liccicw of Fcviews. 2/i/is. PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 



121 



he was not connected. He passed 

 away in Rome on April ist. His son, 

 an eminent banker, succeeds him as 

 head of his gigantic business concerns. 

 Sir W'ilHam White, who died on Feb- 

 ruary 27th, may be considered the 

 creator of the present British na\y. 

 He gave up his position as chief con- 

 structor of the navv before the Dread- 

 nought era, but was responsible for the 

 ships which were turned out for twenty 

 }'ears before that, which period in- 

 cluded the entire remodelling of the 

 naval programme due to the appear- 

 ance of Mr. Stead's " Truth About the 

 Navy" in 1884. Another notable Vic- 

 torian passed away when Lord Wolse- 

 le}- died on March 25th. He had been 

 for years in retirement, but for the last 

 twenty-five years of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, was regarded even more as " our 

 only general " than is Lord Kitchener 

 to-day. He was accorded a state 

 funeral at St. Paul's, where but a few 

 weeks before the requiem service in 

 memory of Captain Scott had been 

 held. 



The Federal Elections. 



Compulsorily registration has natur- 

 all\' had the effect of greatly swelling 

 the register of voters. More than half 

 the total population of the Common- 

 wealth is on the Federal rolls, and 

 among these there are more women 

 than men. The figures are : New 

 South Wales, 939,041 ; X'lctona, 

 747,593; Queensland, 330,462; South 

 .•\ustralia, 223,671 ; West Australia, 

 148,002; Tasmania, 103,527; a total 

 of 2,492,303. On March 31st, Mr. 

 Fisher delivered his eagerlv antici- 

 jmted policy speech. Naturally, he 

 was much hampered b}- the fact that 

 the future action taken by liis party 

 depends entirely upon the fate of the 

 Referendum proposals. This did not 

 prevent him, though, taking credit for 

 almost evervthing that has been done 



since Federation. W'hilst his speech 

 conveyed the impression of confidence 

 that his party would be returned to 

 power, it did not show the same con- 

 viction about the acceptance of the 

 Referenda. The State debts' question 

 is to be tackled, the Australian fleet 

 is to be almost doubled, aviation is to 

 be taken up, cadet drills are to be car- 

 ried out in working hours — a step which 

 will make emplo}'ers furiously to think. 

 A State-owned line of steamships it to 

 be established between Tasmania and 

 Victoria, and an overseas service is 

 foreshadowed. Cable rates are to be 

 reduced, and universal penny postage 

 is, if possible, to be arranged. Pro- 

 vision is to be made for deserted wives 

 and children. A scheme of Imperial 

 citizenship is to be devised, and an 

 initiative referendum is to be set up, an 

 impossible thing, of course. The whole 

 speech outlines wliat may be called a 

 stop-gap polic}', one which suffices to 

 mark time until tiie fate of the Refer- 

 enda is known, but sufficiently com- 

 prehensive to enable the party to take 

 office if the}' are defeated. The only 

 certain thing appears to be that there 

 will be a further increase m the tariff 

 " to encourage Australian manufactur- 

 ers " whether the Referenda are passed 

 or no. So v.'e must resign ourselves 

 to a further speedy increase in the cost 



of li\"ing here. 



Australia's Capital. 



On Wednesda}-, March 1 1 , the new 

 Federal capital w^as formally named 

 Canberra by her Excellency Lad\- Den- 

 man, and the stones of the foundation 

 column were ceremoniously laid b}' the 

 Governor-General, Mr. Fisher and Mr. 

 O'Malley. Considerable relief was 

 manifested all over Australia when it 

 was known that the capital was to re- 

 tain the name of the site where it is 

 to be erected, instead of having some 

 fanciful title tli^'ust upon it by the de- 



