PARLOUS QUEENSLAND

Evening Star, Issue 17226, 16 December 1919, Page 11

PARLOUS QUEENSLAND

———o FACTS THAT MR PAUL DID JN T OT DISCLOSE. The searchlight has been turned on in \ery effective style during the Federal elections on the curious political history oi Mr Ryan, the ex-Premier of Queensland, who ran away from his own State in order to pain the safest Labor constituency in all Australia—to wit. West. Sydney. His first essay in Commonwealth politics was a dismal failure; but then he was not a friend of Labor. As a matter of fact, he was o'pposed to Labor, and found himself at the bottom of the poll. He then stood as a Deakinite, and- professed to be a Liberal, in the sense that that term is understood and used in Xew Zealand as a party label. That -was at the General Election of 1903, when he declared hostility to the Labor " platform " as having a revolutionary tendency! That was why the ' Worker' "(Brisbane) dubbed him a "-wobbler," and felt constrained to call on every Laboiite to vote against him, and fully 80 per cent, must have done so. Mr Hughes, in his customary caustio style, has thus sketched the subsequent career of this would-be Labor Dictator of Australasia, for his aspirations apparently are not limited to the Commonwealth. Time passed, and when the Labor Party began, after their long pilgrimage, to got into sight of the promised land this gentleman, who had stood tor the nigger Labor Party and some other parthis was the "absolute winner," and went for it. In process of time he became Premier of Queensland. For eight successive years before he did so the Government Budgets were on the right side, but when Mr Rvan eot into power in three successive Budgets he announced deficits £334,933. ° fc WORSE REMAINS TO BE TOLD.

The Commonwealth Treasurer (.Mr Watt) has been analysing to some purpose + lip official records of the State of Queensland, • and these are some of the conclusions he has reached regardins Mr Ryan's reckless" finance, and he "is at-pain* tO . J? ak ° i 4 clear that the Auditor-General ot tne Mate, who must be regarded as an unbiased yet competent authority, is responsible for the figures quoted 'below : Mr Ryan began* his career as Stats Premier on June 1, 1915. In each of the last three years of his Administration there had been a serious deficiency' of revenue. In 1916-17 the deficit was £254.000, in 1917-18 it was £400,000 and m 1918-19 it amounted to £172.000' That was to say, the shortage in thro years was no less than £833.0-30. The deficit of £254,000 in the first of those three years was wiped out—by adding the amount to the Public Debt, The Ryan Government issued Treasury bills tor the £254,000, and the, bills would not be paid off until January 1, 1823. Mr Ryan changed his tactics in relation to the other deficits—he simply did nothing. He left the Queensland Treasury groaning under the burden of the deficits of two years, the total shortage being £581,000. ~ In Mr Ryan's four years of office the Mates yearly expenditure out of revenue rose from £7,200.000 to £9,583,000, an increase of £2.588,000; and tho State taxation increased 'from £954,000 to £2,772,000. In this pS the population increased bv only 6 p«r cent. The expenditure out of revenue increased by 33 per cent., and taxation was added to by no less than 190 per cent. L ' The railway revenue expanded bv only 5 per cent, but the railway expenditure (not including capital outgoings) increased by 53 per cent. In these four years the successive deficits of the 9" railw a-ys had totaled £0,694.X00. I„ the year before Mr Rvan took charge of the Government £48.000. In his first year the raihvay c'eficit amounted to £508.000. \ C xt year tilings became worse.' fHo beine £737,000. In tho third year I deficit was £1,028,000, while' in thlas, year of his office the railways went o the i, a d so f sr that the deficit in that vear was £1,421,000. I n the vear "Inch closed on Juno 30 last U,« 'railways earned £3,996.000. but the "wor'kthe shortage for the vear thus being £1,421,000. In the 'fire M, 1919, the railway earnings innv a *ed by 19 per cent., and the miles for trafbc increased by 17 per 'cent but the number of permanent increased by 33 per cent. "A RECKLESS PLUXGER." The Auditor-General of the Mate had thrown a flood of light uponlho Pueensiand Treasury and upon tho flvi 00 , jt tails ot the departing Premier. If thev judged a tree by its fruits, they should

also judge a Minister by his acts and ' their effects. By these, canons Mr Ryan was proclaimed to be a reckless plunger, who had done his best to hurl the great fertilo pjkmnce of Queensland into the abyss of insolvency. PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE. At .the General Election of 1915 Mr Ryan made the first plank of his platform a promise to reduce the- Cost of Living--. Has that been fulfilled? Wages in Queensland have increased on the average from 53s _ 4cl per week to 69s 4d during his Premiership, but the average worker is alleged to be 8s 9d per week worse off as regards the purchasing power of 'bis wages. When Mr Ryan took office in Julv, 191^—immediately prior to the war —the purchasing power of money was relatively greater in Queensland thin in any ! of tbs other States. A siccniSciuit factor tf mentioned bv the Federal Statistician, (Mr Kndbbs)—viz.. that tho cost of food and rent (takiii together) has increased in Queensland during the last four years by 62.4 per cent., which is more than anv other State in tne Commonwealth I „ , ail ' s second promise was to place industrial matters on such a basis as to secure complete industrial peace," and .to that end be carried .through. ■ his Industrial Arbitration Act. Wh.it are the incontrovertible facts? In 1914 there were 3» 'industrial disputes, involving 1,686 workers, who lost 25,703 working davs and £11,747 in wages. In the year 191313, Mr Ryan's last vcar of office, there woro 84 industrial deputes, involving 10,678 workers, who Jost 183,883 working aavs and £131,142 in wages. During the last three vears of Mr Kyan s regime nearly eight times as many workers were involved in disputes as in the last three years of the Denham Government's rule. In 1913-14-15, when Liberalism was in power, the workers through industrial disputes j ost 100.0 CO days of work. In under Mr Rvau, .thev lost 317,699 <la,y3. In the same year thev lost £178,125 in wages through industrial strikes andl disputes, or five times tho amount which they jost m 1914 aly j ig ls . THE SAME STORY IN ST\TE ENTERPRISES. vJ« f" 6 5^ 0 ' S > WKrie * aiono there ?Sv C l OV ; ! ' n , ,r ' e " T t enterprises were simi--1 ? ~a flected - Ifc M quite safe to say mat there were more strikes in 1918-19 in en?.-rVt > ,°- Vn ''. than in the * -ie industries of the Slato under the i»C!iham or Liberal regime reply ,s that they are able to show some ang.ble results for th.ir agitation-that SinrH T , aVe l ecured ktter wa ?« a » d "Krfs S?f tel ' . h T S ' - Adm ''«ed. for d-ntl rweived i***™* in wages £ 000 h-Tv« i; ' *" d , the3r editions of work fia a been mado so much ea-ier that it nkJ f 3 * Itaff1 taff 0f alraost 17 -°°o cmpJoyea, to produce 10 per cent. I css train while S tl, P anll ' 03 °- I)r;;d,l; ' W ' in MiUe the amount ot revenue earned for the department by each emplov co ha, decreased irom £ll2 10s lo £l f 13a - K.\an rule. Neverlhelw*, as ha* been «ud above, the purchasing power of the average worker's wage in Queensland has decreased by 8s 9<i per week.

"NOT TO BE TRUSTED" is the emphatically expressed opinion of Queensland True, he is opposed to Mr but wlnlo he was m olhVo he was an honest administrator, and earned general espect Therefore his as to the deplorable manner in, which the State has been managed must he received with inspect Addressing a public meeting re"^v, 3 ToowoR C. Sir Pvobtrt asked ■ »\ hat had Mr Ryan done for industrial peace m Queensland? Three vear.s before he came into power there were 53 strikes in Queensland, but after he obtained office there was a strike with every breakfast in die year. Mr Ryan had pretty well taxed Queensland off the fare of the earth It was interesting to compare the taxation in Queensland with that of Victoria, which had more than; double Queensland's, population and four times its wealth' Tho «I°L ln amounted to and in Queensland to £2,700X00/' Sir Robert safd that he knew people m Queensland who had had to borrow money in order to pay their taxes. THE FINANCIAL MESS. The third plank to which Mr Evan pinned his faith in 1914-15 was a sound finance. On the hustings he and his party never tired of denouncing the extravagances of previous Liberal Administrations Dunng the 55 years that Queensland has been a separate political entity the deficits have aggregated a little over 1 7 . millions. But Mr Ryan's accumulations during four years reached a total of over £BOO.OO0 3 and this current year tne figure promises to rise to two millions sterling! Yet Mr Rvan was in possession of more lucrative 'sources of revenue than any previous Treasurer. For im?T- 1 4 t! V? fl ire Nation receipts in 1914-lo totalled £954.000: in 1918-19 thev were £2,722,629. From Income Tax alone no received twice as much a.s his predecessor did from Customs, Lands, Income and other forms of taxation. The outlook is so bad that even Mr Ihcodore, the present Premier and Treasurer, is appalled by the outlook. a-,d it i* undeniable that fresh taxation !™ resorted to unless financial stress overtakes the entire community. It is only fair to say here that Queensland has suffV-d fori dy from a variety of unforeseen causes like _ tne seamen's strike, dfon-ht etc ' I w.ncn compelled the State Government to ; provide one million sterling to cope with ! national distress. IS HE A LOYALIST? What has unquestionably largely t»nd°u 1.0 anmage Mr Ryan's ' mana "in his | home State is the fact that bv his .vts and utteran.es he has shown strong leanings towards tne direct action-disloyal-disaffected section that is moving heaven and earth (o capture the political machine of tne Commonwealth. He is the implacable foe oi Mr W. M. Hughes, the "Little jigger, and the champion of a White Austraia; he fraternised in Dublin with Le Valera, who is the head of the Sinn *em movement, which is out to throw Ireland into the arms of the Empire's enemies; and as Premier of Queensland he countenanced action that was calculated 1.0 weaken the preservation of law and order within the State that by his oath of .ealty he was bound to protect in the interests of the whole community. Yet tins is the man whom certain individuals among us are fond of extolling as a heaven-born statesman, whose outstanding abilities ai-3 such as to ensure the conTmnment to his hands of tiie destinies of ! Australia at such a time of supreme testing And we are told, forsooth, that New I Zealand ought to imitate the example of j Queensland. We would say, on the other I naiid, that Queensland supplies a finder- I post ot deadly warning. "