The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1943-05-20
American Idea
Down Under
BY K. vELLACOTT-JONES

recovering from the last war, anC
Australia was little more than 6
name to most Americans, a young
/ Chicago architect sat in his office
above the busy streets planning d
garden city. More fortunate than
most idealists, his dream became a
reality, and today a handful of
Americans turn aside for a moment
from the stress of war duties to adj
mire this city built according to their
countryman's plan. But when they dc
so, they are not on American soil for
the city is Canberra, the capital OF
Australia.
And today this city which Walter
Burnley Griffin designed for the Aus
tralian nation is now in partnership
with Washington committed to the
great task of restoring peace to the
Pacific. Moreover, its name has been
given to a United States cruiser-the
first of its class to be given a non
American name.
1t is a city full of surprises, for
although it has been designed for an
ultimate population of many thou
sands, only ten thousand people have
their permanent home within its Dor
ders Within the city's circle of far
flung hills no smokestacks mar the
view, no slums mock its beauty, and,
discreetly hidden, humble little
railway depot deposits astonished
visitors on the fringe of the Nations
capital.
Geographically, Canberra lies 200
miles slightly southwark of Sydney,
500 miles from Melbourne, and about
1900 miles from Perth. the capital of
Western Australia. An area of 900
square miles has been set aside as
Federal Commonwealth Territory
within the State of New South Wales,
and its borders lie in a direct line
some 80 miles from Jcrvis Bay on
the coast.
Canbcrra's history is unique When
the first paStoralists discovered the
peaceful valley with its winding
stream and sheltering blue hills, the
convict system in Australia was just
drawing to close Australian blacks
Rad already endowed it with a name,
Kanbery, and thereafter for almost a
century the sturdy pioneers mustered
their flocks and went their quiet way
little dreaming of the future which
awaited their humble valley.
Between January, 1911, when the
choice of Canberra as the future
capital was ratified, and May, 1927,
when the formal opening of Parlia
ment House took place, Canberra had
changed from a quiet sunlit valley to
city in the making. A few of the old
buildings in the district were retained,
one being a church built in 1871,
whose spire is still landmark, an
other a beautiful pastoral homestead
which was subsequently converted
into the official residence of Austria
LAS Governors General, and the
third, a tiny stone hut built by an
ex-convict when employed as shep-
herd on the great sheep runs which
formerly occupied all the land within
the district for many miles around.
#*
Within the city's $4,000 acres, eX-
tensivc areas have been reserved as
sites on which the generations of to-
morrow will build their homes in de-
lightful residential districts. They
will also find carefully planned loca-
ions for additional government Of
fices. the site of the permanent
Parliament House which will one day
replace the present structure, and all
with their setting unspoiled by hap
hazard building schemes.
Meanwhile flocks of sheep shop
hcrdcd by picturesque figure on
horseback and accompanied by his
willing dogs wander across these open
spaces, lending an atmosphere of
rustic charm to the heart Of the city.
Near by is the Royal Military Col
lcgc, a naval training center, landing
grounds for the planes of the various
air services. and one of the finest War
Memorial in the world.
Canbcrra has public parks and
gardens, golf links, bowling greens,
sports grounds, tree-lincd avenues,
and delightful stretches of virgin
husband on cvcrybody's doorstep, all
connected by network of fine sur
faced roads. Business areas arc con-
centratcd in specially designed civic
centers, and the unsightly corner
shop, the haphazard service station
and the glazing effrontery of adver-
Using signs just do not exist The
nations ultra-modcrn research lab
oratorics arc bordcrcd by old kurra-
long trees under the shadow of a hill
as wild and rugged as when the
blacks made their last campfire
there. In front of the National Lii
hrary are the formal gardens sur
rounding Parliament House, and be-
hind it a strip of husband where a
sleepy pony grazes. Yet for all its
dignificd progress, Canbcrra retains
something of the rare peace and
charm of an old-worId village.