A COLORED EMPIRE VERSUS A WHITE AUSTRALIA.

NZ Truth, Issue 511, 3 April 1915, Page 1

A COLORED EMPIRE VERSUS A WHITE AUSTRALIA.

AN OPEN LETTER; • - v. . ■ ,' - to . ■ | Sir Henry Lionel Galway, UMI k, k, k, GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Concerning the Colored Labor Policy of the Commonwealth, Commonly Called " A White Australia." j

Sir, — I have waited' with sonje curiosity', for several. we«ks tj> see If- some-' .<.+■■s&))%■ serious Svotjm j(>o ltkbly'to develop out of your recent v statesmanlike deliverance on the Colored Labor Questioh. 'Che Federal "White Labor" Prem'jfer, Mr. Andre-tf Fijsher, has presvimed to (call -you over the .coals and censure you, by order oft the Caucus, as though you were a inero member of the Caucus, which ho pretends to boss, but which rpally bosses: him. Artful "Andy" Fisher, though not a statesman, is a cute, canny Scot, who knows en whlSh side his bread's buttered; he's not m a hurry to lose his job any more than any other paid politician by fallIng out with his bosses. The Caucus made him and can unmake him, as it made and unmade his predecessor, "Chris" Watson, a much more capable and courageous man than "Andy." ft • # * I've said that your declaration concerning colored labor m this Commonwealth was statesmanlike. So it was: and, therefore, your expression of refrrot for having made it" In to be deplored. No public official ought to K-grot thinking' and talking like a ut. desman, any more than a private citizen should be ashamed of speaking Housibly. and not like a lunatic. That vii experienced Imperial official, who has made his reputation and won approbation and promotion as the organiser and administrator of Colored Htute.s m different parts of the Empire, should express regret for opinions honestly held and temperately expressed on opportuno occasion about a White Australia, is not altogether an edifying night, nor one calculated to maintain Imperial prestige In this remote, isolated, and weak outpost of the Empire. '. • # • In the parlance of political slang, you have been pronounced "a cocktail, for crawfishing to Fisher." Were it true that you really regretted -what you said, merely because Flshet; bullied and bounced you, then, indeed, would you lie a coward. Because, what is Fisher but a partisan parrot prating the shibboloths of tho party to which he belongs, and squawking them as he is told whenever and wherever he is bidden? Fisher cuts ao Ice without tho Caucus: adrift from tho Caucus his opinions would bo nix mox; his connrlonco counts for nothing; ho has neither soul nor conscience of Ms own; Jio In only another political plmplo on tho enrcass of tho Federal Cuucus. • • « At present. FJshor Ih tho Hnmly Andy of tho Federal Labor Party. Thn Catj. cue, which Ih tho Labor Party and its Ctauno In one, could do ns well without Andy as with him. With Fisher Federal I'rlmo Minister (which moans megaphone of iho Caucus) tho Party Ih «lolhk is well its sonic of the ntnte Labor FartleH nro doing with even more ludicrous loblolly boys they've put up to play as Captains of the Caucus craft. This may seem, t,o you, a scandal and ii. shnmo: but It's true. Ivibor bellows v loudly for the Rights of Man, monnlnp Ihjono of the Wliito Working Man. on . Ihf> basis of Preference to Unionists. y Hut, ho far as tho Caucus In concerned It doesn't care a curse about tho rights of tho non-union white worker; and ns for the colored man he has no rights In Australia, because ho has no right to be hero. Thl« seems strange to tho nirangor, especially as the Christian Havlour, In whom most Australian politicians (Lab nnd Lib) profess to believe, was Himself a Colored Man, an manifested m His incarnated human •spect. • • • But this Is not the most ludicrous, Hot to say blasphemous, phase of tho

Color.ferassei m this Christian Common - £°5 •i.^Sl HW™ URon.AIL God s c6l6rcoVef features, whom His Son Jesus Christ bur Lord as crucified to save, but more than one-half the wageearners, while British subjects, are sought to be sacrificed too at }tip.Bhrino of Unionism, their cries for right and justice being smothered m the barbaric beating of tom-toms, ytie clashing of cymbals, and the blowing of brazen trumpets to the tune of Preference to Unionists I Why, the truculent trade, cry raised against St. Paul by the silversmiths of Ephesus was a soft, sweet, sacred symphony compared with this brutal banning of Colored fejlow-men and whito fellow-citizens by this blind blatant band of Christian coorcionists hero m Australia. •' # # To enable you to properly appreciate and precisely appraise the political value of the fulminatlons and moral weight of censures of this Federal farceur Fisher, you have not only to consider who and what he Is, but also for whom and for what he speaks. His position is that of a parrot: he is the Australian Labor Cockatoo m the Caucus cage. The simile may seem silly: but so is Fisher, and "slmllla simillbus curantur." When Fisher chatters tb you about a White Australia, by. command of the Caucus, he's speaking for a comparatively small, but extremely selfish and strongly organised and outrageoußly aggressive, minority of Australian Labor Unionists. This Caucus kookaburra doesn't speak for the whole body of Labor Unionists, many of whom are sincere Chrlßtians who do not adhero to the White Australian dogma, while many others are too wiae to shriek such a stupid shibboleth. And what is just as well, and, perhaps, better, is the fact that most of them are too British, too unselfish, and too patriotic to consent to sever rrom tholr race, rollglon, and country at Caucus command. • ♦■ • For to that calamitous pass has Australian Unionism como by tho shouting of tho savage slogan. Destitution and starvation for the White non-Unlonlst, and to hell and damnation with all colored men, whether they bo British citizens or not! That, m sentiment, substance, and contemplated consummation, is what the Caucus cry of Whito Australian means: and that Is the. predicament, of parlous peril into which persistence m such a policy must bring this Commonwealth. It is under th«> frown of such a man .is this Fisher, voicing such an outrageous anti-British policy, that you, an Imperlnl envoy, nre wild to havo quailed, and before whoHe bluster you, an accredited ami accepted Imperial Consul, are believed to have blenched. But 1 don't. I won't, and can't believe that a man of your mornl fibre, mental calibre, and cxperlcnco is a political poltroon and moral coward, or of tho stun* of which cocktulls and crlngers to Caucuses arc n|a<le: and I'll tell you why. • • « To begin with, your recent remarks on so important a public question as the need for developing the Northern Territory of this Continent by Colored labor, if needs bo and must, and tho Imminence of the duty of Australian public opinion readjusting itself on the White Australia question, under the imperious- impulse of Imperial necessities, were oot wild or wanton words, but a statesmanlike deliverance, as wise m substance, as tho occasion of its deliverance was opportune. From what I know of you personally and ofti • daily, you do not impress mo as a

man apt to speak rashly, withpijt Knowledge, or without warrant:' I- an* ijaqhvinced that your remarks were not a mere haphazard harangue, made for the puerile purpose of placating ,th'e mob by pandering to popular prejudice. ■ ♦ # * • . . ••"•■■ I believe that you made, your speech deliberately and of a set purpose, which was precisely that of placing befpre Australians the peril m which this Commonwealth is placed by this "White Australia" question, on which Mister "Andy" Fisher, the Caucus Cockatoo} bids you to be-dumb. So positively pre-_ posterous a piece of presumption by po-. litical pigmies as this Federal Fisher farceur attempting , to gag you against speaking your sane and conscientious convictions on British Imperial', questions, is paralleled only by the Three Tailors of Tooley-street, who commenced their ev,er-memorable mock manifesto: "We, the people of England." Just fancy:. "I. Andrew Fisher, Federal Prime Bfinister, bid you, Governor Galway, to shut your mouth and keep silence on the White Australia Question! 1 ' When the Democratic, donkey brays, let no Imperial dog bark! It seems like political pantomime, Caucus comedy, and Federal farce all m one and all at once. * ■*....*. Now, whatever you may have been told and believe, or make-believe to believe, I don't believe that Mr. Fisher, Federal , Prime Minister and Caucus mouthpiece (unmuzzled for the time being) speaks for the whole or a majority of the citizens «f this Commonwealth when he presumes to censure you for discussing a White Australia from its British-Australian and BritishImperial points of view. Indeed,, I very much doubt whether he speaks .for a majority of the organised Australian, white workers, who, it must be borne m. .mind, dp not, include air the workers of the , whole Commonweal th. Ihe. majority, ot .wljprn _ a.re .npjt, organised and enrolled m Labofc*lJqions. Organised Labor is hot a majority of wage- earners here nor anywhere else: here, as everywhere. in the world, it is ..in a minority. , If it, were m a majority^ •it wfould succeed, and thus make Labor Organisation unnecessary. * •' . * The limited success Unionism achieves is owing more to the social sympathy and political support of out-' siders than to its own actual numbers and inherent strength. The balance of power is not held by Organised Labor, but by that great body of unattached citizens who from time to time waver from side to side according as their sympathy is evoked and their support secured by the ever-changing claims of contending parties. As a rule, Organised Labor usually secures the sympathy, though it does not always command the support, of the great body of unattached impartial citizens, whose sympathies are ever fluctuating and whose support is not always secure or sure. • ■ • # • . • ■. I write this, not to disparage cither the organisation or policy of the Labor, Party; but simply to put you on your guard against being fooled by its foolish Federal fugleman, Fisher. You must not attach too much importance to the antics of Andy; he only capers m the public circus as tho Caucus commands. Andy dare not disobey: to do so would coat him his billet; and Andy's not such an ass to run that risk: he's Scotch, d'ye ken. Fisher may fancy that when he's braying forth his bunkum he's a real ramping, roaring Australian lion: but bo not dismayed, he's nothing more than a dolorously demented democratic donkey, with Just enough sense to follow the succulent bunch of carrots suspended before his snout m the shape of his snug billet with a big salary. * » * : This is tho meretricious manikin, this the chivvying chatterbox, who charge** you with committing "a grave political indiscretion" when you speak wisely upon a great Imperial problem, m tho proper statement and satisfactory settlement of which is involved the immediate future of. this young Commonwealth, and tho very destiny of the destiny of th«» British .Empire. Why 1 dfirc be sworn that Andy Fisher nnd.j < his brother C'nucusers care no more for , ; the policy, preservation or destiny of the ! | British Empire, except ho far as they caji hf> Mtipposod to subserve the j I schemes of tho Caucus, than they do j about the canalisations of Mnrs or tho ; rings of Saturn. Andy nnd his political I ! pals are White ' Australians first, and I British subjects second: Labor Oau- I , i-users first and last, and loyal British ! : citizens a long way off. They would,, if [ ! they could and dared, sacriflc the solid-,' j nrlty of the Empire to what they con- ! | celvo, and, consclentiously'enough, con-- ! slder to be the sacred cause of a White ! j Australia. ■ "■ !•* • ' I j This statement might stagger you, I ! were you not so well acquainted with ' Australian politics and 'politicians as 1 1 know you to be. But you, who have | been all your life coercing, disciplining, and governing colored men m different parts of tho Empire, must know what a : menace this Whito Australia business i becomes to British supremacy when [ viewed from nn Imperial point of view. , Of course, you, and others equally farseeing nnd experienced In British Imperial affairs and their administration, < affirm that tho Imperial point of view In j the only point from which tho path and

policy of British solidarity and stability can be discerned.'^ Most Britishers who are loyal to the Empire, ■ and believe that its preservation means the maintenance of the only means and medium of good government for half the world, will agree with you. .*•*. * ; ' ■ . The majority of Australians will admire the wisdom and opportuneness of your recent remarkable utterance upon the White Australia policy m relation to Up bearing on Imperial-British policy. Not so Australian Labor; Unionists. 'In theory they, are Australian : Labor is ts before they are British Imperialists. They are m the \lmperial co-partner-ship for what they can get put of it. Having received this whole continent as a free gift from , Britain, together with the right to self-government and all, its precious, priceless, industrial, social, and political,. institution.'} free, gratis and for nothing: never hiving had to fight tp attain the one, or shed one single drpp of blood. to secure the oth>r; having been protected by the supreme power of Britain from attack and even from fear of molestation, without tax or fee; Australian Caucussers, for whom Fisher speaks, are prepared to "cut the painter" for the sak6 of a White Australia. '•■ •• ■ ■ • I am.. well aware that the fat -paid Pats of the Caucus will cry out against this 'conclusion. But I know the "Australian paid Pat as well as I know the Caucusser, and better, perhaps, . than I know myself. At any rate I know that the fat: paid Pat knows that I'knowthat he knows that if he-did not, place a White Australia first on his. 1 programme before the British Empire, and" boom 'Preference to Uni6nists r in preference to, Imperial Solidarity, he'd, be cursed, 5 by the Caucus and ' cashiered; by- V hi? average-Austrar flian Prtid Pat. would seet he Empire ■damtted;-'dlV#(icd q,rtd;>dJßirit^^rated, bejfore he'd call dowji on himself' the > sent to be cashiered by hisconstituehtSl-; In thii^^ ser resenittles Busßeli Lowell's Yankee Caucusser/ whom hemakos- to say: %■ ■•' • ■■■%•■: ;■ ->•■. >-■;;•■ I div believe thet I should *givc Wiit's his'n unto. Caesar.' Fer 'tis' by him 1 move and live, * " . Friim him my bread an' cheese jiir ; I dti believe thet all o' me -.» Doth ~ bear -'.his superscription, ; Will, conscience, honor, honesty, An* things o' THET description! „' '#'■*' '■'*. " I'm well aware that some 'Caucus* sere will have the chilled-steel cheek to repudiate this statement o£ their views and to denounce me as a liar. But it will be merely a case of the^ pot calling the kettle black, because I shall merely retort the "tv quoque" — you're another. And I shall have authority and truth on my side: for did not David, "a man after God's, own' heart," declare that all men. arc liars; arid David ought to have. known, seeing what a liar he was himself. Besides, does not everybody know what brazen liars' most politicians are? They arc bigger liars than lawyers, without the, lawyers' professional excuse that the lawyer lies to save his clients:' the. politician lies to sell .his constituents, and very often his party, and m some cases his country. But theso be mere "obiter dicta"; let us dismiss them and come to relevant facts, Tho average Australian professional paid politician, controlled by the Labor Caucus, is prepared to sacrifice , the solidarity of tho Empire to the policy of the Caucus — the main planks of which are: A White Australia and Preffrenco to Unionists.' Both these planks are inimical to Imperial Solidarity and opposed to x British Freedom. Yet to maintain the first and secure the last a certain claßs of Australian Laborists are prepared to sacrifice the Imperial connection, and thus to- imperil, if not to lose, both. • Again. I pay. I am aware that this statement will bo challenged by those who vi'oo the "sweet voices" of btid-broathed mobs and cowardly Caucussers. But I pretrnd to speak m vindication of tho Australian people, and not m condemnation of those of an- arrogant, aggressive minority. For these reasons and many others not here stated, but which your statosmanllke acumen will onaMe you to divine or deduce from tho foregoing, I presume to congratulate you on the wisdom of your utterance concerning the fetish of a White Australia. Many Australians of the bettor or more sensible sort who will approvo of your opinions may possibly condemn the expression of them at this particular time. n« inopportune. Such fitupld shilly-shallying at the present critical conjuncture m British affairs spells suicide: Either Britain* safety dopends on Imperial solidarity, or it doesn't: either Australia's security from outside aggression is involved, in the Imperial union, or it isn't? British Solidarity presumes union , with all her dependencies, colored and white; Australia and India and Africa are white and colored dependencies; without union there can bo no solidarity; there can be no Imperial union with a White Australia, which is In-, compatible with Imperial Solidarity. Therefore, cither the British Empire "m esoc" must give way to the phan-

tasy of a White Australia "m posse," j or the latter must give way to the for-v mer. Which shall surrender: The Empire or a faction? ' Which would Australians wish to sec survive: A proud, [ powerful, protecting Imperial Federation, or a. selfish, squint-eyed '■ section of a community, who would ban J460 millions of White and Colored subjects for. the shibboleths of an infinitesimal minority of a paltry four millions of Australians, incapable of defending this vast continental Commonwealth from a Squadron of Chinese, junks, . let aloh.e.' a Japanese or J German or any other Fleet, even if it j wer.e to be commanded- by a Swiss Admiral on horseback — a position that would' well become a bumptious blatant blo^Vhard like Andy Fisher ! Sir v I 6hall conclude this somewhat rambling,, but sincere, letter by. agaift. cohgrd.tulatinkyou on. your -Colored Labor" delU'erahce. Thai j'ou' made it rashly; of "■ really regret .having made it, I don't bjelleve. Though' you've expressed regret for having made lit, you haven't withdrawn it or repudiated the sentiments it sets for. Those sentiJ ments are, sound, sage, and politic. Your expression of your regret is a' mere diplomatic sop contemptuously , tossed to the democratic Cerberus. I pity' you couldn't 'quieten tho dog. by, dropping him a doped bait. But your i expression of <jour real opinions does, ypu more .credit than your 'apology for them. You express" Ihem -fn^accordartce with your Imperiallnstructions, and only; "regretted" "them'Tii; diplomatic deference to local ': re■quirements. - : ■'■ ■■..-.#. ■ - •■:■ . •'* . . On the whole you are {to be congra--tulated on the manner m which you have accomplished the main purpose of your prespnee m AußjtptJiaj; you W?s 30ne it eniphaticaHy^ttn^droiti^ ,hjia, ,liuin- White - Ai^<^m^i^'.'^pu 'have ■- cttl^a His yelping by pityingly patting hiS poor puzfcled p^te with .' the j^aw of regret. . The Vigorous l)atferven- ' tioh ot \yoixt boot has bu.Bt- the" bladder' of his bunkum. •There'll be; no more barklngs about, a White Australia or Cutting, the Painter, during the present war. , Perhaps it's just as .Woil, with Japanese cruiser's ' convoying Australi^'B Expeditionary forces , aprpss tho tridiah Ocean to Egyp^ aha with fejibres •of thousands of - black, • brown, ,aiid, brindled Indian/ British. subjects j fighting side by side with Englishmen and Frenchmen for the security of .Europe against outrageous invasion. Surely colored . races , who sacrifice their lives and shed their blood for the safety of the solidarity of the British Empire against aggression from any f portion of the world by any nation, ; European or Asiatic, white, black, | brown,' or. yellow, arc. not to be brutali ly banned froth Australia by a Caucus clique! • ' ::.■*■■".."" In conclusion,- let-me-again congratulate you. good Governor Galway or Galwey; whether you spell your name with an "nay" now, or "wlv a wee," as 1 your dad did. don't much " matter. You've deserved well of your sovereign and your country and of the. Whole Empire.. Australia owes you a whole de'ut of gratitude for thus timeously calilng her to a true sense of her real position m the Imperial scheme and ln^the comity of the colored and white races of this world. Galwny, or Galwey — whichever it really be— l say unto thee, "Well done, good and faithful servant," and when you go home, as I expect you soon will do after what you!ve so well done, exhibit this letter to your Sovereign as your certificate of Loyal Duty Done. Bo sure that when the source whence it comes shall be aecn, it will Becure your services' recognition and reward In the shape of a baronetcy or peerage, accompanied by ortlcla! promotion. This litI it predict, a.nd desire for you, and as j i*m a true prophet, and your sincere' well wisher, you may believe, me to be, Dear Galway, or Galwpy, ' -' (whichever you be, .doesn't, matter to mo, or even to thee), Your faithful servant, and .true friend to serve, JOHN NORTON.