AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16577, 28 December 1915, Page 9

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

(Fbom Oon Own Corbkspondent.) SYDNEY, December 15. Tho Prime Miiiister nad a u.&igrecable personal experience m Brisbane tlio other tlay oi opposition u: trades union quarters to tlio present recruiting scheme promoted by the juabour Government. At a speci.il meeting ol ttie Brisbane Industrial Council it was unanimously resolved that all unionists in the State bo advised not to fill in tne question papers .issued by the federal .government, and to "request unions, as soon as possible, to carry a resolution condemnatory of tho conscription proposals of tne Prime Minister." A deputatin was appointed to wait on Mr Hughes conoerning the matter, and tho council further resolved that, in the event of Mr Hughes's reply bemg deemed unsatisfactory, workers be advised to refrain from voting for the Labour candidate at the impending by-eleo-tion for the Wide Bay seat vacated by Mr Andrew Fisher. The deputation told Mr hughes that his recruiting scheme was disguised conscription, and that the workers oi Australia would not agree to oonscription- Mr Hughes, in his reply, said there must be misapprehension regarding his scheme and as to the present) situation. Compulsion was the very foundation of unionism and Socialism. But no compulsion would be introduced. There would be no persecution. Mr Hughes does not seem to have succeeded in modifying the opposition of the Brisbane Industrial Council. By accident, almost, it was learned two days ago that the Victorian Trades Hall Council has resolved that it be a recommendation to tho members of all the affiliated unions to ignore the question cards sent out in connection with the recruiting 1 appeal. It may be mentioned that there is no obligation by law or regulation to answer these questions. All that has been set out as above regarding the recruiting appeal and the way it is being made appears to be called for not only by the present .actual condition df affairs, but also by thq,_ incidental possibility of remarkable changes in the near future in Federal politics and our military system. A DIFFERENCE. It looks as if Queensland trade unionists have allowed hostility to the Federal Labour Government's recruiting scheme to carry them to the extent of deliberately bringing about the loss of a supporter to the Government in the Federal Parliament. Two candidates—one Labour and the other Liberal —stood for the by-election for Wide Bay, made necessary by the resignation of Mr Andrew Fisher, the' ex-Prime Minister, in order to become High Commissioner in London When Mr Fisher was last elected he 6ecured a majority of 7000 votes over his Liberal opponent. Both Mr Fisher and the present Prime Minister (Mr Hughes) visited the Wide Bay constituency in the interests of the Labour candidate (Mr Corser), who wa3 sure of winning easily. But on the evo of the election came tn3 anti-recruiting echeme declaration of the, Brisbane Industrial Council and the contingent advice to unionists to refrain from supporting the Labour Ministerial candidate for Wide Bay. It was apparent at an early stage in the counting ot votes that Mr Corser could not hope for anything like as big a majority as Mr Fisher got. As the counting proceeded, -Mr Corser's margin became steadily smaller, and then changed into a minority. At the time of writing the Liberal candidate is over 100 j votes ahead, and the Ministerial candidate's rejection seems certain. This is interesting, and of much significance. A DEADLOCK To overcome a remarkable deadlock in connection with the election of a Lord Mayor for Sydney lor the ensuing year a special remedy has been proposed. There are tnirteen wards each returning two members in the council. At the repent general elections the number of Labour representatives was increased to 1L It was known that' in the succeeding election of Lord Mayor by the votes of the oouncil the La Dour proportion would vote solidly for tho Labour nominee, Alderman Meagher (Speaker of the legislative Assembly). A Kouple of the other members were known to bo rather unfavourably disposed towards the Independent candidate, Alderman Hagon, and a tie in the voting seemed possible. There was a tie. Such a contingency had not, it appears, been provided for in the Acts which govern the council's affairs, end a deadlock arose. In the hope of being shown a way out of the difficulty tho counoil referred the matter to three eminent lawyers. Meanwhile the Cabinet has considered the problem, and has decided to ask the Labour caucus to approve of the introduction of a short special Act to allow of tho retiring Lord Mayor—Mr R. W. Richards, who was defeated in the aldermanic oontests —presiding and exercising a casting vote if the deadlock continues. The allowance has been reduced from £1500 to £1000. , POSTAL FINANCE. It is the avowed intention of tho new IPostmaster-general (Mr Webster) to malco the Post and Telegraphs Department pay its way, if possible. There was a deficit of over £600,000 for last year, and £364,000 of this was in connection with the telephone service. This telephone service is about as unsatisfactory from the public point of view as could be contrived. Mr Webster proposes heavy increases in the telephone charges, and this has led to his being interviewed by deputations of business men who voico decided protests against the insreases. But Mr Webster is obdurate as regards higher fees At the same time he cheerfully admits that the service is unduly expensive in its working as well as inefficient. Ho says in all frankness that the department labours under serious evils in having been burdened at the time of transfer of the Post and Telegraph and Telephone Departments from the States to the commonwealth by a lot of officials drawing high'pay who ought to be either out of the service or in much lower positions. _ He sees no remedy for it but to_ wait until these expensive incompetents die or retire, because* when the transfers took place they secured the continuance of their existing status and rights. So our business people can hope for no escape from a minimum charge of a penny a call, which will hit them pretty severely just now. Woe to the employees who are detected using the " boss's" telephone for flirtations and amorous appointments. TROUBLESOME SOLDIERS. After the new State Commandant,, Colonel Ramaciotti, had visitefl the big'military camp of training at Liverpool, near Sydney, and had asked the soldiers to "'play the game," there was for a little while a cessation of riotous proceedings, in Sydney and elsewhere by soldiers on 'leave from the camp. But a couple of nights ago there was another outbreak in Sydney. Some three hundred soldiers, who apparently acted on a pre-arranged plan, armed themselves with road metal, lumps of concrete, battens, etc., marched to opposite a refreshment saloon in George street kept by a Greek, and bombarded- the place so vigorously that in a few minutes not a square inch of glass was left in the show windows or shop front. Three adjoining placos also suffered as regarded windows smashed by stones. Amongst the huge crowd which at once collected around were many larrikins, who urged the soldiers to acts of violence, and proffered further ammunition -in the form of rtones and brickbats. Some of the rioters were about to invade the refreshment saloon itself, when a body of police came on the scene, and, by the employment of vigorous methods, dispersed the crowd and the rioters. There were several lively encounters between constables and men in tho mob, and nearly a score of arrests were made. When the offenders came before the police court next morning the prosecuting police inspector expressed the belief !hat some of the soldiers who made such trouble were fellows who wanted to evade being sent to the front by securing police court convictions, which would lead to their bein" discharged from the forces. In explanu -n of the attack on the Greek's shop, some of the men said they had been told that a soldier had died through being hit on tho head with a chair in tho shop a couple of nigMs before. » RECRUIT MARCHES Despite the expressed view of the military that there is involved a loss of valuable time which ought to be sptnt in training camps, strong popularity attaches to marches of (< snowball," or growing" of contingents of recruits from distant country centres to military headquarters in tho capital cities. It certainly seems that these -with their accompaniments of local rivalry and local enthusiasm, give an entirely new and effective stimulus to recruiting in many oountry places. There are at present in progress in this State alone three such rccruits' marches, and at least three others have been arranged to start very shortly. So warm-hearted arc the county residents of the towns and settlements visited by the marchers that the men in the contingents find themselves fed and feted in a way that is to many of them a revelation of hospitality and knirlne?s. Each contingent chooses a distinctive hue characteristically Australian. Besides each manages to acquire some kind of a song or chant constructed specially for it. and of which tho men are very proud.

When matters connected with the training of apprentices were before the Court of Arbitration at Christchurch on Wednesday, his Honor Mr Justice Stringer remarked that it seemed that there should be .some method of inspection to ascertain that employers were doing their duty in the matter of teaching their apprentices, and in cases where they were failing to do so, some means adopted to ensure that they carried out their obligation. Of course, apprentices had their remedy at law, but that was not

very satisfactory Regarding apprentices to the engineering trade, Mr W. Pryor pointed out (says the Press) that evidence given before the court showed that wonderful results had been attained as tho result of the instruction given in the different shops. Archdeacon Doyee, for 24 years president of tho New South Wales Alliance, lias resigned that office. in his farewell speech he stated that the year 1916 would bo tho most strenuous in the entire history of tho movement.

Eight children—three girls and five boys—appeared before Mr D. G. A. Cooper, S.M., in the Wellington Juvenile Court on Tuesday morning,'on account of their parent? being in indigent circumstances and therefore unable to support them (says the Times). The children—who were aged 13, 11, 10, nine, cigfit, six, four, and three years respectively—were the offspring of the same mother, but the two youngest were by a different father. The case had a distinctly pathetic side, more especially in view of recent happenings. The children, until a week or two ago. resided with their mother in Frederick street, and wore present when she died suddenly. The father of the elder children has joined the Expeditionary Forces, and was in camp when his unfortunate wife passed away, with no one to attend to her in her Last moments except her children, who were too young to realise the circumstances. The father of the two youngest children—a

Negro—was in court, together with the European father of the other children. It was stated that the coloured man had been very good to the family, but had only recently come out of hospital, Ho "was visibly afibcted when the magistrate told him that all the children would be committed to a home where they would receive every attention. Mr Cooper said that the European father was given permission to leave tho camp in order to attend to his children, and had not carried out his obligations, but had been going about the town drinking. On tho other hand the other man had done all ho could, and ho was to bo complimented for his efforts. "The children were committed to the Wellington Receiving Home. The negro said he would contribute ?0s weekly in support, of tho two children of whom he admitted he was the father, and the father of the other six children was ordered to pay 20s a week in support of his offspring.