Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1925. THE FAILINGS OF DEMOCRACY,

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 138, 15 May 1925, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1925. THE FAILINGS OF DEMOCRACY,

It is very many years since the Prince Consort, the grandfather of our present King, in one of his few recorded public utterances declared that representative government was on its trial in Great Britain. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s Royal Consort, had a habit of looking at things from the outside, and judging in the fashion of one who, wholly detached from the multitude, is able to take an impartial view of social and political happenings in which his own personal interests were involved. Coming from a country where autocracy exercised greater control than democracy, he saw the weakness of a system which was accompanied by so much of party rivalry and into which so many conflicting interests entered, all striving for the ascendancy. But, despite Prince Albert’s forebodings that tjie, representative system of Government must, sooner or later, become so overweighted that its collapse would; be inevitable, Great Britain and the Dominions have, until quite recently, continued their governments along sane and equitable lines of representation which have enabled them to more than hold their own against other countries. Of late, however, a more sinister and disruptive element has been at work from outside of the Parliaments and Governments of the Empire, the influence of vdiose working has made itself widely felt, not merely in the Mother Country and in Australia, but in Canada, South Africa, and our own Dominion, and it behoves British peoples everywhere to be on the alert and to take such measures as are open to them to withstand the subtle inroads of the industrialists, or anarchists, who are seeking to gain, allegedly by “constitutional” methods, the control of the representative bodies governing both locally and in the State, f'hree General Elections take place within the Empire this year, and a fourth must eventuate early next year. Three out of the four may be regarded, in their outcome, as likely to vitally alfect the future of the British Empire. Electioneering is now in full swing in New South Wales and Tasmania for the State Parliaments, and early next year the Federal elections will be proceeding throughout Australia. As the most populous of the Australian States, the elections in NewSouth Wales may largely determine the fate of the Federal Government when it appeals to the country next year. Now South Wales is the only one of the six States comprising the Commonwealth that possesses a non-Labour Government. But the fate of the latter hangs in the balunce, although its record is good enough, as opposed to that of the Labour Government it succeeded three years ago, to justify its continuance in office unopposed. Unfortunately the contest is a triangular one in which the Nationalists under Sir George Fuller, the Progressives under Mr Bruxner, and the Labourites under Mr Lang, the leader of the direct Opposition, are all fighting each other, the odds being, if anything, in favour of Labour. But whereas Mr Lang exacted an additional two millions by way of taxation during his last year of office, and was proposing to take a further two millions from the taxpayers had the country given him a renewed term of office, Sir George Fuller remitted taxation to the extent of £530,000 per annum, and is proposing to remit a further £500,000. Then, again, the Labour Government, raised railway fares and freights by 16.4 per cent, during their term of office, whereas Sir George Fuller made substantial reductions in both. In other ways also there was a marked gain to the public as between the two Governments, all testifying to the better administration of the Fuller

Government. But these things are apt to be lost sight of in the hurlyburly and turmoil of electioneering, especially when irresponsibles out of office are promising little short of the millenium, if victory is theirs.

SINISTER INFLUENCES AT WORK

Australian Labourites (the Parliamentarians more particularly) have been endeavouring to disclaim any. sort of connection with Communists like Tom Walsh, the president of the Australian Seamen’s Union, and liif lieutenants, Johan Johansen and T. O’Neill. Yet they have done nothing to discourage, nor have they in any way condemned the outrageous warfare in which these gentry and their associates have involved the public, the shipping companies and _ the Commonwealth Government during the last five or six months. It seems almost incredible that such happenings as have occurred in the Commonwealth during that period could have been tamely submitted to by any country outside of Russia. To cite one case only—that of the Volumnia, the holding up of which was described by Sir John Quick, Deputy-President of the Commonwealth Arbitration Court, as “worse than bushranging,” and “a disgrace to any civilised country.” The Volumnia was under charter by the managers of the Commonwealth Government Line of steamers to bring a c;y-go of Welsh coal for the Royal Australian Navy and general goods, the latter mostly required for the Christmas trade. The ship, her owners and her crew were alike British. She was engaged practically on Government business. On her arrival at Fremantle tho crew was “either bluffed or intimidated into joining Walsh’s Seamen’s Union and demanding Australian rates of pay,” although they were on British articles. “Not getting these rates, which are never conceded by British and foreign competitors of the Commonwealth Line, the men refused duty,” acting presumably on the advice given them by Walsh. As they had been “quite satisfied with their job before one of Walsh’s satellites came on board,” every effort was nfade to induce them to honour their agreement with the captain, and they were permitted to cable to the secretary of their British Union, who replied advising them to resume duty. Still under the malign influence of Walsh’s people, they declined, were taken to Court and sentenced, under the Merchant Shipping Act, to 14 days 1 prisonment. 'the Volumnia was forced to remain at Fremantle from October 27th to December 24th, absolutely idle and without any of her cargo being touched. Walsh himself appeared 011 the scene and “stage managed” a stoppage of work on the State Government steamers and harbour craft, in connection with the wharf labourers’ “overtime” strike. The latter, according to the Labour Minister of Works, was preceded by a proposal that the State Labour Government should connive at “holding up the port of Fremantle in order to get an excuse for granting deck hands £6 10s and firemen £7 for a 48-hour week, together with overtime at 3s 9d per hour and 28 days’ leave on full pay every year.” On Christmas Eve the crew of the Volumnia was mustered once more and ordered to take the ship to sea. They again refused. The mustering and ordering were repeated on six subsequent days, on each occasion with the same result. Then the law again stepped in , and the magistrate gave them a month. Funds being placed freely at their disposal they appealed against the conviction, but the Chief Justice curtly dismissed the appeal. Then the Labour Government stepped in and overriding the court ordered the release! of the crew. With still greater indecency and disregard of the law, the! Criminal Investigation Department' was instructed to arrest the captain of the Volumnia for “wilful and wrongful desertion” of the crew, he having meanwhile signed on another lot of seamen, and taken his departure for Sydney. On his arrival there tho captain’s troubles began afresh. Two different criminal prosecutions were directed against him; the Volumnia and her cargo were declared “black,” and when a portion of its cargo found its way to another Commonwealth liner, that, vessel was declared “black” also. Then, when the Volumnia was docked at Garden Island the Stateowned island dockyard was also declared “black.” An even more unsatisfactory feature of the business was: that, from first to last (according to the Sydney Bulletin, to which journal we are indebted for tho facts) the Federal Government “which chartei-ed the boycotted vessel has not lifted a finger to protect' either the chief victim of this campaign of Bolshevism or those other victims who entrusted their goods to its care,” while a Labour Ministry lias openly sided with _ the seamen who refused duty on a British ship under contract to an Australian Government. And Walsh, the chiei actor in the sinister conspiracy, lias just beer admitted to a Political Labour Conference for the first time as representative of the union which he describes as “definitely revolutionary.” A democrrcy or a Government which permits sv ch happenings as these is surely in a bad way.