NEW ZEALANDERS IN AUSTRALIA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 268, 13 November 1909, Page 6

NEW ZEALANDERS IN AUSTRALIA.

THE ALLEGED HOSTILITY

The Australian correspondent of the Christchurch Press, writing from Sydney on October 30, says:— • Mr A. W. Rutherford, returning to New Zealand from an Australian tour, recently told a reporter that he noticed a slight hostility on the part of Australians towards New Zealand. Undoubtedly a feeling of the kind exists. "Hostility/ 2 however, is too strong a word to apply to it. It is rather the attitude of one dog to an- ', other dog, a stranger, that comes into .his domain. It is an attitude pompounded of ignorance, diffidence, ', recognition of difference, and a general distrusts of the unknown. Virtually nothing is known of New Zealand in Australia. General ideas exist, of course, but even these are .often ludicrously wrong. Within the last month, and in a leading article, the Sydney Morning, Herald twice re"ierred to "the six hundred miles" of distance that separate New Zealand from Australia.- The name of New Zealand legislation is frequently introduced into the debates of-the Commonwealth Parliament. And nearly always.it is taken in vain—without any real comprehension of methods; ana ' results. As for a New Zealander, while he remains a New Zealander, he ia frequently looked at askance. His ways are not Australian ways. To be precise, they are not the ways of Sydney ana^ the Sydneyite. In Melbourne he is much mare at hqmej -, , ■ - '■ - Orte reason is the New Zealander's • energy1, his1 desire- to go ahead. .In business, when he comes to conquer Australia, he comes full of battle; and his weapon looks like a club. Not that he lacks politeness; his mannersare often better, than Australian manners;, but they are not the manners of the country. The New Zealander does not insinuate himself gently. He comes to beat down .opposition with . the irrefutable argument of his facts, the irrefragable virtue of his idea; ana, his impinging vitality becomes oppressive to the Australian, who feels nimself driven into a corner ,and resents, the idea of domination. The New Zealander has really no idea of domination; but his energy gives a dominating impression. He has the air of wanting everything he asks for, and of wanting it badly, and of wanting it' right now. Rarely does he make approaches or dig trenches; he would take the city by assault. The Aus.tralian is not to be taken' by assault: > - -' The New Zealander is full to overflowing of himself and New Zealand, - and fails to make sufficient allowance for the other fellow's point of view. An Australian immigration agent told me how he interviewed a City- of London Alderman, a small civic' god. "And what do you think of our little town?" said the alderman. The Australian up and told him about the congestion of traffic, and. the way goods lay on the footpaths, and the opened streets., and the vile lodginghouses, and the slums, and a few other little things he had noticed. "Yes," said the alderman, meditatively caressing his paunch, "all the provincials, talk like-that." "It gave. me a Jk>sson, I can tell you," said the immigration agent. The New Zealander is apt to find a similar lesson useful. When he comes to Rome; it is a good thing not to be too much of a Carthagian ■at the outset. And plainly,, exactly the same advice applies to the Australian in New Zealand. '-

Australian opinion of New Zealand . is greatly influenced by tourists; and of course, tourists come with a holiday mind and the holiday spirit, i*nd, -•■ these do not always chime, with 'the work-a-day, mind and the .work-a-day spirit of the Australain. who is not on holiday! There is an idea prevalent •■ in some quarters of New Zealand that Sydney is a kind of Englishman's Paris—a good cty to come to and blowoff steam, which is suppressed in Wellington or Chiistchurch. In the«ro», cess, the local opinion of New Zealahders is sometimes disadvantageous-' ly affected, fo,r Sydney people naturally make the mistake or judging the whole by the vociferous part. , -.; New Zealandens should remember that although the code of Australian conduct seems more lax than their own, it is in reality quite as rigid regarding the main affairs of life. Con-sequently-a New Zealander who comes to.§ydney with a dream of "painting the town red," and taking a license which he would never dream of taking - in his own city, is likely to leave a. damaging impression of New Zealand in the minds of Australians with whom he comes in contact. .The, in-. dividual is not known, or is forgotten;' ' but the impression of his conduct is added to the false or imperfect impressions of New Zealand that exist in Australian minds. And the New Zealander never fails to advertise his country vigorously. ■ What is wanted, as between Australia and New Zealand, is evidently a better mutual knowledge. The result of better knowledge would undoubtedly be a greater mutual respect.