LABOUR PREMIER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1976, 5 February 1914, Page 6

LABOUR PREMIER.

HON. W. A. HOLIIAN HERE. THE OUTLOOK IN N. & WALES* HIS PARTY'S AIMS. NO RED REVOLUTION WANTED, ■ Among the arrivals from Australia by the Manuka yesterday was tho Hon. W. A. Holman, Premier of the Mother Stato of the Commonwealth, New South Wales, and a rising figure in tho rather turbulent political arena across the Tasman Sea. Mr. ■Holman is the heael of tho Labour Government that was tcturned after the struggle in December last. He has a .winning personality which was doubtless no small factor in the aiicccss which he and his party achieved. If one can imagine a mail exactly the reverse in appearance, manner, and stylo of speech of somo of those whom we have become accustomed to regard as leaders of the Labour movement here that man is Mr. Holman. He is tall, slight, and dark, with'a wclipoised head and straight, clean-cut features., A deep line on each side of his mouth gives his face a thoughtful cast) but tho normal gravity of his espres* siott in rcposo is immediately dispelled when ho speaks. It is not till then that one, realises the magnetism of the man, his alert mentality, his keen sens© of humour, and the strength of purpose that lies, beneath-his shapely forehead.

Selection of Ministers by Caucus, Mr. Holman is at'the head of a- party which is strong enoiigfe to be able to lay down the rule that the prerogative of selecting a Ministry shall be "theirs —not that of the Premier'.. Questioned as to that Mr: Holman r&plied that he was not altogether- without doubts as to the soundness of the system. It was not uniquo in Australia, the selection having been mado in the samo manner' (by secret ballot in ea-ueus) on two occasions in Federal, politics. With regard to his own experience, however, there was not tho slightest doubt that tho party-had selected his Ministry solely on account of their fitness. It was possible that the system might develop eliquism, but it had not dono so in his case. He did not say, however, ijhat his experience proved the soundness of tho system—he could only say that it had proved satisfactory up till now. The real danger for the Labour party in New South Wales was that the country was ; drunk with too much prosperity. Thero. were those in the natty who looked., for, tho realisation of tie social millennium, but the bulls of. tho _ members were saner on that point. Nevertheless, certain reforms were needed, and steps would bo taken, to bring them about. The party was quite strong enough within itself to check tho few who might hold impossible ideas. They' now had a majority of 11. They' num.bfl.rcd 48 members, and there were 38 Liberals, and ,3, Independents. Two of tho Independents would certainly- •■ support them—perhaps all three. But, ramniiliK the pledged men on both sides, they Ija.d a>clear re.ajority of fileveii—-enough to ensure that a great deal of reform would bo done, and otto which would leave behind it a record of constructive achicveraont on sound lines. ■ Asked to namo the new planks iji his platform, Mr. Holman said' that ho would prefor not to majco them public just yet. A, programme had been drawn, up, but, so far, it had not been submitted to the party, arid it was thereforo not fair ..tp mafc a pronouncement at present, As a matter of fact, the now Ministry had only had two meetings .since the' election, and most of tho timo had been occupied in dealing with finance.

Forward the Railways ant! ports. ■Roforring .to railway matters, Mr, Holnian said that theco was inuoli to be done, but' their first efforts must be m tho direction of reducing the friction that had arisen in tM.sefviqe. lie intimated guardedly ' that under the Commissioner system '690 ainch power ■was vested in one man. *It was not possible for an important service like tho railways.to .bo entirely foe?.from Governmental control, and another system would bo proposed which Would not mean tho disappearance of Commissioners, but yet one in which political interference of a hampering character would not be possible. His' : Gov«rnmont was keen'on the decentralisation of railways. They had do.no their utmost in conjunction with the Commonwealth Government to develop Jcryis" Bay into a.port—tho Commonwealth to "so,, 1 * »a 1 « "aval base, and the New south WtfJes Government as a commercial port—but tho Bill had-been thrown out by tho Upper House. 'He imagined,however, that, with a substantial ma, jonty in tho Lower House, tho Upper iiouso would now.be moro reasonable Incidentally, Mr. Holroan here montwned, m reply to a question, that thero wero from twelve to fifteen racan-cics'-to'fill in the membership of the 'Upper Chamber. New South Wales possessed four points capable of develop, ment into ports—to tho north, Coff's Harbour and Port Stephens; to tho south, Jcrvis and TwofoH Bays. None of- these were troubled with har harbours, and each ■ possessed deep water capable of accommodating very largo vessels. They were already constructing a railway frqm Coff's Harbour duo west, which would open up a. large tract, of gooct country, and areas of valnablo timber, a good deal of which they hoped to preserve, With direct railway, conimuuicatjoii from the interior to the.'placws Ifcentioned,' vast territories would be opejjed up for settlement, and the congestion of tfafflc in Sydney Harbonr would eventually be relieved, ' ■■■■■--

Ths Australian Navy. Mr. HolmaJi went on- to say that the naral question was one that'concerned the Commonwealth Government only, nnd did not enter into the scopo of his Government's activities. At tho. same time he mentioned, that people doubted if tho country could maintain the heavy burden ,of a. sea-goiag.iron-clad fleet. That they could produce and maintain a fleet that would count'during the next 50 years in_ which warfate botween civilised countries was a contingency, some preferred to doubt. He did" not think that tho loss 'of. Sydney as the naval base of the Imperial squadron had been greatly felt. Ifc Jvad been to some extent compensated for by tho establishment of tho Australian Navy.. -

The Federal Capital. ■ Questioned regarding the building of the Federal Capital lit Canberra, Mr. Hplman smilingly said that ho' understood, that tho work of establishing the. new centre was being slowly pushed on, but now that members of tho Legislature in Melbourne, had to pay,'their own train fares he expwtcd that they would be driven, there. He was afraid that the progress of the we.rk was in fact very slow, but, confessed that ho spoke with little knowledge of tho matter. He thought tljjit the Cook. Government would bo- a little mere- definite and serious in regard.to the huiidmg ef the new city. .

Aids to Health, Mr. Hplman is keen on the responsibilities of a Government in reghfd to health matters, and is to rend a papor". on the duty of ' the State in that' regard before tho Australasian MedioaJ G-sngrcjj in

Cariniehafrl they already had modical and dental inspection in their schools, but they meant to go still further by instituting itinerant hospitals, which would aftcrd treatment free ot charge to children attending the State schools. This hospital would' mean a complete medical equipment handily arranged, and portable, with tho aid of which the children requiring treatment (Oould get ;it there aftd then, whether- it ho adenoids, myopia., of any other of the diseases that afflict children, often un* ! known to their teachers or parents. I Anotho* important progressive movement to bo instituted, was a better provision for maternity cases—tho provision of adequate medical treatment and good nursing for those who could not afford to pa,y for it in the ordinary way. ! The real trouble with some women was I that they left their beds after coafincI ment much tco early, and more-fre» i quently did so because' they saw that ■ tho heme was being neglected, owing fo their sheer inability to pay for help. Tho £5 bonus given by the Federal Government was originally intended to enable women to pay for medical attention, but Mr. Holman held that the money would be better expended on paying for domestic help during tho tour weeks of so that tho mother : need not struggle up to her foot because the homo was' going wreck without her ready hand to attend to everything ,—an effort that was detrimental to' the health of the child and herself. It wns ■proposed that tho State should step in and insist that evor.v , hospital which received a f State subsidy should provide a maternity ward for the free treatment {if necessary) of maternity cases. Utider this scheme it would be possible for any woman anticipating confinement to arrange to , 1 go. into tho ward, and if that wevff . not possible, for ■her to rfccfcH'o attention iii tho homo , by the outdoor staff. We could secure this treatment at' much less than, tho amount .of Mr. ■.. Andrew Fisher's bonus, and 50 leave that .amount 1 available /for \ domestic aid ia order to allow • tho ■ patient to stay in bed. until the last possible--moment, and by that means improvo tho race.

Strictly Constitutional. Slf. 'Holman said that the Labcur movement, in Australia, was a, strictly constitutional one. There were instances where individuals bad urged action on other than' Parliamentary Imcs s bit they were growing fewer and fewer very rapidly. Some six years ago thore was. a division of opinion among trftdo unions as t*> whether it should concentrate behind a. Parliamentary party of proceed on samo .fresh Syndicalist method, f hosts were trie days, 'when th 6 propaganda of the I.W.W.* was heard loudly in the land, and Pa'rfianiflritary Labour par'tiqs had fiindo little progress. 'They were in opposition in every State, and for a time wcro impotent to effectany immediate improvement in the lot of the working man. At that timo ninny held that legislation could not .benefit .the' worker, --wM-lst th«-' etrife— -the general strike particularly—could. They '.had-hot had-a-general strike,, but- had plenty of others;.. most of whieli : had. foiled. : Then, came- steady organisation and propaganda lrork to foster !i real Labour victory.came, at fitst in Smith 'Australia, then - in the Commonwealth, in New-South' Wales, and- finally in ..Western ■ Australia. Following each advance earae. legislation which had improved the conditions, of. tho. worker ' attd removed many grievances. He. did not think that now anyone'. Srotild suggest that- there is any better way of fighting Labour's wrongs thaii the Parliamentary one. \