THE MAKING OF A STATE

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21354, 22 December 1934, Page 17

THE MAKING OF A STATE

♦ The Centenary Hi&tory of VictoriaBy Ambrose Pratt. Robertson and Mullens Ltd. 243 pp. (215.) One Hundred Years. By Roy Bridges. Robertson and Mullens Ltd. 433 pp. (7/6). There has been a prolific output of books on the history of Victoria since the Centenary celebrations were decided upon and this is the most ambitious of them. It is a fine volume, well printed and profusely illustrated. The author has drawn very largely for his material on the files of the "Age" newspaper; and the book reveals a capacity for careful research as well as for fluent and lucid writing. The continuity of the story is well preserved. It is a remarkable history from the beginnings of the state in the explorations and discoveries of George Bass and Matthew Henry Flinders, followed by such pathfinders as Grant, Murray, Robbins, and Grimes.

Early settlement was not greatly successful; but after the discoveries of such men as Hume, Howell, and Sturt, who reported on the boundless potentialities of the south-east corner of the Australian continent and removed the suspicion that the area was a desert, successful settlement was established. The book gives interesting personal details of Victoria's early settlers, among whom the name of .Edward Henty stands out. Then came the explorations of John Batman and his founding of the city of Melbourne in the face of stern opposition from the authorities in New South Wales. The difficulties and trials that beset the early settlers are dealt with in most interesting and fascinating passages, enlivened by character sketches and stories of the famous men of the day. The history of land settlement in Victoria is very similar in many respects to New Zealand's. The same difficulty of ultimate control by the Imperial authorities led to inevitable injustices which did not end until the colonists took the law into their own hands. Then came the struggle for separation from New South Wales, which even to-day has repercussions in the rivalry between the two states. As in New Zealand, New South Wales, and Western Australia, it was the discovery of gold that eventually established the fortunes of the young colony. The setting up of responsible government was the next great step; and it is here that Mr Pratt pays tribute to the newspapers of the day, particularly to the "Age," for their work in shaping the policy of the state. Actually, he places so much responsibility for the formation of public policy upon the "Age" and its older contemporary, the "Argus," that he suggests that there was really a prolonged period of "newspaper government," during which the newspapers acted not merely as the recorders and guiders but also as the fabricators of public opinion. The fight of David Syme, one of the proprietors of the "Age," for a policy of protection, is intimately described. In its later pages the history, robbed to some extent of the picturesque and forceful characters that brightened it, is not so entertaining; but there is a wealth of fact and shrewd comment that sheds a clear light on the state's more modern progress. It will be extremely useful in refreshing memories about events and decisions that have helped to shape the course not only of Victorian but also of Australian progress. There are two appendices about the natural history of the state. Mr A. V. Galbraith, chairman of the Forest Commission of Victoria, contributes one on the forest flora of Victoria; and Mr Fred Lewis, Chief Inspector of Fisheries and Game, Victoria, another, on the fauna of Victoria. Both make interesting reading. As a sub-title to his book Mr Roy Bridges has chosen, "The Romance of the Victorian People"; and that is the keynote to his treatment of his subject. For in writing his history of Victoria he has concentrated not so greatly upon events (which are inescapable) as upop the people who made those events possible. So he has gathered together, dissected, and analysed the characters and characteristics of the leading men and women of the Victorian century and shown how they influenced and guided the trend of their country's story. Naturally the romance of early settlement offers the greatest scope for this treatment of the state's development and here Mr Bridges has taken advantage of the opportunity to draw in vivid outline word sketches of the picturesque characters who were the leaders of thought and action in the early struggling days of settlement. He is no less happy in dealing with those who came afterwards to fight great causes, to lead and inspire in the shaping of democratic institutions and to cast men's minds beyond the destiny of a single state to the vision of a united Australia. Without doing injustice to someone it is almost impossible to mention the names of any of the great men and women who contributed in their different spheres to Victoria's progress. Mr Bridges has attempted to do justice to all and has succeeded.

FOR CAT LOVERS Nine Lives. By Caroline Marriage. Edward Arnold and Co. 237 pp. (7/6 net.)

In her introductory note, which she entitles "Before I Begin," the author of "Nine Lives'' claims that the end of all books is the amusement of the writer; that the writer's preoccupation is with the search for the right word in the right place, the word of the exact truth of the thing heard, felt, or seen. These claims, and the fact that Caroline Marriage states her indebtedness to the race of cats for friendship and education, prepare the reader for some of the finely worded descriptions of cat-antics and cat nature which follow. But it is slightly disappointing to be told for the second time within 200 odd pages that someone climbed "the wooden hill to bed." The first time the phrase is pleasant; a second use is enough to stale it. Then—still to be critical —the reader finds smooth sentences and agreeable word-pictures until he suddenly comes upon: "Having gained its ends, watch whether a cat will sit down. . . and, when he has gone a little further: "Wholly yellow without a speck of white, one inclined to speak of him when in happy mood as flecked sunshine." Quite apart from such innocent humour is the rich entertainment of the stories of all kinds of cats in all kinds of moods. Those who collect cats and those who know them for intelligent creatures will enjoy this book for its description and its photographs; they will feel that they have made the close acquaintance of many of the heroes and heroines of the stories. But they will feel that there is still something wrong somewhere when the author insists: "Being a cat. I need hardly say that he is not 'That nowt of all nowts as alius does as 'e's bid.'"

SHORTER NOTICES Making It Happen. The Rise of Sir Macpherson Robertson. By George Taylor. Robertson and Mullens, Melbourne. 274 pp. (5/- net.) This account of the life of Sir Macpherson Robertson, the Australian confectionery manufacturer, whose gifts of prize money made the Melbourne Centenary air race possible, has the interest that attaches to all records of industrial achievement. Many millionaires delight to tell how their initial capital was no more than sixpence; but "Mac Robertson's" story is additionally interesting because it illustrates the development of large-scale industry in a young country. The facts of the story should have beea enough in themselves; but Mr Taylor unfortunately has introduced a great deal of philosophising about things in general. Nursery Schools in Italy. By Giuseppe Lombardo-Radice. Allen and IJnwin. 196 pp. (6/- net.) Broadly, this book is an account of the work of two Italian infant schools, both working on more naturalistic lines than those of the Montessori system, which Professor Lombardo-Radice disapproves. They are Signorina Agazzi's—unquestionably she was a pioneer of reform —and that of the sisters Nigrisoli. The book is charming as well as valuable, and can have lost little in translation.

The Small Man and His Money. By A. Emil Davies. Allen and Unwin. 96 pp. (2/- net.) The value of Mr Davies's little book is raised by his carrying the principles of sound investment freely and widely through the avenues at present open and applying them there. An interesting generalisation is that, by and large, the fixed investor in the shares of a well-established tea-plantation does better than the holder of any other commodity shares. Garibaldi. By Evarts Scudder. Great Lives Series: Duckworth. 142 pp. (2/- net.) This biographical essay is more boldly and colourfully written than most other volumes in the series; and the reason for this is, of course, that Garibaldi's was an almost incredible "adventure story." Mr Scudder ends, indeed, on the quotation, "even while he lived, 'all his life was a legend.' " But the book is sober history as well as vivid romance. (i) The Revenger's Tragedy. By C.vril Tourneur. (ii) Marriage a la Mode. By John Dryden. liii) The Bes,'var's Opera. By John Gay. The Temple Dramatists: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd. (1/6 net each.) Blood ar.d horror, sophisticated comedy, the next step in sophistication—the romantic way back to blood, with sentiment and satire hand in hand. ■ Luck or cunning has guided the publishers to issue these three volumes together in the Temple Dramatists series. They arc admirably well edited.

For the Defence, Jftr. Thorndykc. By K. Austin Freeman. Hodder and Stoughton. r,19 pp. From W. S. Smart. It docs not seem to be necessary to say more than that Dr. Freeman has engaged the celebrated John Thorndyke in an extremely exciting story. The reader knows the truth all the time; it is Thorndyke's business, which he handles beautifully, to intervene quite late and win an easy acquittal for his heavily embarrassed client, on a charge of murdering a man supposed to be himself. Resurrection. By William Gerhardi. Cassell. 374 pp. Through Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. What is commonly called a "brilliant" novel. Mr Gerhardi exploits the modern interest in psychical experience, and the modern taste for thin literary disguises of public characters. He might do better if he were sometimes dull.