A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

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Such language bordered on the intemperate and seemed likely to leave him open to a
charge of contempt of court, but there was no official reaction. This criticism, though
strong, was destructive rather than constructive, but on other occasions Brady wrote
about the ways of alleviating the conditions which he saw contributing to the
commission of such crimes. Hypothesising that much of the trouble among the
younger members of the community was caused by unsatisfactory provision of
recreational facilities, he recommended the setting up of gymnasiums contributed to
by the Government and controlled by authorities such as the Y.M.C.A. in which
programmes of physical training and sport would benefit the young physically as well
as keeping them occupied and out of trouble. 1 He deplored the conditions under
which many young people lived, pointing out the desirability of a strong family unit
as an essential ingredient in a healthy and peaceful society. He drew attention also to
the dangers of alcohol and the probably outcome of addiction to it among youth.
While not recommending prohibition, he strongly emphasised the need for
temperance, pointing out that reformers would do better to ensure the purity and
quality of the liquor sold, especially in country hotels, rather than engaging in a futile
campaign to ban its use completely. 2 He allied these warnings against alcohol with
similar dire predictions about the use of drugs, especially the opium which the
Chinese used freely and which young people especially were sometimes keen to
sample, for excitement.
As may be recalled, Brady often echoed the campaign of The Bulletin against the
immigration into Australia of Asians (especially the Chinese), but also of other
coloured people, mainly on economic grounds. But there was doubtless a measure of
intolerance in the man which belied the wide sympathy he usually betrayed. This was
evident when his patience was stretched to the limit by the overseas visitors who came
to Australia dispensing gratuitous advice on a multitude of topics. There was some
justification for Brady’s indignation, for at the turn of the century many artists who
had deteriorated in performance and who found conditions difficult in Europe and
England made a “tour of the Colonies”. As Brady forcefully put it, these
“distinguished visitors” stretched their hosts’ patience to the ultimate because they
“partake of our hospitality, which is proverbial, accept our flattery, inhale our
atmosphere, rake in our coin and then go eagerly hunting through Webster’s
Dictionary for words to abuse us” and added further that “they make fun of our
fashions, deride our manners, belittle our resources and exhaust their wit and satire in
the effort to make us ridiculous”. 3 All this could be forgiven, stated Brady, if they
would only spare us their “good advice”. Having relieved his mind of these general
points, he made specific barbed comments upon a contemporary example of such
alien benevolence, remarking that a visiting British Socialist, Ben Tillett, had not been
in the country more than twenty-four hours (“most of which time he had spent in
bed”) before he discovered the parlous conditions of Australian labour, and then
proceeded to instruct Australians how to remedy these defects, though he had left far
worse conditions and problems behind in England. The editorial conclusion was plain
and unmistakable: “For a young country we have received just as much good advice
and warnings as we have the strength to carry.” One cannot help wondering whether
Brady’s sound objections would carry any more weight today in the face of the many
visitors who seem to have inherited Tillet’s characteristics. The stout nationalism and
patriotism of Brady perhaps made him over-sensitive to such human weakness.
1 “Our Neglected Youth”, The grip, 7.4.1902.
2 “Drugging the Drunk”, The Arrow, 31.10.1896.
3 “Tillettism: The Universal Panacea”. The Arrow, 14.8.1897. p.4