AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15175, 14 December 1912, Page 9

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

- LABOUR SEEKING OFFICE.

SYDNEY CITY ELECTIONS.

[FROM OUR OWS COKRESPONTITNT.]

Sydney, Docember 7. Aw organised bid by Labour for office in connection with the Sydney City Council : ■jras made at the general elections to that . body, which were held this week. It was the first effort of the kind in the history of Sydney. And it. was a failure. Labour haii one representative less in the new

Council than it had in the old. An offi- , cjally approved Labour candidate conv tested each of the 26 seats. There were 65 candidates altogether. Six Labour

men were elected. Only five of them were ; folly approved. The sixth was a. retiring «alderman nominated by one of the strongest metropolitan brandies of the Political

Labour League, but for some reason or

other his nomination was not endorsed by . the central Labour body. In tho last Council thero were seven recognised Labour men. They included the man who

was re-elected without the approval of the central executive. Speak ore and

writers on both sides asked for a strict . observance of the two-class distinction .Liberal and Labourwhich is insisted upon in' connection with Parliamentary elections. But there were a number of candidates who had to be classed as half-way men according to this division. Tho Labour organisation specifically branded its approved candidates, while on the other aide there was not corresponding solidarity. Therefore Labour may be reckoned to have made the highest score possible for it. Of course there is no lack of jubilation in anti-Labour quarters, where Uie result of these elections is hailed as a sign that ; Labour will receive a substantial set-back at the forthcoming Parliamentary elections. "Inside" statements by Labour officials ' axe to the effect that it was morn for the prevention of internal bother than in. the expectation of capturing the Sydney Council that so many Labour candidates were put forward. Tfio case is put thus : "We have a great many more men chock-full of ambition for public office than we can possibly place in Parliament. To keep them from fretting and sulking and from Hiking a ftuss when our retiring members of Parliament come up again for nomine ; tion, we sent as many as possible for the City Council elections. They Lad no expenses. Most of them were beaten, and ■■■■ko hope somo of the edge has been taken off their ambition." Weather and Wool. /; How dependent we are on the fickle genius of the seasons for our prosperity is again being demonstrated in connection with the wool clip. A short drought, , which ended early in June, has been re- ';}■ -i sponsible for & serious shortage. A general

; > estimate of this year's Australian wool ■ >' r clip is that there will be a decrease of . .' At least 300,000 bales, and possibly -• 350,000 bales, as compared with last •V > year's. Another unfavourable aspect is * thai next season's clip will be no greater tLan that of this season, although there ;; wa« a comparatively good recovery. lie - lambing was a partial failure; and there i'. will be little wool from hoggets next year. ' A* a matter of fact, for the next two or .* * three years the Australian wool produc- ' fcian is likely to be stationary, even with % moderately good seasons. '• • •

■ Maternity 'Bonos. . - '$g§ "When the Commonwealth maternity - Mjkllowaiice, or baby bonus, of £5 a baby as tinder consideration, critics inside and - §|;oat-ide of Parliament, spoke of it as being j-Si '-of the nature of a " degradation." It was llUfittid that the sentiments of the average ■f (. Australian woman would make her ,'f/ll'ashamed to ask for the money. But these vv predictions, and incidentally the reasons §>'&• on which they were based, are being up- : Isi set by facts. It is shown in official re- , turns that the applications for the grant f now regularly average 357 a day. As "" there are about 400 births daily in AusV tralia, nearly 90 per cent, of mothers are takhig the bonus. So far 6866 claims have been allowed, and 49 rejected. Some 1400 are under consideration. At £5 a -head the claims allowed amount to 234,330. This is a tidy sum paid away. V The bonus has been operative for only ' about five weeks. The two largest States, ' New South Wales and Victoria, have come in for no less than £23,855 of the total with 4771 claims allowed. V" j The " Eviction." , It was arranged that there should be a ; big demonstration, with.a procession and ' brass bands, to mark the formal handing - over of Sydney Government House, from which the Governor-General has been , evicted " because the Commonwealth ..' aijd New South Wales could, not, or would not, agree concerning the ... terms on which the King's representative for the Commonwealth might continue in • 'occupation. But the demonstration scheme ' has now been dropped. It occurred, or .'.'• was suggested, to those in authority that v such a show would be of a nature appro- ,. priate, perhaps, to such an event as the fall of the Bastille, but would hardly be fitting in relation to the turning out of :; ' a representative of King George V. Those . who are leading the agitation of protest against the Governor-General being deprived of an official residence in the capital of the parent State are, with the aid of politicians opposed to the Government, V ana of the Opposition press, keeping , actively at work. It is announced that * V advice obtained from eminent counsel is '" . very definite on the point that under the j V Imperial Government's grant, or dedica- | ' ; tion, Government House and the connected !■ grounds cannot be used for purposes other than those of a Government House. i

Next week, it is paid, application will be % made to the Courts for an injunction re■■y' straining the authorities from carrying out their intention of converting the build- , ing into a musenm, anrl tlie grounds into an addition to the Botanical Gardens. It

g may bo adde'l that a proposal has been shape-i for the conversion of the Vice- , Regal stables into nothing less than a eonservatorium of music'

A Fireman's . " Lazy Life." Great heat has been engendered amongst firemen all over Australia by something said in evidence by Chief-Officer Lee, of ~ the Melbourne Metropolitan Brigade. In evidence given before the Wages Board, '* ■which is inquiring into the firemen's pay and conditions, at the instigation of the <! sun's union, -Officer Lee declared t&at the firemen led a '"lazy life." Our f firemen, particularly those connected "with , the Melbourne station, are very annoyed over this. As soon as thoy heard of the /■ "lazy life" allegation the Melbourne men .. adopted a resolution calling upon tho Fire •;y Brigades Board to give, within seven days, , AO-answer of repudiation to Mr. Leo's as- ■ , Motion, otherwise t.he men would deem it 'absolutely necessary to consider their ■y~ Potion." The Board, thus confronted . . *yith a veiled threat of a strike, has mad© V 'V clear that it does not associate itself Mr. Lee's remark. At the same '»" r 3 ha« expressed its disapproval of l - if" a! attitude taken up by the men. ChiefOfficer Lee ako told tho Wages Board g- y,,:;; that firemen enjoyed going to fires, the im•itation being that what little work they '. x V l •■®V* do was of the nature of pleasurable 3'i I exercise for them. The very heavy record 111 ** , Ca^'s which firemen have to answer does ®ot tally with Mr. I -oc's communications 'V'U, , the Wages Board. When one knows it/' is expected of firemen in Melbourne }< Sydney, and sees what they do at I «* ?** °' life and limb, one can underthat the firemen feel themselves ag- . Unless he sees fib to inakfli » m

withdrawal. -Officer Leo is likely to find himself the centre of serious trouble with the Firemen's Union.

Evergreen Chinese.

Observers of the Chinese element, in our population have noted that whilst, the Immigration Restriction Act of the Commonwealth, passed 12 years ago, makes it practically impossible for the ordinary working Chinaman to enter into Australia, there is an extraordinary absence of signs of advancing age amongst the Chinese who are presumed to havo been hero already at the time of the passing of the Act.. The number of young Chinese (mostly makers of furniture and growers of vegetables) who may be seen is quite in excess of the Chinese who were youths or children here a dozen years ago. Evidence given in a Brisbane Police Court has thrown some light on the problem. In a prosecution on account of the introduction of prohibited immigrants it was stated that two aged Chinese, who wanted •to get back to their own country with the _ money they had gathered in Australia, were substituted in a ship's crew for a couplo of young Chinese, who were very anxious to get into this country. It is a reasonable assumption that somebody made money out of both sets of Chinese by assisting in or conniving at the illegal exchange. There is abundant living Celestial evidence that a wide gap is left when Customs officers merely count the number of Chinese members a ship's crew and declare that all is well it a check count at the time of departure of the vessel, gives the same total. The Sugar Industry. Much space has been given in the press to the report of the Commonwealth Royal Commission on the sugar industry. The report and recommendations have for their foundation the desirableness of maintaining tho " white Australia" policy, and of conserving the cane sugar industry as a political and social necessity. Governing all is the assumption, or belief, that the industry is a vital factor in securing the peopling of northern Australia and the establishment ' there of communities of whites, who may be regarded as a bulwark against invasion. In the discussion on fhis fundamental principle m enunciated in tho report of the Commission some journals express hearty support. Others seriously question whether the utmost which can be expected in the way of white settlement in the north through this indiMtrv is really worth the payment by tho people of Australia of about a, million pounds a year. The nationalisation of the industry, which some politicians havo advocated, would, ! the Commission points out, be too heavy a burden for the Commonwealth. Similarly, to enter into competition by means of a Commonwealth sugar refinery would, the Commission says, be unsound from tho point of national finance. The Commission believes that the Commonwealth should be endowed with power to fix a standard price for sugar, and that the import duty should be imposed on a sliding scale high when prices are low, so as to ullow production to continue, and low when prices are high, so as to prevent the consumer being imposed upon. It also recommends (and the Prime Minister says this recommendation will bo acted upon forthwith) the abolition of both the present bounty and excise. The effect of this would be to increase the effective protection on cane sugar from £5 5s at present to £6 ss.

Expensive Schemes. For Melbourne as well as for Sydney the expenditure of millions has to bo faced in order that the traffic requirements of the present and of the immediate future may be adequately met. Melbourne, more than Sydney, relies upon railways for its city-suburban transport facilities, and the Victorian Parliament has caused extensive investigations to be made in the direction of electrification of this service in order to meet an imperative demand. The report of the Special Committee in relation to the matter has just been presented. Tho estimate of the total coat of the proposed electrification runs into' more than three millions. Sydney will have to spend about as much, or rather the New South Wales Government will, to carry out tho projected underground railways and other extensions, which are rendered necessary by traffic congestion, which is already very acute. So money-lenders may prepare for some large applications on account of the growth of the capitals of our two biggest States.