National Life in Australia 241 



district, with insatiable requirements in the 

 matter of bridges, schools, and post-offices. His 

 constituents are continually urging these require- 

 ments upon him, and it too often happens that 

 the State member considers his electorate first, 

 and the interests of Australia last. 



The Commonwealth House of Representatives 

 affords a striking contrast. It contains fewer 

 members than the Legislative Assembly of New 

 South Wales, but some of these members repre- 

 sent electorates larger in area than the United 

 Kingdom, since the number of representatives 

 returned by each state is proportionate to its popu- 

 lation. Thus Western Australia, with an area of 

 nine hundred and seventy-five thousand square 

 miles, returns only five members to the House of 

 Representatives; while Victoria, eighty-eight 

 thousand miles in extent, returns twenty-three. 

 The Senate, on the other hand, contains an equal 

 number of members from each state, and serves 

 to guard the less populous states from being 

 overruled by those older and more powerful. 

 From the very outset, the meeting and delibera- 

 tions of this Parliament had the anticipated effect 

 of broadening the Australian outlook. For 

 the first time, the requirements of tropical Aus- 

 tralia were considered in conjunction with those 

 of the temperate South; East was balanced 

 against West; and young Australia realised with 

 a gasp how vast were the considerations 

 affecting national life. It was a heavy blow 



16 



