president's address— section e. 159 



those whose cpinioiis in this matter have been shaped by the pre- 

 judices which accompany our inheritance. That evolution is a slow 

 ]jrocess is illustrated nowhere better than in educational circles. 



" I suppose that no morei conspicuoue examples of intellectual 

 waste can be pointed to in all the history of our unintelligent educa- 

 tional development than the waste of time on languages that no 

 longer live. The stock argument that the study of these languages is 

 helpful in the use of our own is an argument of waste. If half 

 the time were devoted to English which is put into Latin, for the 

 sake of helping English, the average^ student probably would ad- 

 vance much farther in his own tongue." 



It is gratifying to record the beginning of what we may confi- 

 dently expect to he> a more geuei'al recognition of geography as a 

 definite science subject in our Australasian universities. Out of 

 this should spring a greater understanding and appreciation of 

 geography in the community at large. 



Such a movement would be greatly advanced by the existence 

 of a vigorous geographical organization in our midst. Our best 

 thanks are due to the geographical enthusiasts who have unselfishly 

 worked hard for many years past to keep alive local branch sections 

 of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia in Adelaide, Mel- 

 bourne, Sydney and Brisbane respectively. Some of the names 

 that appeal to us at the moment in this counexion are Mr. Gill, of 

 Adelaide, Mr. .Thompson, of Brisbane, the late Mr. Sachse, of 

 Melbourne, and Mr. Crummer, o.:^ Sydney. But, in a community 

 so small as that in Australia, it is not to be expected that so 

 many societies working independently can be maintained satis- 

 factorily. Thei Victorian section, after languishing for some time, 

 has recently amalgamated with the local Historical Society. The 

 position in Sydney appears to be no better. The local branches are 

 still carrying on in Adelaide and Brisbane, but one cannot help 

 feeling that if the geogra]>hical effort in Aiistralia were concen- 

 trated in one publication it would have a greater effect in Aus- 

 tralia, and carry more weight outside our own country. There is 

 an unrivalled field for geographical inquiry in the Commonwealth, 

 and under the stimulus of the modern movement great things are 

 to be expected. 



Even the coastline of Australia is yet only partly charted. 

 Captain J. K. Davis, the Director of Commonwealth Navigation, 

 advises that more than one-third of the entire coast is uncharted 

 in the modern sense of the term. Some parts of our north coast 

 are but roughly delineated as Flinders left them 120 years ago. On 

 the charts, morei than anything else, the safety of shipping de- 

 pends, so that Australia is under the responsibility of seeing: that 

 her coasts are not allowed to^ be inaccurately represented. 



