is:--

"Dear Jefson,--Your cheery letter from the front was full of the powder
and shot of action and riotous optimism. I'm afraid mine will be a
contrast.

"Our Australia isn't faring well. Our vigorous assertion of the strength
of our young nationhood has been manifested only in a military and naval
sense--commercially, we are nearly down and out.

"We are outrageously pessimistic. There was an excuse at the beginning
of the war, when we dropped behind a rock, stunned at the very thought
of an Armageddon; then we clapped our hands on our pockets, tightened up
our purse strings, and, with white faces, waited for the worst
and--we're still waiting. There was an excuse for us to be absolutely
flabbergasted when the Kaiser's crowd rushed on to Paris. There may have
been reason then for more than ordinary caution, but since the 'great
check,' there has been no valid reason for people to still sit tight and
wait. People with money to invest are holding up most of the former
avenues of activity. 'Till the war is over' is the only excuse they can
mumble.

"Take building investments in Sydney alone. A friend showed me a list of
ninety-one plans held up, totalling over L4,000,000; held up 'till the
war is over,' held up till the accumulated business will rush like an
avalanche, running prices that are now low to such a high figure that
the fools who waited will find they will have lost thousands. Building
prices are now fifteen per cent. cheaper than before the war and
twenty-five per cent. cheaper than they will be when the war has broken.
Twenty-five per cent. means a distinct loss of L1,000,000 in one avenue
of investment alone, not counting the tying up of the many hundreds
other lines depending upon building construction--and when you consider,
Jefson, that such inactivity is almost everywhere, you can guess we're
in for a bad time if people don't buck up. To make matters worse, some
firms are stopping advertising, forgetting that advertising is the
life-blood of their business, and by stopping advertising they're
stopping circulation of money. The firm that thinks it can save money by
stopping advertising is in the same street as the man who thinks he can
save time by stopping the clock.

"These are no ordinary firms, but what the local Labor League is so fond
of describing as 'capitalistic institutions.' They hold many thousands
in reserve and their annual dividends have been at least 10 per cent.
for years and ye