CONSCRIPTION

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 75, 26 September 1916, Page 8

CONSCRIPTION

POSITION IN AUSTRALIA

THE REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN

(FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

SYDNEY, 20th September.

All else in local affairs is overshadowed by the conscription or compulsory service question, which has now' been formally launched on the agitated sea of public opinion by ..the issue of the writ for the taking the Commonwealth referendum on 28th October, and the opening by the Prime Minister of tho campaign in support' of his proposals iot the application of a form of compulsion to make up the numbers that are left short by volunteering for the Expeditionary Forces. The Federal Parliament will, on Friday, probably rise for six weeks, and steps are being taken for the adjournment of the State Parliaments for the whole or the greater part of the period between this week and 28th October, in order to allow Ministers and members-to throw themselves into, the conscription '^referendum campaign which alone now claims the attention of the popular mind. The intensely interesting and important developments foreshadowed in these weekly notes have had a dramatic introduction with the resignation of. Mr. Frank Tudor, Minister for Trades and Customs, from the Hughes Cabinet, and the announcement that the executive of- the New South Wales Political Labour League has formally expelled the Prime Minister from the Labour movement. It was rumoured several weeks ago that Mr. Tudor, as well as two or three other members of the Federal Ministry, were likely to rsign because they did not feel themselves able to stand behind the referen-dum-conscription 'proposals which Mr Hughes had induced a majority of the Cabinet to accept. It is said that Mr. Hughes is assured, too, of. a substantial majority in the Federal Parliamentary Labour caucus. But the element of disapproval is making itself strongly heard amongst Labour members with position and pay at stake, as well as amongst Labourites outside Parliament. Some of the latter may safely ■be credited, even-though they deny it, with a* desire to get into Parliament themselves, and to secure all the advertisement they can as the!--."true" apostles of the fundamental principles and interests of Labour. One of the reasons put forward by ' Mr. Tudor for his resignation, and this reason is repeated by other Federal Labour members who "are openly fighting the Prime Minister's proposals, is that a referendum, while designed as a, democratic instrument, will be undemocratically employed in connection with the present conscription scheme, because it will be a case ot everybody voting on a proposal to impose life and death obligations on a limited nunber Not'only did the executive of the New South Wales P.L.L., at its meeting on Friday "night,'decide "That Mr. W. M. Hughes be expelled from the Labour movement," but it also resolved that the endorsements of Mr. W. A. Holman (State Premier), Mr. D. R. Hall (State At-torney-General), Mr. W. A. Griffith (Minister for Education), and Mr. W. R. Bagnall (member of the State Legislative Assembly),-as recognised Labour candidates at : the ' coming _ State elections, be withdrawn In addition it was decided to make another overhaul of the replies given by. other members of Parliament to the circular issued by the executive asking all Labour members to state their views on* conscription, and to require those whose replies were at all ambiguous to answer " yes " or " no" to the question whether they_ believe in conscription for military service abroad. ■Mr. Hughes says,' "I will go straight ahead with the "work which I _ have set nlyself to do. Ido not recognise either the right or authority of the Political Labour League executive. to expel me. In this, the greatest crisis of the. civilised world, in which Democracy and Labour are fighting for their existence, this secret junta dares to tell me and those who stand with me that on pain of expulsion we .must not speak as our consciences direct. But while I live. I will say that which I believe' to be right, and, on this great 'question, which stands far above all-party, nothing will prevent mo from pointing out to my fellow -citizens what has to be done to win this great war." Putting aside the enormous gravity of the great question of the hour on which Mr. Hughes finds himself opposed to the "secret junta," one cannot help smiling at the assertion of the right of freedom of individual thought and action on the part of one who has done so much to make the Labour machine, with its "secret junta" methods and power, what is now is in' Australia. ' On behalf of Messrs. Hughes and* Holman and those with them in the ban pronounced by the P.L.L. executive, it. is asserted that the executive has no right or authority as -the dictator in regard to State matters to decree what shall be done in regard to Federal questions ; that Labour members cannot be-

"dealt with" if. they have not violated the definite printed ( programme of the P.L.L., , that conscription was not amongst the matters on which members of the 'party" bound and pledged themselves, and moreover, that, the anti-con-scription ■ resolution of the last State P.L.L. conference, on which the executive claims to be acting, was not arrived at. in accordance witli the P.L.L. constitution in the matter of notice of motion, and so forth. The points of constitutionality are debated at considerable length, and with exhaustive examinations or phrases and clauses, in a manner suggesting quite grotesquely that the point at issue is not national safety with all that, it covers, but the correct interpretation of the rules of an irresponsible " secret junta," to again quote Mr. Hughes's'description. There are on record some truly marvellous avoidances, in t the interests of "solidarity," of what seemed inevitable disruptions of the Labour Party, which has with its almost complete domination made Australia a most interesting field of political experiments. However, on the present occasion thero seems no chance of avoiding a split unless the Prime Minister can say something not yet said which will make every Australian man and woman rush forward to .give everything save honour for the safety of tho country.

Mr. Hughes! expresses himself as immensely pleased with the success of the meeting at the Sydney Town Hall on Monday, with whicii he opened his conscription referendum campaign. It was a record meeting for even the Sydney Town Hall-, and that is saying a lot. Thousands who came along an hour before tho hour of starting the meeting had hot "a ghost of a chance of getting into the packed hall. Mr. Hughes's speech was • listened to with the suppressed agitation of approbation, nnd lie and his eloquent words were cheered to the echo. Precautions had been taken against the intrusion of .elements suspected of an organised sgheme of preventing the grave utterances of the Prime Minister from being properly heard. The Lord Mayor, who acted as chairman at this memorable gathering, announced that a.motion, moved by the Premier, Mr. Holman, in favour of a vigorous organised.effort in New South Wales in support of the Prime Minister was "earned by 4000 to 7." One can understand that Mr. Hughes remarked afterwards " I consider that the cam-

paign has been launched under the most „ favourable circumstances." Mr. Hughes is now on his way to Adelaide in pursua.nce of nis intention to speak in all the Australian capital; cities.