“My thoughts are with you on the day of the important ceremony.  Most fervently do I wish Australia prosperity and great happiness.”

REPLY TO THE KING

The following telegram was despatched by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York to His Majesty the King immediately after the opening ceremony: 

“I have just delivered your message, and, in your name, declared open the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.  I also read your kind telegram of good wishes, which is deeply appreciated by your loving Australian subjects, and was received with great enthusiasm.  Splendid and impressive ceremony, over 12,000 people in Exhibition-building.”

MESSAGE FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT

When the newly-elected President of the Federal Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives were presented to His Excellency the Governor-General at the Old Treasury buildings yesterday afternoon, Lord Hopetoun intimated to them and to the members of the Commonwealth Legislature who were present that he had received the subjoined message from the Secretary of State for the Colonies: 

“His Majesty’s Government welcomes the new Parliament that to-day takes its place among the great legislative bodies of the British Empire and they feel confident that it will be a faithful interpreter of the aspirations of a free and loyal people, and they trust that its deliberations will promote the happiness, prosperity, and unity of the whole continent of Australia.”

The message was subsequently read in both Houses of the Federal Parliament, and received with cheers.

THE BOER WAR

+Source.+—­The Times History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902, Vol.  III, pp. 30-31, 34-35; Vol.  IV, p. 428

The clash of interests in South Africa between settlers of Dutch and of British origin gave rise to much ill-feeling, and in 1899 Great Britain decided to annex the South African Colonies in order to protect the interests of her subjects.  In the ensuing struggle the Colonies freely offered support, both moral and physical.

Of all the colonies the Australian ones were the most directly interested in the South African controversy.  In view of the vast and increasing trade between Australia and the mother-country, the safety of the Cape route must always be a question of the very highest importance in the eyes of Australian statesmen.  And apart from such considerations of contingent self-interest, Australians had strong personal feelings over the issue between Kruger and the Uitlanders.  Australian miners formed no small section of the population of the Rand.  Australians were under no illusions as to the idyllic character of the peasant-owners of the Transvaal.  As soon as the crisis became acute, public meetings were held all over the Australian