April, ;9I2. 



History of the month. 



L ntortuiiat(.-l_\ , tix), there were enough im-n uilling 

 to go, quite apart from the merits of the dispute. 

 Those who stood out are to be congratulated, for 

 they could not have accede^ to- the demands of the 

 Hoard without casting aside all their self-resixjct. 

 <Jn the i)oint in dispute, as to whether the players 

 had the right to .iiijjoint their own manager, there 

 IS no doubt wh.iiever that Hill and his comrades 

 were right. 



'i he South Australian Parliament, 

 Aus\rall'aii '"acting under the new administra- 

 I'arliament. tion, .set to work to elect its 



S]K-aker. Not so long ago, the 

 .S|)(-aker was looked upon as a life-long occupant 

 of the chair, but the last few years have made the 

 .ipixnntment a party one. • The T'ederal Labour 

 I'arty set the example when it set aside Dr. Cartv 

 ."s.ilmon, the then Speaker, for one of their own 

 niimlier, and it is now generally regarded as the 

 [iroper thing to cnnsider the chair as being in' the 

 r>ow<>r of gift of the Government. Con.sequentlv 

 .Mr. Jacks<jn gi\>-s place to Mr. O'Loughlin, a 

 ^ujjporter of the Government. Mr. O'Loughlin 

 i\ill gr.ace his position with the orthodo.x Speaker's 



rnl)es, whicli -Mi. Jack.soii cast .iside a.s a relic of 

 barbaric days. 



The A.N. A. of Victoria is one of 

 The A.N. A. that State's greatest friendly 

 and (iambling. societies. It met- during the month 

 at its annual sessions. Mr. 

 Deakiii g.ive the members some good advice in urg- 

 ing members to do what they could to carry on poli- 

 tical educalioM throughout the country. An interest- 

 ing discussicjn Kx)k place on a resolution .submitted 

 to the meeting in fa\our of establishing .m annual 

 art union in connection with the .sixnety. It is grati- 

 fving that the motion was <lefeated. It would be 

 a long step backward for a society to take that aims 

 at the attainment of great national ideals. But 

 more th.m tliat, it would have lieen a sad thing for 

 a communit\ which so recently aii<l so successfully 

 carried on a cam]>aign against gambling. The 

 Trades Hall Council was the fir.st to turn back in 

 the uj)ward march. The present Government is very 

 lax with regard to the issue of ix-rmits. Hut if the 

 .■\.-\.A. had decided to fall in line with the gam- 

 bling j)roi)ensitie.> of the Trades Hall, gambling 

 would have received a great imjietus. The decision 

 of the -A.N'.A. was in favour of the best things. 



Are Wc Killing Our Aborigines ? 



.•\ few days .igo I received from tin- Editor-in- 

 Chief of the Revie:w of Reviews in London, Mr. 

 W. T. Sle.'ifl. .1 li-ttir cont, lining the fnllnwiiig 

 vtract : 



My atteiilmn lin^ liccii once nioir (h;i\\'ii uri^ftillv 

 ■"> till' iilli-t{)iti<>iis ttiat an- coiistaiitly ap))iiiriiif; in 

 till' |>ri-.s.s a.s -«ii the ill-tieatiiii'iit to which the 

 abori<;iiiHl iiiliabit;iiitri of .Vtistralia arc subjected. 

 Tlieso .stati-niciits. althoii|;li positively iiiado by per- 

 sons wlio profcs.s to be ill a position to spciili with 

 otberi. whiKB reprpsciitative position ^'ives tbeir words 

 flr.st-haiul iiifornial iuii, are iii(li);nantly coiitiadicteil hv 

 con-^il|c^.■lbll• \Mii;hi : hut there i.s a very nnea.sy sus- 

 picion that the Aii-l lalian aboritiinc is bciiin cliniiii- 

 atMl from Aiisti iili;. , as lii.s brothers wore o)iininati<l 

 fioni Tahniania." 



Mr. .Stead went on to say that reports of cruel 

 treatment meted i.ut to .iborigines were persistent 

 in England, that he would like me to com 

 itiunicate with as many persons as ])0ssibie who 

 would lie lik<'K to sa\ anything aulh<iritali\e either 

 for or .ig.iinst. .unl that it was desir.ible ili^it llic 

 irnlh should oive and for all l>o made manifest: if 

 the statements were untrue, that the lies should b? 

 nailed u|i and burled. My (iwn piisiiinn in th,- 

 matter is that such ^weeping statements are untrue, 

 that it is a lil)el on .\ustralians to sav it, that owing 

 lo past l.ix administration, huge distances, the difli- 

 iult\ of carrying on individual supervision over 

 huge areas, arul the general difficulties of the iiroblem, 

 iliere have lieen without doubt cases of indivi<hial 

 nieltv. anfl the natives on the borders of civilisa- 



tion have been ilenioralised in drink and immoral- 

 itv. Hut of late there has been constant imiirove- 

 ment in superx isinn and care. I shall not, how- 

 ever, iliscuss the situation here, but .shall reserve 

 that, for I do not wish to coioiu" what I am now 

 going to a.sk for. I cordially invite anyone, no 

 matter who he or she may be, in exalted or humble 

 liositiiHi, who is interested in the alxirigine question, 

 to write to me fully. If thev know of cases of 

 cruelty to the natives, of their being shot ilown with 

 .1 \ iew to ext<-rminalion. of their demoralisation by 

 ilrink or lust, of any one expressing the opinion 

 that " they would not contribute to an ecclesiastical 

 business enterprise, but that they would willingly 

 contribute money to buy powder to shoot the natives 

 down, but to save them alive — No !" (this is an ex- 

 ir.ict from a letter written from -Australia to Mr. 

 Steail), I shall lie glad to hear from them. But 

 statements must be specific, and must be cap- 

 able of \<Tification. General statements on he.irsay 

 will nut be of the slightest ust; in .m investigation 

 of this kind. Gn the ofher h.ind, if anvone can 

 tell of fx'tter treatment, and c.in. al.so, aiithori- 

 tativelv denv the cli.irges that ;ire made, T ho|)C they 

 will communicate with me tixi. Let all who have 

 am thing to sav on the matti'r write to me without 

 delay. Mr. \V. H. Judkins. Review' ny KKViiiws. 

 Melbourne, will suffice for adilress. 



In i)ursu,-mce f)f the question. I i)ublish a 

 letter from Mr. Josiah Thnmas, the Minister for 



