Review ot Reviews, liio/ia. 



Ill 



Dravxn by] 



THE PROPOSED DOMINION HOUSE SITE. 



[Mr. En 



XVI.-LINKING UP THE EMPIRE. 



Earl Greys Proposed Dominion House in London. 



: ' What does he know of England, 

 who only Englands . knows?" How 

 little does the ordinary Englishman 

 grasp the idea of Empire ! He has seen 

 much of the map coloured red, he is 

 aware that there are such places as Aus- 

 tralia, New Zealand, South Africa and 

 Canada, but beyond that he knows little. 

 Nor does the visitor to London from the 

 Bntains beyond the seas know much 

 about other parts of the Empire. That 

 something should be done to change 

 this state of affairs is obvious, and Earl 

 Grey brings forward a scheme which 

 should impress upon the imagination of 

 all who live in or visit London the idea 

 of Empire. This great Pro-Consul pro- 

 poses to focus under one roof the multi- 

 tudinous interests and concerns of all 

 the self-governing Dominions. This 

 building, he hope:., will be the most im- 

 posing and impressive pile, after 

 St. Paul's and the Houses of Parliament, 

 in the whole ol London. To use Lord 

 Grey's words: "St. Paul's Cathedral 

 flashes upon the eye the great message 

 ■of Christianity ; the 1 louse, oi Parlia- 

 ment recite the long story of Constitu 



tional freedom ; the Law Courts lift 

 their testimony to the great heritage of 

 justice that England has wrung from 

 history. Each of them helps to deter- 

 mine the 'habit of mind' of the millions 

 who see them. The hope of those who 

 have framed the present proposals is 

 that an equally commanding voice in 

 the architecture of the capital may be 

 given to the Empire itself — that a build- 

 ing may arise which will make the sig- 

 nificance of Imperial citizenship vivid to 

 its every beholder, and make the face of 

 London itself record the far-flung 

 dimensions of British power and civilsa- 

 tion. 



THE SITE 



The style of the building is a-- yet, of 

 course, undecided, hut for its site om 

 the finest and most unique positions in 

 London has been obtained I his site is 

 the Aldwych island, the v. nam spot 

 between the Strand and Kingsway. V 

 more imposing and prominent pi 

 could have been chosen, Ling, as it 

 die-, at the junction o\ the 111,1m tho 

 roughfares running cast, west and north. 

 The site is passed by millions daily, 



