The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-12-08
AUSTRALIA LAMENTS
LACK OF IMMIGRANTS.
Couptry II Determined, However. to
Maintain Traditional POLICY Of
white AustraIia.-

Washington, II G., Dec. s.-"Recent
, declaration by w NJ Hughes, prime
minister of Australia. that his country
was determined to maintain its tradi-
tiona1 policy of White Australia a
policy as firmly grounded there as Is
The Monroe poctrire in the United
states again turned ths attention OF
the world toward that remote and
unique continent" says bulletin
from Washington headquarters Of the
National Geographic society,
TT Is not that Australia despisee Inn =
migration" explains the bulletin which
is based on communication TO the SO
ciety from Herbert r. Gregory. "rt is
rather that she has chung to her ideal
of "A homogeneous people Of British
origin
Australia Is disappointed that of
the four large areas which offer con
genial homes for neop'e Of Euronean
hlood--nameiy. Australia. G a. N a d a
United states and Acgentina-Austra;ia
alone i. passed by. white the other
three favored regions have received
Europeans hy hundreds of thousands
She saw the United States receiving
in one year tats) t.ts7.saa people
from abroad. more than the entire net
immigration to Australia fer the pre-
cedinr fiftv~three years, and in another
year 1a1ol enrolling four times as
many people born In the United King
dom as were living in Australia
Australia is the most Isolated Of all
inhabited continents and is remote from
the center 81 ali Of the worlds activi-
ties. Northward the sailing distance 10
Japan is approximately 1900 nautical
miles; 10 India, 9.5oe miles South
America Is 1000 miles to the east and
Africa AR equal distance west
From london 70 the capital If Aus
ttalia ships by the Suez route traverse
approrim ately 1890 miles Of water
and by the Panama canal t4as2 miles
From California ports the routes via
Samoa, or Fiji, or Tahiti cover a quar-
ter Of the circumference ~ the earth
Australiss only large civilized neigh
ror within radius 81 1000 miles IS
Java
FEW AMERICAN VISITORS.
"rhe continent lying thug far cut
side the ordinary routes of travel. II
rarely visited by Americans For most
of us knowledge NJ this fascinating
land is obtained ny study If few
raSes in the back Of school geogrs phies
pages descriptive of Australia and
New Zealand and accompanied by
rlap of Australia and the ietands of the
Pacific on a scale too small for tho
recognition of significant features.
Australia ie a large country. II is
shout fourteen times the size nf
France or GERMANY, twenty five tin1es
the size Of Italy Hungary or Ecuador,
and two and one-hnf times tho size
Of Argentina. ita chief competitor IN
the Southern Hemisohern Its AREA ts
equal to- three fourths Of Furope, cre-
third of all North A1nefiea. and one
fourth Of The British empire,
"Thc continent Is almost exactly the
size and is nearly the shape Of the
United States.
THE travoIer In search ~ dupl-
Gates Of tho Canadian Rockies th'
Yosemite. the Grand Canyon, Of Nor
wcGiau fords and Aioine scenery. need
not visit Australia. It's mountain soon
cry is that OF the Southern Appaiachi-
ans. the White mountains, and the low
ranges 81 Arizona, Tts plains and
p1ateaus are compar ahle with those of
the Rocky mountain foothills and the
arid cxpa nses If Utah. Idaho and orr
Gou The blunt granite cap NJ Mount
kosciusko 1928 feet above sca is the
eliminating point of land y half
dozen peaks reach the height ~ Mount
Washington. and sometime like ono
pcr cent Of the entire land area rises
az high as the Catskills
THAT the size and form Of land
mass nearly" as large az Europe should
have remained unknown until ff1J rs
most remarkable.
Cautiously enough. the establishment
Of the first colony of the new~found
continent is an enisode in the history ct
the United tSates. IT was proposed by
tho British government to utilize the
land as a home for tbe Ioyaiists' (To.
ries) who found life in the America.
colonies uncomfortable al the close OF
the Revolutionary war. They were 10
hS C,Innfie6 with land and and