CANADA'S PARLIAMENT HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2688, 7 February 1916, Page 6

CANADA'S PARLIAMENT HOUSE

DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING

The most conspicuous single feature in Ottawa is the magnificent group of Government Buildings, commaiidingly situated on a bluff overlooking the Ottawa, and covering an area of four acres. They were erected in 1859-65, at a cost of over 5j000,0U0 dollars (£1,000,000), and are in a stvle of architecture based on the Gothic*of tho 12th century, combining tho elements of grace,a,nd simplicity -which the climato of tho country seems to require. A cream-coloured sandstone from tho neighbouring district, to which age is fast adding fresh beauty of colour, with arches over the doors and windows of a warm red sandstone from Potsdam and dressing of Ohio freestone, lias been happily employed—the effect of colour, apart from form, being most grateful to the eye. The architects were Fuller and Jones (Parliament Buildings) and Stent and Laver (Departmental Buildings). The buildings are surrounded by beautifully-kept lawns, diversified with flower-beds. The central building, with its fine tower (220 ft. high), is 470 ft. in length, and is occupied by the Houses of Parliament; the two wings harbour tho various Ministerial offices. Behind the main building is the Library of Parliament, a beautiful polygonal structure, with a dome supported: by graceful flying buttresses. The interior is neat and plain in its appointments, but there are good stone carvings at various points of the halls and corridors of the Parliament Building. The Senate Chamber, to the right of the entrance, . and the House of Commons, to the left, are commodious and business-like apartments. During the sitting of Parliament visitors are admitted to tho public galleries by a member's order, which strangors can generally procure on application to one of the messengers; adinission to the Speaker's gallery requires a Speaker's order. The corridor of the Senate has portraits of ex-Speakers, while the Commons Beading Room contains portraits of ex-Speakers of the House. In (■lie Railway Committee Room of the House of Commons is a large picture, by G. Harris, of , the statesmen who brought about the Confederation of the Dominion in 1867, with portraits of Sir John Macdonald,. Sir Charles Tupper, Sir Alexander Gait, the Hon. George Brown, Sir Alexander Campbell, the Hon. Thos. D'Arcy M'Gee, Sir George E. Cartier, the Hon. Joseph Howe, Sir S. Leonard Tilley, the Hon. 'William M'Dougall, and others. The building to the right contains the Departments of State, Finance, the Privy Council, Justice, and the Auditor-General, and the Indian section of 1 the Department of tho Interior; also the office of the GovernorGeneral. The left wing, the upper floor and roof of which were destroyed by fire in 1897, and since rebuilt, is devoted to the Departments of Public Works, Railways, Marine and Fisheries, Inland Revenue, Trade aiid Commerce, and' Customs. Tlie Postmaster-General, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Department of tlie Interior have their quarters in the Langovin Block or New Departmental Building, a handsome and substantial structure-at the corner of Wellington Street and Elgin Street, constructed in 1883. The only part of the interior of the Dominion Buildings on -which adornment has been lavished is the Library, which is one of tho most beautiful and convenient structures for its purpose in America. It now contains 250,000 volumes, including many on Canada, and is fre® to the public as a reference library. The bookcases and panelling are of Canadian pine, adorned with excellent carving and the arms of the Dominion and provinces. Tlie library, -which is lighted by electricity, also contains a statue of Queen Victoria, and busts of King Edward and Queen Alexandra.

The central tower affords a fine view of Ottawa, the river, the Chaudiere Falls, etc. Good views are also obtained from the walks laid out in the Parliament Hill grounds, especially from the so-called Lovers' Walk, skirting the outside of tho bluffs, and from tho arbour behind the library. In the west part of the grounds are statues of Queen Victoria (erected in 1900 to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of her accession), Alexander Mackenzie (182292), and Sir ; George Etienno Cartier (1814-731, while on the east sido is one of Sir John Macdonald (d. 1891). All of these aTe by Hebert (with the help of Hamilton MacCarthy in that of Mackenzie). ' , . In winter the river below the Parliament Buildings '■ is frozen hard, and trotting races and other sports are held on it. •