OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 304, 28 June 1909, Page 7

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

[OWN CORRESPONDENT.? SYDNEY, .lime 10. THE POLICY SPlvl'X'li. Tliero was not much m i \v. tl-i-ai^h ilioro was much that \v;is iMi;K->:i:ii;ly true, in Mr V.'ade's loug-r?.;.-. u'd policy smooch. It was ir. .-j;;il:!u that the chief burden of it .she..;'. .l lie directed to the relations bctwccJi the State and the Commonwealth, for of late a very unmistakeablc disposition has been evinced by Commonwealth legislators (who are no move exempt than others from the disease known as "swelled head") to monopolise all important functions for the Commonwealth, and thus wipe out the States altogether. It- is a procedure very similar to that by which it is proposed to "nationalise" out of existence, private enterprise, which means in plain English that particular occupation by. which each of us (outside .bureaucracy) gets his living, and forms his character. Mr Wade says that he desires to be. scrupulously fair. He acknowledges that the expenditure of the Commonwealth must increase, and he would facilitate .such an increase ap to the point /where it would become an unjustifiable aggression. He points out that in the nature of the case the expansion and development of Australia mainly rests on the States. They have, to provide for education, and for railway construction, for police and for the care of the sick and destitute. It is impossible for a central government widely removed from the scene of its a&» tivities to attend properly to matters and duties" which depend for their success on faithful and sedulous attention to minute, details. The policy of aggression, therefore, must he abandoned, vand, the central and State Governments must join, hands in the beneficent endeavor to promote the greater good of the greatest number. THEORY AND PRACTICE. . This is mainly the situation as regarded by the. statesman. Mr Wade, however, is too old a Pai-liameix-tai--ian to allow himself to fondly imagine that he will, be allowed to fight the battle out on these lines. Under our curiously-conceived system of party government, which seems specially designed to frustrate any en--dea-vor to conduct the administration of the country on broad and worthy principles, he will have to fight for his life, as soon as Parliament lneets, on trumpery little matters which ought never to be allowed to disturb the serene atmosphere of a legislative body in which each member ought to regard as his sole object the promotion of the general welfare. HOW NOT TO DO IT. Unless all current forecasts are falsified the supreme aim of the Op2)osition, when Parliament meets, will he' "how to get Wade out." One can understand the desire to oust a Ministry which has no majority behind it, and therefore has no riglit to its position. That, however, is not the case in the State Legislature. Mr Wade, holds office by the support of a largo majority of the people, as testified by their duly-elected representatives, and be ought to be less immune from mere factious opposition. THE FINANCIAL .PROBLEM. Considerable anxiety is being evinced concerning the settlement of the financial problem as between, the Commonwealth and the States. Until this is brought about it is evident, a.s- 3lr Kidston declares, that tho State Governments', as. a matter of self-preservation, must endeavor to influence the Federal elections, but if the relative position of each was properly defined there would be no such necessity. The question is a., delicate and difficult one, and needs the most careful and. impassionate. consideration. Present indications are not favorable for the maintenance, of a judicial tone in Parliament. It may bo, however, that when actual work i.s entered upon, wiser counsels will prevail. Once, the dread of encroachment and spoliation is removed, both the State and Federal Legislatures will he set free to attend to their several important duties and the machinations of those whose- policy is "Divide and Rule" will be frustrated. " ■ FISHY. Tho City Council had a great debate as to the locality of the municipal fish market. The Mayor thought it ought to he at BeJmore Park. But as the fruit business is to he removed from that locality because of the offence which it gives to the aesthetic

tastes of his IMnjosiy'.s lieges, and as iisli is dccidodly more odoriferous and, loss boautiful than fruit, iliis would 1)0' a jump out of the frying pan into the H vo. Tlio Council unceremoniously reviewed the. Lord Mayor's minute, and decided that the fish market should be where the fruit is, namely at Engine street. So many instances have come to light of late of landowners making enormous profits by selling to the Council that our small wags are suggesting that the most appropriate market for anything even suspected of being "fishy" would be at the Town Hall. A MEAN BUSINESSS. Another mean piece of business, which threatens to cause trouble, was the setting aside of the lowest tender for .electrical material by the City Council for no other reason than because it was sent in byv a German firm. Their Sydney agents, in view of the fact that the contract was thrown open to public competition, have asked, in a temperate letter, that the expense of cabling, etc., to which their principals were put in connection with the contract, should be refunded. The case is the more glaring because Britain manufacturers already enjoy a preference of o per cent, as compared with those of Germany. . • . PRISON LABOR. ' If the 'work of -npn-unionis'ts is distasteful to organised "labor," that of prisoners is still more ao. A firm of tinworkers has lost a Government contract because tinware made in the prisons is being supplied at lower rates. The- usual strongly-worded protest is being entered accordingly. But what is to be done? Arß the prisoners to be kept in idleness? If so, the- community will almost certainly be again exposed to their depredations when they come out of gaol. If they are to be kept employed Avhat is to be. done with the results of their labor? It will hardly be contended that it must be destroyed as soon as made. Yet there -seems no other feasible alternative, for if it Is given away, like the fish caught by the Federal trawler, it will dis-place-an equal quantity of the fruit <>£ ill© labor of "the WOllCer," dYQXI more effectually than if it has to swim in the conditions of failcompetition. - Shortsighted greed always seems a satisfactoiy policy to those who make pecuniary profit out of it. But when a broader and more comprehensive view is taken, it seems simply ludicrous. THE MISSION. The Chapman-Alexander mission continues to draw immense crowds, chiefly consisting, of course, of Church-goers, and of persons who before were seriously inclined. Far. surpassing in interest the account of the proceedings at the meetings, the liumber of persons influenced, and the nature of their experience, would be some inkling of their previous life history. . It has been said that if we knew everything we should be surprised at nothing; for we should see that it must have happened just as it did happen. We don't know everything, and our ignorance is most pronounced concerning the most profoundly important secrets of the hidden life. Ignorance is not culpable. Some* of the theories, however, which have been built upon ignorance, and widely accepted, because they are congenial to some of the lower instincts of human nature, are grotesque and unworthy.