The Review of Reviews. 



The figures of the Aus- 

 Tjjg tralian census, taken in 



Australian Census. April, are disquieting not 

 merely to the people of 

 the Commonwealth, but to the whole of 

 the Empire. Here is a territory more than 

 three million square miles in extent, twenty- 

 six times the size of Great Britain and 

 Ireland, yet its po|)ulation now numbers 

 not quite four and a half million persons 

 (4,455,005). This total is slightly less than 

 the population of the County of London, 

 and works out at less than one and a half 

 j)ersons per square mile. And the increase 

 during the last ten years is only 681,204. 

 The last ten months report an increase of 

 113,000, which is an improvement. But 

 even at this improved rate, the next decen- 

 nial census would show an increase of slightly 

 over 1,300,000, and the continent would be 

 practically as empty as ever. Unless there 

 be a change, and that right speedily, our 

 moral right as an Empire to hold this 

 island-continent will he seriously weakened. 

 It is reassuring to find that the lessons of 

 the census have been promptly taken to 

 heart by the Commonwealth' Government : 



which, at the opening of its Parliament last 

 month, announced its intention of granting 

 a five-pound maternity allowance payable 

 to the mother. Parentage has been too 

 long penalised. It is good to see the 

 current setting in the opposite direction. 

 One may hope that the State will more and 

 more encourage antl reward the mother- 

 hood on which the very future of the State 

 depends. 



The new transcontinental 

 An railway which the Austra- 



Easy Opportunity, jjan Government is under- 

 taking offers a great ojipor- 

 tunity for deluging the waste places of the 

 island-continent with the overflow of the 

 peoples of Europe. The Government will 

 be the direct employer of all labour upon 

 the line. To employ almost exclusively 

 immigrant labour on this^new undertaking 

 would in no way interfere with' the labour 

 of Australian citizens, who are presumably 

 already employed. And strong mduce- 

 nient might be offered to enable the 

 workers on each section of the line to 

 settle down as jiermanent residents. Surely 

 a Labour Ministry, of all Ministries in the 



Panorama of the projected new Capital of Australia. 



The iicvv cnpilal fur ihc .Aiislrali.iii fcdcralion lies between MellHiurne ami Sy.hiey, nji a niduiilaiii plalciu 2,ooo feet above ihu sea, 

 ill a triarnjle between Mount Ainslic, 131aek Mountain, and Mugya .Mugjja. This view is from Mounl Aioslic. 



