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- I do not know what he claims to be, but he is a recognised authority on the question. His words were - Canberra is distinctly inferior to Dalgety under this heading. ±t has no water frontage except the Molonglo River, which is almost dry in summer. It might be possible to conserve water in the Molonglo River by artificial means, though even then the inflow would cease in the summer. There could not be any large expanse of water for boating, &c, without immense expenditure. Iii concluding his report, he says - I have no hesitation in recording my opinion that as a site for the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth Dalgety is far superior to Canberra. In regard to the healthy climate of Dalgety, let me quote the words used By Sir joseph Carruthers at a banquet recently held there - He noticed his old friend Mr. Harnett, " the man from Snowy River," whom he had seen in Parliament for 25 years past. (Applause.) He thought that the way Mr. Harnett used to recite that poem instilled him with a desire "to come to the "roof of Australia," and see the old place where they bred the men from the Snowy River. (Applause.) Then there was his old friend, Mr. Merrett, who with a bottle of wine christened a peak which would for all time bear the speaker's name. (Applause.) He contrasted the life of the man on the land, its freedom, and contact with the bracing atmosphere, with that of the dweller in the city, and expressed the belief that there was no part of Australia that had such a splendid climate as Monaro; and not only for crops, but children. The honorable member for Lang claimed that- New South Wales had had to pay a great penalty for entering the Federation, and made the startling statement that the Protective Tariff of the Commonwealth had been the means of reducing the purchasing power of a sovereign in Sydney to 14s. I shall show by a statement recently made by the Minister of Defence regarding Federation that that is not correct.