AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1116, 2 May 1911, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

THE REFERENDUM. LAST W.OBDS BEFORE THE BATTLE. Sydney, April 20. The l'oderal Referendum is lo be taken to-day. Both the morning papers have sirongly-worded leaders oil the subject this morning, and nearly all the party spokesmen have published final' manifestoes. Both sides seem rather unwilling la give any forecast of tiio result. The "Herald" s.;>.ys this morning:—"The issue is between freedom and tyranny, between safely and. disaster, between :-ei;isv:i:e.--s and such sense of seeial duty as wo can attain. How is revolution to be accomplished? By ringbnrking (ho rights of the States, by paralysing I ho Stata Parliaments, by hurling lo ruin all successful attempts at industrial arbitration, and,, per contra, by centralising all' authority and all control. These ara the im media to and obvious evils \rith which we are threatened. What more may bo behind, only the ingenuity of the law can discover alter long and costly litigation. But what we can see amounts to nothing less than revolution, and the revolutionists glory in the fact. To-day, however, the common sense of the community has the chance to assert itself. TheA is a saving virtue in the common senso of the silent majority. Once aroused to action it generally opposes an insurmountable barrier to excess of all kinds. That it will be aroused to-day in its most effectivo form is the prayer of oil who nave the real well-being of Australia at heart." The "Telegraph" direct- lis nnal exhortation mainly at the apathetic citizen. "Tho elector who is entrusted with a vote and declines to use it because of his skulking will not be exempted from the consequences of the decision arrived at by the others. The position is this: An attack is being made upon tho independence of the State, and every elector who dees not actively resist that attack has to either actively or passively support it. And, whatever ho does, he wmi -c' the same share of tho fruits of victory or the fruits of defeat as the elector who takes a responsible citizen's part. . . . Were it proposed to take the smallest right away from this State without consulting the people, many of those who find it too much trouble to vote ftould be the most indignant at being thus reduced to the position of serfs, which, when left to themselves, they occupy with a complacent laziness or indifference unworthy of tho sons of free men. UK. HUGHES AND THE TRUSTS. Mr. 'Wade has done much excellent platform work during the campaign, but perhaps his most effective point is his latest, deferring to Mr. Hughes's "measured abuso of tho trusts." Mr. Wade remarked: "It is interesting to read the following statement by this same gentleman only a short time ago, when the Liberal party was taking steps lo provide machinery for the protection of the public against the aggressions of monopolies and trusts. When it suited him ho was then an ardent defender of the trust. Here's 'an extract from an article published by Mr. Hughes on the subject:— 'It is not only illogical and unfair to complain about the trusts; it is also very foolish. For the trust is really a laboursaving device and the latest and most effective. Tho anti-Socialist, who wishes to destroy trusts is like the old Luddites who wished to destroy machinery. The early trades unionists fell into.the vulgar error of regarding machinery as a device of the Evil One, which ought to bo destroyed. They liave now learned better; tiltj- no longer s?ek to destroy machinery, but to control it. But tho anti-Socialist is still a troglodyte in. this matter, lie wants to club the trust. Yet tho trust or combine is not merely a labour-saving device, but tho best arid the lntes'. ni that, but it marks a notable enoclt ill the history of production and oi' civilisation. Tho central ideas of the combine are cooperation and systcmatisntion. It substitutes order for chaos and combination for competition. It talies cognisance of factors utterly ignored by the o'ld barbaric ways of out-throat competition.' Tho public can now' see," concluded Mr Wade "how far the versatile Air. Hughes is lo be relied upon." A LABOUR DEADLOCK. "Wc are between the devil and the keep sea," said Dr. A. Schiedel, managing director of the Commonwealth Portland Cement Company, yesterday. "On tho one hand the Sydney wharf labourers refuse to handle our cement in bags, on tho other our men at tho works stato that they "would refuse to pack the cement in casks, becauso of the extra' dust they would oncouuter." In the course of aii interview, Dr. Scheidel said that Dr. Arthur had conducted an independent inquiry at the Portland works 011 Saturday last, and had questioned a number of the hands. Everyone assured tho doctor that lie had never suffered in health as a result of the cement dust. Further, tho local medical practitioner had informed Dr. Arthur that after five y-nrs' experience at Portland 110 had not' been able to trace a single caso of ill-health arising as a result of the cement dust. A prominent member of a union aEliated with the Labour Council expressed the. opinion that the members of the Wharf Labourers' Union were at tho present time making exceptionally good money 011 the wharves, and could afford to pick and choose thoir work. They were not anxious to load cement when there Was plenty of more congenial work to do, a'jd so far as he could see that was the long and short of the wharf labourers' refusal lo handle tho cement. Since the trouble began 276 men have been paid off at the Portland works. There is a general feeling of unrest in the town, but hope* of settlement are held out in some quarters. It is considered that there is great danger of losing the export trade. A JUDGE'S PROTEST. "One of these days I will discharge every prisoner not. brought up for trial. That'would be taking gaol delivery, and at present I am not doing my just" duty. I do not like reflecting 011 the administration of the gaols, but I am compelled to make these remarks." Tho foregoing were Mr. Justice Pring's concluding remarks when taking the gaol delivery at the conclusion of the Circuit Court at Armidale. His Honour took exception to the way in which some prisoners had been left in the gaols awaiting trial. There were three men awaiting trial in Tamwortli gaol who might have been brought beforo him. One was committed as far back as February, and had already spent two months in gaol, while others were committed in March. These men might be innocent. The Judge, continuing, said he had repeatedly stated that circuit courts were constituted for the purpose of delivering gaols of all untried prisoners. If the question of expense was raised it was quite indefensible, as 110 expense should be spared in the. administration of justice. If accused per-.-ons desired to remain in gaol for another court it was another thing. FEDERAL CAPITAL DELAY. Tho Federal Government is searching Melbourno for premises for the Federal clothing and saddlery factories. A building to cost, about .£IO,OOO is also being erected in Melbourne for tho accommodation of two or three new Federal Departments. These things do not look like an early' removal to Yass-Canberra. It is pointed out thyt if the Federal Government should go to Yass-Canberra it will still require huge buildings in Melbourne, i It does not seem to require huge buildings in any other city. The clothing and saddlery factories, once established in Mcllxm'rne, are sure to remain there, and naturally most of the employees will be obtained from in atid near Melbourne. If some expedition had been shown over the creation of the new capital, the clothing and tho saddlery factories might be established at Yass-Canberra. As a result also of the protracted delay over the capital, a cordite factory at a heavy cost has been built near Melbourne. Nowthat Mr. Hughes hints that the Federal Government may go in for running breweries and spirit distilleries so a-s to provide tho public, with largo quantities of cheap beer and whisky tho factories will. 110 doubt, be established in Melbourne. SHORTAGE OF LABOUR. There appears to be a considerable shortage of labour in Australia. "Every industry is crying out for hand?," say's the "Age," "and national development'is in a state of suspended animation owing

to factories and workshops having reached tho maximum of their output, and because of tile impossibility of obtaining Hie labour neerssiry to make those extensions required by the growth of trade. Papulation is increasing, wages and profits are good, tho purchasing capacity of the peopie lias much improved, agricultural enterprise is making great strides in forms that have created a demand for machinery, implements, and manufactured goods." The same paper goes 011 lo point out thai' even the attractive conditions of Government employment are apparently 110 lure to men wiio find their services as wagon builders and engineers in so much request. At the recent conference ot the Associated Chambers of Manufacturers employers of labour from all parts of the Commonwealth voiced tho cry of labour scarcity, and urged the early adoption of a comprehensive plan of introducing skilled workers for most of tho leading industries. Manufacturers in Sydney deplore the difficulty in getting female labour. At a late discussion of tho subject many of the speakers said they would be willing to take 011 from 50 to !!50 hands at a moment's notice, but all efforts to obtain them were futile, even at wages as high as .£2 per week. Mr. W. D. Beazley, one of the prominent members of the Victorian Labour party, and chairman of the Denton Hat Mills Company, remarked tho other day "that the hat trade generally was suffering from the want of the. necessary labour to completo orders. It was desirable, in tho interests of the. community, that the unions should be more liberal in permitting manufacturers to educate our own people to carry on the work. Owing to inability to obtain the requisite labour, trado which ought to be done here was being forced into foreign channels." Nevertheless, the Victorian Hat Makers' Union has refused admission to hatters who from England with clearances from their organisations, and now demands from new members several months' residence in the State, and an entrance fee of ,£2O. The union strictly limits the number of apprentices and improvers, insists on none other than unionists being employed, but. rigidly excludes every immigrant hatter from working except 011 conditions with which no poor man can comply.