I think there can be no difference of opinion that both were violated. Had the contractor merely desired to make merry with the "troops of friends" he undoubtedly possesses, the occasion would have been a sufficiently legitimate one, without the addition of plumes borrowed by French leave, and if I add that the foundation arrangements appeared to give satisfaction to an exclusive coterie, and that the occasion was allowed to sink-to the level of a semi-private jollification, simply from the exercise of good feeling, and a correct taste on the part of the public, it was, nevertheless, understood that the Governor would lend the additional prestige of his office and presence at the opening ceremonial.
And this had its justification, inasmuch as the construction of this bridge was a ne plus ultra undertaking in the heart of the metropolis of the Colony, over the destinies of which His Excellency presides as the honoured representative of the Queen-mother of the son after whose patronymic the bridge is specially named.
But, as the time arrived, local jealousies again cropped up, and instead of the jubilation we were led to expect, the opening event was allowed to pass unhonoured and unsung—that is, save and except the gathering of a political Minister's clientèle, and consumption (by them) of the cold meats remaining from the Mayor's ball held the night before in the Melbourne Town Hall.
The sum of this humiliating state of things is nearly complete. Suffice it to note that Mr. Contractor Munro once more stepped between duty and inclination, and sacrificed the former to a momentary gratification of the latter. The Government could not negotiate for the final ceremony until the work had been placed under their control, and the contractor could not hand over the bridge until it was finished. The Governor was powerless to take action unsolicited. Mr. Munro, doubtless, courted any additional kudos that might come in the search for popularity, but the people would have experienced a conjunctive satisfaction if His Excellency could have driven over the structure in state (which he did) and declared it open for public traffic at the same time (which he did not). The "double event" might have come off, but that it was forestalled by the contractor personally inviting the Governor to cross the bridge (before its completion) with his retinue, on his road from Government House, on the opening of Parliament. This, of course, gave umbrage to the "powers that be," and once more the "power that would be" triumphed. The Government rather inconsistently, not to say pettishly, held that the Governor's drive across (which, in reality, he was merely invited to do for comfort's sake, to avoid the mud-pools in the St. Kilda road), constituted a virtual "opening" of the bridge. Still the Minister of Public Works was deputed, subsequently, to enact the hollow farce of walking on to the new highway, and proclaiming a fact the public already enjoyed, for traffic had been going on for some time.
There was no gathering of the Masonic and other bodies, as on the opening of the first Prince's Bridge; no prayers for a blessing; no bands playing; no colours flying; no "enthusiastic rejoicings of the inhabitants;" no "Union Jack proudly unfurled," as of old time. The Ministry were represented by a solitary subordinate member of it, whose senseless punctilio has cast a shadow over an event which should have been emblazoned on the scroll of years to come, with all the pomp and circumstance of a glorious, if not a mighty, achievement; and the Prince's Bridge of 1888 will remain alike a monument of the Colony's energy, wealth, and progress; a reproach to the supineness of a captious Government; and a silent testimony of the selfishness of a favoured few, who, by their secluded libations to Bacchus, cast ridicule on what should have been an enthusiastic democratic demonstration by the people.
Laying the Foundation Stone.
This event took place on Tuesday, the 7th September, 1886, and the Melbourne Argus of the following day thus reports the proceedings:—
"The weather in the morning was threatening, but rain did not fall until after the ceremony, which was performed under pleasant and auspicious circumstances. Admission to the enclosure surrounding the site of the bridge was by ticket. The persons invited were admitted at the gateway on the northern side of the river, and crossed by a temporary footbridge to the spot at which the foundation-stone was to be laid on the southern side. The massive stone was suspended on a movable crane over the abutment on which "it is to rest. Planks were laid down on the excavated area around the stone, and on the
