244 Australian Life 



in the north, and in the meantime is unwilling 

 to extend railway communication westward and 

 join hands with its neighbour there. Before the 

 Federation it would not have been possible to 

 move the South Australians from their position, 

 but the question has now become one to be decided 

 on its national merits by the national Parliament. 

 The provincialists in Australia have watched 

 the growing prestige of the Commonwealth Legis- 

 lature with dismay. In the third year of the 

 Commonwealth, motions were tabled in some of 

 the State Parliaments affirming the desirability of 

 secession, and were promptly laughed into obliv- 

 ion. Enthusiastic gentlemen who have organised 

 secession movements in the capital cities have 

 been regarded in the light of amiable farceurs. It 

 has now become certain that the aspiration after 

 national life was no momentary enthusiasm of 

 the Australian people but a deep-rooted senti- 

 ment, and it is to the national Parliament that 

 the Australians look to free them from the finan- 

 cial embarrassment resulting from many years of 

 State maladministration. 



