The Dominion FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1917. AUSTRALIA AND THE WAR
'.lote CVCnIS I'? A »«t™lia carry a niomvealUi will not muc |, ]~„„ j 7 fe " \ t ft\Jf «udor the rcgaeh f withholding ud olluato „.;„_ hlT Q T| f '' om 11 , division s »t tlio virS v ! a triumphant S lo ' tho Nationalists, led by MhSbna. Hughes and Cook,, over 1 ,h™ nt ' conscn Ptiomst Political c-S gUO u , Th ,° Nationalists aipUuecl the whole of tho 13 Senate 1 cislip ol 7j), they have a majority 'oLl'f ' ;l1 Wi " be in ~ l ,J ' ™,"," nnyc y retam a scat mado ~n im' by tl!0 deafch of ono of their Undulates Impressive as it is, tlio outcome of the appeal to the people is not the only indication of a great revulsion m popular feeling sineo the not very distant days of the -conscription referendum. When Mr:. ludoji, who leads the a-nli-con-smpliuu party in the Federal ■House, attempted' to address a recruiting race ting outside the Melbourne. Town Hall nn thc King's' 13irtlulay, he was howled down by the crowd and absolutely denied :i hearing. On the other hand, Mis. Webster. (Federal • Postmaster-Gen-era ) was loudly cheered when ho declared in a- recent public address that he was in favour ofi conscription, and that it was the only equitable method by which Australia could meet its obligations. Thc Minister's speech was in substance a final appeal for voluntary recruits and a plain intimation that failing a sufficient response the adoption of conscription was the only possible alternative. There is a growing feeling that this attitude now commands the approval and support of a majority of the people of thc Commonwealth, and that the Federal Government will prove itself unworthy of the sweeping vote of confidence it received at the polls if it does not take early and determined measures to place Australian recruiting on a satisfactory footing. Not the least encouraging feature of the position ill Australia is that the principal opponents of the compulsory system are taking up an attitude of reckless disloyalty which is bound to antagonise all but a very small proportion of the population of any British country. It is not exaggerating the facts to say that by exposing their true colours the violent opponents of universal service are doing a great deal to hasten their own extinction as an active force in Australian public affairs and at the same time to strengthen the hands of the already predominant party which stands for the effective prosecution of the war. A. conspicuous example of development on these lines has been presented at the annual conference of the New South AVales Political Labour League, which is still in progress. It was said of the Political Labour League, when it expelled its ablest members and leaders on the occasion of the split over the conscription issue, that it had blown out its own brains. xVmplo proof of the justice of this observation is afforded in the proceedings of the conference now sitting at Sydney. The annual report oE the executive indignantly repudiated charges of disloyalty made by Mn. Hogifes and others against the attitude of anticonseriptionists, but the conference debates had hardly opened before it became evident that the New South Wales P.L.L., as a Sydney' newspaper remarked the otKer day, is now purely an anti-war league. The war resolutions passed by the conference have not been cabled in their final form, but the debates leading up to these resolutions showed quite clearly that the prevailing sentiment of the conference was oner of opposition not merely to conscription but to the prosecution of the war, and that given its way the conference would dictate peace terms which Germany would bo delighted to accept. Evidence that in this attitude the conference docs not represent any considerable body of Australian opinion may be obtained without going outside its own proceedings. One delegate pointed out that the conference had no right to speak on behalf of the Australian Labour movement without consulting the rank and (ile. and the irresponsible character' of the assemblage was still more strikingly demonstrated in its expulsion —without any regard for those they represented—of two delegates who are supporters of conscription i.r were suspected of taking that stand. One of these delegates was the representative of the Federated Mill Employees' Union, and the motion for his expulsion was carried almost unauimously, though he point-
oil _ mil that, it meant insttlliutr „ ! «t«on winch had loyally support! '•no Labour movement for ninny ' years. Mr. Adams. U,e delegate ~'f the Painter*' Union, who was also expelled cm suspicion of favourim.Inscription, went ol ,t rt-iiim-kim.? tins is the only motion passed bv this conference, which has given n,'e any personal pleasure.'' 'The ae ciiSiition that the J'.L.L is an hrc sponsible junta, hardly seems to need tnrther proof. Not content with expel! i tie; its leaders, it has now undertaken to dictate to, and force Us opinions down the throats of the Übour organisations which' the. delegates at the annual conference arc supposed to represent. \ Parliament which arrogated similar powers of dictation to the electorate in any free country would provoke a revolution. No revolution will result I rum the. insane.excesses of the I.L.U but it is tolerably certain that it will bring itself into deserved contempt and fritter away its once formidable powev.
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3111, 15 June 1917, Page 4
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887The Dominion FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1917. AUSTRALIA AND THE WAR Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3111, 15 June 1917, Page 4
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