TROUBLESOME DARWIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 October 1921, Page 11

TROUBLESOME DARWIN.

DISORDERLY ELEMENT. PROVISION FOR DEPORTATION. Sydney, Sept. 20 For some time now the handful of extrem?fts who have gathered in Darwin have been having thin’s much tliir own way, and have added fresh perplexities to the perennial which the Commonwealth Government appears to find in the Northern Territory. All competent authorities agree that there are immense possibilities in the Territory, and vast resources only awaiting intelligent development. It is merely the Commonwealth’s misfortune, and not the Territory’s fault, that the right sort of intelligence has not yet asserted itself at the Home and Territories’ Office in Melbourne.

Meanwhile quite an extraordinary state of affairs has been developing at Darwin, and the Minister concerned has made a remarkable announcement of measures which are to be taken to maintain law anti order. These measures have been framed as the result of a personal visit which was recently made by the Minister. At Darwin, he declares, he found that a situation was rapidly developing which would not admit of the application of ordinary remedies. A system of tyranny and terrorism was taking the place of cruel persecution. This was manifesting itself by “job control,” organised disturbance at public meetings, misrepresentation, and vituperative attacks upon the authorities and upon individuals, terrorisation of witnesses and juries, and the refusal to pay taxes were instances of the tactics of the unions.

It is intended, to take power by ordinance making it an offence to disturb or interfere with, public meetings, and empowering the chairman of a public meeting to call upon the police to remove disturbers; to provide suitable means for the punishment of persons guilty of victimisation or of otherwise unlawfully acting to bring about loss or deprivation of employment to others; to suspend the system of trial by jury except in the case of capital offences; to provide for the deportation to other parts of Australia of persons prosecuted and convicted for refusal or neglect to pay taxes or who fail to pay or make, provision for the payment of taxes within a specified period after conviction.