OUR SYDNEY LETTER

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 428, 22 July 1913, Page 2

OUR SYDNEY LETTER

HOWMUOH?

" I sympathise five shillings, friend. How much does thee sympathise?" i>aid a Quaker spectator among a crowd which had gathered round a case of distress. Tliere are numbers of sympathisers with " the relators" who have just lost the case about Government House. They are unanimously of opinion that an appeal ought to be made to the Privy Council. But this " inherent right of every Briton " cannot be exercised without a bigt expenditure. Where is the money to come from? If the wealthy members of the movement will only follow the example of some patriotic working men, who are undertaking to subscribe a shilling a week each till the case is finally decided, there will be no lack of funds. Sir Joseph Carruthers, who, as an ex-Premier, may be considered to know what he is talking about, has declared that the strongest points of tlie case for the objectors were not presented to the High Court as strongly as they might have been. In his opinion Government House and grounds stand m much the same position as the church and school lands. At one time the Government of tho day wished to deal with these lands as " waste lands of j the Crown," m the same manner as the Labor Government are dealing with Government House. The project, however, had to be abandoned. It was held that the lands were dedicated to a special purpose, and could not be diverted to any other .without special sanction from the British Government. It is sincerely to be hoped that the vexed question may be set at rest at once and forever. MR M'COURT. . " The distinguished patient went under an operation foi* an internal cpmplaint, and is now progressing favorably/ Then, a day or two later: "The funeral will take place to-morrow." How often have we been greeted of late with this ghastly sequence of events? One of the last to join the sad procession is Mr M'Court, the popular and genial ex-Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Leading men of both sides m politics have borne unstinted testimony to the good qualities of the departed member. Both m his private capacity as a member of society and m his public capacity a6 an honored representative of the people, and one who administered the difficult office of Speaker with rare tact and fairness, he evoked encomiums which show that he was a man who could ill be spared. His obsequies were attended by the State Premier, the Leader of the Oppositibn, and many leading men on both sides of the House. THE BY-ELECTION. Although it would be unseemly to intrude party strife m connection with such an event, it has,- nevertheless, a political aspect which cannot be ignored. There is a vacancy m the Wollondilly electorate, and the question is Who is to fill it? The seat is looked upon as a certainty for a Liberal. Mr M'Court's tenure of it has hardly been seriously, threatened since ho was first returned m 1882. The name and the boundaries, of the electorate have been changed, but he has represented virtually the same district since the date named. At . the last election Mr Fern, a Labor candidate, polled 1,841 votes against 3,349 . recorded for\Mr M'Court. Mr Fuller, the defeated of Illawarra, is spoken of as a likely candidate for the selection, and it would not be easy to find a more suitable man to carry the party colors. But there are other aspirants, and as some changes have been effected m the constitution of the electorate the result may not be such a foregone conclusion after all. With parties so equally divided, it hats'' bien a subject of some ©peculation as to whicli side would be. the first to lose a member by death. Thfe figures of the actuaries, who deal with the expectation of life by averages and without reference to individuals, certainly pointed to such a contingency' The lot has fallen on the Opposition,- and the Government suffer no loss. PAYING THE PIPER. The aftermath of the recent increases of wagis and shortening of working hours which have been granted m the railway service is now coming forward to' harvest. It is very gratifying to, think that our railway servants are so much better off than th© majority of those who find the money to pay them. But the luxury' is costly. In this case it has cost nearly half a million per annum, and further concessions, which may cost another half million, are- spoken of. Already the surplus from the railways, which was so welcome to hard-pressed Treasurers, has vanished, and under present conditions the outlook is for a heavy deficit on the next year's working. .Under theee circumstances there is no alternative but either to recall the advances — which, of course, is unthinkable — or else to increase, fares and freights, which not so long ago were substantially reduced. The general body of railway-users ie a softer proposition than the railway servants. Therefore the concessions which were made to the former are to be cancelled m order that those which have been made to the latter may stand. This is not a case m which the profit, (if any) on. working goes to the enrichment of private enterprise. The railways must, pay their way. If the outgoings are increased, then the income must be increased also. This was not contemplated when the question of hours and , wages was under consideration. The case resembled that of the householder who, out of the goodness of his heart, treated his wife to a new carpet, only to find that it necessitated a complete refurnishing of the house ! Higher freights will mean less traffic, so that a further increase may be necessary. But that counts for very little m comparison with keeping "solid '" with the railway workers' unions. MAIL COMMUNICATION. The project for shortening the journey between London and Sydney by a week, although it is net likely to be eagerly welcomed by the companies wliich run existing lines, is attracting much interest. The idea is to run a fast line of steamers from Blacksod, pn the west coast of Ireland, to Labrador,, which can be done m three days. Thence, by an '* air-line railway, . whatever that may be, to Winnipeg, the capital city, of Manitoba, 'm 36 hour? (blizzards, of course, permitting), and thence by fast train to the Pacific, to be taken up by the mail steamers. Not so long ago such a project would have been regarded as wildly visionary. Even now, it has a long way to go before it will be an fact. But the idea of aerial navigation has obtained such a hold on the popular mind that any proposal for pressing it into tho service is eagerly welcomed. Hitherto it has been chieHy instrumental m providing some of our most intrepid and venturesome aspirants to fame with an early death. But each 1 fatality is deemed to bring ns nearer the wished-for goal, and there is no slackening m the popular demand for tangible results. . THE COUNTRY PARTY. The newly- formed " Country party " are getting some hard knocks from both sides. Liberal newspapers solemnly warn their readers that they are carrying their political propaganda too far m venturing to

run their own candidates. Mr Treflc, tha " Labor " Minister of Agriculture, also denounces it. "If*. the Tory party were m power," he declares, " there would beno cry for a third party." This is a very valuable admission from an influential quarter, because, when there is no cry for a third party it is a pretty good indication that tlnere \is contentment and satisfaction. On tho other hand, the declaration is discounted by the fact that everyone who opposes one's own pet brand of innovation, no matter how rash and dangerous it may be, becomes necesi sarily a " Tory " to the innovator he op- | poses. But this by the Avay. The real truth of the matter is that anything like independence is incompatible with " machine " politics. The " ironclad pledge " l has welded the " Labor " machine into a compact homogeneous whole, and the. breakaway of many country electors, on whose support it had been m the habit of confidently relying, is a bitter disappointment to the men who control it, and by no means improves their temper. On the other hand, the very perfection of the discipline of the "Labor" nien has compelled the Liberals to* close up their own ranks, unless they are to allow their opponents to sweep the polls. So it comes to pass that the "machine" reigns supreme, and principles are hopelessly lost sight of. " I would vote for a Chinaman if he had the party ticket " is an expression as often heard on one side as the other. Under these circumstances, unless the countrymen unite and form a " machine " of their own, they have little or no chance of getting fair consideration. Each of the existing "machines" sees itself to be menaced by their action, and each regards the appearance of the third party on Che stage as a wicked device of the enemy to destroy ,its own solidarity. PREFERENTIAL VOTING. Under these humiliating conditions, it is not surprising that there is a very general outcry^ for preferential voting, which would enable the electors to record their suffrages m such a manner that each party would get a fair show. It would be an immense improvement on the present system,' and it is to be hoped ,that it will be carried into effect. ' It has been, m operation m Tasmania for some time, and has proved to be quite workable. Nevertheless, as long as the members of any party are content to sacrifice their own personal judgment and conscience m order to secure solidarity, proportional voting, of itself, will not 'be able to keep them m check. A majority of the " Solid " party, illegitimately wielding the power of the whole body," will still be able to cany the measures adopted m secret conclave, though the actual dissidents m the House may outnumber the "contents." It is a crime when a member allows his vote to be given for a money consideration. It is difficult to see wherein the case of the member who votes against his honest convictions for a partisan consideration differs m principle from that of the member who accepts a bribe. In either case the intention of our democratic Constitution that the. measures passed shall be the result of the honest and unbiased judgment of the duly-elected representatives of the people is frustrated. Instead of representing the iTeople, they represent a secret junta, and execute its behests.

June 24.