December. 1912. 



history of the Month. 



cm. 



agement of cities, .nnd al.so suf;ge.st means of check- 

 ing too frequent extravagance and aimless expendi- 

 ture. The mi-thods of road watering in some muni- 

 cipalities, through divided control by councils, re- 

 minded citizens of a " Gilbert and Sullivan road." 

 One council watered one side of the road, and the 

 other the opjiosite. The pavements, not being in the 

 contracts, were negkxrted. In industrial matters. 

 Miss Scott advocated permission of women practising 

 in law courts, and a seat for women on ]nil>lic boards, 

 the University senate and every hospital. She 

 [)rotested against the bad example .set by the Ciovern- 

 ment in not jiaying equal wages for equal work. 

 Why school teachers and post mistresses \vere not 

 paid equally with men holding similar positions she 

 could not see. The only objwtion rai.sed so far had 

 been that women got married. If they did, they 

 became better citizens, and often did not give up 

 their work bv their change of state. There should 

 be women iiis[)ectors in State schools. V\'omen, t<x>, 

 should have a place on juries, and she would sug- 

 gest a travelling nurse matron l)eing ajjpointed to 

 visit the suburban gaols to deal with the female pri- 

 soners, insttail of leaving them to the care of the 

 constables. On the social aspect of women's rights, 

 she wanted an equal divorcs law for men and 

 women, and equal guardianship of children. " It 

 seems to mc" said Miss Scott, '"if the women 

 at ehx'tion tiiiifs did not serve the men as they do, 

 and siK-nl their time in working for the emancipa- 

 tion of their sex, that they would get what they 

 wanted, and would get the reforms they desired with- 

 out taking j)art in party politics." It i.s a big but 

 alluring .programme. 



According to the Minister for Home 



Trusts .Aflairs, Australia is struggling 



lo Australia. under the accumulated evils of 



trusts, and in comparison to the 

 population, more sf) than in Uniterl .States. In sup- 

 port of this statement he affirmed that under som<r 

 m<'dical trusts peo|)le were charged more for one 

 o|)eration th;m some men can earn in a year, making it 

 impossil)le for the people to secure the skillerl attend- 

 ance which should Ik* at the service of ev<-ry human 

 being. In .\merica, he jx>inted out, undertakers' 

 trusts had U-en known to exploit the widow and 

 the orphan, .ind the legal trust was .so s-trong that 

 it overran th<' law. He had had bitter ex|>erience of 

 ^ trusts in regard to the rails of the trans-. Australian 

 railway. At present there was a tightening up of 

 the money ni.irket all over the Commonwealth, but 



he looked to th<> Commonwealth Hank in the near 

 future to he in a position lo fix a maximum rate of 

 interest, above which no one would havt- to pay. 

 Svdney has aflbrded an illustration of another phase 

 of this suhjtK^t in a meeting of master printers, not 

 members of the Master Printers' Association, to pro- 

 test against an alleged attempt on the part of the 

 Association to induce jiajier merchants to charge in- 

 crea.s<d prices to firms not members of this organisa- 

 tion. The meeting resolved to circularise the whole 

 of the business houses of Sydney and suburbs, plac- 

 ing the full position before them, and giving the 

 names and addresses of those printers outside the 

 association who contribute to the fund that has been 

 created. If the allegations are true, an extraordinary 

 jiiece of t)raiinv lias Ui-n exiwsed. 



.Sir (jcorg<- King-Hall is not an 

 The Admiral's alarmi.st, Init he keeps a states- 

 Warning, man's as well as an admiral's fight- 

 ing eye on national affairs. His 

 warning at the Lord Mayor's dinner in Mellxnirne will 

 .serve a national puri)ose. The White Au.stralia 

 policy, Sir George declared, was a ])olicy whh-h must 

 have more than bits of parchment l)ehind it if it 'S 

 to be enforced in years to come. Although a very 

 good Start has been made with the defence forces, he 

 candidly confcs.sed to a feeling of uneasiness when 

 he .saw how slowly this great island continent was 

 being peopled, for a large population was necessary 

 in order to carry out the large naval [xjlicy required 

 for this great country. It .seemed unlikely that this 

 magnificent country would not .some day be coveted, 

 if left so cmpix. by other nations, whose peoples 

 were overflowing ilu' brim of their own countries. 

 Theref<}re Australia must he peopled as fast as pos- 

 sible. He urged that the naval jirogramme be exjie- 

 dited. There was much to lose and much to pre- 

 serve that legitimately called for sjacrifice. Au.stralia 

 had not, fortunately, had to fight to secure peaceful 

 |K_>s.session, and many jn-ople hardly realised that 

 it might be lost as easily as it had been gained, if 

 care was not taken to .safeguard it. Both the Com- 

 monwealth and the Dominion of New Zealand would 

 be forc<-d bv circumstanc<-s to enter the orbit ol world 

 |)olitics, which affected the ICmjnre, and he would 

 like to see the Dominion of New Zealand join forced 

 with the Commonwealth as regard<d naval d<-fence, 

 forming in time a formidable Pacific division of the 

 Imix-rial fleet. .\ nation was develo|)ing out here, 

 V'MUig and energetie. Inund to the Kmpire by ties 

 of alTt'ction and .sentiment, ready to spend its la.st 



