February, 1912. 



history of the Month, 



others of tin- New Soutli Wales iMily was coneil. 

 and sat in jiulf^nient on thfir conferenee, and especi- 

 allv the Anstialian Workers' Union, which dealt 

 such sliiiginji lilows at I.aliour men who dared to 

 oppose the Federal party. And there is possibly a 

 feeling that di{;nity would be ofl'ended if any owi- 

 tures were accepted. Ortainh . if they were, it 

 wi.uhl be a great trinmph for Sir. Holman, and a 

 ojm|)lete vnulication of the stand that he took. 

 Surely no one would object to be gi\en most of die 

 things, and the most important, that he has been 

 fighting for. If he does, there is some other govern- 

 ing rea.son. And burrowing behind the Hobart 

 Conference's f|ui<-t ignoring of anv probable pro- 

 ])osals, one liuds the reas(^>n. .\n accei)tance would 

 mean that Mr. Holman was rigiit in his methods, 

 and the Federal Party wrong. So, e\en though 

 the Federal Government could this year get the 

 greater part of the control it wants, it refuses to 

 lake it, and so attempts to " save its face." One 

 wonders how much true con\iction lies behind the 

 brave front of the party. Had the proposal come 

 from oii])onents it would have b<-en different. It 

 came J rum the Partv's own ranks. 



the 

 Programme. 



'riif i-(inleren:c rearrangi-cl its pro- 

 The ()rJer>)f tr,;inime somewhat, changing the 

 position ot some of the ])hinks. It 

 stands now as follows: — (1) Main- 

 tenance of a White Australia. (2) Maintenance of 

 gr.iduated tax on imimproved land \;dues where 

 estates are over ^[5000 in \alue. (3) Fflectixe 

 Federation. The inclusion in the Constitution of 

 the jxnvers asked for on April 26, 191 1. (4) The 

 new [)rotection. (5) Nationalisation of m(jno])olies. 

 (6i Arbitration Act amendment. (7) Na\igation 

 laws. (8) Commonwealth freight and passenger 

 steamers. (9) Uestriciion of public borrow ing. (10) 

 General insurance department, with non-political 

 managemenl. (11) Commonwealth sugar relim-ry. 

 (12) Cixil e(|ualitv f)f men and women. (13) .\'a\al 

 and military expenditure to be allotted from pro- 

 ceeds of direct taxation. (14) lnitiati\f and referen- 

 dum. (15) L'niforni laws of marriage anil div<irce. 

 One effect of the Fc-ileral (jovernmetu's refusal to 

 accept anv ])roposals that are made will be to 

 strengthen the Stat<- parties. It will mean organisa 

 tion and conflict, and in that regard the I,alH)in- 

 (.'(inference was not tactful. 



W'hal will .Mr. Ilolniaii and .Mr. 



What will the MrGf)wen do? Thev have per- 



Insurgcnts l»o f ^^^^^.,\ i„ d^.j^ ,l,.sire' to give the 



Federal Government most of what 

 it wants, anrl sa\s it wants badiv and cannot do 

 without, iiiit will do without ralher than acce]ii it 

 from these gentlemen, and so are running counter 

 to the resolution of the highest <'Ourt of the i)arty, 

 ,1 court which insists th.it if any IkhK' doe's not follow 

 their commands, they must go out. And the.se two 



gentlemen ha\e put up such a brave fight and borne 

 so much opprobrium from their own party that it 

 can hardly lie concei\ed that they will dumbly fall 

 into line. One cannot help ho])ing that for the sake 

 of sweet consistency they will hold fast to their 

 lines. It is a national calamity when no regard is 

 held for her bv politicians, or anyone else, for that 

 matter. 



One of the most notable features of 



Mr. Fisher the Conference was the leadership 



an< History. assumed by .Mr. Watson. If he 



continues to tread the path he is 

 pursuing, he will b>' Prime Minister again some 

 day. Another notable thing was the prominence 

 again gi\'en to Mr. Fisher's lamentable ignorance of 

 history — his forgetfulness of dates and happenings. 

 He is continually having to be [)ut right. His latest 

 flight of fancy was an incursion to the regions of 

 the history of sweating and the means taken to 

 alxilish it. His statement implied that the advent 

 of the Lalxjiu' Party to Federal j)ower marked the 

 bc-ginning of an era w'hen sw-eating was first suc- 

 cessfully combated. Evidently for Mr. Fisher the 

 sun rose for the first time when Lalxiin- came into 

 |)rominence at Federation. Prior to that the world 

 had struggled along in .Stygian darkness. The 

 facts are that the most herculean efforts to light 

 sweating have l)een made by men not associated with 

 the I.abi;ur Party, and were made before the I.alKiur 

 Partv was born. The Hon. Samuel Mauger, who 

 I note with pleasure has alreadv decided to contest 

 a seat at the next Federal elections, and the Rev. 

 A. 1\. I''.dgar, are the two men who must haxe the 

 honour given them of wearing the laurel in connec- 

 tion with this great anil righteous cau.se. Twenty 

 years ago they unfurled their banner, and a mightily 

 unpo|)ular one it was, but they fought valiantly and 

 won. Does Mr. F'isher forget that the great prin- 

 ci])le of wages lioards, which constitute the itleal of 

 industrial conciliation machinery, was brought in by 

 .Sir .\lexander Peacwk, and without any jiressure 

 either? Fortimately futtu-e historians, writing 

 a hundred years hence, will ha\e authi'inic rwords 

 to draw u|)on. Some of the best things done for 

 the denux'racv in .Austialasia have been don<' by 

 men who stood in the I.ibrr.il interest for tlu' whole 

 of the Jieoiile. 



due must regret th.ii the Holiart 



Preferential Conference rejecti'd a motion allirm- 



VotlDg. i„g (I),. (Icsirabilily of using the ))re- 



ferential voting system at l-'ederaf 



elections. One could hardly wonder at it, of 



<(nnse, for had it l)cen used at the last elections, the 



Labour Party would have l>een defeated. As it is, 



tii<-y held power on a total minority vote. There is 



not the slightest likeliho<id that a measure like this 



will be passed during the reign of the LalKiin- 



Parly. It is ralher a reflection on any party tliat 



it is unwilling to a<Iopt a method that more thau 



