154 president's address — section e. 



of rivers. The Fly and the Sepik are famous. If they be iude;ed 

 by the quantity of water delivered to the sea they must be iium- 

 be-red amongst the world's large rivers. Here is indeed latent 

 productivity in the highest degree requiring only an abundant in- 

 dustrious poipulaticn to reap the harvest. Unfortunately, it is not 

 a country for white labourers, and the natives are not industrious, 

 nor are' they numerous. 



At the other extreme of our Australasian region liee the Great 

 Antarctic Continent pregnant with jiossibilities in the future. 

 Until this region is taken definitely under the control of some 

 Power, no regulations can be enforced to control whaling and seal- 

 ing, the chief natural industries. Without such regulationis the 

 days of these animals will be numbered, and the industries gone. 

 The Australian quadrant at least is by every right British, if the 

 claims of exploration are to be recognised. Too much emphasis 

 cannot be laid upon the advisability of taking the opportunity of 

 this general world settlement to realize British claims over 

 Antarctic territory. 



There yet remain for comment three recent events each of which 

 marks a s)tage in the geographical development of Australia. 



The first is the completion of a transcontinental railway. It is nbw 

 possible to travel by train from Geraldton, in Western Australia, 

 to Loiigreach, in Queensland ; but I venture to suggest that such 

 an undertaking would not recommend itself to any one as a plea- 

 sure trip. The diverse gauges of our railway systems is a glaring 

 example of the want of geographical outlook in the past. 



The second achievement is the realization of the first aerial link 

 with Europe. This splendid record will ever redound to the credit 

 of Sir Ross Smith and his companions. By their success, however, 

 we must not conclude that flights of sO' extended a character are 

 yet even approxiinately within the sphere of commercial aviation. 

 Nevertheless, history teaches that undertakings of this kind, which 

 are accoanplished to-day at great risk of life and expense, niay be 

 the routine of another generation. The onward march of human 

 achievement in the field of invention gradually alters the effective 

 relations in space of the^ peoples of the earth, and thereby is a 

 factor constantly changing the political and economic outlook. 



The third event of great importance to geography in Australia 

 is the founding of an Associate-Professorship in Geography at 

 Sydney University. In Professor T. G. Taylor, who has just been 

 appointed, the science in Australia is assured of an indefatigable 

 worker, from whom great advances in the subject will certainly 

 emanate. His publications have already earned for him a world- 

 wide reputation. That university recognition of geography is at 

 last an accomplished fact in Australia is a matter of great satis- 

 faction. The tardiness of the recognition is no doubt largely due 

 to the financial limitations of our institutions, but it certainly in 

 some measure arises from a general want of appreciation of the 

 scope and value .of the modern science of geography. 



