DARWIN BOLSHEVIKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 October 1919, Page 3

DARWIN BOLSHEVIKS.

AN AMAZING STORY. | THE CITIZENS' NOTICE TO QUIT. The Australian mail which arrived in Wellington the other day .brought details of the recent incident in the Northern Territory, as the result of which .Mr H. K, Carey, Director of the Territory, Judge Bevan, and Mr R. J. Evans, Government Secretary, agreed to accept from a deputation which waited on them a notice to quit the Territory by the next steamer as an alternative to exposing themselves to the risks of a revolution. Following a public meeting in the Darwin Town Hall on Monday, October 13. a deputation consisting of the Mayor (Mr Toupein), Mr H. Nelson (branch secretary of the. Australian Workers' TJnion), Mr J. Thomas (president of the Industrial Council), Mr P. Brennan, and Mr. W. Bolton, waited on Mr H. E. Carey, Director of the Northern Territory, at Government House next :norning. The deputation was received, and asked to be seated. The Mayor, who had been appointed to act as spokesman, said that at largely attended public meeting a. resolution had been passed that Mr Carey, Judge Bevan, and Mr R. J. Evans (Government Secretary) be asked to leave by the next boat, and that their resignations be handed in before they left. "I would ask you," continued the Mayor, "to consider this as a very serious matter, and you will do well to comply with the request." Mr. Carey said that as the matter also concerned Judge Bevan and Mr Evans, he would ask for their attendance. He telephoned for these gentlemen, and they walked into the room a few minutes later. The Mayor then repeated his request. Mr. Carey (to th° Mayor): In the evefft of our refusal comply with the I request, will force be used?

The Mayor: The people of the Territory do not desire to use force. I cannot, of course, say what, the people will do, but. their subsequent action would ■he guided bv the attitude adopted by yourselves.

I Mr. Nelson: The people arc deterl mined, and they will devise mean 9 to '.bring about the desired effect.

Mr. Carey: I will telegraph to the Minister straight away, and ask fn* instructions. That is all I can sar

Mr. Nelson; I take it from your reply that you are adopting the attitude of the former administrator in refusing to recognise the will of the people of the Northern Territory.

Mr Bolton: This it; n straight-nut demand. I fail to se? that .i.nv instructions are necessary. After the revelations at the last sitting of the Advisory Council, wo consider it to be absolutely criminal to allow you to remain here.

Mr. Carey: Does that refer personally to me. or to all three?

.Mr. Bolton: T should say that, as the resolution at the meeting was carried practically unanimously, it is a straightout. issue referring to all three. Mr, "Nelson: When do you think you could give us an answer? Mr. Carey: I think I shall be able to do so to-morrow. It,depends on when T could get a reply from the Minister. Judge Bevan (to Mr. Carev): I wish to thank yon for your courtesy in convevinsr the resolution of the meeting. My Commission is held from the Gov-ernor-General, by whom alone I shall be removed. As yon arc also a\ynre there is a proper procedure for the removal of a Judge, and if that is entered upon the matter will receive most careful consideration. I will certainly agree that the position as renresented by you shall be laid before the executive* and until that occurs I can do nothing. . Mr. Nelson: We have not asked the Governor-General to dispense with the services of the three men. What we have asked for is. that the three, in the interests of peace in the Northern Territory. should tender their resignations forthwith.

The Mayor: We are asking the Judge to resign in the interests of the people, and there is no obstacle in the way of his resigning. Mr. Evans: If it is a question of choice between coercion and doing it peaceajjly. I would prefer to do it peaceably. I have already had twelve months' experience of the of being "up against" the industrialists. If the Cabinet, asks for my resignation it can have it. On no other ground will I resigfl. Mr. Nelson: The feelings of the people of the Northern Territory at the present moment will not permit of changing the issue. We have got a definite statement from Mr. Evans, and must give him credit for making a manly statement, but we have not yet received an answer from the Director and the Judge.

Mr. Carey: I will telegraph for instructions. Ido not intend to cause a riot.

Mr. Nelson: If an inevitable sign of riot should appear, can We take it that to prevent that riot you would resign? Mr. Carey: I would go further. I will say now, that if you assure me my failure to do so will mean a riot. I am prepared to resign, but I shall reserve the right to inform the Minister of the circumstances under which the resignation, is obtained.

Mr. Nelson: Then you can take, it officially that your refusal to resign will precipitate one of the biggest revolutions Australia has ever seen, and only by a firm hand those who control the present industrial mind are holding it back.

Judge Bevan: If violence is inevitable, I am quite prepared to resign, and am quite prepared to leave the Territory in the interests of peace. Mr. Carey: I am prepared to leave to avoid violence.

The Mayor: The three of you? Mr. Carey (after consulting Judge Bevan and Mr. Evans): Yes.

The Mayor: In the event of the military being sent to protect you what would be the position? Mr. Carey: I shall advise the Minister that two shall leave the Territory by the next boat. Mr. Evans: The next boat! It takes a little time to wind up one's affairs, and it may not be possible. Mr. Nelson: In that case you can depend upon getting all reasonable assistance from the people. Mr. Bolton (to the Judge) Your commission was only for five years, and I am under the impression that it has expired. Judge Bevan: That is incorrect. The Mayor: I will convey the result of this deputation to the public in a proper manner. The deputation then withdrew. REIGN OF TERROR ALLEGED. That affairs have reached a very serious crisis in Darwin is the opinion e£ a

Melbourne man, who (according to the Argus) has had exceptional opportunities for studying the position. He describes the town as "a little Bolshevik community, isolated from law and order, and determined to run the place in its own way." Mob rule is supreme. "Look at the aftermath of last year's rebellion," he sava. "On December 17, 1018, a well-organised mob broke into Government House, wrecked part of tha building, and threatened the Administrator's life. Not one of that mob was ever punished.

"To get a proper perspective of the situation one must understand the abnormal (Conditions of the place. During the 'season' the slaughtermen draw' fancy wages. I know of one man employed killing cattle who made up to £22 per week. As soon as the season is over there is a general exodus. Naturally this tends to demoralise the industrial community. It is a common sight to see the slaughtermen driving to and from their work at Vestey Brothers' in hired motor cars. The alien problem is very acute. There has been a regular influx of foreigners—chiefly Russians and Greeks—and they have not helped towards peace. The central executive of I the unions is not to blame. Time and again, as I know for a fact, the extremists have defied their unions in exactly the same way as they have defied their Government. The ostensible cause of all the trouble is lack of representation, and, on the face of it, it appears a legitimate grievance. But what with the floating character of the population and the big alien element, representation is a nasty problem.

"Meanwhile the minority in Darwin, living, as it is, under a veritable reign j of terror, wants to know what the i Government is going to do to protect j them. It sent up a few soldiers. Well, j the men, living on their meagre, military pay, were feted right and left by the affluent workers, and, in the disturbances last December there wasn't a soldier within sight of Government House. Then the Navy took a hand. The sailors who landed were influenced by the crowd, and the captain of one warship declared that he had more trouble with his crew in Darwin than he had throughout his service in the North Sea. As a result, the captain of the next ship that came up wouldn't allow his men to land, and they were cooped up on board in the harbor throughout a stay extending over some weeks. I repeat that the situation is grave in the extreme. Something must be done, and done quickly." ; A BURLESQUE UPON GOVERNMENT "As a burlesque upon Government, the Northern Territory has features not to ! be matched by any of the freak States conceived between the days of Thomas Moore and W. S. Gilbert," comments the Melbourne Age, in a scathing article. '"'Che Fisher Government, with that strange regard for titles and dignity which is assigned to Radicalism, appointed an Administrator with autocratic powers, and dubbed him 'His Excellency.' Great numbers of high-salaried officials were placed ill sincures at the same time—'sufficient,' as the Bishop of Carpentaria said, 'to run a State of 500,000 inhabitants' —and vast sums were spent on experimental stations, some of which still bear the names of Labor Ministers. The official incubus created by Labor still remains. No Minister has had the courage to remove it. Being too weak to do the right thing, the Minister has in all cases been compelled to defend the wrong. With an audacity only possible to politics, the people are asked to believe that a population of about 400 requires Government Departments costing £IOO,000 a year, or nearly 10s per week for each man, woman, and child. There are more than 150 officials, nearly all of whom are paid on a scale suited to an official caste that holds itself superior. The accumulated annual deficits amount to £2,007,352, and the total cost of the Territory to the Commonwealth since 1911 reaches £6,800.|09 Without a doubt there is a turbulent section in the Territory which has to be handled with tact, as well as unflinching determination. There is also an official class out of all proportion to the population, entirely out of sympathy in most cases with the people who work, and constituting in itself a grievance against which indignant protest is natural."