HISTORY OF AUSTRALASIA.*
A HISTORY, to be widely read and to be useful to the readers, must be clear and must be interesting, and to write a clear and interesting history of Australasia is a considerable feat, because it is so difficult to give unity to the story, and also because there are so few great events and outstanding personalities to serve as landmarks. Australia and New Zealand have had quite distinct histories ; the different States which make up the Commonwealth of Australia have bad more or less dis- tinct histories also; and the Pacific islands have a tale of their own. Mr. Jose gives a separate account of New Zealand, but he tells the story of Australia as far as possible as a whole, and at the same time, with the help of a second index and marginal notes, he makes it easy to trace continuously the fortunes of each single State. The result is that his little book is both clear and interesting, and this fourth edition contains two new and very valuable chapters on "The Story • Haws of Australasia. By Arthur W. Jose. 4th Edition, MMUS ttud En. larged. Sydney : Angus aud Robertson, Di. ed. nat.] of Land Settlement" in Australia and "The Growth of Industries."
The first of these two chapters gives a succinct and con- tinuons account of a most complicated and, to ordinary readers, unattractive subject; but the main feature of the whole is the gradual advance of agriculture into lands which had been given over to sheep. "Somehow or other good wheat-growing land must have wheat growing on it instead of being used for sheep rearing." Those who use the main lino from Sydney to Brisbane can note from the train windows the process going on on the Darling Downs. The second chapter, on the growth of industries, gives much information. In it, and earlier in the book, Mr. Jose points out how Victoria became a Protectionist colony largely because, when the gold diggings began to decline, the diggers, many of whom were British or American artisans, went back to the towns to ply their old trades, and voted for high customs duties in order to ensure a market for what they made by excluding imported goods of the same kind. He points out, too, how Australia, like other lands, has derived substantial gain from its misfortunes, and how the financial and industrial crisis of 1892-3 put a stop to speculation and stimulated bond fide production, with the result that Australian eggs are no longer all in one basket.
The last two pages of this chapter deal with railways, which have also been noticed earlier in the book. It is hardly too much to say that Australia's past, present, and future may be Bummed up under two headings—communications and water supply—which bring in their train population and production. Above all parts of the world, perhaps, science has the making and keeping of Australia. Railways alone can make the con- tinent one, and all well-wishers of Australia welcome the decision of the Commonwealth Government to construct the long-talked-of trunk line from Western Australia to South Australia and to build it as a Federal work. It will still remain to link up the Northern Territory by rail with the main life of Australia, and on the main lines to replace the different gauges of the State railways, which oblige a traveller from Adelaide to Brisbane to change trains twice.
Previous page
