Queensland

Parliamentary Debates [Hansard]

Legislative Assembly

TUESDAY, 23 AUGUST 1921

Electronic reproduction of original hardcopy

206 lps,:chTFut.rSipply.Etc:.,B:ll. [ASSE;\1BLY.] lrant of Uonjidence _.~._1Iotion.

TvESDAY, 23 AvGusT, 1921.

The SHAKER (Hon. \\'. Dcrtram, Maree) took the chair at half-past 3 o'clock p.m.

PERSONAL EXPLANATION. The SECRETARY FOR AGRICULTURE

(Hon. W. X Gilliec., Eaeham): I desire to make a perso11al explanation.

The SPEAKER: Is it the pleasure of the House that the Secretary for Agriculture be peomitted to make " personal explanation? IIo~orHABLE l\lE:\lBEHS: I1ear, hen.r ! The SECRETARY FOR AGRICCLTUHE:

On page 117 of "Han·ard," the hon. mPmber for \Yinclsor, Mr. T .. 1ylor, speaking of the State Produce Agency, said-

" The Sccrct..1rv for Arrricu'ture helped to bu:-.T .so.ne ':B' gra,de wheat '-Vhic\ ;Yas aftcnvarJs C"'{portt=d."

Tbi3 ~t,_tenltnt is cntireh: incorrect. ~\t the <'Dd of lil",t year, at the request of th~ f.. ··m0rs. ;,nd "·ith the sanction of the hon. the :.\Iinister for State Enterprises, the late n;anagcr of th~ State Pro~\1- e Ac-cn('y did purch~ :;e for the Deparhncnt of Agriculture seed 'vhcat for pbtnting a::.d fcclder fnr ~tan'­ing stock; but, fortunately for the farmers, the drought broke, and very little. of the fodder was taken by them·. No "B" \'heat whatever WiJ.S bought on the authority oi the Department of .Agriculture.

WANT OF CONFIDENCE M0TION. RESC:MPTION OF DEB.\TE.

Mr. EDWARDS (Xana1-1go): I ·desire to enter my protest against the manner in which the Queensland Governncent has been attemptim; to lcgislate for Queensland. As fa;· as J\1inisters are concP•ned, from the hon. the Pren1ier down, the.v have absolutely admitted failure. The Premier has stated time and again, on every public platform horn which he has spoken, that a dele"ation t.'1at v.·cnt home to the o!d country prevented him from obtaining the requirements to run Cneensland. I say, without hesitatio!l, that. ii the ho<td of the Government is prepared tu make a definite statement that he was pre­vented from obtaining loan money to carry out public works for the ·development of this State, he absolutely admits that he has failed; and I unheeitatingly say that it is his dutv to the people of Queensland, and to the workers in particular, to hand the reins of government over tD someone else who will have a better chance of obtaining that money. I am going to prove to the House bevond a shadow of doubt th;;t the Premier has stated on more thim one occa­sion that he has fail•ed as far as running thi• Stde is < lllccrncd. In t.he first place, he recci• ,•d a clcputa'ion from a district of struggling c.::eLctors near r .. :'i-~ 0l(r-:0ratc, and he gavE' thcn1 his ~yrnn tth -- lwca.n -:~ the Government ·were root· nbir to pr,y•ceJ ;vith the Thiun;on-Proston and Nar::ar:;,J-~~al"Ltman line. There has bc'0!1 n gr0'lt d _.ll of rno.i 1 {

spent on the former lino, but he has faiied to obtain money to compl0te thr,t lin0. The f~llo\vlnf?: f1gurc" s??w the a-bsolute waste o, pubhc money wnteh has t1ken place in rcQ"ard to that line :-In 1916, there was £~-.378 'pent; in 1917, £18,777 14s. lld.; in 1918. £21.653 1k J.ld.; in 1919, £27.266 1s. 1cl. ; in 1920, £24,785 Ss. 2d.; and in 1921,

Want of Confidence Jl.[otwn, [23 AUUl'hT.] TVant of Confidence Mot·ion. 207

£852. Practically £100,000 of the tax­payers' r1oney has been sunk in that lin~, and dotHioration of the embankmenb IS

going on at a great rat~. \'\'hilc the Pre­mier a.nd t1w Srcr;._trtry for Railways have admitted tloat this line ~honld be gone on with in tho interc--.ts of ihc .cetllers, they 'talc, on the other hand, that it. is imposc.ible to find the monov for it. ·when the Govern­ment adrmt tl;·at £100,000 has already been spent on the line, but that they nnnot find the mo,wy to go any further with it at the present time, it is quite ti1no, in the interests of settltelllont and development of the State, for them to get out of office and givr other people an opporbnity of carrying out line~ like thh~. The settl,,rs who went on this country over tv d ve yea.rs ago arc s···ttlcrs from oYerseas. When they came oEt they received a definite promise from the Govern­ment then in pmYer that they would get a railv, ay when they made goocl. They have grown various products, but the present Government havo failed to earn out the promise which they mad · to the edtlcrs. That is not the worst £c 1utre of the case. Several of the settlers have told me that the , · have kept up a correspondence 'vith people in the part of the old country they en me from who "ould be likely settlers for Queensland, and that thE·-c people have been waiting for a comiderable time to hear that everything "as right for them to come to Ql:eensland. But the selectors hero have come to the conclusion that they cannot trust the Government to carry out their promise to go on with the line, and have advised their friends not to come out until another Government is in power. Again. the Public ·works Com­mission inspected the proposed line from Na.nango to Yarran1an, and reporterl in favour of it. I am certain that the line will be of immense benefit to the State. It would assist the lucerne-growers along Barker's Creek, and allow the settlers to get their products to market Ly a distance of 100 miles less than it takes at the present time. T.hat is another instance where they have absolutol:c failed as a Government. '!.'hey failed to connect that particular link whic[l would make for the betterment of the rail­ways of Queensla.nd and be a big thing from a national point of view. The Govern­ment have created a bad impression in the country districts because, not only have they neglected the settlers but thev have not kept their promises, and they have lost the confidence of the country altogether. Instead of receiving thousands of settlers in our country dietricts. land 'ettlement in Qneens­land iR practica!J:>' at a standstill. W~ know what has happened in connection with the redistribution of seats. It shows that large numbers of settlers are leaving the countrv and flocking into the large centres of popu· lation. It is irnposeible for the Government to develop the State on those lines. The only w::<y for the State to prosper is to give every facility to the man on the land, and to encourage him in every way. Both the Premier and the Secretary for Railw:.tys admitted failure. They say the Government cannot get money because of the -delegation; but we know that other things have pre­vented them from doing any work. Thev are putting men off the railways all ove'r the country, and at present the whole State is seething with unemployment. If that is not admitting failure, I do not know what is. The hon. the Treasurer the other night in attempting to justify the failures of th~

State rnterpri~cs, referred to a certain co­operative company. r_rhat was a poor '\Vay of justifying the State enterprises, because I kno" that that co-operative company has been n very great success, and has been a boon to tho pig-raisers in Queensland. I was very plt~atS(·d to sec the hon. member for Cooroor" tunc up the hon. gentleman for making that statement. The Minister for State Entcrpri•'<ls also admitted the failure of State enterprises.

Hon. \V. FORGAN SMITH: Not at all.

Hr. ED\VARDS: The hon. gentleman stated the other night that the wheat deal had lost an amount of money to the State, but that wa• due to '>he manager entir,ely. The Secretary for Agriculture, in making a personal explanation to the House this afternoon, said the purchase had been sanctioned by the Minister for Stat8 Enter­prlscs.

Hon. W. FORGAN SMITH: He did nothing of the kind. T.hat is a scandalous statement.

Mr. EDW ARDS: The only soandaJ is that the money 1:-tas been lost, and the taxpayers have to foot the bill. I£ the Secretary for Public Works ha.d allowed the people in the different districts to carry out public works hy contraot_they would have saved thousands o£ pounds to the Sta to. Those proofs have been put up tin,te and again.

Hon. \V. FORGAN S:>riTI!: They have never been offered by you.

Mr. EDWARDS: They were offered the other night. The manager for the people who tendered for the job we are speaking about told me he was prepared to carry it out for £200 less than the estimate of the Government.

Hon. W. FORGAN SMrm: Nothing of the kind. You had no specification at all.

Mr. EDW ARDS: On the Government's own specification; and that is not the o'nly occasion when proof 'has been given. While the Government boast that they have spent £1,500,000 on public works, whereas they say the previous Government spent only £500,000, we know beyond question that many of the schools which cost this Govern­ment over £600 could be built for from £250 to £300. That, to my mind, is proof of failure, and the day has come when, what­ever Government be in power, they must break down this cast-iron rule of day labour and hand public works over to contract again.

The hon. member for Mundingburra is very proud of the Government's having doled out to able-bodied men something like £100,000 in ration tickets-and I am pretty safe in saying that the amount will be nearly £200,000 this financial year-instead of giving them work. If that hon. member only knew how the rations were paid for by the hard-working men and women on the dairy farms, he might not be so proud, and I say without hesitation that it is short­sighted policy on the part of the Government to allow the country to get into such a state that they have to dole out rations to hundreds and thousands of able-bodied men instead of giving them work on the Murgon­Proston railway or the Nanango-Yarraman connection, or some other work that will develop the State. I maintain that in a State like this no able-bodied man should be

Mr. Edwards.]

208 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Oonfidrnce JY1otion,

out of work, one year or another, and any Government arc failing in their duty if they allow such a state of affairs.

Mr. KTRWAN: \Vould you compel private persons to employ men if they had no ''··ark for ',hem?

111r. EDW ARDS: That interjection proves beyond question that the hon. member has no business capacity whatever. In reply to him I say, "No." The proper way to get private people to employ these men is by restoring the confidence in the country that existed when the Government came into office.

Mr. KIRWAN: Starvation wages.

Mr. EDW ARDS: I would like to tell the hon. gentlemen that, if he went on to the fa.rms all over Queensland at the present time, the farmers would tell him it is abso­lutely impossible for them to employ men. The dairy farmer to-day is struggling along in the best way he can. Other agriculturists are employing the barest possiblP amount of labour to enable them to carry on, because they have lost confidence in the Government. The hon. member for Brisbane has not suffered as the dairymen in the backhlocks have. The sooner he realises that there are country districts in Queensland which are making it possible to feed the vast popula­tions in the big centres, the better it will be for Queensland.

Mr. KIRWAN: Why is England exporting her unemployed? There is no Labour Govcrument there.

Mr. EDW ARDS: That question the hon. member ought to be able to .answer himself. England is a different country aitogether. This issuing of relief has been responsible to a very large extent for ruining Queens­land and demoralising the men who receive it. \Ve should encourage the men to work. I am not speaking with any prejudice. I think it is a pity that, after six ye.1rs of Labour rule, it is necessary to submit such a motion as this. It would be a splendid thing for the country if confidence existed. Whether this motion is carried or not, I would say to the Government that, when these men call for relief, they snould be shown where there is work to do. If the Government are not able to do that, they must admit having failed, and they should get out and allow somebodv else to do it.

The PREMIER:' To whom do you sug-gest we should hand over·-- the minority Opposition?

Mr. EDW ARDS : Hand over to someone who is more capable and more practical than the Government have shown themselves to be. The Premier knows as well as I do that on this side of the House he will find the prac­tical men with brains. \V e have not been all our lives trying to get into Parliament. The majority of hon. members here are farmers. Wo are the people who ha:ve made it possible for the Government to ·dole . out ration tickets. I would also sav to the Premier that the men in the backblocks w·ho are rem·inp: big familiies do not think this a. joke, and he should take it a little rr.ore seriously. We must realise that there is a tl'emendous debt creeping up year after year, and we have practically nothing to show in return. When this present Government came into office the railways were a credit to the State. To-day let anyone go into the

[Mr. Edwa.rds.

country distrirts and view the position. The trains arc being curtailed, and people who are living alongside the railw·ay are gLtting their n1ails only one or t·wice a 'veck. Is that any credit to the Government? Does it pron' that thev have been succccsful? ::\o.

The PilE:\IIER: You want to incur further expondi tu re by running the lrains 1noro frequently.

Mr. ED\YARDS: Ko: I want to develop the conntry and settle it with a population.

I would also like to make some reference to the speech doli ,-ered by the Secretary for Agriculture, who) to a. large extent, is saving the Govcrnnoent; and I will tell you why. In the ftrst plac~, he has over and over .again advertised "·hat the Government have been doing in regard to the storage of maize; and, goodn£'~') kno,vs, so far as Queensland is concerned, it is required. But what have they done? Absolutely nothing. It is no use for the Government to advertise them­selves in that regard and thon trying to hide "behind their "dvertisements. The time has .arrived when thpy should do something for the development of this State. I am sure the Premier, if he gave his opinion fairly and equarcly, \YOuld admit that the Govern­ment have failed. The Government have been driven along a certain line by organised labour outside, and thev have reached the st";ge when they .are of no value whatever to the State. Take the position of the Secretary for Railways. On every occasion that I have gone to him, I have received every courtesy, but what is the use of that 'o far as the settlers are concerned? When an Economy Board has to be appointed to ;n--1uirc into the very work that these n1en ha vc been doing- for' the past six years, and has been corn pelled to sack men because of the short-sightedncss of this Government, then I say without hcsitetion that, again, is abso­lute proof that thEw have failed. The Governn1cnt arc afraid at the present time to go back to the cledors and show them the deplorable state of affairs that they have got the State of Queensland into.

The ATTORNEY-GCNERAL: Hedge will get your scalp if we do.

Mr. EDWARDS: If Mr. Hodge did not compare favourably with the hon. gentleman who made the interjection, it would be deplorable so f"r as the State is concerned. The Government must admit that they have reached the time when they can no longer carry on the State successfully. They have seen r,t to put cff thousands of men. and, when deputations from the unemployed have come before them, on every occasion they have been turned down. On every occasion these unfortunate men, who have wives and families to keep, are turned down, because therr is no work in the State for them. When the Government have reached such a state as that, and when they have to admit such a failure, it is nearly time they considGred what is best for the State and got out of office.

Mr. MAXWELL (Tnmron[J): Xotwith­standing the statement that has been made bv members of the Government and their follower.s, I intend to support the want of confidenc,, motion, I do so because I realise that. if any Government that ever occupied the Treasurv benches was a failure, it is the Ryan-Theodore Government. We have heard the hon. member for South Brisbane say that it has been customary in this House

Want of Confidence ~11otion. [23 AUGUST.] Want oj Confidence Motion. 20J

for a number of years to raise the bogey of the " Trades Hall," and he said that it was very nearly time that that bogoy was dropped.

I am of opinion that it is very [4 p.m.] nearly time that the bogey that

has been raised by our friends en the other side in connection with the delegation and other things associated with the work of the party on this side of the Houso was dropped and hon. members came to their senkes and used a little bit of intelli­gence in the government of the State. I shall Gndcavonr to prove that the statements that have been mQde by hon. gentlemen opposite, so far as the delegation is con­cerned, are without foundation. The leader of the :\" ational party was twitted when he stated that the delegation proceeded to I,ondon for the purpose of bringing under the notice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies certain legislation that had been passed in Queensland. Any business that the delegation trane"ctPd with the Secretary of State for the Colonies was made public in the nev.opapers of the day, which drew atten­tion to the fact of the repudiator,,· measures having been passed by the G-;,vernment. Any man who has any ordinary business code of moralitv will know that a measure of relief was- passed when Queensland ~ad scarcely a hoof upon the pastoral hold­!11gs, and the financial institutions agreed to do certain things in the event of certain things being done by the Government. Now we have it from the Government that no agreement was ever made, and that the legis­lation they passed in this House "as not an act of repudiation. I say, as a business n;an, that to me it was an act of repudia­tion. Let me draw attention to a memorial which w":s presented on 6th May, 1904, by ·bhe graziers of Queensland to the then Premier, the late Sir Arthur Mm·gan. Sir Arthur Mm·gan replied to the memorial in this strain-

" Chief Secretary's Office " Brisbane, 18th May, 1904.

"John Cameron, Esq., JYI.L.A., Brisbane. " Sir,-I have the honour to acknow­

ledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, forwarding additional signa­tures to be aUached to the pastoralists' memorial which was recently presented to me, and which sets forth certain amendments that are considered abso­lutely necessary to the Land Aots, 1897 and 1902, before the signatories can with confidence avail themselves of the pro­visions thereof.

" While anxious to make every reason­able concession to a large class of producers who have been contending against great difficulties, the Government cannot acc0de to the first proposal, which Is as follows :-

That a provision be inserted in the Acts above referred to, by which the rental for the first period of the new lease proposed to be given under the Amending Act of 1902 shall be fixed before election. " The argument which the pastoralists

employ in support of this proposal seems to be based on the asoumption that there is an exact analogy bet IH'",n the State as a, landlord and the individual as a land­lord, and that consequently the Crown tenant, like any other tenant should know before he signs his l~ase the amount of rent he will be called upon to 1921-P

pay. But this reasoning ignores the fact that the Crown has no more voice than the lessee in fixing such rent, and that the determination is made by an admit­tedlv capable tribunal, independent of the' Crown, and with no conceivable motive for making an award unjust to the tenant. \V ere the request acceded to, the notice of election would, in many cases, be po-..;tponcd for so1ne years, since rents must be detern1ined in open court, and the Crown must be in a position to offer sufficient evidence of rental value, which evidence can be obtained only by close inepection of the holdings. I may remind you that under the Act of 1884, rents were nut fixed until after election, and that this procedure was continued by the Act of 1897, without any suggestion that it had in the past been found to operate unjustly to the lessees."

This is the point I desire the House to pay particular attention to-

" If the pastoralists are willing to accept 50 pE'r cent. as the maximum increase, the Government has no objec­tion to offer to the second proposal, which runs as follotvs :-

'That the maximum percentage of increase at e:1ch succeeding reappraise­ment be defined in a manner similar to the provision contained in section 5 of the Land Act of 1886."

And so on. A GoVERN~IENT ME'IIBER : Where IS the

point?

Mr. MAXWELL: The point is that we hear from the Government side of the House that there was no understanding, or agree­ment, or contract with the pastor,alists.

The PRE'IriER: There was no contract. Mr. MAXWELL: Such an arrangement

wa" made, when 1\ir. Kidston sat on the other side of the House v:ith thirty-five Labour members who agreed that this con­cession should bo given to the pc.;toralists.

The PREMIER: Mr. Kidston was not Premier at the time.

Mr. MAXWELL: The late Sir Arthur Morgan was Premier. We have heard it stated that the delegation that went to London interfered with the Premier securing the necessary loan money. I need just draw tlw attention of the House to the report in the " Financial Times " of 14th September, 1920-

" On 25th July, 1919, Mr. Andrew Williamson, ch»>irman of the Australian Estates and Mortgage Comp.any, after explaining to the shareholders how this and other companies leasing land from the Crown in Queensland were being treated remarked that-'A lessor who in private life a,ttempted to so violate his contract with his lessee would be restrained from doing so by the law of any civilised country, and, in the future, would find no one willing to deal with him.'

" He went on-' I warn the Queensland Government that a Government that thus abuses its sovereign powers to repudiate a contract which a private citizen would, by law, be compelled to observe, by _it~ own deliberate act shatters its credit. And, as though prophetically inspired, Mr. Williamson, referring to Mr. Theo· dore by name, said, ' I can assure him

Mr. Max,.oell.]

210 Want of Confidence ~11otion. [ASSK\IBLY.] Want of Oonfirlence },,fotionj

that all the ea pi tal he "'ants will be willingly supplied from the mother country, both by public loans and private invC'stors, on one condition, and that con­dition is that State contracts, whether with State creditors or with individual lcsse~s, are sa<..:rc-dly o bservcd.' ''

Tne PREl\fiER: 'What does that show? J\1 r. HARTLEY : In other words, he wanted

to barter awa 0· the heritage of Queensland. Tho PREVIER: Isn't Williamson a CO·

director with l'hilp in the same company?

Mr. ~rAXWELL: I do not know anything at all about that, but I do know that a vcrv short time ago, when Queensland wanted loan money, they >Yent to these men and asked them to help them. I am glad of the interjection of the Premier, because Sir Robert Philp managed to get every company that he had anything to do with to put money into our State loan. I want to go even higher than lv1r. Williamso11 and draw­the Premier's attention to a little episode that occurred in the month of M;>v of this year, when we had the privilege o(listening to a \'ery excellent speech by the Premier at a State dinner that was given to Sir Thomas Robinson. I would ask the hon. g-entleman if he did not make a speech and impress upon Sir Thomas Robinson' the seriousness of the position? Did not the hon. gentleman ask him if there was anvthing the Gonrnment could do to help to g'et out of the difficulty in which they were placed? Sir Thomas Robinson said that the Queens­land Government was under a cloud and tlut a lot of spade work was necc'ssary. The "Daily Standard" of Fridav 27th l'liay contained the following statement':- '

" Re\'erting to the money market Sir Thomas ,,aid the Governor of the Banlr of England had sent some kindly mes· Rarrcs to J\1r. Theodore. The impression l\Ir. Theodore left ' at home' "as that he was a man capable of understanding and rapablt:~ of learning, He was sure Mr. Theodore came back with a better grasp of the situation than he ha·d before. The Governor asked him not to forget to remind the people of Queensland that they were under a clou·d."

The SECRETARY FOR AGRICULTcRE: What does he mean by that?

Mr. MAXWELL: I will leave that to the S•,cret ary for Agriculture. The hon. gentle, man h,ts been associated with a body of men who have occupied the Treasury benches for a long tinw. and, ii he is so dense that he does not understand, the people of Queens, land know.

The SECRETARY FOR AGRICULTURE: Why are you so myc,tnrious about it?

Mr. l\1AXWELL: '' \Yhcn hD delivered that message to

Mr. Thcodore he urged that no oppor· tunity ehould be lost of re-establishing the credit which we usr,·d to enjoY, To accomplish that, much spade work' would have to b..--' done. Tha.t, he wa-S sure, would be dono as socn as possible."

The PRE}fiER : Sir Thomas Robinson was uLder a IniE:apprehension.

Mr. 1\L\X\VELL: The financial expert on the other side of the House, the Tro:1.surcr, challenged Sir Thomas Robinson that night, and gaYo hirn to underatand that, as a Go~

l Jf r. !l! ru:~11ell,

vernment, they were going to borrow monBy as they liked. They canr;,ot get money to-day, and we bear from hon. members opposite that they arc going to appeal to the country for a £3,000.000 lean. There is only one w1.y hon. gentlemen can get that amGLmt, and that is by ruining thf' industric,; of this State, which arc in a very bad way, as I \Yill subsequently sLow. \Ve ha\'o also heard it said that the Commonwealth h'vd no diff1calty in getting their mone:. The people of Australia feel they arc perfectly safe in putting their money into a gilt-edged security like a Common­•nalth loan; but they realise that to-day there is a certain amount of danger in hand­ing their money to the hon. gentlemen who occupy the Treasury benches to-day to invest in a lot of "wild-rat" schemes, which have br" n expose,] by this side of the house.

.\t 4.15 o'clock p.m., 1\Ir. KmwA:-; relieved the Speaker in the

chair.

::\1r. MAXWELL: The Premier of New South \Vales, l\1r. Storey, states-

" The Premier (Mr. Storey) frankly admitted to-dav that the introduction of the Xew Land (large holdings subdivision) Bill had pi·ejudiccd his negotiations. Sir Robert Nivison (principal underwTiter of loan, for "\ustralia) had told him that, following upon the recent Queensland legislation, it "·ould be impossible to gBt the ayailable invcv•tors, most of whom were interested already in holdings in Australia, both largo and small, to lDnd any more money with the danger of their securities being adversely affected in this way. Mr. Storey continu"d: 'I then said that if we could get £1,500,000 per year for three years, to bo spent upon the re,umption of land for closer settle­ment, we would be prepared to modify the objectionable clauses of that Dill. I pointed out that if we could get the money to pay cash there \\·ould be no need to issue debenture~, but what we \Vanted, and must have, was land. I found that it was readily conceded that our attitude on· this matter was quite consistent with tr,,', promises which the various Aus­tralian Governments had made to the soldiers.' "

That is the statement of Mr. Storey, the Labour Premier of :\Tow South \Vales, who deals with the attitude of Sir Robert Kivi­>on. The pr<"·C'nt Trca'mrer, speaking at Ubtdstonc. 'aid-

"\\ hen I \Yas in En? land about eigh~,'Clc_•n ,>_ont~ls ag'J, ono of the London flna:.lCjPrs approached IDC'. rrhis fmanrier· i::-; fl n;2.n \vho ttndorwrites loans. His. Jl ,n>; i :::\'iYison. During the \var hn nuJn·~.Yrotc all our r\ustr:'"~Jian loans and \": txcd fa~ nnon it. Iie \Yas made a. hcronct dt!l'il;g the war period! Our s~-., :0'rn of borro .. , ing-a system which has bt•cn in vogue for years-is \>Vi eked. 'V e­do not kno\v the name of one person who lends the money, and even the Governor of the Commonwealth Bank cannot iir!d ont the na1no of the indivi­dual who lends to it. The eapitclist keeps the ntme a spcret, and he, acting as the agc~1t of the bank. pays tb~, interest over to the lPndcr. The gE':1tleman I men· tioned, \vho is not by any moans an ogre -he is, in fact, a very amiable old man -said trouble would arise if we inter-fered v;ith private enterprise. '\V c do

Trant of Confidence 11i<·lion. [23 AGGUST.] Want of Confidence JJlotion. 211

not object to the security, he said, 'but the moment you interfere with the profits of insurancr_" companies that is the time that we are going to stop you getting the ordinary loan moneys.' He explained to me that the insurance cam­panic~ are most pO\\'erful cornbinations. I re11lied: ' Surely, in a Stato like Queensland, with less than three-quarters of a million of population, our insur­ance enterprises call not aff\ et your huge in'-urance busincs:;;c~ ?' lie answered: 'vYhat you in Queensland do with State insurance and insurance le::;islation affecting profits of private t~mpar1ies will be an example to other States, and the thing will extend beyond Australia to England. This will depriYe us of onr custom. It is the ,adaptation of the prin­ciple that counts.' "

want to point out that we haYe it there from the Treasurer that, if the Government keep on dabbling in State enterprises as they are doing, the_;· are going to have difficulty in oecuring their loans. That is ahu endorsed by Mr. Store:.. The reason for the failure of the loan negotiations is explained by a letter \Vhich appeareJ in the "rl'im£'>" of 20th August, 1920, written by the Secretary of the British Australasian Society, which reads-

" Sir,-The cabled report of the speech of the Lieutenant-Governor of Queens­land on the opening of the Queensland Parliament gives so misleading an explanation of the failure of the Premier, 1\Ir. Theodorc, to raise a loan here rccr,ntly that my committee have felt constrained to m.,kc public the following statement. Every protest having failed to induc2 the Government to either abandon or defer the passing of the Land J\ct Amendment Bill of 1920, known all over Au:·tralia as the Hepudiation Bill, because of the breach of faith with pastoral lessees v hich it perpetrates, the Bill was forced through l-'arliament at t!w beg-inning ,,f this year throug-h the p:,d<ing of the Upper House with new members by the Ministry, with the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor.

"My committee, just prior to the arrival here of the Premier, wrote to the Agent-General for Queensland, asking him to arrange for a deputation meeting Mr. Theodore as soon as possible after his arriYal. ln ,,ccordance with this re<juest, a meeting took place on 31st ]\lay, and various sub3oquont mc,Jtings were hPld at Mr. Theodore's request, when the \I hole nntter ''as vet"' fullv discusse·d. At these confun~nces 'it v. a"s again pointed out to ?dr. Theodore that the Act in que,tion violates the con· tractual obligations of tho State by rf'Inoving, through the arbitrar':.- use of sovr reign po-wer, a vit"d provisi~n in the pasto1 ,d lea<es, not only without the con­sent but in spite of the strong protcots of the lessees.

"It wa,~< nl::.o pointed out to the Premier that this violation of contract ha.d been deliberately forced through by the prr•. sent Government of Queensland after repeated attempts extending over a period of come five years durin'4' which time, not in Queensland ~nly but in the PreSB of thio country, the inevitable

rcsultinz damage to the credit of the State has oYer and ovtcr again been publicly urged upon them.

"The damnin;; fad is that the ('uc"'ns­land Gcn~e:nuncnt clairns to alter to their () :n ad c•.'lhge a contract to \\ hich thcj ue partie'· agJinst the will of the otber contrncti11g partie:;, \,·ho ar-: injured by uch alteration. It is repudiation pure

uncl sirnple. " There was no sugg!;:"'stion of intcr­

fcrin:; V\ ith the self-governing power:! of Queensland or of r.ny othet· Stale within the Briti;:;h Ernpire. It \Vas, ho\YeYcr, made very clear to the Premic>· that breach of faith is ruinous (o the credit of Governments as ''ell as of individuals, and that the one sure road to restoration of credit ,., as to undo the wrong by repealing the Act and restoring the status quo ante.

"Mr. ThPodore, the Premier, after caLled communi cat ion ~sith his Govern­ment, offered to repeal the Act, but coupled this offer with the intimation that his Government would immediately bring in an Act to tax these particular leaseholds to the same extent as they would have suffered by the breach of the covenant of their leases. Thus, in other words, professing to keep faith in the letter while deliberately breaking it in the spirit. This offer was also coupled with th.e st.ipu]ation ~hat we should join wtth h1m m a pubhc announcement in the Press that his Government had done the right thing and that we were satis­fied. Naturally my committee refu ed to be parties to any such hollow deception.

" The Government of Queensland can pa" what legislation they like and use th?ir sovereign )JO\'i er as they please, but, bmng a borrowmg country, if their ]eo-is­lation involves, as this Land Act Ame~Jd­ment Act of 1920 does, breach of faith or dcfi~itc hostilit} to capital, as much of then· other recent legi-lation does, then the State of Queensland is bound to suffer the inevitable penalty of being refused further loans.

''The Lieutenant-GoYernor, in his speech at the opening of Parliament is only thro;\ing du~t in the eyes of 'the elector:::. or Quccns1 ~nd vrhcn he tri0s to !~;, the blame O:" the Queensland delega· hon or on certa1n London financiers that rests, in fact solely on the shoulders of the. pnsent G?vernment of Queensland 01nng to their deliberate breach of faith."

I a~J'\: hon. ·rncJnb,·r.;:; oppo:;itn to prove that tho­r,~ Jpc nsibiJity rests ••it.h the fi;1ancic"S in Eng­land. \Vhen any G01·ernnent which poses as the rcprescntab,-cs of the people so far for· gots itsPlf as to repudiate the agreement that wct,s env:-·Jed into b~· ~·:r Arthur 1\.Tonu.t.l, th€n 1vo on thi~ sitlo. 1vb 1 we get the Oil'_i_)~.r­tunih, will be perfect]~, justified in voting to turn litem out of office. It would be b<e,,<cr ;:;till ii IYr c~uld send th(~r.::1 to their n1<1ste~·s~ who >Yould give a verdict 'bowing how they umler,,tood the po,ition. '

The rrnv:AF"CREH : r~Che hon. n1em bor for Bulin1ba supported a n1easurr on t:w t2anw­lincs a~ the n1casuro we introduced.

Mr. J\L\XWELL: I eau not help ,,·hat th0 hon. membcT for Bulimba did, Rnd I am not going to take the rc~ponsibility for thc-

Mr. Marwell.}

212 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence M~otion.

sins of omi'~'3ion and con1n1ission of other people. I am looking at the matter straight­forwardly and honestly, and I examine the facts just as a business man would do. I would know how to act if a business man treated me on similar lines to that. There we have a brother Labour man, Mr. Storey, telling us what Sir Robert Nivison said. Hon. members opposite tell us they rlo not want any money from the bloated capitalists. We know they cannot do \\ ithout it. The Eooner the Gov0rnment m0nJ their 1vays and try to create that confidence which 'is ess<mtial for the advancement of th State, the better. They must rea]i,e that the country i" up ag·ainst a dead-end, ancl it is nece~,~ary to restore confidence and to circ:ulate rr;oney in the State so that we shall bB able to remove the unemployed trouble that thn Stat,c is now suffering from.

::\,ir. IlARTLEY: If VOU SUCCCBd with this no-confidence motion: will you repeal the Land Acts Amendment Act?

Mr. MAXWELL: It i> time enough for me to answer that question when I get on the other side. ~W c were told by hon. members opposite that we ha.ve offered no construc­tive criticisn1, but \V hen '' e OC'Cup~, the Trea­sury benchc~ it will be time cnoucrh for us to ·put forward a constructive policy. I ren1emhcr when th:~ Pre )1icr firs~ came i11tJ the> House, he said that the fact that there \vere unemployed in the State was an indict­ment against the Government. If that were so, with the few unemployed who existed then, what must it bo to-day, with thousands of men walking the strc;,ts footsore and weary looking for work? The Government will have to mend their ways and develop tho State in such a way as to create confid;,ncc. I am a unionist, and I have alwa.ys believed in unionistn, and have always believed in a ffLir day's pay for a working-man. Hon. members opposite deny to me the <•ame privi­];,gc that they want for themselves, jmt because I am associated with the Employers' Federation. I am proud that I am associ­ated with the Queensland Employers' Federa­tion, and I can .'ay that we have done our very best to solve this problem of unem­ployment. Yet. we are told by members opposite that it is the "capitalistic gang" who aro encouraging unemployment, and who are behind the unemploj·ed. \Vhen a. rlnnntntlon of unPmploved waited on nw the other day, I would !lOt hear a word said against the, Government, although I am opposed to the Government in politics.

Mr. RIOnDAN: \Yhy are employers putting men off'!

Mr. MAXWELL: The position in Queens­land to-day is very acute vcith regard to unem­ployment, and the be't thing we can do is to solve the difficulty. I consider that "e represent the ''Torkir g C'l1s"" on this side because \\Te arc v, o;~kcrs curselves. The '' orkcrs of Queen"! and ha.ve been asl ~ep for the last five years, but they have at last awak ned. (Hear, hear!) If they had the opportunit,· to-day, they would let the Go­Yernment know \Yhat thev think of th8m. In reg J.rd to the rrtre~1< hn'Ient ;::,•he ne, f;r as the Governmc·:t call it, the " deflation " scheme, it m •ans p<'ople going- without t!,e ordinary neces,aries of life and walking the str~ets seeking employment. Some years ago a Labour member, referring to the soup kitchen in London, said that it v, as a

[.11fr. M axwell.

disgrace. \V e have not a system of soup kitchens, but we have what is equally as • bad-a spbm under which able-bodied men and women have to go every morning for tickets to get a, dole to keep them in the ordinary necessaries of life. That is a. stand-

ing disgrace to any Government, [4.30 p.m.] more particularly to any Labour

Government. 'N c ar;, told t!.at the people respomible are reprf'sented on this side of the House. During my occu· nancv of another position, I inaugurated a :, \Varriors' Dav Fund" for the benefit of returned ~·oldie1~s, and, I 1nay say, that I saw very few of the names of hon. members opposite on the subscription lists. \Ve wei·e up against the position that several unionist soldi<?rs could get work if they could raise the money to pay their union dues. The Fecleratcd s~amen's Union of Australasia sent to m;, as chairman the following letter:-

" The bl'EJ.xer,------, informs 1ne that prior to enlistment in the _'\.ustralian Imperial ForceE he was a me:nh_.r of the Seamen's Union, Port Adelaide branch, and being no\v desirous of rc~u-.11ing his old occupation as a n1arine fireman, he is d-esirous of again joining the union."

-when I asked why it was not possible for such mon to pay a moiety or a quota every week as they received their wages, I was told that the rule <·ould not be .departed from.

Mr. BRENNAN : Were they to be kept financial?

Mr. J'.lAX\'\-ELL: I read .an assurance-at least it was stated in the papers-that all the men who went to the war were to be kept financial.

]Mr. HARTLEY : They were kept financial.

Mr. MAXWELL: This is another letter from the Seamen's Union-

" This is to certify that the bearer, --- is a seaman and is d('sirous of joining the above union, the fee required for that purpose is £1 10s. ; he being desirous of taking up his old occupation has decided to join the union again before flbtaining a berth."

To that certificate from the secretary of the union, the seaman added-

" I have been promisod employment on one of the coasting ships as won as I become a member of union, Yvhen first vacancies occur, it being impossible to secure employment unless I do."

vVe have hear·d a lot of talk about how little employers have done: that is how little tho unions have done. Then wo have a lot of talk about how much our friends opposite and the Trades Hall hav-e dom• for the " diggers."

The TREASURER: Why did you not go to the front?

Mr. MAXWELL: I was not like the hon. member-! tried. He got behind a skirt. I did not go, but I did what was next best. I was in every public movement it was possible to get into. I will let him answer the question for himself, and when some of his children grow up they may ,ask him, " What did you do, daddy, in the great war?"

The TREASURER: I am willing to give a. contribution to the Children's Hospital if you can show me you even went to a doctor.

Want of Confidence Motion. [23 AUGUST.] Want of Confidence Jl.fotion. 213

Mr. MAXWELL: I will bring the doctor. ~ome tin1o ag·o a meeting vvas hold in Bris­bane with regard to the unemployment of " diggers," and a letter was sent to the Trades Hall C{JUncil inviting their co­operation.

Mr. liARTLEY: Did you not promise them their jobs when they came back?

Mr. MAXWELL: Yes, and I gave them to them so long as the work lasted. And let me say here that nobody knows better than some members on tho other side that when sorne " diggers " returned 'vho had lived in the Northern and Contra! districts, they wore so infatuated with the life in the citv-and I do not blame them-that thov said that they would never go back to thO'se districts, and I know the difficulty some of thorn hod in getting work. This was the Trades Hall Ccuncil's reply-

" Sir,-I beg to acknowledge roccit't of your letter containing an invitati.__,n to bo repr('Sf'nted at an Ul1(.~nployed meeting on behalf of returned .. ,:diu·s, dated 12th .July. I Gcg to infor:n : 111 th.1t 0 mr letter \Vfl'j. r0c<>ivf'd tno l<ltc f{) lJlnc; brfore the aboYe rouncil's E:';::crut:vc; and, furthermore. I am in .tructcd to inform vou that it is not the rlutv of t 112 above Council to repn~qy.r:t, any ,p:-trtic-ll.•r sec­tion of the wurking 'la,•. Our duty as an i11du~trial org''lli'--Dticn is to look aft0r the v. elf arC'. ci the \vhnlc of the workers. \Ye rccGg:li -~ thP ~E'riow<C'-'S of uDomploymcnt at the present time exist­ing arnong returned -~oldiers and also thooc vYho are not returned soldiers; and the < '.mncil is alwa', ready ar>d wi1ling to do anvthing within their power to help benefit not onlv returned soldiets but the whole of thd workers in g;cncral. So YLU y:ill undoretand that it would be .impc • sibk for this council to be repre­~Pnt.--d at D.nv n1ecting that was r ,t ·ring for one r ~:.rticular section of the working ela<::s." ~ ~

If there was a.ny real sincerity about those gentlemen who arc always saying. "\Vhy do they not ask the employers to meet and confer with t.hem ?" there was an opportunity to assist 'Orr~e of thc~e " digger'2." In,stead, we find the usual claptrap that the employers arc doing their best to down uniDnism. Wo have hear-d on various occasions from gentle­n en on the other sicle that the employers do not work, and if it were not for the workers the omplo:,'NS could not live. If that be true, and the emplo7ees are not working. then, according to their own logic, the employers must starve. Is it fair to allow these men to continue e,s they arB, going from post to pillar and pillar to post, and ending up down in ono of the lowm· streets of our city, for the purpose of securing the bread necr·osary to keep them going, week in and week out? K o encouragement from the Dther side, but ah•olnto failure ! I was under the impression that when these gentle­men were on their trial they were going to give eome reawn why they have failed to do their duty. but they have given no reason at all. They have put forward the excuse that we have offere-d nothing in their place, forgetting that they have done a great dea,l to ruin Queensland, until to-day sh<' is the laughing-stock not only of Great Britain .and the money-lenders of the world but also of New South Wales, another Labour-governed State. That is a well-

known fact. The pqsition to--day. so far as a great number of our industries is con­r.JElrncd is very serious, and, unless some step is tak~n by the pmvers that be to deal with the matter, goodness knows where it is going to end. In the engineering trade last year 1,265 adults were employed, and to-day there arc 673. \Vo find that Barbat and SonB, engineers, of Ipswich, on .account of the labour conditions and conditions of trade, have sold right {)Ut of business and disposed of their machinery, 75 per cent. of which has gone to New South \Vales. The whole of their Lolt-making plant, the only one of its kind in the State. was sold in New South Wales. On account of their plant lying i-dle, seYeral firms reel ntly ha vo sold machinery to the value of s{lmc thousands of pounds, all of which has gone South. The depression in the engineering tra.do a.t the present time is the worst that has been experienced during th8 last ten years. Mechanics an<:l appre!'­ticcs have had to be put on part time m order to keep employees together, and there are no proepects of improYement.

During last se?sion, Yvhenever we made a statement in connection Y\ ith certain indus .. uies haYing clos~d up, hon. gentlemen on rhe Treasury benches said: " GiYe us the name." The hon. mPmbor for Oxloy named one firm-Sydnov Williams, Df South Bris­bane-which closed up owing to the restric-­timd placed upon them. I ha Ye here a telcgr:1m sent on the 17th March, 1921, to " f'iydncy \Villiams, Norwich Chambers, Hunter street, Sydney," reading-

" Will you bo kind enough to forward letter stating reasons for removal your business to Sydney. Information required Arbitration Court hearing engineers' award ]Vfonday next."

I want to bn perfectly honest and candi-d about the matter. I believe that on the Government side there are a number of men who, when they know how acute the positiDn is in our community, ·will begin to realise that something must be done. This is the reply received from Sydney \Villia .. ms, date-d 22nd March, 1921-

" Replying to your telegram Df 17th instant. I have to state that the primary reason we ha·d for transferring our Bris­bane works to Sydney was because of the labour conditions being more satisfactory than they are in Queensland ; and after running our works for about six months I find I have not ma-de a mistake. I was a'l ay at the time this telegram arrived, and I am sorry for the delay in replying."

The TREASURER: His main works are in Rockhampton.

Mr. MAX WELL: Those people have gone to Sydney and opened business. Whether they are in Rockhampton or not, I do not know. I do know they tried in Brisbane and could not succeed, and, according to what they say, they were gla·d to go to Sydney, where they have better conditions.

Mr. HARTI.EY: This was a branch shop, and his headquarters are in Rockhampton. Why do you not make a straight statement, and not side5tep?

Mr. MAXWELL: I will leave that to the hon. gentleman. I am making a statement so far as Brisbane is concerned.

The TREASURER: You know very well his building is now occupied.

Mr. Maovwell.]

214 Want of Confidence 1'Jotion LASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence Motion.

Mr. JUAXIVELL : I know nothing about it. If things go on as they are going, he will be nry glad to get out of Rockhampton.

Mr. HARTLEY: No, he will not, because he is extPnding his business in Rockhampton.

:\Ir. :MAXWELL: In the latter portion of a n0WS)lapor tolPgram regarding the loan nhmcv 1\lr. Storey received from the London finrrn~icrs. there is this statement-

" There is much jubilation amongst tlw members of the party at Mr. Storey h.1vinS" arranged such a loan on good tl'rms, and the pro,pects of big public works to reheve unemployment and at the same time save members from being haras ed by the unemployed."

What is the condition of affairs in the buil.cling industry? It iF practically ruined ov~7ing to the restrictions and the conditions placed upon it. I am glad to notice that the Government intend amending the Indus­trial Arbitration Act, bocau,e something has to be done in that connection.

The TR~_\SURER : You would like to reduce

:Mr. l\IAX\VELL: No, I would not. But I would like to reduce the hon. member's salarv and the salaries of the Ministers, and I would also reduce the number of Cabinet Ministers and the number of members and the salarir' of every hon. member in this House. vVhat arc the Government doing? Thov ;aiel: "The Cabinet arc overworked; we ' ant another Minister to help us." I say !he Ministers \Yould be quite sufficient to do the work of the Government at the present time. (Government interruption.)

The ·PEPUTY SPEAKER: Order ! I hope hon. memboro will not persist in those continual interjections. The hon. member certainly is speaking at a disadvantage, and I ask hon. members to allow him to continue his speech.

::VIr. MAXIVELL : Hon. gentlemen know that the building industry is one of the biggest we have .at the present time, and, ltr.lc,,s a change takE's place, I do not know

lwre we are going to encl. Onu architect states he has ono building representing £20.000, another £15,000, another £6,000, and another £5,000, which m p held up and cam:~t be proceeded 11 ith owing to the con­ditions and restric~ions placed upon the trade. Another archite-ct has a certain amount of Inonov he can invc"lt so :-;con as conditions apprOach nonnal, one amount being £30,000, ono £300,000, another £8,000, a ne! another £6.000. There arc other archi­tects who state that, owing to the owners of property not receiving a fair percentage in the way of rent on the c:tpital invested, the:, arc rwt building for domestic purposes. A working man to-cla:: cannot build a house, because he does not kuow in what position hP will bo placecl if he starts. It is not a safe proposition for any man to launch out, even in the inn:"tment of a home, beca.use he ma;; sacrifice what little monev he has. In cor{nection \Yith the Fair Rents Act, I have hero a statement which hae been pro­pm-eel. showing the rents representing the following percentage··, on the value of the properties :-4.25 per cent., 3.93 per cent., 3.80 per cont., -1.33 per cent., 4.6 per cc'nt.,

[i11'r. Maxwell.

2. 71 per cent., 3.44 per cont., 4.30 per cent., 3.77 per cent., 4 per cent., -),: per cent., 8.36 per cent., 2.47 per cont., 3.81 per cent.,. 4 per cent. You can quite reahse the pos1tron in which investor•'' arc placed when they find those arc t,he percentages they a.re likely to get if the0· invest any money in residences. It is not n,t all likely that those men are going to invest their money in that direction. Then. again, we find that the motor-body trade is placed at a very great drsaclvantage; in fact, it is toractically on the borders . of ruination. I discussed the matter wrth Messrs. Peel Brothers, mot9r-bocly buii,ders, in South Dricbane-I think it necessary that I should give the names of those poople so that hon. members can interview them and see that my facts are correct; and they informed me that this time la,,t year they had 105 hancls employed under the old awa.rcl; this year they have twenty-two­eight men and fourteen Loys. I a?kecl them what had contributed to the posrbon, and th~y said that, owing to the restrictions and stringent conditions place·cl upon them here, they were unatle to meet the S~uthern c_om· petition. In the South the award rs forty-erght hours a week with a minimum wage of 2s. O~cl. per hour. In Queenslanu it is forty­fuur hours a week with a n1inimum wa.gc of 2<. 3icl. per hour, and a day's full pay every two months. Vvhen a request was made to Mr. Justice Beeby in the Arbitration Court in New South Wales by the motor-body makers wme time. ago for a forty-hour 'yeek, he realised that it would strangle the rndustry, and refused to grant it. I am informed that practically the whole of the motor bodies required in Queensland, instead of being made in South Brisbane, are coming from South Australia; and that is a condition of affairs that should not obtain. This time last year the w<tges-sheet of Peel Brothers was considerably larger than at the preo.ont time. At the present time it is ven- emall indeed, as you can quite understand when I state that the\· have only twenty-two hands. In A ue;ust, 1920, their weekly wages-sheet ''as £371. Last week it amounted to only £77 9s.; and in a conversation I had with J'dr. Peel this morning he said, " I ca.n see nothinrr else for it but disaster. unleso wi,or rounscls prevailed, we ai'o gHing to be practicallv sacrificed to the Southern manu­facturers.'" \Ye have heard a lot about what has bpcn clone by the Government and ·demands for a constructi vo policy to be brought forward by hon. member& on this side of the House. In connection with the constructive policy that our friends on the otLor side talk about, I would try and creatd the confidence th11t is so essential for the achanccment of this community. I would do awav with the perpetual leasehold system and grant the land in fee-simple. I would amend the Arbitration Act, and I would alter the basis of the basic wage. I would do this bec.tuso hon. members opposite know full well that the basic wage as at present is one of the most iniquitous proposalo ever put before a community." 'They are putting a Jl1&n who has a wife and seven children on the same footing as the single ma.n, and that is not a fair proposal. W o are paying t<l-clay for unborn children. Then I would make a·\ ards binding on both sides. The hon. member for Mount Morgan, the other day, gave .an illustration of the condition of affairs that obtain in Mount Morgan. Ha sLtted also that there is a lockout; anr! if

Want of Confidence Motion. [23 AUGUWr.] Tran~ of Confidence Jiotion. 2!5

there is a lockout, they should suffer the pains and penalties provided by the Indus­trial Arbitration Act. Any employer who indulges in a lockout renders himself liable to a penalty of £100. I deplore apy unem­ployment, but what I cannot understand about Mount l\Icrgan is this: Mr. Justice McCawley (the Pre,;ident of the Arbitration Court) and the leader (Mr. Theodorel of the Labour Government have both recommended the men to accr,pt the proposal made by the Mount Morgan directorate. I •am quite sHtisfied in my own mind that the Premier, who has been a 1niner in his tin1c and knows exactly the condition of affairs that obtain in that calling, would not have recommended the men to accept the conditions offered to them by the company were it not a f"ir pro­posal. I would prevent ,ti-ike' and lockouts under very heavy penalties. I would repeal the repudiation Act, and I wonld restore the confidence to the countrY that is so ncccf:sary. Any gentleman who occupies a position in business knows that his word i, hi' bond. I do not stand for repudiation. 111 v word is my bond; and ~shen a business i11an gives his ,,-ord to another busines:; n1an, that i.:~ the code of morality followed. If any of us in business had made an arrangement mch as Sir Arthur 1\Iorgan made with the pas­toralists, we certainly would have .abided by that decision. We have heard it said by -hon. members onpo,;ite that almost every Act of Parliament is in the nature of repudia­tion. If it is repudiation like the repudia­tion Act, I would not support the Act at all-I would vote against it. I do not stand for repudiatory Acts like that. Another thing that I would do, if I occupied the position of head of a Government, would be to remove a lot of the soapbox orators from our streets and the Domain.

Mr. F. A. CooPER: That is the stuff to get on to!

Mr. MAX\'\"F:LL: Tbut is the stdf the hon. ml!ll1bcr for Bremer likes. I stand for British freedom, but I do not stand for the ,abuse of British liberty. '.rhat liberty these people arc abusii'g, and the hon. the Premier spe~ks of dealins· with them. An oppor­tunity is given now to give rffect to the hon. g-entleman's v:ishes, a-nd to JHC\~ent the kind of thing that is s-oing on da~; in and day out. Then we art? told that there can he no understanding and that there is nothing in c01nmon b-,t-;' e...,n Clnployer and unp1o:,~ee. TherP is cy..._rythjng in common bct"\.ycen employer and employee. If there is nothing in common bet~', r._n clnployer and l -11ployee, wh:~t is goi-lg tn be the enrl of this great State of our;;;? Tberc is nothi1:g but ·dis"Uster staring m in the face. so long as this kind of stuff appears in our Labour papc!'S; and I hope the ]CB ner of the Labonr party will mention it. ~~P find "JaC'k C'1·dc" writing in the "DailY Standard " of 4th Oc'ober, 1918, in a letter on a living wag:c-

" The hope and certainty of the workers' ultimate fre0dom from this degrtiding srrvitude of our Govcrn1ncnts, courts, and employers is through the abolition of the sv'otem it elf. which abolition is the ohject of tho 'OnP Big Union.' the suc:;c~~ or failure of hi eh re~ sts to-dav entirelv in the hands of the rank and file of th.e rmtra~.~c1 selves.

and insulted workers them-

These are the Flag !" I have

men who sing " The Red already told them what the

"Red Flag" stands for-the flag of the Industrial \V m·kers of the ·world ! How is it rossib!e for a 111an 'Yho has orn allegiance to his king and country, and 'vho believes in his Gnd, to believe i11 such do( trin(-'l as these? 'The onl:: way in which the-e men c.an liYP is by puttlng class against class, b:r preYenting them coming together. and by preventing thorn having that 1nutual under­standing· '"hich is 80 uscntial to the a-dvancement of this community.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The hr,n. gcntlmnan has exhau:,ted hi;3 time.

~\t 5 p.m.,

The SPEAKER r•~-umcd the chair.

Mr. FOLEY (T.cichhardt): 1 have listened with attention to the debate, and I huvc been stl'aek bv the lack of evidence that has been presented in its support. I wr.s remin-ded vPry nuwh of soniC rcn1ark::~ rDade by Sir Henry Braduon, u little whole ago, to a Chamber of Commerce congr in \V estdrn Australia. In his presidential address to that congrecs he said-

" All nsponsiblc men of affairs­financial, industrial, and cmnn1ercial­should do their utuost to-day to hdp to keep the ship of State upon an even keel. Pe~"jn1ists are 'vorse than useless. \Ye need sturdy optimists, who can clearly see the rocks ahead, and who arc unsPlfi~h1v readv to lend a hun~l toward a voiding "those 1:ocks."

From the remarks of the hon. members opposite right throug·hout the debatn they have exhibited a pessimistic tone, and hayo ::-clfishlv avoided in anv \\ av "Whatever putting forward any sugge~tfon ~r intin1ating that they were in ,any way going to as~ist the GovornmC'nt, w·ho recegniscs, as do all other Governments right throughout Australia and the world, that there are rocks ahea-d. These hon. n1en1bers have given no intin1at.ion that the';' will in any way adopt that unselflsh attitude ·~ybicb one of their own ilk. in the person of Sir Henry Braddon, advised them to rlo. Another thing that struck me very much io the fact that we have heard nothing but a lot of irrospon,iblc and unfounded st:Ite­Illf'11t'" frmn Inembcrs O}ll1ositP. ThPre ha" been a bsolntelv no oYi-dcnce brought forward to conYince hon. momb ·rs on this side of the Honsc or the public outside that this mot'on is juEt1ft( d. It remind:;< rr:e (J f!n in('i{lont that oe,urred ouite roc,ontlv in the Arbitration Court. :\lr. ,J~;stic~ -:\IcCa·dey was presiding in that court 1vhcn a union repr0c:r:ntative, in tning to m>tke his ea so a· well as h: could, rr,ade CPrtain statE'mPnts to "upport l11s argu¥ ment and ~\Ir. ,Jusbce lVIcC::1wley said to him. "Fiavc ·:nn any con('ret~ ovirlen('c to place before 'this court to iustifv :vonr rf'nNLrks ?" I-Te f:aid, "l\o. it is mv opinion." The judge 11olitpl,·. remarked. ".Before you S:::JV that you n1ust g1ve us something- concr•_·te. Yc~u will' pardon us if we do not pay much attention to •.·our opinion." That is the attitu-de that ·is taken un ric:ht thro·e~ghout Australia and the "·orld when a c~se is being nlcaded in a court. Co,-,crete ev1dence has to be prod need b_efore it will be acr

1 •pled

hv that court. I clann that '>re can wcJ Fay to hon. members opnosite th~•t Yerc' little attention will be paid to the opinions and statements that have been expressed b';' them, which are a holutclv unfounded. These accusations which hav·c bc<n launrhrd across this Chambrr have gone forth to the people

Mr. Foley.]

216 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence Motion.

of Queensland from the Tory Pr8os of Bris­bane and other country centres. Statements, particularly the statements of the leader of the Opposition, have been headlined and starred, while anv evidence that has been brought forward_::_and there has been an abundant evidence brought forward by the Premier, by the Treasurer, the Minister for State Enterprises, and almost every other member who has spoken on this side of tho House to prove that this motion is not justified-does not reach the people outside. We find that the attitude of the Press is to star hon. members opposite who have made deliberately false speeches and who have brought forward abso'utely no evi-dence. We find them staned in this manner--

" ASSEMBLY DEBATE." " VOTE NOT YET REACHED" " MR. ELPHINSTO='!E HITS HARD ~,

ThE> hon. member for Oxley, no doubt, made a splendid address to this Chamber; but I claim, on analysis, the statements contained in the hon. member's address were absolutely unfounded and could not, and would not, be supported in any court throughout Australia. In "maller blade type we find them booming up the weaklinr;· of the Opposition benches in this lU<-~n-lcr--

.. The• early stages of the sitting were occupied by some of the ' colts ' of the Country party, young men who are only just bf--ginning the second session of tho::ir first P.arliament, and the good opinion of them expressed in thcs_ c olnmns dur­ing the firEt short, sharp sebion \Yas fnlly justified."

Has the confidence that has been placed in the-e men been justified by the attempt they have made to put this Government o•_:t of office? I say emphatically they h.• ve made a very poor showing, and even the leader of the Opposition-who is rather an old colt-has made a rather poor showing in this Chamber. Getting back to the question of the Press, all the poinh that v. er~ starred \vere misstatmnents uttered against the State enerprises, again•t the Secretary for Agri­culture and his admini,;lration, and against the Treasurer and his handling of the finances of this country. All those statement; are starred in great 'headlines, and yet not one attempt has been made to place, side by side with those headlines, the replies of the Premier, the Treasurer, the Minister for State Enterprises, or the Secretary for Agri­culture. If such had been done, quite a different complexion would have been placed before the people of Queensland, and they would have been in a bettPr position to judge how the debate was going. One can quite understand how hon. members opposite get into Parliament. It is not in any way upon the ability they display in debate or upon the logic of their argument3. They simpb- get here by the assishmce given to them by the Prees of Queensland, who star them right throughout and place what they write in the hands of the people even· morning. I often wonder whether th-e people of this State, when reading the " Daily -Mail " or the " Brisbane Courier" ask themselves, "Is this news that we are reading or is it propag ai::tda?" Those are the words of Upton Sinclair in his work recently, " Is this news, or is it propaganda? If so, whose propaganda is it?" Anyone who understands the political tactics ,,dopted by the National party or the Country party knows that most of the contents of the poli-

f Mr. Foley.

tical pages of our daily Press is nothing but propaganda, and it is by that method that hon. members opposite reach those benches. I wish to refer to some of the misstatements which have been made during the debate. The hon. member for Cooroora made certain statements the other night in reference to royalties and scrub-felling under the adminis­tration of the Foreotry Department. I do not think the hon. member really intended to cast a slur upon the workers in the Brooloo State Forest, who are nearly all returned soldiers, but he said-

"Although the Government are spend­ing money in reafforestation on the right lines, it is really too expensive. At Brooloo it is costing £6 an acre to fell the "crub in a rough form which an ordinary farm man will do for £2 an acre.''

I have made investigations into the cost of felling scrub in the Brooloo State forest, and I find that the cost on that particular area, and in most of the State forests in Queens­land, is less than £3 pN acre, and the cost of felling and burning off scrub and planting at the State forest at Brooloo amounts to much less than £6. There is a stab at the Government in the statement of the hon. mc;.nbcr t"<"hich has gone forth to the electors . The hon. member also said-

" In my district they are charging 16s. per 100 superficial feet for timber for which the purchaser has to go 7 miles, whether by horso or bullock, from the ruih\ uy station."

I have found out also that this is not the case, and that they were paying more than 16s. for 60-inch logs a few years ago. What the hon. member calls royalty is really a charge on the timber by the Forestry Depart­ment, which is computed by subtracting the marketing co·.ts, allowing award rates, from the value of the logs on the trucks. The hon. member also said that the blame for the State sa>vmill troubles to-day lies at the door of the Government, on account of the excessive royalties they are charging ; but we find there is nothing wrong with the State sawmill, and that the Forestry Depart­ment supplies timber at the same price to the State sawmills as to private sawmills. We also find that the men at the head of affairs are so efficient that the State sawmills are able to sell their timber at 20 per cent. b<>low what the private sawmills can do. The State sawmills also show a profit, after deducting interest and depreciation and redemption charges and paying a little more than the award rates to workers.

Mr. T. R. RoBERTS: Have you not read the Auditor-General's report on them?

Mr. FOLEY: The Auditor-General, in his last report, comments very favourably on the State enterprises. The leader of the Nationalist party complimented the Director of State Forests on his splendid report, and on the advance which was being made in forestry. The hon. member for Port Curtis attempted a little while ago to point out to the GovernmE>nt and the directors of the Mount Morgan Company what should be done to bring about a ,ettlement of the dis­pute a.nd go on with mining operations. He wrote two or three articles for the Press on the subject. He spoke the other night, after the hon. member for Mount 11organ had spoken, and explained the situation at Mount M organ; but he evaded the

Want of Confidence JYiotion. [23 AUGUST.] Want of Confidence 111otion. 217

subject altogether. In regard to the hon. member's challenge to me as to what I had to say to the Blair Athol miners with regard to the export facilities which were sought by the company some time ago, I may say that the matter has already been explained to the Blair Athol miners in the Press of Gladstone and of Brisbane•, when it was pointed out that the Premier was willing to grant what the hon. member for Port Curtis had been advocating-that is, a pro rata rate per ton per mile to Gladstone, the same as was being charged from Blair Athol to Rockhampton. The Blair Athol Company were to find the Gladstone Harbour Board £10,000 to erect port facilities, if the Premier would grant this concession. The company have to quote in the markets of the world if they are to get any orders at all. They inspected the Broadmount port, and came to the conclusion ·that they could get facilities there at a lower east than at Gladstone. '!\"o one disputes the f.act that Gladstone ma:; be a good port, and that, when an export trade is developed for the Styx River and Baralaba coal, it is possible that facilities will be provided by the Govern­ment at Gladstone. The hon. member for Port Curtis almost led us to believe that the company would have plent; of orders if these concessions were granted, but we find that, now concc"ions have been granted to erect facilities at Broadmount, the Government have had to come to the rescue and give thorn an order for 20,000 tons of coal for the Northern Railway.

Mr. FLETCHER: That 1s interstate, not oyerseas.

Mr. FOLEY: They have not been unsuc­cr·ssful in getting any more orders that I am a.ware of.

Mr. FLETCHER: The proposition you advo­t3.to is quitn different.

Mr. FOLEY: No, it is not. Broadmount suits the companies' requirements at present, and they can shift to Gladstone when orders are avail" ble.

l\1r. FLETCHER: They cannot get orders until they have facilities.

Mr. FOLEY : I want to touch on the unemployment which exists in Queensland, but I am not going to accept the statement of hon. members opposite that the Govern­ment are responsible for it. I will take certain leading iights in Australia and quote their views as to what is the cause of the world-wi-de depression exi,ting at the present time, and what causes the unemploy­ment to follow the depre"ion. The chairman of directors of the Queensland National Bank, addres,ing the shareholders quite recently, made this statement in reference to the financial position-

" During the period under review we have experienced here in Australia the aftermath of war, causing ·depression in prices in connection with the pastoral industry generally and placing traders in the position of selling on a falling market instead of on a rising one, which they have been accustomed to for the last six years."

Another well-known financier in Australia, in his address to the Chamber of Commerce in congress in IV est ern Australia, gives this as his opinion as to the cause of the depres­sion existing in Australia at the present time-

" The simple fact is that a great part

oCthe world's pre-war purchasing power is for the moment shattered; and there will be great need for skill, and care, and courage to work things gradually back to sounder footing. This cannot pos­sibly be accomplished quickly or easily; but it is devoutly to be hoped that improvement in Europe will definitely set in presently, for it is1 axiomatic that no nation can be as prosperous as it might be while other nations remain in a dangerously crippled condition."

TherD is a sound explanation. He h:>d no occasion to introduce any political bias or mislead those he was addressing, because he knew they were just as capable. of juc'g·­ing thD position as he was himself. I have here another well-known authority, the hon. A. H. Wbittingham, M.L.C., who, in addre,s­ing a conference of graziers a little while ago, said-

" Dealing particularly with the business which is before this council for considera­tion I think members will see that the age~da paper embraces subjects of far­rcachino- importance, bec·ause at no t1me in the "history of the grazing industry in Australia has it been faced w1th problems so vital to its existence, and of such a. world-wide character. The sudden drop in values of all pastoral product', the curtail<_d buying power of many of the countncc, whJCh WGre our best purchasers, and the unusual accumu­btion of \VOol meat, and other pastoral products has ,:reatod a ~itnation the elu­cidation of \Vhich is ta·<ing the min~• of the most able an? expert leade~~ 111

finance and productiOn among m. There is an unbiassed statement given to a body of hard-heade,J business m~n. It speaks for itself, and gives the he d~rect to the statement of hon. members oppoe1te that the Government are responsible for the great amount of unemployment exi·tin!' at the present time. Then Sir John H1ggms, at a conference of graziers and pastoralists, discussing the Bawra wool scheme-

" Emphasised the difficulty of the task of the aosociation, and pointed out that a large surplus of wool existed, ('c•pecially of crossbred wool of medium and low grades. The world-wide condition . of the wool textile trade, the occupatwn of German territory by Allied t_roop_s, and the disturbed state of affall's m Eastern and Central Europe, with de­pressed exchanges. practically_ over the entire Continent, d1 d not promise well for the free consumption of wool and the absorption of the exiBting surplus. ~t _an earlv date accordingly, the assomatwn for 'the ne'xt two or three years would have to face a situation in which more wool would be available than the trade might be capable of buying or conlrl absorb."

There is a"other unbiassed statement. Ho points out that it is ~he la~k of purchasing power of other countnes whJCh 1s respom1ble for the present depression and consequent un­employment. I can quote another authority which will satisfv hon, members as to the cause of the state of affairs existing in Queensland to-day. The King, in opening Parliament in England, mcde this state­ment-

" The darkest cloud on the horizon is the growing unemployment. This springs less from international causes

Mr. Foley.]

218 Want of Confidence lVIotc"on. [ASSEJ'v1BLY.] Want of Confidence MoNon.

than from the contraction of the export trade, due to the poverty of other i'latiom and their inability to secure c.-edits for the purpo'e of placing orders in Great Britain. The,e conditions equally affect all na tions.n

'l'hc t show, conclusivelv that the aftermath of the war i. felt in·· Engla.nd as well in Australia. Mr. Lloyd Georgc also made a statement in the House of Commons in Eng­land on the ,.ubjeet, and I quote an extract frorn a newspaper:-

" The Prime Minister (Mr. Lloyd Georgo) drew a gloomy picture of condi­tions on the Cont.inent, especially in Central Europe, and said that unlbs the world \vas ru~tored to n1ore nor1nal con­ditions the problem of unemployment in Gre.1t Britain would be beyond grappling with. ' Our customers am insolvent,' he said ; ' Europe cannot buy from us. \Ye are like a prosperous shop whose neighbours have become bankrupt.'"

Another gentleman, who is classed as one of the leading journalists of Queensland, Mr. Barclay Smith, is often engaged by the Opposition to write pamphlets at election time. He publi-hed a pamphlet, called " The Pilot,'' in favonr of the anti-Labour candi­dated at the local authority elections at Clermont, but he was not successful, as a majority of Labour members were rcturn0d. This is \Vhat he 'aY" about the world-wide depression in a recent article in a " Daily Mail":-

" Econon1ic depression is not peculiar to Australia. In fact, so far, our position is comparatively favourable. This depres­sion is an inevitable but most unwel­come legacy left by the war-a legacy shared bv nautral and Allied nations alike. The causes are manifold, but the question of wages is certainly not ono Df thon1."

[5.30 p.m.]

A little further on he explains that the same state of affairs exists in America:-

" In countries most seriously affected by the war-Rnssia, Germany, Austria, the Balkans, Italy, and France-a virtual strike among consumers hastened the pending depression in Europe, the little buying po,\er which remained being con­centrated chiefly on bare necessities. It was then that the manufacturing indus­tries of the United Kingdom began to feel the pinch. Europe's bankruptcy re· acted on British industries, accentuated by the righ rate of exchange, making European purchases as difficult as British purchasf'S in America. Prices slumped, unemployment assumed disturbing pro­portions, trade fell off alarmingly, and employers had the alternative of swelling the distressful ranks of the already unem­ployed or of retaining as many men as possible on their pay sheets at reduced wages.''

And la\ er he states that in live months of last year comething like 4.000 h,•,nkruptcies occurred in America from the self-same cause, inYolYing liabilities to the extent of about £30,000,000. Mr. A. C. Saxton, a timbet man of New South \\Tales-who has just returned from a busine"> visit to England, America. and Japan-says. with respect to the position in America and Japan:-

" In America things •are not what one might call good. There seems to be a

[Nlr. F!oley.

financial strain, due to overtrading. The Americans have been overbuying at inflated prices during a war prosperity and are loaded up with high!;: purchase-d stocks. The demand has decreased tremendously, •and the trouble is that the banks have to finance these purchases.

"The finnncial ow:look in Japan b deplorable. There are many thouc·.ands of dollars' orth of machincrv and material o£ all ki ds lying on the ,~:banes rusting and rotting. The 1nachincry and n1ater13J

ore sent from An1erica 11rin~ipally; the drafts were turned down, and the gooch thro.;n back on the senders' hands. The reason for this state of affairs is the same as in A1norica-overtrading .at inflated prices during war prosperity."

That is data compiled fr<.m the ota.tements of ll1Pn '\Yho are in a nDsH.ion to know. .\not her factor which m~<t me m hers oppo­sito make a point of 01niHing as one of the causes of unemployment in this State i" t.h<' extortionate methods of the shipping- rings, both inter•,tate and foreign. The Minister for State EntorpriseR quoted some enormom chaTg-es of shipping r,ompanies, and I find from an article in the "Dail} Standard" that, whilst the freig-ht nn greasy wool in 1914 "as Jd. per lb., in 1S20 it hlld increased 117 per cent. The incrnase in re<pect of •coured wool, dmnp0d, was 114 per cent.; frozen 1·abbit••, 205 per cePt.; pre,<erved meat, 250 per cent. ; jam and fruit, 250 per cent. ; tallow, 258 per cent.; hides, 238 per cent.; sheepskins, 296 per cent. ; leather, 205 per cent.: basils, 307 per cent.; wheat, 141 per cent. Even the Commonwealth Govemment have very little c.hance of coping with the schemes and manipulat.inns of thrne pirates on the public of AustJ·ali a.

Mr. l\loRGAN: Do not forget that railwav freights have gone up 200 per cent.

Mr. FOLEY: J am 0,nite aware that taxa­tion has gone up in Q.l.leensland, and in the rest of Australia, and in every other couutry thronl;'hout the world. I ask hon. members to pomt out one inst_a.nco where t neat ion or expenditure by Governments in any part of the world has not. inereased during t.l,e last three or fonr years.

:vrr. MoRGA:s-: Victoria. (Government dis­sent.)

Mr. FOLEY: For the edification of hon. members opposite, I quote an extrac: to give an idea o{ the incre"s" in expenditure in the various countries in !.he world from 1913 to 1820: -Germany, 1.498 per cent.; Bel­gium, 993 per cent. ; Fr~nce, 867 per cent.; United States of Amcnca, 827 per cent.; Italy, 792 per cent. ; Australia, 861 per c~nt. ; United King-dom, 580 P''r cent.; Swttzer· land 474 por cont.; C\Jorwf1y, 336 per cent. Tho~e ft;;;urc~, ,re re supplied 8 '.J evidence before the League of Nations to guide them in solving some of th<> difficulties with which they ha \'O to dPa l.

Mr. GREE:s-: 'vY ou ld you compare those countri<es with Qnce"'lsland?

Mr. FOLEY: Ono cannot make a direct rornparison; but, even so, the hon. Inembor mnst know that in "" State like Queensland, going: through what it has for the la•>t six \ 0an of this OovC'rnrrlent-dronghts, floods, (,vclones epidemics, and deh·gations to I~ondon..:_there must naturally be increased expenditnre. The> object of every Govern· ment th•oughuut the world at the present

H' ant of Gonjitl€nce :vr olion. [23 Al:IGL'ST.] W unt of Gonfideuce M at? -n.

time is to curb this expenditure as mnch as possible, and the Government are doinv· it in every a venue they can without affecting the employees of the State. Hon. members opposite have referre-d to what they will do in regard to wage•· if t2wy come over to the Government benches. One of their first me.:L~ sures will be to n •cincl the Arl;itration Court awards as they ""iot Jtt the present time, with the object of cutting down wages.

OPPOSITION l\1E~1BERS : 'fha t is not true.

Mr. FOLRY: The unseen power in Australia, the money trust, has heen silently operating. The Premier of South Australia (:\llr. Barwcll), who stands for exact!:;· the ;;a'Tw brand of politics as hon. mmnbors opposite. has told the people of Australia that he intends to cut clov.n the wages of the workers of his State. He has gone so fc, r as to -late that, if ho cannot induce the workers to accept the conditlo·:s offered, he will force their acceptance of them. Hon. m0mhers opposite, as their platform and progrmnmc are the sanu~, \Vill follow his example. This attempt to cut do·· n th.J vvagc-s of the workers i" not cornn1on to Auctralia; it is going on throughout the world. I have h(·re an extract from the ~ew York "Sunday Chronicle," published on 21Rt January, 1921-a paper which is not by any means a Socialistic or Labour news­paper. It is quite noticeable that thij news­paper never made reference to the same subject in any ~ucceeding issue, because the trust in America, which is on a more immC'nse scale than exists in Australia, cracked the whip. This is the extract-

" '.V all Street and Farrow's. "The whole story of the closing of

Farro>Y's Bank could be made the theme {)f an exciting noveL Farro\v's only marked one of the effects of a bicr move-ment set g0ing in Wall street. e.

"Son1e six n1onths ago the l1ig Kow York bankers--Otto Kahn. Pierpoint :Morgao, Schiff, and others-had a talk, and they decided that wages must come dcwn.

"Thcv di,cu"~d the situation with the haTiking mandarins on this side: then began a campai,·n of calling in all the credits or r0fusing loan to com1nercial enterprises. The petrol was cut off and t,hc indmtrial machine bQgan to slow U0\Vl1.

"Securities began to diminish in value. Th0re ·was a 'slump ' in this conntrv as well [lS in the States-in fact, all over the world."

The oa bles during the last twelve months have afforded ample evidence of the efforts heing· made to reduce wages throghout Eng­land and America, and those •·fforts have bc0n very succc · ful. vVe have h<eard of the engineers accepting a 10 per cent. reduction, :'nd of the ti:nbcr ;mrkers of America accept­mg a reduction of 12s. per day. \Ye have in Au-tralia the same cliques o{ financiers who ?ontrol enormous amounts of capital for Jm•c -tment. If one takes the circumstantia 1 evidence availal1le in different cmmtries rs well as in Australia and pieces it togl'ther. one can come to no otha conclusion than that an attempt is being made bv th0 metal gang in Au:-tralia-, cmnprising n~·actirallv a f0w n1cn, to brin~ about here thA san1e state of affairs as I have shown exists on tlw other side of the world. \Ye have had a

proposition placed before tlw worh;rs of :\Iount Ylorg·an, of vVal!aroo, ar,d of Moonta; we have the metal mines of Broken Hill clos·d down for twelve months or more to fone the, workers into the acceptance of the terms which the metal g-ang and the directors of those r;rms wish them to accept. From the amount of capital which they possess and the incidents leading up to the Mount -'\iorgan offer, I am of the honest convic­tion that thm·c is a delibo-ato attempt in Amtralia to !<-ad the way in the case of i\1ount ::Jlorgan in Queenslan·d-with \Vallaroo, :VIonnta. and Port l'irie in the other States­to force the workers to accept a reduction in wages. 'When thc•,t has bPon brought about we shall ha.-e the spectacle of e.-ery oth0r industry in Australia approaching the Arbi­tration Court and asking that the same conrlitions shall apply to them. Some of their efforts ha Ye hr-on succe:-:;;,ful. To give hon. members an idea as to who are the metal gang and what thrv control. I wi:J mention their names. They are-W. L. Daillieu. II. C. D.,rlin::;. Han-ey Pattison, F. Kelso King, R. G. Vasey. W. M. Hamieson. Edward Fanning, J. Wharton. Do",,, Kelly, IL H. Schlapp (of Knox, Schlapp. and Comnany), D. McBryde-prac­ticallv a handful of men, who crmtrol the copper, tin, lead. silver, and all other metal production in Queensland and the other States. TheY control Mount Cohar. Clon­c·nrrv. J\-1oon.ta, \Vallaroo. 1\:Iount 1\tlorg-an, the Tasmanian Cc pp or and Pioneer Tin Com­nany, al!d all the smelting and rrfincrv works in connection with the metallic products of this continent. That is only a part of the po',\ er thev posseSi. Through forcing all those 1ninin~ con1panies to f1('nd their pro· ducts. throngh their rcfineriPq. thev have accumulated enormous w;:,alth and ha.-e inve,ted in other avenues until thev have reached such a stage that thev po·,,,ess a pow,•r almost greater than this GoYernment. Either directlv or thron~h af'~orintr'' vnrl bnsircos dependants. thev control e;-ery hank \Yhich ho~ its hcadqnart~rs in Melbom;ne and nin0-trnthR of tbe lift' fire, loan, an-i trw~t0,c agencies of thP thr .'e Rnnthorn Rt 1tcs. In conjnndion with the Svdney section. they domin,•te e;-erv loan flnatad in Australia and PYPrv inf't.itntion wh1rh o-rH~ratrs a 1o'1n in Austr[dia. It is quite eosv to sec what this Go.-ernment have to r·mtend with. These arc onh· some of the fmencial odds that the· Governn1cnt arc np a2"::tin~t. Br"idc~ the 1n0t·-, 1 gnng, there is the tim brr con1binc, which is cmnno~crl of Sir AlJan Tavlor and a few otlwrs. Then thNe ue the suo:ar and p.-rv3 rnonopol1rs. 1-d1i·'"'h nL~o lwve control of thr 250 hranrhr' of the Bank of 1\'rw Srmth \Val, ~. thP 200 bran"hr'~ of t.he Con1tnorcir1l Banking; C'omnanv of Rv-rlnev. tln 130 branch" of the An·-trrrlia.n Rnnk of Cam­mere•'. and th<· Rank of :\orth Qnecnshnd, tb0 A1·.,t.r:JiCll1 1\Tuhud Providrnt Sncic:tv, ard nine-trnihs of the Ffe and fire c.omponies <'11(-l':::tin'!:' i'l :':;'\V South \V0le~ and OnAons­]anrL ThP CroY01'Dll1Pllt arp up ag-ninRt the nG\Y.T no;;;sr;:--.r>d hv tl<f'"C flll:-1ncial ringR­th-" unf:C'£'11 now0r. as Frank AnQtf'v calli'\ it. T)"!f'V onr-rntc silentJv and nPvcr ~-n~ko any V!hlic utterance.'. Their renrcsrnLtivcs in ParliAment d0 thPir 3hare towards bringing al,cut the desired result, and the Press. hy it' propaganda from ono end of Aus~ralia to th<· other. "lea helps to bring about the cksired result.

Mr. VowLr:S: What do y-ou propose to -do'

M1·. Foley.]

220 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence ~Motion.

Mr. FOLEY: The Premier has explained quite plainly what he proposes to do. He gave amplG evidence of what he intends to do when he defied the trusts that exist in England on a. more gigantic scale. When they sent him back here without a penny of loan mon<>.r, which was badly needed to develop th;; resources of this State, he told them that he would go back to Australia and would endeavour to raise sufficient capital to carry on in Australia. until such time as they and other financiers came to their sense.. It is only a matter of time when they will come to their senses; but, if they expect that hon. members sitting on this side of the Chamber are going to allow them· selves to bo dictated to as to the legislation they are going to pass in Queensland, they are making a very big mistake. The attempt by the financiers of England to blockade the Queensland Government is not the first suc­ceec:ful attempt that has been made in the history of capitaliem to blockade a Govern­ment. Pr,cisely the same thing happened in America in 1907 as happened to the leader of our Government when he attempted to get loan money in England. In 1907 President Roosevelt started a campaign e.gainst the trusts in America, and \vas succef:J.:;ful in get~ ling the courts in Americ;t to impose fines to the extent of 29,000,000 dollars upon the Standard Oil Trust. Mr. Roosevdt reccg­nise·d the tricks the trusts were playing and the manner in which they were bleeding the people of America. The result was that immediately an amalgamation took place between the Standard Oil Company mvlcr Rockefeller, the Steel Trust under Picrpont lVIorgan, and the De< [ T'rust under Armour. They entered into an offensive alliance against Prccident Roosevelt, issued an ulti­matum, and invoked the aid of the acc.ociated banks. 1\'lany bankers refused to enter into the scheme to defeat the Government of Americ:•.; and Charles Darney and Howard Maxwell, managE'rs of two large banks, committe-d suicide rather than enter into a nefarious plot against the Government of America. Everything went as Pierpont Morgan and his associates desired. Instead of working secretly, as the delegation and the metal gang of Australia are working, they made a public statement to this effect-

" We will continue to trade in a paper currency, and pay no more gold, until we get from President Roosevelt the neces­sary guarantee against ad verse legisla­tion. The people can take paper money or lea,·e it-they will get nothing else. The mills, mines, and other industries onntrolled by our se] ves, or allied interests, will slacken down or close until we get effective. gu,~rantees against anti-trust pros~cut1ons.

Speaking in the 'Cnited States Senate, S2nator .James Mills said-

" This reckless and remorseless brutality conw~ from 111cn who speak our lan­f!"lHlg"E'1 ,and 'vho werf' born under the same skies and nurture-d in the principles of a common faith. It comes from the cold, phlcgmatiD heart of avarice-avarice that seeks to paralyse labour and increase the burden of tho nation's debt-avarice that refuses to be satisfied without the suffo­cation and strangulation of all the labour in the land."

ThD Attorney-General of the united States denounced thD conspirators as-

" Pirates, 'vhose operations are worse than those of the notorious Tweed gang."

[Mr. F'oley.

A similar state of affairs was brought about to that which was brought about in Queens­land when the financiers in Great Britain refused to loan monev to the Government­onlv it ended differently, in so far that Presi­dent Roosevelt accepted the terms of the truot, awl combines. A newspaper in America at the time sta.ted-

" Mr. Pierpont Morgan is in virtual control. He has made it too ' strenuous' even for :\clr. Roosevelt. Mr. Roosevelt sent an invitation to !Hr. Morgan to come to White House and discuss the situation. Mr. l\1organ consented to go only when Mr. Rooseve!t sent him a personal letter promising a different attitude towards financial interests in the future."

:Ylr. Morgan rE'fuscd to go unt~l Pre~ident Rovsevelt agreed to the followmg stipula­tions:-

" lst.-That Rooscvelt drop his anti­trust ca1npajgn.

"2nd.-That no effort be made to col­iect the Standard Oil fines.

"3nl.-That no further action be taken against trusts or combines controlled by Mm·gan, Rockefell<)r, and Armour.

"4th.-That portion of the Sherman Anti-tn1st Act be suspended.

"5th.-That gold previously paid into the Federal Trea'ury for bonds be left on depc it in the private banks."

That shows that the Pre-idcnt of one of the most powe-rful countries in the world had to accept the conditions laid down by R?cke­feller and Pierpont Morgan. The pomt. I ..m trying to make is that, when the Premier of this Stat9 went to England, he practiCally bmdpcd up against Lhe same proposition, and the financiers there attempted to dictate what the policv of this Government should be, but Y&ith the opposite result, inasmuch "' the Premier absolutely refused to be dictated to by such a gang of pirates, as they were deccribed by the Attorney-General of America. \Ye ha.ve ample evidence to sub­stantiate much of what I have 'itid. I think I have submitted much more evidence than has been submitted by the Opposition mem­ber, in support of their motion, and I have made out a fair caS3 for the Government and pointed oqt to the people of Q_ueensla_nd and to this Chamber the odds with whwh the GoYernment are faced. I am sure that the financial depression that exists at the present time is not going to last for ever. I. am not :::o pE.,ssiinistic as hon. members opposite seem to be. Tho present depression will pass away gradually with careful handling of the position by this Govern~ent. I am sure that many of the prophecies hurled by hon. members opposite to the effect that we \Yill never return to these benches will not be fulfilled. The people of Queensland will recognise the worth of those who have been ma.naging the affairs of Queensland through su'ch a strenuous period as they have experi­enced durin~ the last six years; and, when thev ~o to "'the country again, their policy will J)"'c ,,ndorsed. and they will come back here with a much larger majority than they haYe at the present time.

[7 p.m.]

Mr. KIKG (Lortan): I have listened. to the speeches made in oppositio~ to. the moh.~n by the Government members. 1 lrstened whh some degree of interest, some surpris_e, and a good deal of disgust. I have listened

Want of Confidence Motion. [23 AuGUST.] Want of Confidence lWotion. 221

with a good deal of interest to the speeches made by the Premier and the Treasurer, because, generally, they have something to say, but on this occasion their speeches were utterly lacking in force, and failed to carry any c<mvict,ion whatever. \Ye heard the speech o! the Secretary for Agriculture, whom, I think, we might rightly call the "Minister for Victimisation " aftor the yory puerile attack he made on the hon. member for 'rownsvillc. That 'vas an utterance which I think was unworthy of any hon. member holding the honourable po·ition of a Minister of the Crown. As in most of hi, speeches, he introduced personalities. His spec.ch seemed to be largely made up of laudatory rdcrencr's to him<elf. lie re"d a number of letters about tho way his department is carried on. and a n{m1b.r of letters which were intended to throw "" little reflected glory on himself; but he did not in a11y way convince the l-Iou ·P. He corbinlv did not convinc~ me. "When he had fini;hed his speech I really did n!'t knew whether ho was boasting or apolog~>· ing, but I am rather inclined to think he Wa.3 apologi,ing. Then we had the speech of the Minister, the hon. member for Mackay. That was a speech delivered in the hon. gentleman's usual style, and it did not cut anY ice whatever. Then we had the speech of the hon. member for Mount 1\forgan. That was certainly worth listening to. It was tho speech of a special pleader, and he placed the far·ts. so far as he knew them, before the House from the miners' point of view; but I venture to >av that. when the facts from th~ eon1pany's pOint of vie'.Y receive the sanH:­publicity. a discerning public will very s?on put tho blame on those whom they thmk ,h.d1ld -lwuldcr the blame. I have not the slightest doubt that, when tho facts are put before them, they will come to the conclusion that the company has been abw­lutoly in the right. and acted in th' bQst interests of the industry and the country. Then wo had the spePch of the hon. member for Grq:;ory. The hop .. meinbl_'r is D: rna~ "·ho glories in repudwt:on. He s.ud so. In my humble opinion, the hen. membc1· for Gregory has no conception of the first principles of what constitutes honourable dealings between men. I have heard that the hon. member is reading for the bCtr. If he is, I feel certain that he will g·et some e.nlightonment as to what honourable deal­ing is. \Vc have the opeech of the hon. member for Bowen. He, as usual, spoke about cant, humbug, and hypocrisy, and talked about the " c.tpitalistic class " and tho '' wag·e slave." I manag-ed to secure one gleam of originality from his speech. and that was when he said, in reply to an interjection, " You will know where I stand when I sit down." (Laughter.) Then wo have the hon. member for Bremer, who, in reply to an interjection. made wme sympathetic reference to my defeat at the local government elections. I have sonw­thing in common with the hon. member for Bromer in that respect, and can sympathise with him. We were both beaten by good Nationalists. Then we had the hon. member for Mundingburra throwing a bo'Ylb into the Government camp when he bllwd of labour having declared war against capital, and of their intention t9 carrv it through. I can quite appreciate the feelings of the Premier and the Treasurer when they realised what the hon. member had said, because

,.-e know perfectly well that the Treasurer is requiring money, and, after tho declaration bY the hon. n1e1nLer, he kno"\vs he has a v~rv poor chanc·c of gBtting it. I have an' extract from what the "Brisbane Courier" said of th·e speech of the hon. r,,,~n1ber for ~IundingLnrra. In yesterday's is2ue it said-

" It is that kind of idle and irrespon· sible Parlianwntary chatter that has inspired :::o nutny thought:es1 workers with the belief that labour alow' pro­duce, "ealth, forc·e'~til'g that labcur, without capibl, would shrve; that both of thorn combined would make a sorry botch of anything they undertook without expert direction; and that all three wtm!d fare badly if it were not fur the con1munitv that n1akes th0 mar~ ket. · Capital, di,:ective ability, labour, and the communitv arc the four partnen in ir:du~tn·. The' country does not lack labour, a1!d it would not lack capital if sE:curitv of cuntract and a reasonable rctm·n co:,ld be guaranteed. Imtead of capital being an enerny it is the worker's truest friend, providing him with employ­ment. and with comfort sueh as he gets in no other country. There are thousands of unemployed in Queemland because capital has been ~tarved, because so.me of it has been fnghtm'led away, bemg a shy bird, and because the Gov.ernment, having lost the confid,,nce of mvest'?rs, is unable to ,induce any fresh cap1tal to come here.

That is a true index of public opin_ion so far as irresponsible mem1ers of. Par)w~ent are concerned. \V e have heo.rd 1 t bald ll_me after time on the Govt!rnment side durmg the debate " \Yhy don't you propose some­thing consiructiYe ?'' It is not so very i~ng ago that mem1ers on the Government side Rat. back in their arrogance and contempt) with which they thought they could treat tlw Opposition, owing to their numb~rs. The;; would not listen to any constructive JWO]Jooition from this side. If ~·ou go back through the pages of " Han.·fl.rd" for the last six years you will find any amount of constructive suggestions which the Gol"ern· mcnt might easily have laid hold of if they had eo desired; but they invariably treated the Opposition with. _absolute c'?ntemp~. ~ow, when they are s1ttmg there with ih~1r " ample majorit3 ., of one, a~ the Prem1er ha;; exprP,>sod it through the Press, they are saying, "Why don't you give us some co:rt-· structivo criticism?" The policy of tlo..: Government has been destructive and not constructive. It has been a policy that fos­tered dissension and inflamed public opinion. It has been a policy which has led to th" threat of compulsory loans, resulting in bleed­ing and starving industries and production, and in stagnation and unemployment. What is the result? Queensland is on the verge of bankruptcy. Tha Government have never had the confidence of a majority of the electors of Que('nsland, and they have even lost the confidence of the minorih· which it prcviouelv held. The reasons for losing- that confidence have been giYen by the leader of the Opposition, and it is because they show a policy of ineptitude. incapacity, bungling. and want of appreciation of the principles of good government.

I do not propose to deal with all the fifteen knock-out reasons which are given by the leader of the Opposition. I wish to deal

Mr. Ki11g-.]

Want of Confidence ;Motion, [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence JJiotion.

with paragraph 11 of the motion-" Crc tting legislation which hes been

d ~structive of public credit, and which has boon thJ merrns of hampering existing industries and checking the estaLlishment of further i,,du,ctries in Queensland."

The TREAS1~RER: It was taken wot·d for word fro.11 the late ~1r. R3 an's motion in 1914.

:\Tr. KIJ'\G: I do not cue where it came frt~Jn; it was not offectiYe then, but it is , omg to be elicctive on thie occasion. I am going to dor,l with destructive logisla· tio., and pa.t·cicularly with legislation and pro[Josed lcgi.clation in connection with the Bri~~bane 1'ran1,vays Company, and also with tl1c repudiation Bill which v. as roc>Jntly passed.

The TREAScRER: As a lawyer, you should call it by its proper name.

:\Ir. KI'JG: I will call it the Land Acts Amendment A~ic of 1920, commonly known as the- " repudiation Act," a.nd I am going to show that, from my point of view, it is ropudi at ion of the worst sort. I quite rocog· nise that, so far as the Tram\vays Cornpany i::; concerned, it is only no' th_ d the chick:; .arc con1ing hon1o to roost, and the Govern­ment arc feeling it. The Government somB years ago attempted to bring in two pieces of legisia tion; one was to reduce the fares charged by the Tra.mwayJJ Company, and the other to ar'luire the assets of the corn~ pany. Dealing with the Bill to reduce the fares, '' e all know that tha Brisbane Tram­ways Company is a good paying busineos concern; it is founded on good businesc lines, and has been a great boon to the people of Briebane. The Government, with that implucablo hatred whic.lt they hav0 evinced towar-ds the Tramways Company since the strike in 1912, have made it their bu~ineci, a.s far as they poe.sibly ca.n, to try and reduce the value of t.he assets of the company and then, after they have been reduced in value, they wish to etDp in and buy the propm-ty. The action of the Government reminrlc me verv much of the storv of a little bov who wm;t into the ccnfecti~nor's shop and "sctw a number of jam tMts on the O<mnter. He ate the jam out a.nd then turned round to the ovyner and said, " IIow much arc these dama!!od te.rtc; '" That is just the position of the Government. They first depreciate the value of the Brisbane Tramways Corn· pany as a businf~' ~ proposition, ft-nd then they say they will buy it out. Thoro is a lot of Briti,h ca.pibl invested in the company, and naturallv the British investors viewed this action o'n the l'art of the Government with a good deal of trepidation. The news went to the old countr·: and the Government were W8.1'll0d that. if "they persicted in this con­fi-< · tory and rr·pndiator:· legislation, the crc·'it of Qc;eonsland would suffer. I am going t.J c1uotc some extracts 1vhich will show that the Government had a.mple warning so far M thi" logi·,lation was concer1ned. The "Times" of 8th ,January, 1918, describes the Bill as-

" A most inequitable attack on the property of the company by the Queens· land Government, now a Labour Admin­istration'~--

and added that it was "2. ~""'rious rrflcction on the credit of one of the British colonie~., and is calcu­lated to be Yery disquieting to the invc"Jor<:c ;n Queensland securities.'·'

p .. Jr. King.

The "Financial News" of Sth Januarv 1918, described the two Bills as- "'

" A carefully calculated act of con fisc a· tion and bad faith, and, much as it will damage the company, it will injure still more seriou6l:V the credit and reputation of Queensland."

" The Financier " of lOth January, 1918, described the legislation as-

" Nothing 1nore or loss than flarrrant repudiation, which can hardly f,{il to be injurious to Que~nsland's credit.''

Again, the ''The Financial World" of 12th J a.nuary, 1918, stated-

" There can be nQ two opinions thaG this is a deliberate attempt to restrict profits, and con,cquently, to reduce the value of the property as a going con· cern, which is, to put it bluntly, a mild form of confiscation."

Then the "Dritish Australasian " of lGth January, 1918, stated-

" If it porsiots wilh those Bills, it will do ver:; serious harm to the cre-dit of the State on the London m one_,- ma.rket."

Then the " Investors' Uevicw" of the 12th January, 1918, said that the legislation was obviously introduced-

" Because the Labour Government thinks it sees a chance to buy the pro­perty_ at its own valuation. It is a. swee111ng measure of confiscation, and 1ve hope the Gm~ernment will pause before' it rushes into a piece of short~ sighted folly of this de ,criplion."

The CoYcrnment have to go to the old country for financial assistance, and I am reading the vi0\1 s of the financial journals in London to show 1vhat they think of the actions of the GoYernmont. The " Journal of the Electrical Industries" of 16th January, 1918, remarked that-

" If tho Government carries out its prr -ent intentions it may ·avo a few thousand pounds at the expense of the inYestors, b~1t it will as··url'dly lose the pricelc'-3 a>.<et of credit, a'1d will be marked in the financial world as a Govcrnn1ent which hol-ds sacred no bar­gain which can bo overridden or under­mined by legislation."

The " Investors' Guardian" of 12th January, 1918, said-

" The attempt if persisted in must inevitably deteriorat" the security a.nd capital invested in Queensland."

The investors in Britain are the people from whom the Government expect to get th<'ir loan moneJ· to <·,ury out their policy. \Ve can see from that that all the places from ·which th0 Government can hope to get money are absolutely barred and closed against the prEsetJt UoYernmont and they cannot get any money to carry on.

i\fr. Bm.:·:);AN : \Yhrre they n :t barred from the Philp Goverumcnt?

Mr. KI'JG: :-.io. 1\Ir. Dur:hc m bud no difficulty in getting- his £10,CO:J,OOJ loan. ~'.s for Sir Robert Philp, whatever success he may have had a.s a politician, I -,·:ould sooner take his ,.,~ord than that of any hon. member on the other side, and no one can point a. finger against him.

The TRE:.SuRER : ·what did he go home for? He did not go home to play bmYls.

Want of Confidence "vlotion. [23 AUGUST.] Want of Confidence Motion 223

Mr. KI:\'G: Then, we have got a further act of repudiation in connection '>Ith the Brisbane Tl~am,va: s Company. rrhc Trarn­ways Company did not increase their fares during the war, although the Railway Department increased both f.,rcs and freights. I am not holding anv brief for the Tram· ways Company, but f look on it from the point of Yiew that the Government have resorted to most questionable means to stop the company from raising its fares. The company, feeling the exigencies of the times, proposed to raise the fares, but the Govern· ment took action under the Profiteering Pre­Yention Act and stated that the tram far0s were a comn1odity and must not be raised.

l\Ir. BnE:\NAN: You are squealing because we stopped them from raising the fare:'.

Mr. KI"'G: I am not, but I object to tho conduct of the Government. In dealing with the Land Acts Amendment Act, which hon. members opposite do not like to be referred to as the Repudiation Act, I say unhesitat­ingly that, notwithstanding what the Premier said, a compact was made, and I am going to try to proYe it to the satisfaction of hon. members just as I have prov<'C] it to my own satisfaction. Going back to the Land Act of 1864, we find several case' where them was a limitation as to the increase of rents. The provision dealing with the reappraisement of rent and limiting the increase to 50 per cent. first appeared in 1886, but it was left out of the Acts of 1897 and 1902. It was subsequently re-enacted in the 1905 Act. The Premier, speaking on this matter on 7th DecembEr last, stated that the Act granted concessions 'Nhich were volun­tarily made by Parliament, not as the re·ult of any agreement and not as the result of any contract. He also said that tho lea;ces were issued in 1902, and the Act was passed in 1905. The Premier's contention was that the pastoral lessees accepted leases under the 1902 Act which did not contain anv limi· tation of the rent clausJ at all. "

The TREASL'RER: The hon. member for Bulimba and the hon. member for Albcrt introduced exactly the same measure.

Hon. J. G. APPEL: ~o.

Mr. KI~G: I am not responsible for what they did. The Premier said that there was no limitation of rent clause in the lease., under the 1902 Act, but three years later the Government, with the assistance of the Labour party, in a fit of generosity granted the limitation which was revoked in the Act of 1919. \Ye know that in 1902 there was a tremendous drought raging in Queensland and Ne·.v South ~Cales, and the country wns in a trrrible sbte. Sheep wore reduced in numbers from 15,226,429 in 1889 to 7,213,985 in 1902. Cattle were reduced from 5,053,836 to 2,543,471. The losses of the pastoral tenants were enormous, and they had to go to great expense to keep their stock alive. I was out at Cunnamulla at the time, and I remember sheep being brought in from the different stations, and they were fed on cracked corn to keep them ,alive. That was a tremendous expense which no pastoral tenant could stand. All these things were taken into consideration. The 1GS4 and 1886 leases were nearly terminating, and the Government were faced with the prospect of the leaccs being thrown back on their hands because no ono would take up country under cxisting"'conditions. The 1902 Act W:l·< illtro­duced as a relief measure, and granted

extended leases for any who applied to com·e under its provisions. There was no pro­vision under the 1902 Act regarding the limitation of rent, and the lessees did not immediately come under the Act in any numbers at all. They were required to comply with certain conditions, and they were required to waive c1aims for compensa­tion regarding portions of their holdings.

Section 8 (1) of the Act of 1902 pro· vided that a les~ee, upon giving six months' notice in writing and surrender· ing his lease, could receive a lease under

·the Act, and section 28 (2) provided that such notice would release the Crown from every claim for compensation of any kind by the lessee. The lessee was also called upon to give up valuable rights of appeal to the Supreme Court on questions of fact, which had proved a protection in many

cases against the imposition of [7.30 p.m.] unfair rents, and which had boen

availed of in the Norley and 'l'hargomindah cases, and wero to be restricted to an appeal to that court upon auestions of law. The financial situation >~as so involved that the lessees hesitated to accept leases for twenty, thirty, or forty years, ,saying that there was no provision for surrender in case they found it impossible to c;ury on. They contended that, if a period of prosperity came along, rents would be raised to such an extent that the sacrifices and labour of keeping their flocks alive and rents paid up would be nullified, and they would be practically taxed out of their holdings. The Land Court finished the classi· fication of the holdings in Queensland in accordance with the provisions of the 1902 Act, in 1904, and the lessee had then six months to say whether he would come under that Act. In May, 1904, as hon. members have already heard from the hon. member for Toowong, the Premier (Mr. Morgan) wrote a letter to !VIr. John Cameron, who was acting on behalf of the pastoral tenants, and intimated-realising the fairness of their contention-that he would agree to the request for tho 50 per cent. limitation. I believe that letter has been read in this House for the first time to.night. In it was ,a distinct promise that, if they came under the 1902 Act, they would get the benefit of legislation that was going to be introduced in 1905. Even after that the period for coming under the Act was extended to March, 1906. When the lessees got that promise from a responsible Minister-the Premier of the State-they felt they could ,~fely come under the .Act, and, relying on that assurance, they did so. I want to emphasise that the Act of 1905 was passed by virtue of the 'agreement between the Premier ,and the pastoral tenants prior to the tenants coming under the 1902 Act, and it held it out to them as an inducement to come under that Act, and that they did not come under the Act in any number till they had received from the Premier, in May, 1904, the definite assurance that the limita­tion would be continued. The c'lnces,sion, therefore. was part and parcel of the agree­ment. and was made for the specirlc purpoJe of inducing them to come under the Act of 1902. Th0 Premier asks wher the contr 1d wa·c The Premier ought to know what a contract is. If not, I suggest that hG C!.ppeal to n::<· learned friend the Attornev-Gcneral, who. most likely, will enlighten him. iT.:wghter.) Do<'s not the Premier know that an offer and an acceptance constitute a

Mr. Kinv.]

224 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSE:MBL Y.] Want of Confidence Motion.

contract? And if that contract be embodied in an Act of Parliament, surely you h.1ve the strongest contract that can be Plade.

The TREAEuRER: Mr. Denham introduc~d a Bill to repeal it.

Mr. KING: Yes, but he recogni~Gd that it was not a fair thing and withdrew it.

Mr. BRENNAN: What about the Mini•Jg on Private Property Act?

Mr. KING: If the hon. member wants to compare that Act with the Land Act, he shows that he does not appreciate the differ­ence between the two; but he ought to know full well that, if you disturb the surface of private land for the purposes of mining, you pay compensation. I just want to refer to the remarks made by the Secretary for Lands when speaking on the second reading of the Act of 1905, p. 304, volume xcv. of "Hansard" of 1905 :-

" I want to say before I specify the clause under that particular heading to which I am alluding that the House will be aware that under the 1902 Act it was found that a large number of the lessees did not respond to the invitation that that measure hold out. The disinclina­tion to come under the shelter of that Act was not due to any lack of admira­tion for it on the part of the leheos themselves; it was rather owing to a nervousness on the part of the banks, financial institutions, and mortgage companies that are behind so many of these lessees. ·

"Those institutions became nervous lest they should find that entering upon these long leases and discovering that the hold­ings were not profitable, they would not have an opportunity of forfeiting them, but would be compPlled to pay rent until the end of the lease. I confess that I do not think it wor-th while entering into the cause of that apprehension, but it is a remarkable thing that it never occurred to the pa9toral institutions before in the whole history of Queensland. It has always be0n the practice of the Lands Department to allow forfeiture of pas­toral holdings if the lessees wish it. Certainly there have not been many cases of voluntary forfeiture, but whenever they have occurred the department has not raised any objection. At all events, these institutions became apprehensive that that attitude would not prevail, and declined to allow the runs over which they had control to come in under the Act unless a condition was put in that the lease was subject to surrender. In this Bill we have endeavoured to meet that request, because there is no doubt it is desirable to get as many runs as possible under the Act of 1902. The more symmetry we have in our pastoral legis­lation, the more runs we have working under the one Act, the better, and conse­quently the department and the Govern­ment arc prepared to make some effort to get •an additional number of leases under the Act of 1902. Well, clause 15 (c) is ono that will bring a large additional number of leases under that Act.

" Now, that is really not very much of a conceP,sion, and my own opinion is that the lessee is better off under the old arrangement than under this. _\s I have said before, if he wanted to forfeit he could do so. but once this becomes law he cannot forfeit until he has given

{Mr. King.

two years' notice, has paid up all arrears, and has forfeited his improvements. But, de.pite that. the: condition that it is formallv stated that the lease can be broken· is sufficient encouragement to the fmancial institutions to allow them to come under the Act. I repeat, my own opinion is that they were better off under the old arrangement than under this, as they have to comply with conditions which would never have been exacte-d under the old order of things. As a result of the inclusion of that clause of the Bill, and the anticipation that a large number of runs will come under the provi·· ions of this and the 1902 Act, we have put in clause 25, which enables them to make application for inclusion up to 30th March, 1906, and allows them to decide finally, if they are satisfied with their r:lassification, whether they will come under the Act up to the 30th June, 1906. Those, of course, are the conse­quer:tial clauses. In clause 26 we have put in a clause which is also designed to meet "'hat we consider the unnecessary ncrvousnf'-;s of paf,toral lessees, and we have reverted to a clause, taking it word for word, from an earlier Act:-

Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section, the annual rent for each period after the first shall not exceed the annual r<'nt payable for the next prec,.ding period by more than one-half of the annual rent payable for such preceding period."

Later on the Premier (Sir Arthur Morgan) said-

" If the f:nancial institutions, by reason of their long lease and all that it implies, are hesitating to make advances to pa,toral tenants to stock up their runs, I say the re"ult of their fear is operating to the detriment of pastoral tenants and of the State as a whole. \Ve are offering this conccc.sion in the interests of the State, and I believe it may be offered without the loa•t clangor to the interests of the State as a whole. That is the rea::;:on '" hy the proviSion has been inccuded in the Bill, and also why the clause in reference to the pastoral tenant protecting hirn against a capricious increase of his rent is included."

Those were the rca.,ons given at the time, and it is diotinctly pointed out that they wrre dealing v:ith In;:1tter.·:> relating to the 19r•2 Art and arguments which were brought for\.Y·~rd to indUC'A the tenants to comA under that Act. \Ye have Mr. H.ardacre, who was behind the Government that brought in that Act, saying-

" However, amongst the two amend­ments w hi eh were asked for by the pastoral lessees is one which there is not a great deal of objection to-that is, that the subsequent reappraisement of rent after the first period shall not excee-d 50 JWr cent. mo1·c than the preceding period. Generally speaking, I think it is, perhaps, a snfcr>:uard to the investors in this and the old country, who mav nth€'rwiso fear that there may be an undue sudrien jump of r•cnt, wh;ch might be equivalent to forfeiture of the lease, becauoe it might result in bcjn:; unremunerative, and have to be abandoned."

-'The result of this proposed l~gislation to kna;•k out the 50 per cent. limitation in the

Want of Confidence 11iotion. [23 AUGUST.] TV ant of Confidence Motion. 225

reappraisement of rents of course got home to the old country, and in JunP, 1918, there was a meeting of representatives of financial companies in London, at which a resolution was passed~

"That such legislation 1vill tend to destroy the confidence of British inye;:.;tors."

On 1st July, 1918, a cable 'appeared in the Brisbane Press as follo-ws :-

''The London 'Ti1nes,' in a financial comment on the Anglo-Australian bank­ing financial . resolutions, considers it almoet incredible that Queensland could proceed '\ ith such a proposal, which wo•1ld destroy the faith of British investors in Queensland and Australia generally. n

The hon. n1ernber for Gregory, in " 1--Ianr::ard" of 1918, puge 704, said-

" I say this is repudiation. I admit it freely. But it is only repudiation of something that is wrong."

Mr. POLLOCK: vYhy do you not quote what I said about the property which those absentee co1npanies O\Yned?

Mr. KI:::\G: I am talking about this Act, which was passed in 1910. I say it is repudia­tion of the worst sort, and, no matter how hon. members on the Government side may try, they cannot explain that away. It has had a vpry bad effect on the credit of Queens­land. The loss of credit is Queensland's present burden. I am a native-born Queens­]" ncler and ha vc an intense love for the <·ountry of my birth. It hurts me more than I c.ln say that this country has been defamed to wch an extent by acts of the Legislature 'd.1ich have discredited it. Such legislation "houlcl never have been pacsed. There is no doubt that Queensland is under a cloud, a m! at prc,ent there is no feeling of security for investors. Industries are hampered with forced loan' and contributions of all de;;;criptions.

:Vh-. POLLOCK ( Gr; gory) : I rise to a point of order. Is thA hon. member in order in 1nisquoting a speech I n1a·dc in this House?

The SPEAKER: Order ! There is no point of order.

Mr. POLLOCK : My point of order is that it was the hon. r11ember for Gregory \Yho has since died whon1 the hon. n1en1bcr is now quoting.

The SPEAKER: Order ! Mr. KING: I quoted from "Hansard,"

1918, page 70~. I was very much struck last SC?'9sion at the ontirnistic note of the Treasurer when he wa' .delivering his Budget. He said Queensland must be developed, our lands must be sett led. our producers must be encouraged, our n1anufactures stirnulatedJ and Dur workers given justice. I wish those ::;enti~ ll\l'nts could be given effect to, no matter "·hat Government doe, it. \Vhen vou com­r 11'0 the figures for 1915-1916 with those for 1920-1921, there does not seem to be much hope for the fulfilment of those optimi-tic idc.1s. \V e ha vo had an increase in the population amounting to 9 per cent. The reYenue has increased by 65 por cent., income tax by 214 per cent., land tax by 90 per cent., stamp duty by 105 per cent., other taxes by 80 per cent., and the tax per head by 133 per cent.

Mr. BRENNAX: And there is more money at reserve fund in the banks.

1921-Q

Mr. KING: The hon. member for Oxley made a speech which I think must appeal to every right-thinking man. He made an appeal to the Government even now to do the right thing and get rid of the discredit which at pre~ont rests on the State of Queens· land. They put it there; let them have the opportunity of removing it. If they do that, they will have tht• credit for it, _iust as much as they are g-etting the discredit now. It was a generous appeal-an a,ppeal on th0 part of a 'nan who recognic05 the present state of affairs, and who on!:· requires the Governn1ent to recognise their responsibilities and do the honourable thin.:r. I am satisfied with Queensland and the- sernrity that it offer>. Queensland is all right. It only wants c!E'an ;;nd honourable dealing to make things quite right, and that is absolutely essential to prosperity. \Ye have this clam­nab! doctrine of class consciousness which has been nursed by Labm)r agitators and other supporters of the Government, and it is not doing any good to the State of Queens­land. It is about the worst thing that could happen to the State. I was very much struck with the utterances the other clay of a thoughtful man. I refer to Archbishotl Duhig. who, whpn speaking in Cha.rleville the other night at tlw annual meeting of the Hibernia.n Australian Catholic Benefif Society. said-

" Here in Australia democracy has a. greater orportunity than has been pre­sente-d to it in any other country. You are n1ostlv working n1en, and you have seen comC to pass here in your own tin1e beneficial changes which were undreamt of a generation ago; but the very n1ove~ ment that brought a bout such changes is to-day being hampered and threatened by destruction by the extremist and the 11rofession'\l agitator, who preach class hatred, by a Labour Press largely tainted with irreligion, and by a socialism that discarded God and would willingly sec the church and the Christian school blotted off the face of the earth. If you 1.rc wise and strong-if, as. \Vorking men, you wi'h to hold to what the great majority of your fellow-.citizen< have been glad to see you get, a.nd believe to be your right-you will set your faces against any movement contradictory of the law of God or of the rrinciplcs of real democracy, which should mean, not discord or class hatred or industrial upheaval, but the well-being and the happiness of the people as a whole. I have confidence enough in my fellow­men here in Australia to believe that, to whatever class or creed they belong, they arc prepared to recognise merit wherever they find it, and to give eYCrJ honest Inan an or•pOrtunity of a.dvanccment. There may b,, some who are not so. If thoro are, it is their mi!'fortnnc, and we may well pity them. The.'. will never stop the wheels of cnlightone·ci progress, for Australians "·ill never adopt narrow· 1ninded conceptions of a man's ·worth."

I would submit thoso remarks to every member of the House for hi~ ven· serim{s consideration. This class consciousi1ess 1nust bu put down; a.nd, if every member of this House would ta.ke a decided stand and make it his duty to try and bring about a better understanding between the people and not foster class consciousness, then we would be more likely to get prosperity, and, at any rate, wo would get peace.

il1 r. J{ ing .]

226 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSE;\fBLY.] Want of Confidence 11Io!1:on.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS (Hon. J. Larcom be, J[ eppel) : The hon. member for Logan, who has juet rc.sumed his ~eat., has fo110Y\C(l out tho practice, \vhich the hon. Ill' mber for Oxley as found guilty of last "·e·ek-of misquoting or of half quot­ing. The hon. member for Logan quoted­or rathn misquoted-the hon. member for Gre3ory on the Land Acb· Amendment Act . The present mcml:;er for Gregory, Mr. Pollock, certainly made the speech that the hon. member fm· Log;tn referred to, but the hon. member for Logan did not accuratel;c qnote what was said by the hon. member for Gregory. What the hon. meml er for Gre­gory -said 'vas-

" I admit that this Bill is repudiation. It is repudiation of one of the most flagrant injustices tl-:at \vas ever perpe­trated by any Gm·ernment of Queens­land, and this partv can well afford to stand for repudiation of any sort of injustice." (Hear, hear ')

Mr. FRY: He said more than that. Read the rest.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The hon. member for Logan purp~sely abstained fron1 intiinatiiig that tbe hon. member for Gregory said it was repudiation in a seme-repndiation of the most flagrant, injustice that Queensland had ever been subject•Jd to 111 her land legislation. That is the point that the hon. member for Gre­gory made. A half-quotation like that is not going to strengthen the case of the Opposition. ThP hon. member for Oxley wa;; discovered the other night in a similar trick. He gave a half-quotation.

Mr. FRY: You are only half-quoting yourself.

The SECHETARY FOR RAIL\YAYS: I aVI. quoting from "Hansard," volume CXXIX., page 699.

:Mr. FRY: So am I-page 703.

The SPEAKER: Order ! I would ask the hon, member for Kurilpa to restrain himself.

Mr. FRY: I will do so if the hon. member will not misquote.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The case of thu Opposition will not be strengthened or supported by misquotations or half-quotations such as they have induh:ed in durinr; the last few davs.

I desire to make brief reference to two points made b:· the hon. member for Logan. Ho "·as at great pains to show that the Land Acts Amendment Act, passed b:, the present Governrrwnt, is repudiation and secondlv, he compbined of the Gover~ment''s action In preventing the Brisbane Tramways Com­pany from raising fares. Regarding ihe Land .\cts Amendment Act, I do not intend to s>ty much. During the laot twelve months torrents of words have bBen poured out in this Cham­ber on that Act, the miscalled repudiation Ad, and last se"ion the Premier ga ye the mo .. t brilliant exposition in defence of the Act that I haYe evGr heard. Anyone listen­ing to or reading the speech of tiH' Premier

cannot but haYe been convinced [8 p.m.] of th0 soundness of that Act its

principles of fairne~s, and' its econ?mic justice. Sir Conan Doyle, after heanng that speech, said : " I am satisfied that there is nothing repudiatorv in the legislation of the Land Acts An1endment .. Act.''

:VIr. BEBBINGTOI>: \Vhat did he know about it'

[Hon. J. La1·combr-.

'The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: That was a confession of a man of grc.tt eAperience, a man with a literary reputation, and a man who could judge a case when it wa .. s submitted to him. Further, the Act has already been eloquently defended by the hon. members opposi\0. In 1910 this alleged repudiation Act was introduced by the Administration of that tnne, and the

. , hon. member for B!Jlimba and the hon. mem­ber for Albert were members of the Cabinet, and many hon. members opposite supported that Administration. Can members opposite urge one ~ound Teason against that Bill in the face of the eloquent defence of it by their own loader in 1910?

:11r. VOWLES: Wasn't it dropped?

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: Y cs; and I will tell you why. The Land Acts AmeEdment Act was introduced by the then SecretarY for Lands, Mr. Denham, and it had the endorsement of the Cabinet and the Tory party at that time.

OPPOSITION 11E:WBERS: No. The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS:

Yes. There wa .. no objection, and no repudia­tion crv at that time. It was regarded then as sou~'d land legislation. The leader of the Opposition asks, by way of interjection, "\Yasn't it dropped'! " Yes, because of out­side influences-because the monE'y power, the " squattocracv " of Queensland, had told hon. members that, if they passed that legislation, they would be relegated into political obscurity. There could be no other reason for the sensational action of the Tory Goyernment, after introducing it and defend­ing it in the many speeches which they made; and hon. members opposite ought to bo ashamed to talk in the way they are doing on le,;isiation of which they were the pioneers, and which they now have the audacity and effrontNy to describe as rep1)diatory legis­lation.

The TRE~\SURER: They put it into our head· (Laughter.)

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: I want to prove from anti-Labour sources that this legislation is sound to a degree, and that there is nothing in the nature of repudiation in it. Article after article has been pub­li,hcd by the "Producers' ReYiew," which is really the organ of the Country party.

OPPOSITION ME:\IBERS: No. The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS:

\Ye hQve the "Producers' Review" defending this l0gislation and telling hon. members. opposik that they ought to drop this silly cry of repudiation. The " Producers' Review" s&ys that it is sound legislation, and that it removes from Queensland the last vcs-':-igc of monopoly and unfairness so far as land legislation is concerned-the last rcn1nant of special pri vilcge.

:\1r. BEBBIKGTON: How is it that the Pre­mier gets a free copy of the " Prod ucors' Review~''?

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: That is a very unkind and very unfajr sug­gestion, to assort that the " Producers' Review'' is really in the pay of the Govern­ment party. It is the official organ of the Queensland Farmers' Union, and I am satis­fied that the hon. member who has interjeckd will be called to account for such an ur::_scernly remark .

J\lr. DEBBINGTOI>: The executive of the Farmers' Union has no control over it.

Want of Confidence Motion. [ 23 A LeG liST.] Want of Confidence 1>1 otion. 227

Tho SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: I refer to the endorsement of the principles contained in our Land Acts Amendment Act by the late Sir Samuel Grif!ith on a differ~nt Act under different crrcumstances, but wrth the same principle. He said :

" It is not repudiation, but restoration of a right that thfl State should never hav~ been deprived of."

An 0PPOSITIOC>; MniBER: Read the whole of it.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: I ha.-o read the whole of it. All these politi­cal and judicial authorities have endorsed the principle of the legislation we have passed through this House, and which is being attacked by the party who pioneered it through Parlia1nent.

An 0PPOSITIO!'i' )IIE~!BER : You are mis­quoting.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: I say advisedly I am not misquoting. Mr. Denham quoted from Sir Samuel Grif!ith in support of that legislation in 1910. What does the Land Acts Amendment Act mean? It is a Bill cutting away, as the "Producers' Review" said, the last vestige of special privilege in land legislation, and we have simplz said to pastoralists and graziers that "the Land Court-not the Government-shall ha n' the power of assessing the economic ya}ue of your land." ~lark you, this ;;pccial privilege did not cover all gTaziers. Most of the small graziers were not within this speci<tl protection of the Land Act which existed when we came into power. This special privilege concerned only 1.200 pas­toralists and comparatively few graziers. vV e cut out that special privilE>ge and placed them all on the same level. The Land Court b.~;s pow<?r to ass£.3~ the economic value of land, nothing more and nothing le'·S. In viev,- of these anti-Labour uttcrancfl's, :it is not nec0ssary for me to attempt a justifica­tion or a dcf0nce of the Land Acts Amend­ment Act, which is being used to-day as a prct~xt to attempt to down this Government.

An OPPOSITION MDIBER : Tell us something about the railways.

The SECRETARY FOR. RAILWAYS : I will tell you somethinp; "bout the railways later-I intend to make limited rcferenc~ to the railwa.ys. The time for that is on the Financial Statement and on the Estimatec. The Premier verv convenientlv reminds n1e that the lender of the Opposition did not mentioct the Railway Department m his no-confidence 1notion.

11r. VO\VLES: That is part of your State Enterprises.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The le&der of the Opposition made no reference to the Railway Department in his motion, and ma.de no reference to it in his speech, and that is one reason whv I do not intend to deal at any length with the railway administration to-nip;ht. V,'hen this debate cornlncncf'd, I had no intention of speaking, but during 1ast week some misleading Tf'fcr­C"lCCS ancf S0ll18 glaring mi~')taten1ents \NCTO

made with respect to railv. ay administration, 1Yhich if allowed to p:1ss without any nohcc', mig-ht' be accepted as true by the public, and that is th<> rea.son why I intend to deal with one or two phases of railway adminis­tration.

Before passing on to this, let me deal with

the second point raised by the hon. member for Logan. He mentioned the Land Acts Amendment Act of 1920, and the Brisbane Tramways Act-two Acts which aro sugges­tive of the grut ''·ealthy internts concerned. Ho'.' is it that he did not de.1l with !anti settlement, r:tihYa:: construction, n1ining, and the interests of the people ge._erally? He spoke as if he had a brief for the pastoralists and the Brisbane Tramwa.ys Company.

lVIr. FLETCHEH: His brief was the honour· of the State.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: He complained because the Go.-ernment refused to allow the Brisbrrne Tramv· a,:;-s Company t<> raise the fares. The Government simply said, " Go to the Price Fixing Co1nmis8ioner." WhY should the Brisbane Tramwavs Corn­pan}- nDt go there as 1YelJ as any small grocer?

:\h. FRY: Why don't the Railway Depart­ment go there?

The SECRET),RY FOR RAILWAYS: By interjection, the leader of the Opposition said that the Brisbane Tramw.ays Company were working under a special charter; but, under the Proftteering Pre\'ention Act that special charter could only be operative so long as it was not inconsistent with that Act.

l\Ir. VowLES: Why did you repudiate it?

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: There is no repudiation. All '.'."" say to the Brisbane Trannvays Con1pany is, "You are on the same level a_J the small retail grocc1·. If you want to incrca~e your fal,_·s, go the Price Fixing Commi~sioner, anll, if :vou have a just claim, he will increase ;:our fares."

Before dealing with the railway adminis­tration, I desire to offer a few further words on this motion of censure. \V c were treated to a display of political pyrotechnics­rJl('nt~.,. of fireworks, but nothing sound and powerful in attack of the Government's position; in fact. it is the •>ea.kest attack of a Go.-ernment that I ha ,-e heard since I have been a member of this Houcc.

:VIr. SrzER: It is no weaker than the defence that was offered.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: 1\'o v• caker than the case fDr the leader of the Opposition, because, as Shakcspea.rc said, "A bad case abides no handling-." He did not ha;-c the material with ;,-hich to attack the administration. There 1YOS a lack of anything in the nature of constructive criti­ci~m or constructive suggestion.

Mr. VowLES: You muet ha Ye been out of the Chamber.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: ~ o, I v,-as listcming intently all tho time_ \Ve had the political situation suneyed frm.n " China to Peru "~fro1n the acack'mlC absurdities of the hen. member for Oxley to the stock stupiditi< J of the hon. member for Enogcrra-(Govcrnment langhter)-but nothing of a damaging nature-nothing that 1Yould be likelv to damage this GoYernmcnt in the eves of th, elec-tors of the State. It was a 'ti!ne for big constructiYe critici~m, but we did not get it. There was nothmg urged against this admini.stration \Ybich would for one moment induce an:,- elector who had supported the Government to change his attitude. Let me giYc a. few concrete examples of what I mean. The hon. member

Hon. J. Larcombe.]

228 TV ant of Confidence "11 otion. [ASSEJ\IBLY.] TV ant of Confidence l'>iotion.

for J\Iusgra.ve complained about the absence Df a railway siding that he wanted in his electorate. The hDn. member for Burnett complained that arsenic from the Sta.te mine was a few per cent. short of the standaTd. (OppDsition dissent.) The hon. member for Enoggera voiced a personal grievancn a~·ainst the Railway Department.

)Ir. KERR: RNd what I 's .. id. It gees hon1e, anyhow.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: Thi.' is the criticism upon v:hich hon. mem· bcrs are asked to defeat the Government. It is a11palling tD think that, whilr? we are paesing throug·h the greakst crisis in the history of Queensland, we have this kind Df criticism, nothing of a broad constructive nature, but simply petty little complaints which could ha,·e been adjusted if the Ministers or Under Secretaries had been consulted. (Opposition laughter.)

Further, we ha.-e had a lot of mock heroics. Hon. members talked about the .-ictory of the Opposition at the municipal elections, and complained that we were retaining the Treasury benches in face of that mnnicipal vote. They say they want :wother election, but they arc just as anxi­ous for another election as the people of San Francisco for another earthquake. (Opposi­tion laughter.)

UPPOSITIOX ::.VlE}IBERS: Try it !

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: You said that tweh·e months ago, but we came back here from the elections. Surely we have given it a try often enough? The suggestion of hon. 1nen1bcrs opposite would involve the country in an expenditure of £30,000 or £40,000. I am not going to discuss the detailed result of the municipal elections to-night, but the friends of the party opposite were returned on the "No increase of taxation and cconomv" cry. \Yhat is the re'·ult? No sooner do "they 'get into power than they repudiate their election promises. . In South Bri· bane, instead of ceonomv, there is an incr.ease of £100 in the m a; oral allowance. In Brisbane, instead of ecOii'omy, £1,000 is voted as an allowance to the mayor.

An OPPOSITION ME}IBER : It is the same as last year.

The SECRETARY FOR RAIL\VAYS: \Vh"n an an1cndnu:nt ¥ras rnoved to the motion that the allowance be £1,000, the party opposite in the municipal sphere voted against the amendn1ent. I am not discussing the point as to whether £400 or whether £1,000 should be voted; but I say hon. mem­bers opposite and their party outside were dishonest in going to the country on the "no taxation" cry, when imn1cdiately they got )lOsses,ion Df the municipal benches they commenced to raise their own scre"·s. That is gross repudiation. I believe that such repudiation is ~oing to be general, and that what has taken place in Brisbane and South Brisbane will take place throug·hout the State. The argument has been urged that the Government will be beaten next time. When we submitted the question of the abolition of the Legislative Council \Ye were turned down bv over 60.000 votes. and hon. members opposite said that next time we faced the electors we woul-d be defeated; but, on the contrary, we came back with a splendid majority. The last Federal elec· tion resqlted in a defeat of the Labour party, and we were told that at the next

[Hon. J. Larcombe.

StatE' election which occurred afterwards we should be defeated: but we ce.me back with a majority, and ·I am satisfied that, when we again appeal to the electors, the result will be the same. (Opposition dissent.) This Administration has to its credit a record which I do not think anv other Government in the world has got. '

OPPOSITION ::\1E}IBERb: Hear. hear ! and laughter.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: We h~ve come through all sorts of trials which no other Government in the British Empire has done. Governments v:nne and go, and \Iinisters come and go; but this GoYernment, hke Tennyson:s brook, goes on for ever. (Opposition lang·hter.) At least, we are going on for a long time. Notwithstanding the unparallele-d difficulties and embarrassments we have had to contend with, every time we have appealed to the people we have come hack with a majority. Why? Because of our sound business-like policy! Because of our ideals, which are based on the eternal principle, of truth and justice.

The hon. member for Oxlcy indulged in a long tirade agai11~t tho GoYernment for rheir alleged encourao;emcnt of gambling. Tln·oughoLlt the world to-day there is a gigantic gambling system in existence, and there are few Labour Governments. The hon. member for OxleY is associate-d with a party which held the' Treasury benches for half a c0ntury, and the gambling system which exists in this State to-day was built up with their connivance, encouragement. and assistance.

:\Ir. VowLES: \Yhat about the anti­gambling Act?

The SECRET"\RY FOR RAILWAYS: The hon 111en1bcr for Oxley said there v1arc defects in that Act, so that is an indictment against the --::\chninistration that pa~sed it. There is no getting away from the fact that throughout the "odd to-day a great gambling system exi•ts, built up by the Tory party cconomicc.lly and pojjtically. Further. the hon. 1ncn1ber for Oxlev is assvcj;,tt~d \Yith n1en to-da;c \vho gamble v1;th the iocc! tdfs of the people.

Mr. BEDBINGTOX: \Yho are they?

Th' SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The middlemen on the other side.

:\Ir. BEBBI''<GTOx: What about th~ State Pwduce Agency?

The SECREL\RY FOR RAILWAYS: The State Produce Agency ha·, lirnited gambling in foodstuffs to a gre~t extent, but gambling in foo·dstuffs is indulged in by other people, vvho come along and criticise the G(1Vernm0nt for running the " Golden Casket."

Mr. BEnBIXGTON: The State Produce Agency is run on the s,1me lines as other produce busineMes.

The SECHETAHY FOR RAILW~\YS: It is not. All the proiits arc returned to the growers through the Sta·: c Produce Agency. The hon. member for Oxlev would torture a Inan for buying a ,. GoldC'n ca~ket ,, ticket and \VOuld send hitn ro solitarv {'{;nfinr,-nent, vchile, at the same lime, he ,:-onlcl look on with smug complacency at members of the Opposition gambiing with foo-dstuffs of the people. It reminds one of Burns's address to " The unco' guid " and "Holy Willie's

~Want of Confiden,;e 11Jotion. [23 AUGUST.] Want of Confidence J11otion. 229

Praver." Ko wonder Thon1as Cadyle, \Yith hi~s 'noble wul, talked of the cant, humbug·, ancl hypocrisy \Yhich ·· urrounded him ; he must have had such men as hon. members opposite to deal with. There was no need for the hon. member for Oxlev to make that mean-spirited attack upon this Administra­tion. Hon. members opposite talk about taxation in Qucrnsland having increased so much per capita. Taxation has increased ;yith all the Tory Governments throughout the world, but there is this fundamental difference so far as the Oueen~1and Govern¥ ment is concerned. In Tory-governed States it is the sn•1ller incomes which haYe to bear tlw tax, but in Queensland the tax is fixe·rl on the higher salaries. If you take the Vlctorian rE~turns. vou vlill see that \vhat I say is corrcd .. In ~l'ory-governed Victoria a rr::.fin receiving a comparatively srnall income pays a higher nte. In Queensland we give protection to the smaller incomes. \V e proc€ed on the lines laid down by A dam S'mith and J olm Stl\art :\1ill, and tax people a(•:ording to their ability to pay. That is the fundamdn.tal principle of taxation. Although taxation hos increased in Queens­land, it does not prove that the primary pro­ducer and the worker are paying more. Dur­ing the currency of the \var, Tory-govcrned States reduced the exemption, but in Queens· land we allowed it to remain at £200. I remind hon member,; opposite that we got £75.000 from the Yuill eo.tate, which swelled our returns An attempt was made to spend that money in other countric,, although the 1noney 1.ras earned in Queensland, and we sin1p]y asked for Queensland money we were properly entitled to.

"'-Ir. FLETdlER: );o one objects to that.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: Bnc member" oppmite did object to it '·>'hen our legislation "as going tbrough. It sho\Ys the fallacy of the per copih taxation argu­ment. \Ye know that in the United States of /1.nerira there is fal:;nlons wealth. That is not nroof that ( _tch person receives a fair distribtllion of that wealth. There are a few 1nillionair9s and n1any paupers. In fact, there are over 5.000,000 unemployed there, <"qual to the whole population of Australia. A further aspect of taxation is the profiteer­ing aspect. I know that hon. members opposite strenuously oppos~" any attempt to curtail the C·:Jst of liYinp; and to restrict the enormous profits that have been and e.re being made. If hon. members opposite were so anxious ,about curtailing increased taxation 1 \Yh:: did they not cbject when their own Federal Government increased the postal, telegraphic, and telephonic rate·'? \Vhy did t.he:y not object when the Federal Government i11creased tho hn~ation on income'', especially as the exemption is only £156 for married men and £100 for single men. Hon. mem­ber opposite did not object when the Fede­ral Government inerectsed the Lxation on the sottlers of Queensland. Imtead of beinp; concerned with State taxation, they should reform their own taxation methods. 'l'hev should send their resolutions to the [<'cder,;l Governn1ent, \V,ho have so unfairly treated the settlers of Queensland b7 increa•,ed taxa­tion. And, further. "·hile the F0deral Government innl aBed the telegraphi0 and

telephonic and postal rates and [8.30 p.m.] income tax rates on the small

incomes, they remoYed the excess profits tax, relieving the profiteers of Aus­tralia of an impost of £3,000,000 each year,

and poll-taxed the' pro~ducers of Queensland <md Au•tralia.

}fr. FLETCHEH: That is not true.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: Hon. members know it, and :yet they stand on a Federal platform and support that Adn1inistratlon.

J\fr. Vow LE'S: \~T as not that a war tax?

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS : EYcn though it were a war tax, the fact remains that excess proftts are being earned, and the Eedcr~! Govc.rnmont ttre allowing these great combinations to got away Y,ith millions and millions of profits over and above the ordinary profits the~.- were making. I say no member of the Country party, n0 fair-minded man in this Chamber, can defend that taxation policy. I ask them to phtck the motes from their own eyes ; let them reform their own party before they attempt to teach us taxation reform.

Xow I come to railwav adn1inistration, and I want to deal particularly ,,-ith the alleged retrenchment policy. I ']Ui\e agn:e with the Pren1ier that "deflation" .s the word~not ''retrenchment." (Opposition laughter.) Deflation and adjustment _mig-ht properly be te1mcd the ra1lway pohcy at th8 present time--deflation so far as . our loan expenditure is concerned, and adJust­ment in- n.'spcC't of our consolidated revenue Pxpenr!itnrc. I will summarise what I con­sider to be the causes of the falhng off m rC'YC'nnc rrnd the raihvav embarrassment gencra1ly, because, as B=·r~n flays-

" Setting things in their right point of Yic'v

l{nowlcdge at least is gainerl''-

First. w·ar reaction; secondly, the "\vork ~f the Philp delegation. (Opposition laughter.)

:\lr. MAXWELL: Good old bogey!

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: It is not a bogey; it is, unfortunahJy, an actu­alitY. The third cause is the Federal Govern­lllOllt's coal-ex:porting embargo; the fourt.h, the Fed-?ral C:~·overnment's r0fus"tl to a"s1st in the reopening of JY1ount :'1/[organ; t~e fifth. the Federal Go,·crnment's blunder 111

acquirinr:::- sawn1illing and ti:nbcr inter~sts in Queensland. and immedwtely cl<'slllg do"·n sawmills in this State. First of all, as hon. n1cn1bers kno1.v, there has been re_action after all wars, and, naturallY, after t.h1s, the rrreatest in historv, the reaction is greater, ~nd the dislocr~tlon and disturbance are greater. "'-1illions of wealth-producers and consun1ers were s\vept away for ever, the stored-nrJ capital of the world was con6tuned, the producing power of 'the world was reduced. enormous stocks accumulated to be released after the termination uf peace-all these factors haYe had a tremendou· effect on raihvay revenne.

:\1r. SrzER: l3 it not so with other indus­tries?

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: I a\lt not denyi11g that. Rig.ht throughout the commercial. industrial. and also p·.ycho­logical fabric of the world the reaction is felt. \Ye in Queensland cannot escape the effect of the world-wide disturbance any n1ore than -y.,-e can the sun's ravs. Hon. members OlWht to be fair and realise that. I think that in their sweet session of silent thought they do realice the er:tbarrassment we are sufferjng under; but 1t 1s onP of the peculiarities of the political s:· .• tern that hon. members opposite 'cannot 'give tho

Hrm. J. Larcombe.]

230 TV ant of Confidence 11iotion. [ASSE:\IBLY.] Want of Confidence Motion.

GDvernment any credit for a g<Jod act oe h·mpathise with them in their difficulties. Let me quote briefly from a speech delivered last April by the Hon. \V. M. Hughes, aa •·eported in the "Brisbane Courier"-

" I want the pe<Jple of this country to understand that Australia is now con­fronted with problems that no amount of statesmrtnship or legislation can do anything to solve."

That disturbance is reflected particularly in two or three \vays. First of all, in the paralysis ?f the copper industry; secondly, in the practiC:.l paralysis of the export trade; and thirdly, in the serious dislocaticm of our timber-carrying trade. TD give hon. mem­bers an idea af the extent of that influence: on our railways, I quote the following cash receipts for Ju]_., 1920, and July, 1921:-

Divi\ ion. 1020. 1D21. Deer~. £ £

Southern 26-+,639 250,061 14,578 Central 64,569 48,787 15,782 Northern 119,042 73.212 45,830 Any fair-rnincLd critic will realise what that means to the department. They must know that our employment· must be proportioned t<J the traffic and revenue.

\Var reaction is the pre-eminent cause <Jf the embarrassment. Of the subordinate causes the first is the work <Jf the Phil p delegation in England. I speak more in sorrow than in anger on this question. I say advisedly .and dchberately that the action of this dele­gation 1~:as treacherous and traitorous and their work fiendish rtnd devilish. Th~rc is 110 doubt that any delegation that has for its oL>ject the deprivation of Queensland <Jf n1oncy for land f...,:ttlcnu:.•nt, agricultural -de~Te~?prncnt: a ~si stance tc;> n1ining, road­bm!amg, railway constructiOn, and a broad general po1_icy of improvement, and which at tlw same trmc throws out of "' ork hundreds of ll1f'll, is treacherous and traitorous ftcndish. and devilish, and, of cours~J. n~ true Queenslander can stand behind such a policv. I note. a marked change in hon. members opposrte.- Before the municipal dectronc. up to Just lately, members said they ''ere not behind th' t delegation, but the member for \Yindsor, the leader of the ?-Jationalist party, said a lew nights ago tint, rf there had been no legislation there would have been no delegation. It is well for the people to bear that in mind. I think thev will long· remember the admission that ;, delegation was sent to England which, for a trme. prevented the de>"elopment of this fair. young Stat.o and has thrown hundreds of men out of employment. Notwithstanding that delegatwn we have been able to carrv on, and WP shall be able to carry on i~ future: but It means that we cannot dcc·elop the St cte to the same extent that we would and should lm ve been able to develop it had i\Ir. Thcodore's mission been successful. I would rather, ho\vever, see things as thcv ar~ to-d lY than ha VC seen the Premier an cl thrs part:·-myself included.._give wav on that hmdamcntal legislation and sell mlr birth­Tight for a n1c~s of pottage.

Go VER)I:l!ENT l\h~I!lERS : Hear, hear ! The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS·

I am . satisfied that in a quarter of ~ century s hmc there will be more import­<tnce attached to the fight the Government have put up than. th<;re is at the pre,ent time, when Its full s1gmficance has been over­shadowed because it means temporary -embarrassment ,and unemployment. When

[Hon. J. Tarcombe.

the people look at this question in its true perspective they will realise that the Govern­ment stood for democratic and responsible government-for the protection of the i ,. torcsts of the people of Queensland against a small, greedy, soulless body of Shylocks on the other side of the water. Even the British Government did not object to our legir,]a lion. The objection was taken by this smrtll, powerful, grecdv ring which controlled the lending of mone0c to Queensland and other States-this irresponsible body in the sense that it had no constitutional endorsement from the British Government. I ,c,ant to ~fll the hon,- men; be~, for_ Aubigny_ what the

Producers Renew saJd on thrs matter. The words havo a prophetic signficance. The first paragraph appeared in March 1920. It said- '

"\Ye are in Queensl'and damaging the credit of our country and doing our best, for purely political purpO'•CS, to "·top the GoYcrnnHmt from getting 1nore 1noney. Don't 1nake any Inistake about it."

In J Ullf' 1 1920, the " Producers' Review" said-

" Three months ago, before the unfor­tunate delegation \Yere chosen to go to England to lay certain grievances about the ' Repudiation' Bill and other matters bdore t'Je Colonial Office, we said plainly that it \\'ould be a bad thing for Queens­land, and we rPpeat our previously ex­pros~ed Yi·~\V that it Fill prove a ycrv bad advertisement for the State. Should i\Ir. Theodore not be successful in raising a loan in England, what is going to happen? It is not at all improbable that he \Yiil return to Queensland and raise a compulsory loan. If that is so, it is quite possible that he will determine upon a forced loan from the very people whom the delegation is .mpposed to rq1resent. :No gr·eater tactical blunder was evei' made than to send the deleca-tion to England." ·

That is the admission of an anti-Labour paper which is vitoJh concerned about land tenure and land lcg;slation. They sa,- the Oppo·ition were and arc damaging the cr~clit of Queens] and for purely political reasons.

Mr. VowLES : It never said anvthing of the kind. "

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: \V e have th o a-dmissi<Jn of the leader of the I\ationa.list party; 8nd the "Producer3' Review'' criticism includes the Oppo2ition.

Mi·. FRY: Whj, don't you try and keep to the truth?

The SPEAKER : Order !

'L'he SECRETARY FOB. RAILWAYS: I say the leadl'r of the ?\ationalist party. a few nights ago, said in this Chamber that, if there /had been no lerislation, there would haYe been no delegation. (Opposition ir'terruntion.) 'fhat means that, if there had been no Land Acts Amendm0nt Act, there would ha Ye been no delegation.

An OPPOSITION MnrnER : He did not say that.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: And, if there had been no delegation, we would ha Ye got the loan money necessary for the development of the State. (Opposition interruption.) The hon. member for Toowong said he was proud of his association with the delegation.

Mr. MAXWELL: So I am.

Want of Confidence l"fiotion. [23 AUGUST.] TYant of Confidence J11otion. 231

'The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: That is point Xo. 1.

Mr. VoWLES: He was not in the House at the time.

The S'PEAKER : Order !

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: He is a member now, and he was a member of your party outside the House at the time. Point, Ko 1 is the admission of the hon. member for Toowong that he was proud of his work in assic.ting to >end that delegation. Point No. 2 is that the leader of the Nationalist party said that, if there had been no Land Acts Amendment Act, there would have been no delegation.

Mr. FRY : He did not say that.

The SECRETARY FOR RAIL\YAYS: He did. If there had been no delegation we would have had our loan supplies.

Mr. FRY: Point 3 you have not mentioned --·that is, that you rnisrepresent the case.

The SPEAKER: Order ! The hon. n.em­bcr for Ku.rilpa is not in order in imputing i~:1proper motives. I would ask him to refrain fron1 doing so.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: We would ha,-e had the State enjoying the amount of loan money to which it \vas entitled for the development of its resources.

I will now deal with the next point-the rrfucal d the Fedcrai Government-a Torv Government "·ho represent in the Federa"l Parliament the party opposite-to assist in the reopening of Mount J\,Iorgan. ·when that terrible industrial tragedy occurred the Pre­mier got to \York, and, as a result of his negotiations, we made a certain offer to the :Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company. The company would not accept the offer made. The hon. membN for 1\Iount Morgan (1\Ir. Stoplord) wired to the Federal Government "'sking v.ould they do the same as the State Government-that, if they did, the mine \vould be reopened. The Federal Govermaent contemptuously refused. They said they had no money to assict in the reopenir.g of Mcunt ~dorgan. It We_s no concern of theirs to assist the wealth production of Queensland and to re-employ hundreds of men who were out of Pmployment. Yr·t hon. members opposite talk about the evils of unemploymr nt. This Government not only made that handsome offer for the reopening of :!\fount :iVIorgan but they reopened the Chillagoe smelting works and are working them at the present ii1ne, assisting the railway r;-·yenuo in that way, helping thousands of wrrk0rs and th<cir wives, and contributing to the \Yealth :f-, o­duction of the State.

I now desire to deal with the action of the Federal Goyernment in imposing a coal export embargo. I cannot understand whv the Federal Government did this. Just lately, as a result of the representations of the Colliery Employers' As,,ociation of Aus­tralia, thev removed that embargo; but thev had continued it long enough to depres"s seriously the railway revenue, and to keep thousands of miners out of work in Aus­tralia, where we have magnificent coal resourc;:,,, and where an export trade should be built up. The State Government were offering special facilities for building up an export trade, yet the Fcdc>ral Government stepped in with this embargo, restricting the export of coal in order to build up enormous supplies in Australia, so that they

can flog the coalworkers into submission and allow the great colliery propri<"tors to offer what wages they like. That embargo seriously affected our railway revenue.

Then, take the action of the Federal Government in investing approximately half a million pounds in timber and milling busi­r>uses in Queensland and immediately closing down the sawmills, throwing oqt of work hnndreds of men, and being responsible for the lm''' of thousands of pounds freightage to the Railway Department. Let hon. members opposite justify that aotion. · Fancy the Federal Government spending all that money and immediately closing down the .,awmills, throwing those men out of work, and making what was once a hive of industry a deserted cillage ! Further, we know that the Federal Government stated they could not find money for the "Cpper Burnett scheme, but they could fmcl money to ~ubsidise private specu­iators in \Yestern Australia. Here ,.-e have the Federal Government asserting that they want immigration and want Australia settled, - nd yet, with these mag·nificent lands in the Burnctt district and in the face of the grand report of their o·,., n officer whom they sent to Queensland, they refuse to advance us en•n at the rat.? of £500,000 a yrar to develop those resources. All these factors that I haYe mentioned-war rpactio,n, the Philp delegation, the refusal of the Federal Govern­ment to as ,ist in the reopening of Mount 1\lo"gan, the Fe.deral co;d-exporting embargo, and the action of the Federal Government in spending that enonnous sum in milling and timber bu,siness in Queensland and then closing dmYn the mills-ha,-e had a disas­trot. effect on our railwav revenue. ..._t\.s a result of that dcpreciati.on in revenue, 'Ye were fort+d to adopt the policy of adjust­ment to which I have referred. Hon. mem­bers opposite profess sympathy for the en1ployees who have gone. But hon. mem­Lers opposite arc not sincere ".Yhen they criti­ci.oe the Government for apportioning the number of employees to the \;ork available, because we know what their own journals say, and we know what the leader of the Opposition said on this matt0r.

:\lr. VOWLES: What did he say?

The SECRETARY FOR RAIL\L'I. YS: I will tell .'·ou. Let me quot.e first of all wli:at the Brisbane "TekS"raph ., said on 23rd February. 1921-

" Thirty-three per cent. is the popular rcckoniLg of the ovennanning in the rail­way ·c-n·ice at prc··ent. It may be a hal dship to v;·ecd out one 1nan in 8' ery three, r,nd not only clo this and make the utht!r i \Yu men do his work as \;:ell as their oll"n, but that is one of the celtai nties of the rail hay or any o tlwr busjnc~s undertaking.''

Then the '· Brisbane Courier " of 24th February. 1921, F:.tid-

" Subody can doubt the wisdom of reducing the service by one-third as suggrsted. ''

Then the ''Daily ~lail" of 2~th Oct·Jber, 1920, said-

" Our taxation is in1posed to foster ap army of State parasite"·."

Very c'omplimentary! Then the Brisbane ''Courier ' of 17th August, 1921, said-

" It is ~urely time that some Cabinet Minister sun11ned up enough courage to tell the Government employees that

Hon. J. Larcombe. J

232 Want of Cot\fidence Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence i11otion.

Queensland could do very well without them and that public funds must not be utilised to keep them in ea ·y employ­ment."

Now for the leader of the Opposition. Inter alia, speaking at Gatton, as reported in the "Queensland Times" of 4th October, 1920, he said-

" TlH•re were 3,000 men in the Railway Department doing unreproductive work.

'' A Voice : Doing nothing. " Doing nothing at all, Mr. Vowles

added. . . The Railway Department should not be a boneyo]ent institution.''

'Vhat is the significance in these remarks? Here is his opinion as to ho,,· we should deal with the rail 1'. a v servants-sack 6,000 employees 1 That is approximately one-third of the present employees.

Mr. VOWLES: Put them on reproductive works.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The " 11 clegraph " and the " Courier n suggest sacking one-thir·d of the employees in the railway service. That is approximately 6,000 employees. Heaven heip the railway employees if we follm><•d out a policy such as that ! The Opposition policy is brutal and callous and unsympathetic to a degree. Sack men in thousands and do what pri­yate entc.rprisc is doing ! What are the big commercial combinations doing for the employees of Queensland to-day? Take the big combinations o£ Australia and of Queensland in particular, and ~,vhat have they done? Thrown workers out of employment in thousand·-. Ha Ye they provided for them? :No;' they haYe adopttd a brutal, callous policv-a policy ag'ai:nst which hon. n1cn1bers oppo~ite have not 1·a-ised their voices in protest. Much has been said n bent a few hundred rnen having been ten~porarily put off in the Hailway Dcprrrtm~·1t, ·"chile priyate ( n1ployers have disn1is· cd thousands of n1en in Queen •la nd, and no p1·ovi~ion has been n1acle for thcjr wivc,., and children. Thev h~c been thru~t out like scrappcJ machinery, and no \Yord iu prol" '-'t fr JE1. l·'::Jn. 1nen1bcrs opposite! Hon. rne1nb._·rs opposite ought to be loud in their conde1nnation of the big combinations \vbich are SJ ruthlr,sslv thro\v­ing men ·on the lahour market of this State. There is another ph<tse of the policy of hon. members opposite. They would do what they did in 1902 and 1904-introduco a Rdrench­ment Act to reducJ the sa.lariL·s of the public servants and take £7 from the salary of a man earning £101 per y~ar. That was the policy of hon. members opposite then, and that is their policy to-day. I w><nt to deal with a further phase of 'the policy of hon. members oppoc:ite in dealing with unmnplo.v­ment. I noticB in the "BriPbane Conrier" of June, 1921, thcrL was a cable to this .effect-

" A further reduction of 5s. in railwaY 1nen's \vages involving £10,001\000 a yf'.ct~~ loss to ('mployces."

In '· Bri'-·i)anc C'0urier," .JunE.\ 1021, f"11 ~ tking of ... A .. nYrica-

" B~cduction in rail vi--aY mrn's ,~·n.grs of 12 ncr cent. im·o!vlng a 1oss of Jo' ).000,000.,

'' Stc~;d's 11agazine,'' July, speaking of England-

"Reduction in wages men, yearly loss .£14,000,000.,

[Hon. J. Larcombe.

affecting 1.000,000 approximately

The "Courier" of July, 1921, announcc,)l a further reduction of 15 per cent. in wages, and the ''Courier" of August, 1921, con· taim d the following :-

" The leader of the Op11osition (Mr. Gunn) F'lid: \Vhat we can't get out of our n1inds is that vou stated vou woulJ force down wages. V ~

" The Premier (Mr. Barwell) : And I will keep on forcing."

That is another phase of the Opposition's policy of dealing with unemployment--reduce wag·cs and keep on for>'inc' them down. If this polic:-· cf reducing v. ages \Yould curtail uncn1ployment, hovv is it that, where it was tried in AmL·rica and England, there are millions of unemployed? It has not minimised the difficulty in America or in Ew;land. \Ye find in 'the 'Cnitcd States of Amcric1, there arc n1orc 111en out of \\·ork than we have in the whole of Australia. \Vhat is the use of hon. members opposite arguing that a reduction of wages is the panacea of unernployment? It is not so.

liir. FnY: \Ve did not say it was the panacea.

Tlw SBC:HETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The slogan of hon. rncmbcrs oppo~ite is " R.eJ.uce wages and :vou will get en:tployrncnt."

OPPOSITION M~:llBERS: No! ::\o!

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: The hon. member for Bulimba said that }fr. Barwcll, the Premier of South Australia, had ·dealt with the indu"tl'ial situation in a statP,manlike way, and Mr. Darwell said that he v:as going to keep on forcing w·ages c!mYn.

Hon. \Y. H. BARXES: You know, a,c a. matter of fuct, that in our policy speech we said thero 'vas to be no retrenchn1r,:1t.

The SECRETARY FOR RAIL\YAYS: No retrenchment! And yet the hon. gentleman reduced the wages of thous·ands of men and sacked hundreds of men 1 He also worked men for long hours without any payment for OYC'rtilTIC'.

At three minutes to 9 o'clock p.m ..

The SPEAKER c .tid: Order! The hnn. member ho5 exhaustcJ the time allowed him under the Standing Orders.

Mr. KIR\'\~A='J (JJrisbant): We have all listnwd with considerable interest to this debate so far as it has progressed, and I want to call particular atteution to a state· ment made by the hon. member for Oxley the other night. That hon. member, in complimenting the hon. member for Mount I1Iorgan on his Yery fine statement of the ca~c of the miners in Mount Morgan, said that 1t ' as onl_v right and p1·oper that hon. memb.ers addressing the House ~lwuld take a h1gh plane in the debat 0 • Now, the high plane that he took was either to deliberately 1nisrcprosent, or, through incredible stupidity, to make a misstatement regarding the Anditor-Gmwral's report. The hon. member for Oxley said-

" \Ve have had an illustration in this House "·here the Auditor-General's report was deferred for some months pending the decisim: of a Federrrl election. \V e are told that the Auditor·General's report is pree"ntcd to _vou, Mr. Speaker, and, "\Yithout casting any insinuabons, I h8.ve reason to believe that, if it serves the purpose of the Government, there will be an unfortunate printer's error or some

Want of Confidence 11Iotion. [23 AGGUST.] Want of Confidence Motivn. 233

cause or means for deferring that Auditor-General's report l\ntil the Go­vernment's case has been put before the people."

·what sort of a reflection is that en the Auditor-General of this State'! VVhat sort of a reflection is it on you as Speaker of this House? The impression sought to be conveyed by the Opposition is that the Government withhold or use undue or

improper influcmce to prevent the [9 p.m.] Auditor-General's report reaching

this House when it should reach it. I find that the Auditor-General's report was presented to this House in 1912 on 6th October; in 1913 on 7th October; in 1914 on 20th October; in 1915 26th October; in 1916 on 7th November; in 1917 on 9th October; in 1918 on 2nd October; and in 1919 on 30th September. During the last two years I have mentioned it was presented earlier than it was under the Denham-Darnes Administration, and yet the hon. member for Oxley gets up and deliberately makes a rriisJt.atCinent.

Mr. FLETCIIER: V\'hat about 19201

Mr. KIRW AN: The hon. gentleman knows perfectly well that it could not be presented c:-trly last year because there 'vas 110 Speaker, ,,s the elections l 'ere on. 'i\Te ha ye hettrd a lot about the Land Acts Amendment Act, commonly called the ''Repudiation Act" by Opposition Pl'~''SS barrackers and supporters. It is rather strange that no hon. gentleman oppositD has quote-d any legal authority to prove that their vie''· of the position is correct •and is a fair otatement of the case. I intend to Cjnote the YiC\Ys of the late Sir Samuel Griffith, whof:,~ Yic,vs as a constitu­tional lawyer c:1.nnot lJJ questioned even by the hon. mc.mh'l' for Logau, not t~ mentio~ the leader of the Opposition. The late Sir Samuel GrifLth said, when dealing with the question of the rights of Parlianlent-

" It is the fa·hion to blk of the rights of proper!.~--. Dnt, accurctcl7 speaking, I conceive that it is onl" of men that arF rig-hts can be prcdirt;d. As was lately pointed out b::· Lord Chief Justice Cole~ ridge, the l .ws of properb· are merely a conventional f' rrangcmer;t c . ..:tabli~hed by nations in accordance with such prin­ciples as, fro1n time to time, seen1 most expedient and rtdvantag-cous for the cmnmu:nitf at large. And, Gs ho also points out, the same authority that estab­lished tlwse arrang< ments m a: from time to time, alter them. if a chan'ge appears to be beneficiaL The onlv underlving rul" of natural rig-ht appears to be' the fundamental truth thett the products of a man's labour are his o;1n, All beyond this is conventional and arbitrary.''

I am sure no hon. g-entleman opposite will queotion the bte Sir S'tmuel Griffith's opinion on a matter affecting the constitution or the rights of Parliament. The hon. member for Port Curtis, in the course of his address, said that the conditions of the workers had in1provod, and enorn1ous advantage~ hacl been vained in recent ye'Lrs by them. I do not dispute that statempnt. The workers have gained those advantages through their industrial organisations .and by consistent and persi~tcnt agiL•tion, a:1d, in spitn of the hon. gentlemen opposite, I v. ant to call par­ticular attention to the- old age pension as a case in point which •;;as mentioned bv the hon. member. If the hon. member 'looks up the records of this House, he will find

that the first resolution moved in connectior: with old age• pensions was moved in 1898 by a member of the then Labour party, and for ten years the advisableness of introduc­ing old age vensions was discus•ed on the floor of this House. If that was a plank of the party to which hon. members opposite Lelonged, why was it not adopted?

Hon. v\T. H. DARNES: Your party did not pass the Old Age Pensions Act.

Mr. KIRW A?<J: I know the hon. gentle­man did not pass it; he opposed it on the floor of this House for ten years.

Hon. vV. H. BARNES: \Ye did pass it.

:\Ir. KIR\VAN: The hon. gentleman came into this House about 1901, and it was a Jtrange thing that the party that he was associated with did not put the principle into oper;,tion if it was .a plank of their party. I attended a civic reception by his worship the ma0·or to Mr. Andrew Fisher on his return to this State from England, where he rPpresented the Commomw alth as High Commissioner, and I listened to the leader of the X ationalist party congratu­lating 1\Ir. Fisher on having established that · plendid institution-the Commonwealth Bar1k. \Y'hen that n1easure was introduced by Mr. Fisher, the daily Press of the State and the Commonwealth, nnd hon. gentlemen a··,ociated with the party o1Jposite in the Federal Parliament, scoffed and j'Cered at that particular measure. They said, " The very idea of a Labour Government composed of men who were mechanics and sh"arers and miner' dealing with this great and might·: question of finance ! How dare you c 'tablish a Commonwealth Dank ! That must be left to private enterprise. If this note issue which you propose to introduce is brought into being and becomes an estab-1 ished fact, you will be able to buy these Fisher's flimsi0s (c~s they called them) for half a crown a basket.,

Hon. VV. H. BARNES: Who established the note issue?

Mr. KIR\Y"~N: It does not matter who c- tablished it. I am telling the hon. member the facts of the position and he cannot deny the;,!. I am quoting from Federal " Hansard." I cannot give the page, but I 'vill undertake to give £10 to the Children's Hospital if what I say is prm·ed to be incorrect. What is the position in r0gard to all reform measures? They are opposed by the Tory party until they can oppose them no longer. I am prepared to prophesy that it will not be many years before the hon. gentlemen opposite will be t<>lling the electors of Queensland, " \',' e passed the odult suffrage for the local authority elec­tions." Everybody knov,s, as far as refonn mecsures a re concerned, ,,-hether adult suffrage or old age pensions, or any other great social reform, that they are due entirely to the workers, and in support of my 'tatemc nt I will quote the late Right IIon. W. E. Gladstone-

:;:vir. FLETC'HER: Your Governn1cnt has not ·brong ht .any of them in.

::\Ir. KIRW AX: ~.fr. Gl>edstone said-" I petinfull~· reflect that in almost

CYer:• political controversy of the last fift•: y0ars, the leisured cla'scs, the <'clucated classes, the wealthy classes, the titled classes, have been in the wrong. The common people, the toilers, the men of uncommon sense, the<e have been

Mr. Kirwan.]

234 TVant of Confidence ]!lotion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Cm·fidence Motion.

responsible for nearly ~ll the social reform measures which the world ac,,epts to-day."

;:{o one can question that Mr. Gladstone was a man of considerable observation in the period in which he lived. We arc serioush· told by hon. gentlemen opposite that i't would be advisable, in the interests of a great body of the electors of Queensland, for them to take charge of the Treasut"' benches. \Ve might just as well. find out who these people are to whom tt ts suggested the reins of Government should be handed over and for thi~ particular p_urpose I intend 'to quote entirely from thmr own newspapers. I will quote the "Brisbane Courier" and Melbourne "Ag:."-~he latter with respect to their com­patnots m the Federal Parliament. The Melbourne "Age" of 23rd February 1921 says- ' '

" The nan_1e, ' N ationali;:;t,' now sug­gests a spcctcs of sordid political huck­stering and vulpine political craft. The Commonwealth ' Nationalist' Government o_ffers no h_adership, it gives no inspira­tton; it flouts the public will· it substi­tutes i:1dividual s~lf\shness for public sptr1t; tt helps to dcc.trov faith in demo-cratic in:':ltitutions." ·~

Deo.ling v- ith the Country partv, the 'a me journal, on 16th June last, said::_

" The Cou:r;try party can1c into tlv! House. shouhng econo1ny, figuratiYcly SJlf.abng-, at the top of its Yoic:. It vowed tha_t the continual appointment o£ htgh-salaned new oflicials to live bv the producers and "\YOrkcrs' labours umu(t com_c to a .• udden stop. \\'hen ever a cr1s1s h"ls seemed itnminent it has con1c meekly behind Ministers, and the crerction of s1necure'"; goes on more n1errily than bclore . '' ·

No;v we come to the " Brisba.nc. Courier,'' ana surely hon. _members opposttc ~annat object to a quotalton from that organ-

Mr. 1\lOl:GAX intcrj ccted. Mr. KIRWA'\r: It is the businc's of hon.

rne!nberB- opposite \Yhen th•y are discussing a " no~confidence " motion to discu3s it intel­ligently. I believe I could deliver a better indictment than the leader of the Opposition has done. (Opposition laughter.) The "Courier.'' in a leading article on 22nd January, 1919, under the heading "National­i:,t Organis~'tion," dcs,cribed the party whose banner l\1:r. rra2, lor is carrying to-day as " the body of malcontents and reactionaries which recently rechristoncd itself the Austra­lian Democratic Union." In the same artic1e ~he following truthful and scathing dc·ocrt ptton of them a pp ears-

" Had the demands of the National Democratic Union prevailed, hfld the party of has-boons, reactionaries, and others associated with Mr. 3\Iaca.rtney ~een successful in their queer schemes, tt would havo been a case over again of the :·oun,; lady of Ni;:;er who went for an adventurous ride. The Democratic Union tige_r, which apparently can swal­low anythmg, would not have suffered ev~n a twinge of indigestion."

(Laughter.) A gentleman bv the name of Yl:r. Hall, writing from Eumundi to the "Brisbane Courier," of 19th February, 1919, state,-

" AUSTRALIAN DERELICTS' 'G KION.

"To the Editor, "Sir,-Thc A.D.U. (lation) Macartney

movement, or Australian Derelicts' 'Cnion,

[Mr. J{inuan.

seems to have a peculiar system of organisation. It is flooding tlw State with a leaflet setting forth its objects, and stating that if ' ten citizens of a liko o]Jinion to yours are prepared to join the branch in your locality, we will send an organiser,' etc. A stamped envelope is enclosed for a reply. What a waste of tirne. energ~v. a.nd money? If ten citizl'llS ar0 of the san1c opinion as mvsclf in this district, then they will jom not the disgruntled politicians m· hutnpty-dumpty's society, but endcav6ur to form a league to afliliate with that live organisation, the National PolitiC!al Council."

I think they \Yore properly described as the "Austi~alian D-erelicts' Union," as they include the remnants of the old Tory party, the Country party. the Country Liberal par-ty, the Liberal Progressives, and of all other parties b,- whatever names they have been known. rrhey rcn1ind one very rnuch of the crin1inal court, where YOU sometimes sec a \\ dl-knm.-n cdminal charged under about Lcll-a-dozen diffcrc•1t l,ames. If the policy Df hon. n1cmbers opposite \vas one \Yhich was for the bcneftt of tho country, and they had any faith or confidence in it, they would stick to their name. \Vhatever may be said of this party, we were the Labour party in the earlv nineties and during the war, and \YC are 'to-day, and I trmt will be in the future.

I want to make reference to the attitude adopted by hon. mc1nbor" oppm~it(~ and b~r tbc Prc ·S which support-, thcn1 in 1x ''ln1irching the credit of the St "tc.

_._t\t fifteen rrdnutc, past 9 o'cl{wk p.rn. :!\lr. l'oLLOCK reiicved the SI'EAKER in the

chair. 3'\lr. KIR \V Al\": It is imporbnt to quote

th.e fo1lo,Ying cxtrart fro1n a leadir:g article in the "Daily Jl.iail" of 5th June, 1915:­

,, THE STEKIXG FISH l'AHTY.

" Some years a go there y, as a part:-" in Australia whirh nH:1dc a profes~ion of d<";rving even thing Australian. That party was for 'e,-er holding up the Cow­nlonwealth as a 1nonstrou,.:; illustrat!on of bar1 govcrnn1cnt. of S~)oilation, of gross n1otcria1isn1, and contempt for the refine~ lHl'~:t ancl d. u~nci,_~s of iifc. If the rl'Yenuc fell short, there \Yas u gloat of satisfaction that the ill-omen• d prophe­cies of sour-fa-cr-'d Cassandra \YCrc con1ing trup, Capitalists in Great Britain were \\·;u~ned not to put n1oncy into ..L\ud ... a­lia. becau~e it was a country of thrcatene,J bankruptcy and po~sible repudiation. Ct.~rtaiu States in ..:.\n1erica ar·e on the black lid of Enrop;,an finaL..i:l! centres because thev have rot fulfilled their loan obligations." Australian borrowings were frequently deccribod as re:"ting on a. more insecure foundation than tho waste paper debcnturd of defaulting bondholdet'. rrhe Conscrv,"tivc faction in Parliu1nent

-b,1cked up b;;- its towel-holders in the Press-that thus vilified Australia was knm,n as the 'stinking fish party.' \Vo t-hought that pa.rty dead and buried, but a leading article in our Conservative contemporary :·esterday h:>s revealed the fact that he can still raise u n1ournful wail and point a tremulous finger at disaster to Australia merely to gratify his spleen against popular movements that have for their obj,ct the uplifting· of the people. "

Want of Confidence llilotion. [23 AUGUST j Want of Confidence 2vlotion. 235

The "Dail,· ::vrail" could publioh that article ngain to-morrm,. morning, and it would apply aptly to the Opposition. To prove that what I say about this continual defaming of Queensland is correct, we have only to take tbe Prince's visit last year. Certain high influenci"S in :!\lelbournc endeavoured to prevent the reprr,entative of the Britioh Cro1Yn fron1 ron1ing to this St::ttc. l-Ie \Yas told that his life yvould not be safe for five '"inutc, in this place; that he would meet a lot of Bolsheviks, in Yvhose company it would be highly dang· rous for him. to be found. I remember that the mormng he left Brisbane he said to the Lieutenant-

. Governor that he re(rrettcd verv much leaving Queensland. and f.~id. '; ~Iy~ rer:0ption in Qw>r>nsland ha~ been en'Lirely different frolu what I wes lc>d to believe it would be." \\"l>o lc>d the Prince to believ-e this? It was h Jn. rru:nnbcrs opposite, and their Prt\5s, which is continuallv defaming this State. Tlw hon. member foe Kurilpa presided at a dinner the other night, and I quote the fol! Jwir;g from the " Daily :Ylail" of 6th AL:gu,,t la-,t:-

" 'VRO);'"G l~JPREfl.SIO"K.

'· f-:0-CTIIrn~; YIEW Of QCEEKSLAXD.

" Delegates attending the ~ustralian Optometrical Congrec, v;ere. the !!"~ests of the Institute of Ophth11lnnc Opbewns of Queensland ,~"t. a dinner and social in Finncv's Roof G-on·den Cafe lr:st evening, the pi'csidcnt (:\Ir. J. P. Fry, M.L.A.) rresiding.

"Mr. J. K. Cumborland. a Victorian <ldegate. p·oposed ' City of Brisbane.' He said that from reo-dmg the consen-a­tive :\1:clbonrne newspapers people in th" South were given a 1vrong in1_pre, siun of Quecnsbnd and Brisbane. The visitors had expected to sec revolntions near! y everv minute of the day. He had been almOst. pG1"2nacled, in fact, to bring along a couple of revolvers. (Laughter.) As a r12sult of his Brisbane experiences: he could sa·. that tho impressions that existed ir"l the South regarding Qucens­L.tnd \vero ill correct.''

'That shows the impression which is conveyed to the people in the South. Quite rccc ntly I had the privilege of conducting some Vie· tc.rian vi-;itors through the Parliamentary Buildi!lgs. Amongst the party were a couple of ladies. In the tour round the buildings, Queensland c1n1c up for discus.si0n, and one of the ladies said she would like to see on~ <Jf those Bolshevik Labour men she had hear-d eo much about. (Laughter.) When I assured the ladv that she saw before hor one of tloe people' she wished to scc-(laugh· ter)-0 ou can quite imagine th11t she wished the flonr would open and swallow her, as she •Ecit very uncomfortable. (Renewed laugh-

In support of my prcYious stat0ment, quo V: from the " Dail:: :!'llail," of the

l ~th August of this year-" To r '1Inmemorate the official opening

of the Southern Cro<SR Assuran<.>J Com­pany, Limited, in BrisLane. J\lr. '1\ .T. Confoy, founder and managing director, entertained about fifty business and pro­f-,.::sional 111en at dinner in Lennon's Hotel last eyening.

"Mr. Confoy, who presided, related the experiences in forn1ing the organisa­tions in Sydney and .Melbourne. He confessed that when he c:ame to Queens-

land he had some dcubts, as people had told him that the State was practically in an insolYent condition. He found that it was not insolvent 'o far as the Southern Cross Assurance Company was concernGd. Queensland had been allotted 50.000 shares, and at that early stage that numbc,· had been exceederl by 20.000. 'rhat dav one of the diredors had "'2ilt in a propos.1l for £1,000. The Southern Cross was going to be the insur· ance company in Queensland. They had started on the campaign of £20,000, but that had o;ince been increased to £40,000. In two da:Ts, £19,300 worth of new busi­ness had been written, which he thoug-ht \vas a "\vorld' s record."

That is not a statement by a Labour paper m by a Labour sp£:<kor, but by a gentle­man who came up to organise that company. Members opposite oay that the policy of the Government has ruined the State; but -.,·hat is the position r;ow' I have here some par­ticulars of companies registered in Qu"ens­Jand and the increa::;cs in capital, \vhich I have taken from the financial columns of the •· Dai1y 11ail" and '; BrLbane Courier," frorn 11th February to 29th October, 1920. after the passing of the alleged " Repudiation Acto" From 11th February, 1920, to 29th October. 1820, eighty-eight companies were registered in Queensland with a total capital of £5,253,000. During the same period sixty· six compani<·· increased their capital by £4.580,650. From 9th K overn ber, 1920, to 13th Ang·ust, 1921 (since the la·t State general election), eighty-hvo con1panic"" ''\"81'8 regis­tered in Que•cnsland, with a iota! capital of £~,364,600. During the same period twenty­three companies increased their capital by £2,442,000. The summary of this shows that from 11th February, 1920, to 13th August, 1921, the grand totals arc :-Knmber of com­panies registered, 170; C".pital, £9,617,000. Nun1bcr of f'ornpanies w.hosc capital waR increased, eighty-nine; capital, £7.022,650. Grand total: cmnpanics. 259; iiapital, £16,639.650.

Hon. \V. H. B .RxES: They do not nnder­stand the po,ition.

Mr. KIR\VAN: The hon. gc.1tleman and his iirm anderstand the position, because they are spending £200,000 on a building which they are erecting down the V alley. (Gove1·nment laughter.) A study of the fore­going figures ~liscloses the fact that the smallest company registered represented a ea pi tal of £2,000, Yvhereas t.hc largeBt repre­sented a capital of £500,000. .\ similar stui':y of the incnq,ses in capital shows that the smallest increase registered was £1,000, and the largest £750,000.

It is absolute!·· neces.--arv that we should dcmonstratcl that the people who have got the money, and who do not earn their living by swinging picks in raihvay cqttings or dch·ing in the bowels of the earth at Mount ~.Iorgan for £3 a week, haYing shown their good j nflg-n1rnt and busjnc ~-::; acun1cn to accu­mulate what is called capital, and, having accumulated it, do not intend to let it lie idle. They do not believe one word of what is mid bv hon. members opposite, and they do not· believe what the "Courier" say>. I will show presently that the hon. member for \Varwick does not believe that the country is going to the dogs. The head of a big Sydney wholesale firm, in the course of an mterview by G.M.D. with regard to the

Mr. Ilirwan.J

236 Want of Confidence Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidmce 1vlot.'on,

Queensland Government loan (as reported in the "Daily Mail" of 12th February, 1921), mid-

" Look hero, we send nearly £100,000 \Yorth of stuff to Queensland storekeepers every year, and it is little shOTt of remarka blo the small number of ba:d debts we incur in your State. I only wish the storekeepers in Xew South \Vales and the other States were as solvent as yo~rs."

G.JH.D. is the gentleman who organised the State loan. He says-

" The head of another great Australian firm Ydlich has not always seen eye to eye .,,vith events in Queensland assured 1ne that he had cabled the London head­quarters urging them to throw their weight in behind the loan, which he Cc)nsidered was absolutelY essential for the development of the St~ate, and, more­over, was a fair, honest proposition.

"Another famous retail establishment in the South told me it was only a matter of time before they themselves would launch out in Queensland, so satisfac­tory had they found their mail order businoes with Queemland citizens. I told them that thcv y. ou!d ha ye to look to their laurels if t'hey hoped to compete YYith the many splendid retail establish­ntent", we already had in our main cities.

"Coming back in the train I sat next to a gentleman who left here years ago and has now come back horn the United State~ to. launch a £50,000 proposition m this city. 'I have -ccn manv coun­b"ies since I left here' he said 'but there is no place like Q~teensland, 'and it Y\lll do me to sink my capital in.' "

Mr. ELPHr,;sTOKE: He will sink it all right. (Opposition laughter.) '

l\Ir. KIRW AN: I would like to ask the hon. member for Oxley if it is not a fact that the Darra cement 'vorks have been increased in capacity, -and have increased their output since~ thi,c; Governn1ent came into po-\\' -,r, and that additional capital for the company bas been readily subscribed? Does the hon. member for Oxley think that ~he people are fools to spend their money m that way? I have a list here of firms who have been extending their businesses lately.

'' vVATSON, FERGUSOK, AND CO~IPANY, LBIITED.

"The whole of the new issue of 12 000 ordinary special sharP,, guaranteed 'not less than 10 per cent. per annum for fiYo years, recently issued by \Vatson, Ferguson, and Company, Limited, have been fully subscribed and allotted. ('Daily Mail,' 9-3-21.)"

Fancy 10 per cent under a Labour Govern­ment!

" Henry J\1onteith and Company, as broke;·s for the flotation, advise that the issue of £100,000 8 per cent. preference shares of Alexander Stewart and Sons Limite-d, recentl,1· offered to the public: has now b~on completed, the shares being oversubscmbed. It is understood that the whole subscription was made in Brisbane. ('Courier,' 4-7-21.)"

[.Mr. ]{ inuan. -

"INCREASE OF CAPITAL-AL:STRALIAN GLASS MANT:FACTTJRING CO}IPAKY.

"Recently the Australian Glass Manu­facturing Company. Limited. proposed to make an issue of 150,000 9 per cent. accumulative preference shares. As a result of the large numbn· of applications coming in, it was decided to increase the­proposed issue to 175,000. Messrs. A. H. Hudson and Son, sharobrokers, Brisbane, received advice yesterday morning that applicatiOns had been received for 750,000 of thc•e shares, although the prospectus has not yet been issued. A large number of shares were applied for by Queensland inve~torA.

" In audition to the Brisbane works, the company has factories in Sydney, Mel­bourne, Hobart, and Adelaide. The pre­sent capital is £500,000, of which: £445,000 in £1 shares i, issued. All the­present shares are 01·dinar;·, and the divi­dend paid for the financial yf·ar ended March last was 10 per cent.

" The fact that the proposed issue was so largely ovorsubscrib. cl before the issue of the pro3pectus is an indication that there is money available for attractive industrial enterprises. i' Daily Mail,' 9-7-21.),

" The Cloncurry correspondent of the 'Daily :Mail' v:rites on 16-4-21 :-'Mr. Corbould, who has left Cloncurry for Brisbane. on route to Eng·land. state'C! that he intends raising £1.000,000 so as to enable the :Haunt E!liott Company to erect ccnb·al works in the Cloncurry dis­trict t" treat 1,000 tons of copper ore­daily.'"

In the ·'Daily :Mail" a fe•Y days ago : ppearcd a cabicgram which stated that Mr. Corboukl was going to r;et £1,000,000 cf En,.;lish money and also a large amount Df ..-\.mcrican n1oney for invcsh11ent. Do "ou: think that I\.Ir. Corbould is a fool for investing his 1noney in that \Vay?

:\Ir. ELPHINSTOKE: It is because the Labou· Government will be defeated before he get­back.

l\Ir. KIR\VA;\1 : Then, in reg-ard to the Queen-street extension to Finney's ne'v build­ing, the "Daily JYiail" of ~- fe1v da:rs ago ht~{] the fo 11ov;ing:-

" Fm:<:EY's NEw BciLDIKG.

" QuEEN-STREET ExTE,;siON.

" Asked vesterdav afternoon by a 'Daily Mail" represo'ntative as to whether the announcement of building operations by his co1npany 1vas a sequence of Satur­day's polling rcoults, Mr. IY. J. Coatos, ch::<irn1an of directors of Fin7lcy, Isles, and Company, Limited, laughing!:· replied that the move had been contemplate-d for some tin1c, and was not in any 1Yay con­nected with the result of the poll. ' It is just that we have been able to secure the block of land adjoining our QuEen-street prc1njsos and our growing . businc'·' demands that ·we should provde more room for our departments,' he said.

"' \Ve wantEil this site when we built in Queen street in 1909, but it was not then for sale, and we contented ourselve< with the site that carries our main building. Then in 1911 we were forced to extend, and bought the Robertson-

Want GJ Confidence 111otion. [23 AUGUST.]

• Want of Confidence Motion. 237

Tait block in Adelaide street, where we remodelled the building and have since housed the furniture showrooms, furni <h­ing drapery, trayelling goods, tobacco, hairdressing, and other department,. Now we have <-?cured the Nissen-Marble Bar bled< in Queen strE'?t. and we will 1wve the opportunity of squaring up our building· and making it easy to work. As tb old Robort'cm-Tait building will be outside our main building, the com­pany i3 considering the .disposal of a portion of it. Efficient working calls for eonsolidation of ·departments-so, too, does the rnonnting taxation,' said n-Ir. Coates.

" ' The n<'" building will be given over almost entirelv to our n1en's departments, though some 'thought has been given to an exh nsion of the ca£8, ·which, we are assured. would be popular. Our prossing need, ho1vever, is to provide extra roon1 for our drapery and clothing depart­!UPUtF.' added l\Ir. Coa tcs.

"There will be a large number of Qucen.O:.md. rs who will welcome this announc._~ment b:v Finncy, Isles, and Company. Limited."

Allan and Stark arc also getting up-to-date plans for light and ventilation in connection with a new block of buildings they are going to erect i.n Qu.een street to cover an acre of land. V\~ e also read a letter in the paper from Sir Robcrt Philp when be went to England, in which be said that be was going to endeavour to get the owners of a woollen mill to start a big mill in Queensland.

l-Ion. W. H. BARNES: I thought you said be damaged the crorlit of Queensland?

Mr. KIRWAN: I leave it to the public of QuE'enslancl to ju<dge between this GDvern­r,ent and the party opposite. In a full page

adYcrtiseinent in the " Daily [9.30 p.m.] }iail" in connection ''"itb the

flotation of the firm of Br<lle and Company, of which the Hon. T. 1'11. Hall, a 1nember of the Council next door--

Mr. ELPHIXSTON'E: A good fellow, too.

Mr. KIRWA:-.;: Yes, and a gentleman who is ne ;er tl red of rrying " stinking fish"; yet h·_' pu' his signature to this-

" The original vendors arc rl tai11ing the majority of the shares in the com­pany. a proof of their confidence in the stabilitY and prospects of businc os m Queensland.''

I find that !be sale of pianos increased from £39.000 in 1917 to £49.000 in 1918 and £53.000 in 1919. so that evidently people \>2re able to save enough rnonev to instal n1ore nianos than under the Dcnliam-Barncs Administra­tion. The "Doilv Mail" also has tbi.o paragraph- •

"The nnn1ber. size, and architectural bPauty of the buildings of any large ci':y rnu~t bt~ the first attraction to tl1e ordinarv Yi8-itor: to a 1nan of busincs3 it is the· rrincipal ba;:;is on 'vhich he ralcuJatl?s. the extent of its con1n1ercial prOSl_;erit~·. In recent years 1nany o_·nate and ,·aluablc building-s ha Ye been erected in Br],,lJane ~ son1e are nov; buildin6 and others are rcmtemplate-d."

.\nd then it goes on to specify particular building·s, amongst which reference is made h the regi;tration of Barnr-' Limited, Albert Cba~mb<>rs, Albort street, with a

capital of £200,000, with the following objects-

" 'To purchase fronl Barnes and Com­pany Limited, of ·warwick am! Brisbane, certain lands in the city qf Bris1_}ane, together with all tl1ose h·ick shops, buildings, and other improvements thercon otnd to CC' ·1struct, furniBh, and equip ~ drapers' emporium on the said land, and to cstabli ;h and carry on in such emporiun1 01~ else,vhere the business of wholesale and retail merchants, -drapers•, house furni,bors and uphol­sterers, Inercers." etc.

In opposition :o 1\lc\Ybirters J_,imited, T. C. Beirno and Company Limited, Fay and Gibson ! Those hon. 1non1bers v.-ould not put a tlollar into the firm of Barnes and Company Limited, if thee' -did not sec another -dollar in the near future. (Laugh­t·•r.) Perish tJw thought! And :·et they are never tired of decrying this State and saymg that the GoYcrnment's policy has had " ruinous, effect, whereas since the Government came into po,ver more business pren1ises and more houses lmve been erected than under anv other Government. If the statements of ~hon. rnembers opposite \\ f're correct, how woul-d they explain the fact that from 1915 to 1919 the deposits in the trading banks have increased from £27,369,725 to £36.824,943 -an increase of £9,455,218? The hon. mem­ber for Bulimba once said that the barometer of this State was the GoYernment SaYings Bank. He was rig.ht fm· once in his life. In 1915 the dep_osits in that bank were £10,633,856, and in 1919 they bad increased to £14.322,146, so that the wage-earners wore able to increase their deposits by £4,187,280.

Hon. vV. H. BARXES : 'Where is the ~)ucons­land Savings Bank now'!

Jl,h. KIRWAN: The Commonwealth Bank have got it, because hon. members opposite organised runs on the St<ate SaYings Bank. That was one r<-Json, at any rate, for band­ing it over to the Commonwealth. I hnve here a table showing the divi-dends pa1d by the banks in Quc>ensland for the year ended 3Gtb. J uno, 1920. taken f·.-om the " Insurance and Banking Record." The total is £979,020, and the cliYidends range from 4 per cent. to 18 per cent. A l::ank lbat can make 18 ]Wr cent. in Queensland is not doing- too badly.

Among other things, this Government have been accused of extravagance. The burden of the v·ail of t.he hon. member for Nanango, who opened the debate this afternoon, was that the Government wore not more extra va­gant. He wanted to k1.0w why they were noi building rhe Murg-on-Proston line. Last ycar I listened carefully to the discussion on the Estimatpg, and " Hansard" will bear 'ntness to the truth of the statement that not a solitary rrtember cpposife rose in his place who did not advocate more expendi­ture. WhiL~ they charge the Goycrnment \vith cx.tran1gance, every one of them iR pleading with some JYlinister for thB oxpen· diture of more money.

Mr. G. P. BAm;ICs: Spend it properly.

Mr. KIRWAN: As did the Federal Go rernn1ent, in buyin;::·· timber mills and ,!Jutting- them up. 01: as they did on tbB war service homos-you have onlv to get into some of them to see daylight ~ll round.

An OPPOSITION MEMBER: Day labour J

Jfr. Kirwan.]

238 TV ant of Confidence JJ1otion. [ASSETIIBL Y.] Want of Confidence }\lotion.

J\fr. KIRWA:'\: Ko; contract. OnlY the other day a wcman \vas preparing hcf hus­band's meal in the kitchen in one of l'hem ,,·hen she fell through th<> floor. although they had been in only a fortnight. (La.ugh· ter.) If anybod:.· is entitle·d to a decent home it is the n1cn for -...vhon1 hon. n1e1nbers op­posite said nothing was too goo 1, but thcv arp exploited by the contractors and other;. and given inferior honscs. I do not deny that the Govcrnm<mt have raised extra taxa­tion: I say they were J nstificd. But where has it gone?

Mr. G. P. BARNES: \Yhat about the £250,000 you H·ere going to save?

Mr. KIRWAN: \Vhen the hon. member cives me a chance, I shall be able to demon­sh·ate where I can n1ake good n1y word; but while I am a private member I have not the opportnni ty.

'Mr. G. P. l3AHNES: They put you on a Royal Commission.

1\lr. KIR\VAI\: And I ha;-c had the pleasure of seeing the n1ajority of our recon1mendations carried out, \vhich is n1ore than can be said of the Commissions ap­pointed by the Federal Government. I find that the increases. ""''ngcs, ctc, amount to no less than £731.003 in the Public Scnice; increase to SaYing-s Bank staff, £31,468: to the railways. £1.520.697; or a grand total of £2,283.168. \Yhat the people want to knmY is what hon. members are going to do to get rid of what they call extravagance.

1 rr. Dc:xsT.\K: Reduce .all those wages.

:\Ir. KIRWA?\' Of course thev would. .\,k Pny old pnLlic servant what 'the;; did in 1902.

:\,fr. G. P. BAI{\'"ES: Raihvay mc_n all along the line .arc a~king what you are going- to do.

:::>Ir. KIR\YAK: The Secretary for Rail ways pointed oqt what hon. n1e~bers oppo­~itc woul,·l do to the railwaymen if they got mto po:,cr--thcy \.\ould sack 3,000 and reduce the "age .. of the rest. Hon. gentlemen oppo­site oppose the Arbitration Court so far as the public service is concerne·d; they would not grant to the public servant the right to form unions and approach ;l;linisters with their c-ricyances. It is a fair thing to assume after -the criticism the other night of th~ hon. member for Oxley and his speech last oyening before a certJ_in Liberal organisa­tion, tha~, ~o. far as that party arc concerned, the Arb1trat10n Court muct gu. Although the Country party havo arbitration as a 11lnnk in their platfonn, we know their sup­porters do not want the A_rbitration Court, and would abolish it. I will give a very appropriate illustration of the condition of the public senice in Victoria under a Liberal Ail.ministration. This is tak~n from the "1Ielbourn;c Age" of 16th ) .. ugust, 1919-

., Recently the Minister of Education was obliged to listen to the tale of a shirt-a very much ovcrworn shirt rescued from tho. duster box and brought again mto scrnce to protect a female teacher from the cold. The storv was vouched for by a member of the" deputation of teacher<. Yesterday's post brought to the Director of Education a pair of corsets. The linen coYcring that had ~11any times encircle·d a. supple waist hung m stnps from the steel busks. Accom­panying the corsets was a note stating that they represented the lingerie of an

[iiir. K1:rwan.

nnforb·~ate junior teacher, who had iingerc l in the service of the department on a miserable salary. \Yhether the corsets repre~cntcd the 'full extent of the yourg lad:. 's \vardrobe of liugcri0 was not explained. The department probably ,, cmld help her, but it is unable to do so. u tho sender modcstlv \\ ithholds all information as to her id~ntity."

Tlut shows the condition of tho Victorian teachers, who cannot get sufficient salary to buy the ordinary clothing ladies arc entitled ~o we'.'r. I am satisfie·d the average lady IS entitled to make herself look decently rcsp,dablo and be properly dressed. She certainly cannot do so if she has to wear the old shirt of her brother or eomcbody else. (Laughtel'.)

\Ye have heard the condemnation of hon. members opposite in regard to S'tate enter­prises. There can be no two opinions as to the polic;· of that party if they were succcs" ful in getting on to the Treasury benches. The:· .,,·ould obey the behests of the powers that subscribe to their campaign funds, whose poliC'~\~ is "No State enterprises." VVe have evidence of that in the "Daily Mail," which !;UJS-

" The Nationalists arc out to banish for all time the mischievous interference of the Labour Government in such matters as State butchers' shops, cattle stations. and insurance. \Vhether these misguided •!ntcrprises be profitable or not in State hands he,s no bearing on the subject. Thev are commerciallv immoral and anti-Lib~ral'' ,

The hon. memb<cr for Dalby had something to say about soldJCr settlements. I am not surpri2ed at the manner in which the hon. gentleman treated the no·confidenc,e motion. You cannot imagine the possibility of the hon. member becoming Premier of Queens­!sncl. He went to a banquet the other night, in connection with the , ixth annual congress of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial League, at the united Service Institute room·,. The ordinary well-informed man in the street knows it is !Kt etiquette to discuss politics or controversial subjects in the presence of representative' of the King. But that did not worry the leader of the Opposition. After Brigadier-General J. H. Cannan had proposed "The State Parliaments," this is what happened-

" Mr. W. J. Vowlr:s, M.L.A. (leader of iho Country party). in responding, con­demned the Bal·d Hills settlement. He remarked that he thought the time wa•l con1ing when there "·ould be a change of Government in Queensland. In con­nection with the Burnett scheme, he stressed the ncccssi ty for ensuring that gocJ Yalue was rereiYed for ever:y pound sp~nt on the construction of railways, etc. There must be n.o go-slow policy.

"J\Ir. C. Taylor, (leader of the Nation· alist party), as a member of the Land Settlement Committee, defended the work of that body, and proh•'.ted that there was only one ]411Suitable block at Bald Hills, and the holder thereof was to rcceiye another farm elsewhere. All the other settlers there were satiofied with their proopects. He referred to the fact that 85 per cent. of the men who took up land on soldiers' settlements had ncl\·er been on the land before."

There is no need for me to S"-Y anything about soldier settlements. The hon. member

[23 AUGUST.] Wnnt of Conjtdcnce IVIot:on. 239

for Windsor wiped the floor with tho ho'L the loader of tho Oj!position on that occasion. (Laughter.)

Reference has been made by the hon. member for Lcichhardt-and very rightly so -to the money po"·er. Hon. members oppo· site laughed it off. Some of them pretemled to ridicub it; othcrc attempted to scoff at it. There is no gainsaying the fact that one of the outstanding features of tho groat war has been the extra power that has accrued to tho money power. It. is more arrogant to-day than ever it was, and Governments in the majority of countries are simply its instru­ments and can·v out its policy. \Yhy is th1s Governme1t as·ailed to-day, defame·d right throughout Australia, :tnd misrepresented in Britain? Because the Premier refused to bow the knee, as Roosovolt did in America to the money powC:'r.

An 0PPOSITIO;-.; MDIBER : Mr. Storey took warning from JYlr. Theodore's reception.

Mr. KIRIVA~: I am not here to diseuss Mr. Storey. I leave him and his party to the electors of New South Wales. All I can say is that, if :Wr. Storey had adopted the same attitude as was adopted by the Premier of this State, he would not have got 9,000,000 coppers. The delegation which went home from this State represented the money power of this Commonwealth. It is a well-known fact thEtt Sir Robert Philp is one of the big money kings-that he is connected with one of the groat trusts that comprise that particular power in Australia.

Hon. IV. H. BARXES: He is one of the whitest men in Australia.

Mr. KIR W AT\: I am not saying anything about his character. Sir Robert Philp has a perfect right to fight for his inter0sts and the interest,. of th03e whom he represents. That is Yrhat he is doing, and I do not find fault with him for it. But I wo.nt the people of this State to understand the position. I want the workers to re~lise that Sir Robert Philp and the party he represents-namely, those on tho Opp,Jsi tion benches-are not out to protect the interests of the worker~. 'The hon. gentleman who interjected, as a memher of the Denham-Barnes Cabinet, gave careful consideration to the Land Acts Amcnr1ment Bill. Thev decided to intra· duce it, and instructed" their draftsman to draft it. It was brought into this Assembly and W( nt as far as its second reading, and nobody said anything about repudiation. But sudder,ly the great pastoral interests discovered there \;·as in po,ver a Govern­ment who were m"-king an attempt to protect the interests of the people as against their interests. Immediately they swung the axe, and the hon. member for Bulimba, who as then Treasurer, sa1d : "Y cs, J\1r. Camcron," or "Yes, J\lr. Ranson," or 'vhoevcr else it was, and the Cabinet backed down on their legislation, as the Hughes Cabinet backed down on the report of the Commisc,ion on meat price-fixing·, and as the British Cabinet backed down on tho Budget of their Chan­C.f'llor when thev introduced a tax on wealth. When he sa.id" to the wealthy people of Eng-land who had accumulated vast fortunes while 750,000 Britishers had given their lives in d!'fence of their country, "It is now up to you to contribute something to relieve the war burden of the State," these people said, "Not on your life!" And .Mr. Cham­berlain had to turn round and drop his Budget, and reintroduce a fresh Budget with-

out the tax on wealth. The hon. member for Leichhardt pointed out that the President of the United States of America was com­pelled to sign the terms laid down by l'ierpont Morgan at \Vhite House, to with­draw the Jegislatio_l dealing- wlth trusts, and to refuse J,o collect the 29,000,000 dollars fine. Hero I want to touch on what the hon. member for Oxlcy sa.id the other night-

" It is not a question of repealing the Land Act' Amendment Act, but we want to know if som-thing· cannot be done to prevent any future Government, if a Labour Government is eYcr again success­ful, from re-enacting this Bill."

Pierpont Morgan sa.id to the President of the United State'. the leader of a great nation of oYer lOO,OOO,C·JO people, "Not your will, not the deoires of the American people, but the desires of the American trusts must be considered" ; and the Govern­ment ea.pitulated. They not onl:. capitulated Oll that particular matter but they placed at the dispmal of the trusts of Americ,t, and of their hanks, the gold resen·es held pre­viously by the Governm<omt so that they could make a prGfit in that connection. Now, W. J. Bryan, one of the great men of America, says-

" The money power preys upon the n.ution in times of peace and conspires against it in the hour of its calamity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than aristocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It accumulates by con. scions fraud more monev than it can use. It denounces as puhlic" enemies all who question its methods or throw a light upon its crimes. It can only be ovCl·thrown by the .nvakened conscience of the nation."

\Yhen an hon. member on this side stated the other night that the last war was a cu.pitalistic war, hon. members opposite lanr;hed. Does any hon. member opposite dare get up and tell me that one of the things for which the war was fought has been accomplished? Talk about this Govern­ment heing a Government of repudiation! \Yhy. the Allies ha ye repudiated every prin. ciple for which the war was fought."

0PPOSITIO:-I l\1EMBEHS: \Yrong.

:Vlr. KIR\VAN: Mention ono that was carricJ. into operation. The al' 'Yas sup­posed to be fought for a new democracy, and yet ther0 is 1nore milita1~isn1 in the world to~day than eveL The war w-:.t'~ fought, said Lloycl Georgc, to make England a place fit for heroc:s to live in ; and yet we hear of men rushing off to Morocco to bo shot, killed, or •,;·oundecl on 3s. a day. \Ve heccr to-day tha.t England is engaged in exporting her unemployed from thi:o g-rerrt land made ut for heroes to live in, and for which 7[0,000 BritishPJ'S gave their lives. 'The great V on Moltke, in his book on the Franco. Prnssian war, says-

'· The great conflicts of modern times break out contrary to the \vill and wish of nomina.! rulers. 'The Stock Exchange has acquired an influence ~o ~~rcat that it is able call armed nations into the field to fight in its intore t,,, Blood flow' in order that the demands of high finance may be liquidatod."

Then Brailsford, in " 'The \Var of Stock and G('ld," says-

" Finance is the arbiter of war and peace, the master of ck ;pot.isms, th" unseen power in democracies."

Mr. Kincan.]

240 Want of Confidence ~Motion. [ASSEMBLY.] Want of Confidence JJ1otion.

I say unhesitatingly that, so far as the Oppo ition is c,Jnccrned, all this agitation against the present Government and this policy of misrepr0sentation and defamation throughout the le11gth and bmrrdth of the Commonwealth and throughout the British Dominions, is solely due to and inspired by the monny power. Hon. members opposio • have an illustration as to what the moneJ power is capable of doing even in the Com­momvealtlL Quite recently we had a political crisis in Victoria, The Premier of the day"' as defeated by a combination of the Farmers' party and the Labour party, a .d there is an election on at the m·csont time. The Premier has declared ag-ainst a wheat pool. He said, " So far as the Nationalist Govern­ment are concerned, we will hand the farmers over to the farmers of Collins street" -otherwise the wheat speculators,

Mr. VOWLES: He said nothing of th0 sort.

Mr. KIR\VAN: The hon. member does not read the Melbourne papers. Take the Govern­ment in South Australia to-day. It is a very 'trange thing that, in the two States where there are Liberal Governments in power, the interests of the farmers h:1ve been thrown overboard. lV1r, Barwdl, the strong man, appoa1s to the hon. member for Bulimba, and he appeals to the, hon. member bocaw;e he believes in reducing wages, in extending hours, and in bringing the working class to thoi r knees. If the Premier of South Australia adopted the policy of the hon. member for Bnlimba that was enacted in Queensland in 1912, no doubt the hon. mem­ber would think he was a still stronger man. The Premier of South Australia said, " If all thD farmerc of thD State wanted a wheat pool, I would not give it to them. This Government "ill go out of office rather than give way. \Ve arc opposed to nationalisation, and this is only the thin end of the wedge."

At seven minutes to 10 o'clock p.m., The SPEAKER resumed the chair.

Mr. KIRvYAN: Tho~e two Liberal Pre­miers declared against the wheat pool because the. money power wants to speculate in whe:tt and it cannot speculate in wheat while ther~ is a wheat pool. Therefore. thov said to Mr. Barwcll, "Get rid of the pool." and to Mr. Lawson, " Get rid of the pool"; and J\1r. Bar\VDll sa_id, "Yes, I will do it," and lVIr. La\Y~on t-'"ud the sarne.

At five minutes to 10 o'clock p.m.,

The SPEAKER said: The time allowed the hon .. rnmnber under the Standing Order has expned.

Mr. BELL (Fassifern): I would lilco to take this opportunity of thanking the House for granting me leave of absence during last sesswn, .J,nd I also take this opportunity of thankmg the hon. member for Aubignv for so ably looking after mv electorate dur-ing n1y absencE'" u

V!e have listened to the remarks of the Secretary for Railwavs, and I 1Yould like to point out to him that it is a verv eaeY thing to run down a hill up which sm~1ebodv' else has climbed. Also, we have heard from the would-be Secretary for Raihvays, but, we did not hear Yery much about th~ rail" a·.-s from him to-night. The Premier and ho!1. members on the other side have twitted the Opposition with their weak atta.ck, but I would lilw to say that I never heard a more weak defence than we had from the Premier

[Mr. K ir1l!an.

on this motion. Of course, we tender him our sympathy because we !mow his case is a weak one. Since the Labour Government have been in power they have done nothing lasting for the benefit of Queensland. ·what ,. c want to-day is more honesty. \Ye have a Govvrnment clinging to office, and, although at the la"t election they claimed they had a majority-they may have a majority of elc;c­toratcs-a majority of 20,000 people m Queensland said the:- had had enough of thie Government.

The PREMIER: \Vhat party has more votes than we ha,ve?

Mr. BELL : The parties opposed to you. At all events the anti-Socialists in Queens­land, by a majoritc' of over 20,000, said they had 'had enough of this Government. Queensland is calling for somebody to carry a n1-e~sage to Garcia; and, if we ha ye the opportunity of meeting the people of Queens­land. we will soon find a man to carry that n1cssage. I remember many years . ago listening to the Right Hon. Androw Ftsher making a sper;ch in Queensland when he said that if the people returned the Labour party to power the wheels of indthtry would /J:O as they had never gone before. After ha\·ing had five year;, of Labour GoYcrnment, we are beginning to realise that the wheels of progress have been reversed. The leader of the Government says that the Government are not re,,ponsible for the position in Queensland to-day; but we do know, at all events, that the Labour Government have ac•,cntuated the position. Right throughout the world, after the worid war, there have been distress .and unemployment. The old order of things has gone, and nothing has token its place up to the present; and, there­fore, unemployment is rife not only in this country but in others as well. unemploy-

ment should not be so prevalent [10 p.m.] in Queensland as it is to-day,

and it would not have been if it had not been for this Government. It has come about bv the excessive taxation '' hich this Governn1Z nt is grinding out of the pro~ ducers and those engaged in the industries of Queensl-and. It is killin,; enterprise, and it i~, very necessary for this Govern1nent to f!O ahead and have private enterprise. \Ve listened to the hon. member for Bri,:bane quoting the increased number of now busi­nesses and increased capital which had been subscribed in Queensland. vVhy should not this great State go ahead? vVe have heard a good deal about the potentialities of Queensland, but it is not the only country which has potentialities. If we do nothing to develop these resources, they might as well be in Timbuctoo or any other part of the v·orlcl. 'l'he Government have destroyed public confidence. \\"hen I was in London I met the hon. the; Premier there. I am sorrv that the Premier could not have accompaniecl me further and gone to Paraguay, wh~Hl he would ha\'e seen the results of e:xtreme ::;.ocialisrn or co1nn1unisn1. The cour~tr,y \Vants 1vork. \Ylwn the Labour party came into po ,ror we were told that this "as going to be an inductrial paradise. To-day we find unemployment rife. On !coking at the " Industrial Gazette" we find remarks like these~" Business slack," " l':o prospects," in reference to nearly every industry.

The TREASURER: You could not have heard the hon. member for Brisbane.

Mr. BELL: I heard him say that £200,000 was being raised for a company in Queens-

Want of CoJ,jidence ~Motion. [23 AuausT.] Want of Confidence JJ,I.otion.

land. \Vhy, we should be talking in millions in a countrv like this ! The state of Queensland to-day is serious, and that state of affairs is no good. It is no u·e the Governmt nt alone talking about settling the question of unemployment satisfactorily. There will have to be co-operation in the broadest sense of the \Yard, and it is abso­lutely absurd for the Govcrnn1('nt e _,_1plo:.'co, m· other employee., to think that they <>an dictate terms to the whole community. There should be the broadest svstem of eo-operation. Ever since the Labour part-.­,ca,mo into po\Yer the~r haYe been prearll­ing cla"-hatred. It is ve·ry neces;.ory tiLLt the crnp!oyers and employ0es should co,rw together; and it ,,-ould be to thei1· rnutua1 advantage, for neither cla:s"J -can liYo 1vithout the oth·>r. \Ye hear a '5reat deai about the cost of prodnction. 'fhat largely m(•ans high wages right e.long the line. They will have to come down to an economic level. Govern­ment rrPrnbers say that 1ve are the low-1vage party, and that v:c wish to bring wages do1-vn to a L w level. V\' e do not mean to do eo at all. \Yhat we do mean is that we should demand, and F»C, that a sufficiC'.ut return js given for the wage that is paid. Anv country whi('h prcachc:.:~ lo\Y wages is no gOod, and low wages nrc no good to the communitv. \Ve recognise th~t \Vag~_,s as high as an in~dusiry can pay are most beneficial to the countrv. We recognise that labour bas its rights Ets well as the employers; but we Inust nho ren:embe~ rh';lt those rights carry with them then o_bhgMwns, and. unles_, the employee re:ogmscr; that he has obligation~. then thmgs wJ!I never settle on a sat' .factorv basis. "

The 'TRE.\Sl'RER: \Yould you '\ipe out the Arbitration Court?

?lfr. BELL: 'The Arbitration Court has been a great failure. \Vhile wages were going up the Arbitration Court was succe::;~­ful; but. ·,·-hen the cost of production is greater than the pric8 received, then Arbi­tration Courts are a failure. V\'c have the spectacle of thousands walking about Queens­land and the Lab•Jur Go,-crnrnent sa:cing to the '''IJrket'', ·'·You haYe received high \Yagcs from the Industrial Court." But there is no work.

Mr. FoRDE: l)o you stand for a reduction in woge.s?

]\J[r. BELL: No. A sufficient rctum shouid be given for the wages paid. \Ye "ish to keep the \Vages as high a-s \Ye possiC·ly can, but we mEst see that a sufficient return is given. I ,., ould like to mention the Re'JU­diation Act, or tJ,e Land Acts Amendm~nt Act, which has been debated vcn· consider­ably. I think it is the worst piece of legis­lation passed by any Governn1ent in the world. It has rninec! Cluec 1sland's cred-t not only in England but in all par 1

'"' of the wodd. \Vhen you an> in other countri-'s vou hear tr3 l_:td about Australia and you do "not hear the good.

The TnEAEl'RER: Did you stick up for it?

Mr. RELL: I die! not stick up for the bon. gcntlC'n1an's Goyc)rnment Ol' its actions, but I said that this v. .ts one of the fim .t countries in the world provided it was p-ivcn a derent Government. I travelled to South America wjth the genrr:1l manager of a London-South AnH-'rican bank. He w·as going to the Argcn~ tine, Brozil. and Chili to open up the busines' of his bank there. I suggested that

1921-R

he should co:11e to Australia and utilise his l!tDncy in Australia for devclop1nent, and he f3aid, " \V e are Hot going to } our country to h0 thrc,uteneLl v,rith r _ pudintory confiscation." You can see what died the legislation has had. I said that unfortunately a Govcrn­nlcnt that di,d that sort of thing ;vas in office, but we hoped to get rid of it coon. \Ve hear a great deal about tho delegctlion. It made not one iota of difference to the financiers or money-lenders of England. \Ye have heard repeated references to the bloated capitalists and the London Jews who lend money to Queensland. The Queensland lo<~ns, and the Austraiien loand. -and loans to other parts of t:1e worl-l, are :uLscribed to by the sn1aller investors """' ho give th2ir :::a-vings to investment con1paniE and financial c..J:npaniQs to invest for them. A lot of money which is lent to Queensland is repr< '?ntcd. b•· the savings of rnen in small businesses and p~'ople in farming areas in Great Britain.

J\.lr. COLLINS: If you haYo read history, you should know that 14,00J peo;>lc prac­tically own the United Kingdom, and that is where the money comes from.

Mr. BELL: I think the hon. member for Bowen does not know verv much about it. Then we were told that the Land Acts Amend­ment Act was p-,ssed to extract more money from the large pastoral les<U's of Quecus­land ~ but, aftnr the a1nenr1,ing \et \Yas pas•".c.d, we found it al' l extended to the grazing farmers ..:s welL

I, at one time, thoroughly belie,-ed in the State or municipal councils owning and con­trolling all public utilities such as telegr" phs, railways, tramways, and othu thingo like that; but I have changed my mind. \\'e see those public utilities used Yory larg,,'Jy frr political purposeL I \Vas particularly stntpk, -when tvavelling through tho ...-\rgeutine, to fe~ the wondedul dovelcnmrnt ·p:hiC'h has taken place during the fast fiftr, n years. They have soc.1e £400,000,000 of British and French capital investe-d there.

Hon. \V. FORGAN S1IITH: There is more English capital in the Argentine than in Australia.

Mr. BELL: Why should it not come here? But, if you favour confiscation, it is not going to come hnre. D"pite the internal troubles which the Argentine haYe had, they have always protected the foreign investor; and that is why the:: have hac! so much foreign n:wn\•y jn late years to develop their coLmtry. Speaking· of railways, the Govern­ment have been claiming credit for abolishing the Railwavs Guarantee Act. I wculd like to refer to a motion move J bv the hon. member for Bm·nett, which meant the a boli­tion of that Act. \Vhat counts most is a division. The Railways Guarantee Act was then r< hined by forty-four to eighteen votes. Amonr:st the fnrty-four there were fom·Loen supporter c of the party opposite who votod :·:ith tlw Dcnham Gm·ernmont for the reten­tion of the Act-Messrs. Barber, Fihclly, Foie:,-. Gilday, Hamilton, Huxham, Kirwan, Land. Lennon, McCormack, Murphy, O'Sulli­van, Paync, and \Yinstanley. (Laughter.) That just shov,s how sincere the Labour party are now in claiming ·credit for thn abolition of the Railways Guarantee Act.

'The TREASURER: What Government repealed that Art? The Ryan Government !

Mr. BELL: The Secretary for Agricul­ture claims that he is the friend of the man

Mr. Bell.]

!:42 TV ant of Gonjide'!lce :Motion. [ASSEJ\IBLY.] TV ant of Confidence lVlotion.

on the land, and I should like to point out one instance of ho1 7 he sho.,.-s it. Qui to recently the· Ag·ent-G< acral \Yruto out to the Government a~king t.hc1n to p:~ocure sarnple:; 0f produc~ grm.Yn in Quc,cn·in:nd to Le: ex­hibited in the One' _ns1and of-fir", OTl the ~3tntnd. It cam; to t~-.e notice of the X,;tion,ll A~:::ociation, of \vhich I happen to be­a member. It w.<s suggested to the DqJart­mont of .c\.<;ricultnre that they should assist in the matter by buying what'\\ as de,ired at he recent sho\;; but the reply of the depart­ment was to the effect that. if the farmers liked to giv<e t!wir produce, the Government \\cnld send it hume for them.

The SECRE'rABY FOB Aan~cuLTuRE: You kno•' the Lord help, those who help them­seln~s.

lir. BELL: That wa, the reply giYen with reg-ard to the poor ~truggling farnH~r. who is doing his br"t to show '"h"t the Shte is capable of.

The SECRETAHI FOR }cC-RICCLTcRE: I think that ir< a very sympathEtic rrply.

Mr. BELL: The advertising done at the London office is not creditable to the State. The firot thing yuu see is a kanga1·oc in the window.

The PBEJ\IIEn: You congratulated me on thco office when I wa, there.

J\1r. BELL: I will dmit that. None of the office•, is a credit to Australia, but that does not take the blame off the Govern­rr:;ent. If ~!1ey have a window there to atb·,•.ct intending immigTants, they should rr.ake it as aUractiYe as possible by ehmYing what can be produced in Queensland. I shoul-d like to mention who.t I s:;,w in Cali­forni:t in reference to co-operation. Before anv good can come of co-operation t-o enable the farmer to [:'Ct higher prices for his pro­duce, the consumer will haYe to be taken into consideration. The Govrrnmcnt of Cali­fornia have pas:-cd an AC': called ''The StatP J\Iarket Comrnission Act." It \Yas claimBd that the Govem•1wnt should open up market~ for the CalifDrnian agricultural produch and fruits, •. d r .. •duco The cost of food to the pr{)duccr. Fortunate!:-, they selected a capable business man as director, and it was seen that no good could be done to the consumer or to the producer by establishing State or municipal markets. The man who was appointed director organised the farmel's and did his best to eliminate waste. Here in Brisbane you can sec waste everywhere. You will see four or fi vo bakers' carts &,nd butc.her3' c·1 rtf? running in the san1e ,~.treet. That is waste. In Califnrnia thev organise the farmer;; into different associations-the Grape Growers' Association, the Cherry Growers' A~sociation, .and other similar associations. The Govemment do not inter­fere in the management or the control. All the Government do is to have a representa­tive on the board. No profiteering is allowed, and the public are protected in ever:c- way The prodncers of California saved their posi­tion Ly doing that. because over 50 per cent. of the' produce is sold through the co-operr,.­tive selling organisations. Such a thing would be co.pa blc of great expansion in Queensland, '1l1d would be of great assistance to our producero; and fruitgrowors. The producers in California recciYe sympathetic a•eistance from the Government, which advises them as to the best wav of market­ing their goods. We could do the same with our pineapples, because it is recognised

[Mr. Bdl.

th 1 t the Queensland pines a. re the best in the y. orld Thev are sunerior in fl;_vvour to those of H~\Yaii, 'if they -wqro only put up in an at!ractivc manner.

Hon. vV. FORGAX S>IHH: It lS the same as the Ha1-vaiian standard now.

;'-,Ir. BELL: A ,,,ell-known fruit importer told me that he would never buy another con.signrnent of Quecnsl:tnd pineapples unless tbev were put up properly. The Government anJ tbC'ir supporters ar(· doing- their best to Lelittlc th" attacks made b,v the Opposi· tion upon them. Thev realise that they ar_e re:c;pon~iblc for thC cxtrc~rne ·n1-ernbers 1n then· part\·, r:_ot only inside but outside the Hou:·"~ who' are goaJing them on. The Gm ern­Jrl('Ht ·will haYc to nccept the respon·"ibility for tb-·so people. 'l'ho Premier ropudiat"d tlv I.\V.\V•.; but it was on their backs that he and his party crawled into office, and now that 1t s'Uit-s his book he repudiates thcm. It is not a manly thing to do to accr-nt. their rt~ ·3i~tance and use them to get int,' office, an-d then, when he finds them of no use, to cast them off.

Th' l'RE"1IEB: I neYer a'lwd for their suvpc•l L, ~.nd never got it.

::,[1-. DELL: You did get "· They helped ~uu into po<..vcr. You have to accept rcsponsi­hilltv frr thetn. r_rhis Governn1ent have i!1'-!u'1 :::·d in experimental socialistic cnter­]1l'iSP', c\'ory one of which has been a failure.

The PRE:<c!EP.: \Yhn.t abcut the Insurance office?

2\'Ir. {iEL L: I£ cYcryone ftartrd a b::t:::incss and could make it c;ompulsory to deal with then1, thcv \Vou1d a1• o n1ak ,, a "'lCI ?ss of iL Anr succC:-,, at.tained bv the Sbt~ lntchers' sho-ps wa·c at the expense of the cattle-raisers. \Yhen the Go;..,-crnrncnt WC'l'!t jn for State stations, they said that the c,,ttie from the StatP stations wcu:d Le used to supply t11e butchers' shot)S.

Hon. W. FCP.GA:-1 SMITH: Le,t ynr 70 per c~nt. of the 1ncat for the State butchers,. shops c. mo from the State stations.

lllr. BELL: Instead of ~·oing m for cxp-n::iyc experiments \Ybid1 do no good to a1wbodY it is bdter to leaYe it to priYate f'Lfcrpr·i~c. Peonlc prefe1· to get their meat fron1 priYate shops b2cause they c,n1 get ciYilitv. It would Le better if the Govern­ment ·deYelopcd the irrigation areas ouch as 'XC h,,yo at J\Iount Ed'''ards. \Vhy not build the ::VIunbilla-Mount Edward' line? The eRrthwmks and eyerything else are ready to buiLd the line. There is a notice up " Look out for the tmin !" but the unfortunate resl­d,nts of that district are still looking out for it. It is the socialistic enterprises of the GoYernn1ent that are f'avc-;ing all the distress and unemployment of to-d''Y· \Vhcther we r.1rrv this mGtion or not, "\Ye are f[lce to face

ith' a serious nosition, and it vvill force the Gonrnment b~fore long to do something. Let us haYe lr"s goYernment in busines~ ar:d more business in goyernment, and we w1ll get on better in the futuro.

::Ylr. BULCOCK (Barcoo): I beg to move the adjournment of the debate.

Question put and passed.

The resumption of the debate was made an Order of the Day for to-morrow.

Th 0 House adjourned at thirty minutes past 10 o'clock p.m.