Evening star., 1901-06-05
LAYING OUT A CAPITAL
PROPOSED TO MAKE AN IDEAL
AUSTRALIAN CITY.
Difficulties to BE Overcome Situa-
ing Models, Good and Bad.


tEpm the Lnhuon Spectator
An Australian correspondent writes to
draw attention to the unique opportunity
shortly To befalI the new commonwealth
In a year or so the confederation must de-
sign deliberately. and proceed to build a
federal capital 1t will presumably contain
all the executive buildings of the united
colonies. and be the official home of the
deliberative bodies so long as they are sit
ting There too will be the residence of
the kings representative. 1t will gather
round it the sentiments and attributes OIL
unity, dominion and political responsibility,
and though true hearts. Justice and patriot
ism grow up by the freside and not under
the scuIptured wings of statues of liberty
and victory. the city in its structure and
design will be expected to embody high
standard of dignity and well being and
one which, while giving it's inmates full
play by suitable environment, Will lend
them the positive encouragement of beauty
and ma magnifcence duly propOrtioned to oc-
CaSion.
= 1t is true now as ever. that "men. not
walls make a city But the writer meant,
not a city, but nation. and the right men
are in Australia already. The question
does come to he one of walls in the sense
of general building and Layout though
ideas other than those Of mere convenience
will dominate the whole. But when once
the counsellors of the young nation have
decided what departments of the comm on
wealth are TO De housed IN the CaDltal, anu
what relative or symbOlical Importance fS
to be given to the different government
buildings, their arrangement and position
and the layout of the city generally, will
give scope for the very best considered
suggestions. and the widest acquaintance
with the successes and failures of the past
1t demands something more. The chance
Is one in a lifetime. not of a person. but of
a natiOn The designers of the new capital
must not only not have so stiff a neck
that they cannot look back but make a
shrewd and Iong-sighted conjecture as to
the needs and possibilities nf the future.
The ideal city never remain ideal for
But it may be planned to be
ahead of the world for more than one gen
Grafton and able 10 assimilate the best i'm
: provemsnts on the progressive sides OF
ban life, such communication and loco
motion. for at least generation more.
Building and Architecture.
Building and architecture so Iar as they
appeal to the sense of beauty and proper
ton are not progressive arts, though they
are alive and perhaps as productive of
as good work as in the past. Therefore
the a" ual buildings are not matter for dis
cussion in such a paper as this. though it
is earnestly to be hoped that the general
control may be under the supervision of
an architect who is really master build
er, ID the parts in relation to
the whole design of the city. If Wren had
been allowed to control the rebuilding of
burnt London. even the layout of
the streets around st. Pauls, or even to
carry out his completed design for making
Winchester Into a new and royal city
built in regard to the palace he erect
ing the hill. we might have had a con-
crete example to quote.
The choice of site in such vast do
minion is one of no ordinary difficulty and
one made the less easy because of the
scarcity of fine rivers in Australia. An
Interesting river has come to be regarded
of the nobler features of a capital
though DiayS a
able part in the idea. for rivers
longer the highways of commerce which
: they were, there is much to be said for
Including such a fine natural feature in
rational city. On the other hand the alb
scnce of a river gives freer play to the de-
sfgnerS, and offers less difficulty in the ac-
quirement of the site. for river frontages
of merit are always occupied already, and
the existing settlements would need to be
bought out and erased. In any case, the
whole site and surroundings of the capital
must be bought by the commonwealth and
kept forever in its control. At Washington
this was not effectively carried out. When
the site of the Capitol fixed 1t was
found that the lots fronting it for very
considerable dist had been bought up
~ Spectators They set SO high a price on
the ground that the builders of the city
preferred L take over the ground which
lay behind the palace which is the deliber-
atlve center of the new world. and for
years the statue of Liberty stood gazing
over unoccupied or only partly occupied
signed to watch growing up behind it.
No Building. In It's Center.
- In its actual layout" the city which is
built net and with no membranes will
probably reverse the haphazard concretion
which makes up the great towns of mod
ern Europe, of which London IS by no
means the worst example. In the ancient
city the center. the oldest and stuf4iest
part. is generally the most crowded with
buildings. and has the narrowest streets
Witness the city of London. where any one
could pitch a halfpenny from one upper
window to another across the way In
Streets and alleys where the ground is
worth sovereign a square foot. and the
buildings 50 janmed together are real
palaces. The ideal capital will have in its
Center no buildings at all. There will be
the central air well not necessarily Of very
great size, but open enough for great state
pageants- 1t should be large enough to
oXygenate the center Of the city AID to
hClc the most beautiful trees and flower
gardens, and a fine lake or ornamental
, water Around il should be grouped the
houses of parliament, the home of the i'm
perial representative and the great admin
tstrative offices of the commonwealth The
supreme court of justice would also find a
place in this central and distinguished cir
Gle, for IL would deal only with appeals
and great decisions. and not tend to gather,
around il the undesirable hangers-on who
are the inevitable accompaniment of gem
erai courts OF law and aSSiZe- There 700
were unity OF choice possible would be the
national cathedral AS state management
tends to increase minor federal boards will
need accommodation. boards of education
fisheries and forests. post Office and public
lands These can be housed in less promi-
nent positions and less decorative build
ings- But for the sake of reference and
Consultation and concert between the per-
manent heads Of federal departments and
the ministers OF the federal government
they must be easy and luick of access to
the houses of parliament. But the central
and great buildings are far simpler matter
for settlement than the general detail of
domestic domicilss. These and access from
them to the center, to each other and to
and from the country outside must all he
considered by the first builders. and from
the most practical point of view Is the
city to be laid out in blocks" as in most
towns OF the United States. or are the
roads TO rafiate from the center as at
Washington? The former is more conven-
lent. 1t gives great facilities for lighting,
drainage and water supply. The latter
STRIKES THE cOHIPCE