The Dominion. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1918. A POLITICAL CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2930, 16 November 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1918. A POLITICAL CRISIS

Matters have now been brought to a head in Commonwealth politics by the action ol tho Federal Caucus ,ih casting aside Mr. Hughes as the, Leader of the Labour Party in the Federal Parliament. This step was of course cxpecled, but the actual event is none tho less momentous, and the outcome will probably mean a revolution in political relationships in Australia. The breach between Moderate Labour as" represented by Mr. Hughes and his followers and the extremists who control the Labour machine is not one likely 'to be easily healed. Me. Hughes is.a fighter, he has tasted power,' and he has committed himselfi too deeply to make it easy for him to depart from the cpiirse he has laid down for himself. On. the other hand, the Political ■ Labour Organisation is intolerant of opposition to its demands, and it regards its repreentatives in Parliament a,s' puppets, whose duty it is to obey the orders of tho Labour Caucus, the members of which in turn are governed by the party machine outside. Independent thought and action by the members of a Labour Government so dominated have- always been impossible' on matters covered by the party platform, but now : t would seem .that the restriction is to be applied also to questions outside the party platform.. Such a condition of things is of course intolerable to self-respecting men who recognise that when a Government is elected'to office it owes a duty aot only to' those who assisted to place it in power, but to the whole country. How can any body of men hope to conduct the business of the'■nation in the national interest when it is hampered by restrictions which compel it to accept the dictation of an'outside organisation which in most cases, even if it were quite disinterested, could not possibly have all the information nor the same sense of responsibility possessed by Ministers, to guide it in forming a judgment as to the best and fairest to pursue? But that is not the point of most interest at the moment. It is the immediate outcome qf this vicious system that has grown up under political "conditions in Australia that has to be considered.

' Mr. Hughes, the foremost Lab- 1 our Leader and the foremost statesman in Australia to-day, has been forced out of the ranks of the old Political Labour Organisation to which ,he has rendered services of j such magnitude; and the question which everyone is anxious to see answered is, will he be able to carry on the government of tho country? Most people-throughout the Empire no doubt will hope to seo him succeed in tho political struggle which looms ahead. Ho has been a prominent and an inspiring figure amongst the statesmen of the Empire in connection with the war, and his departure from office at the present time and under the circumstances which have given rise to the existing situation would be deplored in all parts of the British" Dominions. There is only one thing, however, that will enable him to retain office, and that is the support of the Liberal Party. Only 12 of his old followers in the House of Bepresentatives have stood-by him, while 27 have, at the dictation of the Labour machine, deserted. Should the Liberals under Mn. Cook agree to support him or to tho formation of a National Cabinet, he would have a working majority in the Lower Chamber of about in. But will the Liberals rise to the occasion? They are now, as the result of the i Labour split, the strongest party, in

the House of Representatives, totalling 31 members.' and they may be inclined to take advantage of the situation that has developed to their own benefit cou i d do thig in w S ' - -' j6 y could offer to form a Nation*, Government in conjunction the Hughes Party, but Vit., .Mr. Cook as Premier; or they force the situation and necessitate an appeal to the country, ont of which they might expect to profit. It is to the credit of Mr. Cook and his followers that, generally speaking, they have refrained from any attempt to embarrass the Government during war time, and they may he big enough to rise to the occasion now offered them of sacrificing their own immediate political advantage for the sake, of avoiding a further period of electioneering turmoil at the present critical stage of affairs concerning Australia's part, in the war. Unfortunately there is an element of doubt as to tbpir intentions.

It must be borne in mind, also that even though Mr. Hughes, with the assistance of the Liberals,' may secure a substantial working majority in the House of Representatives, the position in tho Senate is to all appearances beyond his control. Eleven of the members of the Senate it is stated still adhere to him, but twenty others are under the thumb of the Labour Caucus, and seeing tffat the_ Liberals have only five Vepresen-t-'atives in the Senate it is <sbvidus that Mtt. Hughes cannot, even with thoir help) secure a majority in that Chamber unless he converts somo of his Labour opponents. The threat of a double dissolution might have an influence in that direction. Mr. Hughes is a very astuto politician, tho ablest statesman in Australia today, and a skilled and experienced Lft.bour Leader; but he has a task ahead of him which will tax all his resources. We can only hope that the courage with which he has stuck to his principles will carry him through, not merely for his own sake, hut because he is the man best fitted at this time- of' crisis for the position he holds at the head of the Government, of the Commonwealth.