LABOUR STONEWALL

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 53, 31 August 1925, Page 7

LABOUR STONEWALL

-SENATES UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE.

MELBOURNE, 30th August. | The Senate, for the first time since 1905, sat all day, and adjourned at midnight till Monday morning. Tho Labour stonewall on the Police Bill disarranged the plans of Mr. Bruce, who had hoped to lorce the Bill through tho Senate. Members of the House of Representatives mostly slept in the House, awaiting a message from the Senate notifying them that the Bill had been passed. When.it became apparent that Labour was stonewalling the measure, the Lower House adjourned until Monday. 1 • When Senator Pearce moved the suspension of tho Standing Orders in the Senate, to enable the Bill to be passed, there was pandemonium, and the "gag" was frequently applied. Senator Pearce said: "There is a; movement in this country for revolutionary purposes. No secret is made of it, and members will be false to their trust if they shut their "eyes to it. If the present' measure is not effective the Government will ask the people to ! give it the power to take other steps to prevent the destruction of the Commonwealth law." Referring to the refusal of Mr. Lang to allow his police to assist in carrying out the Federal law, Spnntor Peuvce said: "Very little consideration will show that Ruck action is liable to spell absolute chaos and anarchy, and sound the end of the Commonwealth Government in Australia." Senator Outline attributed the strike to the. insidious engineering of Communist influences. Tom Walsh, ho contended, was doing his best to break up the British Seamen's Union. Ho was interfering in 'a dispute into, which ho had no right to enter. Senator Hannan declared that if his advice,were sought lie .would advise the British seamen in Australian waters to I accept Die majority decision of the union in England. A. feature of the debate was the declaration by Senator Ogclcu (Labour),

that he would support the Bill,'stating that he believed the workers were being led astray.