THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIV, Issue 2, 10 January 1901, Page 19

THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH.

January 1 was a red-letter day in the history of Australia, for on the first day of the new year and of the century was inaugurated the Australian Commonwealth. Trie swearing-in of the GovernorGeneral took place in Sydney, and the auspicious event was made the occasion for the most impressive and imposing demonstration which has ever been witnessed in the Southern Hemisphere. The people of Sydney rose to the occasion, and on the morning of the new year the principal streets presented a magnificent sighttriumphal arches, flags, flowers, and festoons of greenery meeting the eye everywhere, the decorations being on a lavish scale. A procession was formed in the Domain, and proceeded through the principal streets to the Centennial Park, where the swearing-in ceremony took place. What lent additional eclat to the proceedings was the presence of representatives of the British army, consisting of Indian troops and the crack British and Irish regiments, with the visiting troops from the colonies, including New Zealand. The principal visitors from the other colonies occupied carriages in the procession, which was viewed by close on 750,000 persons, and took two hours to traverse the route from the Domain to the Park. In the evening there was a great state banquet in the Town Hall, when the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, several Mew Zealand legislators, and other distinguished visitors from the Colony were present. Mr Seddon delivered an eloquent speech in responding to the toast of ' The visitors.' The celebrations in various forms were continued daring the week.