Ixviii. 



The Review of Reviews. 



October, 1912. 



The State arr:ingfment.> tor this 

 X Splendour memoraljle visit are Iteing entrusted 

 of Excellences. ^^ gtate executives ; but there will 

 i>e a central executive committee, 

 with headquarters in Melliourne, on which the Com- 

 monwealth Government will he represented. The 

 visitors are expected to include at least 200 official 

 members of the British Association, including such 

 eminent names as Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir W. Ramsay, 

 Sir \V. Crookes, and leaders of thought in the old 

 world in the realms of astronomy, chemistry,,^ geo- 

 logy, geography, mathematics and physical science, 

 economics, engineering, zoology, anthroi>ology, phy- 

 siology, Viotahv, agriculture, and education. The 

 remainder of the party will comprise the wives ol 

 memlx-rs and official lady members of the Associa- 

 tion. Surely such a constellation of stars, such a 

 splendour of excellences, has never been sighted in 

 these southern hea\ens. It goes without saying that 

 the visit is entirely outside the sphere of party 

 politics. 



Mr, Fisher's Bonus for Babies Bill 



Is It a National has been the most-talked-about item 



Insult? fy{ political news during the month, 



but the Prime Minister has only 

 laughed at criticism, and promised a quick despatch 

 for the measure through both Houses. Opposition 

 to the Bill has come from many quarters. An in- 

 fluential deputation, repre.senting the Victorian 

 Churches, waited upon Mr. Fis'her, and urged, 

 among other things, that there was a danger of the 

 bonus proving a premium to illegitimacy, Mr. 

 Fisher's treatment of the deputatioir was neither 

 diplomatic nor courteous, and his reply showed 

 either that he utterly failed to grasp, or declined to 

 recogni.se, the weight of the arguments adduced. 

 The Svchny .Voniiii^ Herald has characterised the 

 mea.sure as a n,iiional insult — " an insult to the 

 motherhood of a whole ])eople " — a levelling of 

 " the miracle of birth to a cash nexus." If the 

 bonus is to be regarded purely as a charitable dole, 

 there is some justification for passing so stern a 

 judgment on the proposal, for, while there will 

 doubtless Idc some mothers who will accept the money 

 offered, an overwhelming majority of Australian 

 mothers will as probably refuse the bonus with .scorn, 

 especially if payment has to be applied for. And 

 if the fK)nus is not to be generally availed of, it 

 may Ix; taken for granted, on the basis of universal 

 experience, that the least deserving will lie the chief 

 applicants. If, on the other hand, the ruling idea 

 of the Bill is to promote population by encouraging 

 larger families, failure to attain the desired end may 

 be safely predicted. The causes which are respon- 

 sible for low birth-rates are not peculiarly Austra- 

 lian, They are univer.sal. They are part of the 

 social complexities of the age, and the remedy is 

 not to be found under a live-pound note ! 



There is surely a more excellent way 

 A More - of accomjilishing what Mr. Fisher 

 Excellent Way. evidently has it in his niind to do 

 than by distributing cash bonuses, a 

 ])roportion of which may, as Dr. Arthur, M.I. .A., 

 reasonably fears, find its' way into the " pubs. "Dr. 

 Arthur has suggested a way in which he believes 

 this money could be better spent, with the same end 

 in view. To give ^^5 to everQ- mother, does not, he 

 says, mean that the children will receive any better 

 attention than they do now, or that there will tie 

 more of them. He is hopeful of a scheme being 

 introduced that will solve the problem of infantile 

 mortality. He wants to see all the elder girls in 

 the public State schools given both theoretical and 

 practical training in the care an:l management of 

 children. " Foreign languages and music and draw- 

 ing are all very well," says Dr. .-Vrthur, " but the 

 first thing to teach girls just blossoming into woman- 

 htK3d is how to rear babies." The ignorance of th.: 

 average young woman in his experience is simplv 

 pitiable. His proposal is to establish crei-hes in all 

 the large public schools, in charge of trained hospi- 

 tal nurses, with trained assistants, and the elder 

 girls of the school as further assistants. These, he 

 claims, would be a great boon to many poor mothers, 

 and they would, at the same time, enable the girls 

 to gain practical knowledge of the way to take care 

 of children. To people who might object that this 

 proposal spells Scx:ialism, Dr. Arthur replies that 

 Socialism "is a good thing in some respects. It 

 might be applied to the welfare of the young child, 

 to reduce not onlv morality, but morbility." 



The Presbyterian Church in N'ew 



Tacklinj; a South Wales has set itself a hard 



Hard Subject. ^ ,,jj . },^,j ^j^g ^ff^^f j^ ^0,,^ ,he 



less commendable on that account. 

 The Prime .Minister, Mr. Andrew Fi.sher, is a 

 Presbyterian, and .swne time ago he accepted an 

 invitation from the New 'South Wales Assembly, to 

 address the members on the industrial problem, as 

 it confronts us in Australia to-day. His remarks set 

 the A.ssembly thinking along definite, practical lines, 

 with the result that a sipecial committee was entrusted 

 with the duty of collecting data that should at least 

 throw helpful light on the subject. Specifically the 

 committee was charged to carefully consider mat- 

 ters arising out of industrial questions as they affect 

 the relations of the various classes (kf the community 

 and the attitude of all classes to the Church; and, 

 further, what is the duty of the Church towanis h.ir- 

 monising complicating interests. To help them in 

 framing a reixjrt that shall !:« of definite vahic, the 

 committee, through their convener, haxe sent out 

 circulars to a large number of people in public and 

 commercial life who are regarded as qualified by 

 exi)eriencc, knowledge and interest to offer infor- 

 mation on industrial questions as they affart the re- 



