XI]. 



The Review of Reviews, 



January, 1913. 



Melbourne " Punch." 



A BATTER PUDDIXG. 



Australia (to Board of Control) : " There's not a decent 

 monthfnl in it. I'll have to get a new cook." 



It was only to be expected that 

 Old Age hardship.s and anomalies would be 



Pensions. itrought to light in the practical 



working of the Commonwealth Old 

 Age Pension Act. A genuine attempt to remedy these 

 has been made in the Amending Bill, introduced by 

 the Prime Minister, and which was taken through 

 Committee on December 12. The Bill permits any 

 pensioner to receive any sum by way of a gift or 

 allowance from a son or a daughter, stepson, step- 

 daughter, grandson or granddaughter, without any 

 deduction being made from the pension on that 

 account. Nor is any deduction to be levied on 

 account of the home in which a pensioner perma- 

 nently resides. Pensions to the blind, likewise, are 

 legalised, though they have been paid for the past 

 three years ; but blind persons will continue to be 

 expected to make an effort to earn their own living. 

 A foreigner (otherwise eligible) is to become entitled 

 to a pension on being naturalised. In none of these 

 provisions can it be said that the quality of mercy 

 has been strained. The additional cost imposed by 



The 

 Aftermath. 



the Amending Bill is estimated at between ^150,000 

 and ^175,000 a year. If there had been sufficient 

 money in sight, Mr. Fisher would have given pen- 

 sions to widows, and have increased the old age 



pensions. 



It is a pity that the tour of the last 



Australian cricket team to England 

 should have ended in the public 

 washing of soiled linen. From what 

 has been published, and retailed privately by me»"n- 

 bers of the team, the Australians were evidently not 

 a happy family all the time. They signed on under 

 regulations which should have ensured good results ; 

 but apparently some members of the team forgot 

 while so far from home that thev carried with them 

 the honour of their country, and of the noble game 

 in whose interests they made the trip. Taking the 

 tour all through, the team did better than was ex- 

 I^ected on the field; but they might have done still 

 better had some of the players been more obedient to 

 discipline off the field. Unpleasant reports are in 

 circulation, which, if true, will seriously discount the 

 reputation of Australian cricketers in the Mother- 

 land. Some of the reports, it is to be feared, can- 

 not be contradicted. A captain has much to try 

 him in managing a team of this kind, especially if 

 authority be flouted and license persisted in. Few 

 captains of Australian teams have been able to hold 

 ;. team as did Noble, who was always strong enough, 

 not only to command discipline, but to enforce it. 

 Ft is as well that the whole conduct of the team should 

 be inquired into in the interests of future teams, and 

 in fairness to those members of the last team whose 

 behaviour called for no strictures. The Board of 

 Control have appointed a committee to investigate the 

 charges, and in view of the manager's report, thev 

 could not have done less. 



In Praise of 

 English Sport. 



Mr. Alex. Thomson, rowing man 

 ager of the Australian Olympic 



team, has rendered sport a service 

 by his efforts to put to silence cer- 

 tain critics, who, disappointed that the Australian 

 rowing team were beaten in the Olympic contest, and 

 looking about for an excuse, made some ill-mannered 

 and unsportsmanlike criticisms regarding the winning 

 crew and English sportsmen in general. It is in the 

 highest degree es.sential, if the ties of Empire are 

 to be strengthened, and the good name of Australia 

 is to be upheld by the visits of sporting teams to 

 England, that good feeling should prevail, that the 

 contestants should " play the game," and play it 

 for the sake of the game. The suggestion that the] 



