NEW FEDERAL CAPITAL

Southland Times, Issue 20207, 18 June 1927, Page 21 (Supplement)

NEW FEDERAL CAPITAL

CANBERRA’S DISADVANTAGES. PRIMITIVE CONDITIONS. MANY “HOME-SICK” OFFICIALS. Sydney, May 26. Visitors to Canberra during the historic ceremonies there were, outside the glitter and pageantry of the show itself, chiefly impressed with the beauty of its setting for a great city, the bitter cold in the early morning, and when the sun set, the frost that mantled the ground like snow, and the fog that blotted out the whole of the landscape in the early hours, the fact that it is a place of such long distances as to make motoring or movement by some other vehicle absolutely essential if one has business there, and the further fact that prohibition there is a farce of the first magnitude. That the “bone-dry” law at the capital is a joke is recognised by the Government, which, however, while proposing to alter matters before long, is determined, it is understood, to keep under its own control any hotels which are licensed. During the recent ceremonies, liquor was consumed, although not at the official luncheon, with as much freedom as in any licensed town. It was brought into the capital, in cases and in bottles, according to one’s pecuniary circumstances. The existing shopping centre does not befit a capital city, and the half dozen or so shops, only one of which is of any size, are hardly likely to appeal, by way of a morning “round the block” to the wives and daughters of the civil servants when the latter descend on the place and take up their abode in scattered and distant suburbs, which at present are in a very primitive state. For the womenfolk, and especially those with social protensions, who have to plunge from the bright lights and amenities of Melbourne and Sydney to this new-born city, as black as pitch at night, the transition will be something of a tragedy. Like all pioneers, they are going to find their path somewhat rough. For bachelors and for married couples without young families the transference from Melbourne or Sydney to Canberra will be less irksome than to those whose children can, at present at all events, get a higher education, such as at the great public schools, only in the older capitals, and who therefore have to leave their children behind. This is the chief lament of a number of officials already at the capital. They are “fed up” even at this early stage. They are suffering from what is known as “Canberritis,” which, while quite innocuous physically, is catching, like Hie measles and the whooping cough. The people feel that they have been pushed away into a backwater, where only motoring and golf, if they can afford it, can disturb the even tenor of their placid way. The clear, pure air of Canberra is healthy, and its blue, sunny skies are good to look upon. But the officials who are among the pioneers are already beginning to compare the willowy, winding Molonglo, which trickles through the capital, with the dear old Yarra and the Sydney Harbour. Sydney and Melbourne are already beckoning to them like a temptre&>«