OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3372, 11 November 1911, Page 10

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

■, CONTEMPT OF COURT.

(From our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, Nov. 1. One of the snags which beset the course of the journalist who desires to comment on current events has come into prominence in the case of the “Sydney Morning Herald.” It commented on tho linding of the Marine Court in the case of _ the collision between the Taivinui and. tho mail steamor Nera (by which finding Capt. Beighton was sentenced to have his certificate suspended for six months) and proceedings have been taken against it for contempt of Court. It is held that the case is still sub judice,” as a petition has been sent to the Lieut.-Governor, praying for a rehearing. lien the application for the rule was made, their Honors of the Full Court pressed upon the counsel some pertinent questions. _ Do you contend thut t/lio publication of this matter is likely to influence the Lieut.-Governor ?” _ The question was pressed, in its application to the particular case, and to his Excellency, who is also" Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. At last Dr Brissenden replied, “If your Honor puts it to me in that way, there can he only one answer to it,’ and that is ‘No/ ” Whereupon Mr Justice Pring inquired, “Seeing that there is not the slightest_likelihood of his being affected by it in any way, Is it a case in >yhich the Court ought to grant a ruler > Counsel prudentlv replied that this was a matter for'their Honors to decide. They granted the rule, but were careful 'to say that it does not follow that in evei’v case in which there has been technical contempt the Court would call upon the newspaper for punishment. To many newspaper men the mere payment of costs, which seems to be regarded by members ot the bar as a trivial matter, would be very onerous. STRONG ALLEGATIONS. The recent election of aldermen at Bankstown, a Sydney suburb net far from the City of the Dead, at Rookwood, lias formed the subject of a special inquiry, which is being conducted by Mr John Garlick, the officer-m----charge of Local Government. The allegations are very strong, to the effect that votes were counted m favor of two aldermen which should not have been so counted, that votes which were cast in favor of two other aldermen were not counted, and that other serious irregularities. Mr Levy, who conducted the case for the protesting aldermen, said that he- could prove, by sworn testimony, that one alderman, Mr Huston, was credited at North Bankstown with only S votes, whereas 40 men voted for him; that Mr_Scanlan was credited with 81, out of 95 foimal votes recorded; yet 36 swore positively that they did not vote for him. Similar discrepancies were alleged in other instances. The Commissioner, however, ruled in accordance with a previous decision of the Full Court, that no evidence respecting the mannei in which electors had voted could be received, as such a proceeding would destroy the secrecy of the ballot, which public policy declared must be kept sacred. If there had been such tampering with the voting papers as was alleged, it must have been facilitated bv the neglect of the safeguards which the Legislature had provided in order to ensure a fair and honest election. He could receive evidence as to any such neglect, or as to any violation of the regulations, but not as to any evidence as to any discrepancy between the results shown by the ballot papers, and the manner in which electors said they had 'voted. This aspect of the matter emphasises the supreme necessity of providing competent and trustworthy scrutineers at every election to see that the results are not falsified. IMPOTENT. The paralysis of the coastal and interstate shipping trade winch has been caused by the wharf laborers’ strike still continues. _ Even the powerful and wealthy Union Cq.,_ in its N.Z. trade, is hampered by it. Farmers in the coastal districts, whose solvency is threatened by their inability to realise their produce, are offering to come down to Sydney and unload the steamers themselves. The wnarfies themselves, like children playing with fire, are delighted with the loss and embarrassment which they are causing- “ Then we are of some importance in the world after all,” they are saying in effect. “Let them giffe us what we want and we will set to work at once, is their attitude. Meanwhile they are very comfortable where they are. Conferences, presided over by the Judge of the Federal Arbitration Court, have been called by compulsory mandate, and have gravely discussed the situation. They have issued •edicts, and made recommendations, which, if obeyed, would end the trouble in a brace of shakes. Unfortunately, though the conferences are compulsory, and it would not be good for the persons who are summoned to disobey the call, the edicts and recommendations are far otherwise. The strikers do not even take the trouble to express their contempt for them, in aiiy set statement They simply maintain the strike, as though there was no Federal Arbitration Court, and no Judge Higgins, in existence. A more pitiable exhibition of impotence it would be difficult to find. Instead of ending strikes, our industrial legislation, administered ty Labor Governments, both in the Commonwealth and in the State, has made the striker omnipotent-. And still uhey are preaching the same weary old ga..’. “Make this concession, or that, and there will be no strikes.” It all proceeds on the assumption, that the striker, or what is the same thing, the turbulent agitators who instigate and. direct their proceedings, are animated, by some degree of loyalty to the body politic, and to the industries which constitute its prosperity. The fate of _ an edifice built on an unreliable foundation is proverbial. Each concession is made the pretext for further demands, almost, as in this instance, before the ink with which the former agreement is written is fairly dry. The strikers are quite within their rights in desiring a certain wage. They are not within their rights in deterring other men, by tacit terrorism, from performing the services which they have refused. But, in this matter, legislators, administra- " tors, and even _ employers, are all in the same conspiracy. To attempt to introduce free labor,_ -which the only way in which the strike can be ended, would’ bring unpopularity to the politicians, and turmoil and anxiety to the employers. Any amount of injustice and wrong, perpetrated on other people, is thought preferable to. unpopularity, and to the inconveniences of actual conflict. That is why wo are : faced by the humiliating spectacle of a ':' whole State paralysed' by the perversity of a mere handful of wrongheaded men, and l unable among.all its highly •• paid Ministers and administrators, to find any with sufficient courage and resource .’to vindicate the rightful free-

dom of . the individual, and put an end to the trouble. All that can be said is that a community which tamely consents to remain in this humiliating position doesn’t deserve any pity. It lias allowed hypocritical pretenders, who won its sympathies by pretending distress, to become, in their turn, extortionate tyrants and oppressors of the most upscrupulous type. Its Nemesis is that it must endure their exactions. LIVERPOOL PLAINS. J Many Sydney politicians have a. crow to pick with tfie good folks of Liverpool Plains. indeed, as regards many of them they are questioning whether they are good at all. Numbers who were expected l to vote Liberal ' didn’t vote, and a very much larger number than was expected voted La cor. Still, at nearly every polling place the Liberal vote cast was very much larger fclian that which was recorded' at the last election. The trouble was that the increase in the Labor vote on the last occasion was not a true indication of the feeling of the electors. Many Labor sympathisers had received too great a. shock from the injudicious exposure, by Mr. Nielsen, of. the land nationalisation skeleton, to be readily reassured, and they abstained from voting. Mr. Beeby, the new Lands Minister, who has an oilier tongue than Mr. Nielsen, 'has succeeded in getting the skeleton aforesaid decently covered up under a cloud of words, and the votes, together with those of another contingent whom sharp enginering had put on the roll just before the election, were again recorded. At the same time it must be remembered that last year Mr. Horne- (Lab.) • beat Mr. jPatten (Lib.) by 792 votes, whereas the majority' of .Mr, Ashford over Mr Perry is only about 514. Altogether, therefore, the Liberals of the Plains, in view of the stupendous effort's made by their opponents, have nothing to be ashamed of. It cannot be called a Liberal constituency. But it seems to be moving in that direction, MAITLAND, The Liberal majority at Maitland was smaller than that which returned the late Mr. Gillies. Bat this, again, was only what was to be expected. Mr. Giliies obtained a large number of votes by reason of his personal popularity. He probably gained many friends because of his “independent” attitude, which, not unfrequently, was antagonistic to Mr. Wade and his friends. That section of his supporters, on this occasion, would almost certainly vote “Labor.” The Liberal party gets a reliable adherent in Major Nicholson, and that is something to the goed. Independence is an excellent quality. But there are times when it is a positive menace. When the best interests of the country are threatened by a party whose strength lies in its solidarity, maintained by iron bonds, the only possible mode of resisting its encroachments is by solidarity equally firm. There can be no political independence until the combination which destroys independence has had its teeth drawn and its claws pared. When the opposing forces are as nearly equal as at the present juncture, the “independent” member lends aid to the other side. LABOR LEADERS. Needless to say. Labor leaders are jubilant. “We have never had a setback yet,” says Mr. McGowen. And he doesn’t believe that- he ever will. The wave, according to this showing, is always going to rise, and never to fall. Well, we shall see. If it does, it will be different from all other waves. “If we were to go to the country at once,” says Mr. Holman, “the lesson of the by-elections is that we should get a majority of 10 or 12.” What a different position the party would then occupy! If the Caucus really believed the assertion, it would lose no time in exchanging, its present position. of laborious futility for one of supreme control and unquestionedi authority. Perhaps, however, its pleas to be put in this proud position only comes from the teeth upwards. If it were really in a to carry out its policy, the dreaded 1 “set-hack” might come sooner than expected.