Australia Australia, the " Workman's Paradise," where Labour has been
the undisputed " governing class," has brought herself into a sorry plight at this moment. Besides the general depression, her Trade Unions have done unmeasured damage to her trade and helped to carry her protective system to a point of self-defence that, to her surprise, is proving almost suicidal. The state of her finances is a painful indication of her troubles. The Prime Minister has had to take them in hand since Mr. Theodore fell under a cloud and awaits a move from the Government of Queensland to give him an opportunity to defend himself. Mr. Scullin finds it necessary to raise £36,000,000 more than last year for the Treasury, and nobody has any idea how it can be done. He has succumbed to pressure to raise nearly every customs duty towards the point of prohibition, where they dry up as revenue-producers. To fund the deficit is a counsel of despair. We can only hope that Australians as well as Parliament at home will give heed to the wisdom of the manifesto issued on Wednesday by economists and others, including Sir Hugh Bell, Mr. Henry Bell and Mr. Harold Cox. They urge public economy as our only salvation. Their hope is that the country may realize " the stupidity of bribing the people with their own money."
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