THE PROPOSED AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.']
Sra,—It would appear from recent Australian cablegrams that Tumut is the prospective capital of the Commonwealth. It fell to my lot, when I was resident in New South Wales, to pay several visits to that remote spot,—visits that left more than an ordinary impression on my memory of extensive travels in the "back blocks." Tumut, to a degree rare in Australian townships, presents a fresh, bright-green picture even in the hottest seasons marked in other parts by drought and burnt-up vegetation. This boon it owes to its river, which, more constant than most rivers "out West," whose summer tendency is towards disappearance, never fails in its supplies. Naturally, agriculture is the best-paying industry of the district, maize and tobacco forming the chief crops, the excellence of the former being such as to make its market price take a permanent place at the top of the list. To this unfailing fertility also is due the fact that stock from other parts of the State is sent to graze at Tumut in time of drought. The township itself, although not imposing—its present population is only some thirteen hundred—is pic- turesque. It lies on a hillside, its main street sloping towards the river, which is at that point crossed by a pretty wooden bridge. The view by the river is quaint and peaceful, and were it not for some giant gum trees that form a background to the willows by the edge of the river, the scene might be taken for a glimpse of the Old Country. The "homelike" effect is heightened by the hedges of briar-bush backed by rows of poplars. The Australian touch is seen when with the briar mingles the acacia—" the golden-tufted wattle," emblem of the Commonwealth—which in springtime s'.3te the countryside aglow. Tumut was founded as a gold- mining centre, and for that reason started on its career with a plethora of banks. In the present quiet of its bucolic existence, however, four banks are sufficient. Half-a-dozen stores, ten hotels, four churches and two schools, a fine post-office and a School of Arts, make the grand total of its larger buildings. The houses are of the bungalow type crowned by corrugated- iron roofs, and having verandahs the length and depth of which are in direct proportion to the social status of their in- dwellers. Owing to its elevation—it lies on the northern elope of the Kosciuskan group, the culminating point of the Australian Continent—Tumut enjoys a cool climate. This is reflected in its fruits, which range from all the English berries to the subtropic products,—peaches, grapes, and Passion fruit. Its isolation from the main streams of inter-State traffic is at present complete. Twenty miles, covered daily by the mail coach, separate it from the nearest railway terminus, fifty from the nearest junction on the Sydney to Melbourne route. Its position is, however, curiously central, since it is half-way between Sydney and Melbourne, and lies equidistant from Adelaide and Brisbane, thus commanding on fairly equal terms the capitals of the Eastern States, New South Wales and Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.—I am, Sir, &cc., E. L. C. WATSON.
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