QUEENSLAND.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 April 1923, Page 3

QUEENSLAND.

POLITICAL BOM B.SI 1 ELI.. Pl* EM I Ell'S Dll AM ATK- MOVE. SYDNEY. Match 29 Without a shallow of warning Queensland, which lias had a Labour for eight years, lot- been : thrown prematurely into tin* throes of, what promises to he the bitterest j election campaign in its history. Ihe j Premier. Mr 'I hoodore. is noted fin j his taciturnity and the small measure , of confidence which he shares with even his colleagues in 'he .Ministry, but this latest move, taking hi* supporters and opponents alike completely bv surprise, lias ceftpsod any previous sensation lor which he has been responsible. In the ordinary course of events the elections would have been due in October, but ft careful review of the situation reveal- sound reasons which ; in a v have actuated Mr 1 heodore in making an unexpected and short ; m.tire appeal at iiii- juncture. llfind- the strenuous negotiations which j have been ptocerdiiig to establish unite in the opposition still uncompleted, and mutual suspicion -till existing. and he sees the spectre ol Labour di-integration which has long bei-n threatening the movement throughout- Australia, actually stalking throughout tin* neigld our.ng State oi New South Wales and reducing the party to chaos. Apart Irotn these weighty circumstances it is -aid that the wells of loan motleys which have been lavishly .replenished from time to time during the past, lew veins arc running dry, and that increased unemployment between now and October is inevitable. So that in fixing the election for May 12th, witti •K, itssomhly of Parliament in the interim, Mr Theodore is probably serving the host interests of his party. Event' immediately succeeding the Premier's announcement make it clear that the election will he fought on a fairly clear-out issue of Socialism versus Anti-Socialism. Although an amalgamation ol the branches n[ the Opposition is not expected, it is fairly certain that there will he an understanding which "ill enable a united appeal to he made to the people iu the interests of anti-Socialism. The fart of Mi* Theodore having been forced by the recent State Labour Conference to accept the notorious "ltd Objective”—socialism of industry— which lie originally fought tooth and nail in the Federal Conference, and condemned as Communism, crystallised the issue. -Much is being made by the aiui-Socinlists of the growth of unemployment and the cost of living, and the deterioration of the financial stability of the State enterprises that has taken place under the Labour regime, and some ol the figures quoted are indeed striking. Before the Labour Party came into office eight- years ago the railways were a paying proposition, hut now the flailv loss is estimated at C,1778. Since 191(3 taxation ha- increased by 1 IS.fiS per cent, sincej 1918 outdoor relief to destitute peoI pie has increased from £9l >2 to £•117,018. lu ten years, eight of which have been under .Labour rule, ! the public debt of Queensland lias inI creased from forty-eight to eighty five millions.