AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1054, 18 February 1911, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER. 'A GREAT RAILWAY SYSTEM, ' Tho Prime Minister was present at the Lord Mayor's quarterly luncheon. on February 9, Responding to tho toast of tho ,"Coramonwra|th and fjtate," )Mr. lisher, referring to tho question of immigration, saidHho people of the* Old Country should bo told clearly the kind of.country and ltind of people Australia possessed, and- it should bo impressed upon them that.here they should break up 'their associations with their former home. Even if they were not as successful as they wished to. bo, their children would.havo a better chance in-life. Australia, was a . country for people to live in, and tho sooner outsiders were-told that the better. In regard to the referendum, ho had supported the Constitution as an instrument that the people would haro power to amend from time to time accbrdang to their enlightened thought. Whatever their political opinions . were people had to-admit that, the progress of Australia since .Federation, had been unparalleled andunthoughtof at the time re<ler4tion ? was accomplished. - • Barriers had b£en broken down,' but to have trade end commerce in Australia,perfectly free there ought ,to bo; a great national railwayv Australia could not- any longer continue ,to construct railways for purely strategical purposes. They .ought' not to throw the burden upon those who protho wealth from the soil an different parts of the country for tho sako of a little temporary difficulty here and there.' He, thought that tho enlightened IJatt of Australia would view that aspect as important as commercial men and business men.. He asked them to think seriously of this national railway, and; if possible, to give it their support, as it meant development.on national lines that would lead to greatness. (Hear, heari)

AUSTRALIA'S NAVY: TWO APPOINT- ' ' " MENTS. : . .The British Admiralty was recently asked by tho. Minister for. Defence to re L commcnd two naval officers of standing, ono to take chargo of the Naval College at Middle Head, Sydney): tho other , to take chargo of the training establishment yet to be founded for tho instruction of men; and boys who aro to' constitute the personnel of tho fleet. . ' . The Admiralty has selected Captain Bertram M. Chambers for tho position of commander of. tho Naval . College, and Commander La 1\ Lowin, K.N., as commander of the training school. Both appointments aro for three years. The salaries will bo .£IOOO and ,£750 a year. Captain Chambers is at present the captain in command of 11.M.5. .Majestic, a twin-screw-battleship, 0f'11,900 tons of the Ilomo fleet. Ho has-had chargo of a group of ships of the fourth division of. this fleet. Appointed, captain oil December 31, 1905, lie attained his present position on August 2;-1910. As a midshipman he served oil board H.M.S. Monarch, and was present at the bombardment of .Alexandria. : He landed with, a field: guir battery from: the. Monarch, and scryed-in the trenches at. Ramleli. 'He was'present at tho occupation of Port Said, and. received the Egyptian medal, Alexandra clash, and tho "Khedive's bronze star for the campaign. He gained tho approbation of tho Admiralty, and the Snadwell prize, ill 1891, for a survey .of Bougcron Channel,. Callao, and also the Shadwell testimonial in 1895 for plans of tho' Naos ■' and • Perico Islands; Menzlos' Bay, .and Victoria Harbour (British; Coln'mbia).'iWhile on the Pacific station the Admiralty expressed, approval of "his general:zeal in utilising all opportunities of forwarding improvements to existing charts and surveys." . Ho was a member of tho council, of tho Hakluyt Society in 1901, and is also a fellow' of tho Royal GeogrpnhicaliSocietyiiii-:. • • ' ! Commanaei r !Lcwinlid riowidn command of . H.M.S. . Ganges at Harwich. This ship is the depot vessel for the training of-youths for tho British Navy. He has held the. position since. March' 16, .1900. A 9 soon as they arrive, tho preliminary plahs which tho Horn© Affairs. Dapai-S mcnt is drawing up for tho college will bo submitted to them for their .opinion.

SYDNEY'S ESTIMATES FOR THE '•• YEAR/ A meeting of tho. General Purposes Committee was-licld-.it tho' Sydney Town Hall, on l ,February.! 9;o to deal with :.tho estimates for the-year. ,Alderman Clarke,, as - thoJ Finance .Committee, explained.the'estimates, and dhtimated that the contemplated rate for 1 the year was Is. 9d. ■on tho rental basis and Id. on the unimproved value. The summary of the estimates for the 'year 1911 was as follows:— . ExpendiReceipts, ture. ' Finance Committee ... .£'108,316 *£243,221 Works Committee ■ 5,570 G4,388 Health: Committee ... 15,263 116,507 Public lighting—Electric Light Committee ...... — 22,250 „ , .£429,149 .£446,366 Balance estimated ex- 1 cessivo expenditure... .17,217 — : .£446,366 .£440,366 Alderman Clarke added that as at the end of the'year there would probably bo a.deficit of .£17,217, it might bo necessary for tho council to go slowly, because it would-be well not to havo to increaso tho rate. .-With that end in view ho thought some of tho bands might bo dons without during the year,- and ho did not consider it.necessary to erect a bandstand .costing almost >£1000 as . proposed. Altogether the expenditure on the park 9 had too, generous.'. However, he moved tho adoption of the estimates as presented Last year tho forecasted deficiency was ■£<000 or JCBOOO, yet tho year was closed with d surplus. "To' summarise the matter," ho said, "I havo unbounded confidence, 'in this. city.. Wo .must give efficiency in every department, :and that is tho object aimed at in connection with these estimates."

. RADIUM FOR THE POOR. .JVord has been received from D. Langloh Johnston in Paris that the radium and apparatus ( for the Sydney Hospital have been sheeted by Dr. AVickham, of tho Radium Institute. But they have yet to be tested by Madame Curie, and Should be ready in. about two months. Tho following are extracts from letters written by Dr. Langloh Johnston and received by the-Sydney Hospital Board of Directors:—"The radium for Sydnev HosDital has: been carefully, selected by Dr. Louis AYiekhnm,, of the Radium Institute, Paris. ,I. might, add that Sydney Hospital is the only : hospital in the world that .has it own supply of radiumto the value of the large supplies are confined <to i radium institutes ;. . . Radium is much cheaper in Paris than ii) any., other Capital of -Europe: th.c price per gramme (15 grains) here is .£16,000. Sir William Ramsay, in London, is selling his radium at the rate of ,£20,000 per gramme. I have made careful inquiries regarding the price, and find (hat there' is no prospect of any fall." .150,000 CADETS. •> Melbourne reports state that it-is estimated that the total registrations in Victoria in connection with the compulsory training of youths under tho new defence scheme, will be 38,000. Tho military I authorities, there anticipate that the total number of boys in the Commonwealth who will 'eventually be brought under' the. compulsory" training; regulations will exceed .150,000 as senior cadots. lii Sydney tho organisation and classification of the 41,000 cadets enrolled for compulsory training is now practically monopolising tho attention of tho headquarters military officials. An informal meeting of area and' brigado officers was held at Victoria -Barracks to difcuss pro-' gress, and to prepare for tho confercnco which tho District Commandant has summoned. ■