The Dominion. MONDAY,.NOVEMBER 13, 1916. AUSTRALIA'S TROUBLES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2927, 13 November 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY,.NOVEMBER 13, 1916. AUSTRALIA'S TROUBLES

The general situation in the , Commonwealth at the present time is an unenviable one, and full of possibilities of continued unrest and internal strife. Apart from the grave conditions arising out of the , Goal Miners' Strike, which has reached the dimensions almost of a national calamity, there are prospects of political turmoil of unprecedented bitterness and widespread i effect. The developments in the political situation are due almost entirely to the conflict over the Conscription Referendum, and move particularly tp .the split caused in the Labour Party by the differences of opinion on the issue amongst the leaders of the Labour movement. So far as the Federal Government is concerned, 1 the position at the moment is full of doubt and uncertainty. The anti-conscription members of the Ministry have resigned and have , left Mis'. Hughes', with only three Ministers to carry on the administration of the Federal Departments.. An endeavour is also being made to deprive him of the support of the rank and file of the Laoour Caucus. He has stalwart supporters, but he has bitter opponents in the ranks of the Labour Party, and though the position is obscure owing to the secrecy observed, it is extremely doubtful whether he will be able to carry on without the assistance of the Liberal Party. iHis plans remain to be disclosed, but the _ alternatives appear to be a dissolution and general election or a National Government supported by the Liberals and that section of the Labour Party which still .adheres to Mr. Hughes. _In New South Wales a somewhat simi-' lar situation exists, but events there have marched moxe N rapidly. Mr. Holman, the Labour Premier, has been absolutely disowned by the executive of the Political Labour Party, which controls the machine of .the organisation, and an attempt has been made from within the ranks of his own following to cast him from office. A want-of-confidence motion was moved last week by one of his recent supporters. and was backed by 20 others when the division was taken. ' This effort, however, was countered by an amendment moved by the Leader of the Liberal Party in favour of the formation of a National Ministry, and the amendment being carried by a two to one majority there appears to be every prospect of a National. Ministry being formed in New South Wales with Mr. Holman as Premier. It is by no means ' unlikely that a similar solution will be found to the immediate difficulties confronting Mr. Hughes.

But these will be ionly in 'the nature of expedients designed to secure a temporary respite. The which lie ahead will still be formidable, and the bitterness of feeling engendered will add to the difficulties of the situation. There will be a desperate struggle, in which the extremists of the Labour movement will endeavour to continue to dominate the Labour machine as the.v have of late been able to do, and they will seek by every means in their power to crush the men who have dared to resist their intolerant oppression. Tho Sydney Morning Herald, discussing the position on November 4, said: For many months it has been apparent that a split was coming in tho Labour Party that would ba beyond all hope of repair; and now, it would seem, the parting of the ways has been reached. Tho Labour Party as we knew it of old is not the Labour Party of to-day. Drunk with power, the extremists have becorno more and more extreme, until to-dny the men who made thel Labour PartyMr. Hughes, Mr. Watson, Mr. Spence, Mr. M'Gowen, Mr. Holrnan, My. Fitzgerald, Mr. Lamond, and others—aro out of all sympathy, not with the movement itself, but with the men who now hold the reins in their hands. Thus wo find tho machine which they themselves created now turning upon them, like a Frankenstein monster,. ready to destroy them. It is obvious that something must bo done to counteract this now. danger. As long as a man was held only to the pledges he gave and tho platform to which he subscribed tlieso men were prepared to abide by the enusoqunnues; but recent evenU have shown that,this is not enough for those who now have ihe control of the machine in tlioir hands. To-day ft leader of f.hn Labour Party and a Minister of the State is allowed to have no conscience, no freedom of

thought on any subjcot that may arise from day to day; he must sink all personal feelings and give expression to no views savo those of an outside oligarchy which takes no account of the existence of Parliament as a constitutional body, but clainia to govern the_ country itself.' It is an intolerable situation. It is useless to attempt to kick against the pricks; the machine is all-powerful. And It is for that reason, that it must bo oither mended or ended. . . . Nearly all of the beat men of the Labour Party in this State have been exnelled from the movement bocanse tlioy aared to think and speak as free men on a question which was entiroly outside the Labour platform; Labour differs from any other political party by its indifference to brains or character in its nominees; provided they mouth all the platform shibboleths the party embraces them equally whether they are Australians grown grey in the ranks of the movement or the latest fugitive traitor who has managed to get a nomination. But still a movement which hopes to live by destroying i.lie mon who nave made it; is only strangling itself. On any question there is surely room for honest differences of opinion, but on the one great occasion when the leaders of Australian Governments and parties have dared to differ from the great unknown who are their masters in the P.L.I/. Executive, they have been "expelled," and one result, of these methods is that we now have two Labour parties in the Parliament of New South Wales. The men who have been expelled from the Labour movement at the instance of the P.L.L. Executive are, as stated,, men who were largely responsible for the building up ot the Australian Political Labour organisation to such dimensions that it has been able, to dominate I'oderal and State politics in practically every part of the Commonwealth. It is not surprising in the circumstances that in of their expulsion by the. coterie of smaller men who,for tho moment control the party machine, a substantial section of the rank and file of Labour should still cling to' its old and trusted leaders. In South Australia, in Tasmania, and in West Australia as well as in New South Wales and Victoria, there have been conferences and heated disputations, bub ko far nob a single sign of reconciliation between the two sections of Labour. In New, South Wales the position is aggravated by the fact that the present Parliament is near to its date of expiry, and if the National Ministry is formed it is suspected by the Political Labour League that the change will be mado an excuse for prolonging tho life of the Parliament. Whatever course may be taken, however, there are troublous times ahead, and a very real danger that Australia's share in the prosecution of the war may jc seriously hampered by internal ndustrial and political strife.