LABOUR IN POLITICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 20, 18 October 1907, Page 6

LABOUR IN POLITICS.

Tiie rumour that Mr. J. C. Watson intends to retire from political life directs renewed attention to a political phenomenon which has attached itself to Australian politics ever since the Federation was inaugurated. Early in the movement, which led to the formation of an independent' Labour party strong enough to tip the scale either way in the Federal House, Mr. Watson came to the front as a Labour politician of unusual fairness and ability. It was only a matter of time before Labour would bo on top in

the three-party system, and when the time came Mr. Watson became Premier, only to give way in his turn to Mr. Deakin. Time has not removed the three-party- system, nor changed Mr. Watson's Labour views, but the Labour party is beginning to move under the. pressure of Socialistic enthusiasms, and it is not unlikely that. Mr. Watson's retirement inay proceed from his unwillingness to be driven beyond the limits_ which his prudence tells him | are the_ limits of progressive wisdom. His retirement, if it takes place, will remove a wise restraining hand from the aspirations of a minority which has learned that the substance of power is preferable to the shadow of office. In any case events are marching towards the domination of a Socialistic, instead of a.purely Labourite, minority, and Federal politics, which have been unsensational for over two years, will soon become acutely interesting again. The Socialistic forces at work in Australia are at work in New Zealand at the present time, and the extreme Socialistic leaders of the Trades Unionists have already condemned the Government and begun to urge a policy of isolation and independence upon the workers. There are in this country all the materials for the three-party system, and its harvest of incoherence and discontinuity. The Government has encouraged the extremists by its openconfession of affection for Socialistic principles, and annoyed them by its failure tc " go the whole hog " in practice. jS T obody pretends nowadays that the unique conditions of the 1905 elections will be repeated iu 1908, for next year the, elections will be fought upon political issues, and not upon the personal issue of a great popular leader's mana. If, as is said to be possible, the Government breaks off its flirtation with Socialism, the strong beginnings of the three-party system may be seen inside the walls of our own 1 Parliament.