WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIII, Issue 47, 27 March 1896, Page 17

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

ffltt T must have surprised our readers to note in the 4^ W" result of the firßt ba tch of Brisbane Elections, 35n Kp the Press Association's remark that " the pecujfk yff" ar ea^ ure la that fi ve of the rejected supporters hEmR* of the Government are all Roman Catholics, and 3 that only three of that faith have been returned." TT^ We naturally inquire the reason of this rejection. Was it opposition to Catholic claims on the Education Question ? or pure bigotry ? or anti-Irish feeling ? or a combination ? The cablegram gives little light-giving information. It tells us that the net loss of the Government is one seat. They gained four but lost five The Goverment, we are told, wrested Toorong and Townsville from the Labour Party, which on its side wrested two seats from the Ministry. The Premier was returned by a large majority. Is there any significance in the note that the Labour Party worked against the Government ? We open Australian exchanges just to hand, and find in the Brisbane letter of the Sydney Freeman something which may serve to let in a little light on the matter. Evidently the demon of bigotry was let loose in the effort to oust the Hon T. J. Byrnes, Attorney-General. We gather this from a pre-election speech made by Mr Byrnes in the Centennial Hail :

Mr Byrnes (writes the ireeman correspondent) began by making a s'rong attack against tbe Telegraph newspaper for commenting adversely upon him during his absence from the colony. The result of their venemous abase had induced him to either stand for North Brisbane or retire from public life. He aeked for tolerance, and made a fine effective passage, in which he stated be believed absolutely in tbe principle of liberty of conscience. He said it would be a mosl degrading thmg if In this great country it should ever become understood a? a maxim tbat a man should be disqualified from serving the State in any capacity simply because he happened to profess the form of belief that be might have learned from bis mother's knee."

That looks as if the element of bigotry had been availed of. The Attorney-General angered the " advanced " labour party of Queensland also. The Australian Star thus refers to a fine speech made by him in North Brisbane: —

.f'lo opening the Government campaign ia Brisbane Mr Byrnes, the Attorney-Genera!, and one of the most promising of the younger generation of Australian politicians, said that the real issue before the electors was individual libeity as against socialism. He was quite right. In New South Wales, for example, the labour party are socialists almost to a man, and oo all occasions when thty have had the opportunity to do so they have tried to discourage private enter-

prise. Reasoning from world-wide experience, we are of the opinion that anything like a general application of State socialism would be disastrous to the working classes and to the country generally. This so-cilUd new gospel, which after all is as old as the everlasting hills, has received the marked disapprobation of the American Federation of Labour, which is the largest labour organisation in the world : the men in that mighty combination have convinced themselves that it is no good for their order. It is to be hoped, therefore, tbat the the fight which is being made by the Queensland Government and their supporters against socialism will be completely successful, and that the baneful principle will never make headway." As Mr Byrnes declared that he entirely concurred with the Premier's manifesto, and his intention not to interfere with the Education Act, we must believe that other causes than views on education led to the intense opposition to his re-election and to his defeat. It is well known that his determination to put down gambling by framing the Act to clear consultations out of Queensland alienated many and provoked active opposition. What we have said may, however, serve to throw a little light on the message flashed across the Tasman Sea.