CHAPTER IV at the Census Taken in 1911, the Last Before the Outbreak Of
CHAPTER IV THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES AT the census taken in 1911, the last before the outbreak of the war, there were within the Commonwealth 32,990 persons who were born in Germany, and 2,774 born in Austria- Hungary. These figures do not afford a clue to the total number of inhabitants of German origin, or who had ties of affinity connecting them with enemy countries, nor do the census statistics afford a dependable means of estimating the probable number of such persons. As will be explained in a later section of this chapter, there were in South Australia and Queensland, and to a lesser extent in Victoria and Tasmania, towns whose population consisted mainly of people of Australian birth, and whose forbears had for several generations been Australian, but who nevertheless were senti- nientally attached to Germany as the land of their family origin. Very many of these habitually spoke German, were Lutheran in religion, and piobably had never seriously thought of being placed in the predicament of having to discriminate between the allegiance which they owed to the, British Crown and nation by virtue of citizenship, and the feeling--which there had never been any need for them to suppress-of affection for the L'nterland of their ancestors, whence came to them their literature, language and religion. It was not uii- natural that some of the many thousands of German descent were prepared, from recklessness, or bravado, or quite honest patriotic motives, to help the German cause if they could, and their intimate knowledge of Australia and of Australian industry increased their power of injuring her cause.
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