XIV. 



The Heview of Keviews. 



January, ipt3. 



Court w3s entirely one of construction, and he reite- 

 rated a former dictum that the function of that 

 Court was to interpret the Constitution as it found 

 it, and neither to strain its language to a construction 

 which the Court might think was more beneficial than 

 that which the words expressed, nor to vary its con- 

 struction from time to time to meet the supposed 

 changing breezes of popular opinion. His definition 

 of an industrial dispute was that the dispute " must 

 precede the submission to the Court. The Court 

 can only have cognisance of an existing dispute. Tf . 

 therefore, there is in fact no real discontent existing, 

 a mere claim or a request made by an employer, or 

 on behalf of a body of employees, without any inten- 

 tion of pressing it but for the mere purpose of 

 making a case to 'be brought before the Federal Arbi- 

 tration authority, does not constitute a real industrial 

 dispute. It is, rather, an attempt to promote strife, 

 and a fraud upon the tribunal. There must be a real 

 community of action on the part of the defendants, 

 and some community of action on the part of parties 

 on whom the demand is made. The dispute must be 

 actually existing, and actually extending beyond the 

 limits of one State before such an occasion can arise. 

 Mere mischief-makers cannot, therefore, by the ex- 

 penditure of a few shillings in paper, ink, and 

 postage-stamps, create such an occasion." To the 

 lay mind that sounds like good common sense, as 

 well as good law. 



London has enshrined a 19th cen- 



The Mail tury cab in the British Museum. 



^^^ ' .\ustralia will have to pay similar 



homage to the mail coach if a speci- 

 men of that historic vehicle is to be preserved. The 

 mail coach as an institution is passing away. To 

 many people it is only known now in Australian 

 literature, .\nother of the old mail coach services has 

 stopped with the old year. For many years the mails 

 in New South Wales for Grafton and other towns 

 on the Clarence River have been conveyed by mail 

 coach from the New England tableland at Glen 

 Innes. The distance between Glen Innes and Graf- 

 ton is 108 miles, and the coach, on its trip to the 

 coast, descends about 3500 feet. Over 80 horses 

 have been employed in the conveyance of the mail 

 daily between the two towns. Now a contract has 

 been let to carry the mails by motor car six days a 

 week each way, at a cost of ;^335o per annum. In 

 the actual carriage of mails two cars will be engaged, 

 and a third will be reserved for emergencies. With 

 the passing of the coach ser\dce a number of drivers 

 will have to seek other employment, and the horses 



The Traffic 

 Problem. 



will be disposed of. The motor service will be a 

 great gain to business people on the Clarence River, 

 as the mails will arrive 12 hours earlier than at pre- 

 sent. In this case the motor supplants the mail coach. 

 Usually it has been the train. True, the mail coach 

 represents the slow and cumbersome past in its rela- 

 tion to travel, but as an institution it has played a 

 great part in the opening up of this country of mag- 

 nificent distances, and Cobb and Co., and their less 

 pretentious rivals, are as yet, at least, remembered 

 with admiration and kindly recognition. 



Melbourne, like Sydney, is faced 

 with the problem of dealing ade- 

 quately and expeditiously with the 

 suburban traffic, owing to the won- 

 derful development of these cities. As it is now gene- 

 rally recognised that the situation lies in the direc- 

 tion of electric railways, considerable interest at- 

 taches to the report of the Electrification Committee, 

 laid on the table of the Legislative Assembly. The 

 report deals with big figures. It is held that in order 

 to allow for the 191 5 trafHc, the appropriations, with 

 the necessary subsequent appropriations, should pro- 

 vide for a total actual expenditure of ^^2, 987, 017 

 (including ^819,742 for the power station), whereas 

 the total estimates in the table was ;^3,oo4,858 

 (power ^^761, 053). The total cost of the scheme 

 would be ^^2,987,017, including ^172,646 for sur- 

 plus cars, equipments and buildings, to be incurred 

 on account of the 19J7 scheme. Should it be decided 

 not to electiify the railways, the amount expended 

 on steam rolling stock for 191 5 will be ;^433)i75, 

 so that the net cost of the 191 5 scheme would be 

 ^2,248,350. The total capital cost of the 1917 

 scheme would be ^^3, 054, 566, plus ^,{^822, 285 for 

 extra rolling stock, making a total of ^^^3, 876, 791. 

 The net cost of the 191 7 scheme, as given in the 

 1912 report, was ^^^2,676,360, so that the committee 

 concluded that ;£75,4io more would be required 

 than was shown in the 1912 report. The total co.st 

 of the scheme, it is explained, is not substantially 

 different from the original estimates, but the final 

 approximation is due to a series of over and under 

 estimates. Each nearly balances the other. The 

 cost of the operation of the Melbourne suburban pas- 

 senger service in 191 5 is given as follows: — Total, 

 electric operation, ;;^235,4i6 ; total, steam operation, 

 ^360,431. In estimating the cost of the main 

 service at i4.24d., and the maintenance of the roll- 

 ing stock at 6. 2d. per train mile (;^36o,43i), the 

 committee thinks that if six cars per train be con- 

 tinued in 1QT5 a reduction of ;^48,ooo must be made 



