LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10764, 12 May 1911, Page 2

LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

BY T. LINDSAY 15UICK. ' No 5. ADELAIDE. ; We left with an augmented number of passengers, each of j whom liad evidently brought several , friends to see hiin off, for a crowd j on the wliarf was only a decree or two , smaller than that which witnessed our , departure from Sydney. There was j -the same demonstrative parting, but , the enthusiasm of the new' arrivals , perceptibly diminished- when we reach- , ed the Heads aSid rode into one -'of the 'j biggest and most persistent ground ' swells that ever cursed the experience of the. amateur -mariner- From the moment that we reached the open sea until we entered the' St. Vincent Gulf our ship rolled like a. drunken thing, the only variation being the difference between the angles of 40 and 45 degrfees. Those who had 110 stomach for these marine gymnastics ■ retired to i their cabins and discreetly remained there for the next 24 hours. The decks and dinner tables were alike deserted, and save for the crash of 'crockery, and occasional tragedies in the cook house, there was little to be seen or heard onboard. Four times those cooks lost the day's dinner, but the Germans are a. cheerful people, and as fast as they lost one supply of provender, they set to work to prepare another, and out of the wreck of pots and pans, they' evolved a very respectable meal at the end of a disastrous day. Next'morning we were steaming through a glassy sea, and every one-was up bright and early •to catch a first glimpse of Adelaide. ' I know not why—perhaps it is the memory of some boyish fancy—but this name has always been associated in- my mind with some fair young girl, and if she were but half as fair as the city of South Australia, then 6he must have been beautiful indeed. Smaller than either Sydney or Melbourne, Adelaide . is still large enough to possess all the advantages of a capital without oppressing you with its magnitude, and if I had to make' the' choice, I would, for that reason, unhesitatingly select it as the Australian city, in which I would prefer to reside. My first impression of it was one of neatness and order, and everything I afterwards saw tended to confirm that impression. Like Melbourne, her streets are. broad and admirably kept, and like Sydney, her people are carried in' electric cars. There is an art gallery almost as good, and a better lifcriny than I saw in either of those places. Her gardens are less spacious, but good enough to rejoice the heart of all but-a botanic epicure; her public buildings are handsome, and a nigh level of architecture generally prevails; indeed, there is something abont Adelaide which gives one the impression that its founders had carefully selected all that was best amongst her neighbors and embodied them in tlicir own plan. . In this connection it was gratifying to note that the citizens had not for-_ gotten the man who was primarily responsible for the laying out of the,city, and a handsome monument is raised in the principal street to Colonel Light, the first Surveyor-General of the State. At the other end of the same street is to be seen what I should say is the finest "equestrian monument erected on this side of the line to commemorate the contingents who went- to the Sou-til African war. Both the horse and the figure of the trooper mounted on him, have come from the sculptor's, chisel full of life and magnificent action, and arc characterised by a native ruggedness which stands in pleasing .contrast to those insipid, dandified figures which we sec planted upon ornate pedestals in so many New Zealand towns. In connection with her places of interest, Adelaide lias adopted the convenient plan of keeping them in close proximity to each other; and starting from Parliament- Buildings, one may take them all in succession, passing through the Library, Museum, Art Gallery, University, School of Arts, School of -Mines, Hospital, Public Gardens, and concluding a good day's round with a visit to the Zoo. When completed, I consider that South" Australia will have one of the most handsome buildings in the Commonwealth. At present only about one-fourth of the . whole is erected, but a plan of the finished structure, which is hanging in. the vestibule, gives a good idea of what it will be when funds permit of the remainder being gone on with. It was originally designed as a freestone build- ' ing 7 but before building operations were .actually commenced, some marble quarries were discovered, in the State, and it was decided to encourage local industry and erect it in marble. The effect will be distinctly good, but the cost will he enormous, and at present all the money appropriated for the purpose has been absorbed; and so building operations have been suspended. Commercially, everything appeared to be prosperous, and those I spoke to were more than satisfied "With the financial conditions. The farmers have had a succession -of remarkably fine seasons, trade was good, and the crowds of well.dressed people who thronged the streets were but a reflex of the general prosperity- ■ , i ■ JWc had no opportunity or going out into the suburbs, but I can well imagine there are many desirable .residential quarters in close proximity to the city, for just before sunset wc saw from the roof of the Register office a very pleasing prospect of suburban villas at the foot of a low range of hills not far away. ' ■ .. Adelaide is a city of many natural and artificial advantages. Its community is evidently a rich one, and its public institutions have already benefited from the accumulated wealth of some of its citizens, as witness the giftof £62,000 to the Public Library by an \ almost unknown resident, and Sir Thomas Elder's donations of nearly a quarter of a million to public purposes Two things, however, rather surprised me, and that was to hear that nearly half the population of South Australia was centred within a radius of ten miles j round the capital, and that as yet the State has done nothing to commemorate Sir George Grey's connection with the early history of the colony, where, as Governor and explorer, he did so much valuable work, the fruits of which are being reaped by the South Australians of to-day. j. Politically, South Australia is at present under the domination of the Labor party, a rule which seems to rest lightly on the shoulders of most of the people to whom I spoke on the subject. The Opposition is represented by an organisation which styles itself the "Liberal "Union" —the name Conservative is rather unpopular just now — and the activity of this body is shownin the fact that it had invited the Right Hon. Alfred Deakin, the late Federal Premier, to speak in Adelaide in reply to Mr Fisher's arguments on the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution. Mr Fisher had spoken the night before we arrived, and as Mr Deakin, who is regarded as one or tlie foremost orators in Australasia, was announced to reply while we were in the city, we decided to be present# if it we're at all possible to squeeze in. Our first scheme was to apply to the secretary of the Union for tickets to the reserved portion of the hall, but we soon discovered that all the available chairs had been allocated, and as there was promise of a big crush we . were advised • to be in attendance punctually on time. This advice we took, and it was well we did, for long before the advertised hour for opening the' doors there was a mass of people in front of the Town Hall eagerly clamoring for admittance. At first we stood on the outskirts of the crowd; but before long we found ourselves swallowed up in it by the arrival of newcomers, and when the doors were opened there was the same mad rush, for tile entrance which charaeterises a British crowd everywhere. The external and internal pressure was such that those in the centre were simply lifted bodily and shot into the vestibule like a load of living debris, and the same irrational scramble continued up the stairway in spite of the attendants' assurances that there was plentv of room tor everyone. 1' or the next'half hour the human stream poured into the hall, the tedium of the wait being beguiled by the citv oruanist. who contributed a number of select ions on the fine organ with which the hall is equipped. Before S o'clock everv available seat, and every inch of standing room was taken up, a compliment alike to Mr Deakin, and to the interest the South Australians-mani-fest in their national questions, and when the orator of the evening mounted the platform he received an ovation such as might well cause a flutter in the heart of the most seasoned politician. The introduction was made by the Mavor. An effort was made to lift

tile meeting above the level of party, and give it a national tone by requesting the audience to sing "The Song of Australia." The words were sung right lustily and as the last note of the organ died away Mr Deakin rose and plunged straight into his subject. He is a man of swarthy complexion, rather taller than I had imagined him, with a nervous habit of hitching up his pants in much the same way as a sailor does when dancing a hornpipe. He possesses a clear and cultured voice, and has a fluent, piquant delivery. His .matter was closely reasoned, arid his style somewhat academic, so much so that I should imagine "him tq be much more successful'in a conference of delegates than in, appealing to the masses. He was clever at repartee, ana frequently turned the tables upon his hecklers, though his_ replies savored of - the smartness of the lawyer rather-than of the. ready wit or broad humor. of such a platform artist as Sir .George Reid. He has, nothing like the magnetic power or the capacity to talk down-, and hold his own against a rowdy meeting, that, the late Mr Seddonliad, his fighting points being delivered more in'the ot delicate sword play and rapier thrusts than in the smashing blows which are so popular with the: masses. In ' this respect Mr Deakin reminds me no one so much as our own clever Dr Findlay. To the New Zealanders present Mr Deakin robbed his speech of some of its interest by presupposing that every one in the vast audience, winch must have numbered at least people, was perfectly familiar with ,the | amendments to the constitution to which the Fisher Government is asking the people of Australia to say \es. He therefore never referred to them except as clauses and sub-clauses, and it was only by the nature of the arguments he was using that we could judge of the nature of the proposals. Out of a clever, cogently-argued deliverance of an hour and a quarter s duration this position was, however, made abundantly clear that Mr Deakin, and a large section of the audieilce, objected to the Fisher policy because—(l) -the amendments were .so loosely, or ingeniously worded, that they gave the Government more power than they professed to ask for, or pretended to want. (2) That the amendments created a dual authority, and gave the Federal Government the right to "plough across the State field" where no right existed at present, and so endangered btate rights and foreshadowed endless litigation. (3) That the amendments were fatal to the Federal principle, and were but the first step towards unification, which meant the destruction ot the States. Mr Deakin's whole argument was thus*a defence of State rights as against Federal' aggression, and as he is virtually pleading the cause of Home ! Rule, it is scarcely to be wondered that ' his points were freely punctuated with applause. On the other hand, it was ' perfectly clear to the speaker, and to ' the impartial spectator, that there weie many who regarded his arguments as : simply thinly-veiled attempts to pre- • vent the Labor Government getting at trusts and combines, and as Labor lias 'determined that Australia is not to be gripped in the clutch of these social aggressors, I fancy'it will require all Mr Deakin's eloquence to convince the ' workers .that he has a panacea for their fears, which will kill the trusts and at the same time preserve the State rights.