NEW AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2209, 2 July 1896, Page 12

NEW AUSTRALIA.

New Australia, the Communistic settlement in the wilderness of Paraguay, •is not half to bad -a place &s it has been represented, if the latest witness on the subject is to ba relied upon. He is one of the Communistic settlers, who writes to a friend in Sydney a letter that has about it an air of perfect candour, and which has found ibs way into print through the medium of the Worker newspaper. The writer is himself thinking of quitting the settlement because the " tucker" is nob to his taste, seeing that meat is allowed only once a week, but before he does leave he intends to arrange to return later on, after he has "worked a trip or two to England, or somewhere." Here are some of the glimpses he gives of the state of aff»irs in the young colony :— "A very little money goe3 a long way here, and the I'u'.e about puttiug everything in is knocked on the head. So one need not pub any more than £60 in, and bring the resb with him and buy things whioh he finds necessary. . , . There is no fear of our starving, as the Government want to asßlstus as much as possible, and that ia why they offered us the monthly subsidy of 80 pesos (about £20), as they heard we were badly off* for clothes. Casey (the hew chairman of the settlement) has jusfc returned from AscunsioD, and says the Government insist on, us taking the subsidy, and they will also grant us a loan if required." And thero is more settled government than other recent accounts would have one believe. " We have a board of management, who give orders for tbe general work of the association. Wo also have a deputy-dkeotor for each settlement, who is also under tbe control of the members of the settlement, who hold a meeting every fortnight and decide what is to be done, and the deputy-director has ib done as the men are to spare. . . . You seem to think that this place is in a swamp, but you are mistaken, as the swamps are only here and there, and the rest is all good, high country. As for fevers, there is a mild kind of f evor here called ' Can Cbu,' but it is not in the least bit dangerous aad only lajsts two ok three d»vs »t most, i , ,

You muse not expsob to find us living in palaces, nor living like millionaire?, as the women do their share of the work aa well as the men ; and, of course, they are treated in every respect equal to them. There is one thing— this life makes everyone ft politician, and you hear women, as well as men, discussing polities— that is, New Australia politios. Why, wo even have a woman trustee, who also does the dairy work for Tuja Rugua." The writer makes oomparisana between his present Aro&dian life and his former experience of "graft" on the Sydney wharves, and altogether shows a cheery contentment wibh his lot.