The Western news., 1901-05-15
ARE A GREAT PEOPLE.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE
OF AUSTRALIA.

EnV1fOumeuC mas NA0Oe i nem AEXreAs
sive and Broad Minded Compared to
Englishmen-That ls Why They seek
to Participate in World Politics.
"Strong from the outdoor life they
lead and from contention with the diff
ticult conditions that have confronted
them, the Australians as a people have
become tall and straight like their gum
trees, broad-shouldered. deep-chested
and wiry. They are clear Of eyes and
skin, Of remarkable sOundness and
whiteness in their teeth, of luxuriant,
hne-textured hair. Bertillon says:
When you see these characteristics
generally marked you may know you
are in the presence of a great people,
Magnificent distances stand before
them wherever they travel within their
own country, and the long travel, de-
velops endurance and calm power
against adversities as well as the gift
to laugh at the smaller difficulties and
embarrassments Of everyday life. The
f4O,OOO,OOO worth of products which
tAc SOuAAy CApOAtS uAAuuAly W ALA8
land comes chiefly from the vast inte-
rior, and there hundreds and hundreds
Of men dwell in stations separated by
days Of journeying. There, in lonely
isolation among millions Of gum trees,
they tend flocks of sheep numbering
upwards up 100000 per flock. There
among the far-stretching hills and
mountains they round up ranges bear
ing $4,000 to 10000 head of cattle. And
the life that these men lead leaves its
| impress upon the nation.
Men who dwell in the interior of
Australia are ever in the presence OF
valleys, plains and gorges stretching in
all directions, with mountains pushing
!, upon mountains till, in the hazy dis
tance, they are lost in the skyline-no
mans land. desolate, untenanted; theirs
! If they want it. only most of them
already have more than they know
what to do with. The immensity. the
colossal expansion presided over by an
almost awe-inspiring stiffness, become
either maddening or sublime, according
to the temperament. Curiously enough
it is usually the sublimity that pre-
walls.
"Another effect, and one which plays
equally strong in shaping the qualities
of the nation, has arisen from contact
with the wilderness. The Australians
that lived in great solitudes could not
afford to be exclusive. They felt out
for a hand. Their hospitality was
eager. The bush was open house. Thus
his environment forced away inherited
exclusiveness and the Australian be-
came a different man from the Briton
broader, franker and more unselfish
He has outgrown repression and the
sense of superiority. He has had
enough experience to give him whole
some sense of humor. He has worked
hard enough to appreciate relaxation
He has borne into the new land the lik.
ing Of his home country for sport. but
he has followed 1t on broader scale
He has his horse races. as in England
but he has his kangaroo hunts. which
make the hare hunting of England
seem like schoolboy's nlay.
1llC " Tic AuSlldlldu Is dS Ills COl
tinent. There have been times when
both life and the continent We're hard
to hold, but the probation period is
passed. Australia for Australians has
!, become an unchanging impulse of al
: the people. The inhabitants have come
to realize that the power to grow. te
spread their influence beyond the coun
try's borders-in other words, to as
sumo nationality-is now theirs.
Aspirations above mere money-mak
ing have been generated. Australian.
q feel the desire to rub against the peo
' pie of other countries. and to test thu
/. gifts and requirements of their Ions
: struggle IN the redemption of the con
0 tinent. In other words. political am
8 bition has arisen. The federation i.
t the means chosen to realize that ambi
n tion.
a .'The people of Australia love thu
: home government and presumably new
e err will separate from it; but they hay,
q become sufficiently important to possess
!. the autonomy and the practical par
e ticipation in governing which belon,
t to state that is an integral part o
4 any central government. Prior to TIL,
federation their governors We're ap
pointed in Downing street. Their leg
islators had no personal voice in Par
lament. They themselves had n,
: equality or intercourse with the grea
y political centers of the world, Al
these developing responsibilities wer
= cut off from them-responsibili
). which, above all other things, are need
= ed to awaken into action the highest in
L tellect and the strongest judgment o
!. people. The Australians aspired t
become a factor in the decision o
world problems. ms."-Ainslee's.
I'll An Unknown Genius.
e A Bernyille man has discovered {