AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 27, 1 February 1912, Page 3

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

NEWS AND NOTES. COMMONWEALTH AND STATES. [lAOM OttE OWN COBBXSrOtiBINT.] SYDNEY, 27th January. The Premiers' Conference in Melbourne has concluded without the Commonwealth Government securing all that it hoped for. Indeed, the Premiers as * whole showed a disinclination to abandon what has come- to be known as the "home rule policy." Some ,of them, it is true, were williug enough to hand over some of their powers to the Commonwealth, but the majority hesitated' to give away anything more than could pc«sibly be helped. Except in regard to the minor questions that were discussed, unanimity was lacking in the decisions. The two big things discussed by the Premiers . were tho savings bank question and 'the transfer of trade and commerce and industrial powers to me Commonwealth. The conference was unable to arrive uniformity on the savings banks question, and unless some satisfactory solution of the difficulty be yet found we shall have a Commonwealth Savings Bank and State Savings Banks, all representing the people's interests and all working on similar lines in opposition to each other. From an economic standpoint this is regrettable, inasmuch as it will mean the upkeep of separate staffs. Again, on the subject of industrial powers, the Premiere declined to give the Commonwealth the powers which were refused by the people on the decasion .of the Referendum. Whether when another Referendum is taken on the matter, as is proposed to be done, the people will reverse their former vote remains to be seen. Mr. Scad dan, the Premier of Western Australia, thinks they will. Mr. Holman, who, it will be remembered, opposed the Referendum, proposals andi subsequently, as Acting Premier, of New South Wales, proposed) to give the Commonwealth Government some of the Eowers it was refused by the people, as returned from the conference disappointed with the reception his proj posals met with. "I only aimed, he says, "at perfecting certain powers which the federal Parliament already haa— powers which it was generally believea to have in a complete form already, but which, owing to some failure of language in the Constitution, are incomplete. There 'vs all the difference in the world between giving the Federal Parliament an entirely new function not hitherto assigned to that Legislature, and giving it that, which would remove a defect in the way of the full exercise- of a function it has had from _ the beginning." Mr. Murray, Premier of Victoria, expresses 'the view that the terms offered to the Commonwealth by the conference went as far a« the public outside of the Labour Party would stand — indeed, a little further than many people would approve— and the acceptance of the offer would mean that the Commonwealth would have all the power it is entitled to in connection with industry and trade. "I thidk," he says, "the Commonwealth Ministry might well have met the States in a more reasonable spirit of compromise." THE OVERTURES TO NEW ZEALAND. I The Australasian has some interesting ! remarks to make apropos of the overtures now being made to induce New Zealand to join the Australian Commonwealth. "For some reasons, particularly the question of defence, which the Prime Minister had in mind," says the paper, "the hope, could be cordially echoed. There is cumbersomeness and general inexpediency in the two different system* adopted by New Zealand and Australia for assisting in the naval defence Of the Pacific. But the head oi the Commonwealth Labour Party is in other respects a very poor spokesman to put for- ' ward with an invitation that New Zealand shall so far abrogate her independence as to become a, State in this Commonwealth." Only a few days ago Senator M'Coll, speaking at a country gathering expressed his conviction that many persons who had voted for federation eleven years ago never dreamt that 6uch legislation as' we now had would be enacted. New Zealand, it will be remembered, was a party to the discussions that took place in the ''nineties" and could not be persuaded that it was to her interest to throw iv her lot with Australia. Says the Australasian: "There is a much fainter chance of attracting them now that it has been shown that the aim of a large party iv the Commonwealth is to filch one by one the powers reserved to the States, and-to*-sacrifice everything for the 1 sake of setting up an industrial tyranny which «h»IT crash all enterprise and instal tho stagnant rule of " Socialism. New Zealand hae experimented herself pretty freely on these lines, and is now disposed to call a halt. From. that point of view the moment is iil-chpsen.for Mr. Fisher's blandishments.- On the other hand, if the true federal spirit had been preserved in Australia . . . there axe many cogent arguments for an intimate bond between the two countries, covering defence, postal arrangements; trade exchange, maritime legislation, marriage laws, and many other subjects. The word 'bond,' however, is not synonymous with 'bondage,' such as the Common-, wealth Labour caucus is endeavouring to fasten upon the people of these States." The Austraiasian,i of course, is one of the most bitter opponents of Labour; its language is about, as extreme as Labour legislation is m its' opinion.* There is, possibly, not much hope of inducing "NewrZealand to join the Federation, but one can see no reason why there should not be a conference between representatives of the two countries, with a view to uniformity and reciprocity. PUBLIC SEEVICE BEGEADING. The regrading of the public service officials of New South Wale's Has just been completed and the results published. The alterations 'in grade, salaries, fees, and allowances take effect as from Ist July, 1911. The regrading marks the close " of the ■ old system, |of quinquennial valuation and .the beginning of a new system. By the Public Service (Amendment) Act of 1910.it is provided that the grade,' salaries, and allowances of officers (except permanent heads and heads of branches) shall be determined by departmental boards. The Under-Secretaries and heads of branches have their grading determined by the Public Service Board, as formerly. Unless the law be again altered, there will in future, be no quinquennial gradings. All adjustments of salary and changes in classification, whenever they are found to be necessary, will be mad* by the departmental boards. Tho increases which the. adoption of the new scheme involves amount in the aggregate to £150,000, of which £74,000 is for school teachers. In somo branches of the teaching service the increase amounts to over I<T per cent., and the average increase is about 10 per cent. With the advance of unionism and wageu boards, nearly every class in the community has benefited of late years in Australia, but this has not been the case with publio servants. Some of the postal and telegraph employees, for instance, are shockingly paid. That service vs. now managed —and. not managed well— by the Federal Government. The States manage their own school systems, and teachers generally throughout Australia havq been b.ut yexy pgprjy, paid for their eemca

in th© past. It is to be hoped that this stigma will soon bs wiped out in other States, as is being don© now in New South Wales. Commenting on the position in Queensland, one of the papers says : "It is a remarkable fact, possibly dating back some centuries to the days when monks were tho only educators, and the man who could read and writ© was regarded as an effeminate son of person worthy of no small degree of contempt, that school teachers are still among th© worst-paid of those who have to undergo a latg© amount of training in order to earn their living. It is no wonder that th© young teachers, if not the old ones, of this State have been credited with strong Socialistic leanings." EARLY CLOSING IN TASMANIA. The island State of Tasmania is now having a taste o? early-closing legislation, and it doesn't like it — or, rather, there - are a greas many who doa't. "Th© early-closing law passed last Bession, and of which the Labour Party is very proud," writes the correspondent of a Melbourne paper, '"is causing a great deal of trouble, and is likely to cause more. There are all sorts of provisions as to who may keep open and who may not, and the parties at both ends of the island are full of complaints about th© unfair manner in which the law is lound to wo*k. Those who do not employ assistant* are allowed to keep open ancl do their own work, which ie a gracious concession, but one result is that sundry assistants have been informed that their services are no longer required. They wanted a, rest, and now they are having a longer one than they expected. Another trouble is that two partners may run, say, a chemist's shop, and they keep open until 9 o'clock, whereas th© other chemists have to shut up at 6. Thit, naturally enough, causes trouble. These people want to know who and what is an assistant. 'Is a son' an assistant?' asks on©, for he has to be paid in on© way or another. The surprising fact is that the people submit to all these rules tnd • regulations." But Tasmania must fall into line * with the rest of the States. We have all had these troubles, and have had to liva them down — even New Zealand. In Sydney not 'long ago % Shopkeepers' Defence Association was formed, wtiich was going to do great things to bring about some alteration of the existing law, but it seems to have died a natural death.