LABOUR IN CONCLAVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18898, 26 June 1923, Page 11

LABOUR IN CONCLAVE

SYDNEY DECISIONS. BEDS IN POWER. MR DOOLEY SCORES A VICTORY. (From Ode Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, June 13. The concluding clays of the annual conference of the Labour Party in New South Wales have been crowded with portentous discussions and decisions. Mr Doolev, the ex-Labour Premier, who was recently expelled by the executive, has won a signal victory. Not only has he been readmitted to the movement hy 180 votes to_7o, but the majority on the executive which bad so tenaciously opposed him has been almost entirely flung from office, only one member surviving the election for tho ensuing years executive. More significant still, however, is the fact that the industrialists, or 'reds’ as they age more commonly known have obtained a dominating position on the executive, such pronounced members of that section as Mr J. S. Garden and Mr Howie, both of whom have recently paid official visits to Russia, lufving secured places, and Mr A. C. Willis, the general secretary of the Colliery Employees’ Federation, and the leading exponent of ilio doctrine that tho mines should be owned by the minors, having won the presidential chair. These sensational developments left the way open for the final achievement of the Industrialist's in the form of a resolution, moved by Mr Garden, and carried to the accompaniment of tho singing the “Red Flag,’’ altering the rules to permit of affiliating with “other working class parties,’’ thus leaving the wav open for the closest possible bonds between tho official Labour movement and the Communists, as was the declared intention. These dramatic changes of front by tho Labour movement in this State are the culmination of a long-drawn-out struggle. After a hard battle following Ihe conscription split the Australian Workers’ Union (A.W.U.) —a. typo of extremists less deeply dyed than the Communists, but nevertheless violently opposed to such moderates as the late Mr John Storey, who died in harness as Labour Premier —obtained control of the movement, and at length, under various pretexts, succeeded a few months ago, after a failure at the' State election for which the doctrines of the extremists were probably largely responsible, in expelling Mr Dooley from the movement. Not only this, but it arrogated it itself the right to elect his successor as leader of the Parliamentary Party and the majority of the members of the Parliamentary Party sided with the leader and shared his fate of expulsion. Then came the intervention of the Federal Executive, with the resultant trace between the factions pending tho State Conference at which the above decisions were reached. In tho meantime both factions had been coquetting with the out-and-out industrialists, whose recently created Council of Action and One Big Union were weapons of acknowledged potency in tho industrial field. Mr Dooley and his followers hastily embraced the notorious Red objective, aiming at the socialisation of industry, originally carried at an all-union congress m Melbourne but not hitherto adopted by the party in this State. Tho big majority on tho executive, however, met the Industrialists and .was confident of their support. But the Industrialists had their own axe to grind, and were strong enough m the conference to wedge themselves in between the two factions, like the philosopher on the beach called in to arbitrate on the dispute over the oyster; they ate the fish and gave a shell to each disputant. Mr Dooley is back, but ■whether, with his old leaning to moderation, he will be happier with his now masters than he was with his now discomfiited foes remains to be seen. Certainlv the only real victors of the conference are the Reds. The 0.8. U. has supplanted the A.W.U., and obviously Mr Garden’s boast at Moscow that Communism was undermining the Labour movement in Australia is now more justified than ever. Shedding a disagreeable atmosphere over the conference has been a running fire of recrimination and accusation about certain ballot boxes with sliding panels which have been discovered at the headquarters of tho movement at Maodonell House. A committee has been appointed to investigate, the whole unsavoury matter, and the full facts may or may not come out. The extent of the scandal, however, was indicated by a statement by Mr Willis, who is chairman of the Investigation Committee, to the conference on Saturday. He declared that there was already plenty of evidence to go to any court. Two men made 12 “crook” boxes which were taken to Maodonell House. The secretary knew nothing about .them. It was certain that ihe 1920 selection ballot for a candidate .for the Sydney electorate was taken with those boxes, though the committee could not say that they were actually manipulated. Mr Willis produced one of the boxes to the conference, showing a slidin- panel with puttied dummy nail-heads. He declared that in all fairness to the old executive he wished to say that the committee had no reason whatever to say that the boxes were corruptly used. The new president of the executive. Mr Willis, began life as a mine boy in Wales at 10 years of age. Before coming to Australia about 18 years ago he was president of the western district branch of the South Wales Miners’ Federation. Besides being general secretary of the Australian Colliery Employees’ Federation he is secretary of th Council of Action, a body arising out of the 0.8. U. movement aiming at bringing about scientific co-operation between different branches of employees in industrial upheavals.