PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 



233 



State men, for Federal Liberals would 

 undoubtedly themselves seek for fuller 

 powers for the Commonwealth if they 

 came to office. They have approved of 

 St .cTal of the Referenda proposals, pro- 

 viding certain amendments were made. 

 Xo elector can plead that he or she did 

 not have the proposals adequately ex- 

 i:)lained, for everyone entitled to vote 

 received a pamphlet setting forth the 

 pros and cons of each of the questions 

 to be submitted. Lucid and succinct 

 statements, prepared b\- competent 

 authorities on the opposing sides, 

 placed before the elector just the in- 

 formation required. No one can accu- 

 rately forecast the far-reaching results 

 which will follow if the Commonwealth 

 obtains the powers asked for, but the 

 pamphlet does sum up the proposals in 

 a most useful way. It is rather signifi- 

 cant of the methods of the two parties 

 that at Mr. Fisher's meeting in the Mel- 

 bourne Town Hall no ticket' of admis- 

 sion was required, but at Mr. Deakin's 

 Liberal rally in the same place tickets 

 were very carefully apportioned, so 

 that our silver-tongued orator preached 

 only to the converted, in Melbourne at 

 an\' rate. Several interesting contests 

 are taking place. Mr. Fisher will have 

 a hard fight to retain his seat. His con- 

 stituenc}' is no longer a mining one, 

 and he has a strong and popular 

 opponent. On the other side, Mr. 

 Irvine, owing largely to the presence of 

 the workmen engaged on the naval 

 base at Western Port, runs considerable 

 risk of being unseated. Undismayed 

 by previous reverses, Miss Goldstein is 

 again making a gallant fight to enter 

 the Federal House. An Independent 

 candidate, Mr. Renwick, is running as 

 a Freetrader for the Senate m Victoria. 

 His candidature is clearly chiefly 

 directed against Mr. Mauger, but it 

 would not be altogether a surprise to 

 find this stalwart reformer represent- 



ing \'ictoria, with two Labour col- 

 leagues, in the Senate. 



Industrial Strife. 



The industrial atmosphere of New 

 South Wales continues aggressive to a 

 degree, and is having a stifling effect 

 on trade generally. The Darling Har- 

 bour railway men's strike temporarily 

 paralysed the goods' traffic, and the 

 State was on the verge of a general 

 strike for se\eral days. The firm atti- 

 tude adopted by Chief Commissioner 

 Johnson and his announcement that 

 the strikers would not be taken on 

 again unless they returned to work by 

 a given hour on a given day, along 

 with the Government's promise of a 

 Royal Commission, brought the strike 

 to an end. Public feeling was against 

 the strikers for refusing to recognise 

 the Arbitration Court as a peaceable 

 channel of settlement, and not against 

 the demands of the men for better con- 

 sideration. No time has been lost in 

 setting the Royal Commission to work. 

 Mr. A. B. Piddmgton, K.C., has been 

 appointed Commissioner, and he sat 

 for the first time on April 24. The 

 scope of the commission is very wide- 

 The matters to be inquired into in- 

 clude questions which arose out of the 

 recent railway strike, the principles of 

 industrial arbitration, the effect of in- 

 dustrial awards on State enterprises, 

 the relation of industrial awards to 

 early closing, conditions of labour in 

 railways good sheds, the cancellation 

 of the registration as an industrial 

 union of the New South Wales Amal- 

 gamated Railway and Tramway Ser- 

 \'ice Association, the provision of more 

 effective means for the prevention of 

 strikes and lockouts, and for the en- ' 

 forcement of awards. A pretty big 

 order, surely. The McGowen Govern- 

 ment are going strongly in the matter 

 of ro}"al commissions ; but they can 



