The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1913. A FLIGHT FOR PRINCIPLE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1640, 6 January 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1913. A FLIGHT FOR PRINCIPLE.

Perhaps ! nB more desperatelyfought by-election has ever been witnessed in Australia than that for tho Blaynoy seat, now 1 proceeding! The' first ballot result, news of Which we publish this mdrhing, is a deadly blow to i the M'GoWEfl. Government; 'but tho second ballot struggle will be awaited , in New South Wales With "just as much interest. Each of the three candidates for the scat were, according to themselves and their supporters, engaged in a fight for principle. Mh. Beeby, who resigned the seat, and is how contesting it again, has been lighting for the principle that no member should ,be required to subordinate his views', and what he may> consider the'interests of .his .donstituentsi and his country to the will of the Labour caucus. Mr. Beeby was a member: of tho Labour party and a Minister of the Grown, and as such he had to obey the dictates of the caucus. He was forcod to act against, his judgment, and to obey tho dictates.of the caucus,.'ftnd he foulid himself placed in a false position. As an., honest and Straightforward man ho ( preferred, to resign office and place himself' in the. hands of his constituents, rather ( 'than 'coriti'iiuo to' act as a mere tool ■ in the hands of the Labour caucus. Ho- ; resigned,/ and sought re-election as an depohdeht; .The;' (Labour 1 - headed by the Government, promptly decided that Ms. Beeby should not'bo re-elected. They ran a candidate, Mr. Carl Johnson, who apparently was not troubled by Mr. Beeby'b- scruples respecting submission to: the caucus, ; aid tho wholo weight of .tho Government was thrown into tho scalo in his favour. Mr. Beeby was treated as a renegade, and the Labour elector was urged.tip turn him down,' and. vote for the genuine article in Mr. Johnson. Some idea of the efforts put forth on ( behalf of the official Labour candidate, who is'fighting for tho principle of crucub rule, may be obtained from the following, /paragraph published in the Sidney Morning llerdld on Decembor 28: •; It has been felt during the last couple Of days that tho chances of Mr. Carl Johnson winning the Blayney seat are rather rertioto. A ble effort, therefore; is to be made during the next week to fire the local, Labourites to enthusiasm. The following legislators have already been billed to speak in different centres.:—Messrs, Trefle, Griffith, Cann, Meagher, J. Storey, Farrar, Xynoh, Osborne, Striart, Robertson, Cnrr, Mercer, Fern, Ashford. Hoyle, Dooley, Morrish, and Black. With these members-firing a fuSillado from all quarters, Mr. Beeby's prospects may falter. The Minister for. Agriculture spoke at Blayney to-night, and the Minister for Works was at Oberort. \ t ' Tho full strength of the offioial Labour party appears to have been oxercisea in favour of Mlt. JohnSon—over a Score of ( Ministers and mombers. of Parliament spoke throughout the electorate in his support—and i to-day we are inform* ed that despite this tremendous effort, Mr. Johnson, on election day, waa at the .bottonr'of the poll, and is therefore eliminated from the contest. The Liberal party's | candidate, Mr. WiThiNgtoj?, it will be seen, headed the poll, but has yot to fato the second ballot. Ho aiso received much support in the way of speech-making from members of his party, and some very lively meetings were the outcome. The principle he claims to be fighting for is the principle • of clean'and honest government. After a strenuous and at times bitter first-ballot Campaign, the official Labour party has been beaten, and the Liberal candidate and Mft v Beeby are left to fight out the finish, It is very significant of the weakening hold which official Labour has on Now South \Val_es that Mr. Beeby, who had repudiated the methods of the caucus, should, have thus far triumphed in face , of tho odds opposed to him. Whereas the official . Labour candidate had tho assistance of practically the wholo of the Ministers and members of the Labour party in Parliament, Mr. Beeby "ploughed a lonely furrow." Mr. Beeby was heckled and badgered by his lato Labour friends, and everything possible was done to . discredit him with his old supporters, but despite these things he remains in the second ballot, a,nd official Labour stands discredited. Tho Labour Government, indeed, must now find itself very awkwardly situated. If at the Second Ballot it votes for tho Liberal candidate it practically seals its own doom, for another vote in the total against it would ninke its already shameful plight Still more desperate, if not quite hopeless. On tho other hand,' if it votes for Mr. Beeby it is faced with the fact that his election was fought on tho principle that tho present methods of the Labour party arc intolerable, and. bin sua-< cess will mean that tho electorate

has endorsed his view. A pretty dilemma for the M'Gowen Government, but one in which it will meet with very little sympathy, for if over a Government deserved the contempt of the public for its unworthy shifts and . expedients to retain office it is the Labour Government of Now South Wales. The sccond-ballot contest has every appearanoo of being a very close ono. Mn. Bekby is some JBOO votes behind on the first ballot, but tho odds fti'o not so much against him as might seem to bo tho case. Whichever way tho election may now end, however, tho struggle has made it clearer than ever that tho leaders of tho Labour party in New South Wales have lost their hold on public sympathy and support. ■