CONSCRIPTION VOTE.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 December 1917, Page 2

CONSCRIPTION VOTE.

HIGH FEELING IN AUSTRALIA. RIOTOUfe SCENES AT RAILWAY STATION. MR. HUGHES ASSAULTED. Feeling i 3 running high iu Australia over the conscription referendum. This is reflected_ clearly in the newspapers, which devote a great deal of space to the campaign. Riotous scenes occurred at Warwick (Queensland) last Thursday. They were referred to briefly in the Press Association cablegrams, but much fuller .details arc given in Sydney files. The following report appeared, in the Sydney Morning Herald:— An extraordinary and disgraceful riot occurred at Warwick this afternoon, when the Prime Minister (Mr. Hughes) alighted from the southward-bound train to address an open-air meeting on the platform. The moment he stepped from his carriage he was Burrounded by a howling mob. The platform had been bcflagged, and a large crowd had gathered in the roadway below to hear Mr. Hughes' address, but about fifty men, most of them of military age. Were waitr ing on the platform. When the train came in, the moment they saw the Prime Minister they commenced hooting and groaning and hurling vile epithets at him. He kid not* gone more than a yard or two before a struggling, jostling crowd was wedged around him. An egg thrown from the crowd just missed him and hroke upon the platform railings. The' odour it gave off quickly cleared a apace about it. A second one, better aimed, ttroko upon the Prime Minister's hat, and knocked it off. There was a howl of jeering laughter, which drowned the cries of "Shame" which arose from the crowd in the street and from a few women on the platform. But the thrower of the egg did not enjoy his triumph long. A returned soldier on the platform hurjed himself upon him, and in a second a free fight was in progress. The friends of Mr Hughes' assailant, rushed to his assistance, and the loyal men on the platform gave what help they could to the returned soldier. So far as couTH be judged, the loyalists had the better- of the struggle. One of the first to defend Mr. Hughes' assailant from the wrath of the returned soldier came out of the fight with blood streaming down his face. Fists were flying everywhere, and the Prima Minister was in the thick of it, striving to get at the map who had assaulted him and who was one of the biggest men in the crowd. He was hustled and jostled by men twice his size, but when he emerged it was his hand, not his face, that was bleeding.

One of the men in the crowd carried a hammer and another a heavy spanner, but the Prime Minister was daunted nothing. He demanded assistance from the police in apprehending the man who lias assaulted him, but it is perfectly safe to say that their sympathy was not with him. It was only under the most insistent demands of the Prime Minister that they could be induced to escort the man off the platform, and then they apparently released him so soon as they got out of Mr. Hughes' sight, for'he appeared on the scene again almost immediately. This attitude of the police was perpisted in to the end, although Mr. Hughes demanded, in, liis capacity as Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, that they should take action against his assailant. Senior-Sergeant Kenny declined to do so, declaring that he recognised the laws of Queensland only, and would act under no other. When the riot at last subsided and the egg-thrower had been escorted from the otation Mr. Hughes proceeded to the edge of the platform to address the crowd. But the air was stjll electrical. A woman standing on the edge of the crowd declared that she would willingly "do 'i fortnight to have a crack at him." A big hulking man at Tier side replii'i that he was not afraid either, and he would "have a crack at the if he did time for it." Beyond hooting, however, the menace of the crowd did not further display itself. The seriousness of what they "had already done seemed to have come home to them and although there was no abatement of their hostility, no further physical violence was attempted. When the Prime Minister commenced his address he was greeted with mixed cheers and hoots. The sergeant of police, despite his obvious connivance with the acts of the lawless mob, realising apparently that it would bo prudent for him to at least assume the role of preserver of law and order, stepped to the platform and asked the crowd in the street to give the Prime Minister "a square deal." This was followed by' mingled cheers and hoots. The Prime Minister, speaking with a ringing voice, said:—"Wo have just had demonstrated before our eyes proofs of the real motives of those who oppose the Government's proposals, and of the shameful abuse of the right of free citizenship. But the law shall be obeyed by every man in this country—police or not. (Cheers and hoots). Here in this great crisis in tho history of Australia and the (Empire when the citizens arc asked to decide a question upon which the safety and liberty of Australia depends the Prime Minister la assaulted and denied the opportunity of free speech. I came here at the invitation of my fellow-citizens." At this stage the man who first assaulted the Prime Minister approached Mr. Hughes in a threatening manner from the street. The Prime Minister promptly jumped from the platform and went towards him. His earlier demand that the ruffian should be arrested had been ignored, for there he was "cuin threatening Mr. Hughes with further violence. The Prime Minister again gave the man in charge, and he was removed from the immediate ■vicinity, | but whether he was locked up is not known,', as the train resumed its journey a minute or two later. Resuming his speech, the Prime Minister said: "I will keep law and order in this country. (Cheers and hoots). Neither Sinn Fein nor I.W.W. will -keSp me from it, either." (More cheers and hoots). A man In the front of the crowd here made a hostile interjection. The Prime Minister: You say one word and I'll have you. (Cheers and hoots). I am here to speak to you on a subject of vita] moment to the welfare of Australia on December 20. You are to decide whether you are 'or Australia or •".gainst her. Whether you will range .■ourselves under th« Union Jack alongside your kinsmen, the lads who are fisrhting for the cause of liberty, or alongside these men who are doing the dirty work of Germany in our midst., (Lour cheers and hoots). These men who prate about libertv arc endeavoring to prevent the voice of the Government being heard. The people of the Commonwealth have given mr> authority, and by virtue of that authority I will maintain law mid order. (Cheers). Any man

who interrupts me or, any other speaker, who makes any statements calculated to mislead the electors will bo dealt with out of liand. There are men in char: of the Government of this State who are openly lending themselves to this defiance of the laws of the country, ami they are endeavoring now to circulate through the medium of Hansard a concoction of vile lies for the purpose of confusing and deceiving the electors in the exercise of their vote. They are not doing it openly, but by a subterfuge. TJKjve never was a more critical time in the history of Australia, and the Government would have been a set of craven cowards if they had not come before the people. If you are for Germany, have the manliness to put up her flag. If you are for Sinn Fein put rip the flag, &m\ I will know how to deal with you, whether you are in the police or outside of it. (More cheers and hoots). ,When these men prate about liberty; when they say the proposals of the Government are inimical to liberty, I ask you ; to remember that you owe your liberty to the fact that England, France, and all the 'nations of the world except ourselves have adopted the very system that in such a moderate form we now ask you to approve. You are sheltering behind the valor and self-sacrifice of the conscription armies of the world. Are you free men; are you worthy of the men and women who bore you; if you will not strike a blow for the country to which you owe everything, then do you stamp yourselves unworthy of freedom. There are some men in this country who will tell you to put Australia first. Yes, I ask you to put Australia first, and if you do that you will be for the Empire. (Further cheers and hoots). There is a man to-' day who is the real front of the offending.i a man to'whom every German in the country looks: to whom every Sinn Feiner looks; to whom every 1.W.W. man looks; who is, the real leader of the opposition to Hie Government's proposals.' His name is Mannix. (Cheers and hoots). If you follow him you range yourselves under the banner of the deadly enemies of Australia- Why does' every German oppose the Government's proposals; because they know they are a menace to Germany. I abjure you, in the name of Australia and in the name of liberty, to coat your votes on December 20 in favor of the Government's proposals. Show that you are loyal to Australia and to the Empire. (More cheers and hoots). The time for the departure of the train having now arrived, Mr. Hughes returned to his carriage, followed hy a surging crowd, some hooting and others cheering. Xo further missiles were ithrowij,, but a number of men and women gathered round the open windows and hurled a torrent of abuso at tho Prime Minister. The police sergeant, who was in "the forefront, was again instructed to proceed against the prime lnover in the disturbance at the court the following morning, but he again inf formed Mr. Hughes that he was prepared to recognise only the laws of tho State. As the train moved out of ths station there was a further hostile dem.j onstralion, and it was noticeable 'that a number of Queensland railway tea, who were in uniform; joined in the hoofing. ■ ■ ;