Grey River Argus MONDAY, September 17th, 1934. FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

Grey River Argus, 17 September 1934, Page 4

Grey River Argus MONDAY, September 17th, 1934. FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

Nobody will be surprised al the result of Saturday’s polling in Australia. It fully justifies the calculations of Mr J. A. Lyons. Ho reckoned b : s story of recovery a good election cry, but feared it might become, empty if not exploited at the hustings before events gave it the lie. The main issu'e was banking, but the Government’s new lease of power is to be explained far less by actual results of its policy than by the conditions precedent. One was the split in Labour, due largely to the banking issue, which saw Mr Lang’s policy ftrlcd when the savings Bank of his State was as forcibly merged in the Federal banking system as he and his Government were emptied by the State Governor out of office. These actions disclosed the power of the bankers as clearly as the path of Mr Lyons hi .tselE has done over since. The issue was raised when in association, as a Labourite, with Mr S‘Milin, the present P; ime Minister as actingTreasurcr, aided to lav the foundation for the great lo ir, conversion and the Premiers’ flan. These the bankers espoused to save themselves. Eventually, Mr Lyons threw his lot in with them, when Mr Lang was bumping them and Mr Scullin was seeking a middle course to reconcile nublie with private financial and eco. nomic interest, but found a hard fate against him. Labour’s prestige, as well as its punch, was weakened by the split; whereas ■ the power of wealth, keeping the anti-Labour politicians together for practical, especially, banking purposes, exploited the Labour division most successfully. The rural constituenties were persuad-

ed, by subsidies and propaganda, I that the Government could make' good its promises of complete recovery, and that Labour’s attitude to banking was simply to do with it what had been done witii the New South Wales Savings Bank. This was the cock that did most of the fighting against Labour—but it will not fight Labour any more. The Australians will now have to discover from experience what their recovery means. Having got back to power, the Government may be relied on to exploit it anew in the interests of the wealthy interests. The banking issue is not solved; it is only opened up. It is a difficult one to define for the average elector, and still smacks at this juncture of the academic or abstruse, but Labour in Australia need have no qualms, nor re-

grets, that it lias stood to its guns on the question, and preferred to lose the elections rather than trumpet any false recovery stunt when the financial dictatorship renders any real or lasting recovery for the country as a whole impossible. The Government has a new lease, and the bankers, but the latter are aware to-day of something that did not exist formerly, and that is the fact that what they enjoy is In fact only a lease of time. Labour never yet raised any great issue in Australia that it did not carry to the solution at which it aimed, and this one is going to become inevitably hotter. It is said that the voting even enthuses the Douglas Credit votaries, but they have merely collected but a section of the vanguard in the agitation for banking reform. A vast proportion of the Labour vote is primarily for the same thing, because Labour made it thi' main question. It is admittedly one somewhat remote from the daily lives of a great many, but it is given rise by other issues intimately altering and hardening the daily lives of a steadily increasing section of the community till those affected bv lack of

purchasing power, by credit monopoly, by unemployment, by lack of opportunity, and by debt. There are, of course, many other factors in the political and economic situation contributing the election result. Mr Lyons, within certain limits, has with his colleagues a satisfactory record, having sor.'ght new markets, such as those for fruit and wheat, and been lucky in not having to find the wheat guarantee promised, and in having the wool recovery. But their luck is probably wearing thin. They are apt to have a row with the Country Party o-.'r the tariff, which, if further interfered ■with to suit expoters, at the expense of local industry, will mean a split in the interests hitherto solidly united against Labour. If My Lyons accepts some other office out of politics, as he may, it is doubtful if any successor could rally the same support as the ex-Labourite. Mr Menzies, the Victorian who has made a successful leap from State to Federal politics on this occasion, might succeed him, but his notion of financial reform is limited largely to State relations, and leaves out the banking issue. Dr. Earl Page is bound to seek further special treatment for ex porters, and if he gets away with it. Australia will soon become ripe for another general election. If, however, the Labourites choose to continue disunited, instead of getting together on the banking issue and evary other, they cannot expect to be half so effective as they ought to be. as it is atty changes that there have been are in Labour’s favour, the Government having failed to gain what they pretended to expect in Queensland, and lost their absolute majority, while Victoria, at least, had moved towards Labour, and New South Wales is as strongly that way as ever. All hough the worst losers, the Country Party, in view of Labour gains, may now be in the position to oust the Government if not placated, thus indicating the possibility of another general election, but it will, for a time at any rate, strive to avoid that in view of its experience on Saturday. It is said the pendulum has not swung far. The indications are the swing has only begun. The question -will be where it will finish.