THE LABOUR CABINET

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 805, 30 April 1910, Page 5

THE LABOUR CABINET

CAUCUS-CHOSEN. NEARLY THE SAME TEAM AS LAST TIME. MR. HUGHES HEADS THE BALLOT. iy Telegraph—Press Association—OopyriEht (Roc. April 29, 9.30 p.m.) Melbourne, April 29. Mr. A. Fisher, the new, Labour Prim© Minister, has announced his Ministers, tho names of whom are appended. (An asterisk signifies that tho Minister was a mombor of tho first Fisher Ministry, and hold tho same portfolio.)

•Mr. A. Fisher, prime Minister and • Fedoral Treasurer. •Mr. W. M. Hughes, Attorney-Genoral, 'Mr: E. L, Batchelor, Minister for External Affairs. •Senator Coo. F. Pearce, Minister for Defence. Mr. King O'Malloy, Minister for Home Affairs. *Mr. F. C. Tudor, Minister for. Trade and Customs. •Mr. Joslah Thomas, PostmasterCenerai. . Honorary Ministers: Mr. C. E. Frazer (M.H.R.,: Kalgoorlie) and Senator Edward Findley x (who headed the recent | Senate poll in Victoria;. The Labour party's candidate for the position of Speaker will bo Mr. C. M'Donald (M.H.R. for Kennedy, Queensland). The party's candidate for tho Chairmanship of Committees will bo Mr. Alex. Poynton (M.H.R. for Grey, South Australia). The Ministry was selected by the Labour party caucus by ballot. Tho returning officer did not reveal the number of votes cast for each candidate. One ballot sufficed for the election of the three Ministers in, the Senate. For the election of tho'Ministers in the House each member of the cauens 'wrote six names.;. Mr. Hughes headed the poll, with Mr. Batchelor second, and Mr. Tudor third. These were tho only candidates' who received a majority of the votes cast. A dozen; or so, who had not received five votes each, were then dropped out; and a second ballot was taken for Uho nine candidates left in. These, were:— Messrs. Brown, . Thomas,. Frazer, Spence, Webster, Mahon, O'Malloy, Matthews, and Roberts. The ballot placed Mr. Thomas at tho top, Mr. O'Malley secorid,- and Mr. Frazer third. Thus the' six Ministers from the House of Representatives were completed. •, Tho Senate section of - the Ministry postponed selecting- their, candidate for the Presidency of the Senate and the Chairmanship of Committees till a fortnight before Parliament assembles. - The now Ministers wore sworn in tonight. [The cablegram speaks of three- Ministers from the .'Senate, but'the cabled list of Ministers contains only; two Senators. It is.probable that the name of: Senator Gregor M'Gregor has been dropped in transmission. ' In the last Fisher Cabinet , he was Vice-President of the Council and Leader .in- the Senate. Probably hei has been, eleoted to the earno positions. He headed the' Teceart South Aus-tralian-Senate; poll.] ' ;'..•■

.labour And land tax, .ME. HUGHES VERY,.EMPHATIC. \ -; : Sydney, -April 29. 'Mr. W-. M. Hughes, who: was Attor-ney-General in the last Federal Labour Ministry, speaking at a social function, said that if'land values were not taxed by this Parliament, then the Labour party would not deserve to get into t&e Federal Parliament again.- *

) SENATE VOTES RECOUNT. Melbourne, April 29. ' At the request l of Sir Robert Best, the leading Fusionist candidate, the votes cast in the election of the three Victorian Senators/will be recounted. [The three Labour candidates appear to be. elected on ; present figures, but . the later returns improved the position of the leading Fusionist:candidate, ifciir Robert Best. It was cabled on Wednesday:—"Sir Robert Best is now only .867' votes .behind the lowest of the three Labour- candidates, Mr. A. E.H. Blakey. The'electoral officers are now reviewing the ballot papers rejected by the country offioers as informal. A number of these have already been declared valid." ; Sir' Robert . Best was Minister for .Customs in- the resigned, LDeakin-Cook Government.] ;

THE NEW,MINISTRY. '-.- Mr. Fisher, prime Minister, has been the subject of recent biographical notice.' : The , following notes;'concerning his Ministers.are of;interest: —' Mr. W. M. Hughes; ; Admittedly one of the; cleverest men and ablest speakers oh his side, Mr. W. M. Hughes was placed, during the recent strikes,. in a posibipn of extreme difficulty. ''•,' As ' an exponent of labouf-in-politics,-and oho who.looks to tho ;ballot-box rather! than .'to industrial, war -'.as' 1 the effective .weapon; . Mr. Hughes had to hold : the. fort against the Bowlings and other advocates of a general paralysing strike. With an eye constantly fixed ahead upon tho very election now being held,, he resisted every effort to make war upon the community as a whole';by a";general cessation of.-work; and though he had a hard task'to hold. his^-wharf' labourers together, .he never ' flinched. The vengeahoo ; or militant' labour f6llowcd him, for his seat (West Sydney) was contested in the recent election by tho widely-known Socialist-Anarchist' Mr.' w Holland, but the three-cornered con'test did not prevent tho name 'of Hughes being again hoisted on top with a huge majority.' ' -

Mr. Hughes was born in Wales on September 25,' 1864. Ho went to school at the Llonduno Grammar School, and the Baroness Burdett Coutts's school at Westminster. He ;camo to Australia in 1884, and spent some time ■ teaching . in the State schools. Ho is one of tho foremost mon in the Labour party, and has the confidence of three, of the largest unions of workers in Now South Wales. Ho is president of the Waterside Workers' Federation —an association claiming over 10.000 members—and is secretary of tho Sydney, Wharf Labourers' Union, and president, of tho New South Wales Carters' Union. He first entered politics in Now South Wales in 1894, as member for the Lang division of Sydney, in the Legislative Assembly. In 1001 he .was elected to the first Honse of Representatives as member for West Sydney, and ho has retained his seat evor since.

In the intervals of political life he found time to undcrtako a University course in law, and was called to the New Soufli Wales bar .in 1903. Since then he has acted as counsel in sever,'] important cases in which workers wore interested. Ho was Minister for External Affairs in tho Watson Cabinet in 1903, and was Attornoy-General in the first Fisher Cabinet (to which post he,now returns), and has always •taken an important.part in all the deliberations of the caucus. He was chairman of the Royal Commission on tho

Iron Bonus Bill in 1904, and chairman of tho Navigation Commission in 1904 and 1905. In 1907 he was chosen by the Deakin Ministry to act as one of the Commonwealth representatives on the Navigation Conference, which was held in Condon. Mr. Batchelor. Mr. Egerton Loe Batohelor, who'was Minister for External Affairs in the Fisher Government, is again in possession of that portfolio. He was born in Adelaide, and is 44 years of age. He was for some time a State school teacher, and was afterwards in the engineering branch of the Government workshops. Ho was president of the Amalgamated Society of Engineors and of tho Railway Association., In 1893 he entered' tho South' Australian House of Representatives, as member for West Adelaide. He was chosen leader of tho Parliamentary Labour party of South Australia in 1897, avid in 1899 received the portfolio of Minister for Education and Agriculture in the Holden Government. He resigned in 1901; to contest the Boothby seat in the Federal Houso of Representatives. Ho was elected, and when Mr, Watson formed his Ministry in 1906, Mr. Batohelor was made Minister for Home Affairs. No member of the Labour party has had' longer Ministerial expenenco than Mr. Batchelor. He is one of the moderates, and is noted for his. unruffled courtesy, both in debate and outside ■ the House.

Mr. Joslah Thomas. • Mr. Josiah Thomas, who was Post-master-General in tho Fisher Government, has represented "the Barrier" — Broken Hill—ever since the federation. He is one of the most popular .members of the Labour party —a humorous Cornishman, wibh a vein of biting satire •for his opponents.- He was bom 46 years ago. His father was a silvermining expert, and Mr. Thomas spent some years as a boy in Mexico, where; his father had charge of a big mining venture. Then, when still young, he came to Australia, and worked as a nliner on Broken Hill.' He soon bocame a leading figure; in the Amalgamated Miners' Association, and was president of it when the great Barrier strike occurred. He was one of tho directors of that strike, being a loading member of the strike .defence committee. ' For seven yearsr l -1894 to '1901 —he was a/member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the, constituency of Alma. As has been stated, he was elected .to-., the Federal House of Representatives for the Barrier in 1901. Mr. Thomas has always been one of the most influential members of the Federal Labour party. He did not obtain office' in the :Watson Ministry, though he was one of the possibilities mentioned as successor to Mr. J. C. W a 'son when that gentleman retired from the leadership of the party. , . Y '

Mr. F. 0. Tudor. Mr. Frank Grwyrine Tudor is again, ;as in the first Fisher Cabinet, Minister for Trade and Customs. ,' He is a Victorian, and was born in Williamstbwn in '1866.'.'. He received a State school education, and was apprenticed to the felt hat trade. He became an ardent unionist, and.' represented, the Felt Hatters' Union on tlie Trades Hall Council, in 1900. He was" elected president of the council in . the following year. While he was still president of the Trades Hall Council he was Selected to the. House of Representatives as member for Yarra, and has acted as whip and secretary to the, ' Federal 'Labour party ever since. Mr. Tudor is an ardent protectionist, and took aleading part in the debates on bo#h the tariffs which have been passed by the "Federal Parliament.-"'ln the'last tariff he did a: great deal of work for the Protectionist side of the House, in his capacity as.Whip of the Labour party. , ■"'.'■.'With-V view to familiarising himself, with- conditions elsewhere, Mr. Tudor some years ago visited 'England and American-working in' the 'best factories of both countries. -

Senator Poarce. Senator PeaTco, who returns to his old"portfolio. of Minister for Defence, is':a'native of Mount Barker, South Australia: ''. Ho has been in Western Australia since 1894, and in subsequent years'held- office, including that of president, in the Trades and Labour. Council at Perth. He was one of.the senators elected by Western Australia to the first Federal Parliament in 1901. aid_ has, always occupied an influential position-in the councils of the party. Some' years ago he presided over/ a Royal Commission which reported on the state of the tobacco industry ih Australia. In the first session of the last Parliament he was elected Chairman of Committees in the Senate. He was the prime mover in the Senate's recent .investigation, into, the press ' cable service and the Press Association. :, Mr. King O'Maliey. Mr. King O'Maliey an apprenticeship to State politics as a, member of the South Australian Assembly for Encounter Bay. Tasmania has sent hrm to. the Federal House ever since the inception of Federation. His Tasmanian seat is Darwin, and this is his first Cabinet position; His portfolio of Foreign Affairs was held uv the last' Ministry by the member- for' Coolgardie, Mr. Hugh' Mahon. The latter is not included in the present Ministry. An Australian paper recently remarked:—"lt is an open secret that Mr. Mahon, when in office and since ■ then, made several bad -friends among those who selected him for a portfolio." Leader of the Senate. The Leader of the Senate in the last Fisher Government was ' Senator trregor M'Gregor. If :ho is chosen again, all the old team will be back, each in, his old place, except Mr. Mahon (who lost in the ballot) and Mr. Hutchison (Honorary Minister, since deceased). The new blood in the portfolio ranks is Mr. King O'Maliey. The appointment of Mr. Fraser as Honorary Minister was not unexpected. During last session this . ene~getio young politician from Western Australia earned much kudos by his untiring efforts in the' Opposition, and many of the plots laid to upset the Deakin-Cook Government originated with him. The nomination of Mr. M'Donald (Queensland) for the Speakership was also forecasted. Dr. Carty Salmon (Fusionist)' was Speaker in the last Houße.

N.S.W. ELECTION CAMPAICN. LAND TAX. GOVTSRNMENT ORGANISING. ' ' Sydney, April 29. The' State Treasurer (Hon. T. Waddoll) announces that the Government intends to proceed wth the Land Tax Bills this year. Roused by tho result of the Federal elections, tbe State Liberal (Government) party is actively organising for tho coming election. A movement is also afoot for reorganising tho Liberal party throughout tho Commonwealth.

VITAL ORGANISATION.. The Liberal (Fusion) Government, recently defeated in the Federal election, claim b that it was beaten by Labour in organisation. Mr. Joseph Cook, who was Minister for Defence in that Government, is member of tho Federal House for Parramatta, a New South Wales seat, and he attempts to illustrate his contention by hie own experience He is reported in a Sydnoy paper as saying:

"Their (Labour's) organisation- has been proceeding apace for the past two years. Their strategy was complete. Wo had to rely on tactics in the actual face of the enemy, and in political as in actual modern warfare it is always tho carefully-planned strategy that succeeds. "What I mean is this: Our organisation lacks one vital matter, viz., a thorough and constant policing.of the electoral rolls. This has been proceeding in the town of Parramatta, to take an example, for some time past. Every name nearly on the other side ' was on the roll. On o'ur side hundreds were off. One of my secretaries tells me he thinks there must be nearly 1000 in Parramatta alone who aro not on the roll. "There is another curious feature about the Parramatta roll. There are to-day 250 fewer names on than in 1906. The town has grown larger in population—tho roll has shrunk. The result was a surprise. My opponent got up very close in the town itself. The thing is not likely to happen at the State election. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. "On the other.hand, Messrs. Gardiner and Rae have been travelling over Australia 'as representatives of the A.W.U. Li this way they have been able to cover much ground at no expense to themselves. "The point is, we fight with a handicap, unless the roll has been first carefully looked to.;. We want an organisation like theirs, which is sleepless and continuous. If this be done the result of the elections will have proved a good thing for the country."