teaching of theologians is that resistance by physical force to the de facto, established, Government is justified only in extreme cases, when the following conditions must be present: (1) The Government must be, in the judgment of the large body of the people, tyrannical; (2) that constitutional or legal means are not available; (3) that there is good hope of success, so that resistance to the Government by armed force will not entail greater evils than it seeks to remedy. In my judgment, these conditions do not exist at present in this country, and therefore recourse to armed force in the present circumstances is morally unlawful." Finally, H.E. Cardinal Logue, in a letter read to the Churches of the Archdiocese of Armagh on the last Sunday in November, said: We have troubles and unrest and excitement and dangers here at home, which render domestic peace necessary. Whether it be due to the demoralization which this world-war has brought to almost every country, or to the fate which seems to hang over our own unhappy country, blasting her hopes when they seem to brighten, an agitation has sprung up and is spreading among our people which, ill-considered and Utopian, cannot fail, if persevered in, to entail present suffering, disorganization, and danger, and is sure to end in future disaster, defeat and collapse. And all this in pursuit of a dream which no man in his sober senses can hope to see realized--the establishment of an Irish Republic, either by an appeal to the potentates of Europe seated at a Peace Conference or an appeal to force by hurling an unarmed people against an Empire which has five millions of men under arms, furnished with the most terrible engines of destruction which human ingenuity could devise. The thing would be ludicrous, if it were not so mischievous and fraught with such danger, when cleverly used as an incentive to fire the imagination of an ardent, generous, patriotic people. Australia in Government, William Morris Hughes continued, during 1917, to 1917: Union dominate Australian political affairs. He did a wise General Elec- thing in organizing a Union Government, a brave tions and thing in fighting a general election upon the ConConscription scription issue, a disappointing thing in referring the latter matter to a second Referendum. Political difficulties were considerable. Neither the Hughes Labour party, the Opposition or Caucus Labourites, nor the Liberals, had a majority over the other two-although the Liberals had the largest following; in the Senate the Opposition Labour section had a small majority over both parties. It was, in fact, a matter of coalition or chaos, with a general election in the offing which did not promise a solution unless preceded by coalition. In January there were continued conferences between J. Hume Cook, ex-Premier and Opposition Liberal leader, and Mr. Hughes, as a Labour leader-with special reference to Australian representation at the Imperial War Conference through a coalition of parties; F. G. Tudor, Leader of the official anti-Hughes wing of the Labour party, was urged to join these Conferences and a national War Government but without success; in February terms were settled between the Hughes party and the Liberals under which the latter were to have six members in a Cabinet of eleven; a meeting of State Premiers was held at Melbourne and a Resolution passed, declaring that "the time has arrived when party issues should be subordinated to the winning of the War, the preservation and development of Australian national life, and the maintenance of Empire solidarity"; on Feb. 16 it was announced that minor difficulties-especially the retention of Senator Pearce as Minister of Defence, which Mr. Cook opposed, had been overcome. The new War Government was sworn in on the 17th as follows: Position Prime Minister and Attorney-General. . Rt. Hon. William Morris Hughes...Labour Minister for the Navy. Treasurer. Minister of Defence. Minister of Works & Railways.. Rt. Hon. Joseph Hume Cook. Liberal Labour Liberal Labour Hon. Patrick McMahon Glynn. Liberal Hon. William Webster. Labour Minister of Customs.. Minister of Home Affairs. Postmaster-General Assistant Attorney-General.. Vice-President Executive Council. Labour Subsequently Mr. Millen was appointed to the new Ministry of Repatriation and Mr. Groom took his place. The state of parties in the House of Representatives at this juncture was as follows: Liberal-Ministerialists, 34; Labour-Ministerialists, 14; Independent, 1; Opposition-Labour, 26; or a Coalition majority of 23. In the Senate Opposition-Labour had 19 seats; Liberal-Ministerialists, 5; Labour-Ministerialists, 12; or an Opposition majority of 2. Sir W. H. Irvine, a prominent Liberal leader, promised his support to the Government and it was intended that he should accompany Mr. Hughes to the War Conference, but political conditions finally prevented any Australian representation getting across in time. Meanwhile, at Geelong (Jan. 26) just before this re-organization, Mr. Hughes had stated his personal position as follows: I have been all my public life a member of the Labour Party. I have not spared myself in its service, and have worked without respite for Labour. Some say I have been too zealous in the cause of Labour, but, rightly or wrongly, I believed in its ideals. I was a strong party man, but from the day War broke out I put party interests aside and those of the nation in their place. I have severed the ties of a lifetime, I have broken with the most powerful organization ever established in Australia, and have drawn down upon my head the denunciations and hatred of those who for years were, or had professed to be, my friends and supporters. . . . I hope my Liberal friends will remember that I broke with my party not because I did not believe in the Labour platform, but because the Labour movement was being prostituted to a mean and ignoble aim. In the supreme hour of national danger it failed to think and act nationally. Following the Coalition the Premier met Parliament on Feb. 22 and outlined his policy as (1) appointment of a Minister to give his whole time to the question of returned soldiers; (2) the obtaining of $350,000,000 for War purposes in the current year with a War debt already totalling $655,000,000; (3) amending the Tariff so as to develop Australian production and industry; (4) respect for the people's 1916 verdict against Conscription and the obtaining of more men by an intensified voluntary campaign; (5) representation of Australia at the Imperial War Conference and prolongation of the life of Parliament for six months after the termination of the War; (6) a white Australia and financial tax arrangements with the different States so as to avoid dual impositions. Every effort was made to obtain Senate support for Government legislation along these lines but in vain-the anti-Conscription, anti-Hughes element stood firm. Finally, Parliament was dissolved on Mar. 26 with Elections fixed for May 5. It was a bitter contest. Mr. Hughes entered it with such prestige as was afforded by his vehement, spectacular and eloquent campaign in England* against Germanized trade and industry and for adequate Dominion control in Empire government; and with the influence of Liberal support behind the loyal wing of the powerful Labour party which he had led and which, when united under him, was dominant in the Commonwealth. He had against him a keen, personally-hostile, majority wing of the Labour party; all who believed that the Labour leaders in Caucus should make and unmake Ministries and Ministers and policies; all who shared the views of the I.W.W.-a strong organization in Australia which Mr. Hughes had dealt with mercilessly, had disbanded and imprisoned and endeavoured to smash up; all who disliked, feared, or misunderstood the Conscription issue of 1916, and all who were opposed to the War as pro-Germans, extreme Socialists, Pacifists, etc.; all the Irish followers of Dr. Daniel Mannix, who upon the death of Archbishop Carr, to whom he had been Co-Adjutor, became, in 1917, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne; all those who had personally encountered the biting invective by which Mr. Hughes in his long political career had made many enemies. It was a contest of conditions rather than party-the caucus of organized Labour having become so iron-clad and autocratic in its dominance that all personal conviction was eliminated and Mr. Hughes on the Conscription issue, though its leader and the National Prime Minister, had either to accept its negative view and give up office, or retire from the Party and fight his former colleagues. Australian soldiers and sailors on active service had votes, as did Commonwealth electors abroad on War-work, nurses and munition workers. Late in March Mr. Tudor, as Leader of the Caucus Labourites-a member of Mr. Hughes' Ministry prior to the Conscription issue-published an Address to the electorate, declaring that if returned to power the Labour party would (1) do its utmost under the voluntary system to secure men for the Front; (2) that it would promote shipbuilding and help the Allies by stimulating food and metal production; (3) that a system of Tariff revision would be immediately adopted with a view to protecting Australian manufacturers; (4) that War profits would be additionally taxed and a heavy Income tax imposed; (5) that the Daylight Saving measure would be repealed as being vexatious and ineffective; (6) that "we will again submit to a referendum the proposal to extend the powers of the Commonwealth Parliament and we will provide pensions for widows and orphans"; (7) that Australia should be represented at the War Conference but that all decisions affecting Australia should be subject to the Federal Parliament. A little later the Premier issued to Australian electors in general a Manifesto declaring that: *NOTE.-See Australian Section in 1916 volume. The National Government which I have the honour to lead, is composed of men of different parties, who are united on the War and on all that is necessary to achieve victory. It is composed of men loyal to Australia and to the Empire. They regard it as a sacred duty, in this great war for liberty against German military despotism, to put the welfare of the Commonwealth before the narrow interests of party. Labour men who have joined hands with the Liberals are animated by the same spirit that has moved the members of the British Labour party to join hands with Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Bonar Law in order that Great Britain may stand united against the enemy. We stand for the Empire, for the prosecution of this war to decisive victory. We are against premature peace, and for the lasting peace which can come only when the military despotism of Prussia is utterly destroyed. We stand for the Government of the people through their elected representatives as against government by secret juntas of irresponsible persons working in the interests of cliques and sections. We stand for the rule of law against anarchy; for arbitration as against strikes; for public and private economy. We are for new avenues of employment for our people by the development of our resources and the encouragement of our industries. We are, in a word, for a fair deal for all men. The result on May 5 was a great triumph for the Government with large majorities for most of the Ministers. To the House of Representatives 53 Liberals and Hughes-Labourites, or Nationalists as the combination was called, were elected, and 22 Caucus-Labourites or Opposition supporters, were chosen-giving a Government majority of 31; to the Senate, where one-half the membership of 36 had retired by rotation, the whole 18 elected at this juncture were Government supporters-giving it a majority of 12 in the Upper House. With the return of Mr. Hughes to power and his unusual triumph-Australian Governments were generally beaten at the polls or in Parliament by narrow majorities-the question of Conscription came at once to the forefront though everything possible was done to stimulate recruiting and avoid it. Senator Pearce had stated (Feb. 28) that in conformity with the requirements of the War Office, 16,500 men a month were still needed to reinforce the Australian Expeditionary Force at the front and that the number of volunteers in January was not nearly sufficient as only 5,348 men enlisted in that month. Donald Mackinnon, Director-General of Recruiting, employed every means known to promote interest and attract attention; women were urged to sacrifice their feelings for men who would not do their national duty; New Zealand and Maori troops were brought to Sydney in May and were given a great reception; while the Premier addressed a series of meetings. On July 4 it was announced that, for the first time, the number of Australian casualties exceeded the number of recruits, and Mr. Hughes (July 6) began a further enlistment campaign with the hope of raising the 5,000 a month total to 7,000-which were all that were then asked. A Federal Recruiting Committee, consisting of members of both parties in the Federal Parliament, was also appointed to assist the DirectorGeneral. To point these calls sharply the statistics of casualties up to July 28, 1917, were published as follows: Deceased, 28,547; wounded, 43,238; missing, 4,056; sick, 27,207; prisoners of war, 2,143; and nature of casualties not specified, 248; total, 105,439. |