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

Reading over the literature of the Association today, one is struck by the note
of childishness, of juvenile faith and trust which run through it. One can see
that it is the output of an enthusiasm which sets aside the hard realities of
human life. It depends upon the continued goodwill of the individual. It does
not take into consideration the fact that a community reared in a system of
compulsion and command must still be regimented if it is to hold together……
Many such utopias have failed – not because human nature is incapable of
adapting itself to communal conditions, but for reason of the fact that in any
social form, control or direction is necessary. The first duty of the community
is to provide a way of life. The second to ensure that process, once
established, is not interrupted by individual action or desire……
Mateship is a very vague and unreliable sentiment on which to build a new
world. Carried away by its poetic phrases, people will weep tears of love and
benevolence. When it comes to putting themselves aside for others, they snarl
like the caveman who clubbed his neighbour for stealing a bone. 1
Although this is an obvious over-simplification of the problems of the situation, so
much so that it is ironical that his own experiences should show that he had not
learned much from Lane’s failure. In all his theorising, he came close to the basic
weakness of the co-operative system, but lacked the clarity of perception and
practicality to put past failures to work to ensure success for himself.
Soon after Brady discovered the paradise of Mallacoota, he began to circulate
amongst his friends the idea that it would be an ideal place in which the creative
processes could find expression; he suggested informally the setting up of a cooperative
literary and artistic centre, much to Hugh McCrae’s amusement. 2 Nothing
came of this, but many years later he became associated in a very real way with a cooperative
scheme which had its genesis in an article written by Leslie Burch in The
Labor Call early in 1932. A Victorian socialist and friend, Will Craig, drew Brady’s
attention to the article, knowing of his great interest in the subject, but this act was
entirely unnecessary, as Brady had written for this Labor journal for many years and
always read it. As a result of this article Brady contacted Burch, agreeing to assist the
scheme by making land available from his holdings at Mallacoota and lending his full
moral and practical support. In attempting to analyse his motives, Brady later wrote:
Although I believed that man would never reach that Himalayan height of
virtue where he would answer a crack on the jaw by turning the other jaw to
his enemy; although I realised that on the social highway there was a Utopian
failure for every milestone, the conditions of 1932-3 so weighed upon me that I
lent myself to a Community Farm Scheme, wherein a little knot of enthusiasts
fondly dreamed might be found a solution to the Unemployment Problem. 3
He pondered the unemployment figures and realised that towards the end of 1932, of a
Victorian population of 1,800,000 over 604,000 were receiving state assistance, at a
time when savage punishments were being meted out by the courts for anyone found
collecting assistance unless qualified by unemployment. He had himself experienced
the effects of financial rigour, even though in his case the products of his farm
cushioned the impact.
1 Utopias Ltd., p.13.
2 See page… (367 original ms)
3 Utopias Ltd., p.22.
75