politics.  The Australasian is of course Conservative, but not quite so rabidly so as the Argus.  It surveys politics from the Conservative gallery.  The Argus takes part in the scrimmage and leads the Conservative forces.  In commenting on intercolonial politics, by which I mean those of the other colonies, it always takes a mildly Conservative view, advocating federation, caution in borrowing, and assistance to the exploration and settlement of the interior.  Not its least use is, that it gives the people of one colony the opportunity of knowing what is going on in the other colonies.  Many of the articles are signed with a nom de plume, under the cover of which atheistical and even revolutionary views are allowed to express themselves.  In religious matters the Argus and Australasian maintain an eclectic attitude.  Outwardly they are Christian in the widest sense of the term, but it is not difficult to see that most of their writers are agnostics.  On social subjects, directly they get clear of contemporary local politics, their views are progressive and enlightened, often indeed original.  It is curious to note that all the leading organs of public opinion in Australia are strongly Conservative and Imperialistic in their views of the foreign policy of England.  There is only one exception, to my knowledge, the Melbourne Age, which advocates a non-interference policy, and would not be sorry to see ’the painter cut.’  On home affairs the colonial press is naturally in sympathy with the Liberals, but the Argus draws the line at the Cloture and the Liberal policy in Ireland, which it opposes.

Of the imitators of the Australasian, the Queenslander, published by the proprietors of the Brisbane Courier; the Leader, published by the Age proprietors; and the Town and Country, by the proprietors of the Sydney Evening News, are the best, in the order named.  The Sydney Mail, published by the Sydney Morning Herald, is also a good compendium of information on current topics.  The Adelaide Observer is little better than an abstract of the S. A. Register, and the S. A. Chronicle is literally a reproduction of the S. A. Advertiser.  But all these papers are much more provincial in tone than the Australasian, and have hardly any circulation outside the colony in which they are published.  About two years ago a new independent paper was started in Melbourne, with the programme indicated by its name—­the Federal Australian.  It is very American in tone, and a large portion of its space is devoted to rather second-rate funniness.  But the leading articles are good, and it has struck out a most useful line for itself in a supplement called the Scientific Australian, modelled on the Scientific American.  This portion of the paper is of great value, and if only on that account it deserves to live.