BLACK LISTS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 241, 12 May 1933, Page 6

BLACK LISTS

Sinister Proposal NEW SOUTH WALES REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN 1 Importance of Secrecy Sydney, April 22. One o£ the most remarkable devel opiuents of the Referendum campaign lias been a plan adopted by the Stale Labour Party Conference this week at the suggestion of Mi. Garden. Aftvr deploring the absence of scrutineers and discussing various methods of inducing the electors to vote "No," it was decided that a petition against the Reform Bill is drafted, and thai copies be supplied at every polling booth to give the electors a chance of expressing their views effectually. The pretext put forward in support of this scheme was that it would enable the Labour Party to chec. 1 -:-. the number of votes recorded cm the "No" side and thus to some extent make up for the absence of scrutineers. But what Mr. Garden and his friends did not mention to the delegates was that the signatures to this petition would also, by a simple pro cess of subtraction, enable them co discover who had voted "Yes," and would thus supply them with a "black list" of "traitors" which they could use for their own purposes later on. The petition is thus a cunning trick devised for the purpose of securing the despotic ascendancy of the Langite leaders over their party and enabling them to enforce "disciplinary measures" against rebels at their own discretion. Would be Illegal

Of course, this has all been pointed out, with great emphasis by the Nationalists. As the Sun puts it: "Any person who is stupid enough to sign his iiaim 1 to any such document, no matter which way he votes or what party he follows, has put. down, in black and white, for whatever purposes it may be used afterwards by the politicians, a statement which may be used against, him for ever." But. fortunately, this petition scheme is not only dangerous, bm illegal. The law officers of the Crown has declared officialy that, such a petition signed at. the election booths would be a direct: interference with the secrecy of the ballot. The Sydney Morning Herald has quoted the State. Parliamentary Elections Act, which makes any form. of intimidation an offence, and includes under this term "The action of any person who impedes, prevents or otherwise interferes with the exercise of the franchise by the elector"; while the Referendum Act of 1930 makes it an. offence to publish or distribute "any document" intended to interfere or likely to interfere, with any elector in the expression of his views at a referendum; and at the same time requires that the returning officer ami his subordinates "shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of voting at that election."

Assurance to Electors The Attorney-General, at the close of his condemnation of the proposed petition as a. breach of the law, has assured the electors that "whatever course may be pursued by the innei group of the. Trades Hall on the holding of the referendum, the Government will undertake to secure for them the secrecy of the ballot, and also complete freedom from victimisation?,' This statement has worked the Labour Daily up to an almost inarticulate pitch of fury. It has now taken to denouncing every action of the National Government as "Hitlerism." The refusal to appoint scrutineers was "Hitlerism," and irow the pronouncement of the Attorney-Gene-ral that the proposed petition would be illegal is "Hitlerism" as well. But I fancy that, a great many of the professed followers of Mr. Lang will bo relieved to learn on such high authority that Mr. Garden's scheme for violating the secrecy of the ballot by black-listing all rebels is "against both State and Commonwealth law" and must, therefore, be abandoned.