OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 14508, 28 October 1910, Page 7

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

SYDNEY, October 15. THE ELECTIONS. There is not so much depression as might bo imagined about the Labor victory. " Be thankful it's no worse," is the prevailing sentiment. Had tho voting proceeded on tho lines of April last, Labor, as prognosticated by Mr Dacey, would have come back with sixty seats out of the ninety. Present incomplete returns point to somewhere under fifty But it is quite sufficient. Under the" Caucus system a majority of one is as potent as a majority of twenty. Argument has no effect, for where all are bound to vote as one the waverers, even it convinced by argument, have to fall into line. It is something to bo abb to note a very pronounced reaction against Labor, after tho brief experience wo havo had of Labor rule in tho Commonwealth. It will gain redoubled strength when we aro " doublebanked " by Labor in the State as well. Still, as has been repeatedly pointed out before, in three years a great deal of irreparable injury may be done to tho best interests of the people. It is safe to say that those who havo th > least will bo ileeced the least. But that does not imply that they will not sutler severely. A crusade against those who pay wages, such as is being inaugurated by tho Federal Government, must in time react very disastrously on those who live by wages. It is possible to devise numerous ingenious ways of killing Jio goose that lays the golden eggs. But it is impossible, by any device of taxation or oppression, to permanently increase the output beyond her natural capacity. So 10n.,' as Labor slavishly adheres to tho narrow and shortsighted fallacies which now ride its counsels, and pursues tho same vindictive policy by similar harsh and arbitrary methods, the record of its career in power must necessarily bo a record of failure. MINISTERIAL DEFEATS. When the Ministry is beaten as a whole the fate of it? individual members becomes a matter of minor importance. Still, it was never expected that Mr S. W. Moovo would be beaten for Bingera. Personally popular, he was, of course, identified with the policy cf closer settlement by means ot lesumption. His rejection may fairly l:o interpreted as also a rejection of that policy. It ought not, however, to be taken as an endorsement of the iniquities of the " gradnated" tax, which is simply conscienceless confiscation disguised und.;r a name to which it is not entitled. The State Labor parties havo declared that if the Federal Land Tax is pronounced unconstitutional .by the High Court they will use every effort to're-enact it in their several States. There is, however, a marked difference between the Federal Legislature and the Legislatures of the States. The Federal Senate is dominated by tho same Caucus as the' House. Legislation which passes one Chamber, therefore, is certain to pass the other. But in tho States there are the Legislative Councils, which may prove a very necessary safeguard against predatory legislation. " In this State tho Council can, of course, be " swamped " by fresh appointments. But such a course would bo so unpopular that it Ls hardly likely to be resorted to. The only other alternative would be to effect an alteration of the Constitution, and either to abolish the nominee Chamber or make it, like the Senate, a mere appendage of tho other Chamber. On this point, however, the people would again havo to be consulted, and woidd have tho matter in their own hands. REFUSED TO SPEAK. A terrible_ca.se of what appears to be just retribution has ended in a dramatic manner. A man named Heath, employed as a night watchman, snspected the fidelity of his wife. Returning homo unexpectedly, he found a man named Mottershead under suspicious circumstances. Ho attacked him, and mutilated him in a shocking manner. Motterehoad's life w;is at first despaired of, hut ho recovered, and was called upon a day or two ago to give evidence against his assailant. To tho surprise of the Court he refused to lie sworn or to give evidence, and was committed to gaol foT a week. There was sufficient other evidence to convict of unlawfully wounding, and Heath was found guilty, but was released on his own recognisance to come up for judgment if required. The Judge expressed approval of Mottershead's action, attributing it to a feeling that he had already injured Heath sufficiently, without giving evidence against him. Considering all things it is a wonder that such squalid tragedies are not of more frequent occurence.' Owing, principally, to the practical exclusion of religious restraints from dailv lives of "the lapsed masses," conjugal Infidelity is terribly rife. It is more destructive of national morality than even the drink curs. l . THE ANGLICAN SYNOD. Sixteen bishops and throe jirchbiehops is a pretty good muster for Sydney. This is the number present at the Anglican Synod. Needless to say the discussions have maintained a high plane of dignity. Even the resolution moved bv the Bishop of Bunbury (W.A.) to the effect that the Chin-chin Australia is an "independent" national Church, in communion with the C'hurcn of England, was carefully defined by "such limitations as constitutionally bind every true branch of the Catholic Church." The word "independent" was strongly objected to, as was the implication 'that it might be desirable to "cut the painter." an intention strongly repudiated by the mover. Tho resolution was negatived, but that it should have been moved is an indication of the radical trend of thought, oven in ecclesiastical circles. PASSING IT ON. Property owners, especially tl*ose who are trustee* for others, and who find themselves menaced by the total swallowing up of the funds which they administer, are making a general move to raise their rents, in order that they may have the wherewithal to pay the land tax with which they are threatened. Of course they are being held np to execration as monsters of extortion. But the responsibility rests with those who, "in time of I peace," are imposing a confiscatory tax. It was well know that such action would follow, and that the tax woidd therefore fall heavily on a class little able to bear it. Even if property owners were disposed to take the blow " lying down," iu many cases they are not able to do so. Where- it involves actual insolvency, it becomes amatter of commercial life and death, and self-preservation is as much the first law of nature with property owners as it is with tho Caucus. Considerations of this land, however, are not allowed to weigh. " I have a theory," said Dr Sangrado. And he remorselessly sacrificed his patients to his theory. The Caucus has a theory. It no more means to straighten rent payers than Dr Saugrado meant to kill his patients. But it is doing it all the same, and the end is difficult to foresee. If labor only learns that it is impossible to attack ono class of the community without also injuring others, something will have been gained, though at a great cost. NAVAL HEADQUARTERS. The blow has fallen at last. Sydney is to be shorn of one at least of her glories. It is authoritatively announced that the naval headquarters of the Imperial squadron are to he removed to Auckland. Of course, tie headquarters must be located where circumstances dictate that they can be meet advantageously placed. Nevertheless, quite a number of people believe that they are in a better position to say how the matter should be decided than their Lordships of the Admiralty. Which, if true, goeg\to show that the lordships aforesaid are of very iittle account. Still, a number of persons will feel the change severely. It is said that the fact of the fleet rendezvousing in Sydney involves an annual expenditure, direct or indirect, of something like half a million of money, which will now go to Auckland. However, nothing » lost tnat a friend gets, and certainlv our New Zealand friends are as well entitled to a bonanza of this kind as any others. They have inaugurated a spirited expenditure, with the view of securing the efficiency which is all-important, and there is no reason why the new arrangement should not work well. After all,'half a million is onlj a ihx% in the bucket com-

pared with the total trade of Sydney. Its' place will be promptly taken by some other form of activity, and we shall forget that we ever had it. It is in " Society," however, that the change will be most severely felt. . In commercial matters one sovereign is as good as another, but with personal friondI ships it is not so. The fair sex of tho upper ten will miss the naval officers very ' badlv. Even where acquaintanceship ha 6 ' not been at all of an intimate character, their services at balks, garden parties, and other festivities were invaluable. It may be, of course, that the arrangements which are to be mado for naval defence by the Commonwealth will fill tho gap. But those who are be6t acquainted with the requirements of the position are very dubious on this point. ON THE STOMP. Federal Ministers who came over from Melbourne to help Labor in the final rally by no means covered themselves with glory. Mr O'Malley (Minister for Homo Affairs) furnished a "surprise in the matter of lowdown vituperation. It was also a surprise that he should have been chosen for so responsible a position. He described Mr Wado and his colleagues as being " as devoid of conscience as hell is of vegetation" —a remark which can hardly be said to have added anything to the controversy except an interesting sidelight on the calibre of the s-peakor. Mr O'Malley is the banker of the Caucus, and liis views have prevailed over those of men like Russell French or "Tom" Dibbs. After listening to a few more gems of similar rhetoric, many'people came away with the impression" that if that was the result of voting Labor it was a very dangerous piece ot business. "Tm a Minister! W'y, e's only a blooming skiter!" was tho popular verdict. FLOGGING THE DEAD HORSE. Another notable featnre about tho final rallies was that the appeals founded on Peter Bowling's leg-irons, the woe 6 of the dying rockchopper, and the like fell very flat. They had been nm to death, and there was no more "go" in them. "Peter Bowling is where he ought to be," Mr Wade told his hearers straight. And they cheered the sentiment. He might have added that Peter Bowling is where' some ot the gentlemen who aro using him as a stalking horse have been, and, in the opinion of many people, ought still to be. But he spared them. THE LAND TAX. " Morituri te salutant" is the sentiment of manv persons in Sydney who have*tho reputation of being wealthy propertyowners, bnt who will be taxed out of all their possessions by the Bill which has just passed the House. With painful solicitude they have watched the debates in the papers. But the Caucus edict had gone forth, and even those Labor members who had protested against some of the more monstrous provisions of the Bill were eoiupelleii to vote in its favor. No matter how cogent the arguments addressed to them, no matter how clear their convictions, or how keen their sympathies with the helpless victims of the measure, they trampled on them all, and walked solidly into the lobby. Peter Bowling's leg-irons are small potatoes in comparison with the "cast-iron" pledge. ROBBERY. " This is not taxation," said Mr Deakin; 'it is a series of penalties." "To take 30 or 40 or 50 per cent, of a person's income in peace time," said Mr Irvine, •' enters upon the ground of confiscation and repudiation." The forms of the House perhaps prohibited plainer _or they might truthfully have said: "This is not taxation; it is cold-blooded robbery." Mr Hughes seemed to bo in some degree affected by the well-deserved criticism of the measure, for he endeavored to lay the blame on the people of Australia, saying that they had given a mandate which the Government had no option but to camout. There is no truth iu the aspersion. If was never thought that the tax would exceed 4d in the £. whereas the Government have made it 50 per cent, hoarier—a gratuitous and unnecessary infliction all their own, which they can't possibly shunt on anyone else. Moreover, in tho election campaign not a woid was heard about the confiscatory taxation of city properties, which is another piece of gratuitous vindietivenes.-. Unfortunately if will.be three I years before the people of Australia can effectually rebut the charge_ of injustice and inhumanity thus laid against them. TAX OX TAX. In some of the suburban, and, I believe, in some country municipalities also, the taxation is already 5d in the £. A ta.v. of 6d on the top of* that will leave little or nothing of the annual value, even when the nropertv is not encumbered by mortgage!" But "when a mortgage exists it will take everything. Yet some Labor members have' not awoke even to these most rudinionUry facts of the case. NO-LICENSE. The embargo on expenditure which prevents candidates from effectively presenting their case to the public did not operate in the case of tho No-license crusade, and both sides published some very striking and verv costly cartoons. The publicans unci hotelkeepc'rs are beginning to feel what others will .-hortly feel—namely, that tliev are in for a life-and-death struggle if they aro to retain any of the freedom which" is popularly believed to be the unalienable heritage of the British subject. The desire of the Proliibitionists to do awav with flic evils which are the 'esi.it of excessive indulgence is eminently praiseworthv. But seeing tliat No-license will only attack one form of drinking, and that not' the most dangerous, it seems clear that :i great deal can be said on the other side. Some div the question how far tho liberty of the whole community may he rightly trammelled in the assumed interests of an unhappy minority who cannot or will not control* their appetites will bo rationally threshed out and clearly demonstrated. But that dav is not yet, and we don't seem to bo making much"progress in that direction. I —Own correspondent.