MILITANT "RED-RAGGER"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3051, 12 April 1917, Page 6

MILITANT "RED-RAGGER"

ANTI-UNION JACK SPEECH AT BROKEN HILL., Replying in a public speech at South Broken Hill last week to the criticisms of his recent "anti-LiiioJi Jack" speech (referred to in recent- cablegrams), .Mr. P. Brookfield, M.L.A. for Bturt, said lira had received a telegram from the secretary of the executive of the P.L.L. in Sydney demanding a repudiation of what he said of the I.W.W, men'and the red flag. It had also been stated that he had said he would not spill a drop of his blood for the Union Jack, and that the only flag he would fight for was the red flag. "I will' tell you what I did say," Mr. Brookfield continued. "1 said in the Central Reserve on Sunday last that every man and every woman who joined a union joined it for the purpose of getting better conditions of working,, shorter hours and more money. I said that when they joined the union they were fighting under the red flag, which denotes progress. 1 said I would not spill one drop of my blood for any flag, the Union Jack included, in any war, while millions of people were starving and while a few profiteers were allowed to make money out of that war, I am called upon to jepudiate the red flag. ; ' "I repeat'the words I used on Sunday. I will not spill one drop of my blood for any flag, the Union Jack included, while a few people are allowed to make millions of pounds profit out of a war. The P.L.L, has told me they are going to ask Mr. Storey to expel me from the Labour Party. , They can expel me from the Labour Party, but there is no power on earth to expel me from the Labour movement. They can throw me out of the party, but they cannot throw me out of the position you people have put mo iu. II thev.say I should not say these things; then the sooner I am.out of the party the better for me. T have told vou where I stand. s I said that as far as the Union Jack was concerned, or any other flag. I would not spill a drop of mv blood in an;; war while millions of people were allowed to starve and while a few were allowed to make a profit out of the war, but if anv annv of anv. country conies here to attempt to lower our standard of living I a m goi;j£ to fight under the red flag to maintain the conditions of life here. I am going to fell the P.L.L. I am not going to repudiate what I have said."