122 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



April 1, 1913. 



LADY DENMAN NAMES THE OAPITAh, CANBERRA. 



cree of the Cabinet. The ceremony 

 was not unimpressive, but it is ahnost 

 impossible to realise that on such an 

 occasion, in a Christian country, there 

 was no invocation of Divine blessing, 

 and that the only recognition of God 

 throughout the whole ceremony was 

 the singing by some of those present 

 of the Old Hundredth, when the bands 

 played the familiar tune. That this 

 costly, and, were it not for the need 

 for fulfilling the obligations laid down 

 in the Constitution, utterly unneces- 

 sary capital, should be founded with- 

 out any religious ceremony, with not 

 even one word of prayer for the Al- 

 mighty's blessing to rest on the enter- 

 prise, is a scandal that will shame 

 posterity. The ceremony cost the 

 country over ;^8ooo. The building of 

 the capital itself will cost many more 

 millions than was at first anticipated. 

 The photo, on page 130 shows the site 

 as it is at present ; the sketch over- 

 leaf has carried out the architect's 



idea of what it is hoped the city will 

 look like some decades hence. It is 

 regrettable that so few who worked 

 so earnestly for Federation were pre- 

 sent to see the fulfilment of one of the 

 conditions which made the Common- 

 wealth possible. 



The New High Court Judges. 



The Bars of New South Wales, Vic- 

 toria, and Queensland adopted an ex- 

 treme attitude with regard to the ap- 

 pointment of Messrs. Powers and Pid- 

 dington to the High Court Bench, and 

 decided to withhold their congratulations 

 to the new judges. The Council of the 

 New South Wales' Bar thus set forth 

 the reason for their action : " In order 

 to maintain the prestige of the High 

 Court as the principal appelate court 

 of the Commonwealth, and to secure 

 public confidence in its decisions, it is 

 essential that the positions of that 

 bench should be offered only to men pre- 

 eminent in the legal profession. The bar 



