The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1917. AUSTRALIA AND CONSCRIPTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 63, 7 December 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1917. AUSTRALIA AND CONSCRIPTION

The hope expressed in the early stages of the referendum struggle in Australia on the question of compulsory service, that the issue would be decided without resort to personalities and appeals to class passion, was shattered practically from the outset. Feeling in the Commonwealth between the "Yes" and "No" forces probably is . stronger now than it was on the occasion, of the last referendum on this question. Instead of a clean-cut issue the whole situation is confused by personalities, ■ sectarian strife, base suggestions of ulterior motives, and appeals to class prejudice. In justice to some of the leaders of the "Yes" policy it may be said that they have consistently endeavoured to conduct the campaign on broad and national lines, appealing to the sense and judgment and patriotic spirit of the people. The Prime Minister, however, has copied the example of his opponents and has cut and slashed at the reputations of those arrayed against him just aa they have attacked and abused him; and he is not alone on the "Yes" side in this line of action. It must be admitted thai Mii. Hughes has suffered great provocation. His words arc twisted ancl distorted to serve the purposes of his opponents; ho is vilified and slandered, attempts have been made to do him personal injury; ancl he has fought back with a- power and venom which have won both the admiration and disapproval of those who support the cause he is fighting for. The leading newspapers have displayed an admirable restraint in handling the_ question. The issue us they state it is a simple one. The voluntary system has failed to provide the required reinforcements. That has been demonstrated beyond all argument. Are tho people of Australia now going to desert the. men who have gone to risk their lives for their countrymen; are the people of Australia going to desert the country that gave them their freedom, and tinder the shelter of which they have grown up and prospered; or are they going to adopt the only means which will enable them to send help to their soldiers, overseas and Help for the Empire on whose fate their own future depends 1-. The opponents of compulsory service refuse to face these plain issues. They instead concentrate on the objection to the principle of conscription. They brush aside facts _ ancl appeal to passion and prejudice; they twist and distort tho Government's proposals nto unrccognisabto shapes, and seek to-unsettle the minds of tho electors by conjuring up all sorts of dreadful possibilities which are in flat contradiction of the definite and specific pledges and undertakings of tho Government. So bad had the campaign of lying and misrepresentation become that special war regulations were issued making it an offence to utter or publish false statements bearing on the issue, and some of the "No" party leaders have already been, prosecuted under these regulations. In Queensland, whore the Labour Government, under Mr. Ryan, are the backbone of the "No" campaign, a serious crisis has arisen as between tho Commonwealth and

State Governments. Mr. Ryan made a speech which was censored because, to uso the words of Mr. Hughes, it contained "lying misrepresentations and mis-statements of fact." To evade the censorship Mr. Ryan, at a special sitting of the Queensland Parliament, put all this_ objectionable propaganda matter into Hansard, a privileged publication, ami had a special issue of 10,000 copies printed for distribution at the country's expense. The Commonwealth military authorities raided tho Queensland Government Printing Office and seized tho whole issue. Mn. Ryan then placed the State police in charge of the printing office, and defied the military authorities, who are under the Commonwealth Government. Ultimately, Mh.Ryan thought better of this and serious possibilities were averted by tho withdrawal of the police. Now, Mr. Ryan, having accepted Me. Hughes's challenge to repeat his "lying mis-statements outside of the shelter of tho privileges of Parliament," is, as yesterday's cable messages told us, being prosecuted. The state oE affairs reached as between tho Commonwealth and Queensland Governments may bo judgod by an incident at Warwick on November 29. Me. Htjghes had been invited to address a meeting at this town, but when his train arrived a riot occurred. Rotten eggs were thrown and one knocked Mr. Huohes's hat off. His assailant was captured by a returned soldier, and a free fight, from which Me. Hughks emerged with- bleeding knuckles, took place. Tho leader of the trouble, the man who had assaulted Mr. Hughes, was handed over to the police; but the sergeant in chargo promptly released him, and ho was soon back again threatening further trouble. Tho police again refused Mk. Hughes's demand that the man should bo arrested, and _ tho sergoant told the Prime Minister that ho only recognised tho laws of Queensland, which was an indirect way of saying that ho defied the Commonwealth Government. Thero are possibilities of serious trouble developing out of this and other incidents in which State and Commonwealth authorities havo come into conflict

One feature of the campaign is the attitude of returned soldiers. At tho last referendum on the question tho returned soldiers, as a body, took little or no part. On tho_ present' occasion the great majority are actively assisting in' support of compulsory service, and they are- proving as effective fighters in this struggle as they were with rifle, bayonet, and bomb In the sterner battles at Gallipoli aiid in France. The action of the Government in disfranchising electors of German descent is expected to rob the "No" section of a large number of voters—the number has been computed as high -as 100,000. But it has had effect also in another _ way. The "No" campaign "organisation very unwisely started an; agitation protesting against this action of the Government. Naturally this concentrated attention on the fact that the "No" party expected these German-born residents to vote against Australia providing the means for reinforcing her forces fighting against Germany. Nothing, perhaps, could have brought home more clearly to the people of Australia the fact that the "No" voters were voting in the interests of Germany. Much is being l made of the fact that a triumph for the "Noes" will mean the retirement from officeof tho National' Government and the return of the official Labour Party under a weak and uninspiring leader, Mr. Tudor. The idea of the fato of Australia resting in the hands of a party of mediocrities such as at present constitute the Federal Labour Caucus, in a time of such grave national crisis, apto be viewed with the strongest disfavour. It may turn many intending "No" voters when the final hour for decision comes. What the ultimate result will be no responsible person is rash enough at , present to prophesy. Me. Tudor, the loader of the "No" campaign, at a recent meeting advised his' audience not to judge the feeling of the country by the public meetings, which would seem to suggest that those meetings on the wholo have been more in favour of the Government's proposal than against it. There aro many visible factors which should operate in favour of , the "Yes" vote on this occasion which did not come into play at the previous referendum.