236 Australian Life 



The weekly levies are funded according to an 

 act known as the Friendly Societies Act, a 

 portion being available for management. From 

 this portion, a fee not extravagant, but still a 

 fee is set aside for the secretary, and this stipend 

 some pushing young man is glad to earn by a few 

 hours' night work each week. So, when the Aus- 

 tralian Natives' Association wakes up to the im- 

 portance of some national question, it finds the hall 

 open and lighted, and its stipendiary secretary 

 waiting to receive the orations of young Australia. 

 Many of the branches become the possessors of 

 a few hundreds of trust moneys, which they invest 

 in local property. The management of these 

 funds, and of the property, affords congenial 

 occupation to a few, and it generally happens 

 that the secretary is not entirely alone when the 

 orators of young Australia arrive. Each branch 

 sends two delegates to an annual conference, at 

 which a board of directors and a president are 

 elected. This conference is the parliament of the 

 association, and the young men with political 

 aspirations contrive to be chosen as delegates. 

 Its agenda is a pamphlet, the president's address 

 is a volume, and the debates would, if published, 

 fill an ordinary library shelf. It is not all empty 

 talk, for the professional Australian native, in the 

 main, is a practical and sensible person. He is 

 certainly a person to be reckoned with, just as 

 the association to which he belongs is a force in 

 Australian affairs. Delegate to the conference 



