THE LABOUR PARTY IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13206, 13 February 1905, Page 4

THE LABOUR PARTY IN AUSTRALIA.

The comprehensive fighting platform adopted by the Political Labour Conference which,has just closed in Sydney is, if anything, more sweeping than that of the ultra-Socialistic section of the Labour party in New Zealand. The trend of political movement in the Commonwealth soenis to indicate that at 110 very distant date the Labour parly will be in the ascendant and will be able to command a majority just as it has dominated New .Zealand politics under the Seddon Administration. Such a state of affaire should not cause a great deal of surprise in a State where the, bulk of the population aro workers, and while we have not a great deal of faith in the capacity of the representatives of any particular class to successfully administer the county's affairs in the interests of. all classes, it should not require a very high level of administrative ability to improve on the government- which has brought Australia to her present condition. In the short and uneventful period last year which saw Labour in office there was hardly time to judge the result of the prentice hand at the wheel; but, having experienced the sensation of Cabinet responsibility, it may be assumed that Mr Watson and his colleagues will not rest content as loug as there is a chance of their being returned to power. If the revised political platform which we published on Wednesday represents the policy to which the Australian Labour party is committed, and'is endorsed by a majority of the Commonwealth electors, then the. task of giving effect .to it would certainly keep 'any Labour Government busy for a nuicK' longer period than they would he likely to remain ill office. Certain features of this policy, woul no doubt commend themselves to hot' political parties in Australia, partial larly those having reference to simpli fying government. The State Legislative Councils and State Governorships might easily be dispensed with in a country with a population of some 3,881,000, and which has some 14 Houses of Legislature and seven vice-regal representatives and establishments to keep up. The cost- of government alone in Australia is a burden stifficieat to make a debt-ladeu young "Commonwealth stagger under, and to the Wayfaring out- • sider it seems incomprehensible that the consummation of the Federal idea did not at once, bring about a reduction in the bulk of the administrative machinery. Neither is there any reasonable objection to the closer settlement policy of the Labour parey, which is modelled on that of Xetf Zealand, and, if wisely carried out,' should result in the cutting up of many large estates which are a bar to land settlement in districts emisuited to agriculture. State expenditure in this direction has a far tetter chance of being reproductive than in the illusory irrigation schemes which also appear in the Labour platform. The experience of irrigation goes to show that in a scattered community like that in the interior of Australia the cost is oiit of all proportion to the benefits derived, and unless the area irrigated is subjected to intense cultivation, such as may be found in European countries which have a dense population, irrigation works are likely to become a sort of political " white , elephant." Unquestionably it would be the better policy under most circumstances to spend the money in repurchasing and cutting up some of the many large estates in districts where no irrigation is required. The items in the platform concerning ,a progressive laud value tax, local government, and an extension of full civil rights to State and municipal employees require further elucidation than the brevity of the cablo 'affords. The proposal to stop borrowing except for redemption and for the completion of works expected to be reproductive certainly ought to commend itself to the electors of a State which has gone a long way towards exhausting its credit, and smacks of the good resolution formed by an individual suffering a recovery from excessive conviviality. But to carry out even necessary public works without the aid .of borrowed money additional taxation would be necessary. This--no doubt would not trouble the Labour party very much, for, as the resolutions passed by the Conference disclose, their idea of taxation is that it should be chiefly borne by other classes than the one they represent. The proposal to establish a State sugar mill is no doubt inspired by the . fact that a private corporation now controls the whole sugar trade of the Commonwealth and New Zealand, with the result that the consumer is put through a mill as well as the sugarcane, and enormous profits extracted from liim without his being able to raise a finger in protest. The additional restrictions sought to be placed on the Australian shipping trade and the interference with the management of mining concerns now directed from London need . hardly be discussed at this stage, for neither .is likely to take legislative foim' for'"'a

very long time. But, apart from these matters and other planks of the platform to which we have not referred, the Australian Labour party has taken in hand a big task, and it will be interesting to see what the electors have to say to it in March of 15)07 if the present Parliament lives out its full term.