AUSTRALIA 490 



Government. The Commonwealth of Aus- 

 tralia is a f, .1. ration of states which was formed 

 LZUiary, IWl. Nominally it is a dependency 

 of G .m, but actually it is independent 



in all questions which concern the federated 

 states. Its constitution resembles closely that 

 tee in that it expressly de- 

 clares that all powers not specifically allowed 

 to the central government belong to the states. 

 In many ways, however, it differs from any 

 constitution previously prepared, and some stu- 

 dents of politics regard it as a step in advance 

 of any other. Thus the Federal government 

 takes charge of banking and insurance, mar- 

 riage, divorce, parental rights and guardianship, 

 immigration and emigration, telegraphs, tele- 

 phones, and in times of danger, of the railways. 

 All these functions are in addition to those 

 commonly delegated to a national government. 

 Women have full suffrage on equal terms with 

 men. 



Some of the other important governmental 

 policies of Australia have been expressed in 

 laws providing for old age and invalid pen- 

 sions ; a maternity bonus whereby a mother can 

 receive a sum equal to 824 on the birth of each 

 child; eight-hour work day; governmental 

 loans to farmers for improving land ; the build- 

 ing of working men's cottages, which are then 

 rented or sold on very easy terms; and govern- 

 mental ownership or control of all public 

 utilities. 



itivc Department. The head of this 

 department is a Governor-General, appointed 

 by the Crown. He is commander-in-chief of 

 the army and navy, and has power to appoint 

 judges and members of his executive council. 

 Th< se ministers, including a Prime Minister and 

 the heads, respectively, of departments of Ex- 

 ternal Affairs, Home Affairs, Finance, Trade 

 and Customs, Defense, besides an Attorney- 

 : Master-General, are members 

 of the Parliament, or must secure election to it 

 within three months after their appointment. 



'at ire Department. This consists of 

 two houses, a Senate and a House of Repre- 

 sentatives, but the British sovereign is also a 

 nominal member. Senators are elected for six 

 years and Representatives for three, each state 

 having six Senators and a number of Repre- 

 sentatives proportionate to its population. The 

 number of Representatives is as nearly as pos- 

 sible twice the number of the Senators. All 

 revenue bills must originate in the lower house, 

 and the course of procedure is similar to that 

 in the Congress of the United States. The 



AUSTRALIA 



Senate may reject an appropriation bill, but 

 may not amend it. 



Judiciary. At the head of this department 

 is the High Court of Australia, which has orig- 

 inal jurisdiction in cases involving relations 

 with other nations and in cases in which the 

 Commonwealth or any state is a party. Its 

 appellate jurisdiction gives to it the power 

 to hear appeals from lesser Federal courts and 

 from the supreme courts of the states. If the 

 High Court declares its opinion that a question 

 involving the limits of the constitutional pow- 

 ers of the Commonwealth or of the separate 

 states should be passed upon by the British 

 Privy Council, an appeal to that body may be 

 made, but not otherwise. See PRIVY COUNCIL. 



On January 1, 1911, the national government 

 took over from New South Wales a stretch of 

 land 900 square miles in extent as a Federal 

 Territory, under the name of the Yass-Can- 

 berra District; and two years later work upon 

 a new Federal capital was begun. An architect 

 from the United States, winning in a world- 

 wide competition, was engaged to lay out the 

 city, which in time will probably rank with the 

 world's finest capitals. Meanwhile, until the 

 new city of Canberra is ready, Melbourne is 

 the seat of the Federal government. 



Defense. It has never been the policy of 

 the Australian federation to maintain a large 

 standing army, but since 1910 all male citizens 

 between the ages of twelve and twenty-six 

 have been compelled by law to undergo* mili- 

 tary training, either in a cadet corps or as 

 regular citizen soldiers. Thus while the regular 

 army on a peace footing numbers less than 

 3,000, a force of about 170,000 is available when 

 needed. The Australian troops are well drilled, 

 and particularly effective in their mounted 

 infantry service. 



In 1903 it was decided that Australia was to 

 have no ships of its own, but was to be 

 defended by a small squadron from the British 

 navy. Six years later, however, this plan was 

 changed, and arrangements were made for the 

 construction of Australian dreadnaught cruisers 

 and submarines. At the close of 1913 there 

 were in the Australian navy ten war vessels 

 of all sorts, with a fighting force of nearly 

 8,000 men. 



In time of peace the Commonwealth has 

 full control of the navy, but when the British 

 Empire is on a war footing the latter assumes 

 full control. When the War of the Nations 

 began in 1914 Australia showed the most active 

 and enthusiastic patriotism. Even before the 



