The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1889-07-20
LIFE IN AUSTRALIA,
Provincialism Rampant Among Younge
Portions of Society.

Portions of Society.
Provincialism, then, is the greatcurse
of the Australasian; and so it must
needs be for years. Especially unfortu-
nate, however, is the tendency already
existent amongst certain young Austria
lasians to feel Indifferent towards all
in1uelices from other parts Of the world.
I heard indeed more of this Indifference
than [ saw. ''Many of our young men,"
people said, knowing nothing of the
older world, fancy that nothing can be
of great value in civilization which has
not already been transplanted here.
They are intolerant and narrow" I
confess that such bigotry is not very
noticeable on the surface of things as
yet. The Australian newspaper pre-
serves, on the whole, the sound old En-
glish traditions; devotes large space to
the rest of the world; has correspond
ents in England, and often also in
America and on the continent of En-
rope; and discusses many of the worlds
current social and literary questions
almost as much as we do. But the
healthy sporting life of the intelligent
young men does not leave them much
time for reading or for thinking.
Their parents still speak Familiarity OF
''home," meaning England; but ere
long: this home feeling will pass away;
and one questions whether that iuti-
mate union with the world s intellectual
life, which we ourselves have cult
waited with a very warm zeal only
within the last quarter of a century,
will be possible for the coming genera
ton in the colonies. Nothing could be
more dangerous for Australia than to
''cut the painter" in the intellectual
life, whatever may be. the result in
politics. And the fact remains that
land which at best is about three weeks
farther removed from Europe than is
our eastern border can only too easily
become apathetic about so difficult a
matter as the course Of modern thought.
Meanwhile, the very tendencies that
make the Australian journals 50 well
edited and SO encyclopaedia seem to
threaten in another direction the cause
of popular education. In early Califor-
MIA days newspapers were almost the
only printed matter that the mining
population read. Knowing this fact, I
was rather strongly impressed by the
very first remark that 1 heard from one
prominent gentleman as to the intel
lectual condition of Australia. ..You
must know" he said. .'our people do
not read books; they devopr journals y
Against this opinion one must of course
put the existence Of the splendid pub
lie library at Melbourne, the numerous
town libraries scattered throughout
the colonies, and the very respectable
trade of the booksellers in Melbourne.
in Sydney. and even in the much
smaller city Of Auckland. Yet, after
all, there are undoubtedly many in
duences at work in the colonies against
the formation of a strong literary class.
l do not think these Influences at all
remarkable in their results SO far; what
l fear is the future. when the better
part of the people will have forgotten
the old home. and when . provincial
self-consciousness will tend more and
more to fight against the vast industry
required to keep pace with the worlds
mental work. Think how vastly our
own intellectual life, such as it is,
would suffer il We were two or three
weeks farfhoy ,.o,nnvod f.c,,,, E,,.nnoe
Josiah Royce. in Atlantic