SHOOTING OF PERCY BROOKFIELD.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17107, 31 March 1921, Page 7

SHOOTING OF PERCY BROOKFIELD.

THE IRONY OP TATE.

(fRdM OTfll OWN CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, March 22,

It ia the irony of fate that Percy BrooMeld, tie big and handsome Bolshevik member of tho New South Wales Parliament should have been fatally shot by one of the Russian extremists whom ho, in season and out, always defended. Mr Brookfield was thoroughly and severely cursed by most of the people who did not know him; while everyone who did know him, whether a political opponent of not, loved him. He was one of the most remarkable figures in Parliament in this country. He intensely hated all the things which he regardod as tyranny, and' ho saw tyranny everywhere. He denounced the things he hated in unmeasured terms, and his extreme language brought him Constantly into conflict with the law. Ho had been prosecuted, fined, and even gaoled times without number. Yet—such Wfire his personal (Juftlitiea —his fines were often paid by his bitterest political opponents. Ho had a biting tongue, a remarkabl6 sense of humour, and a good temper. This combination of qualities had this effect—that the men whom he savagely attacked in debate loved him the more for it. Only a fortnight ago, addressing the unemployed in Sydney, Bfookfield made a most remarkablo speech. "You and J*ouf children are hungry." he 'said, "There in the shops, 19 tin abundance of good food. Go and take it—fight for it, if necessary. That is not stealing, in the circumstances." Everyone deplored speech, yet no one suggested the prosecution' of fifook field. The explanation was that everyone who knew nim, knew that the man, however mistaken his ideas, was 'sincerely and passionately in earnest, find that he t would personally suffer anything in justification of his ideas and ideals. He has been called—by virtue. of his complete unselfishness—"the only genuine Labour Wan in Parliament/' Most politicians are selfseeker's. No one eould accuse Brook* field of that. He was the strong attd fearless tvpe of man who would do just the thing that OOst him his life—rush an armed tiirtdftiati Who Was trying to murder inoffensive people. His tragic death has caused ft most painful shock to the tens of thousands whose champion he waspas well as to thousands of others who denounced him for his pro-Bolshevik and pto-I.W.W. activities, and fof his bitter opposition to the war and to conscription.