AUSTRALIA GROWING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 156, 30 June 1914, Page 8

AUSTRALIA GROWING.

PUBLIC SERVICES CONGESTED.

PUGILISM AND LAWLESSNESS

Two leading idea? were strongly impressed cm the mind of Mr. D. C. Bates, the Dominion meteorologist, during his recent visit to Australia. One is that during the past live years the traffic by road and rail has grown till it has got a little, out of hand: and the other that the popularity of pugilism hi Sydney has had a very bad effect on the youth of Sydney.

Mr. Bates told a Wellington reporter that the great progress of the Commonwealth is'reflected in the increase, in traffic, which has quite congested the ra : iways, and in other signs evident to the 'mo c t casual observer.

Trains are often de-laved 'wing to the congestion of traffic. The permanent wayis suffering through the volume of traffic. and he fell, sure that unless some steps we;e taken to nn-et properly the changed conditions, serious accidents wculd occur. One train on which ho travelled was delayed an hour and n-half through ft deeper being derailed. The fiances of the wheels were broken, and the car had to be taken off the line. The port and telegraph services also were oppressed by the volume of business presented to them, and seemed unable to copo with it properly. There has recently been an outbreak of violence in Sydney, said Mr. Bates, particularly among the young men. He '■ailed on ono New Zealand friend living there, and found that he had just been maltreated and disabled by a mob of young hoodlums who had apparently set out to rob him. He had not reported the matter- to the police because he feared a vendetta would be established against him. This man and several others to whom the visitor spoke had licenses to carry firearms, and were armed with revolvers to protect themselves. This lawlessness Mr. Bates attributed io the popularity of pugilistic contests. A fighter or a fight promoter was regarded by a section of the people almost as a sort of deity. It was no wonder ignorant youths aspired to "go out and stouch." The growth of the pleasure-loving spirit, too, was obvious, said Mr. Bates. It badly needed tempering with some solid work. He went, while in Sydney, to see a big football match. There were about 50,000 spectators; ami the poor quality ot dress of a great number who had paid the highest prices for admission was quite remarkable. Nor could he understand why the people were all there, for they did not make intelligent remarks about either the game or the players. Their chief source of delight appeared when somebody was "laid out."