AUSTRALASIA AND THE PROBLEM OF ISOLATION A Comparison between Australia and North Africa.—Australia lsl much like the part of Africa north of latitude N. Each region has a small section in latitudes higher than where the climate is of the Mediterranean type with rainy winters and dry summers. Equa torward of this in both cases lie dry grasslands which soon merge into vast deserts. Still farther toward the equator grasslands again appear; while the lowest latitudes have abundant rain. Both regions are also, alike in having an eastern rim of mountains and a west coast which is mountainous in the better portions although the mountains break' down where the desert is most intense. Likewise on the poleward coast both Australia and Africa are partly mountain-girt, but have long sections where the mountains are absent and the desert reaches the ocean. Because of the resemblance in climate the two regions are similar in their occupations, their agricultural products, their dependence on animals, their use of irrigation, and many of their exports and imports.
On the other hand 'Australia has certain advantages arising largely from the fact that it stands isolated in the midst of the ocean. For this reason the east coast of Australia receives abundant rain from the southeast trades, and Queensland is well wathred where Egypt is a desert except where irrigated. On the equatorial side of Australia the presence of the ocean likewise causes more favorable conditions of rainfall than in similar latitudes on the southern side of the Sudan and Abyssinia. Again the fact that Australia is smaller than Africa and is not connected with other great land masses gives it a more oceanic climate. This is especially true if New Zealand be included with Australia. Added to all this is the fact that Australia and New Zealand exceed Africa in the area of the portions more than from the equator. New Zealand lying between and south of the equator, is in a different climatic province from Australia, and has the advantage of fairly frequent cyclonic storms, especially during the winter.
Another advantage of Australia is that although the Australian coast is much less favorable than that of Europe or even North America, it has many more indentations, gulfs, bays, and harbors than that of Africa. Still more important is the fact that when the white man first penetrated Australia, the number of native inhabitants was almost negligible. Hence the continent was open to white colonization. At
first the British unfortunately made Australia a penal colony and some highly undesirable elements were thus introduced. Later, however, the type of colonist was unusually high. The great distance of Aus tralia from Europe, and the expense of getting there eliminated many would-be settlers because they had neither the courage nor the means to go so far. New Zealand was especially fortunate in this respect, for many of its • early settlers belonged to religious organizations of unusually high character. Because Australia is so completely ocean girt and can only be reached by a long sea voyage, people other than the sea-faring British have gone there only in small numbers. This fact and the scarcity of natives prevents Australia from having a race problem like that of the English, Boers, and Blacks in South Africa. Thus in the type of inhabitants, as well as in climate, the fact that Australia and New Zealand are isolated from the rest of the world has been an advantage.
The General Conditions of Australasian Aus tralia is inhabited by such homogeneous and competent people, thcx conditions for business are unusually favorable. This is evident in the progressive laws of Australia. its old-age and invalid pensions, the large cooperative enterprises, especially in New Zealand, and the uncommonly high standards of sanitation and public health. Another factor which has greatly helped Australia has been the rapid development of navigation during the past hundred years. So long as sailing vessels were the only means of reaching that continent, its isolation tended to limit trade and keep the country backward. Today the cheapness and relative speed of steam navigation make it almost as feasible to ship ;nods from Australia to England as froM New York to Chicago. At the same time the airplane is rapidly making it possible to fly from Mel )ourne to London as quickly as one can go by water from London to New York. Moreover, the telegraph and wireless furnish information ,o Australia almost as fully and promptly as to any part of the world. thus, while Australia has reaped the advantages of her long isolation nost of the disadvantages are now largely neutralized.