OUR SYDNEY LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 15761, 26 March 1915, Page 1

OUR SYDNEY LETTER

_ « .—. LABORITES AND HOLMAXITES. j The latest Ministerial election by the I Caucus has brought into stronger promin- j ence than ever the feuds which are raging I behind the ironclad pledge, which binds the. party to united parliamentary action. Mr Stuart-Robertson refuses, to be comforted. Worse than that, he refuses to hold hi* tongue. .He is liable to lio " difciplined " for having reve.-ded Caucus secrets. But he braves the danger, feeling confident that a. crowd of .his way of thinking would ensure his re-election. He did not himself boar the colors of the " insurgents" at the last Ministerial election. That honor .seems to have been allotted to .Mr Dooley, who was'a very close third in the balloting. Mr Robertson insists that (very vote cast- for Mr Dooley was a. vote .against the Ministry. Yet in Parliament the .Ministry can rely on the, unanimous vote of every one of these, malcontents. According to Mr Robertson, the parly are divided into throe s.eetions —namely. Holmanites, Laboriles. and a. third which doesn't trouble it.vlf about one side or the. other. It is a. curious picture, iiuly, to lie drawn, not I by an enemy of Labor, but by a. man who ■ professes to be one of its most devoted i champions. ; THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER. j The. complaint of .Mr Robertson, and those who favor his view, is that the j ■Government are not, making an effort to : place the pkr./ks of the platform on the j Statute Book. They are not endeavoring. I above all. to abolish the Legislative Conn- : cil, but ka.ve, man accepted amendments I on vital matters from that body. Apatf ! from the fact that, many of these j "planks," are wildly impracticable, every ! one of them is highly contentious. To ! listen to .Mr Robertson, no one would | imagine, that Australia., in common with j the rest of the Empire, is involved in a ! life-and-death struggle for her very exist- I ence, and thai-, on this .account, as soon as j the, gravity of the situation was realised, j the Government, with the hearty approval j of the people, ■entered into an "agreement ' that coii'tomious matters should "be held i in abeyance. That disposes of the accusa- I tion that the platform is not being pro- | ceeded with. The Caucus have deliber- ! lately decided that it shall be postponed, j To be consistent, Mr Dooley, Mr Robert- j son, and their followers," should have! moved a vote of censure on the Ministry j as soon a.s its intention was made known. ' They did nothing of the kind, but bv i their silence condoned everything that was ! done or left undone. J lad they oposed I it, they would have been overwhelmed bv ! public condemnation. ' I THE ONLY WAY OUT. ! If is being freely declared that the onlv ! honest, resource now left to the parly is ! to abolish the "pledge.'' If there" are j these three parties, let them appear as i three parties before the public, instead of ! fighting one another in private. Sooner i or later they must separate, and then it j may bo possible for representat ivc.s of the j people to record their voles ;,, Parliament ! according to their convictions. ! STATK BREAD. ! With, (lie view, appaieiitly. ( ,f diverting I public attention from ihc:'c happening' ! Mr ]). E Hail. the A, ton,cy-t ieneral. has i launched a scht me for the nationali.-ation ' of the baking industry. He called a meet- ■ ing of master bakers, and laid bin plans I befoie them. They are to consider them I I m a day or two. Mr Hall began. <>i \ course, witli the " t,i usi" bogy. 'I be linking trade is going to be monopolised I by a trust. h-s« told his hearers. The (at- I leged )trust will administer the business for its own prolif. But ihe Government are • going to get there before it. They are ' going to he the trust. ;.ud they promise to : administer the prize, "for the'public bene- j lit." Ho maintains that under his scheme j it will be possible to sell bread a. }jenny ; per loaf eheajer than the price now ! charged. That is to sav, at the present price of Hour he will sell bread at '3d the j 2!l> loaf, instead of A<l. Some bakers ad- j mil that- this is within, the, limits of bare | possibility in crowded neighborhoods, and j by selling strictly for cash. But, the con- j \cnienccs of free delivery and of reason-! able credit are immense, and are worth pacing for. However, the Government have already one State bakery, the manager of which, like cither managers, is confident that, given control of .sufficient funds, be can do wondeis. Though the extension of the business is to be gradual, it seems probable that an -attempt will be made to earrv out the scheme in its entirety. NATIONALISATION". There are so many people who are, las- ■ cinated by the. idea of "the State" taking : on its broad bhoulders all the responsibilities that are now borne by its subjects, and they are. so thoroughly proof against all argument, that a great extension of nationalisation seems inevitable. There are many venturesome, children who cannot be convinced that lire burns until they have lost some of their cuticle by its means. Wit.hot affirming that all the " natioualisers" are. on that low intellectual tooting, one can safely say that they are doomed to very painful "disillusionment. The " State" can never mean any more than the individuals employed by the Stale. Are we better _ served by officials ■ in such State enterprises as we already have than we are by men who are striving to secure, our favor and custom by their own merits? Private enterprise, it'istrue. leaves much to be desiied, because human nature leaves much to be desired. But ■ v. hat about officialism? Private enter- i prise, as compared with officialism, is "as Hyperion to a satyr." Germany is the home of officialism. How truly has it . been? said that there are many would-be Kaisers amongst us. "CHANGE OP FRONT.It k proverbially .dangerous to change

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