Australia : What it is and what it may be.
By Sir R. G. Macdonnell, C.B. (Dublin.)—Fortunate as the Committee of the Dublin Young Men's Christian Association always is in its choice of lecturers, it has seldom shown more judgment than in its selection of a source of infor- mation respecting Australia. Sir Richard Macdonnell, having occupied the post of Governor-in-Chief of South Australia during seven of the most eventful years in the history of the infant colony, has had unusual opportunities of becoming acquainted both with the requirements of the country and with the advantages which it has to offer. After giving a brief sketch of the geographical position of the different Australian colonies, which, elementary as it is, is by no means superfluous to home audience, he proceeds to give a very interesting account of the present condition and future prospects of the whole Australian con- tinent. His advice to emigrants is sound and judicious ; but, perhaps, the most important part of his lecture is that in which he points out how much more advantageous it is to us that British subjects should emigrate to Australia than to the Free States of America, or even to Canada. He tells us that the people of Australia purchase our produc- tions to the yearly amount of 131. per head, while those of the States and Canada do so only to the amount of 16s. and 1/. 2s. 6d. per head respectively ; so that, looking at the matter merely from a money point of view, the Australians are proportionally far better customers to us than either the Americans or the Canadians. With a view of encourag- ing this emigration he advocates a scheme proposed by Captain Begot, a leading South Australian colonist, for sharing the expense of each
emigrant's passage and outfit between the three parties most interested in the transaction, viz., the emigrant himself, the country that is willing to part with him, and the country that wants to receive him. We can confidently recommend Sir Richard's lecture to all who are desirous of obtaining, at a very small expenditure of time and trouble, a great deal of trustworthy information on an exceedingly interesting subject.
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