Review of Reviews. 113113. PROCRFSS OF THE WOAVD. 



21 



ernmeiit, there came a pleasant dis- 

 appointment. The Government are to 

 be congratulated on both the method 

 and character of the appointments. 

 None of them is open to the charge 

 of a political appointment, and in each 

 case the distinction is deserved. Both 

 Mr. Justice Powers and Mr. Justice 

 Piddington are natne-born Australians. 

 Mr. Powers, who is 60 years of age, 

 and ten \'ears senior to Mr. Piddington, 

 is a native of Queensland. Mr. Pidding- 

 ton is a native of Bathurst. There are 

 other similarities of circumstance. Mr. 

 Powers is an old Brisbane Grammar 

 School boy, and Mr. Piddington an old 

 S}'dney Grammar School boy. Both 

 were abroad when then- appointments 

 were announced. Mr. Powers was in 

 London, engaged in the preparation of 

 the case of the Commonwealth Govern- 

 ment in the Coal Vend and Sugar Com- 

 mission cases. Mr. Piddington was on 

 holiday in Europe, but is understood 

 to be on his wa\' home. Apart from 

 the three gentlemen appointed — viz., 

 Messrs. Justices Duff}-, Powers and 

 Piddmgton — we have it on the author- 

 ity of the Attorney-General that Sh- 

 John Gordon, of South Australia, was 

 the only gentleman who was offered the 

 honour. 



Which Gauge? 



Mr. Fisher on February 12th turned 

 the first sod at the Kalgoorlie end of 

 the projected transcontinental railway 

 which will ere long connect Western 

 Australia with the Eastern States. The 

 Prime Minister did not refer to what 

 is really the most vital question, 

 namely, the gauge to be used on the 

 railway, no doubt considering it fully 

 settled. Unless future generations use 

 other methods of tra\el tlian railways, 

 they will greatly censure those who 

 decided on the English 4 ft. 8A m. 

 gauge. No one who has journeyed from 



Sydne\' to Melbourne — merely desiring 

 to be as comfortable as possible, and 

 unbiassed by State patriotism — but 

 would x'ote every time for the wide 

 5 ft. 3 in. gauge which makes possible 

 the roomy carriages of Victoria. Such 

 a traveller, if he had been in America, 

 would have heard the bitter lament 

 of railway men, that the 4 ft. 8| in. 

 gauge was universal there, and that 

 its maximum load was now reached. 

 Would have heard their comments, too, 

 on a new country which might ha\'e 

 profited by their experience, and 

 adopted a wider gauge, but thinking 

 rather of present expediency than of 

 future generations, had thrown away 

 the chance. Our traveller, ignorant of 

 State jealousies, or mileage to be con- 

 verted, and looking only to the con- 

 venience of posterity, would, without 

 hesitation, advise the wider gauge for 

 Australia, and answer the objections 

 of whatever States have not got it by 

 contending that alterations which were 

 to benefit the whole Commonwealth 

 sliould be paid for by all Australians, 

 no matter in what State they lived. 

 The question is one in which the de- 

 velopment of this great country is 

 largely bound up. 



Sitting Tight. 



The political winds in New South 

 Wales may blow where they list, but the 

 McGowen Government are evidently 

 bent on sitting tight, and running the 

 full length of their constitutional term 

 until the Spring. No Government ever 

 sat upon a more slender majority, and 

 e\en Mr. Speaker Willis, whose acro- 

 batic politics gave Mr. McGowen his 

 first sense of security, is reported to 

 have declared that the Government no 

 longer represent a majority of the elec- 

 tors, and should, according to all the 

 laws of precedence, resign. At present 

 Parliament is enjoying a long recess, 



