AUSTRALIA'S RISE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 5, 6 January 1934, Page 8

AUSTRALIA'S RISE.

TWO INTERPRETATIONS

(By E.C.F.)

Events in the past few years have whetted the appetite for informative books about Australia, and it is natural that this should bring a response from writers who can handle the subject in a popular way. Perhaps it was a timely appreciation of the new demand that prompted Mr. H. L. Harris and Mr. G. V. Portus,* both of .the University of Sydney, to interpret Australian affairs from two separate points of view; and certainly the division of the task, although there is no evidence that they collaborated on the point, has enabled them to cover a wide field. The one devotes himself to a study of economic resources, and the other to tracing the growth of the States over a hundred years and the rise of federation. Mr. Portus shows how the gold rush of the 'fifties improved the quality of the population, how it led to the eventual breakdown of the squatter's power, and how it gave birth to the trade union movement. Through the building trades, in the first instance, as he explains, standards of wages were set which could not be broken down in the long depression that clouded the last quarter of the century. Thus the Australian Labour movement dates back much further than the New Zealand, and it was not until the 'nineties that progress began to run along similar lines on both sides of ihe Tasman. The land problem, too, which had t° be tackled on this side by the ■ Seddon Government forty years ago, became acute much earlier in Australia. The unlocking of the land, the later measures taken to relieve settlers who were saddled with mortgage debts, the distress duo to falling prices, and the rescna of' the farmer through the discovery of refrigeration, all makes interesting reading to the New Zealander, who finds a parallel in the trail of events in this country. Mr. Portus' book is a reminder that difficulties, and the lessons they teach, are often quickly forgotten when prosperity returns. A large question mark 011 a map of Australia appears on the jacket of Mr. Portus' book; it might have appeared also on that of Mr. Harris. What use will be made of the vast undeveloped resources of this island continent? What is the future value of the arid wastes which fill the great interior and stretch away to the north-west? And what will be the limit of Australia's population? These are among the questions considered by Mr. Harris. They lead into channels of pure speculation. As he says, the rainfiall is so light over nearly three-quarters nf the continent that development is impossible by any known methods. So the estimates of future population vary from 20.000,000 up to 100,000,000, and only science can decidc the limit. Irrigation already lias, made remarkable strides, and methods of farming have jbeen • adapted to cope with the shortage of rainfall in some areas. Steadily the boundaries of settlement' are being pushed back. Probably no other country has had to face the drought problems which are the common experience of Australia, and it is virtually a virgin field for scientific research. Mr. Harris compares the resources of the States, and reveals the supremacy of New South Wales in wool production and manufacturing, th > importance of Queensland as a producer of sugar, and of Victoria in dairying. His discussion is illuminating as showing how the Australians have overcome handicaps of climate of which New Zealandcrs know nothing, and as proving that man can go a long way to conquer his environment. * "The Economic Resources ot Australia," by H. h. Harris, M.A., TvL.B. (Angus and Robertfton.) "Australia ; An Economic Interpretation," b.v jO. V. Portus, M.A., -B.Litt. (Angus and I Robertson.)