrack-like dwellings, jerry-built houses of dingy appearance, terraces and rows of mean streets with vistas of cramped and dilapidated back yards decorated with scaiKy washes of wet linen flapping against the fences. Whole districts of grey monotony. Here dwell the. rank, and file p' the army of labourj perhaps even its' carrip-fbllowersJ The splendid equipages, the" motor-cars, the yachts, the palaces—all these they may construct, but for others to enjoy; they are merely the sunken foundations on which the - superb structure of society Tests.. 'Let sue"-be glad, that in -Sydney ', if nowhere else," they cannot be shut off from all the sple-ndour /if air and sea and shore. "A mad world, my masters!"

(To be continued.)