XWIII. 



I he Hevlew of Kevlews, 



February, 



1913- 



From the Sydney Daily Telegraph. 

 THE HIGH COURT VACANCY. 

 Senator McGregor, wlieu moving the second reading' of 

 the Trade and Commerce Bill, and speaking ex cathedra 

 for the Federal Caucus: — "We want the views of our 

 party represented there, and we have them to some ex- 

 t-ent." He also declared that he looked forward to a time 

 when " the Constitution would be interpreted by the men 

 of Australia, and not by State-righters." 



New South Wales has followed the 

 The Pledge example of Victoria in dealing with 

 Cure. police court cases of drunkenness 



by introducing what is known as 

 the pledge cure. The idea is to accept a pledge of 

 total abstinence for a definite period from persons 

 locked up by the police for drunkenness. In the 

 morning, while the men are awaiting the opening 

 of the court, in the courtyard, they are interviewed 

 V authorised missioners. Rapidly deciding which 

 v>f the cases are those who might be termed casual 

 drunks, the men are told that if they will sign the 

 pledge for a given period — not less than six months 

 — the magistrate will be informed, and in all prob- 

 ability no conviction will be recorded against them. 

 It is expected that occasionally the scheme will be 

 imposed upon, but as those engaged in the work 

 get more experience this risk will be minimised. 

 One copy of the pledge has the name of the court 

 printed on it, and is kept as a court record, while 

 mother copy, with no reference whatever to the 

 court, is handed to the man who signs it. Another 



feature of the scheme is that every person signing 

 the pledge is visited in his own home during the 

 same week, and a letter is also written him encour- 

 aging him in his new resolve. The experience of 

 five years' operations of the system in Victoria is 

 said to be that 25 per cent, of the persons charged 

 sign the pledge, and 80 per cent, of these keep it. 

 At least, they are not heard of again, and are there- 

 fore given the benefit of the doubt. That there is 

 scope for some scheme of reform of this nature h 

 shown by the fact that while in 1901 there were 

 21,000 convictions for drunkenness in New South 

 Wales, in 191 1 the number had gone up to 39,000. 

 During the first six days of the new reform move- 

 ment 173 men were charged with drunkenness at 

 the Central Police Court ; 59 of these were given 

 the opportunity to sign the pledge. 



Owing to a combination of circum- 

 Tasmanian stances, the Tasmanian Government 

 Politics. 5^^^. gj. J.Q prematurely dissolve Par- 



liament and seek the relief which a 

 general election alone could give. The elections had 

 not been decided at the time of writing. The old 

 Parliament had another seven months to run, but, in 

 the language of the Premier (Mr. Solomon), " the 

 situation had become intolerable in the interests of ^ 

 government and the progress of the State, and the 

 session has been full of trickery and spleen." The 

 Labour Party had shown its attitude toward immi- 

 gration by refusing to allow assistance towards pa.s- 

 sage money being granted to any persons but those 

 who are relatives of Tasmanian residents. This the . 

 Government regarded as no small matter, for, com- 

 pared with tTie attitude of the other States, it placed 

 a serious check on any scheme of immigration which 

 might be recommended by the Tasmanian Agent- 

 General, who was formulating proposals for the 

 introduction of suitable colonists, so badlv needed. 

 The issue was one '" not of policy but principle. The 

 Government accepted office under difficult circum- 

 stances, and had during the recent session carried 

 through its programme in the face -of ceaseless 

 opposition. It was for the electors \o decide which 

 party had shown most consideration for the good 

 name and future of the State, and to judge accord- 

 ingly."' In his latest manife.sto to the electors Mr. 

 Solomon declared that the Lalx)ur Party had con- 

 sistently opposed every measure of a progressive 

 nature, and had sacrificed political honour in its 

 attempt to gain office. It had attempted to drag 

 the name of th*^ Governor of the State into the re- 



