Review o} Reviews, 1/9/13. PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 



663 



tions put plumb and straight is the 

 obvious way out of the difficulty. It 

 would be very surprising if there were 

 not a substantial majority against this 

 great waste of money. The sums to be 

 spent at Canberra could be far more 

 profitably used for conversion of rail- 

 ways and developing the country gene- 

 rally. The supposed opposition of Vic- 

 toria is a relic of pre-Federation days, 

 which a referendum would effectively 

 dispose of. Here is a chance for the 

 Liberal Party to show that it is not 

 afraid of doing a sensible thing be- 

 cause of the shibboleth of State 

 jealousy. Let it make the transference 

 of the capital from the bush to Sydney 

 a plank in its platform at the next elec- 

 tion. 

 The Navigation Act. 



After long delay the Royal assent was 

 given to the Navigation Act. It is as- 

 sumed that the delay was due to the 

 desire on the part of the Home Govern- 

 ment to modify the portion relating to 

 British and foreign shipping, which to 

 some extent trespasses on understand- 

 ings and treaties at home. Unfortu- 

 nately this could not be done, and the 

 Act, with all these provisions in it, will 

 become law as soon as it is proclaimed. 

 The Government can, if it likes, delay 

 the proclamation of the part relating to 

 British shipping, and there is a strong 

 feeling at home that it should do so. 

 The Art as it stands practically pre- 

 cludes any Australian-owned line of 

 steamships' attempting to trade outside 

 Australian waters. The only alterna- 

 tives such a shipowner has before him is 

 to sell out or transfer his headquarters 

 elsewhere The shrewd and far-seemg 

 head of the Currie line of steamships, 

 the moment there was a probability of 

 the Art becoming law, sold his ships to 

 the British India Company, which, not 

 being owned in Australia, is not troubled 

 by the restrictions imposed by the Act. 

 When the Act is all in force, not only 

 will it be impossible to shi|i Australian 

 produce for local ports by steamers 

 owned outside Australia, but passengers 

 will not be able to use the Mail boats 

 for travelling from State to State. 

 Freights and fares are bound to go up, 

 as shipowners cannot afford to pay 



the higher wages themselves, and as 

 there can he no outside competition, it 

 is the general public which, as usual, 

 suffers. 



Elective Representation in Papua. 



What seems to be a somewhat prema- 

 ture step has been taken by the Legis- 

 lative Council in Port Moresby. The 

 Council there, which now consists of the 

 Lieut-Governor and his principal offi- 

 cers, and three nominated members, de- 

 cided, by four to three, that elective 

 representation should be established in 

 Papua. This means that the whites of 

 Port Moresby will have far more to say 

 in local affairs than they have up to 

 now. The policy of the Government has 

 been to treat the natives exceedingly 

 well ; in fact, to regard them as the 

 owners of the land, and respect their 

 rights. Compared with what went on 

 there formerly, and still goes on in other 

 islands, this is a remarkable policy, and 

 one which is considerably resented by 

 many traders. All the representatives 

 of the Commonwealth save one voted 

 against the measure, and, in view of 

 Judge Murray's ripe experience, his op- 

 position will carry great weight outside 

 Papua. Mr. Walter, who is the manag- 

 ing director of the " Papuan Industries 

 Limited," is at present visiting Australia 

 in order to dispose of the remaining 

 shares of his company. The Papuan In- 

 dustries is an effort to combine business 

 and religious endeavour. The prospects 

 are fairly good, and there is no doubt 

 that the natives are rapidly coming to ap- 

 preciate the presence of a trading concern 

 in their midst, where thev are certain 

 of perfectly fair and kindly treatment. 

 Mr. Walker's plantations of cocoanuts 

 will not be bearing for another four or 

 five years, but when once they are doing 

 so the future of the company is assured. 

 Mr. Walker only wishes to raise ^^2500 

 here, having obtained i^ 12,500 of the 

 ;{,"! 5,000 he requires in England. 



The Governor of Victoria. 



There are those who consider that the 

 functions of the Governor of a State 

 could and should be carried out by a 

 distinguished local man instead of bv 

 someone sent out by the King. The ad- 

 vocates of this do not realise how diffi- 



