A LABOR LEADER'S "PAL"

NZ Truth, Issue 416, 14 June 1913, Page 5

A LABOR LEADER'S "PAL"

THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE BARBER. BOW THINGS ARE DONE IN NEW SOUTH WALES. Hon. T. D. P; Hoiden, M.L.C. — A Sweep Promoter— Gaminghouse Keeper— And ex-Bookmaker— Lifted to the Legislative Council ?— Sydney "Truth" Asks Some Questions — A Bit of By-gone History — The Story of a J.P.-ship— A Nice Birthday Present— -Is His the Reward of Reformation ?

The' people of Redrern, a Sydney 'suburb represented by the Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. J. S; T. .. McGowen, m common wi.th the people : of the whole State,' are asking themf'ss the very pertinent suestion: - came it that Labor Premier 5 es : McGowen appointed his, bosom, jjd and political pal, Tommy HoiLabor Mayor of Redfern, to be a member of the Legislative Council of; New South Wales? No answer to that question, has "yet been ; forthcoming. Arid further facts, which have an important bearing upon ,this public .question of the fitness of the-Hrin. T. ; £>. P. ;' "to be a presumed Labor ,member of the Upper House, and, indeed, .of his fitness, on his past record, to be ; : Legislative Councillor ■at all, are now 1 '.' about to be given to the people m. the : {public inter.est. ' ■ ' ; -•■■/■ V If has been proved that the Hon. T. . i D.' P. Holden, while posing as Labor , Maypr> of Redferri and a Labor mem- *'-■ ,ber t of the Legislative Council, has ';'•■' been, and still is, an employer of nonv union labor only m his hair-dressing saloon m Regent-street, Redfern. It ; has been demonstrated, and is uncontradicted, that Hclden, not then the ' "Honorable" .by .virtue^ of -the, lCori- [ . stttution Act, was some? years ago; the ■ promoter, proprietor, and conductor of 1 THE SHADING- "STAR SWEEP* :)■ open the more prominent racing events, ; afi'd that ' the 'sweeps': 'were conducted • ; by Holden over a period of some years. ;. Other facts; concerning the present %" Hori! T. D.' P. Hplden's past career are available, with any amount of cvi- • 'dence to back them up. :'■'■ The fact that '■'■'. 'Hol'i^n conducted the "Star" sweep is so well .known that thousands of'Sydhey citizens; can bear testimony ' to the fact. Sydney /'••Truths is now m the possession of absolutely authentic in-,.' '.' formation, at about: the time when a police raid was made successfully upon; the premises," also 'm R'edfern, . .j- where another sweep was conducted, application was made by certain police .officers to their superiors for a warrant m order that a'\similar raid might -' be made oh Holdeh's premises, Vbut -that application, for certain reasons, ;'was refused. It. also asserted that many of the patrons of Hpiden's "Star ■Sweep" were hot altogether - satisfied as to the manner in' whichj that isweep 'was conducted. 1 Then, with regard .'-.' to .i . a ijoker /machine which Holden.,.had upph his : q6unter m his old shop, not the present ' shop, "and wliieh machine was more. or less "openly patronised by , many of his . customers, it may be stated that at the same time there . 'were two other : establishments ; also m. ■ -Regent-street where -poker: machines •were run. The proprietors of the two other places were >- ' . :•; ; PROSECUTED BY THE |POLICE : : f or having poker: machines on their ■'premises, and , were fined. V Holden's, .establishment, where there was also a poker machine openly ori the counter, ,was allowed to go without any inter- ,. ference on the part ;of the police. Why 'was not Holden prosecuted, /Ay-ell as : the proprietors of' thje other places . "where poker machines i were run ? Why was this distinction made? Why .was there this discrimination? Why was .' ' > the Law blind to one and riot to the others? .'■'■"' ' ■.•■.. : ..-'-:'. ■' ;: .:: ' . . ;i '^ ." The fljon. T, D. P. Holden, M.L.C., then plain Thomas Holden, <■■ was then, also a bookmaker. That ' is to; say that . Tommy" Holden ' regularly! conducted a "double" book. This is a fact that, iike all the others stated^ is within the personal knowledge of thousands of citizens ;•,; of ■'. Redfern, who "played the horses" arid also "played - the ponies" at Holden's establishment; The , "double" book was conducted by Holden for some very considerable period. And the facts that;, Tommy Holden conducted, the "double" book regularly, c and also that he ran the poker machine m his old( shop,' were fully within the personal knowledge of J. S. T. McGowen, M.L.AI for Redfern, and now :>■■■?: ; : '■'-■; -■■;"■ LABOR PREMIER OF THE STATE, Labor member McGowen. has been m Holden's shop hundreds of times talking to Holden when men have come m arid paid Holden, m McGowen's presence, money for investments . m HoLden's "double" book, arid' m Me-. Gowen's presence, have speculated upon Holden's poker machine.' 'McGowen, now Labor Premier and then and now superintendent of St. / Paul's Sunday School, has been present m Holden's shop scores, if not hundreds, of times, ,when tram men m uniform and carry*^inef their departmental bags have -.^'ome , into Holden's shop and Y have • taken' money out of their bags, and invested it m Holden's "doubles" and upon his poker machine and seen the Jigger worked. , > ■>- 'It is also within the personal knowledge of Laboj? Leader McGowen, now Labor Premier, who, with his colleagues', nominated Tommy Holden to \ the' Legislative Council and thus converted him into the Hon. T. D. P. Holden, M.L.C., that m those days Holden ran a gambling "joint" at the rear of Ms former establishment in^Regent.' street. • Now m a room at the rear of his .shop m his old premises m RegentBtreet, Tommy Holden CONDUCTED A "NAP SCHOOL," a gambling "joint," a card-room. That room was specially fitted up for the purpose of card playing. -There were green baize-covered tables and chairs as the principal, furniture of the apartment. And the "joint" was extensively patronised. This "nap joint" was conducted frequently on week nights, but the principal tlrnes' for card playing m this specially-appoint-ed card-room . were on ; Saturday nights, frequently all through Saturday nights, and also practically all day on Sundays. Tommy Holden used to .charge the card players at the rate of sixpence per player per hour, for tho use of this comfortable and convenient "joint." And Holden would stand, watch m hand, noting: the hours as they sped, and -would go the round of the players demanding his fee from the playersvfpr the use of his room. ' And 5 Labor-member McGowen knew of the existence of this card "joint,"

which led to the ruin of several people, arid Labor-member McGowen has been present m Holden's shop on Sunday afternoons: when Holden's gambling "joint" was m full swing m the back-room-within a few feet of him; Me- ' Gpwen, after the conclusion of.' Sun-. , day-school at St. Paul's, would stroll up to Holden's shop, purchase, there on Sundays his cigar or his tobacco, arid enjoy a' chat with his familiar friend Tommy Holden, while- the card "joint" was m full swing/ Ampng the patrons of Holden's card "joint" were, a number of the leading citizens of Redfern. The "joint" ' was also ..pat-ronised'--'by certain members of the police force stationed at, Redfern, and it is on record iri the archives of the Pplice Department, unless those archives have been recently destroyed, that certain members of the Redfern pplice detachment frequently .- "■' / LEFT HOLDEN'S GAMBLING : - f .- ; m -.". "JOINT,"; ■•■.;.'-';.■ then proceeded to the police station to, report themselves for "duty, and then immediately returned to Holden's card-room to resuriie their card -play- ■ ing;. 7. . - : . ■■■: '■- ■■/. . .■■..'.'• " •■'.•■' ; :' ': ■. In addition to running the "double" book, the poker, machine, and the card "joint," Tommy Holden then indulged m siinaay-txading.". Not only Labor-" member McGowen, but -hundreds of others} have purchased cigars and tobacco m -Holden's old' shop from' Holden, himself on Sundays. These purchases have been made m McGowen's presence. Meanwhile other tobacconists m the vicinity were being prosecuted, for Sunday selling. ' Hjolden was permitted to go unprosecuted. ,Why? Since Holden has been m .his new shop he has not,, it is understood, .indulged' m Sunday trading-, but ii is complained against him r that he has, since thaftime,. informed the "pplice whenever he sa.yr K 'qr- had reason to suspect, Sunday trading on the part of other tobacconists m ■ the. vicinity. And Hplden's 'height and influence with the police was always considerable, that weight and influence being, due to his\ ; close friendship with 7 Labor-member McGowen. For what special reason did Tobacconist Tommy Holden. periodically send boxes of cigars to the Redfern Police Station for. distribution among, the members of the force stationed there,? It was a common thing for a "John Hop" to enter the 1 ' Redfern Police- Station and demand <"a cigar from...Holderi's # . box.". « One tobacconist was summoned six times m almost as riiany months . for Sunday trading. Hplden - CONDUCTED SUNDAT TRAD.ING for years, and "wai never prosecuted.' Why? ■'■.. '■■■ ... . ■■ ' ; "■, ■•.., ■ We come now to another matter, and that is why McGowen's first npminatiori of Tommy Holden as a Justice of the Peace was "turned down" by the ■', Goyernirient of the day. It is necessary just here to give a little political ■ explanation. The period m question was about the early part •of the year 1899. v George Reid was then. Premier of the State, and the late James Nixon Brunker ("Pa" Brunlcer) was Reid's . Colonial Secretary. Bill Lyne was then Leader of the Opposition m. the Legislative Assembly, and Jim / McGowen was Leader of the Third (or Labor) Party m that House. As holding a certain balance of power at that time, the Labor Party occupied a position of importance more than 1 equivalent to its - then numerical strength. Now, Jimmy McGowen nominated his faithful and familiar friend, Tommy. Holden, as a fit proper person to be created , a Justice of the Peace. McGowen's- nomination of Holden was forwarded to Colonial Secretary Bruriker, who had to deal with such appointments. McGowen had Intended that the appointment of Tomihy Holden as a J.P. should be "a pleasant . birthday surprise" for the faithful' Tom, the anniversary of whose birth occurred, by a peculiar chance, just ori the day that the appointments of a new batch of honorary magistrates was announced. McGowen, it is said, strolled round to Holden's shop, as he has done almost (^aily for a score of years, and, purchasing a cigar, genially inquired, "Well, Tommy, how did you like your birthday present?" "What birthday present?" queried Thomas. "THE J.P.-SHIP ; ," replied Jim. "What J.P.-ship?" asked Tom. "Yours," said Jim. "Mine? I'm riot on the list," exclaimed Holden. "Not on the list," exclaimed the doubtjful James. "Let's have a look." The newspaper was brought, the list of ! magistrates carefully scanned, and behold! Holden's name was not there. Labor Leader McGowen • repaired post haste to the Colonial Secretary's office, and/being ushered into the presence of. "Pa" Brunker, demanded, "How is it that. my nomination of Holden has been rejected an^l his name is not on the list?" Brunk'eri's reply was laconic. He said: "Read this police report. How could. I appoint him m face of that?" Brunken handed McGowen a report by a police officer. Upon receiving MoGowen's nomination of* Holden for a J.P.-ship, Brunker had taken the usual departmental course of referring the nomination to the Police Department for inquiry and report as to THE ANTECEDENTS AND CHAR- • ACTER of the person nominated. In due course the inquiry was forwarded to the Police Inspector at Redfern, the late Inspector Garland, and that officer referred the inquiry to one of his subordinate officers for investigation and report. That oflicer, faithfully doing his duty, reported very adversely. He reported that m his opinion Holden was not a fit and proper person to be made a ;J.P., and he gave as His reason that Holderi was the conductor and proprietor of a gambling card-room, and was associated witli gambling and betting m other forms. That report Inspector Garland duly forwarded to the Colonial Secretary, and, acting upon it, "Pa" Brunker, worthy old member of the Mai tland Anglican Synod, as he was, no hesitation m forthwith rejecting McGowen's nomination of Thomas Holden to the

Commission of the Peace. Hplden has since been made a J.P. He has lately been honored even more by appointment as a. life legislator. Incidentally, Holdeii find his wife now to-day have-the privilege and pleasure of the frequent and free use of the Government motor-cars. Upon this information now given to the public m the public interest, "Truth" asks two or three pertinent questions: — 1. How comes it that a man who was refused an appointment as a Justice of the Peace, on the ground that he was the conductor of gambling and betting, is now considered WORTHY OF APPOINTMENT as a life legislator? 2. How comes It that Prerhier McGowen, with all his knowledge of Holden's past career and of his association m the past with gambling Jn several and diverse forms, and with his <McGowen's) strong religious principles, nominated his pal.Holden to the Legislative Council? 3. Tommy Holden, ex-"double"-bookmaker, ex-poker-machine owner, ex-gambllng-"joint" proprietor, now quite a reformed character —is it m consequence of his reformation that these blushing honors have been thrust thus thick upon him?