"They say the P&O are going to refuse to run their boats to Australia if the colonials hold out as to the Lascars. It's curious to see how all the Englishmen who have to deal with Australia hate the people there. It's scarcely surprising however for they hamper them with outrageous regulations at every step. As soon as these boats get into Australian waters they are charged duty on all the provisions that are used on board. It's almost incredible that we can allow this sort of thing. I should like to hand Australia over to Germany for 50 years and see what they made of King Stork. This man Osborne that I sit by at dinner is a rabid protectionist. He is as stupid as you choose, but he is a sheep farmer and naturally he wants an extra shilling or two on wool. He hasn't the beginning of an idea that his little silly personal interests don't weigh a feather in the big scales of English commerce. God bless my soul - etc!"Gertrude Bell, traveller, archaeologist, spy, Iraqi state and king-maker and founder of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Photographs, diaries and letters collected and digitised by Newcastle University. Link…
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