A SCOT IN SYDNEY

Evening Star, Issue 17542, 23 December 1920, Page 5

A SCOT IN SYDNEY

FIRST IMPRESSIONS. “I had not been a week in Sydney before I was told that I could not speak for porridge,” writes Mr R. Riley in Sydney ‘ Sunday Times.’ That was a rather disconcerting bluntness ; but it did not make me vindictive. A Scot can stand a lot when he is ” on the make,” which, as Barrie says, is the most . impressive spectacle in the world. But if that be the main test of impressiveness, it is clear to the stranger that the “ Micks ” are as the “ Macs ” in Sydney. Why, they even measure out the whisky for a shilling! And yet a shrewd laddie asked me why a staunch Scotchman sometimes took wine when it was his unavoidable turn to treat. He missed a lesson in Spartan economy. If it be good—and it is good—for the soul of the Scot that he be compelled occasionally to spend money freely, then Sydney ought to be a great spiritual influence for the canniest of Caledonians. Here in this care-free city the old joke about how bang went saxpence has no pith at all. Money simply dissolves. If you have any doubts about it, seek to buy a .house or rent a flat. Either is a fine test of one’s spiritual forces. It is an occasion when one envies the mobile fluency of the Aussie; a sort of barrage of radiant invective. It seems that there might be ample compensation if one could get a good place among the ruling politicians. They; tell roe that it is there that money is sornge times easily got, even if it be necessary to appoint a special commission to get it. That brings me to my first impressions of a beautiful, but shamefully neglected, city. Though a thousand charms urge the stranger to believe that Sydney is a progressive city, with an eager people proud of a great heritage, the ways of many men seem* almost to suggest that it is a centre of corruption.. Sordid affairs and sinister movements are flaunted in the face of a bewildered stranger. In seven days there have been something like seven different scandals, all touching miserable political intrigue, alleged graft, and all sorts of seemingly corrupt trickery. Instead of lively criticism of inspiring civic enterprise and loyal, honest co-operation for the good of a great city and State, there is bitter gossip about civic scandal and sordid machinations of men in responsible positions, these demanding the exercise of the highest standard of honor and honesty. In clubs, street cars, and on the public corners one hears still more talk of political corruption and municipal stupidity. .The stranger within the gates of a hospitable city is tempted to ask whether the. character of representative public activity is as bad as the partial exposures in the Press would suggest.: Is it all a normal feature of public life, or what is the State suffering from? The verdict of the man in the street is as discouraging as it is disquieting. He sums up all the lamentable scandals with the somewhat brutal conclusion that it is all a battle between crooks and cranks. A stranger who already has seen enough of the city and its" innumerable charms to feel disposed to believe that everything is not rotten in the State would like to know the verdict of an impartial journal like the ‘ Sunday Times,’ which obviously is not a slave to the tittle-tattle of each day. One supposes that there must be fire whore there is so much smoke. No sooner has ono scandal been raised and laid or adroitly set aside than another breaks out, either in the old prolific place or in a fresh quarter with the same taint. One day, the tide of angry gossip swirls around allegations as to the furtive shuffling of banknotes as bribes of “honorable” men; and the next day it swishes about the jer»y-building of ships, allegedly corrupt municipal contracts, and the elevation of notorious agitators to responsible offices in the employ of a grievously-burdened State. If my impressions are correct, may one hope for something more stimulating in the future? There is, it seems to me, need not only tor a Cromwell. but also of a party of strong men with a clear vision of the mighty future of Australia, with an honest policy of true national effort for tho commonweal, and with courage to sweep away the corruption that makes a great State and a magnificent city a low by-word. Well, the impressions have grown to a sermon. What else could a Scot do after having been told that he could not speak for porridge, and after having been forced to . pay a shilling for a wee tinful of whisky and tuppence for a tram ticket marked three bawbees? But it is a delightful city all the same.