I he Heview or i<evlews. 



August, 191: 



a bettt-r cinironment, a better class of people will 

 develop in our cities. More power to the Coburg 

 Debnting Society ! 



<^1iieensland'.s Parliament is making 

 Queensland arrangements to strengthen the 

 and Strikes. weak places in her industrial de- 

 fences that were made evident by 

 the late strike, l)y introducing a Bill, which, if put 

 through, will prevent a recurrence of the ugly 

 features of that incident. Tt provides for the for- 

 mation of courts, and then goes on to the penalties 

 for breaches of the law. The penalties for non- 

 observance of an award a.re : — An Association, up 

 to ^500; an employer, ^£250; an employee, ;£io. 

 Inciting or assisting a lockout carries penalties up 

 to ^"1000; for taking part in or inciting a strike, a 

 penaltv of ;^5o. A strike or lockout is declared 

 unlawful until a compulsory confetence has proved 

 abortive, and fouiteen days' notice given to 

 the regi-strar, and the latter has taken a secret ballot 

 among employers or employees, as the case ret]uires, 

 and such ballot has resulted in favour of a lockout 

 or a strike. This ought to put the whole situation 

 industrially on a better basis, and prevent a repeti- 

 tion of the wild-headed business that held unioni-wi 

 in Queensland up to general scorn a few months 

 ago. 



Reciprocity The proposal that there should be 

 Between reciprocity between Australia and 



*and'"N'z* ^^^'■' Zealand with regard to pen- 



sions is a good one. It is one of 

 those sirbjects that the two countries can approach 

 one another upon with mutual tenefit to each. At 

 the present time, if anyone entitled by age and 

 impecuniosity should be residing in either country, 

 but should have resided a certain length of 

 time in the other countr\ , they are ineligi- 

 ble for a pension. If the scheme carries 

 through, however, this will be put an end 

 to, and .Australia will pay pensions to applicants 

 now residing in the ('ommonwealth who have been 

 disqualified from receiving a pension owing to resi- 

 detice in N'ew Zealand, while N'ew Zealand will 

 reciprocate. The more of this kind of thing that 

 can be done the better. There is no probability of 

 con.'vtitutiona! union ever taking place, but there 

 is no reason why there should not be co-operation 

 in everything where there is mutuality of interest. 



Some months ago 1 invited those 

 The who could give information as to 



Aborigines, ^^^. alleged cruel treatment of abor- 

 igines to freely state all they knew, 

 and ontf and for all ef[5ose the wrongs, or e.\plotle 

 the statements that were false. 1 have had no reply 

 that goes into detail, and consequently can publish 

 nothing as authoritative. Some have sent a good 

 deal of hearsay, which, of course, in an inquiry of 

 this kind, cannot be accepted. I publish on page 



673 the report of Mr. C. F. Gale, the Chief I'nv 

 lector of the aborigines in Western Australia, 

 which shows what the West Australian Go\'ernment 

 is doing. 



The conclusion at which I ha\e arrived in my 

 own mind is that, while some years ago there was, 

 without doubt, great cruelty practised on the natives 

 bv many of the men who pushed out to the frontiers, 

 there has never been anything to warrant statements 

 that any of the Governments carried out a poljcy 

 of extermination. At the present time the Federal 

 Gox'ernment is initiating a policy of protection for 

 the natives in the Northern Territory, which should 

 bear good fruit, and result in the improvement of 

 the condition of the aborigines. 



What the aborigine suffers most from in hi> con 

 tact with the white is moral contamination, and this 

 is awful. His alcoholic liquor and his lust have 

 produced conditions that are appalling. Syphilis is 

 horribly prevalent among the natives who ■ gather 

 alx>ut the settlements. It is often said that the 

 Japs and Chinese are the worst offenders, some of 

 them keeping harems of half-a-dozen lubras; but I, 

 for one, am not willing to saddle the responsibility 

 on them. Many depraved whites are just as bad, 

 and, moreo\er. it is white go\'ernments that ha\e 

 made the laws that permit these things. And so 

 bad are things in this respect that instant action 

 is necessary. Professor Spencer may be relied upon 

 to do everything he can to quench this flame 

 of destruction, but he ought to be armed wdth such 

 drastic powers that he can effectively \Stop. not 

 lessen, but stop this frightful form of evil. 



The first thing to be done, as time is pressing, is 

 to forbid, under penaltv of expulsion from the Terri- 

 tory, any physical contact between white or alien and 

 aborigine, and to enforce the penalty rigidly. After 

 such a proclamation was made, anv man who yielded 

 to his lust should have no right to be in the Terri- 

 tory, no exceptions being made. 



The .second thing is to apjiortion territories for 

 the exclusive use of the aterigines, making ample 

 provision for hunting grounds, and providing them 

 with necessary food and clothing if native supplies 

 are insufficient. Xo whites .should be allowed within 

 the native reserves. If these two simple principles 

 were worked upon, and the diseased nati\es segre- 

 gated, there would be e\'ery hope of vet sa^•ing the 

 remnants of the original Australian race. 



This is the trouble that faces those interested. 

 The policy of the Governments is. without doubt, 

 preser\'ation ; but it may well be that the natives 

 would be better exterminated by the rifle than by the 

 frightful diseases that follow on the unbridled lust 

 of men. It would be kinder, at any rate. But 

 ihere is e\ery reason to hope that both Northern 

 Territory and Western Australia will, in ways I 

 have indicated, or in others equally eff'retive. save 

 the n itives from the vilest form of cruelty th.it the 

 liiunan niuid can conceive. 



