How Labour Governs.........................................................................................................................................1

THE main theme of the present study will be the development of Labour organisation and policy during the

current century; for it is in this period that the most characteristic phases of Australian Labour have

manifested themselves. Moreover, the course of Australian economic and industrial growth down to the date

of the Federation of the Colonies has been admirably and exhaustively described by Sir Timothy Coghlan and

other writers. Nevertheless, in order to enable the reader to follow more readily the drama to be unfolded, it

In the first place it must be remembered that Australia is a continent of 2,974,581 square miles in area

slightly larger, therefore, than the U.S.A., and rather smaller than the Dominion of Canada. We often hear

that this continent is empty. In fact, the total white population, as revealed by the 1921 census, is just under

five and a half millions. But emptiness is not to be reckoned by the population per square mile, but by the

number which the country is actually capable of supporting and, when this is taken into consideration, the

disproportion between the immense acreage of Australian soil and her meagre population becomes less

striking. In point of fact vast areas of Australian territory are quite unadapted for close settlement. Over huge

tracts of the interior the rainfall is so exiguous and so uncertain that agriculture is out of the question. The

only industry that such land could maintain is pasturage, and that only thinly at the rate of, say, one sheep to a

hundred acres. No amount of settlers could increase materially the carrying capacity of these plains, since

man cannot control the rainfall, and the natural configuration of the land precludes the possibility of

irrigation. On the other hand, this appearance of emptiness is enhanced by the uneven distribution of the

population and the immense concentration in a few bloated cities. The 900,000 inhabitants of Greater Sydney

represent almost half the total population of a State covering 309,432 square miles. Outside the capital there

are only five towns in the whole of N.S.W. with more than 10,000 inhabitants. South Australia is even larger,

yet more than half of her 494,867 citizens are returned as residents of Adelaide. Similarly half the Victorians

live in Melbourne. In these three States the capital cities dominate the whole political and economic life of

the community; they are the termini of the principal railways, and practically the only ports for overseas

shipping. Thus they have sucked in an undue proportion of the increase of the State's population, and

continue to grow ever more unwieldy and bloated. Queensland is far more happily situated. She has achieved

some degree of decentralisation, and possesses at least three independent ports, each connected with their

own hinterlands by separate railway systems. While in N.S.W. all lines run to Sydney, Brisbane occupies no

In geographical structure and in climate Australia is a remarkable unity. A narrow but fertile and

wellwatered strip along the Pacific Coast is separated from the more characteristic plains and slopes of the

west by a steep dividing range. running spinelike the whole length of the continent from north to south.

West of the range the land slopes away very gradually to the great plains of the MurrayDarling basin, and as

one proceeds westward the rainfall becomes ever smaller and less reliable, till beyond the Darling one

reaches a comparative desert which extends nearly to the West Australian coast. In the far north the

physiographical conformation of the land is somewhat different, and the rainfall also is more regular and

bounteous. But for such details the reader is referred to the lucid descriptions published in the

But if Australia is a unity geographically, it is very far from being a unity politically. The early colonisation

of the continent took place at a number of different spots on her immense coast line, and these settlements

were granted independent status and selfgoverning constitutions by the Imperial Government at different

times and under varying conditions. It has thus come about that Australia is divided up into six States, very

largely independent one of the other, whose boundaries, save in the case of Tasmania, do not correspond to

any essential physiographic or economic divisions, but are largely arbitrary or even fortuitous. Each of these

States has a Governor and Bicameral Legislature of its own. Till 1901 they were as independent of one

another as of Canada or Cape Colony. At the beginning of the century these six colonies federated, and a

seventh legislature and viceregal court were superimposed on those already existing. The Commonwealth

was given strictly limited powers to deal with socalled national questionsdefence, foreign affairs,

interstate and overseas commerce, currency, postage and the likeclosely defined in a written constitution

which could only be altered by a referendum of the whole people carried by a majority of the voters and in a

majority of the States. The State Parliaments still retain complete autonomy in respect of education, railways

and industrial matters. The last point is important. It has meant that each State has its own peculiar set of

industrial laws and its own system of settling industrial disputes or fixing prices, and consequently that the

unions and Labour Parties in each have had to retain a large degree of local autonomy to enable them to

Coming now closer to our subject it must be insisted that Australia is still, economically speaking, a land of

primary producers exporting their surplus of raw materials in return for the manufactured products of the

older countries. The importance of this point must not be overlooked. Prior to 1901 Australia was dependent

upon imports for the majority of the articles necessary to the life of her inhabitants and to the development of

her natural resources. Iron, for instance, could not be produced, and steel has only been turned out since the

opening of the Newcastle Works in 1915. That has been changed since Federation, largely under the

influence of a protective tariff; while the war, by restricting the possibility of importing goods, greatly

accelerated the expansion of Australian manufacture. Nevertheless, though no longer totally at the mercy of

foreign manufacturers for the essentials of civilised life, and thus more nearly able to take her place as an

equal in the markets of the world, Australia's economy is still essentially that of a country exporting raw

materials, and no change in this position is to be expected in the near future at all events. Wool is her staple

source of wealth, and though the time may come when Australia may be able to supply her own local market

with woollen textiles at present the local mills could barely supply a third of the home demand it is not

likely that she will be able to compete with other countries as an exporter of woollen goods. Accordingly it is

In the primary industries the pastoral is immensely the most important. Of her total export trade worth in

1919 just on �150,000,000, over �50,000,000 was represented by wool, while other pastoral products, skins,

meat, and tallow accounted for another �25,000,000. Sheep flourish almost anywhere in the continent, and

the huge sheep stations are still the characteristic feature of Australian industry. Cattle raising is also an

Agriculture takes second place after the pastoral industry. Wheat can be grown profitably over the eastern

parts of N.S.W. across the dividing range and all over the west of Victoria, as well as over a large area of

South Australia and the West. This crop now accounts for �30,000,000 Of Australia's exports, but historically

the grain industry has only recently assumed these proportions. In 1901 the value of the wheat and flour

exported was barely onetenth of the figure reached in 1919, though the actual quantities produced bore only

a two to one relation. Another characteristic crop is sugar cane, which is largely planted all along the

Queensland coast and in the extreme northeastern corner of N.S.W. This industry is likewise of relatively

recent growth, the yield having doubled between 1891 and 1901, and again by 1915. Nevertheless, the

amount of sugar exported is now negligible, the greater part of the crop finding a local market, and indeed

being insufficient in bad years to satisfy home requirements. Large tracts along the coast and in many other

wellwatered districts are now devoted to dairying, being divided up into relatively small farms. In this

industry cooperation has made especially marked progress, the majority of the butter factories being owned

by the dairymen's cooperative societies. Finally, mention must be made of the vineyards situated in the

coastal region of N.S.W, in Victoria, and in South Australia. Similar in some respects is the fruit industry

which has become especially important along the Murray with the extension of irrigation.

Thirdly, the mineral wealth of Australia is very considerable. It was the discovery of gold that first brought to

Australia any large influx of free immigrants, and gold digging is still popularly regarded as a characteristic

employment of the Australians. This impression is, however, erroneous. In the eastern States gold production

declined steadily from close on �13,000,000 in 1853, to a little under �2,000,000 in 1918. At least, since

1891 the preponderating proportion of Australian gold has been won by wageearning miners from deep

mines; the independent prospector is now relatively unimportant. But, despite the falling off in the production

of the precious metal, the value of Australia's mineral output has consistently increased, advancing from

�12,000,000 in 1891 to �26,000,000 in 1918. This has been due to the opening up of the ores of silver, base

metals and coal on a large scale, and often from deep mines. The silverlead mines of Broken Hill have been

responsible for the creation of the third largest town in N.S.W, situated in an almost waterless wilderness,

remote from any seaport and with no other source of trade than the mines. And one of these had by 1913 paid

over �9,000,000 in dividends! In N.S.W., Queensland and South Australia there are important copper mines,

around which small, or in some cases quite large, townships have sprung up, often only to decay away again

like Cobar when the main orebody has been worked out. About fivesixths of the coal produced in the

continent comes from N.S.W. In fact, the other States are all more or less dependent on the mother State for

their fuel supplies. Yet there are small coal mines in all the States except South Australia, each serving as the

centre for a small township. In N.S.W. the principal coalfields lie within 100 miles of the capital, which is

itself situated immediately over the centre of the main basin which outcrops to the south in the Illawarra, to

the west round Lithgow, and to the north at Newcastle, and again at Maitland and Cessnock. None of these

districts are exclusively devoted to mining, but the miners form the predominant element in the population of

the towns in the areas named. At Newcastle and Lithgow secondary industries dependent upon coal are

rapidly springing up. On the whole, it looks at the moment as if the relative importance of mining in

Australian economy is declining. The comparative figures for the value of mineral products compared with

the agricultural and pastoral industries respectively were very approximately in the ratios 5: 8: 10 in 1911;

As has been said, these primary industries are the main source of Australia's wealth. Manufacture plays a

very secondary role in this respect. The total wealth production of the Commonwealth in 1913 was estimated

at �206,000,000, of which only �61,000,000 were assignable to manufacturing industry. And of the 206

millions, 114 millions were exported. In fact it is only since the beginning of the century that manufacture

proper has been undertaken locally on any large scale. Prior to that date secondary industry might be grouped

under two main heads: the refining of raw products without, however, converting them into consumables

smelting, woolscouring, tanning, and milling, operations which are on the borderline between production

and manufacture proper and small industry baking, brickmaking, furnituremaking, brewing, and so

on. It is true that engineering works had made considerable progress, that there were boot factories, sugar

refineries and a few other more advanced industries; but in the main secondary production was on a small

scale and progress was slow. The number of factories in N.S.W increased from 2,961 in 1881, to 3,367 at the

beginning of the century, and the number of employees from 31,197 to 66,135. After the foundation of the

Commonwealth, as has been remarked, manufacture advanced much more rapidly, and was carried out on a

larger scale. New industries were established, including the working up of raw materials imported from

abroad into goods for final consumption tobacco into cigarettes, cotton into shirts and underclothing, etc.;

and the working up of Australia's own products into finished commodities was advanced a further stage by

the establishment of the shipbuilding industry, and the manufacture of locomotives, steel rails and other

engineering products in Australia. The expansion of manufacture and also the change in its nature is well

The manufacturing industry, where it was independent of special conditions such as those that attach

smelters either to the scene of the mining operations or to a locality where coal is cheap, butterfactories to a

dairying district, or sawmills to a welltimbered region was generally started in the alreadyformed

centres of population. Now the main towns of Australia owe their origin and rapid growth to commerce and

transportation they are deep sea ports and railway termini; for, apart from the primary industries of

pasturage, agriculture and mining, it was commerce and shipping that first developed in Australia, and gave

rise to large aggregations of workers. The rising manufacturing industries took advantage of the existing

groupings of potential labourers, and were in the majority of cases established in close proximity to the large

cities, which, as we have indicated above, were in most cases the capital cities of the several States. In 1919,

196 of the 250 factories in N.S.W. employing over 100 hands, were in the metropolitan district, and the same

proportion held in respect of the 273 establishments employing over 50 but less than 100 persons. A very

large proportion of the remainder would be situated in or around Newcastle, the second largest town in the

State, which owed its growth to overseas shipping and the coal trade. There are, therefore, practically no

In sketching the economic history of the continent whose industrial constitution has just been outlined, it may

be pointed out in the first place that a country in whose economy rural industry plays so important a part is

naturally exposed to marked fluctuation in prosperity in accordance with variations in the seasons. Especially

is this the case in Australia, where the rainfall is exceptionally capricious. Severe and widespread droughts

recur periodically and inflict terrible losses on the pastoralists, to say nothing of the farmers. Nearly as

common are disastrous floods which may ruin the crops and also drown many of the flocks, while hailstorms

and cyclones from time to time cause disaster to the crops of fruit and sugar cane. A failure of any of the

staple crops is immediately reflected in the life of the great cities, which depend so largely upon trade and the

transportation industry. In particular a long and general drought, like those of 19001 and 191820, is always

responsible for a severe depression of trade all over the continent and its corollary of general unemployment.

During the period before 1891 these fluctuations in the general level of prosperity were most violent and

rapid, as a few chapters of Coghlan's history will show. With the growth of manufactures and the expansion

of public works, the changes have been less sudden, and it is only the worst of bad seasons that have given

occasion for a severe general depression affecting the whole economic life of the States concerned.

Apart from these seasonal fluctuations the decade from 1881 to 1891 was a period of expanding industry and

booming trade. That boom was followed by a decline culminating in the bank smashes of 1894 and the

general collapse of trade that ensued. It is no coincidence that the great spread of unionism and its first

triumphs occurred during the former decade, and that it was in the period of depression that the Australian

Labour Movement took on its characteristic political and arbitrationist form. From the beginning of the

century, however, trade began to revive, and with the breaking of the drought of 1901 a new boom set in. The

bank deposits rose from �90,965,530 in 1901 to �147,103,081 in 1911. Similarly the savings bank deposits

were nearly doubled in the period. The exports rose from �49,685,509 to �79,482,258, and the total trade per

head increased from �23 6s.1d. to �32 12s.4d. Pages of figures pointing the same way could be adduced were

it desirable to labour the point, but the statistics just cited, combined with those quoted on previous pages,

should suffice to establish the fact. Apart from agriculture the expansion of real assets was not so marked in

primary as in manufacturing industry. For instance, the flocks of sheep only increased from 87 to 93 millions,

and did not reach the predrought total of 106 millions in 1891. On the other hand, the breed and the

handling of the fleece were improved, as, despite the reduction in the flock, the 1911 clip yielded 721 million

lbs. as against 631 in 1891. But the value represented by the buildings and plant of factories practically

doubled itself in the first ten years of the century. At the same time there was a marked increase in

Governmental expenditure on reproductive public works, such as roads and railways, though perhaps this

But one distinctive feature of the decade must be noted that is, the rapid growth of combination among

capitalists. The tendency in this direction had been apparent since 1890 when the employers had begun to act

together against the combined forces of the workers. The depression of the 'nineties which caused the failure

of many small concerns accelerated the process, and it was further favoured by the Arbitration Laws passed

early in the new century, which had among their avowed objects the encouragement of associations among

employers as well as among employees. No doubt the associations of employers contemplated in these

enactments were not such as might tend to raise prices by the elimination of competition, but rather such as

would facilitate the conclusion of collective agreements covering a whole industry with the employees'

unions in that industry; but in practice associations of the latter type naturally became or gave rise to organs

of joint action in fixing the prices of the products of the industry they served. The most celebrated of such

combinations was the socalled "coal vend" among the colliery proprietors of N.S.W, which was in a

position effectually to determine the selling price of coal for almost the whole of Australia. Similar

associations grew up in most other industries. Attempts were made to check this process by the Federal

Legislature, but these were utterly ineffectual. The vend, indeed, formally dissolved, but its constituent

members continued to act in common just as if a formal and legally valid agreement bound them. Side by

side with such associations of nominally distinct concerns, went amalgamations on a large scale which

became actual monopolies. The Sydney Ferries, Limited, absorbed several smaller lines plying on that

harbour. So all the Australian jam manufacturers were gradually amalgamated into one huge concern. The

most notorious of these monopolies was, however, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which not only

possessed the only refinery in the Commonwealth, but also acquired all the mills which extracted raw sugar

from the canesave the cooperative mills established under the auspices of the Queensland Government to

One result of the combinations which were taking place during this period was a general increase in prices. It

took �1 in 1911 to purchase the amount of food, groceries, and housing which could in 1901 have been

purchased for 17s. 7d. Using index numbers with 1911 as the standard, this represents a rise from 880 to

1,000. The change was most marked in Brisbane, where the price number rose from 769 to 915, and least in

Perth, where the respective figures are 1,027 and 1,136. Nevertheless, it seems that the prosperity of the

period was fairly generally diffused. That is suggested by the savings bank balances already quoted, and by

the fact that real wages, despite frequent sharp fluctuations, rose on the whole in every State except

But by the end of the decade signs were not wanting that the trade boom was on the wane. The pastoral

industry first manifested signs of decline. The volume of primary production per head went back from 1,028

in 1910 to 990 in 1912. Similarly the excess of imports over exports decreased from �8.7 to �1 millions. For

the whole Commonwealth, despite a rising overseas market for Australian produce, the percentage of exports

on imports steadily fell from a maximum Of 155.9 in 1906 to 98.5 in 1913. Hence Australia began to show

an unfavourable trade balance for the first time since 1892. Of course, external trade is not necessarily a

measure of the prosperity of a country. In the case of a selfcontained and selfsupporting community it

would afford no measure at all. But, despite the expansion of manufactures that had already taken place,

Australia was not selfsufficing, and hence the decline was of sinister significance. Similarly the mass

volume of production per head declined slowly and irregularly from a figure of 43.1 in 1910 to 39.8 in 1912.

It would be a mistake to attach undue importance to such statistical computations, but the evidence seems to

point to a gradual lowering of the productive activity of the community which under the present system of

production for profit generally presages a crisis. At the same time the upward movement of the price curve

became accelerated to an alarming degree. The index number for the Commonwealth food, groceries, and

rent jumped in one year from 1,000 to 1,104. The change was particularly marked in the capital cities of

the eastern States in Sydney from 1,031 to 1,148, and in Melbourne from 950 to 1,055. And this time

wages did not keep pace with the rise in the cost of commodities. The index number for real wages dropped

from 1,000 in 1911 to 956 in 1912. In N.S.W. the fall was particularly rapid from 972 to 921. Yet money

wages were constantly being raised, and the increased cost "passed on" in prices. Nevertheless, Governmental

expenditure rapidly increased both by the States and the Commonwealth. The disbursement of large sums on

public works by the State Governments and on naval and military preparation by the Commonwealth served

to provide more or less plentiful employment and to disguise the effects of the threatening decline in other

Such was the situation when the war broke out. The substantial effect of that cataclysm, after the shock of the

first panic had worn off, was to maintain and even enhance the partly fictitious prosperity of the last prewar

epoch and postpone any crisis. At first there was a general disturbance to industry, paralysis of overseas

trade, a stoppage of loanmoneys and consequently of public works, and widespread and severe

unemployment. But within nine months the wheels of industry were revolving at a faster rate than hitherto.

The European situation gave an enormously inflated value to all Australia's staple products wool, meat,

wheat, and metals. Although little shipping was available to transport these crops to the theatre of war, the

Imperial Government purchased the whole output of Australia at hitherto unheardof prices. The value of

pastoral production in 1916 was just on �90,000,000 as against �50,250,000 in 1911, and yet the wool clip

scaled about 550 million lbs. as compared with 761 millions in the earlier year, and the quantities of butter,

bacon, and hams were also smaller. The energy devoted to the preparation of raw materials, and the shortage

of shipping to bring goods to Australia or to carry away Australian products, gave a splendid stimulus to local

manufacturing industry both to make up for the lack of imported articles by manufacturing them locally and

to reduce to the smallest compass Australian exports by refining in Australia what had hitherto been shipped

in the crude state. The unfavourable position of the Australian trade balance at the beginning of the war was

reversed by 191617, when the percentage of exports to imports reached 128.5. Nevertheless Australia

experienced a series of bad seasons, culminating in a tremendous drought in 191920, which have reduced

the sheep flocks of Australia from 93 millions in 1911 to 75 millions in 1919. In N.S.W. the drop was from

46 to 29 millions in June, 1920. A slight increase in the number of cattle can hardly counterbalance this

tremendous loss. Moreover, taxation increased enormously. In 1914 the combined Federal and State taxes

worked out at �4 14s. per head, by 1919 the figure was �8 18s. 3d. Moreover, to say nothing of the States, the

Public Debt of the Commonwealth has increased from �19,000,000 sterling at the beginning of the war to

well over �325,000,000 in 1919, while the burden of interest is today twenty times what it was in 1914. And

this huge sum is not represented by any substantial and reproductive assets as are the debts of the States

expended on railways, and the like, but has largely been blown away in the sheer wastage of war.

Nevertheless, the war period was one of actual prosperity, however unstable its foundations may have been.

Prices rose enormously, but wages more than kept pace with them, so that the real wage curve ascends

rapidly though it does not reach the peak level of 1911. The savings bank balance rose correspondingly, the

total deposits being nearly doubled between 1911 and 1918. These figures represent rather an extension of the

area of prosperity than an increase in the prosperity of those previously banking, for while the deposits per

inhabitant rose from �13 8s. 5d. to �23 7s. 2d., the balance per depositor only increased from �37 2s. 4d. to

�42 1s. 1ld. The appearance of prosperity endured for the first year of peace; the soldiers returning from the

war had large amounts of deferred pay to spend, and both Commonwealth and State Governments poured out

money lavishly for repatriation purposes. At the same time those who had made huge profits during the war

were still able to spend freely. This expenditure encouraged importing on a large scale and an enormous

But the bubble of this prosperity has been burst. The market for primary products has collapsed and the

fabulous prices ruling during the war are no longer obtainable. Thus the huge paper values of Australian

produce are automatically contracting. The roseate veil of money has been torn, and it is necessary to face

real values again. The prospect is not bright, and a marked depression has infected industry which even the

heavy expenditure of Government loans on public works cannot hide. With the collapse of the metal market

practically all the mines have suspended operations and consequently the treatment works, and all the wide

industry indirectly dependent upon them is paralysed. The Commonwealth armament construction

programme has slackened down greatly, and a general slump in trade seems to have arrived.

THE Labour Movement in Australia takes on its specific character only from the date of its entry into the

political arena with the formations of Labour Parties in most of the States in 188990. It is therefore

convenient to make this date the starting for our study. Up to this point the history of unionism in the

Australian colonies presents no features to make it worthy of any special attention from students of industrial

and social questions. By the end of 1888 Labour had achieved a considerable degree of organisation

especially in the skilled trades. Craft unions on the English model had been set up for the majority of the

occupations requiring any degree of training in their employees. A start had also been made in organising the

bush workers by the establishment of unions for shearers and miners. Moreover, while mainly confined to the

skilled workmen, unionism was not entirely unknown among the unskilled. On the waterfront in the main

seaports, the wharf labourers and coallumpers had unions, and in Queensland the shed hands or roustabouts

the unskilled workers employed beside the shearers in the country woolsheds had an organisation of

their own. Intercolonial Trade Union Congresses had been held regularly since 1879, and within the several

States the forces of labour were given some sort of coordination, at least in the chief towns, by the existence

of Labour Councils. In Queensland still further unity had been achieved by the formation of the Australian

Federation of Labour, "Northern Province," commonly spoken of as the A.L.F. At the same time new ideas

were being spread by the Australian Socialist League formed in Sydney in 1887, by the writings of William

Lane in Brisbane, and by the visit of Henry George. Labour was now a force to be reckoned with in the

community and had already achieved several notable victories in these years of booming trade by industrial

action. The A.L.F. had in particular demonstrated its power in the northern State at the beginning of 1890 in

connection with a shearing dispute and a general spirit of solidarity as well as a confidence in the irresistible

This confidence was rudely shaken by the failure of the Maritime Strike of the same year. This dispute was

occasioned by the refusal of the shipowners to permit the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association to continue

its affiliation with the Melbourne Trades Hall Council. The seamen and the waterside unions resolved to

assist the marine officers, and ceased work in their defence. In Sydney the issue was complicated by the

attempt of some pastoralists to shear their sheep by nonunion labour and the boycotting of nonunion wool

by the transport and waterside unions. In sympathy with the maritime workers, who thus came out on strike

in a body, the coal miners also ceased work, and at a later date all the members of the Shearers' Union were

withdrawn from the sheds. Even the Broken Hill A.M.A. was asked to join in, and the militant miners

unanimously downed tools. In the end the unions were defeated all along the line. The Employers' Federation

and the Pastoralist Union had displayed perfect solidarity, and they had at their disposal the whole force of

the State the police to guard their property, soldiers to protect the strikebreakers collected by the

"The N.S.W. Labour Party of 1891," says George Black, "was the creation of the Maritime Strike of 1890."

Its failure had convinced the unionists of the futility of attempting to extort reforms by direct industrial action

in the teeth of a hostile Government and all the powers of the State. It had further shown that, however ready

bourgeoise ministries might be to receive deputations from trade unions with smiles and to promise reforms

in return for workingclass votes, when the fundamental issues of the class struggle were raised, they would

be solidly behind the employers and lend them every assistance to defeat the toilers. The workers had been

defeated by the use of the Governmental machinery in the hands of the master class; but in a democratic

country, where every man had a vote and the workers outnumbered the employers, there seemed no reason

why they should not wrest that machinery from the masters' hands and control it themselves. The very

manifesto which declared the strike off suggested this policy. "We would also call attention," runs the

manifesto of the Strike Congress, "to the actions of the Governments of each colony in regard to the strike,

and would recommend active, energetic work throughout all Labour organisations in preparation for taking

full advantage of the privileges of the franchise, by sweeping monopolists and class representatives from the

Parliaments of the country, replacing them by men who will study the interests of the people, and who will

remove the unjust laws now used against the workers and wealthproducers, and administer equitable

The public, sick of the disturbance to life and business caused by constant strikes, welcomed this idea, and

the Press applauded it. On the face of it, it seemed feasible enough. There was no class of hereditary or

quasihereditary legislators in the colonies such as had grown up in older societies. Payment of members had

been introduced in all the States by 1890. Workingmen representatives had sat in several of the State

Assemblies before this time, though they had tended to drift into one or other of the political parties of the

middleclass world. In South Australia candidates had been wont to woo the votes of unionists, and eagerly

sought "endorsement" from the Trades and Labour Council before elections, though it is by no means clear

that they afterwards displayed any anxiety to fulfil the promises on the strength of which this endorsement

had been given. It was quite possible that Labour, if it formed a distinct and independent party, would at least

control the balance of power between the middleclass parties, and thereby be able to exact concessions in

return for support on the policy initiated by Parnell. This was especially likely in N.S.W. where there were

two, and only two, parties sharply divided on the fiscal issue. Accordingly the recommendation of the Strike

Congress was adopted. The workers determined to have a political party of their own, with their own

independent representatives in the House. Steps to this end were accordingly taken in all the selfgoverning

colonies except Tasmania. A brief account of events in N.S.W. and Queensland will sufficiently illustrate the

manner in which the energies of the Labour Movement were diverted to attain the conquest of political

In the former State, the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades and Labour Council, immediately upon the

settlement of the Maritime Strike, formulated a scheme for the foundation of a Labour Electoral League, with

branches in every electorate. A platform was drawn up, and both were submitted to and approved by the

Council. Organisers were accordingly sent into the electorates to establish branches and enroll members.

Membership was not to be restricted to unionists, but any one who was in sympathy with the aims of the

League and would subscribe 5s. a year was eligible. The branches were given the right of selecting

candidates, from whom a pledge was demanded that they accepted the Party platform. For the present the

executive of the Trades and Labour Council acted also as the executive of the Labour Electoral League. The

elections were held in the middle of 1891, and Labour contested fortyfive seats and succeeded in securing

the return of thirtysix of its candidates, thus being in a position to sway the balance of power between the

Protectionists and the Free Traders. Thus was the first Labour Party formed in N.S.W. The steps taken in

In Queensland the circumstances were somewhat different. At the meeting of the Provincial Council of the

A.L.F. in August, 1890, W. Lane, a journalist of great power and strong Socialist convictions, who had

already been appointed editor of the Federation newspaper, The Worker, persuaded the organisation to adopt

political action for the attainment of Socialism. A programme of "aims" of a pure collectivist character was

adopted, as well as an immediate platform for submission to the electors, demanding simple constitutional

reforms in the direction of broadening the franchise and abolishing all limitations on the popular will. The

A.L.F. sent organisers all over the country to organise what were called Workers' Political Organisations

(W.P.O.'s) which corresponded to the Electoral Leagues in N.S.W. It was decided that all Labour

representatives must sit on the crossbenches, no matter what party was in power, and pledge themselves to

resign if so required by a twothirds majority of their constituents. Four Labour candidates were returned by

this Party in the elections of 1892, but the Party was not finally constituted till the following year. Then the

A.L.F. called a conference of the W.P.O.'s, which adopted its own platform and constitution. This included an

executive representative of the W.P.O.'s, the A.L.F., and the Parliamentary Party.

The Labour Parties in all the States were agreed in adopting a novel view of democracy and in a

determination to remain separate and independent entities, not connected by any permanent bond with any of

the older parties. The new theory of democracy which distinguished the Labour Party is well stated by W. G.

Spence, himself one of the founders of the political movement. "The idea of selfgovernment," he writes

(A.A., p.220), "came to the worker in a new light, and he saw that he must not only vote, but must make the

platform and select his own political warcry." Previously the democracy had been asked to choose between

policies framed by the Party leaders on their own responsibility. At most the workers had been able to extort

promises of particular reforms in return for union votes. This was not selfgovernment as understood by the

proletarian democracy of Australia. The issues to be submitted to the people must also be determined by the

people if true democracy is to exist. The Labour Party sought to make provision for this. "There is no other

party," said T. J. Ryan in his address to the Queensland LabourinPolitics Convention of 1913, "that has a

policy which is formed on the initiation and at the instance of the people themselves." The realisation of this

ideal has been found to require a system of checks and controls which grew up gradually to meet the demands

of the situation. A conference of representatives of all the Party members chosen by the leagues and unions

frames the policy; an executive interprets the platform laid down by conference; a meeting of the

Parliamentary Party the Caucus supervises the execution of the policy by the members in the Houses

of Parliament. We shall in the next few chapters examine more in detail this machinery, and try to decide how

far it fulfils its purpose. At this stage, however, it will be desirable to study the early history of the N.S.W.

Labour Party, as there the several organs of control were developed to meet emergencies at first unforeseen.

When the Parliament of 1891, met it was found that there were fiftyfive followers of the Free Trader Parkes,

and fifty supporters of his opponent Dibbs. Hence the thirtysix Labour members held the fate of the

Government in their hands on one condition, that they were a united block who could be relied upon to

vote solidly on every question. Given that condition, they were clearly able to demand very substantial

concessions in return for support. The policy of the other parties on the other hand was obviously to try and

divide the Labourites by raising issues not included in the Party platform. These tactics were easily foreseen,

and at the first meeting the following pledge was adopted at the instance of G. Black:

"That, in order to secure the solidarity of the Labour Party, only those will be allowed to assist at its private

deliberations who are pledged to vote in the House as a majority of the Party sitting in Caucus has

"Therefore we, the undersigned, in proof of our determination to vote as a majority of the Party may agree, on

all occasions considered of such importance as to necessitate a Party deliberation, have thereunto affixed our

When Parliament met it was found that Parkes had included in the Governor's speech a number of Labour

measures, including electoral reform, a Bill for the establishment of courts of arbitration and conciliation, a

Factory and Shops Act, and so on. But it was soon evident that the fiscal issue was seriously threatening the

unity of the Party. This question had been deliberately left out of the Labour platform because of the great

division of opinion among the workers upon the subject. Individual members of the Party had therefore felt

themselves free to adopt one side or the other in their electoral campaigns. Many of them were protectionists,

and were returned as such. When, then, Dibbs moved a protectionist amendment to the AddressinReply the

latter found themselves torn between two duties. If they voted for Dibbs they risked sacrificing the reform

legislation promised by the Premier. To support Parkes, on the other hand, would be to betray the pledges

given to their constituents. Some protectionists like McGowen were prepared to do that in the interests of

solidarity, but others were less tractable. Six left the Party on this question.

Yet it was evident that the policy of "support in return for concessions" adopted by the Party implied

continuous support to one side of the House or the other. A group that was prepared to support the

Government in respect of a fraction of its policy alone, but held itself free to allow that Government to be

defeated on another issue, would have little bargaining power. That implied further that, if the Labour Party

was to be any use at all, members were not free to adopt any attitude they chose, even on questions on which

the Party's platform was silent, but that the Party must act as one body even where the platform gave them no

guidance. That presupposed a body capable of determining how the Party should speak and vote on such

issues. The body best adapted to serve the purpose seemed to be Caucus, and that was the intention of the

pledge proposed by Black. On the other hand, the adoption of this system would do away with the old theory

of representative Government and the responsibility of the member to his constituents. He would no longer

speak freely for these alone, but would have to speak for the Labour Movement as a whole. For the time

being, many members of the Party were unwilling to accept this theory of the subordination of the individual

member to the whole Party, and as a result the Party was hopelessly divided on the fiscal question.

The division in the ranks of the parliamentarians practically invited the Electoral League outside to interfere,

and when a conference of delegates from the local leagues met in January, 1892, it set out to try and control

the politicians. It declared that it was the duty of the Labour Party to support "any Government on condition

that a good portion of the Labour platform was carried into law." As the dissensions within the ranks of the

Parliamentary Party still continued, the next conference declared "that the Labour Party shall be a distinct

Party and not allied to any other party, and that the sinking of the fiscal issue shall mean that any Labour

members elected to Parliament shall support any Government that would give Labour measures and should

vote as a solid Party till the fiscal question should be settled by referendum of the people." It further

recommended "that the Labour Party in Parliament expel any members from that Party who do not abide by

the rule of a majority of the Caucus." These resolutions were a confirmation of the attitude implied in Black's

pledge. But they raise a further consideration. The Labour member is responsible not only to his constituents

and his fellow members in Caucus, but also to an outside body The Annual Conference of the League. As

we shall see, this third body serves to reconcile the apparently conflicting loyalties to electors and to party.

In preparation for the elections a special Conference met in November, 1893. It adopted the following pledge

A. "That a Parliamentary Labour Party, to be of any weight, must give a solid vote in the House upon all

questions affecting the Labour platform, the fate of the Ministry, or calculated to establish a monopoly, or

B. "That accordingly every candidate who runs in the Labour interest should be required to pledge himself

not only to the fighting platform and Labour platform, but also to vote on every occasion specified in Clause

The Parliamentary Party met at once and determined to resist this interference. They held that their duties

were to their constituents, not to Conference or Caucus. As they had shown no inclination to vote against the

Labour platform, the leagues had no excuse for complaint or interference. Joseph Cook, the leader, issued a

"That the pledge was both absurd and impracticable, and calculated to thwart the desires of the workers,

"That the pledge destroyed the representative character of a member and abrogated the electoral privileges of

"That the effect of the pledge had already been to drive from the leagues some of the staunchest members of

The open revolt of the politicians created a ferment in the League. The manifesto was described as a

declaration of war, "after which nothing remained but to fight the signatories as traitors to Labour." J. C.

Watson, President of the League Executive, explained that the pledge was necessary to prevent a split in the

Party, and would not have been insisted upon but for the fact that present members did not work solidly

without it. The Executive circularised the leagues, and found that seventytwo out of eightyfour endorsed

the "solidarity pledge." Thereupon they declared that the recalcitrants were "rats," and outlawed them from

the organisation. Cook found support in his own league. Hartley a coalmining centre, and this league,

together with four others, was declared "bogus." Only those candidates who signed the pledge were

recognised and endorsed by the central body to run as Labour representatives at the forthcoming General

Election. They included but four of the original Party: McGowen, Cann, Davis and Kirkpatrick. Many of the

At the July elections of 1894 fifteen "solidarities" as the pledged men were called, and twelve independents

were returned. Among the former were W. M. Hughes and J. C. Watson, who had come into prominence as

champions of the Executive against the Parliamentary Party. We shall find later that the championship of the

organisation outside Parliament against recalcitrant sitting members has often been a road to Parliamentary

honours for the champions. The 1895 Conference modified the pledge to read as follows :

"I hereby pledge myself not to oppose the selected candidate of this or any other branch of the Political

Labour League. I also pledge myself, if returned to Parliament, on all occasions to do my utmost to ensure the

carrying out of the principles embodied in the Labour Platform, and on all questions, and especially those

affecting the fate of a Government, to vote as a majority of the Labour Party may decide at a duly constituted

Three of the "independents," Black, Brown, and Edden, accepted this modified pledge and returned to the

Labour fold. The remnant either disappeared from political life or became merged in one or other of the

bourgeoise parties. Cook, in particular, was rewarded for his apostasy by the portfolio of PostmasterGeneral

Accordingly, the contentions of the pledge party were amply vindicated. It was proved that the pledge was

essential in order to maintain the individuality and identity of a Labour Party in a middleclass Assembly.

Without it the Labour Party would have gone the way of the "workingmen" candidates in the past and

become mere hangerson of one or other of the older parties. In the future the only recognised Labour

candidates were those who had not only been selected by the local Labour leagues, but had also received the

endorsement of the Central Executive; for, as we have seen, the latter body in 1894 was obliged to restrict the

choice of the local leagues and refuse recognition to those which, like Hartley, supported the candidature of

men who had not signed the Executive's pledge. Hereafter, too, it was admitted that Labour members spoke

not for their constituencies alone or for the little leagues that had actually selected them, but for the Political

Labour Movement as a whole. In compensation the local leagues had the right of sending delegates to the

Annual Conference and instructing them how to vote as well as themselves sending in proposals for

embodiment in the platform and policy of the Party. Thus the local bodies were given a voice in framing the

policy of the movement. For the limitations placed upon their separate representation on the floor of the

House, they received instead effective representation on the controlling authority of the whole Party.

Conference had won for itself the right to be considered the supreme governing power in the whole

organisation, framing the policy which Labour's parliamentary representatives had to further and advocate,

and thus exercising a certain control over their actions. In the intervals between Conferences, the Executive

was accepted as the guardian of the integrity of the movement, with the right in particular to grant or refuse

endorsement to wouldbe Labour candidates. The oversight of the details of parliamentary tactics was left to

Caucus, whose decisions the individual Labour member was pledged to obey. The same general theory and

the same system of triple controls was adopted in the other States, copied in most cases from N.S.W., where

alone the logic of its evolution as an adaptation to circumstances can be clearly exhibited.

We shall see in the sequel that the elected representatives of the Labour Movement showed a continual

inclination to revolt against the discipline which was so essentially involved in the whole theory of

democracy adopted by the Party. To check this there was a steady process of tightening up the control

exercised over the individual Labourite by the organs of the whole Movement. A widening cleavage between

the Parliamentary representatives of Labour and the Party outside the sacred precincts of the House makes

itself apparent, leading to fresh struggles, in which the Conference and Executive constantly arrogate to

themselves additional powers of oversight and direction with respect to the politicians. As a further phase we

shall observe a conflict between the genuinely workingclass elements as represented in the unions, upon

which and for which the Party was originally founded, and the middleclass voters whose support had been

secured through the leagues. In the next three chapters we shall trace the history of these dialectic

developments from a purely formal point of view and inquire how far the various controls set up have served

their purpose. In a later work I hope to examine more in detail the actual aims and ideals of the Labour

Parties, and then to present some data to enable the reader to judge how far these parties have been successful

in realising the objects they have been sent out to strive for. NOTE.For convenience I shall always speak

of the local branches of the parties as "leagues," though this term is not used in all the States. For instance, in

Queensland the name W.P.O. is used. Similarly, there are differences from State to State in the nomenclature

of the Party organisations. Queenslanders spoke of the LabourinPolitics Convention and the Central

Political Executive (C.P.E.). In N.S.W the term used was Political Labour League (P.L.L.) Conference and

Executive. Victorians had a Political Labour Council (P.L.C.) corresponding to the Executive and a P.L.C.

Conference. All these, however, since 1918 have been State branches of the Australian Labour Party

As we have seen the events of 189194 in N.S.W. had established finally the principle of the supremacy of

Caucus as representing the Labour Party as a whole over the individual member. Henceforth the Labour

Member of Parliament spoke and voted on all vital questions, not so much as the representative of a

constituency, but as a representative of the Labour Movement. But he still had one alternative to submission

to the rule of the majority in Caucus he might resign his seat. Here was a loophole by which a

discontented minority might defy the dictates of Caucus. This was demonstrated in N.S.W. in 1899. The

Party was as a whole supporting the Reid Ministry, but six members, headed by W. A. Holman were

uncompromisingly antagonistic to the Premier. Reid held office by grace of the Labour votes alone, but so

evenly were parties divided in the House that the absence of the six Labour members would have meant the

defeat of the Government. The Leader of the Opposition, Lyne, raised an issue on which the six said that they

would resign their seats rather than support the Government. As, therefore, the Ministry were doomed to

defeat anyway, Caucus decided that it would be wiser to support Lyne and take the responsibility for the

defeat of Reid in return for concessions from the other side than to allow the resignations of the six to put

Lyne in power irrespective of the attitude of the Labour Party, and therefore allowed themselves to be swung

round behind Lyne. Thus, by threat of resignation, a minority of the Party had been able to override the

decision of Caucus and impose their will on the majority of their colleagues. In this case the issue was

In 1911, however, a crisis was precipitated by the resignation of two Labour members, and the life of the first

Labour Government in N.S.W. was imperilled. An important plank in the Labour platform was "Immediate

Cessation of Crown Land Sales" as a step to the ultimate goal, land nationalisation. Instead of freehold the

Party proposed to give "perpetual leasehold" titles. But this principle was distinctly unpalatable to the small

farmers upon whose votes the Party relied in the country electorates. The representatives of country

constituencies were accordingly very timid about referring to the leasehold plank. But the Labour Minister

for Lands, Neil Neilson, had strong views upon the subject, and the newlyformed Ministry had to face more

One item in the Lands Minister's programme aroused especially acute hostility. That was his interpretation of

the plank as it affected what was called the Conversion Act of 1908. By this Act the Wade Ministry had

conferred upon those who had taken up leases of Crown land the right of converting their holdings into

freeholds. These settlers had deliberately taken up leases, and the Labour Party had vigorously denounced the

measure conferring this unexpected privilege upon them as robbery of the people's heritage. Neilson, when he

was appointed Minister, announced his intention of repealing this legislation which plainly conflicted with

the Party's platform. He further indicated that he interpreted repeal to mean the denial to those who already

had taken up leases, but had not as yet applied to have them converted, of the right in future to convert into

freehold. This pronouncement created dismay among the farmers who contended that, having taken up lands

at a time when they would have had the right to convert their titles into freehold, the withdrawal of this right

would be repudiation of an implied contract. Most of the representatives of country constituencies were

terrified into concurring in this view. They contended that repeal of the Conversion Act should mean only the

refusal to allow those who took up land after the amending Bill were passed, the right to convert; those who

already held leases should not be prejudiced. This view had been accepted by Holman, the deputy leader of

the Party, before the elections and announced by him. Accordingly there were many intrigues in Caucus to

defeat the more rigorous interpretation of Neilson and prevent him giving effect to his policy.

The crisis was reached while the Premier, McGowen, was in England attending the Coronation. On July

22nd, 1911, Wade, the Leader of the Opposition, moved the following motion of censure:

"That the declared policy of the Government that, in the proposed repeal of the Conversion Act, they will not

preserve in their entirety the rights of those persons who are now entitled to convert their holdings, thereby

repudiating a statutory compact, is inimical to the best interests of the State."

This test was too much for the loyalty of two members of the Ministerial party. Messrs. Horne and Dunn,

knowing well that they could never face their constituents had they voted for Neilson's policy, resigned

As the Government had only a majority of two at the best of times, this precipitate action at once destroyed

its power in the House and brought about the defeat of the Labour Government. The Party managed to keep

in office, but only by repudiating Neilson's policy, ejecting from office the Minister who was too scrupulous

in his interpretation of the platform, and reselecting one of the recalcitrants to contest the vacancy; for the

stricter policy was an utterly hopeless one as the main issue of an election. Thus a minority was able to

dictate to Caucus before it had even had an opportunity of discussing the details of the proposed Bill, and

forcing upon the Labour Party a policy which appeared disingenuous. To prevent a recurrence of such a crisis

the next Conference of the P.L.L. decided on the motion of StuartRobertson, M.L.A.:

"That any member resigning without the consent of Caucus and the Executive shall be ineligible for selection

To ensure the reality of Caucus supremacy, a further safeguard was needed the election of the Ministry by

that body; the leader was already elected each Parliament by Caucus at its first meeting. At the 1906

Conference in N.S.W. a motion in favour of this procedure was moved. "Hitherto," said the mover, "men who

have got seats in Cabinets have been merely friends of their leader. A man would abstain from criticising his

leader's actions in expectation of favours to come." Thus the rule of Caucus might degenerate into a

thinlyveiled dictatorship by one man working through the forms of majority rule. Many of the older

parliamentarians, such as Holman and Catts, bitterly opposed the motion. They contended that the leader,

who is responsible to Caucus and Conference for the successful passage of Labour's legislative programme

and the execution of its administrative policy, was the best judge of the fittest lieutenants to assist him in his

task and that, therefore, it was in the best interests of the Movement that he should be allowed to choose men

he could rely upon. The motion was at this time rejected, but the election of the Ministry by Caucus has since

become the recognised rule of the Labour Parties. In 1908 Fisher, in forming his first Ministry in the Federal

Parliament, left the selection of Ministers to Caucus, reserving to himself the allocation of portfolios among

The test of the adequacy of the Caucus checks comes when Labour has at length climbed into office. It has

been found so far only partially effective. Elevation to Cabinet rank at once gives a new status and a new

outlook to the Labour Minister, sharply sundering him from his former associates on the floor of the House.

McNamara, M.L.C., a Victorian delegate, told the 1919 Federal Conference of the A.L.P. that Ministers

receiving high salaries had become a class apart. "They came into Caucus as a solid body, even when they

had differences of opinion upon subjects amongst themselves, and presented their proposals in such a way

that it did not always make for the best in administration and subsequently in legislation."

The Minister faced with the actual responsibilities of governing, administering the details of his department,

surrounded by outwardly obsequious Civil servants, courted by men of wealth and influence, an honoured

guest at public functions, riding in his own State motor car, is prone to undergo a mental transformation. He

inevitably looks at administrative questions from a different angle to that in which they appear to the private

member. The latter wants a lot of things mostly apparently small and simple done for himself, his

constituents, his friends, or his union; the Minister seems to possess the power to grant most of such requests.

But the Minister is painfully aware of the limitations placed upon his power by considerations of finance, by

constitutional usage, by the traditional procedure of his department, and by the very multiplicity of

conflicting claims upon his favour. He is more fully seised of the implications of each question than a private

member can be. He must beware of creating precedents rashly, confidential information in his possession

cannot be revealed, lest it should slip out if too many persons are privy to it. The members of the Cabinet

become bound together by sharing such difficulties, by the mutual recognition of the more intimate and secret

problems of Government and a common desire to maintain their positions in the House and the Party, and to

ensure both their return by the country and their reelection by Caucus. For that reason they tend to preserve

a solid front to Caucus. They resent its criticism both because they can see ways of retaining the Party in

office and dangers to themselves and the State, which it would be unsafe or useless to explain to their

followers, and because the latter's criticism is often inspired by personal jealousy and ventilated by possible

rivals. They can generally secure the support of a majority at any meeting by judicious concessions to the

demands preferred by individual members on behalf of their constituencies, and thus buy over a sufficient

And then the decisions of Caucus can very often be ignored. It is hard to imagine that a majority of members

would be prepared to vote against the Government on the floor of the House and thus jeopardise the Labour

Ministry if Ministers took the bit in their teeth. In any Parliament composed of professional politicians the

antidissolution party is always in a majority, and this is especially so in the case of a Labour Party where the

members are not only professional politicians, but are practically kept off the labour market by the possession

of seats. Hence the threat of a dissolution is always a powerful weapon in the hands of the Ministry.

The only real check which Caucus can exercise in the last resort over defiant Ministers is to refuse to reelect

them if the Party is again returned to power in the next Parliament. It is noteworthy, however, that it is

extremely rare, save in cases where the Minister has resigned owing to a definite split with the majority of

Caucus, his colleagues, like Neilson in 1911, or Adamson in Queensland at conscription time, for a Minister

to fail to secure reelection. In 1914 it is true that Caucus refused to reelect Edden, the former Minister for

Mines, but he had displayed a quite unusual degree of culpable incompetence. In two successive Federal

Ministries no Ministers were eliminated by Caucus, and the same has happened in three consecutive Labour

Governments in Queensland, although in the Caucus election of 1920 J. Fihelly failed to secure reelection as

DeputyLeader. Such remarkable consistency in the choice of old favourites is sufficient commentary on the

The deliberations of Caucus are supposed to be secret, and it is therefore difficult to gauge accurately how far

Ministers are prepared to defy it. Nevertheless, a sufficient number of instances are common knowledge to

For example, the McGowen Government in 1912 introduced a Bill into the Assembly granting a piece of land

at Newcastle to the B.H.P. Company (Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Ltd.) for the establishment of steel

works. This seemed a contravention of the plank of the fighting platform promising State iron and steel

works. It was afterwards admitted that this measure had been tabled before it had ever been submitted to

Caucus. Several members of the Party, therefore, voted against the Bill in the Assembly, but it had the

support of the Opposition and passed easily. In the second Parliament of the Holman Government, Caucus set

up a Bills Committee, to which all legislation had to be submitted before it was introduced in the House. The

A very critical question for the Party arose during this Parliament the right of Caucus to be consulted in

respect to the appointment of Legislative Councillors. Conference in 1911 had recommended a certain

procedure in regard to these nominations, but the Cabinet ignored this. After the nominee Upper Chamber

had mutilated a large number of Labour Bills, the Government at last in 1912 recommended ten gentlemen

for appointment to the Council. Of these ten only four had signed the pledge approved by Conference. Some

of the others were really members of the Party, but others again were not, and two consistently voted against

the Government. In making these appointments Cabinet had acted entirely on its own initiative, and they

Accordingly, in the next Parliament, Caucus carried a resolution on the motion of R. D. Meagher, that no

further appointments to the Council should be made unless the names of the proposed appointees had been

approved by Caucus. Holman, the Premier, was absent from the meeting which made this decision, but when

he heard of it, he announced his intention of defying it in a Press statement. "As long as that resolution

remains on the records of the Party," said the Premier, "there will be no appointments to the Upper House."

He contended that such appointments were purely Executive matters, and that Caucus could not interfere with

Executive functions. As if to enforce the latter dictum, he shortly afterwards assigned the portfolio of Public

Health to G. Black, who had been elected to the Ministry on the distinct understanding that he should be only

Had Holman's dictum stood it would have meant a very serious limitation of the supervisory power of

Caucus, since administration is, from the Labour standpoint, often quite as important as legislation. Nor is the

distinction between executive and legislative acts logical. A Government is called upon to give an account in

the House of its administration, and therefore the Party must take responsibility for acts which they may have

to defend in the Assembly. However, the Holman position was finally rejected by the Party at the 1916

Conference. In Queensland, the only other State that has a nominee Second Chamber, the RyanTheodore

Governments have always left the choice of Councillors to Caucus, while the names have also been submitted

to the Executive for endorsement as in the case of Labour candidates for the Lower House.

It must not be thought, however, that the Labour Governments in Queensland have been much more

submissive to Caucus domination. In 1919 J. M. Hunter was holding no less than three portfolios in a

temporary capacity although Caucus had more than once laid it down that this gentleman was to be only an

honorary Minister. It is also understood that Caucus passed a resolution forbidding further expenditure on the

purchase of State cattle stations. A little later the purchase of a still larger estate for this purpose was

Yet, although unable to control the actions of Ministers, the Labour Member is discouraged from criticising

them in public. In November, 1915, Gardiner (M.L.A. for Newcastle in the N.S.W. Parliament), made a

scathing attack on the Government's handling of the Labour situation during the war in his speech on the

Budget. Premier Holman rushed into the Chamber in a towering rage, and said in the course of his reply: "If

the hon. Member makes another speech like the one he made today in this House, I will have him expelled

from the Party, or I will leave it myself. He has already been warned privately, and now I tell him so

publicly." Similarly Frank Anstey, sickened by the Government's inactivity and preoccupation in militarism,

and finding his criticisms in Caucus falling upon deaf ears, resigned from the Federal Labour Party in order to

The limitations of Caucus control have become so notorious that some curious proposals were put before the

Federal Conference of igig for revolutionary modifications in the system of Cabinet Government. One motion

proposed to associate with the Minister in the administration of each department a committee of five

members elected by Caucus. The mover wanted the work of administration to be carried out by practically

the whole Party, and not to be the work of ten or twelve men. Another delegate thought a committee would

help to fix responsibility, and go a long way towards purifying public life. Premiers, actual like Theodore, or

expectant like Tudor and Storey, agreed in branding the proposition as unworkable. If responsibility was

divided it could not be fixed. As it was, Cabinet had to account to the Party for any errors. The motion was

In conclusion, we may remark that the Caucus system seems to discourage brilliance and originality. The

exceptional man is always suspect. When a man of marked ability does succeed in gaining the lead, like

Holman or Theodore, he tends to become autocratic. A man of outstanding ability and dominating personality

naturally resents dictation from those less gifted and well informed than himself men who are not in so

good a position as he is to judge of the complexities of a political situation, and whom he is apt to despise as

intellectual inferiors. The democratic discipline of the Labour Party has in several instances turned such men

into apostates. That was the fate of Holman, Kidston and Hughes. Such men may honestly believe that they

are indispensable to the Party and that they, and they alone, know what is best for it and the masses it

represents; and therefore persist in a policy, in the teeth of popular opposition, to the breaking point, where a

lesser man would seek by servile compliance with the caprices of his followers to maintain himself in his

position at the cost of his principles. The truly great Labour leader who can steer a middle course between

both these extremes is rare. T.J. Ryan was the most splendid example. In general Caucus likes an able man as

leader, but in filling other posts inclines to pay more attention to personal qualities of good fellowship than to

fitness for Ministerial responsibility. A versatile and original thinker like Anstey is too dangerous to receive

THE Labour view of democracy which has been explained in Chapter 1 implies the formulation of a policy

for the Parliamentarians by the Party as a whole and, to ensure its proper execution, a control of the

politicians by the Movement outside Parliament was also found to be required. To fulfil these two objects an

elaborate extraParliamentary organisation of the Party was inevitable. The unit of this organisation is the

league in each electorate. These leagues are more than ad hoc committees such as every political party

establishes for election purposes. They have not only the power of selecting the candidate to bear Labour's

banner in the electorate; they also appoint delegates to the State Conference of the Party, and have the right to

send along to that Assembly proposals for the amendment of the platform and other recommendations

respecting the Party's policy and direction. Every voter resident in the electorate who pays a small

subscription, and pledges himself not to vote against the selected Labour candidate, is eligible for

membership. He thus can obtain a share in determining the Party's policy; for the league meets periodically

Conference meets annually in the Southern States and triennially in Queensland. In the former it is composed

of delegates from the leagues together with representatives of the affiliated unions. In the north the latter have

only secured separate representation since 1916. In the interval between Conferences its authority is exercised

by an Executive. The management of the Party funds, details of organising work, and the endorsement of

candidates are in the hands of the latter body. For the management of the Federal Party an InterState

Conference, consisting of six delegates, each selected by the State Conferences, meets at least once every

three years. It draws up the Federal platform, and generally deals with subjects that come within the scope of

the Commonwealth Parliament, considering, as a rule, only propositions emanating from one of the State

Conferences. An InterState Executive has been established only since 1915. It is composed of two delegates

chosen by each of the State Conferences, but, chiefly owing to the enormous distances separating the several

State capitals, it scarcely functions. Moreover, it has no separate funds under its control, the conduct of the

Federal elections being still reserved to the State Executives, which also retain the exclusive right of

endorsing the candidates for the Federal Parliament who run in their respective States.

We have already seen how the organisation of the Party outside Parliament was in N.S.W. obliged to exercise

a control over the members of the Legislature. The exercise of the rights thus vindicated for Conference and

the Executive has often been found necessary since then. The Parliamentary representative of the workers

tends to set himself up as a leader and to claim the right to neglect the recommendations of Conference, and

even the sacred platform itself in accordance with his interpretation of the interests of the Party which is

frequently determined by considerations of personal safety and mere political expediency. This is plainly

contrary to the Labour theory of selfgovernment, and has to be checked by the exercise of the authority of

the governing organs of the Party. The fact is that, possessed of a substantial salary, a gold pass on the

railways and other privileges, and surrounded with the middleclass atmosphere of Parliament, the workers'

representative is liable to get out of touch with the rank and file that put him in the Legislature, and to think

more of keeping his seat and scoring political points than of carrying out the ideals he was sent in to give

effect to. Thus conflicts between the politicians and the organised Labour Movement have been fairly

frequent. In cases of downright defiance the Executive can resort to the expedient of refusing endorsement to

the recalcitrant at the next election, thus preventing him from running as a Labour candidate. This was the

method by which Joseph Cook and his followers were got rid of in 1894. Revolts of the politicians ending in

their expulsion or desertion from the Party have been fairly common in most States.

Queensland had such an experience in 1905. In the previous year the Party had agreed to enter a Coalition

Ministry, and Kidston, a Labour M.L.A., was chosen to represent the Party as Treasurer in the new

Government. The State Conference met in 1905 and reaffirmed Plank XL of their platform "Immediate

Cessation of the Sale of Crown Lands." This plank was an integral part of the Party's policy which aimed

ultimately at the abolition of all freeholds and the substitution therefore of perpetual leaseholds. Conference

therefore determined that compliance with this plank should be a condition of further support for the

Coalition by the Labour Party. At the same meeting a new Socialist objective was adopted. The Labour

Treasurer was not prepared to enforce Plank XL, which was unpopular, while the sale of Crown Lands

brought in a substantial revenue. Therefore he left the Party, putting forward as his pretext the new objective.

The Party still gave regular support to the Government, of which Kidston soon became the head; for Labour

But in 1907 Conference reaffirmed its decision in regard to the enforcement of Plank XL in opposition to the

wishes of George Kerr, the new Parliamentary Leader. He, too, thereupon deserted the Party along with

eighteen other members, twelve of whom were rewarded for their treachery by losing their seats at the next

election. Some sentences from the Presidential Address of Mat Reid at the 1907 Conference are worth

quoting as a commentary on these events. After condemning opportunism in the rank and file of the Party, he

"Opportunism will always produce Opportunists. Once you allow the politician to boss the show, he will give

away everything to save himself, because he believes himself indispensable to the show, and in fact ends by

becoming the show himself, and making a holy show of the rest of us. The supposed strong point made by the

defaulters is their practical achievement of something in our time . . . legislating up to public opinion as all

politicians do. But no party worthy of the name of Labour will follow public opinion; it will make and mould

After this first disillusionment, and the warning given by the fate of the "rats," the Party in Queensland has

preserved a remarkable solidarity. For instance, it alone stood united on the Conscription issue, suffering only

In N.S.W., although disillusionment soon came to the rank and file, no actual split took place between 1894

and 1916. The Movement tolerated, albeit not without impatient protest, the obvious determination of the

Parliamentary leaders to set the rank and file at defiance. This was probably attributable to the unwillingness

of the Party to sacrifice the services of such brilliant men as W. A. Holman. They tried instead to make him

and his colleagues subservient to the general will of the Party, and a long record of bitter disputes and

The question of alliances may serve as an illustration of the tendencies of this struggle. In its early days the

Party had adopted the role of a third party bargaining for concessions. When, however, Federation removed

the fiscal question beyond the realm of State politics, the only real issue that kept apart the two old parties

had disappeared, and Labour could no longer hold the balance of power and extort concessions thereby. To

achieve their aims they must hope to reach the Treasury Benches. Labour, therefore, took on it the functions

of direct opposition in 1904, but a sort of alliance was maintained with the remnants of the SeeLyne party.

But Coalition Governments were no longer the ambition of the Party. The example of Kidston was a warning

against that, while Labourites reasonably expected soon to attain a direct Labour Government which they

supposed would give effect to a large portion of Labour's ideals. Accordingly the 1906 Conference resolved

"that in future Labour should not enter into any alliance with another Parliamentary Party extending beyond

the existing Parliament or promise immunity at election time." This encroached on the functions usually left

to Caucus, but Conference feared lest the prospect of escaping threecornered contests, if immunity were

granted to sitting Labourites in return for a similar concession to members of some other party, might prove

so alluring to the politicians that they would sacrifice the best interests of the Movement as a whole to their

personal advantage. Therefore H. Lamond said that if it was necessary to depart from the principle thus laid

down the decision should rest with the leagues and not with the Labour Members, who were personally

interested in the matter. On the other hand, it was argued that "if the Party could not trust men like Watson,

Hughes and others well, they had no right to send them into Parliament." The men on the spot with their

fingers on the pulse of the electorates were in a better position to decide what measures were likely to further

The decision of Conference was not accepted quietly by the politicians. They found a way of subverting it by

their influence on the Executive. In the State elections of 1908 Mr. Cameron, who had been selected to

contest the Annandale seat in the Labour interest, was asked to stand down at the last moment at the

instigation of Holman. In defence of this action at the 1908 Conference, the latter explained, that by granting

immunity to the SeeLyne candidate for that seat, Labour got a clear run for five other seats in Sydney and

his explanation was accepted. Nevertheless, at a subsequent session it was resolved that in future every seat

should be contested. This had the effect of denying all discretionary powers to the Executive in the matter of

"If you entrust this question to the Executive when there are a number of members of Parliament on that body

who see before them the glittering rays of office, there is a strong temptation in their way to do things which

a calm, cool body like Conference might not sanction. Some of the Executive have indulged in an amount of

wirepulling that is calculated to do harm to the general principles of the Movement."2

As a safeguard against the subversion of Conference decisions by political influence on the Executive it has

been proposed to exclude parliamentarians from that body. In Queensland there is a rule which prevents

members of Parliament occupying a majority of places on the Executive, and a move in this direction was

made in N.S.W. at the 1910 Conference. Lynch then moved that all members of Parliament returned by a

P.L.L. be eliminated from the Executive. He contended that it was an anomaly that State Labour Members

should be represented on a body that was practically there to control them. However, the motion was

defeated. A similar motion was, however, adopted by the 1916 Conference. By that time, as we shall shortly

see, the unionists in the Party had been thoroughly sickened by the failure of the Holman Government to

carry out the platform of the Movement and had organised to capture Conference. The motion emanated from

J. Cullinan, of the Western Branch of the A.W.U., and speaking to the motion Arthur Blakeley, A.W.U.,

"After twelve months' experience on the Executive, I am of the opinion that it is impossible for men to sit on

the Executive, meet a politician and speak with him without being influenced by him. If we are going to let

Another delegate argued that members of Parliament were there to pass legislation, yet, instead of being their

Before, however, describing this crisis, it will be best to recount the steps by which the growing hostility

between the rank and file to the dominant personalities in the State Parliamentary Party became manifest.

During 1909 McGowen and Holman differed violently from the Federal Party on the subject of the "Financial

Agreement" between the States and the Commonwealth, and went so far as openly to oppose the views of the

Federal Party during the campaign. For this they were hotly criticised at the 1910 Conference which

supported the Federal Party.1 Two years later, when both the State and Federal Parties were occupying the

Treasury Benches, a dispute between the two parties brought the recentlyformed State Ministry into open

The Federal Labour Government, led by Fisher, found the powers allowed to the Commonwealth under the

Constitution insufficient to give effect to vital principles in the Federal Labour platform, particularly the

"New Protection" and the control of monopolies. To meet this impasse they decided to ask the people to

extend their powers over commercial and industrial matters at the expense of the States' powers by a

referendum. The proposals were submitted to the 1911 Labour Conference by Hughes, the Federal

AttorneyGeneral. The majority of the newlyelected State Ministry were not anxious to see a large slice of

their recentlyacquired power taken out of their hands and transferred to their Federal confr res. Holman, in

particular, was too jealous to allow his rival Hughes to snatch from his grasp a jot of his latelywon prestige

and influence. He stoutly opposed the proposals of the Federal Ministers, and argued that, after all the time

and money spent on getting Labour into office in N.S.W., the Ministry should be given a chance. However

Conference was against him, and, true to the unificationist tendencies of the Movement, approved the

referenda proposals by an overwhelming majority at the close of a protracted and acrimonious debate.

In the light of the pronounced hostility of Ministers A. Rae moved on behalf of the A.W.U. :

"That Conference's decision in regard to the Referenda proposals requires that State Labour Ministers and

"That Conference, having overwhelmingly declared in favour of the Referenda, is prepared to trust to the

"In view of the overwhelming decision arrived at, I desire to say on behalf of myself and my colleagues that

In view of this assurance Meagher's amendment was carried. But Holman did not really give in so readily. On

the following Saturday, when Conference was beginning to peter out, and most of the A.W.U. delegates were

absent, he came down with a series of resolutions, having as their logical outcome the reversal of the previous

"That Conference reaffirms the necessity of reconstituting the InterState Conference on a population basis."

"That the next Federal platform should be drawn up by such an InterState Conference, and that the

Conference elected on the present basis should confine its labours to effecting such a reconstitution."

"That the Labour Movement oppose all further extension of the powers of the Federal Parliament until the

Constitution has been remodelled on lines which secure Parliamentary supremacy (i.e., either by abolishing

or so reconstituting the Senate that the States should be represented there in proportion to their populations).

This proposition aroused a storm of opposition, and Conference adjourned till the following Monday. That

"That this Conference of the A.W.U. indignantly resents the traitorous attitude of Mr. W. A. Holman,

M.L.A., in his latest attempt to trick the P.L.L. Conference into opposing the Federal Referenda, after

signifying his readiness to obey the former decisions of Conference. His motion is a distinct breach of faith,

and proves conclusively that he is determined to do the work of Mr. Wade and other reactionaries. Further,

this Conference is of opinion that Mr. Holman should be at once required by the P.L.L. to withdraw from the

Copies of this resolution were distributed among delegates when the P.L.L. Conference resumed that

evening. Lamond, of the A.W.U., was now in the chair, and he ruled Holman's third proposition out of order,

and his second resolution was rescinded by 129 votes to 82 a bitter lesson in discipline to the

Deputyhead of the State. But Conference recognised the gifts of leadership possessed by Holman too well to

When the referenda campaign was opened the majority of the State Ministers kept ostentatiously quiet. The

Premier was in England, but Holman and most of his colleagues retired to the expensive touristresort of Mt.

Kosciusko. Beeby, on the other hand, announced in his own electorate that he intended to vote against the

Federal Government's proposals. Of the members of Cabinet, only Carmichael and Trefle bowed to the will

of Conference, and spoke in favour of the constitutional alterations, and that only in a belated and halfhearted

manner. The passive resistance of leading Ministers came in for some stinging criticisms in the columns of

"There are times," it wrote, "when silence is more weighty than speech, and the silence of men who should

have been speaking for Labour, is the keenest weapon used against us in this campaign. Mr. Holman and his

followers may pose as passive resisters, but are in reality in the forefront of the Tory campaign."

On Beeby's declaration of hostility it was even more severe. The leader was headed "THE BACKSLIDING

"a challenge to organised Labour. This can only be ignored by those who are prepared to sacrifice that

The Executive took a serious view of the situation, and called a special Conference to consider the attitude of

"That any member of Parliament, who by omission or commission has opposed the Referendum, be censured

To this an A.W.U. delegate moved an amendment that Holman, Beeby and Page be expelled as traitors. Both

motions were, however, felt to be too strong, in view of the political situation at the moment; for the State

Government was still in the throes of the crisis caused by the resignations of Horne and Dunn. Hughes

"That in order to preserve the solidarity of the Labour Movement, Conference decides that the sole right of

interpreting the planks of the Federal and State platforms rests with Conference, but that until Conference has

In the course of his speech, he laid down two principles of tremendous importance in the future evolution of

(1)"That the Movement as a whole should control the actions, and, if necessary, the speeches of members of

it. The repression of individual will involved did not concern them because no one was bound to come into

(2)"To require men to adhere to certain planks involved that they should know what those planks meant.

Conference was vested with the power not only of creating, but also of interpreting the platform. Every

"in future the Executive shall not endorse as Labour candidates any person who at a referendum opposes or

fails to support proposals submitted to the people by the Federal or State Labour Parties, provided that such

proposals must first have been endorsed by an InterState or N.S.W. Conference."1

The comparative lenience shown by the Special Conference was hardly justified in the sequel. The same

propositions were again submitted to the people by the Federal Labour Government in May, 1913. Before the

campaign Holman took a trip to Japan. Beeby resigned from the Labour Party, Parliament and the Cabinet, in

order to oppose the referenda; and Page, M.L.A., did oppose them without, however, resigning from the

Party. In the byelection, rendered necessary by his resignation, Beeby ran again as an independent for his

old seat Blayney, and received the secret support of his former colleagues. The election was held under the

second ballot system. In the first ballot, Ministers of the State Labour Government gave little support to the

"Ministers were almost as busy outside the Blayney electorate as they had been within the Mudgee electorate

The Labourite alone was eliminated at the first ballot, and a second was necessary to decide between Beeby

and the "Liberal" Ministers now showed their hands. They issued a strongly worded manifesto

recommending the Labourites in the electorate to vote for Beeby. The Executive issued a

counterrecommendation advising all Labour supporters to abstain from giving Beeby any support in the

second ballot, "in view of his declared opposition to vital principles of the Labour Movement." Yet Beeby

was returned, and his vote kept the Labour Ministry in office for a few months, enabling it to choose a

favourable time for an appeal to the country. This the Workercalled "relying on a Labour blackleg for a few

Page was refused endorsement for the Botany seat by the Executive when the next elections came round at

the end of the year. He left the Party, which lost the seat. The matter was discussed in connection with the

Executive's report at the 1914 Conference. Holman, now reelected Premier with a large majority, warmly

defended Page. Many, he continued, did not believe in the referenda in their entirety. "Do you," he asked,

"expect those to go on the platform and make public liars of themselves?" "You ought to have got out like

Beeby," interjected a delegate. "There would have been many of us," replied the Premier, "who would have

had to get out, and many in the Movement who wanted to get us out so that they might take our places."1

The disputes between the State members and the Party organisation on the questions at issue between the

State and Federal Parties have been described at some length, because they serve to illustrate the relative

immunity with which the politicians could defy the clearly expressed will of the bulk of their supporters and

their persistence in so doing in spite of the decisions of Conference. That body showed itself powerless to

enforce its determinations. The only weapon it possessed was the refusal of endorsement, and when that was

applied in the case of Page it recoiled upon the Party, as he won the seat against Labour instead of for it. Even

more hopeless seemed the attempts of the governing organs of the Movement to compel the Parliamentary

Party to carry out the planks of the platform on which they had been elected when the Party had at length

reached the longedfor goal of Ministerial responsibility. Great things were naturally expected of the Labour

Government. Ministers, on the other hand, did not seem eager to set about putting the platform on the Statute

Book. Perhaps their supporters did not appreciate the difficulties that confronted their representatives, but

The question of land nationalisation and the abolition of freehold played a prominent part in the earlier stages

of the process by which the rank and file were disillusioned. As noted above, this plank in the Labour

platform was very unpopular among the farming constituencies, and therefore Labour candidates for such

electorates did their best to hide the plank. Even at the 1909 Conference notice had to be taken of statements

by two Labour Members to the effect that they did not believe in land nationalisation.1 The 1911 Conference

reaffirmed the plank, and, as if to emphasise its insistence on the question, A. Rae proposed to censure the

new Minister for Lands, Neilson, for proceeding with the sale of Crown Lands at Maroubra. The Minister

explained that the lands in question had been already offered for sale before he assumed office, and his

explanation was accepted. Indeed, as soon as he entered upon the duties of his department, he had published a

The resignations of Horne and Dunn in the same year, however, as a protest against the same Minister's strict

interpretation of the plank as it applied to the Conversion Act, put a new complexion upon the situation. As

we have remarked, those resignations were the outcome of a revolt of the representatives of agricultural

constituencies against Neilson's scrupulous adherence to the spirit of the Labour platform. In order to save

their majority in the House, Cabinet repudiated Neilson, and with him a fragment of the Labour platform.

They forced Neilson to resign, and then persuaded the Executive to reselect Dunn to contest again his old

seat (there was no time to hold a plebiscite). This action was thus described by the Worker:

"In order to win these seats, the Party has brought itself into line with traitors and even adopted one of these

traitors as its representative. The Executive has been practically superseded by the State Party by whom the

At the 1913 Conference Lestrange (A.W.U.) moved to express disapproval of the action of the Executive in

reselecting Dunn for Mudgee. Holman admitted the charge of having interfered with the Executive's

function, and personally assumed full responsibility for the selection. But he denied that Dunn had ratted. The

repeal of the Conversion Act was not on the platform, and in any case Neilson's interpretation of repeal was

not necessarily the right one. The Government, he continued, could not help the feeling in the country against

leasehold. Dunn was the only man who could have won the seat, and he had saved the Government and

therewith the Redistribution Act (which would give Labour a better chance of adequate representation at the

next election). The latter arguments were no doubt right, but they were cynically opportunist, and did not

Undeterred by this adverse vote, the politicians during the next session not only neglected to do much

towards putting the Labour platform on the Statute Book, but also flatly defied two other planks of their

fighting platform Abolition of the Legislative Council and State Iron and Steel Works. Conference had

adopted a "suicide pledge" to be signed by all Labour nominees to the Upper House (i.e., that they would

strive and vote for the abolition of the Chamber to which they were appointed). But when the Government

made ten appointments to that House, it was found that only four had been required to sign the pledge. Some

of the appointees were not Labour members at all, though there were plenty of men who had worked for the

Party, without reward for years, who were entitled to seats in the Council. Secondly, Cabinet stultified Plank

6 (State Ironworks), by concluding an agreement with the B.H.P. Co., ceding them for a nominal

consideration a valuable water frontage at Newcastle, on which to build a private iron and steel works. The

Bill ratifying this agreement had not even been submitted to Caucus when it was introduced.

Both these matters received the attention of the 1913 Conference. It decided by a ten to one majority "that the

action of the McGowen Ministry in appointing other than pledged Labour men to the Legislative Council was

contrary to the spirit of the P.L.L. constitution and detrimental to the Party." Carmichael, who apologised on

behalf of the Government, said that there were some things that the Government had to take into their own

hands. "As far as they knew," several of the nominees objected to were members of leagues. The appointment

of the Lord Mayor of Sydney Sir Allen Taylor, a bitter Conservative was a long established usage that

outweighed Party considerations. In reply J. J. Talbot asked "Why Ministers did not stand up like men and

say, 'We gave them seats for payments received.' The public knew that." It was true that several of the

unpledged appointees were men of considerable wealth, while Taylor, in addition, was supposed to have been

associated with the Minister for Works in an allegedly corrupt transaction the purchase of a site for State

Timber Works. These circumstances suggested a similarity between these appointments of persons to the

Council with the title "Honourable" and a goldpass for life, and the award of honours for services to the

Party under the English system. The B.H.P. steel works deal was also condemned as a violation of Plank 6.

Hughes warned delegates that it would mean the establishment of a monopoly the very thing the Labour

Party was fighting. McGowen confessed that the Bill had been tabled without Caucus being consulted. The

only reply that the Minister for Works had to offer was that it was a question between the B.H.P. steel works

or none at all. The Government could not get money to establish works of their own. The adverse vote was

carried by 104 votes to 42. These remonstrances had no immediate effect, but before the elections, which

were due at the end of the year, the old Premier, with his twenty years of service to the Movement in

Parliament, retired from the leadership to make room for the ambitious young AttorneyGeneral, W. A.

Holman. This was a concession to the general dissatisfaction in the ranks of the Party with the donothing

policy of the McGowen Cabinet. It was reasonably hoped that the young and supposedly advanced Holman

would display more zeal and energy. Thus McGowen was made to shoulder the blame for his Government's

obvious shortcomings. This change was the more necessary, since the old Premier had inflamed the feelings

of unionists by issuing a proclamation calling for volunteers to work the retorts during the gas strike of 1913.

The apparent triumph of Conference was, however, deceptive. Although returned to power with a substantial

majority, which gave it no excuse for inaction, at the elections of December, 1913, the new Government did

nothing more than its predecessor. Parliament took a long recess at the beginning of 1914, and then, with the

outbreak of the European war, the Premier announced a Party truce and the abandonment of contentious

legislation. This attitude did not meet with approval of the Party outside. While entirely loyal to the Empire

the bulk of the Labour Movement did not realise the gravity of the situation as vividly as its leaders did, not

being exposed to the same influences as they were. It wanted labour legislation and saw no reason for its

postponement because of events at the other end of the world. The Ministers, on the other hand, felt the full

pressure of imperial propaganda and took an alarmist view of the financial situation. Moreover, the Party

strongly disapproved of the Government's action in signing a contract with the NortonGriffiths Company for

the execution of public works. The Labour policy was the elimination of the middleman, and the carrying out

Hence, the 1915 Conference proposed to censure the Government for "their absolute failure or refusal to

carry out Planks 1(Abolition of the Legislative Council), 4 (Day Labour), and 6 (State Ironworks) of their

Fighting Platform ; and their preelection promises Fair Rents Courts and the extension of the State

Housing Scheme." The opposition was confident, and had brought Hughes up from Melbourne to denounce

as financially unsound the NortonGriffiths contract. But Holman had carefully organised to defeat his

critics. His replies were uncompromising. He dwelt on the danger of a financial crisis, involving the complete

suspension of industry and general unemployment. "Who," he asked, "in such straits would tinker with

Arbitrations Bills ?" As to the Upper House, he had promised three seats, but he thought that two of his

nominees would sign the pledge. The Movement was under an obligation. It was no use attacking that

Chamber unless they caught it redhanded. The contract with NortonGriffiths provided for the financing of

public works at a time when loan money was unobtainable. The company was committed to a large annual

expenditure, and this would provide work for a number of men and keep down unemployment which

otherwise would have been terrific. The daylabour principle was retained under the terms of the contract.

The Government engaged the workmen and supervised the execution of the works. In conclusion he

castigated the Worker for its disloyal carping criticism, and attacked the A.W.U. Many bitter things were said

in reply. The Premier was told that he had no right to promise seats in the Council without consulting the

Party, and could not put the Movement under any obligation. Even his own parliamentary colleagues

contributed to the attack, and in so doing summed up the position rather acutely. J. Dooley said "Holman's

promise was a scrap of paper, or else the platform was." StuartRobertson remarked that a motion might as

well be carried to "hand the Movement over to W. A. Holman to do what he liked with." Yet, thanks to

Holman's preparatory organisation, the noconfidence motions were defeated by large majorities.1

The result of the Conference had therefore been only to emphasise the disregard of the Government to the

wishes of the Party. They only showed a slight amendment during the following year. The House sat for long

hours, and did pass a Fair Rents Bill, but the Council remained defiant and even rejected an urgent Bill to

enable the Government to establish a system of bulkhandling for grain without further delay, thus providing

the very chance of "catching them redhanded" that Holman had postulated at Conference. Yet no move was

made for its abolition. J. D. Fitzgerald, the President of the P.L.L., who had been one of the Government's

most severe critics at Conference, was the only fresh appointment to that Chamber. He was given a portfolio,

but this step was looked upon as an attempt to stifle criticism by corrupting the critic. Accordingly an attack

was very carefully organised by the industrialists in preparation for the next Conference. The failure to deal

The 1916 Conference marks the culmination of the struggle of the Labour Movement to exercise an effective

control over its political representatives. It was also the occasion for the emergence of a new force in the

Party organisation, the banding together of the unionist backbone of the Party into the Industrial Section a

phenomenon to which the next chapter will be mainly devoted. At this Conference even Holman was forced

to recognise the supremacy of the extraparliamentary machinery. The industrialist section of the Party were

clamouring for industrial legislation which had been scandalously neglected by the Holman Government, but

every one was heartily tired of their dalliance with the Upper House. The first step of the sectionalists was to

capture a majority of places on the Executive by means of a ticket. They also secured that Conference should

sit only at night, so that city toilers should be able to attend, though country delegates might cool their heels

all day. Then they got to work. On April 26th J. Bailey, VicePresident of the A.W.U., moved:

"That the Holman Government be severely censured for refusing to endeavour to carry out the first plank of

The debate traversed every phase of the Government's policy. "The Council," said Lamond (A.W.U.), "has

too long been an excuse for men who do not want to give us what we want." Blakeley declared that if they

could not get what they wanted from the Government, the industrialists would form a party of their own.

Holman at first failed to realise the strength of the forces against him and trusted to his superiority as an

intriguer. He could not imagine that the unionists should not prefer a Labour Government of whatever kind to

a Tory one. In his speech he began by pointing out that an election was due in eight or nine months' time, and

that the Government was getting unpopular as any Government must in war time. Next he stressed the

importance of having a Labour Government in office to meet the situation which would arise on the outbreak

of peace; the army would be demobilised, emigrants would stream in, unemployment would undermine the

positions of the unions. "I am the only man in Conference," he added, "who tries to concentrate his mind on

how political power is to be obtained." Then he pointed out that an appeal on the sole issue of abolishing the

Council would be fatal. The Verran Labour Government in South Australia had done that in 1912, and had

been routed. He would not fight the next election with fetters on like that. The Ministry had done its best. If

Conference was dissatisfied he would be only too glad to be relieved of the burden of leadership. Conference

made it quite plain that it was still dissatisfied. The censure motion passed by 105 to 68. After consulting

with Cabinet and Caucus, Holman eventually placed his resignation in the hands of the Parliamentary Party.

Whether this was "bluff" or not, it was an epochmaking event, and showed unmistakable recognition of the

mastery of the Party as a whole. That the Premier should resign not to the Governor, but to Caucus, and at the

behest not of Parliament, but of an outside body, formed an interesting constitutional precedent.

Caucus sent a deputation led by John Storey, and including other wellknown critics of the Ministry, to

"Caucus is of opinion that the vote of censure affects the Parliamentary Labour Party as a whole, and that

therefore it would be illogical and improper for Caucus to accept the resignation of the Government."

If the Government had been of a jellyfish character in not putting proper legislation through, he and others

of the Party were just as lax as the Ministry, argued Storey. He went on to ask for directions in view of the

intention now announced by the Government, to force democratic measures upon the Upper House.

Conference insisted, however, that steps should be taken for the complete abolition of the Council.

Thereupon Caucus accepted the resignation of the Government, and elected John Storey leader. While,

however, he was deliberating upon the formation of his Ministry, Arthur Griffiths, Minister for Works under

Holman, was rolling logs at the Conference, and persuaded the leaders of the industrialists to be content with

the victory they had attained. When Storey returned to report the decisions of Caucus, T. Mutch moved "that

while Conference thanked Caucus for its willingness to form a Ministry, it is desirous of avoiding the

resignation of the Government at this juncture, and invites Mr. Holman to inform Conference how far they

could go." Holman then came back. He told Conference that he would be delighted to take a referendum on

the question of abolishing the Council. He would loyally support Mr. Storey, but if the Movement desired his

continuance in the position of leader, he would expect from them loyal cooperation, not carping criticism.

"I am not prepared to admit that parliamentary matters can be left to anybody but ourselves. You lay down

the policy you wish us to carry out; once we are in power as representatives of the people, our function

This was a very softened retreat, but the last paragraph was essential for show purposes as the cry that Labour

members are not representatives of the people but the tools of an irresponsible junta at the Trades Hall,

always raised by the antiLabour forces, would be serious if given confirmation. At any rate Conference

accepted the position, and resolved, on the motion of J. Doyle, that it did not want the Government to resign,

but wanted the platform carried out. Storey withdrew, and so Holman was Premier again.1

His position was, however, very insecure. He had a hostile Executive which was quite ready to refuse him

endorsement if he did not do their bidding. They claimed the right to control the Ministry rather closely,

wanted to be consulted upon the legislative programme for the session, and actually drafted a RighttoWork

Bill which they expected the Government to introduce. Moreover, the industrialist section in a number of

leagues were taking steps to organise with a view to ousting friends of the Premier and running industrialists

instead. In this crisis the conscription controversy provided the Ministerialists with an opportunity to leave

the Party without risking their seats or portfolios. The Opposition, which had been working the "loyalty

stunt" for all they were worth, had no choice but to accept Holman and his colleagues as highsouled patriots

when they revolted against the decision of the Executive on this question. As we shall shortly see, they were

welcomed by those who had been loudest in denouncing them in the vilest terms and admitted into a

Coalition Ministry. By this means the determination of the 1916 Conference was frustrated, and Labour lost

its hold on the State Parliament. Small advantage was therefore reaped from the elaborate machinery devised,

and it looked as if the whole idea of disciplining and controlling the politicians, to achieve which so many

instruments had been devised, must go by the board. But a further discussion of the lessons of the crisis must

be deferred until we have examined the circumstances that led up to the conscription split and the relations of

Up to the time of the conscription split the Federal Labour Party, both before and after it attained the

Treasury benches, had escaped serious criticism from the rank and file. For one thing, it reflected fairly well

the sentiments of the majority of Australian Labourites. Moreover, when Andrew Fisher was Prime Minister,

the Federal Government seems to have tried sincerely to give effect to its platform. In fact, the first Fisher

Ministry that lasted more than a couple of months succeeded in carrying out the whole programme laid down

for it. But that programme was more moderate in extent and less controversial in character than those of the

State Parties. Socialism played a smaller part in it because the Federal "State" had few "industrial and

economic functions" which could be extended, while those activities which made for "the encouragement of

Australian sentiment" were more widely endorsed. The constitutional limitations placed upon the powers of

the Federal Parliament precluded that body giving effect to the more Socialistic parts of the Labour

programme. The interpretative powers of the High Court provided Commonwealth politicians with much the

same sort of excuse as the direct obstruction of the Legislative Councils gave State members, for not putting

on the Statute Book any very revolutionary legislation. Then, the Federal sphere is remote from the every day

lives of unionists, and therefore attracts less attention at league and union meetings. Finally, the InterState

Conference, which is the only body which can claim to control the Federal members, generally consists itself

mainly of politicians as their railpasses enable them to cover the long distances between the capital cities

Yet a few rumblings of discontent made themselves heard at the Adelaide Conference of 1915. A motion

from the Victorian P.L.C. conference was there submitted, protesting against the administration of the policy

of preference to unionists. It was stated that the manner in which the policy was being carried out was

unsatisfactory. Men were joining unions to go to Federal jobs, while old unionists of long standing were

being passed over. Moreover, one of the Labour Ministers had shown too little courtesy to deputations from

the unions on the subject. Fisher, however, succeeded in laying the blame on unsympathetic permanent

officials who had been appointed by Labour's opponents. Hughes warned the unions not to rely too much

upon spoonfeeding. His organisation had been able to demand preference by its industrial strength.

When, however, Fisher went to the High Commissionership in London a change came over the scene. No

sooner had he resigned than his successor, Hughes, announced a change of policy. The Adelaide Conference

had determined that the questions as to the extension of the Commonwealth's powers, which had been twice

rejected by the people, should be resubmitted forthwith. The necessary legislation had been passed through

Parliament, and all was in trim for the campaign when Hughes came to an agreement with the States that they

should voluntarily hand over the requisite powers for the period of the war. The referendum was therefore

called off. This action was severely criticised by the N.S.W. and Victorian State Conferences, and a meeting

of the Federal Executive was called together in Melbourne. This body, in the absence of the Prime Minister,

carried a condemnatory resolution, but after he had a few words in private with some of the delegates the

The Federal Ministers took a view of the war that was over the head of the average labourite. This fact

ultimately led to the most serious crisis in the whole history of the Australian Labour Movement. To the

official leaders of Labour winning the war appeared to be of such paramount importance that all other matter

seemed negligible. That was not the view of the average worker. Apart from the minority of logically minded

socialists who opposed the war altogether, the rank and file were genuinely anxious that the Allies should

triumph. But they did not feel that anxiety as such an obsession that they gave up all thought about what sort

of a world it should be that was to "be made safe for democracy." They were not prepared to relinquish

advantages already won or to abandon the struggle to make conditions better not only for themselves, but also

for those who had gone overseas to fight for democracy. Therefore, though most workers did not agree with

the internationalist sentiments expressed by members of the I.W.W., they did not like to see any members of

the working class gaoled by the Labour Government merely for saying what they thought. Yet the Federal

Government was using the censorship and the War Precautions Act against the Melbourne Socialist and

Ross's, and Tom Barker had been gaoled several times for "prejudicing recruiting" along with several other

members of the I.W.W. and similar organisations. Such actions, added to the tendency of Ministers to "go

slow" with social reform on the pretext of winning the war, had engendered a widespread feeling of

Into such an atmosphere Hughes flung the torch of conscription, and in a moment split the Movement from

top to bottom. Yet he had had ample warning. Industrialists looked with such distrust on the War Census Act

the Australian counterpart of the National Registration Act, which, however, required particulars as to

wealth and so could have been used for conscription of wealth as well as of life that they had deliberately

allowed Fisher's old seat of Wide Bay to go to the Opposition. In four of the States the Party Conferences had

declared against conscription in emphatic terms, and by overwhelming majorities. The decisions of the

organs of the political movement, had been backed up or prompted by resolutions of the Annual Convention

of the A.W.U., the Labour Councils in all the States and a special Intercolonial Trade Union Congress in

Melbourne in March, 1916. In defiance of the plainest possible indications of the will of the Movement which

had put him in office, Hughes on his return from England in August, 1916, declared for the hated policy. In

this he had the support of all the Tories and of not a few democrats and Labourites who believed that

universal service was juster and more democratic than voluntarism, which was often economic conscription

under another name. And there were not wanting indications that compulsory service might be less unpopular

with the workers than the decisions of Conferences and Congresses seemed to indicate. Anticonscription

meetings in Sydney Domain and on the Yarra Bank in Melbourne had been broken up by mobs.

So in September Hughes decided to submit the question to a referendum, and secured the permission of the

Federal Caucus to do so. The only effective protest was made by Frank Tudor, who resigned his portfolio.

But the Prime Minister failed to secure the endorsement of the State Executives for his views. The N.S.W.

Executive heard Hughes state his case at a special meeting on September 4th, and resolved by 21 votes to 5 to

uphold the decisions of the State Conference, and require uncompromising opposition from members. The

Queensland C.P.E. came to the same decision and condemned the Prime Minister on the 5th.

The other States, except Western Australia, followed suit. The decisions of the State Conferences demanded

from members of the Party positive opposition to compulsion, and laid down, as the penalty for disobedience,

expulsion from the Movement. The decisions of the Executives showed that they intended that the machinery

of the Party should be used to secure the defeat of the proposals to be submitted to the people. But the attitude

of the parliamentarians was doubtful. In the Federal Parliament only a handful resisted Hughes from the first.

Others who had been in favour at least of a referendum, only changed over under pressure from the leagues in

their electorates. In the Representatives only, Burns, Catts, and Mahony, all N.S.W. members, voted against

the Bill for the submission of the question to the people. The N.S.W. Caucus declared in favour of a

referendum provided freedom of discussion was allowed by the censor. The Premier and most of his

Ministers were known to favour the Prime Minister's proposals. The Queensland Party on September 11th

decided to oppose the referendum. It was notorious that the Party was by no means unanimous on the topic.

Several Ministers were undoubtedly conscriptionists, but the lesson of the Kidston split had not been lost

upon Caucus. The recent speech of the Minister for justice, J. Fihelly, in which he referred to England as "a

land of cant, hypocrisy, and humbug," had ruled out all hope of a coalition with the Opposition. Accordingly,

while Ministers there had been subjected to the same prowar influences as in other States and the

Commonwealth, and though Cabinet included equally dominating personalities, they loyally subordinated

their own opinions to the dictates of the Movement and took the stump against conscription. One member

alone, John Adamson, refused to abide by this decision and left the Party. He was subsequently rewarded for

In the Southern States and the Commonwealth matters took a different course. Hughes and his colleagues

continued in defiance of the Conferences and Executives to advocate an affirmative vote on the question they

were propounding. They had the support of the majority in the State Parties. Then the N.S.W. and

Queensland Executives took a decisive step. The latter announced on the 13th that endorsement would not be

given to the candidature of any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate who did not vote

against the passage of the Conscription Referendum Bill. On the 15th the N.S.W. Executive expelled Hughes

and Carr, Ms.H.R., for their defiance of the Conference decisions against conscription. At the same time they

withdrew the endorsement for the candidature of Holman and three other members of the State Party at the

forthcoming elections. The remaining members of the Party were examined by circular, and where they did

not promise their services in the noconscription cause, they were similarly dealt with. This determined stand

was only partially effective. Holman and nearly all his Cabinet colleagues revolted, and were therefore

expelled by the rump of Caucus, and Durack was elected leader in place of Holman. The rebels afterwards

coalesced with the Tories. Those whose seats were hopeless were rewarded with Government billets, and

The position of the Federal members was somewhat complicated. Defence is a Federal question, and the

defence policy of the Labour Party is therefore determined by the InterState Conference. No such

Conference had been held since conscription was mooted. Both N.S.W. and Queensland had demanded a

gathering after the Prime Minister made his announcement in the beginning of September, but he pushed

matters on so fast that it was too late to call such a Conference. Not even the Federal Executive could be got

together. So there was no decision of the Federal authority in the Party on conscription. Hughes and his

colleagues denied the right of the N.S.W. Executive to expel them, and they were right technically. They also

contended that they had broken no plank or rule of the Party. Here they were on slippery ground. Hughes had

himself argued in 1911 that Conference not only created, but also interpreted the platform, and the majority

of State Conferences had exercised the right. On the question of the extension of Commonwealth powers

obedience to the decision of either a Federal or State Conference had been laid down as binding, and Hughes

was responsible for that decision. It left, at any rate, no doubt as to the subordination of State members to the

rulings of their own State Conference. Probably all the State Executive could constitutionally do to Hughes

was to refuse him endorsement when the next election came round. Even loyal Labourites in the

Commonwealth Parliament, such as Tudor, who would not remain in the Cabinet when he felt obliged to

oppose publicly his chief's policy, still recognised Hughes and his colleagues as members of Caucus. Three

other Ministers, Higgs, Gardiner, and Russell, who only left the Cabinet on the eve of the vote as a protest

against the interference with the secrecy of the ballot by a W.P.A. Regulation, were allowed to remain in the

Party. Even when Parliament reassembled after the defeat of the referendum, Hughes was admitted to

Caucus, but a vote of noconfidence was at once moved in order to bring the Prime Minister to his knees.

Hughes would not tolerate dictation. Without waiting for the vote he marched dramatically out of the Party

room, summoning his fellow conscriptionists to follow him. He was then formally expelled, and Tudor

There is no doubt that his fellowmembers would have been prepared to heal the breach if Hughes had cared

to eat humble pie. As it was, by forming a new Party under the name of the " National Labour Party," he and

his friends put themselves outside the pale. They were now expelled from Caucus, and in most cases banned

by the State Executives, so that they could not run again as Labour candidates. They were not, however,

outside the Labour Party beyond all question. To further complicate the position, the Party in West Australia

To straighten out this tangle a special InterState Conference met in Melbourne on December 4th. At the

outset this gathering was confronted with the difficulty that the Westralians, still recognising conscriptionists

as Labour men, had actually sent as a delegate Senator Lynch, who had been rewarded for his perfidy with

one of the vacant portfolios in the Hughes Cabinet. As he was a member of a party actually opposing the

Federal Labour Party, his position was most anomalous. He was allowed to take his seat. But after the

"That as compulsory overseas military service is contrary to the principles embodied in the A.L.P. platform,

all Federal members who have supported compulsory overseas military service, or who are members of any

other political party, are hereby expelled from the Australian Labour Movement,"

he was asked to leave. It was felt to be improper for a member of an opposing party to participate further in

the deliberations of Conference. Two of his fellow delegates from the West also left in protest against the

partial disenfranchisement of their State. Still the Special Conference legitimatised the acts of the State

Executives in respect of conscription. The Perth Conference of 1918 finally made opposition to conscription

a plank of the platform and pronounced a decree of perpetual ostracism against conscriptionists.

On the conscription issue the workers had been once again betrayed by their political leaders, who had defied

the will of of the Movement and sought to dictate to their supporters. As a consequence very many of

Labour's most trusted and influential guides went over to the antiLabour ranks. Labour was left in a

minority in the Federal and State Parliaments except in Queensland, and with only the less honest or less able

of its former chiefs to guide its policy in the Chambers. Those leaders, on the other hand, who refused

allegiance to the policy of the Movement, were rewarded by Labour's enemies with continuance in office or

lucrative positions. Yet conscription was decisively defeated and the organisation of the Party was preserved

intact and pure. The great principle of the supremacy of the whole Movement over any individual, however

powerful, was again vindicated conclusively. It is no longer possible for any political leader to imagine that

he can run counter to the decisively expressed will of the majority of the Party and yet enjoy the benefits of

its support. Most of the old Labour stalwarts, who earned the name of "rat" at this time, have since been

eliminated from political life. Even at the "khaki elections" of 1917 McGowen, Cann, Griffiths, Black and

Hoyle lost their seats in N.S.W., and Hughes dare not face the electors of West Sydney who had returned him

unopposed for years. In 1920 even Premier Holman was defeated, and of his last Labour Cabinet only

Ashford remains in the Assembly. After three Federal elections, all Hughes' ministerial colleagues have been

Several important precedents were established by the crisis. Formerly the Executives had only been

accustomed to refuse endorsement to candidates who had definitely violated the platform or broken their

pledge to abide by Caucus decisions. In this instance the Executives had interpreted the platform under the

guidance of Conference and had anticipated the actions of Caucus, and, in fact, determined them by means of

expulsions. In this their actions were endorsed by Conference and their right to review and determine the

interpretations of the platform by Caucus had thereby been established. The penalty was not confined to

Members of Parliament. Private individuals in the Party suffered the same fate and leagues were declared

"bogus." That has made the Executives the arbiters of Labour orthodoxy, armed with the power to expel

members of the Party for what they consider heresy. Thus a number of Labourites were expelled in N.S.W.

during 1919 for supporting the "breakaway Socialists," though they had not supported the latter to the extent

of joining the new party they sought to form. Higgs, M.H.R., was similarly dealt with for supporting the

constitutional proposals of the Prime Minister contrary to the decisions of the 1919 Federal Conference.

The results of the conscription split have not, however, solved the problem of the control of the politicians by

the rank and file of the Movement. From 1916 to 1919 the industrialist section dominated the Executive in

N.S.W., and they were obsessed with the idea of controlling the politicians. They were in many instances

Marxian theorists who had no conception of the parliamentary game, and hence were often at loggerheads

with the parliamentarians, especially the new leader, Storey. They minutely scrutinised his every utterance

and subjected him to a constant criticism which was intensely galling to one in his position. For instance,

because at a union picnic he advocated piecework, he was carpeted before the Executive. As we shall see, he

was driven to intrigue with the A.W.U. to break down the domination of the section at the 1919 Conference.

During the war the main question which exercised the Executive in N.S.W. was peace and the participation of

the Party in recruiting. The Perth Conference in July, 1918, decided upon a ballot of all members of the Party

on the question of the withdrawal of the Party's support until the Allies had offered peace to Germany on a

basis of no annexations and no indemnities. While the ballot was pending the State Executive sought to

withdraw Labour members from the recruiting stump. Storey, however, contended that his Party had been

elected on promises of wholehearted support to the Empire on a voluntary basis, and that they were bound

by their election pledges. He had nevertheless to give up speaking on the same platform as the Nationalists

and promise not to interfere with the plebiscite on the Perth resolutions. On the other hand, nine members of

the Federal Party in N.S.W. issued a statement condemning the recommendations of that Conference. A

possible split on the recruiting question was averted by the capitulation of Germany before the results of the

In 1919 the InterState Conference took a step which encroached upon the prerogatives of the Parliamentary

Party. They invited T. J. Ryan to resign the Premiership of Queensland, and enter Federal politics under

circumstances which were tantamount to superseding Tudor, the leader elected by Caucus. An invitation to

Ryan had been already issued by the State Executives of N.S.W., Queensland, and Tasmania. In October a

special Conference was called together in Sydney to reconsider one sole item of business, the decision of the

regular Conference on which was challenged by the State Executives the reduction of the exemption on

the Federal Land Tax. Nevertheless, the N.S.W. Executive sprang a resolution on Conference which was not

on the agenda: "That this Conference endorse the invitation to the Premier of Queensland to enter the Federal

arena." The members of the Federal Parliament were seriously disturbed by this proposal. Sen. Barnes

pointed out that the resolution might be held to reflect upon the present leader, Frank Tudor. Another

"They were in effect asking Mr. Ryan to be leader instead of Mr. Tudor. They were undermining the

solidarity of the Movement. They could not offer the leadership to Mr. Ryan, the only position which would

compensate him for sacrificing the Premiership, because that was for the Parliamentary Party."

Yet not only was the motion of invitation to Ryan carried, but also a further one appointing him "Campaign

"Such a step would make Mr. Ryan a dictator. Mere would the Federal Executive and Parliamentary Labour

Party be if such a motion were carried ? The Federal Party had already taken steps for the conduct of the

campaign. Mr. Tudor was the accredited leader until the Federal Caucus displaced him. They all wanted Mr.

J. H. Catts, in reply, denied that it was intended to interfere with Tudor's functions. They wanted to give Mr.

Ryan status and freedom to tour Australia. Ryan accepted the position thus offered him. A safe seat was

found for him in West Sydney, the selected candidate retiring, and the State Executive selecting the

northerner to fill the vacancy. However, Labour was beaten at the polls, and Tudor remained leader in the

In N.S.W. the politicians led by Storey and Catts took advantage of a split between the A.W.U. and the rest of

the industrial section to drive out the extremists and secure the return of a friendly Executive. The left wing

left the Party and the politicians were left to frame the bulk of the platform for the State elections. The

attempts to control the politicians were for the time abandoned, but the A.W.U. was left in virtual control of

the Executive. This has led, as we shall see in the next chapter to grave abuses, seriously infringing the rights

of the members of the Party in the selection of candidates and delegates, and has ultimately left the Party

To sum up, then, we may say that that system of control from below adopted by the Labour Party from its

inception has been proved necessary by the selfish and cowardly opportunism which has distinguished the

workers' parliamentary representatives. As against that disruptive force the machinery of checks and controls

has succeeded in maintaining the solidarity and identity of the Party through many crises. But when it comes

to a question of forcing a Labour Government to give effect to their platform or realise the ideals they have

been sent into Parliament to accomplish, the organisation has broken down. Instead of directing and

controlling the activities of the parliamentarians when they have got command of the Treasury Benches,

Conferences and Executives and Caucus have only been able to produce revolts and splits which have

exposed the workers, enervated by spoonfeeding from Labour Ministries, to the tender mercies of bitterly

IN our first chapter we saw that the Labour Party was the creation of the Trade Union Movement. The first

Labour platform was drafted in N.S.W. by a committee of the Sydney Trades and Labour Council; that in

Queensland by the A.L.F. Convention. But unionist votes alone were not then sufficient, even were all

unionists solidly behind the Labour Party (as they were not) to secure the return of Labour members. On the

other hand, there were many people outside the ranks of unionism who sympathised with the ideals of Labour

and were prepared to support the political movement. To cater for these as well as to serve as organising

centres, the electoral leagues were organised which any one in sympathy with the aims of the Party might

join. These bodies owed their foundation to organisers sent out by the Labour Council or the A.L.F. In

Queensland the Conference which framed Labour's platform consisted exclusively of delegates from the

electoral leagues (W.P.O.'s), and in the N.S.W. Conference they had a preponderating vote, although the

unions had separate representation. But by this means persons participated in the formulation of Labour

policy who were not necessarily wageearners and were therefore not always in agreement with the peculiar

aims of the working class. The league membership would include small farmers, little shopkeepers,

professional men, and political adventurers. The farmers and Petitbourgeoisie, as employers of labour, had

often different interests from those of the industrial proletariate.g., in the case of a strike. There are thus

the seeds of an internal conflict within the Movement from the first, and the two sections within the Party

In N.S.W. a contest soon developed between these sections as to their share in the control of the Movement.

The Executive had at first consisted of the officers of the Labour Council. But the second Conference of the

Party proposed to limit the representation of the Council on the Executive to three members. It was argued

that the functions of the two organisations were different; the sphere of the Labour Council was the relations

of employer and employed; that of the Political Labour Party social reform. The Council, as the parent of an

organisation founded by and for the wageearners, objected to handing over its control to persons who were

not exclusively of that class. Yet they had to compromise. The President of the Council became exofficio

chairman of the Executive of the Political League, and the Council was granted six representatives on the

In 1894 the Labour Council decided to put in force the scheme for an Australian Labour Federation, which

aimed at the amalgamation of the political and industrial sides of the Movement. But the representatives of

the leagues would not agree at the 1895 Conference to being merged in the union federation. A sort of

compromise was arrived at by which the two bodies were coordinated under the name of the Political

Labour League which was now used for the first time. The league was to consist of

(1) "All unions affiliated to the Eastern Provincial Council of the A.L.F. and contributing to the funds of the

(2)"Members of other unions with whom special arrangements have been made by the local district

(3)"Other adult residents who shall have subscribed to the platform and constitution of the organisa tion."

The Executive consisted of two officers and seven delegates elected by Conference, together with two

delegates from the A.L.F. All members of the Parliamentary Party had the right to attend, but their voting

power was limited to five votes. In 1899 the A.L.F. handed over its industrial functions to the Labour

Council, and dissolved. The Labour Party Conference now consisted of one delegate from each of the leagues

and the affiliated unions. All the Executive was now elected by Conference except for two delegates each,

In 1904 the unions secured an alteration in the basis of representation at Conference that gave them a more

proportionate weight in its deliberations. Under the old system a little league, which might easily have only

fifty nominal members, would have the same voting strength as a union with a thousand. The new system

This concession was neutralised when, at the instigation of Holman, each league which boasted more than

twentyfive women members received the right of sending to Conference an extra delegate, who must be a

woman, to represent the women. It was in the interests of the politicians to strengthen the league

representation in comparison with that of the unions, since the latter were most inclined to be critical. A

league is often quite a family affair in the hands of the sitting member. He keeps his hold on his majority in

the league by the simple expedient of paying (out of his own pocket) the subscriptions of sufficient friends to

ensure his reselection and so "keep his seat warm," that is, if it is a safe Labour seat. Yet this league, if it can

show over 200 members on the books though many of them might be deadheads put on by the member

who never attended a meeting could cast as many votes as a union of a thousand members. On the other

hand, the unionist, though he had only one vote in the selection of candidates, if he was also a member of a

league, could have a sort of double representation at Conference by his union delegates and the league

The Special Conference held in August, 1911, when criticism was becoming embarrassing to the Labour

Government, again reduced the representation of the unions. In future leagues or unions were entitled

and an additional delegate for every additional 4,000 members or part thereof. The additional woman's

delegates from the league was retained. Thus a union with, say, 800 members, would have only half the

representation of a league with, say, 100, provided twentyfive of the latter were women. The same

Conference refused the Labour Council of N.S.W. the separate representation it had hitherto enjoyed. The

Council's halfyearly report refers bitterly to the ingratitude of the P.L.L. in "kicking the Labour Council out

of the political movement." Signs of the cleavage between the politicians and the unionist section of the

Labour Movement had already made themselves apparent. The Trade Union Congress of 1908 had

considered the I.W.W. preamble, and some delegates had expressed the opinion that political action had

failed. The Tramway Strike of the same year had caused some embarrassment to the parliamentarians, as it

was calculated to alienate votes by the inconvenience it caused to the public and the defiance of the

Arbitration Laws which it entailed. The politicians had announced that they could not countenance a breach

of the law, but had assisted in the negotiations for a settlement and were blamed for the wholesale

victimisation which ensued. In reply, Beeby, M.L.A., at the Lithgow Eight Hour Banquet, ascribed the strike

to "the attitude of a section of the Sydney Labour Council who did not endorse the principles of arbitration.

Quite possibly he went on, there might be three parties in the House, 11 as the extreme Socialist wing

threatened to try and obtain representation."1 The possibility foreshadowed by Beeby was temporarily

checked by the complete failure of the attempt of the coal miners to use "direct action" on a large scale at the

end of 1909, and the prospect of a Labour Government in the State and Commonwealth Parliaments. The first

action of the McGowen Government the release of those imprisoned by Wade in connection with the Coal

Strike was also an encouragement to unionists. But they were alive to the need of making adequate use of

Before the 1911 Conference of the P.L.L., the Labour Council discussed the agenda and complained about

the position of the industrialists. One delegate explained that out of 644 resolutions, only a hundred emanated

from industrial bodies. He thought that the industrial delegates should insist on the trade unionists retaining

the balance of power, and should vote for unionists only on the P.L.L. Executive. He protested against the

domination of Members of Parliament. Complaint was also made as to the smallness of the leagues in

comparison with the unions and the disproportionate representation given to the former. On the other hand,

A. Vernon pointed out that there were more supporters of Labour outside the unions than within them (this

was certainly true at that time). The objection raised against Members of Parliament would react, he opined,

seriously on the solidarity of the Movement. He knew no one who was more qualified, or who had a better

right to dominate the counsels of the Party, than a Member of Parliament.1 The general feeling of the

Movement was at the time undoubtedly in favour of giving the new Government a fair trial and so the

secessionist movement made little headway. Later on in the same year the Broken Hill Labour Council

proposed the formation of a Trades Union Political Party. The N.S.W. Labour Council, angered at its

treatment by the Special Conference of the P.L.L., gave this proposition serious consideration, but the

However, the Government's activity or inactivity gave cause for bitter disappointment to unionists. Early in

1912 the Legislative Council cut out the clause granting effective preference to unionists from the new

Arbitration Act, and excluded from its benefits clerks and rural workers. Later on Caucus accepted an

amendment moved by one of their number, McGarry, to exclude farmers from the provisions of the Bill to

amend the Shearers' and Agricultural Labourers' Hut Accommodation Act, and in December the Bill was

dropped altogether, in face of the hostility of the Upper House. The mutilation and sacrifice of this Bill was

very bitterly resented by the A.W.U. which was at the time trying to organise the agricultural workers. The

"That this Conference places on record its disgust at the action of the members of the N.S.W. Labour Party

regarding the Hut Accommodation Act, and invites members to keep their actions in mind when the selection

Lundie thought that it looked as if they had wasted time in putting men into Parliament, and they might have

done better by adopting direct methods. Lambert declared that the N.S.W. Labour Party had grown into a

kind of Liberal Party. In his opinion the trouble lay in the selection of candidates.1

The plan for making the Labour Party more effective as an instrument for improving the conditions of the

workers, suggested in the above resolution and also at the Labour Council debate, was to substitute genuine

unionists for the bourgeois candidates who sustained Labour's banner in many electorates. It was thought that

actual workingmen would better retain the ideals of their class and fight more vigorously for it than the

persons of middleclass origin who had attached themselves to the Movement. However, the previous history

of the Movement did not sustain this thesis. Joe Cook, the chief of the "rats," had been a coal miner from

boyhood. The two union leaders from the Barrier, Sleath and Ferguson, had deserted the Party in 1901. In the

State Cabinet of the day, the unions were amply represented. The Premier, McGowen, had been a

boilermaker, yet in the 1913 Gas Strike he signed a proclamation appealing for scabs. Alf. Edden had worked

in the coal mines, but he could not carry through the Bill the miners wanted for eight hours from bank to

bank. J. H. Cann had worked along the line o'lode at the Hill, Donald McDonald had shorn sheep, Fred

Flowers, a painter, was a unionist of long standing. With one exception all the Ministers in the Federal

Cabinet had been manual labourers at some time in their careers. So unionism had no reason to complain that

it was unrepresented in Cabinet. Thus the thesis of union officials had a hypocritical appearance as though

they were attacking sitting members in order to obtain seats themselves. During 1913 in the course of a

controversy with Grayndler and Last of the A.W.U., G. Black, M.L.A. was at pains to show how those critics

were themselves both candidates for selection, and that their names appeared on a list drawn up by the

The alternative plan was, however, now to the fore again. The Broken Hill proposal for a separate Trade

Union Party was seriously considered by a Conference in July, 1913. It was supported by the Barrier

delegates and the Coal Miners of the southern field. Unionists had been exasperated by the failure of the

Government to prevent the victimisation of Russell, secretary of one of the miners' lodges, despite the finding

of a Royal Commission in his favour, by the call for scabs in the gasworks, and the nonremission of the

fines imposed on some railway strikers. But nothing came of the proposed party for the time. The idea was

not abandoned, however. At the 1915 Convention of the A.W.U. Cullinan (Western Branch, N.S.W.)

proposed that the union should withdraw financial support from the N.S.W. Labour Party. "Their names," he

said, "stank in the nostrils of those who held to Labour principles." Blakeley expressed the opinion that an

But this was not the policy which finally triumphed. The need for some alteration was more unmistakable

every day, but to attain that end it came to be decided to recommend unions to affiliate with the P.L.L. in

order to obtain control of Conference. The conference of unions, called in Newcastle at the instance of the

Coal Miners, in 1915, illustrates the position. Baddeley, the President, said "that the Labour platform was all

right, but the present system did not give the different industrial organisations that control that would enable

them to insist upon Labour members giving wholehearted support to the workers in their troubles." He

instanced the cases of three collieries, the summonses against which had been withdrawn by the Labour

Government because their employees ceased work. The Boilermakers' delegate argued that the present

Labour Party had failed as it must fail while it attempted to legislate for all classes in the community.

They must be either for or against the workers; there was no middle course. A motion was passed "that the

existent representation of Labour in Parliament was not a true reflex of the views of the workers, and that

therefore the system of selections should be altered." It was further resolved: "That the time had arrived for

industrial unions to affiliate with the P.L.L."1 Similar decisions were arrived at amongst unionists elsewhere,

and the result was that a determined attempt was made to bring the Government to book at the P.L.L.

Conference. In 1915, as we have seen, Holman had cunningly organised the Conference against them, and so

The industrialists were not to be caught a second time They laid their plans for 1916 well in advance. The

A.W.U. in October of the previous year had discussed the advisability of transferring the control of the P.L.L.

Conference to "the class the Movement represented" from that of "wirepulling politicians." To this end the

office of the Central Branch was transferred from Orange to Sydney. At the beginning of 1916 a committee

was promoted at the Trades Hall with the object of capturing the Conference. In March a meeting was held at

the A.W.U. offices in which the Coal Miners' Federation and the Railway and Tramway Service Association

also participated. This group resolved to aim at an amendment of the basis of representation at Conference

that would secure the unions representation in proportion to their strength. A circular to this effect was

drafted and sent round to all union secretaries. Eventually the A.W.U. and the Trades Hall group joined

forces, and a regular committee was formed with P. Adler (Blacksmiths), as chairman, and L. Hermann as

secretary. All the delegates to Conference were circularised and canvassed; a subcommittee was formed to

draw up a reply to the pamphlet issued by the Premier in defence of his Administration; it was decided to

launch and press home a censure motion on the Government, taking as its text the Government's failure to

deal with the Upper House. But the most farreaching move was the decision to run a "ticket" for the

Executive. Members of the industrial section, as the committee of unionists came to be called, ballotted

among themselves as to who should run for seats on the Executive, and were all pledged to vote for those

selected and to refuse nomination unless they were on the ticket chosen by this ballot. The committee was

more or less secret, but all its doings were divulged by the secretary to Holman, who had corrupted

The Section, though they commanded a solid bloc of eightyfour votes only aimed at capturing a majority of

the seats on the Executive. But when they reached Conference, they found that many delegates,

overestimating their strength, were anxious to join in with them at the last moment so as to be on the

winning side. Holman, despite feverish organising and the running of another ticket on which several

industrialists were included, completely failed to outmanoeuvre his opponents. The Section nominees

captured all the places on the most important committees of Conference on the first day. The moral effect of

this coup was tremendous and for the rest of the time Conference merely registered the decisions reached by

the industrialists in secret conclave. They achieved, as we have seen, the exclusion of politicians from the

Executive, the resignation of the Holman Government, and the Movement's opposition to conscription.

The aims of the industrialists must not be mistaken. They were not, as frequently asserted, a left wing

socialist movement. The Section to some extent reflects the reaction of the I.W.W. propaganda on the unions,

and included men who had been members of that organisation, like MacPherson and Buckley as well as

advanced thinkers like A. C. Willis (Secretary of the Miners' Federation). On the other hand, it included quite

conservative craftunionists. The industrialists accepted the Labour platform as it stood and only desired to

force the Government to give effect to that industrial legislation already provided for in many planks and the

sympathetic administration that the spirit of the Party demanded. The circular sent out to delegates contained

a list of nineteen industrial planks ignored by the Parliamentary Party, e.g., preference to unionists, a

sixhour day underground, the right to work, equal pay to women for equal work. They were "left" in

demanding that a Labour Government should legislate and administer the industrial laws in the interests of

the class that was responsible for their return. For instance, they wanted the unions to be allowed to use direct

action with impunity, and yet not to be deprived of the advantages of arbitration, while all the laws should be

enforced against the employers with the utmost rigour. They contended that a "Liberal" Government

administered the laws in the interests of the capitalists; therefore a Labour Ministry should govern in the

interests of the employees. They were intolerant of the consideration shown to the farmers, e.g., by exempting

them from the operations of the Hut Accommodation Act. They wanted industrial legislation in accord with

the strictest interpretation of the Labour platform, and did not care what interests they alienated thereby.

Finally, they were not so worried about the alleged peril of the Empire that they were prepared to see

industrial legislation and social reform postponed till the world had been made safe for democracy by Sir

Edward Carson and the Czar, and the capitalists and profiteers had been allowed to get a firm grip on that

world. They certainly were not prepared to run the risk of industrial conscription. Yet they were not strictly

internationalists or pacifists. They represented, we repeat, a genuine revolt of the unionist backbone of the

It was freely averred by Holman and his satellites that the Section leaders were actuated solely by a selfish

desire to supplant sitting members and to get for themselves the fruits of parliamentary power. Probably this

motive was not absent from the minds of many of the spokesmen and founders of the Section. The references

to selections already quoted are open to this interpretation. After the conscription split many of the leading

lights in the Section ran for selection, and a number of them actually got seats. Still it is idle to ascribe any

A highly important alteration in the basis of representation at Conference was made in 1916. In future,

leagues and unions were entitled to one delegate for every thousand members or part thereof. This

amendment favoured the unions as against the leagues especially big unions like the A.W.U. which

became entitled to twenty or twentyfive delegates. From this time the industrial Section became a regularly

constituted organisation within the Party and formed a further check on the politicians. Any league or union

might affiliate with the Section, the fee for affiliation being 5s. per thousand members or part thereof. But the

Section might refuse to accept the affiliation of leagues or unions. Affiliated bodies were represented at the

regular monthly meetings by one delegate per thousand members. It was governed by an Executive consisting

of President, VicePresident, Secretary, and six other members. Members of the P.L.L. Executive were not

eligible to sit on the Section Executive. The most remarkable provision in the constitution of this body was

that the candidates on the Section's ticket for positions on the P.L.L. Executive must sign undated

resignations and hand them to an officer of the Section, who would, under instructions from the Section,

forward them to the secretary of the P.L.L. Executive, should its representatives not act in accordance with

the instructions given them. Not content with a Conference and Executive to control the politicians, the

industrialists set up a sort of superconference to control the Conference and Executive. The open

deliberations of the P.L.L. Conference, as reported in the Labour Press, were reduced to the level of mere

formal ratifications of decisions already arrived at in the secrecy of the Section meeting. Such an arrangement

was a departure from the democratic ideals of the Labour Movement. It might be defended on the same lines

as the dictatorship of the proletariat, on the grounds that it was impossible to convert a majority to adopt a

genuinely radical policy. But as we shall see it did not work out that way, but led to corruption and personal

By 1918 elements of dissension had appeared in the Section. The A.W.U., which had been seeking to obtain

domination over the Labour Party, now showed its hand openly. Having, through the industrial Section, used

the smaller unions to obtain its solid bloc of twentyfive direct representatives at Conference, it now decided

to capture the Party Executive. To this end a cave was organised within the Section' and the A.W.U. ran a

ticket at the ballot for the Section nominees to the Executive to secure a majority of A.W.U. men on the

Section ticket. Thus there was a section within the Section ; a ticket for the Section ticket. The very men who

had prided themselves on the use of covert intrigue and wire pulling to defeat Holman's tactics and had

assisted in substituting for open discussions in Conference the manipulation of that body to register decisions

already predetermined by a secret junta, now found themselves the victims of like manoeuvres. As long as the

main questions occupying the attention of the Movement were the issues of peace and war, this split did not

manifest itself openly. But in 1919 this question had settled itself. The open breach was occasioned by a

The Labour Council, led by J. S. Garden, and the Miners, led by A. C. Willis, aimed at the establishment of

One Big Union on the industrial lines laid down by the I.W.W. with a revolutionary objective. The A.W.U.

wanted itself to become the One Big Union by simply absorbing other organisations, retaining the power in

the hands of the existing hierarchy of officials in the pastoral section. The O.B.U. threatened the A.W.U.

organisation, and a fierce feud existed between the offices of the two organisations. The A.W.U. clique were

ready to go to any lengths to discredit the revolutionary body. On the other hand, its partisans wanted to make

the Labour Party the political wing of the allembracing industrial union. Thus the dispute on industrial

tactics was transferred to the political field at the Conference. The A.W.U. section was supported by the

politicians under Storey and Catts, who were smarting under the continual interference of the Section, and

saw that a return to political power was impossible if the revolutionary aims of the O.B.U. were included in

the Labour platform. Their ranks were swelled by the more conservative craft unionists who had no time for

This new bloc organised Conference carefully to counteract the propaganda of the industrialists. Secret

meetings were held; delegates were circularised; scurrilous attacks were made upon the leaders of the O.B.U.

An anonymous pamphlet, entitled "The Pommy takes Control," was distributed, designed to discredit the

extremists because several of them happened to be English and not Australian by birth, and alleging all sorts

of malpractices against them. The policy of the Worker, previously favourable to the O.B.U., was suddenly

reversed by the fiat of the A.W.U. Executive Council, and Arthur Rae, another supporter of the

revolutionaries, was suspended from the editorship of the Labour News, the official organ of the Labour

Party, a week before the Conference. Willis was now put in the position of having to protest against secret

intrigues and sections and to advocate the election of the Executive by a method of plebiscite somewhat

Both sides were rather evenly matched, but the hold that the A.W.U. had obtained upon the Executive the

previous year and the chairmanship of W. Lambert, Secretary of the Central Branch, enabled them to carry

the day. The revolutionaries were defeated by narrow majorities amid great disorder, and it is credibly

asserted that Lambert permitted many irregularities. In the ballot for the Executive, the Left were utterly

routed, even Willis, though representing the second largest union in Australia, being defeated. It is known

that the ballot boxes were kept in the A.W.U. rooms one night, and it has been inferred that they were

tampered with then. As a climax, R. Bramston, the new VicePresident, took the chair in the absence of the

President, Lambert, before the returning officer's report had been officially presented and adopted. At this

irregularity the O.B.U. advocates seceded from the hall in a body, and at a separate meeting talked of forming

a new party. For this the leaders of the Left wing were drastically dealt with. Before any actual step had been

taken to form a secessionist party, four of the leaders were treated like Hughes and Holman, and expelled by

the Executive. Many other expulsions followed. On the other hand, the rump of the Conference left the

politicians practically a free hand in preparing their policy for the next elections. The industrial section was

formally wound up and the politicians left apparently in control of the Movement.

But this was, it is now alleged, only apparent. For more or less open control by the industrial section was, so

critics assert, in reality substituted a covert control by the officials of the Central Branch of the A.W.U. They

had secured a still larger share on the 1919 Executive, and made use of their power, not to further any

principles or ideals, but to reward their friends and supporters with seats in Parliament secured by faked

selection ballots and forged tickets. By this means they sought to secure for themselves high places ; for

Bailey, the VicePresident, was already an M.L.A., Blakeley, the President, had a Federal seat, and Lambert

was an alderman of the City Council in Sydney. The charges of faking selection ballots were conclusively

proved in one case only, but this instance is sufficient to justify the gravest suspicion in several very peculiar

cases. In regard to the Namoi selection ballot a committee of the Western Branch of the A.W.U. investigated

the charge of corruption and found it proved up to the hilt. To understand the procedure it must be explained

that slips are attached to the tickets taken out by members of that union each year, entitling the holder to a

vote in the selection ballot for the constituency in which he resides at the time. The member has to detach this

slip, pin it to his ballot paper, when that has been filled in, and post the two to the returning officer. Very

often that officer is an official of the union who, owing to the undemocratic system by which the organisation

is governed, is entirely under the thumb of a small junta of high officials in Sydney. It is, therefore, an easy

matter, if the bosses are willing to issue forged voting slips, for any number of "votes" to be manufactured.

This is what happened at Namoi. The committee, in its report, dated February 24th, 1920, find that 250 postal

votes were sent in, every one of which was attached to a forged voting slip. The names signed on the

envelopes with the slips in no case corresponded to the names of the real holder of the ticket with the same

number, as shown on the roll of members. The committee hunted up the real holders of tickets with the same

numbers as those on the ballot slips, and found the genuine slip still on the ticket unused. All these forged

votes had been cast for one man, Claude Thompson, then Secretary of the Amalgamated Railway and

Tramway Service Association. It is supposed that the A.W.U. bosses assisted him to get a seat in Parliament

in return for his influence in persuading his union to amalgamate with the A.W.U. Neither scheme came off.

The Goulburn ballot was equally fishy. There were three candidates to be elected for the large electorate

where the election proper would take place under the single transferable vote system (P.R.). Among the

candidates in the Labour primary were P. C. Evans, Secretary of the Executive, and J. Bailey, VicePresident

of the A.W.U., and sitting Member for part of the electorate under the old system. Onthevotes actually polled

in the district, Evans led by a substantial majority with Bailey a good second. But the final count took place at

Macdonell House, the A.W.U. headquarters, where the Labour Party offices were also housed, and the

returning officer was an A.W.U. organiser. In the final count 700 A.W.U. postal votes were found, and these

reversed the decision of the local vote, knocked Evans right out, and left the selection to Bailey and two

friends of his who were admittedly only dummies for their VicePresident. It seemed that, though there was

really room for two Labour members in that electorate, Bailey was not prepared to run any risks, and wanted

colleagues who would recommend the electors to give Bailey their first preference votes. Evans's complaint

that the postal votes were forgeries bears on the face of it every appearance of probability. P. J. Minahan

claimed, in connection with the Sydney selection ballot for the same election, that he had evidence that 250

faked postal votes had been prepared for use against him at Macdonell House. It is quite likely that similar

devices were used to falsify the returns for other selections in both State and Federal constituencies.

As for the results, Bailey no doubt hoped to get a majority of members in the N.S.W. State Caucus under his

power, so that he might be sure of a portfolio in the Storey Cabinet. The latter's personality frustrated this

plan. In the Federal Party, however, Blakeley, the A.W.U. President, succeeded in ousting J. H. Catts from

the position of Secretary to the Caucus. In municipal affairs, the Executive took the election of the Lord

Mayor out of the hands of the municipal Caucus in December, 1919, in order to award the position to W.

Lambert, Secretary of the Central Branch of the A.W.U. This action was quite contrary to the constitution of

the Party, was bitterly resented by a majority of the aldermen, who, however, were too frightened to resist,

and disadvantageous to the Party. Thus, if the allegations of the critics of the A.W.U. be accepted, the final

result of the attempt by the industrialists to gain control of the Labour Party machinery has been to corrupt

that machinery, vitiate the selection ballots, and hand over the Executive to an unscrupulous and selfish

clique. And whether we accept these statements or noand despite their verisimilitude they originate in

partisan sourcesthe fact that they can be publicly promulgated by responsible Labour men J. H. Catts, P.

Brooklield, A. C. Willis, and others and win credence from a large section within the Party, opens up

In Queensland there has been no split between the industrialists and the other sections. As has been remarked,

the A.L.F., having brought into being the political Labour Movement in that State, and assisted in forming

W.P.O.'s corresponding in purpose and form to the leagues in N.S.W., left the new Party to determine its own

constitution. The second Conference determined once for all the structure of the Party organisation. Kidston

wanted the Party Caucus to have the functions of an Executive, but the 1895 Conference would not agree to

that. In the scheme actually adopted the Executive consisted of nominees elected by Conference,

representatives of the Parliamentary Party, and delegates from the A.L.F. Parliamentarians were never to hold

a majority of seats on the Executive. By this means the unionists obtained from the first official recognition

Till 1916, however, the unions had no separate representation on Conference. That assembly was composed

entirely of delegates from the W.P.O.'s, though of course unionists could join these bodies, and where there

was no W.P.O. in existence, the local branch of the A.W.U. or A.W.A. could constitute itself the

representative of the political movement, and issue "political tickets." The 1913 Conference gave members of

affiliated unions resident in the electorate full W.P.O. rights, so that they could participate in the selection

ballots and the election of Conference delegates without paying an extra subscription. But in 1916 under the

influence of similar forces to those which operated in the souththe growth of class consciousness among the

unionists under the influence of I.W.W. propaganda, a claim was put forward for separate representation for

the industrialists on Conference. W. McCormack (who had been Secretary to the A.W.A. prior to its

amalgamation with the A.W.U.) moved that delegates be elected to Conference from affiliated unions on the

basis of one for the first 1,000 members, and one additional delegate for every 3,000 members thereafter,

with a maximum of three delegates. He said that the industrial section was the foundation of their Movement,

yet the unionists did not take any interest in it because they were dissatisfied. Another delegate thought that

the W.P.O. had served a very useful purpose when there was no industrial organisation in the State. The latter

movement was now of sufficient importance to have representation on any convention that might sit. On the

other hand, the President, W. Demaine, who spoke as a unionist of thirty years' standing, and had been " a

W.P.O. Secretary ever since there was a W.P.O. in Queensland," stated that his experience was that unionists

did not stand to their guns If they were to share in the selection of candidates, they should contribute to the

expenses of an election. Mr. Hall, too, opined that unionists were to blame for their position in the matter.

Some union members were not Labour supporters and joined unions only to get a direct gain.

The question was referred to a subcommittee which recommended the following scheme of representation

This scheme did not, McCormack explained, give all unions representation, but it would get unions to take an

active interest in the Party. No one could take exception to their representation. The A.W.U. had thirtytwo

fullypaid organisers working in the interests of the political movement. The latter wanted wholehearted

support from both the political and industrial organisations. The two sections of the Movement should be

At the Brisbane Conference of 1918 the industrialists demanded yet fuller recognition. The A.S.E. delegate

proposed to give the smaller unions representation on a basis of one delegate for from 300 to 500 members,

and to increase the representation of the larger bodies to a maximum of five delegates for more than 6,000

members. In support of this proposition Kelly (A.M.I.E.U.) said that he was forced to the conclusion that

there were men prepared to draw up a platform to get into Parliament on, whether they sacrificed Labour

principles or not. E. Lane, VicePresident of the A.W.U., thought the political party should be essentially

based on industrialism, and advocated the elimination of any one outside the unions. Until the Movement was

entirely industrial they would be unable to bring about that change in society upon which the Labour

objective was founded. On the other hand, the older members pointed out that indus trialists could secure

representation by joining the W.P.O.'s. There was no definite assurance that all industrialists were in favour

At this Conference there was a group of industrialist delegates who sat together and voted unitedly on many

questions. Their constant denunciations of politicians provoked President Demaine into twitting H. Bruce

(A.W.U.) with trying to get into Parliament by abusing parliamentarians. He was, in fact, at the time a

candidate for selection. This was the only attempt an industrial section ever made in Queensland. There were

in that State many unionists in the House and in the Cabinet, and the Labour Government paid especial

attention to industrial legislation, and in its administration showed a sympathetic understanding of the aims of

unionism. Thus there was indeed no need for a revolt such as was caused in N.S.W. by the

HolmanMcGowen rigime. NOTESince 1920 the main interest of Labour Conferences, at least in N.SW.,

has lain in the contest between the A.W.U. and its opponents to control the Party and the Executive. No one

who sat through the debates of 1921, or read those of 1922, could imagine that any question of principle was

here at issue. It was a mere personal squabble between two factions, and, as the protagonists of neither side

bore unblemished reputations, may be passed over without further mention here. The most extraordinary

cases of ballot faking have occurred during the same period. In the selection for the State seat of Sydney in

January, 1922 a fivemember constituency gangs of exI.W.W. men were employed to go round the

booths with bogus A.W.U. voting slips. Then, in the name of purity of the ballot, the Executive disqualified

Mr. McGirr, who had headed the list, and arbitrarily raised another candidate from the tail to fourth place.

This action created such an outcry that a new ballot had to be held. Even more humorous was the Cook

(Federal) Selection ballot at the end of the same year. In this case the official A.W.U. candidate was Tom

Arthur. When he failed to secure the selection, the Executive quashed the ballot, and ordered a new one. A

second vote gave the same result, and once more the Simon Pures of the State Executive found irregularities

in the ballot. But not even a third ballot could persuade the Labourites of Cook to choose Mr. Arthur, and, in

WE have mentioned incidentally that there was a variety of interests and elements included in the Labour

Parties in each State, and it is desirable at this point to examine briefly what those elements were. From the

first the Labour Party had the dual character of a trade union party and a social democratic party. The

unionists of Australia had learnt from the failure of the Maritime Strike the limitations of direct action even in

wellorganised trades. They had experience of the power of the State when used on the side of the

employers. At the same time they were advised to use constitutional means to secure the redress of their

grievances, and in a democratic country seemed to have an opportunity of exercising considerable nay,

almost unlimited political power. So unionists were persuaded to transfer from the industrial to the

political field that struggle for shorter hours, better wages, safe and hygienic conditions of employment,

freedom to organise, and personal liberty that the workingclass has everywhere had to wage against

Capitalism. In addition, there was, both within and without the ranks of unionism, a small but active group

that were seized of the idea, not only of mitigating the hardships of employment for wages, but also of

abolishing the wages system altogether. It was this Socialist section which, under the inspiration of William

Lane, was responsible for the foundation of the Labour Party in Queensland. In N.S.W. it was due in some

measure to the Socialists that the Labour Party took on its specific and isolated character. In Sydney, the

Australian Socialist League had been founded as far back as 1887, and propagated its doctrines by means of

meetings and a periodical called The Radical. The Socialists were almost all followers of Bellamy or the

Fabians. They thought that once a Labour Party was established as a separate entity, it would inevitably

become a Socialist party, and by the control of the machinery of Government, which they believed it would

soon attain, would usher in the Collectivist State peacefully and speedily. But, of course, only the minority of

But even if these two sections had been entirely united, their combined forces were not strong enough at the

time to win an election. From its foundation the Labour Party has had to look for allies outside the

workingclass, and the few middleclass protagonists of the proletarian revolt. The following groups and

classes were gradually attracted to the side of Labour by sentimental bonds only, democrats and

Australian nationalists; by economic interest, the small farmers and settlers, the prospectors and small mining

proprietors, and the small shopkeepers; by ties of selfinterest, the Roman Catholic Church and perhaps certain

business interests notably the liquor trade. Labour, simply in furtherance of its own proper aims, had

inevitably to advocate the extension of popular government to its utmost limits. The abolition of the second

chamber, composed of Crown nominees or persons elected on a property franchise, was a precondition to

the realisation of Labour's more advanced aims. The extension of the franchise by the abolition of long

residential qualifications and plural voting would be likely to increase Labour's representation in Parliament.

These reasons, and the fact that the Labour Party, in common with the European socialdemocrats, sincerely

believed in democracy for its own sake, led to the inclusion of a number of radical planks in Labour's

platform. After 1896 women's suffrage was added. Democratic sentiment has always been strong and

widespread in Australia, and the inclusion of these planks in the Labour platform brought the Party many

Nationalist sentiment focussed itself round the banner of the Labour Party for more indirect reasons. For one

thing, the Labour Movement had for a long time been continental in its scope, and not bounded in outlook by

the governmental divisions into States. InterState union congresses had met regularly since 1879. The

unions overleapt State boundaries. The great A.W.U. in its division into branches took no account of artificial

barriers. The industrialists soon found that certain questions could not be dealt with effectively by the States

acting separately. Australian action alone, for instance, could cope with Asiatic immigration. Thus the Labour

Parties acquired a broad Australian outlook which made them ardent supporters of Federation, while the old

middleclass parties, having a vested interest in the State Governments, were narrow "Staterighters." In the

second place, for purely economic reasons, Labour desired to encourage Australian industry which would

provide increased employment, and to keep Australia for the white races, since unrestricted Asiatic

immigration had been found seriously to endanger the standards of living of Australian working men. For this

reason the watchword of "White Australia" was adopted from its first exponent, Sir Samuel Griffiths, a

Queensland Liberal, as the watchword of the Labour Party. Thus the sentiment of Australian nationhood,

which expressed itself in the Movement towards Federation, and which was reinforced by racial prejudice

against the intermingling of white and coloured races, found its natural political exponent in the Labour

Party. Especially after Federation, national patriotism brought a large body of supporters to the Labour Party.

Of course such a sentiment was in its extreme manifestations incompatible with the internationalism of the

Socialist Movement, and has produced a curious reaction on Australian Socialism as expounded by the

The small propertyholders were even more incompatible with an extreme Socialist party; yet they were

attracted to the Labour Party by real economic interests. The older parties were dominated mainly by the

large landed Interest of the squatters, or the big city firms and monopolist companies who provided the bulk

of their party funds. Now the small settler, the "cocky" farmer, stands in a hostile relation to the big

pastoralist who monopolises the largest areas of Australian soil. The latter is not often a helpful neighbour to

the selector whose holding often interferes with the rounding off of his huge paddocks. He can and did harass

the settler in an infinite variety of ways. On the other hand, the city middleman takes a heavy toll from the

farmer whose product he alone can handle. The old parties offered the cocky no hope of protection from these

foes, and so he was forced to look to Labour for relief. The prospector or shareholder in a small mine was in

the same straits. He was hindered by the big landholder on whose demesne the lode might be and was at the

mercy of a few monopolistic smelter companies who might squeeze all his profits out of him by treatment

charges. Finally, the small shopkeeper, besides being dependent on workingclass customers, resents the

competition of the big city stores and the extortionate charges of monopolists and wholesale trusts who can

so fix prices that the shopkeeper is reduced to the position of a mere agent. The Labour Party promised to

burst up the large estates by a tax on land values, to help the farmer by abolishing the middleman in the

course of setting up State Socialism. State produce agencies, State sugar mills, State treatmentworks and

smelters were promised as steps towards freeing the small producer from the grip of the monopolists as well

as stages in the advent of Socialism. The same classes were attracted by special planks inserted in the

platform for their delectation, such as assistance to mining, rural credits, advances to settlers, and so on.

The Labour Party has not been left a free field in pandering to the sentiments or interests of the

abovementioned classes. Democratic sentiment proved so strong that when the antiLabour forces

coalesced, as they did soon after the establishment of Federation, they were fain to adopt the name of

"Liberal." Yet the aggressive radicalism of Labour has, in fact, forced their opponents into the role of

guardians of the constitution, including privileged second chambers and the viceregal veto, and defenders of

the rights of property. The "Liberals" were only liberal in the economic sense of the Manchester school

standing for the restriction of State interference with private business and the glorification of the competitive

system, without, however, being able to stand out as Free Traders or to mask the real growth of monopolies,

combines and cartels. Similarly, the appeal to nationalist sentiment had proved so successful that, when a

section of the Labour Party coalesced with the "Liberals" after the conscription split, the new Party called

itself "Nationalist." Yet they adopted as their standard the Union jack, not the Australian flag, and have stood

for closer unity of the Empire, and even the subordination of Australian to Imperialist interests, while the

genuine nationalists have followed the opposite line, traditionally putting "Australia first" and insisting on the

reality of Dominion selfgovernment. Thus the Party labels in Australia have become most misleading.

Recently the primary producers have formed parties of their own, known as "the Country Party" or "the

Progressives," to cater for the farmers' votes. Yet even these organisations represent rather the pastoralists or

the biggest wheat and dairy farmers than the struggling cocky whose interests are still best watched by the

The other allies of Labour whom we have mentioned have received no formal concessions on the Labour

platform. Yet it is notorious that the Catholic Church, as a body, supports the Labour Party quite solidly. The

reasons are obscure. That Church cannot possibly support Socialism, as the Brisbane Courier was at pains to

point out during the 1918 elections in Queensland. Many prominent Labour leaders were atheists or

agnostics, as, for example, W. A. Holman and E. G. Theodore. Very few of the prominent Labour leaders

have been Romans. The only Labour Premier in the east, at any rate, of that faith, was T. J. Ryan. No Labour

Government has given any positive concession to that Church. Yet its hierarchy has consistently lent its

support to the Labour Party, and a sectarian element is distinctly perceptible in most leagues. Though the

second largest and politically best organised Church in Australia, the adherence of the Catholics is a doubtful

blessing. NoPopery is so strong that any Party definitely allied with the papists would be doomed to

destruction. Some efforts have indeed been made to check the sectarian element in the Party. In 1915 the

P.L.C. Conference in Victoria adopted a rule excluding from membership in the Party "any person who is a

member of any other organisation which selects or lends support to candidates for public positions." This

resolution, avowedly aimed at members of the Catholic Federation, drew from Archbishop Mannix, of

Melbourne, the clearest admission that has ever been made of the hierarchy's support to the Labour Party.

When the referenda were withdrawn by Hughes, this prelate announced that he was sorry the Labour Party's

constitutional proposals had been withdrawn from the popular vote, as he had intended to teach the Party a

lesson as to what the withdrawal of the Catholic vote meant. It has been surmised that the Church supported

the Labour Party in the hope of concessions in the matter of education. The chief political aim of the Romans

is certainly to secure a subsidy for their schools from the State. The hierarchy maintain that the State secular

schools are unchristian, and that is impossible for the faithful to allow their children to be educated in their

godless atmosphere. They have fine schools of their own, but the priests argue that it is unjust that their flock,

who contribute to the upkeep of these, should be taxed for the support of the State schools, which they cannot

use. They, therefore, claim a Government subsidy for their sectarian institutions. The Labour Party has never

admitted the validity of this claim or shown any inclination to concede it. In Queensland and Victoria the

platform specifically lays it down that education shall be "free and secular." Resolutions in favour of

subventions to denominational schools have occasionally been discussed at Labour Conferences, but have

always been decisively rejected, e.g., in Queensland in 1910. Just prior to the 1913 elections in N.S.W. a

Catholic dignatory delivered himself of a vehement tirade against the educational policy of Labour, but

Premier Holman answered him in an uncompromising fashion. Still, twentysix Labour candidates answered

in the affirmative a circular issued by the Catholic Federation asking them to promise to advocate the grant of

free materials to the Catholic schools by the State. Holman recommended his supporters to ignore this

The only obvious consideration that the Catholic Church has received from Labour in return for its support is

the Bursaries Endowment Act in N.S.W. This measure, passed by the first Labour Government, permits

students who have been awarded bursaries which carry with them remission of fees to hold the same at

private as well as State secondary schools. The State has, of course, to subsidise the private schools in respect

of the bursars who attend them. Nearly all the nonState secondary schools in Australia are denominational

and most of them are Catholic, so that in this way the State comes to contribute to the maintenance of their

schools. But here the connection between the Church and Labour seems to end. It is true that adherents of that

faith occupy a surprisingly large number of influential and confidential posts in the public service of most

States, but it is not evident that the Labour Party was responsible for placing them there. Many were certainly

The supposed alliances between Labour and certain financial interests have only come about since Labour

has been within close range of the Treasury benches, and any compacts that have been made have been

negotiated not with Conference or the Executive, but with the leaders of the Parliamentary Party. The most

easily demonstrable alliance formed by the Labour Party with the vested interests of a section of the capitalist

class, is that with the liquor trade. It was openly denounced by Rae, a man who had long been in the inner

counsels of Labour at the Socialist Conference in Sydney, on August 4th, 1919.1 Under the Holman r gime

in N.S.W. it was notorious, and the strongest circumstantial evidence points to a similar alliance in

In both of these States a local option poll is held on the same day as a general election. To fight "reduction"

and "nolicence" the liquor interests have an organisation amply supplied with funds and cars working in

each electorate. These organisations have been at the disposal of the Labour candidates. The advantage to the

politicians is obvious. The funds of the local leagues derived from bazaars and socials are never large. The

central funds derived from capitation dues from leagues and affiliated unions are also exiguous, and are

almost entirely consumed in salaries, office expenses and literature. Labour has had plenty of volunteer

canvassers and scrutineers who have given their services to the Movement, but few rich friends to lend it cars

to convey voters to the polls. The other parties have an army of paid canvassers and a fleet of cars at their

disposal, and all the advantages that money can secure. The use of the licensed victuallers' cars, of the

publichouses for the display of Labour signs, and even monetary contributions has, therefore, been

invaluable. Whether the use of these appurtenances has involved any grave sacrifice of Labour principles is

another question. In N.S.W. the Liberals under Carruthers and Wade had engaged in a crusade of "wowser"

legislation which alarmed the "trade." The latter seem, therefore, to have resolved to make friends with the

Party which seemed likely to capture the reins of Government at the next election. Whether they received any

definite promises in return is uncertain. Certainly Conference would recognise none. But they seem to have

been able to exercise a "pull" when the time to demand something in return came. This happened in 1915. A

general demand arose during the war for early closing of hotels, and the British precedent was generally

quoted. This was in itself embarrassing to Holman, who was endeavouring to give the lie to the charges of

disloyalty levelled at the Labour Party by the opposition, and on the other hand wanted the help of the

publicans at the elections in the following year. His dilemma was made much worse when the P.L.L.

Conference, that had never been consulted about any arrangement with the licensed victuallers, passed a

resolution in favour of six o'clock closing. The Government maintained a policy of masterly inaction, but in

July Carmichael, a Labourite and exMinister, had moved in the House for a referendum on the subject,

provoking the wrath of the Premier because Caucus had not been consulted. On September 7th a private

member secured the passage of a resolution in favour of nine o'clock as the closing hour, and had the support

of five Ministers for the proposition. It was not till October that Cabinet, yielding to the growing pressure of

public opinion, brought in a Bill for a limitation of the hours for the sale of intoxicants. It was a farcical

measure, for it allowed bars to remain open till ten instead of eleven as before. On a vote to replace ten by

nine several Labour members remained staunch, but most of the Ministers stultified their former votes by

opposing the amendment.1 At last the Premier's hands were forced when some soldiers broke camp in

February, and ran amok in Sydney. The Minister for Defence in the Commonwealth Labour Government

thereupon used his powers under the War Precautions Act to close the hotels in Sydney at six. Public opinion

could no longer be ignored, and Holman with obvious reluctance brought in a Bill for a referendum. The

people chose the hour recommended by the Labour Conference in the previous year, and reendorsed in

1916. The only explanation of Holman's reluctance to comply with a genuine and widespread popular

demand seems to be the secret pull of the liquor traffic, especially as the demand for early closing was made

In Queensland the understanding between Labour members and the liquor traffic led to even more curious

results, for there was a strong temperance section in the rank and file of the Party, and Plank VI. of the

platform ran: "State manufacture, importation, and sale of intoxicants with a view to total prohibition." Yet as

soon as the Ryan Government assumed office in 1915 they gave good cause for suspicions that they had an

understanding with the liquor interests. There was the same demand for wartime closing in Queensland as in

the southern State, but the Labour Government turned an absolutely deal ear to the demands of the advocates

of early closing. They contented themselves with the observation that they were bringing in a Bill for the

Initiative and Referendum, and that the temperance people could avail themselves of the opportunity that that

would give to ascertain the wishes of the people. But the Party refused to accept the Legislative Council's

amendments to the Bill, which included provisions for the recall of members, and the Bill was declared lost

so in effect was early closing. Meanwhile the Hon. Peter Murray, M.L.C., who was regarded as the

mouthpiece of the licensed victuallers in the House, had declared himself an adherent of the new

The temperance party in the Labour Movement were very dissatisfied with the Ministry's policy on the liquor

question, although they had, in deference to Plank VI., set up a State hotel at Babinda to be a model

publichouse. A series of resolutions, emanating from Buranda W.P.O., gave vent to this dissatisfaction at

the 1918 Conference. Six o'clock closing stood in the forefront of these resolutions. The mover declared that

there could be no alliance between Labour and liquor. The sooner Labour outlined its position the better. The

politicians who had to fight an election almost at once evinced a strong dislike to the motion, but as it was

evidently strongly supported, it was clearly useless for them to oppose it directly. Instead a redherring was

astutely drawn across the trail by an amendment : "That this Conference adhere to the determination to

establish the Initiative and Referendum under which the six o'clock closing and all other questions can be

determined by the people." The politicians, who were afraid to oppose the motion directly, were able to

deluge the gathering with arguments in support of the amendment. Delegates were urged to use the early

closing question as a lever to get the legislation required by the platform through the Council. They must not

sacrifice a great thing like the Initiative and Referendum to give way to a panicky cry. On the other hand,

Lane pointed out that, apart altogether from the Initiative and Referendum, the liquor trade was either right or

wrong, and it was no use taking refuge behind the other question. PageHannify reminded them that it was

useless to expect to see the Initiative and Referendum next session. Unless Convention took up a positive

attitude there was a danger of this question being used against Labour. But at the last minute the big guns

were brought up by the politicians. W. N. Gillies, Minister for Agriculture, thought it strange that so many

who wanted reform on this question voted for the retention of the Upper House. Then Treasurer Theodore

rose. "If prepared to give the people the right to ballot on this question," he asked, "why not on other

questions under the Initiative and Referendum? Labour would be sticking solidly to its platform in

endeavouring to put that through at the first opportunity." By such arguments the motion for a referendum on

six o'clock closing was shelved by 44 votes to 22. At the next election a fleet of cars was available to take

Labour voters to the poll which had been sadly lacking at the second conscription referendum a few months

earlier. It seems to have been widely known that the publicans had contributed generously to the campaign

funds, but it may be taken for granted that these subscriptions were not made through the Executive, which

contained many pronounced temperance advocates. At any rate, it is noteworthy that Queensland was the

only State in the Commonwealth where publichouses could remain open till 11 p.m. all through the war.

Nevertheless, a resolution got through the 1918 Conference in favour of a general poll throughout the State

on the question of nolicence, nationalisation, or continuance as opposed to the local options polls already

prescribed. The Government was evidently timid about submitting this issue to the electors and asked the

Executive for directions. A special meeting of that body in August, 1918, decided that the Government was

bound under the terms of Conference's resolution to introduce, a Bill apart from the Initiative and

Referendum Bill, for a special referendum on these questions. But still the Ministry took no action. The

matter was not touched during the session of 1918 or in the earlier part of 1919. It was not until many

resolutions of protest had been sent in from W.P.O.'s and a strongly worded complaint had been made by the

Brisbane Industrial Council that Cabinet brought down the necessary legislation at the very end of the

session, and even then the referendum was not held till the latter half of 1920. It was, of course, defeated.

The heterogeneous elements supporting the Labour Party have naturally led to serious conflicts of interests

within it. The democrats do not necessarily sympathise with the aims of unionism, and may very well be

opposed to State interference with private enterprise. Nationalism is diametrically opposed to that

international sentiment which is a characteristic of the Socialist Movement. The militarist policy, which the

White Australia ideal, has forced upon the Labour Party, is distasteful to many industrialists, while the

Protection system adopted for the encouragement of Australian industry is the very opposite of the traditional

Free Trade policy of the English Labour Party. From a workingclass point of view Customs duties are the

worst means of raising revenue. and even the Labour Party in Australia has always stood for high direct

taxation. Even more incompatible with the aims and ideals of the industrial proletariat are the interests of the

small farmers and the other sections of the petitbourgeoisie for whom the Labour Party tries to cater. These

are notoriously the most conservative sections of the community. Short hours, high wages, early closing,

strict regulation of the housing and hygienic conditions of the workers, are the last things they want. Thus

they are unfriendly both to unionism and Socialism. The regulation of the hours of rural workers and the

enforcement of the provision of good housing accommodation for farm hands has always been strenuously

opposed by the cockies. We have already had occasion to note the results of their hostility to the latter in

connection with the Labour Government's Hut Accommodation Bill in N.S.W. Similarly we have seen that a

crisis was brought about in the Party in that State by the antagonism of the agricultural supporters of the Party

to the leasehold principle. In the case of strikes the farmers, mining interests, and small shopkeepers are

always as bitter against the strikers as the big capitalists. owing to the derangement of their business entailed

in any large industrial stoppage. In fact, the big strike of 1917 was defeated by the strikebreakers, drawn

from the farmer class, enraged at the interference with the transportation of their crops due to the railwaymen

ceasing work. Roman Catholicism is essentially antiSocialistic, since the dogmas of that Church postulate

hereditable private property. Conversely Socialism is traditionally anticlerical. Liquor may be regarded as

one of the devices of capitalism for keeping the workers in subjection. On the other hand, brewers and

publicans cannot sympathise with strikes which react unfavourably on their business.

The reconciliation of such divergent interests has inevitably meant some tightrope walking for the

politicians and has filled the Labour platform with inconsistencies. To avoid offending the little capitalists

and the Catholics, Socialism has been much watered down in the Labour Objective. To retain the support of

the nationalists the Labour Party has gone in for a course of sentimental flagflapping which savours of

jingoism. It has allowed the strictly economic motive lying behind the White Australia policy to be obscured

by racial prejudices and has pandered to fears which have played into the hands of the militarists in a

dangerous manner. To avoid giving offence to middleclass supporters Labour Governments have followed a

vacillating policy and have tried to govern in the interests of all classes instead of standing up boldly in

NOTESome new light is thrown on the alliance between the Parliamentary Labour Party in N.S.W and

liquor during the period 191922 referred to by Arthur Rae, by the speech of J. H. Catts, after his expulsion

from the Labour Party, in the House of Representatives on July 6th, 1922. lt appears from this that the

Secretary of the Licensed Victuallers' Association had given a member of the State Parliament (whose name

will be found in the Federal Hansard) �500 to control Conference in the interests of the trade in 1921. The

same gentleman was subsequently told by official members of the State Ministry not that he must not

contribute to the Party funds, but that he must cease subsidising private members. The tie binding Labour and

liquor at this period was the Act carried by the Nationalist Government in December, 1920, for the holding of

a referendum on prohibition with compensation. The Labour Government returned in 1921. ignored this Act

of Parliament, in so far as the referendum was concerned, altogether. Their pretext was that the cost of

compensation was prohibitive in the then state of the exchequer, and that consequently the holding of the

Upon other sources of money open to members of a Parliamentary Labour Party when in office or in sight of

office, the Royal Commission into the charges against Messrs. Dooley, johnstone and Mutch, Ms.L.A.,

presided over by Pring, J., gave interesting information. johnstone admitted the receipt of ~soo towards his

election expenses from one J. J. Talbot, who, with his partner, G. Georgeson, was lying under the grave

charge of corruption in connection with a wheat contract ! With access to such sources of income, it is not

surprising that Labour Members can afford very often to ignore the directions of conferences and executives,

especially when the latter are themselves open to charges of venality. The charge was made against the

N.S.W. Conference by Catts in the speech mentioned, who adds that, when the supply of funds from the

licensed victuallers was cut off, an agent of the same M.L.A. offered the Prohibitionist organisation to fix

the control of Conference for a few hundreds. It was common knowledge that members of the N.S.W.

Executive received large sums of money for endorsing candidates to the Legislative Council and for

supporting corrupt contracts made by the Sydney City Council when it was controlled by the Labour Caucus.

FOR three decades the Labour Movement has been dominated by the idea of political action. The forces of

Labour have been concentrated on the effort to capture the parliamentary machine, and the trade unions have

been made subservient to the political Labour Parties. But while this is the distinguishing characteristic of the

period, there have been periods of revolt against the supremacy of politicalism occasioned by the

shortcomings of that policy, its slowness and at last its evident bankruptcy. Such revolts on the part of the

industrialists have generally manifested themselves not only in outbursts of direct action, but in a tendency to

reorganise the whole structure of unionism on an industrial basis. Before, therefore, attempting to describe

these signs of revolt, it becomes necessary to describe in somewhat greater detail the structure of the

The industrial organisation of the Australian workers, of course, antedates the formation of political Labour

Parties by some fifty years. The origins of trades unionism in the southern continent are shrouded in the mists

of obscurity. When, however, it is remembered that among the early convict settlers were the Dorchester

labourers transported under the Conspiracy Laws for organising for industrial action, it is not surprising that

the seeds of unionism should have borne fruit at an early date in the colony's development. Under the convict

system, of course, no unionism was permitted, but even before 1840 benefit societies arose among artisans

resembling the embryonic organisations from which English trade unionism sprang. By that year the

industrial activities of these bodies was sufficiently noticeable to induce the Legislative Council to pass a

The first definite union, of which permanent traces survived was a branch of the Operative Stonemasons

Society, founded in Melbourne in 1850. In 1851 the Typographical Association was formed in Sydney, and

during the next year prominent members of the A.S.E. who had left England owing to victimisation planted a

branch of their society in their new home. The formation of other unions followed, but these were restricted

to the skilled craftsman in the cities, and being modelled on and often affiliated with English organisations

An extension of trades unionism occurred in 1861 when the coal miners of the Newcastle district met

together to formulate claims for better wages and to demand better legislation for the ventilation of coal

mines. The Hunter River Coal Miners' Protective Association then inaugurated, continued in a rather informal

manner from that date. Still, that did not bring unionism to the country districts. And it was the organisation

of the bush workers that formed the peculiar problem for the Australian union leaders. The vast army of bush

workers, recruited from the unsuccessful prospectors and other immigrants in the days when alluvial

workings no longer paid on the goldfields and were replaced by deep mines owned by capitalists and

employing an army of wageworkers, presented a problem in organisation which had not previously been

tackled in any country. These workers were mainly nomadic, working now in the mines, now in shearing

sheds, now on railway construction works. They were, therefore, a body of semi or unskilled, workers, but

the conditions in a new country put a premium on strength and endurance, selfreliance and adaptability as

The first successful organisation among these outback toilers was the Amalgamated Miners' Association of

Victoria. The association organised the miners employed on the several goldfields of that State. Local unions

had at first arisen with the object of securing reductions in working hours and preventing the introduction of

Chinese labour. These local bodies amalgamated after a conference at Ballarat in 1874, but the organisation

was not put upon a sound footing till 1882. It was then reorganised and a benefit section established. From

that time the A.M.A. extended its operations beyond Victoria, and successfully organised metalliferous

miners in other States, including those employed along the great silverlead lode of Broken Hill on the

N.S.W. border. Later on, however, the A.M.A. restricted its sphere of operations to Victoria and Tasmania.

The N.S.W. Barrier, A.M.A., and the unions formed in South Australia continued to exist as separate entities,

while the bulk of the other miners in in N.S.W. formed the Federated Mine Employees' Union.

The next section of the rural workers to become unionised were the shearers. Peculiar difficulties confronted

those who wished to organise these workers. Miners worked at a definite field, and operations were continued

all the year round, so that there was every likelihood of the miner having a more or less fixed location and

address near the mine. Not so with the shearers. Men would gather from all over the continent to a big shed

on the vast station of some pastoralist, stay there for from three to six weeks till the sheep were shorn, and

then scatter again to different sheds. The stations are separated by enormous distances, so that organising is

difficult. On the other hand, the isolation is not altogether adverse to organisation. These large bodies of men

gathered together on remote runs have one topic of common interest their industrial condition. There are

no distractions in the way of churches, music halls, or race meetings to divert their minds from their

The shearers had plenty of grievances. The accommodation which the squatter provided was of the roughest

sort, consisting often simply of tiers of bunks, made out of roughhewn saplings, in a tin shed, and remember

that the shade temperature out West often reaches 115 degrees. The only provisions obtainable had to be

purchased from the squatter himself, who sometimes charged excessive prices. The water supply was not

always adequate. The shearer was bound by contract to see the shed cutout, though he could be discharged

at any time by the owner. He was paid by piece rates so many shillings per hundred sheep, and there were

devices by which an unscrupulous employer could and often did rob the toiler of part of his earnings.

Now, many members of the A.M.A. used to work in the sheds during the season, and these spread the gospel

of unionism among the pastoral workers. After many unsuccessful attempts the Shearers' Union was formed

in 1886. The immediate occasion was a proposal by the pastoralists to reduce rates by 2s. 6d. per 100 at the

beginning of the season. To resist this reduction, organisations were formed at Ballarat (Victoria), Bourke,

and Wagga (N.S.W.), which amalgamated in the following year under the name of the Amalgamated

Shearers' Union. A separate union was formed in Queensland, the Q.S.U. In 1890, the shedlabourers or

roustabouts, who do not shear but work under the shearers, picking up the wool, etc., and the station hands

were formed into a separate organisation. But in 1894 these two sections of the pastoral workers

amalgamated, so that the A.S.U. became a strictly industrial union with branches in N.S.W., Victoria, South

Australia, and New Zealand. Finally, the Q.S.U. was absorbed in the larger organisation in 1904, and the

In view of the immensely important ro1e which that union was destined to play, it will be well here to outline

the scheme of organisation adopted to handle this large body of men who had no permanent workplace, but

who roamed about from one end of a continent to another. The constitution of the A.M.U. took as its model

Robert Owen's Grand National Consolidated Trades Union. For organising purposes the continent was

divided into eight branches, two in Queensland, two in N.S.W., one in Victoria, which also included the

southern corner of N.S.W. and Tasmania, one in South Australia which took in the transDarling part of

N.S.W., and one in West Australia. The supreme government was vested in an annual convention, which met

in Sydney every January, and was composed of delegates from the branches elected by a plebiscite vote of

the members on a basis of one delegate for every 2,000 members, together with a General President and a

General Secretary, elected each year by ballot of the whole membership. It was for convention to lay down

the general policy of the union for the forthcoming year, to receive the reports of the officers and to

determine the remuneration to be paid them. The reports of the debates of Convention are published verbatim

in the Worker, and a printed report is sent to every member of the union. Between conventions an Executive

Council had general authority. It consisted of the General President and Secretary and a VicePresident

representing each State together with one councillor from each branch. Provided three States were

represented seven constituted a quorum. This Executive had considerable powers; it could suspend officers or

councillors, vary or suspend rules, and strike a levy by a twothirds majority. It was the body responsible for

Nevertheless a large degree of local autonomy was left to the branches. The latter were governed by a general

meeting which could be called by notice in the Worker. Fifteen constituted a quorum rather a small

number considering that the branch membership might easily run into several thousand. Subject to the

decisions of Convention the branch meeting was the supreme governing authority in the branch, and elected

members of the branch committee. The branch officers, however Chairman, two ViceChairmen, and

Secretary, as well as delegates to congresses, were elected by plebiscite. The branch committee, consisting of

these officers and the committeemen elected at the general meeting, had power to suspend any branch officer,

subject to review by the branch meeting, and to choose the branch representative on the Executive Council.

The committee also had charge of disputes with employers subject to the directions of the Executive. The

remuneration of the Secretary and Organisers was to be determined by the branch meetings.

An important person in the A.W.U scheme is the "shedrep." The first thing done when a team of shearers and

shed hands foregather at a shed was the election of a shedrepresentative. He was obliged to communicate

with the branch Secretary, and with the assistance of two committeemen would see that only unionists were

working at the shed by holding a show of tickets. He also conducts any negotiations with the station owner,

collects fines and levies, and forwards to the Secretary the numerous resolutions carried at the shed for

The A.W.U. constitution made provision for the taking of plebiscite votes of all members on any question.

There is a Parliamentary Fund not exceeding 1s. per member for organising to assist in the return of pledged

Labour candidates. In fact, the union had been from the first a strong supporter of the Labour Party. Its

objects included : "(d) to gradually replace the present competitive system of industry by a co operative

system," and (g)"to endeavour by political action to secure social justice." Many officers of the A.W.U.,

notably W. G. Spence, M.H.R., who was General President from 1898 to 1916, and Donald Macdonnell, who

was General Secretary from 1900 till his death in 1912, have been returned to Parliament in the Labour

interest, and the union has ever been closely connected with the Party organisation. It has also been a pioneer

in Labour journalism, founding and owning the Sydney Worker, and, through the A.L.F., sharing in the

control of the Queensland Worker. One of these papers is posted each week to every member of the union.

Successful organisation for the remaining classes of bush workers came much later. In Queensland the main

impulse in that direction came from an organisation of miners about 1908 the Amalgamated Workers'

Association. This union was originally just one of a number of small unions of miners modelled on the

Victorian A.M.A., but it extended its operations first to cover all the miners in the north and then to include

navvies and other bodies of hitherto unorganised workers. The history of this body is, however, so closely

bound up with the One Big Union Movement that it will be convenient to postpone dealing with it until a

later chapter. Another section of the rural and nomadic workers of Queensland was organised about the same

Till 1905 the sugar industry had been worked entirely by coloured labour, but in that year the Federal

Government began deporting the kanakas who had hitherto worked in the canefields in the interests of a

White Australia, and so white labour came in to take their places. The cutting of the cane and its milling is

seasonal work, the two operations being carried on contemporaneously. The harvest lasts from July to

October, and within this period the cane must be cut and, as soon as possible, crushed into raw sugar. Any

interruption in the process seriously threatens the value of the crop, and, therefore, growers have sought to

ensure continuity of work in their contracts with the cutters and labourers. The former work in a gang which

is paid by the piece, so much per ton of cane cut, but both cutters and mill hands sign contracts as a rule for

the whole season, and the conditions imposed by masters accustomed to servile coloured labour were

extraordinary. However, as soon as black labour had begun to disappear, attempts were made to organise the

sugarworkers. That was especially difficult, inasmuch as many of them just came up from the south for the

season to engage in other occupations. By 1908 the Bundaberg Union had about 400 members, and that at

Mackay, further north, some 468. Thereafter the several local unions joined forces in the Amalgamated

It was, however, obvious that the attempt to organise such migrants into sectional unions was almost

impossible and profoundly uneconomical. They had no fixed trade, but were canecutters one month, miners

another, and shearers or navvies in a third. To cater for such migrants a composite body was needed, and to

the leaders of the A.W.A. belongs the credit of seeing this. The A.W.A. extended its sphere of operations,

taking in all classes of general labour and absorbing the A.S.W.U. en bloc. It was no longer necessary. for the

bush worker to join half a dozen unions in earning his living through the year, as he passed from the

canefield to the railway construction works, and thence, perhaps, to the mining camp or the sawmills. One

ticket covered all these occupations. At the same time a single organiser could look after the canecutters,

navvies, miners, lumbermen and others working in a single district, which formerly several distinct organisers

had to traverse in the interests of their several distinct unions, each attending only to one section of the

The success of this experiment in Queensland proved that the type of organisation set up by the A.W.A. was

the only one really adapted to cater for the nomadic bushmen. Hence, at a later date, the A.W.U. took in not

only the Queensland A.W.A., but also the several sectional organisations of bush workers formed in the south

the Rural Workers' Union harvesters, wheat porters, etc. The Australian Carriers' Union, the Rabbiters'

Union, and later still the Railway Workers' and General Labourers' Union in N.S.W., and the United

Labourers' Union of South Australia navvies and construction workers and the F.M.E.U. the

metalliferous miners. But these developments will be described in a later chapter.

While a special form of union organisation was being thus evolved for the bush workers of Australia, the

introduction of compulsory arbitration exercised a profound influence on unionism in general. In the first

place it gave a notable filip to the formation of unions. In N.S.W. in the two years following the passage of

Wise's Act (1901) no fewer than 111 new unions were registered as compared with twentysix in the

preceding ten years! Many of the new unions were created to assist the worstpaid and hitherto unorganised

workers in approaching the court. A large accession to the number of women unionists was incidental to this

process. On the other hand, the legal recognition of unionism by the Arbitration Act prompted the employers

to promote "yellow" unions to keep the bon fide organisations of the wageearners from the court, or to

secure the registration of agreements favourable to the employers. We have already referred to the most

notorious of such bogus unions the Machine Shearers' Union which kept the A.W.U. from securing

registration under the N.S.W. Act for several years. But the safeguards contained in the laws have generally

been sufficient to prevent such "bosscontrolled" organisations getting a footing, save when the genuine

unions have put themselves out of court by participating in illegal strikes, e.g., after the 1917 d b cle. On the

other hand, the popularisation of arbitration has of late years led to the formation of unions among purely

The creation of the Commonwealth Court of Arbitration and Conciliation in 1904 exercised a further

modifying influence on trade union structure. Under the constitution this tribunal can only take cognisance of

disputes extending beyond the limits of a single State. As a consequence Federal or InterState unions are in

a better position to approach the Commonwealth court than those which confine their activities to a single

State. Since, therefore, at that time some States had no wageregulating machinery at all, the existence of the

Commonwealth court stimulated the formation of allAustralian unions. These in most cases took the form of

federations of existing State unions, which still left the State branches with considerable powers of local

autonomy, since they had to conform to the several rules of the respective State Trade Union Acts whose

Hence we may distinguish four main types of unions in Australia, each of which might be subdivided

according as the organisations comprised under it are purely local, Statewide or Federal in their scope.

(1) Craft and occupational Unions (boilermakers, clerks, etc.). Industrial unions. Composite or mass unions.

The first type need no further exposition here. It is found all over the world, though in Australia the

subdivisions of occupations, especially in cases where they are based not on a diversity of apprenticeship

training, e.g., in N.S.W., Municipal and Shire Employees, Local Government Overseers and Local

Government Clerks', Australian Clerical Association, Public Service Association, have been carried rather far

Industrial unionism is the rule on the railways, in mining, in the meat trade, and to some extent among

bootworkers. On the railways, in addition to the usual clashes with the Locomotive Engineers, and the

employees of the shops as well as small sectional organisations, industrial unionism has to contend with

peculiar difficulties in certain States. For instance, in N.S.W., the railways and tramways are under the same

management, and, therefore, the industrial union formed to embrace all the employees of the Railway

Commissioners the Amalgamated had to include also tramwaymen. But the trammen were organised

in a federal union of their own, which, as far as the employees of other tramway systems are concerned, aims

at a Commonwealth award. The railwaymen being employees of a State instrumentality could not come

under the Federal court, and so in N.S.W. the two unions inevitably clashed. In Queensland, on the other

hand, the Railway Commissioner is also charged with construction of new lines, and the Q.R.U. has come

into conflict with the A.W.U. as to the disposal of these construction workers. In N.S.W. there are at present

thirteen different unions catering for railwaymen, not counting the craft unions, whose members work in the

repair and construction shops. When the Queensland Court of Industrial Arbitration desires to make an award

for all the employees of the Commissioner no less than twentysix different unions have to appear before it!

In coal mining the organisation is based on a federation of local lodges. Originally there were three local

federations in N.S.W., one for each of the great coalfields of the State. These linked up in 1908 into a

federation of federations, and later on the whole was reorganised so as to take in the miners of Tasmania,

Victoria and Queensland. The Barrier Branch of the A.M.A. has also affiliated with this federation, which is

known as the Coal and Shale Employees`Federation. There are, however, even in this industry, a number of

craft or sectional organisations outside the federation, such as the enginedrivers, the deputies and shot firers,

The Amalgamated Meat Industry Employees' Union is a Federal union which allows great local autonomy to

its several State branches. This is essential, owing to the diversity of conditions in the industry from State to

State. In N.S.W., for instance, most of the killing is done near the big cities, and is carried on all the year

round. In Queensland, on the other hand, there is an enormous seasonal export trade which requires the

concentration of a special army of workers round the big export works who may drift away again at the end

of the season. In the latter State the A.M.I.E.U. is a strictly industrial union covering all classes of meat

workers, wholesale and retail, as well as fellmongers, and all the various types of labour employed in the big

canning and freezing workstinsmiths, packers, freezingroom hands, as well as slaughtermen, the only

exceptions being the members of the A.S.E. and the F.E.D. F. Less perfect industrial unions exist for painters,

furniture trades employees, bootworkers, and a few others. But in general the movement towards industrial

unionism, except in the first two instances, has been associated with a conscious movement away from

The same remark holds good with regard to the formation of composite or mass unions as exemplified in the

A.W.A. in Queensland, and in the A.W.U., after its amalgamation with the lastnamed body. The structure of

The single shop union is very often a yellow union. For instance. the employees of the B.H.P. Co.'s

steelworks at Newcastle have been formed into the Australian Steel Industry Employees' Union, which is

definitely a tame union attached to the one firm mentioned. Its rules contain special provision against a strike

under any circumstances. But though several other unions of the same type have similar ends in view, that

does not hold good in every case. The Lithgow Small Arms Factory Employees' Union, while formally

falling within this class, is not really a bosses' organisation. In some cases unions of this type merge into

industrial unions as, for instance, the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage Employees'

Such a variety of forms of organisation naturally creates a state of chaos in the industrial world. The 581,755

unionists of the Commonwealth are divided up among 394 organisations. In N.S.W. alone it takes 217 unions

to organise 243,176 members. Often two different unions cater for exactly the same class of worker as, for

instance, the Amalgamated and the Progressive Societies of Carpenters and Joiners (these have at last

amalgamated in 1921). Craft and industrial organisations cause endless overlapping, while sectional and

occupational unions fight among themselves the A.C.A. opposed the registration of the Bank Officers,

and still fights with the Public Service Association. There has been no central authority in the trade union

world to control the formation of unions or check these abuses. On the industrial field Labour has failed to

achieve anything like unity even within the borders of a single State. Between the States there is no

Yet for thirty years Labour in Australia has been trying to achieve the same unity on the industrial front as it

has achieved in the arena of politics, but it has so far signally failed. This endeavour has followed two main

lines through federations or through amalgamation under the inspiration of the One Big Union idea. The

first line of policy has meant no break with the tradition of constitutional and political action, and has, in fact,

been bound up with that policy. The amalgamation movement, on the other hand, is definitely associated with

a revolt against the traditional policy, and signifies an inclination to break with the conservative

compromising methods of the Labour Party, and the subordination of unionism to politics. Before

proceeding, therefore, to give an account of the latter movement, it will be well to summarise briefly the

organs created or projected with the object of coordinating the forces of unionism without affecting the

THE first institutions which attempted to bring some order into the trade union world in the Australian

colonies were the Trades and Labour Councils in the several capital cities. In these the unions early began to

meet together, and when sites were granted for Trades Halls joint committees of the unions were formed for

the management of the institutions In 1884 the Melbourne Trades Hall Council, founded originally for this

object, enlarged its scope so as to be able to deal with general questions of common interest to unionists. In

other States Labour Councils were established apart from the board or committee administering the affairs of

the common hall. These were the first, and are even today the only, permanent organisations which exist to

coordinate the forces of unionism. But they are only consultative bodies, and their decisions cannot be

enforced upon the constituent unions. Nor are they fully representative, since it is seldom that more than half

the unions in any State are affiliated. Finally, they are essentially urban bodies, so that only unions which

have offices in the metropolis can effectively be affiliated. That is, however, a smaller disability than might at

first appear owing to the extraordinary centralisation of industry in the capital cities.

These remarks will be made clearer by a brief account of the Sydney or, as it has been called since 1910,

the N.S.W. Labour Council. This assembly meets every Thursday night in the Sydney Trades Hall. Its objects

are to improve the conditions of labour, to discuss and put in force approved schemes for the better guidance

and extension of Labour organisation, to prevent, if possible, disputes between unionists and employers, to

uphold the rules of affiliated unions, and, in cases of need, to find ways and means for the support of the

union concerned. Provision is also made in the rules for the direct representation of Labour in Parliament and

the establishment of a Labour daily. District Councils may be set up and affiliated councils exist at

Newcastle, Goulburn, Lithgow, and Broken Hill, but they can seldom be represented at the Sydney meetings.

Affiliated unions are allowed one delegate for every 300 members or part thereof, but the maximum

delegation from any one organisation is three. This limitation in practice discourages large unions like the

C.the Railwaymen, and the A.W.U., from affiliating inasmuch as these huge unions object to being limited to

the same voting power as a relatively tiny craft union of some 750 members. The Council is governed by an

Executive of eleven, assisted by a paid Secretary. All these are elected annually, though in point of fact the

Secretary is always reelected until he gets a seat in Parliament or some other position. Financially the

Council is very weak. The affiliation fee is only 3d. per member per quarter, unions need not pay for more

than half their total membership, and the maximum liability corresponding to the limitation in the

representation granted, is �3 15s. per quarter. Thus the Council, when its Secretary and office staff have been

paid, has little left over for other purposes. Even so the salaries paid were not large. J. Cochran, in 1908,

received �3 10s. a week, his successor, E. J. Kavanagh, in 1911, got �5, while in 1921 Garden is paid �8.

The Council has no power to strike a levy on members of affiliated societies, still less can it call them out on

strike. The Council, therefore, cannot offer any very material benefits to its component unions, and so cannot

back up very forcibly the recommendations which alone it has power to make. It is, therefore, not surprising

that affiliation is a matter of indifference to many unionists, and that the decisions of the Council are often

ignored by individual unions. It attained its maximum strength in 1916, when 124 unions out of 199 were

affiliated to it, but even then three of the biggest organisations, the Coalminers, the Railwaymen, and the

Still, the Council has from time to time attempted to exercise a restraining influence on the internal policy of

unions. Several efforts, for example, have been made to prevent the formation of overlapping unions. During

1908, for instance, affiliation was refused to the Builders' Labourers' and the Rockchoppers' Unions on the

grounds that their members could join an already existing organisation the United Labourers' Protective

Society. But this decision did not seriously embarrass either of the bodies affected. In fact, in that very same

year when the Rockchoppers were on strike, the Council was compelled to give them moral support, and by

1913 they were affiliated, while the Builders' Labourers were admitted in the same year.

During the first half of 1911 the Council was called upon to consider a dispute between the Federated Millers

and Mill Employees, which, as an industrial union, claimed to admit to membership all employees in the

flourmilling industry, and the Federated Enginedrivers and Firemen. The Council in this connection went

into the whole question of craft versus industrial unionism, and declared by 86 to 14 in favour of the former.

It, therefore, became the duty of the Council to oppose the formation of industrial union which might conflict

with existing craft associations. Yet it was powerless to prevent the formation of a branch of the A.M.I.E.U.,

which was even admitted to affiliation in 1916. But this was a strictly industrial union, and the Secretary had

criticised it as such in his report for the first half of 1914.1 Several other instances could be quoted in which

the Council was floutednotably the celebrated recommendation to unions to ignore Wade's Industrial

Disputes Act of 1908, and again to refuse to furnish returns under Beeby's Arbitration Act of 1918.

But despite the incompetence of the Labour Council to enforce its decisions upon its constituent unions, its

moral influence has been considerable. It has given valuable service in providing a nucleus organisation by

means of which industrial disputes may be guided. Any industrial trouble which an affiliated union cannot

settle amicably is under the rules to be reported to the Secretary of the Council for submission to the

Executive. The latter is empowered to attempt to secure a settlement, and if other unions are likely to be

affected, to call them in for consultation. The Council reserves the right to withhold assistance from an

affiliated body striking without first consulting the Executive or rejecting its advice, and may even suspend

the offending body. But as its powers of help are small the threat is rather ineffectual. The assistance it can

It can, and generally does, call in the representatives of unions likely to be affected by any trouble with a

view of securing their cooperation in the event of a strike. Of course, the Council cannot compel concerted

action in support of a strike, but the solidarity of Labour is so real a thing in Australia that compulsion is

unnecessary, and one section of the workers will readily come out to help their comrades when called upon.

For example, in 1908 the Sydney Wharf Labourers, in support of their fellows at Newcastle, refused to

handle the cargo carried by the recalcitrant shipowners, the Newcastle and Hunter River S.S. Co. and the

Illawarra S.S. Co. The steamship owners in reply took on nonunionists, and as a result caused the whole

3,000 unionists to withdraw their labour from the wharves. The Council decided that the dispute was to be

confined to the coastal shipping companies and secured the cooperation of the other maritime unions. The

seamen, marine engineers, and officers left their ships. The painters and dockers and other engineering unions

declined to work on the coastal companies' boats, and the trolley and dray men refused to cart their goods. By

these means the Wharf Labourers' dispute was brought to a triumphant conclusion.1 Similar coordination in

action was secured in the Hoskins strike of 1911. This trouble began at Lithgow, but iron made by nonunion

labour was sent to Sydney. On the motion of the Lithgow unionists the Council decided to declare this iron

"black." The Executive convened a conference of the iron trades and a defence committee under the

chairmanship of the Council's President was set up, representing A.S.E., Blacksmiths, Boilermakers'

But if, in these and other disputes, the Labour Council was successful in enlisting the active support of other

allied workers in support of a union on strike, that was not uniformly the case. In 1908 the Council promised

its support to the Tramway Union on behalf of two conductors who were believed to have been unjustly

dismissed from the Government service as a result of reports sent in by plain clothes spies employed by the

Commissioners. The drivers and conductors ceased work at 10 a.m. on October 23rd, completely paralysing

the traffic of the metropolis. But the promised support of the Council did not materialise. Some 250 of the

men employed at the powerhouse indeed ceased work, but they did not succeed in cutting off the current

completely, and eventually returned to work. An attempt to involve the Locomotive Enginedrivers ended in

a fiasco, and the Council itself, after an inquiry, exonerated the association on the ground that they had not

been consulted before the stoppage. The Government was able to keep some sort of service going by blackleg

labour, and the strike ended on the 31st with a panic rush back to work. Here it was generally held that the

support given by the Council was incommensurate with its commitments to the Tramway Union, and bitter

recriminations resulted. In the Big Strike of 1917 the utter inadequacy of the Council's machinery to handle a

In addition to rallying the forces of unionism to the support of a striking union by direct participation, the

Council is the recognised medium by which financial assistance from other bodies and other States can be

secured for strikers. Although itself having no funds for that purpose, appeals, backed by the Council, are

sure of support from labour organisations all over Australia. For the Lithgow Strike of 1911 the Council

raised by this means �2,370, from which single strikers were paid �1 per week, and married men 30s.,

together with 2s. 6d. for each child. The Council also paid the fines that were not remitted by the Labour

Government. To the Barrier Strike of 1909 the Council contributed �4,873, while it raised �22,277, and a

loan of �1,000, free of interest, from the A.S.E., for the 1917 strikers. In 1914 the northern miners, who were

not affiliated to the Council, found it necessary to obtain the endorsement of that body before they could raise

Thirdly, the Council could act as mediator between the opposing forces in an industrial dispute. The

intervention of its officers has often resulted in a settlement being reached where the unaided efforts of the

individual union had failed. So in 1908 their intervention secured the ironworkers' assistants the right to

refuse to work with nonunionists. Again, in 1913, Kavanagh, the Secretary, was able to settle a dispute at

Tooth's Brewery advantageously for the men. In the same year his decision in a case of alleged victimisation

of an undertaker was accepted though adverse to the men, and he was able to settle a demarcation dispute

between the boilermakers and the shipwrights at Cockatoo Naval Dockyard, for which act the Council was

However, the decisions of the Council's officers were not always acceptable to the unions. A dispute between

the Musicians' Union and the management of one of the Sydney theatres was referred to Mr. Kavanagh for

adjudication in July, 1914. He found for the management. The union rejected his decision, and for a long time

resisted the plan of settlement subsequently brought forward. Even when the musicians had to accept this

scheme, and all the strikers had been reinstated, a resolution was tabled for the union to withdraw from

affiliation with the Council, and it took a deputation from the latter body to secure the rejection of the motion.

In addition to these services, the Council in May, 1914, established an Industrial Arbitration Department to

advise unions about cases for courts or boards, prepare documents, and even conduct cases for them. The

Department was well patronised at first, and gave the unions efficient assistance in the complicated legal

actions which were coming to take up more and more of the time of their secretaries, and did all this more

cheaply than any private lawyer. But in April, 1915, Mr. Henwood, the exSecretary of the Saddlers' Union,

who had been officer in charge at �5 a week, resigned to set up business on his own account, and took much

of the department's business away with him. After this the volume of business diminished, and the

The Labour Council has since been responsible for the establishment of a Labour College in opposition to the

W.E.A. and also for the initiation of a Labour Research and Information Bureau. But its most important

function has remained the provision of a centre where the opinions of organised labour can be formulated and

a channel through which they may find expression. Though its decisions are sometimes rather academic, they

have, nevertheless, considerable weight industrially. Thus the passage of the peace resolution through the

Council in 1918 was the direct occasion which led to the famous Perth Resolutions of the A.L.P.

Unfortunately, however, a sort of party system has developed within the Council, and now the left and right

wings of the Labour Movement meet there as two distinct forces, generally voting in divisions on strict party

lines, and observing a sort of Caucus system in their tactics for manipulating the decisions of the assembly.

The most obvious defect of the existing force to coordinate industrial activities is its inadequacy. Although

loyalty to the principle of solidarity is generally sufficient to ensure the cooperation of all affected unions in

any dispute through the ad hoc committees which the Council sets up, this step is generally delayed too long,

and a union may find itself thus dragged into a strike, on the merits of which it was never consulted. But a

much greater cause of weakness is the absence of any permanent organisation to coordinate the forces of

labour from State to State. A large number of unions are Federal in extent; the Commonwealth Arbitration

Court makes awards for all the States; many industrial disputes, from their very nature, must affect more than

one State e.g., on the waterfront or in the pastoral industry, and the effects of a strike in one State may

react disastrously on the workers in another for instance, a stoppage in the coal production of N.S.W. soon

leads to the closing down of the factories in Victoria, which draw their coal supplies from N.S.W. But despite

the real nexus that patently cements the industrial interests of the workers in the several States, there is

absolutely no regular or permanent body to control their forces or direct industrial action between State and

Unionists have long been conscious of this defect, for they had, as we have already seen, a very lively sense

of the community of interest among the workers throughout Australia. Between 1879 and 1891

InterColonial Trade Union Congresses were held regularly, and from 1884 schemes for closer organisation

between the States were discussed. The earlier ones remained in the air, but in 1889 a plan for an Australian

The A.L.F. scheme provided for the division of Australasia into seven provinces corresponding to the seven

colonies. The provinces might be further divided into districts. District Councils were to be set up to

administer the latter. Over these came a Provincial Council consisting of delegates from the District Councils,

and above all, there was to be a General Council. This was constituted of delegates from the District Councils

one for each 5,000 members or part thereof. The General Council would elect a President, Secretary, and

Treasurer, who formed an Executive with power to interpret rules and convene meetings of the General

Council. The scheme was to be financed by a levy of 4d. per month per member on affiliated union. Of this

sum 1d. was to go to the General Council, 2d. was to be used for a district defence fund, and the balance was

to be divided between the District and Provincial Councils for organising expenses. The powers of the several

Councils were mainly deliberative, but important powers were conferred upon the District Council to ensure

In the event of an affiliated union being involved in a dispute which it could not settle amicably by itself it

must submit the question to the District Executive. If the latter also failed to effect a settlement, the District

Council was to be consulted. But the latter would not have a free hand, save in cases of extreme emergency,

but must consult the constituent unions. If the latter approved by a twothirds majority of the votes cast at a

plebiscite, the Council might pledge its aid to the union concerned. In this case financial assistance up to �1

per week a member might be granted to those locked out or on strike, a levy might be struck, and the active

cooperation of other unions sought. The District Council might censure in the name of the Federation any

employer who showed himself a bitter enemy of labour. This censure was to be communicated to the

Provincial Executive, and practically meant the declaration of a boycott against the offender. A union striking

without consulting its District Council was not entitled to the support of the Federation.

This scheme never was applied as a whole, but the northern province was declared to be organised in

Queensland in 189o. This body was soon able to prove its effectiveness. The shearers and shed hands refused

to work with nonunionists or accept a proposed reduction of rates. The pastoralists of the Darling Downs

resolved to fight, but the Council of the A.L.F., on January 11th, 1891, resolved to support the pastoral

workers. When, therefore, Jondaryan shore with nonunion labour they intervened. The transport workers of

Brisbane under the A.L.F. refused to handle the nonunion wool. A steamer was held up in consequence, and

eventually the shipowners put pressure on the pastoralists to meet the union leaders and negotiate a

settlement. Thus on its first test the A.L.F. secured a big victory for the bush workers.

In the same year, however, the A.L.F., in common with the majority of the Australian unions, became

involved in the Maritime Strike and suffered severely from its collapse. Thereafter the Federation remained

numerically very weak till the period of the general revival of attention to industrial organisation which began

in Queensland about 1909. In the interval the A.L.F. had to rely chiefly on the A.W.U., the Waterside

Workers' Unions, and the Boot Trade Employees. The principal craft unions preferred connection with the

urban trades councils fearing to be outvoted by the big unions if they entered the Federation, and objecting to

the high dues it demanded. But despite the fewness of the unions affiliated, the A.L.F. has played a

magnificent part in the history of unionism in Queensland. It started the first labour paper in Australia the

Worker, which William Lane edited. It initiated the political Labour Movement, and sent out organisers all

over the State to establish W.P.O.'s in every populous centre. A number of unions owe their formation to its

activities. In 1890 it appointed an organiser to form a union of the women in the clothing trades, and great

success attended her efforts. Similarly, the A.L.F. was able to revive the Bakers' Union and set up several

unions for bush workers. In 1908 the accession of the newlyformed A.M.A. gave the A.L.F. a great impetus.

At this time it was composed almost exclusively of bush unions, the only exceptions being the Boot Trade

In August, 1910, the first Queensland Trade Union Congress was held in Brisbane, and this assembly of

unionists decided that the A.L.F. was too useful an institution to be allowed to die out. The principal

"That the time has arrived for the complete federation of all the workers of Queensland, and that as a means

to this end steps be taken to secure the affiliation of all industrial organisations with the A.L.F."

This was supported by Theodore, A.W.A., who declared that in the north they had found the A.L.F. equal to

every emergency. Crampton, A.M.I.E.U. and McCosker, Printing Trades, spoke in a similar strain, pointing

out how successfully the several crafts in these industries had been organised into a single body.1 A similar

resolution was again carried at the second Congress held in the next year. It is interesting to note the reasons

advanced at this gathering for the failure of unions to join the Federation. Harry Coyne said that in most cases

the point was raised that affiliation would mean encroaching on the unions' funds, and they wanted to provide

accident, outofemployment, superannuation, mortality, and goodness knows what other funds. He never

saw a great union that could be true to unionism that provided all these funds. McCosker stated that the

A.S.C. J. and other unions could not afford to affiliate because they were amalgamated with English

By this time, however, the A.L.F. had again given a practical demonstration of its power in connection with

the big Sugar Strike, organised by the A.W.A. as soon as it had absorbed the Sugar Workers' Union.

Conditions in that industry had been terrible. Labourers were only paid 22s. 6d. a week for a tenhour day in

the tropical sun. The A.W.A. demanded 30s., an eighthour day, and a modification of the oppressive

agreement demanded from the cancutters. The A.L.F. gave the new amalgamation every assistance,

appointing special organisers, opening subscriptions, and helping to organise camps of strikers. But unskilled

labour could be imported from other States, and the industry was not completely paralysed. So the strike

dragged on for three months. Then the A.L.F. convened a conference of InterState transport unions. The

seamen, marine engineers, waterside workers, and storemen and packers agreed to declare sugar "black."

That would have meant either that the raw sugar was abandoned in the north or that the coastal shipping of

Queensland would be paralysed. This decision was announced on August 12th, and on the 14th the strike was

settled by an agreement granting a fortyeight hour week, with a maximum working day of nine hours and a

minimum rate of 30s. a week, with time and a quarter for overtime for all sugar workers.

Perhaps in view of the victory thus gained the Brisbane Trades and Labour Council, in obedience to the

resolution of the T.U.C., suspended operation on September 22nd, in favour of the A.L.F. The rules of the

A.L.F. at this time were on the whole those already described. On the Provincial Council unions were entitled

to one delegate for the first 500 members or part thereof, and an additional delegate for every further 1,000

members, with a maximum of four delegates, or on District Councils one for every fifty members with the

same limitation. Affiliation fees were 4s. per member per annum. Of this 3s. went to the Worker, and entitled

members to receive a copy of the journal by post every week. The powers originally assigned to the District

Council were in the main exercised by the Provincial Council. It was to the latter that a union must appeal in

the event of a threatened dispute. If the trouble was likely to affect other unions the Council was bound to

arrange a joint meeting of the unions concerned. It was empowered to support an approved strike financially,

The power of the newlyrevived Federation was tested in the following year by the Tramway Strike. Then

the A.L.F. called a general strike of all the unions in the State and received a magnificent response. It

managed the great stoppage very creditably on the whole, and its failure cannot well be ascribed to any

formal defect in organisation. But fail it did, and that failure spelt the death warrant of the organisation. In

1913 the Provincial Council decided to increase the Worker dues from 3s. to 5s. per annum. The new fees

were too heavy for the smaller unions, crippled financially by the cost of the strike. By 1914 eleven unions

had seceded, and as a result the Federation was formally dissolved. This result was hastened by the attitude of

the A.W.U., which since its fusion with the A.W.A. had become the apostle of One Big Unionism and

amalgamation instead of federation. The control of the Worker was accordingly taken over by the latter in

But the Federation had never been, as intended, Australian. In 1894, indeed, an attempt was made for form a

branch in N.S.W., but it did not find unanimous support and was dissolved four years later. Other attempts

have been made periodically to set up some sort of permanent body to coordinate the forces of unionism

throughout Australia, but interState jealousies, the apathy and meanness of unionists and the problem of

establishing really effective and continuous contact between centres so widely separated as the State capitals

have always wrecked these excellent plans. It would be a matter of only academic interest to describe all

these unsuccessful efforts, and we will therefore refer the reader to the interesting compendium of proposals

collected in the appendix to Sutcliffe's "History of Trade Unionism in Australia." Here we will content

ourselves with a reference to one of the latest schemes, because its failure is so obviously due to the reaction

against the conservative tradition that it forms a good introduction to the study of that revolt.

In 1913 the New Zealand workers were involved in a terrific struggle, and it appeared likely that the trouble

would spread to Australia. A conference of the unions exposed to the danger the Maritime Workers,

CoalMiners and A.W.U. was accordingly summoned to consider the position. It seems to have been the

object of the promoters of the conference especially W. M. Hughes, the President of the Waterside

Workers' Federation to restrict the aid rendered by Australian unionists to their New Zealand comrades, to

monetary contributions, and to prevent a sympathy strike breaking out in the Commonwealth. That was at

any rate the policy adopted. Out of this conference arose a plan for an Australian Unions' Federation. The

preamble refers to "the octopuslike grip of Capitalism over the whole civilised world and the consequent

inadequacy of the loose system of local control to struggle successfully against these combinations of

capitalists. To meet this situation a Federation of unions or federations of unions was to be set up, the

management of which would be entrusted to a Council of Twelve elected biennially by the Conference of the

Federation. The Conference was to be constituted on a basis of one delegate for every 5,000 members up to a

maximum of four. The voting power of each union delegation would be proportionate to the number of

members in the organisations they represented, but no single union might exercise more than onethird of the

aggregate number of votes to which the affiliated organisations are entitled. An annual affiliation fee of �5

"Every affiliated organisation shall, at the earliest opportunity, notify the General Secretary of the Federation

of any dispute which may involve an industrial disturbance, or any proposed alteration of existing industrial

conditions in the industry in which such organisation operates. The General Secretary shall make a record of

all such matters in a special book kept for that purpose, and immediately on receipt of such notification, refer

all such matters to the Council, who shall determine the course to be taken by the organisation immediately

concerned, as well as by all affiliated organisations ; and such decision shall be binding upon the organisation

"No cessation of work or disturbance of existing conditions (which may involve an industrial dispute) by an

affiliated organisation, shall take place unless, and until the matter has been laid before the Council, and the

"In the event of any industrial disturbance, or dispute or alteration of industrial conditions in which any

organisation or organisations not affiliated with the Federation are concerned, the Council shall take official

notice of the matter, and shall discuss and decide the attitude to be adopted by the Federation, and every

affiliated organisation, and no affiliated organisation shall act, or refuse to act, in regard to such dispute

To what extent this pretentious scheme ever functioned is uncertain. The coalminers and some of the

waterside unions seem actually to have affiliated, and J. H. Catts, M.H.R., was appointed as Secretary. He

wrote to the A.W.U. Convention of 1915 soliciting the support of that union. The comments of delegates

Harry Coyne said that the scheme was a sort of checkmate on the industrial ardour of men. Under it a big

union could be prevented from taking action. Mr. Hughes had taken a clever point in this, and when he could

prevent the waterside workers from coming out, he would always do so. The scheme was loaded. Grey

remarked that Mr. Hughes and his apostles were seemingly going to run an apostolic government of the

industrial side of labour so that peace would be preserved purely in the interest of the political side of the

Movement. Lambert described the proposals as "a cunningly devised scheme by a few wily politicians to

hobble, bind and shackle the unions. It was not a good thing to allow politicians to get too great a grip upon

the control of industrial organisation. The day was fast approaching when a stand would have to be taken."1

Catts' letter was allowed to lie on the table, and nothing more was ever heard of the Australian Unions

Federation. In the future the plans of Labour leaders for closer unity from State to State ran rather on the lines

of amalgamation than federation. So in thirty years the industrial Labour Movement has not been able to

evolve any permanent unifying organs even of a consultative nature such as the political movement has

THE remarks of the A.W.U. delegates, with which we concluded the last chapter, are symptomatic of the

change which had come over the outlook of industrialists since the beginning of the century. To understand

this change it will be necessary to go back several years; for the roots of the revolt against politicalism go

back as far as 1907. The movement of thought in this period is not continuous, but oscillatory, varying with

the political and economic circumstances of the time. Its beginnings may be associated with the realisation

that the increases of wage secured by Arbitration Court awards were being neutralised by the rapid increase

of prices from 1908 onward. But at this time militancy was checked by the prospect of the return of Labour

Governments in the chief industrial States from which, so far untried, great things were expected, and by the

disastrous results of experiments in direct action under hostile Ministries which recalled the lessons of the

Secondly, when a spell of Labour Governments had failed to bring any relief to the workers, but real wages

continued to fall, a more marked drift to the Left manifested itself in the movement for big amalgamations on

industrial lines led by the A.W.U. This tendency took on a third and accentuated phase when the popular

idols of labour deserted to the enemy and Labour was left hopelessly defeated on the political field. This

phase culminated in the Big Strike of 1917, and, in the light of the lesson then received, passed into a fourth

when the industrial leaders came out with a definitely revolutionary programme under the banner of the One

But as the original inspiration of political action had come from Europe, so the new industrial movement is

traceable to American influences. These were the propaganda of the Industrial Workers of the World. It was

this body which once more revived the doctrines of revolutionary Socialism on the industrial field which the

small bodies of orthodox Socialists, who had split off from the Labour Party, had failed to keep alive on the

political field. Now it is convenient to distinguish three periods in this propaganda:

Firstly, a rather academic advocacy of industrial unionism through the medium ol I.W.W. Clubs and the

S.L.P., guided rather by the principles of Detroit than the more extreme doctrines of Chicago.

Secondly, there came a time when the phraseology at least of these industrial unionists was taken up by

recognised leaders of Australian unionism in the furtherance of amalgamations and the creation of industrial

Thirdly, the Chicago I.W.W. established locals in Australia and conducted an intensive campaign throughout

the continent, paying no respect whatever to the established shibboleths of the politicians. This period ended

with the formal dissolution of the organisation under the Unlawful Associations Act of 1916.

These three periods correspond very approximately to the first three phases of the revolt of the unionists

against the domination of the politicians, but of course these phases and periods must not be taken as

separated by any hardandfast lines. They melt insensibly into one another and frequently overlap. Nor

again must too much stress be laid on their parallelism with economic changes. It is probable, that despite the

statistical fall in real wages, the general level of comfort and prosperity enjoyed by the workers as a whole

rose steadily throughout the whole period during which they were moving to the Left. On the other hand, it is

important to keep in mind the change in the character of the workers included in the unions which came about

during the epoch. This change was the organisation of the nomadic unskilled or semiskilled workers who

roam about the country districts of a new land. Now, it was just this class that the I.W.W. had been founded

to organise in America, and this circumstance partly accounts for the changed outlook of the industrial

The channel through which the new doctrines of industrial unionism first reached the Australian proletariat

was the Socialist Labour Party, which as a socialist body dated back to the nineties, and had little practical

influence. Still it was from it that the I.W.W. doctrine began to permeate the Australian unions. The leaders

of the S.L.P. were among the founders of the I.W.W. in 1905. Two years later I.W.W. clubs began to spring

up in Australia under the auspices of the S.L.P., but preaching industrial unionism. Among the coalminers

around Newcastle and in Melbourne these preachings had an appreciable influence. There were two points in

the I.W.W. creed which were seized upon by the Australian unionist the futility of craft unionism which

divided the workers up into small sections, each out for their own hands and regardless of their mates; and the

The I.W.W., even before the Chicago split, had regarded it as the aim of unionism to fight the master class.

The union must be a fighting machine and nothing else. They regarded benefit funds and such like adjuncts as

cumbersome and useless paraphernalia which only hindered the onward march of the toilers. Craft or

sectional unionism they looked upon as organised scabbery and nothing less. The ideal union would be such

that "all its members in any one industry, or in all industries if necessary, can cease work whenever a strike or

lockout is on in any one department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all." The class

struggle formed the cardinal point in their creed, and it could only be ended by the workers uniting politically

and industrially to take and hold what they produce. To this triumphant culmination of the struggle palliatives

were only a hindrance. The diversion of workingclass energies into political channels for the attainment of

such was therefore deplored as a waste of time. Arbitration Courts, which served at best to maintain the status

quo and offered no ultimate hope of emancipation, checked the creative militancy of the proletariat and

The circumstances of the period predisposed the toilers minds to a receptive attitude towards these teachings.

The legal delays of the Arbitration Court procedure and the frequent defeats of the workers, even when they

had at length obtained a good award, on appeals to the higher courts caused many to look for better results

from the old direct method The failure of the Labour Parties to gain tangible results, despite all their

concessions to the middle classes, after fifteen years induced a feeling of pessimism with regard to reformist

tactics. On the other hand, the older unionists, who remembered the dark days of the 'nineties and were able

to recognise the positive advances gained under arbitration in comparison therewith, looked askance at the

direct actionist propaganda of the I.W.W. The craft unionists, too, saw their hardwon privileges imperilled

by the plan of industrial unionism; the officials of small sectional unions feared that it threatened their jobs;

and above all the influential politicians deprecated revolutionary theories that would make votecatching

It was not, therefore, to be expected that the I.W.W. would get much countenance from the official leaders of

Labour as represented on urban trades councils or at union congresses. In 1907 the Sydney Labour Council

refused to hear Scott Bennett lecture on industrial unionism. One delegate said: "Those men can be heard any

day, abusing trade unionism, the Labour Party, and the Council. Their object is to wipe out trade unionism

and substitute their own ideas."1 Melbourne Trades Hall Council, however, proved more openminded in the

"That in view of the fact that Arbitration Courts and Wages Boards have failed to give the protection to the

workers that they so much desire, the Trades Hall Council be requested to consider the advisability of

The Executive brought in an exhaustive and reasoned report. They denied that Arbitration Courts and Wages

Boards had failed to give "protection and relief to sweated and other workers." On the contrary, they had

"created conditions that could not have existed otherwise." "The true ideal of the workers is not possible

under Capitalism, and therefore they are bound to use that machinery which secures the best results for the

time being, recognising that each step upward is a foothold not previously gained. Arbitration Courts are but

aids, not finalities, in the march of industrial progress." After enumerating the achievements of unionism the

report continues : "The constitution of the I.W.W. is but another phase of the unionist movement. The

distinctive badge of craftism is merged in the greater humanity." To attain success the forces of labour should

be knit into one great organisation. "When the millions of unionists are disciplined, undivided, and mobile

towards achieving their ends, craftism will have ceased and brotherhood will be paramount. That this is

possible your Executive is assured." But owing to the difference in condition on the two sides of the Pacific,

the Executive did not agree that the constitution of the I.W.W. was applicable in globo to Australian

problems. They contented themselves with recommending a conference of the unions for the modest aim of

In Easter of the same year a Trade Union Congress was held in N.S.W., and thereat the following resolution

"That whereas it has been demonstrated that our present system of craft unionism is hopelessly impotent to

prevent the exactions of concentrated capital ; and whereas the position of the workers is year by year

becoming more insecure; and whereas it is absolutely necessary that the workers should be organised

industrially in order to cope successfully with combinations of capitalists, be it therefore resolved that this

meeting adopts the constitution and preamble of the I.W.W. as follows": (here follows the preamble of that

In support of his thesis the mover pointed to the success of a recent coal strike in Newcastle, which he

attributed to the fact that the union was organised industrially. Another delegate declared that craft unionism

had outlived its usefulness. Individual unions were beaten almost every time. Palliatives had failed. The

exploitation of the labour of women and children showed an alarming increase. Effie (Coal Trimmers)

declared straight out that political action had failed, but Harry Holland (Tailoresses) declared that the motion

did not mean the abandonment of political action. (As a matter of fact the first I.W.W. preamble expressly

states that "the toilers must come together on the political as well as on the industrial field," but adds later,

"without affiliation with any political party" probably, however, referring simply to Republicans or

Democrats, as the more syndicalist preamble of 1908 expressly omits the word "political.") The supposed

syndicalism of the I.W.W. was the chief objection advanced against it. Nulty, of the Barrier A.M.A.,

afterwards a redhot centre of industrial unionism, asked: "After so many years of hard work, do you propose

to knock the political Labour Party on the head ? To adopt the preamble would kill it. Its principles originated

in America which is fifty years behind the times as far as the Labour Party is concerned. It is the objective of

the Socialists who are always trying to divide the ranks of labour." W. G. Spence, M.H.R., President of the

A.W.U, spoke in a similar strain. If they liked, the unionists could elect a Labour Government, and if they

joined together as they should they could get what they wanted. The I.W.W. preamble meant strikes and

nothing but strikes, and in some cases to take possession. But when they took possession, what then? They

must capture the lawmaking machine. Division would only please the capitalists who were getting alarmed

at the progress of Labour in politics. Morrish, an exSocialist, also contrasted Australian and American

conditions. In the U.S.A., he pointed out, there was no Political Labour Party. On the other hand, E. J.

Kavanagh, Secretary of the Labour Council, maintained that there were only two known ways of closer

organisationby federation or by a labour council. He recommended the unions to affiliate with his Council.

The I.W.W. proposition was in the end turned down by a two to one majority, and a resolution carried in its

place in favour of a Federation of Labour. Nevertheless, the I.W.W. idea was still working. In July the

coalminers in N.S.W. and Victoria federated. Previously there had been three separate federations in N.S.W.

the Northern on the NewcastleMaitland field, the Western with its headquarters at Lithgow, and the

Southern on the Illawarra coast. Each of these worked under separate awards or agreements, so that low

wages under a twoyears'old award in one district could be used as an argument for keeping down wages in

another. Again, during a strike on the northern field industry might be kept going by coal from Lithgow or

Illawarra. The Federation would be a far more formidable fighting machine, and that is what its founder,

Bowling, intended it to be; for he was a professed adherent of the I.W.W. The Tram Strike in Sydney is

further evidence of the effect of I.W.W. propaganda. At least Holman attributed the strike to the intrigue of

Next year there was quite a body of opinion filled with the idea of a general strike, and the I.W.W. influence

in the northern miners' lodges was unmistakable. The Broken Hill miners were on strike or locked out that

year, and their leaders had been arrested for sedition and committed for trial. Now Wade transferred the scene

of the trial from the Barrier to Albury. The unionists regarded this action as evidence of an intention on the

part of the Ministry to secure a conviction by hook or by crook, and the northern miners desired to resort to

direct action to prevent a perversion of justice. At the Trade Union Congress, which opened in Sydney a few

days before the trial, Peter Bowling secured the suspension of the standing orders to protest against the

change of venue. Having carried the protest, Congress went into camera to consider a further motion of

Bowling's that in the event of a conviction all Labour bodies should be asked to cease work until a fresh trial

in fairer circumstances was granted. In supporting this motion for a general strike, Biggers (Northern Coal

Miners) said that the men in prison looked not to the Parliamentary Labour Party, but to the industrial

organisations. They wanted One Big Union. However, Congress would have nothing to do with the general

strike. Later on, at the same gathering, Bowling made a bitter attack on the Labour Party. That Party, he said,

exercised a deadly influence. The legislation they aimed at would create small farmers and middleclass

capitaliststhe biggest obstacles that were known. Members of the Labour Party dare not come out on the

platform as advocates of the cause of Labour. In the Tram Strike they had led the union men to turn traitors.

Their policy was always peace at any price. The P.L.L. started out as a socialist movement and then went

back and back. Until the workers were organised industrially, they could not have a true reflex in Parliament.

To the substantive motion in favour of closer unity between the industrial and political movements he moved

"That at the present stage of industrial unionism, it is undesirable for it to be asked to take part in any political

This amendment was not seconded, the Chairman ruling that in the principal motion political movement did

But the feeling in favour of direct action which was growing up soon found expression in a great upheaval in

the coalmining industry. The opposition of the industrial unionists to arbitration was seconded by the

northern colliery proprietors who had fought the Industrial Disputes Act in every conceivable way. Even

justice Heydon had complained of their determined obstruction.1 A number of unionists had been victimised,

and the best places were, it is alleged, given to blacklegs. So to settle these and other grievances the Northern

Colliery Employees' Federation decided on a strike on November 7th. The decision took the public by

surprise, but the plans of the men had been well laid. There were two mines on the field whose owners were

not in the association or "vend" with the remaining proprietors. The Federation had arranged for the

continued working of these two mines on a cooperative basis, the miners sharing in the enhanced price to be

created by the shortage and using their earnings for the support of their striking comrades. An agent, probably

of the miners, is supposed to have made a contract with one of the "vend" proprietors for 670 tons of coal on

November 3rd, and subsequently resold this coal during the strike at 50s. a ton, thus earning a substantial

On November 10th only the two cooperative mines were working, the supplies available were strictly

limited, and the men seemed in an invincible position. On Tuesday a conference was held between the miners

and the waterside workers, led by Hughes, to complete the holdup. On the same day the Premier, Wade,

proposed a conference between the parties, the men returning to work in the interval. That proposition the

miners immediately rejected. The proprietors treated similarly a subsequent proposition for a conference

without resumption of work. Then Wade began to show the direct actionists what political action could do.

First the railways were instructed to refuse to haul coal except for locomotive purposes. That made it

impossible to realise on the coal cut from the two cooperative pits and cut off the strikers' source of revenue.

On the 30th the Government commandeered all coal at grass in the State at a fair average value i.e.,

without taking into account the increment in value due to the shortage created by the strike. So the miners'

clever plan for providing themselves with the sinews of war was effectually checkmated. At the same time

industries were closing down and throwing men out of work owing to the lack of fuel. The use of gas and

electricity was rigorously restricted. Moreover Bowling and two fellow officers of the Federation were

arrested for conspiring to cause a strike contrary to the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act.

The lastnamed event brought to a head division, which had long been brewing, in the strike congress of

miners and transport workers which was sitting. Hughes, in view of the near approach of the Federal

elections, was working for peace and was doing his best to keep the watersiders and other unions from direct

participation. Bowling, on the other hand, wanted a general strike. On December 12th these quarrels came to

a head. Hughes said some bitter things of Bowling, and thereupon the miners walked out of the congress and

Wade seized the opportunity to take exemplary action. On December 16th he secured the suspension of the

standing orders, to allow of the passage through both Houses of Parliament in a single sitting of a Bill to

amend the Industrial Disputes Act. The Coercion Act, as this hurried amendment was called, was indeed a

remarkable piece of legislation. Strikes or lockouts in connection with the production or distribution of a

necessary commodity i.e., water, coal, gas, or any article of food necessary to human life, were placed in a

special category. Any meeting to instigate, aid, control, or maintain such a strike was declared unlawful.

Participation in such a meeting exposed one to a penalty of twelve months' imprisonment. (This clause was

clearly directed against the strike congress.) The police were authorised to break into any building where they

suspected that such an unlawful meeting was in progress. Furthermore, for instigating or supporting an illegal

strike or lockout a penalty of twelve months' imprisonment might be imposed. The administration of these

clauses would be in the jurisdiction of the Industrial Court, and under the principal Act no appeal from its

findings or sentences lay to any higher court. Hence the accused under this section was deprived of the right

of trial by jurythere was no jury in the Industrial Court and might be sentenced to a long term of

imprisonment without the right of appeal to the verdict of his peers. This wonderful measure was passed

through the Assembly by the aid of a liberal use of the closure. Labour members were thus deprived of the

chance of supporting Mr. Bowling, and had to content themselves with marching out of the Chamber in

As soon as the Bill became law, the strike leaders were again arrested, and this time bail was refused. So they

had to stay in gaol till they were sentenced to eighteen months each. Under these circumstances the strike

gradually collapsed. The political action of the employing class had proved more effective than the industrial

action of the workers. The politicians, led by Hughes, scored a distinct victory over the I.W.W. in the defeat

of the workers. The d b cle damped the enthusiasm of the direct actionists and encouraged unionists to

concentrate once again on capturing the Legislature. Thus the Coal Strike marks the close of our first phase of

It was not till Labour Governments had begun to demonstrate their incompetence to fulfil their own promises

that the I.W.W. again began to spread. And when it did, it was a new I.W.W. an Australian branch

chartered straight from the extremist section at Chicago. But before dealing with that phase we must describe

WE must now turn back a few years to examine the course of events in Queensland. In 1907, after the failure

of an unorganised strike at one of the mines on the Irvine Bank field in North Queensland, a small union

under the name of the Amalgamated Workers' Association was formed. At first it was closely modelled on

the Victorian A.M.A., but after a short time the benefit section was omitted, and the union became simply a

fighting organisation. Then it began to go ahead rapidly. Branches were formed on two adjacent fields:

Stannery Hills and Herberton.1 In May, 1908, the enterprise of E. G. Theodore, a young man already widely

versed in Socialist literature, effected an amalgamation between the A.W.A., and the unions of the workers at

O.K. Smelters and the Mungana Mines, also in the same district. The six branches of the organisation were

represented on an executive which met at Irvinebank.2 So far the union was just an organisation of miners,

but it soon enlarged its sphere of membership with fruitful results. In the August of the same year there was

much discontent among the navvies engaged in building the Chillagoe Railway. Hearing of the trouble,

Theodore, the organiser of the A.W.A., hastened to the camps, got all the navvies to join the A.W.A., and in

return secured for them the support of that union in a strike for better conditions. After a month's stoppage the

A.W.A. officials negotiated a settlement, giving practically all the men demanded.3

This victory demonstrated the value of a composite organisation. Alone the navvies would probably have

been easily starved out; with the financial and moral support of the miners they were remarkably successful.

When the first annual conference of the amalgamation met at Chillagoe, on February 10th, 1909, four new

branches had been formed, and the membership stood at 1,348. But the Executive had been forced to move

from Irvine Bank to Stannery Hills, owing to the victimisation of the Honorary Secretary. The paid organiser,

Theodore, had to stay at head office doing the clerical work instead of travelling about enrolling fresh

members. Conference, therefore, decided to make the Secretary a fully paid officer "beyond the reach of

victimising mine managers." W. McCormack was elected to the post at a salary of �200. 1

In the following year this enterprising organisation set up a Labour daily in Cairns, the seaport that gives

access to the far northern mineral fields. The main energies of the organisation were, however, devoted to

putting its organiser into Parliament. It is said that Theodore and McCormack tossed up to see who should

run for the Woothakata seat. Theodore won both the toss and the seat. But in July, 1910, an epochmaking

step was taken that transformed the A.W.A. from a small miners' union to a powerful organisation pregnant

with novel ideas. In North Queensland there were a number of small and not very strong unions operating

among bush workers the Amalgamated Sugar Workers' Union, two local bodies of miners and general

labourers, each called Amalgamated Workers' Unions, at Charters Towers and Townsville respectively, and

the Western Workers' Association covering the same class of toilers around Hughenden. Theodore and

"Benefits. It will enable us to keep in touch with the nomadic workers of the north who are continually

roving from one industry to another, which makes it difficult for unattached unions to cater for their

"The large expense of management of so many different unions would be considerably curtailed by having

one effective control. We could employ permanent organisers who would be able to concentrate their efforts

This circular indicates the spirit in which the A.W.A. leaders approached the question. They were eminently

practical men and accurately gauged the feeling of the workers of the north. Their scheme was not based on

any abstract theory, but it did, in fact, resemble the efforts of the industrial unionists of America, and in

The amalgamation scheme was endorsed by the A.L.F. in Brisbane, and they sent an organiser to cooperate

with the A.W.A. officials in popularising the proposals. On September 21st a further circular was issued from

Chillagoe, over the signatures of W. McCormack, General Secretary, A.W.A., and A. J.Fraser,A.L.F.

Organiser. It betrays American influence quite clearly as the appended extracts will show:

"Recognising the difficulty of handling large bodies of men who are divided up among a number of small

unions, each acting independently, and that the majority of the members of these small unions are engaged in

the mining, railway construction, and sugar industries, and as general labourers, it is proposed to amalgamate

the whole into one composite body whose power through amalgamation to enforce better conditions will be

"The formation of trusts to control markets shows clearly that our opponents are organising their forces into

one composite body, and if we are to have a chance of success in resisting attacks and conserving our rights,

The arguments about economy and simplicity were also repeated. Theodore used his member's pass to preach

the doctrines of industrial unionism. The same gospel was propagated by Crampton and Anderson of the

"Many workers are asking, Why all this talk about forming one grand union of unions ? . . . Craft unionism is

now of no avail. Towards the end of 1908 the Ironworkers' Assistants went out for a reasonable wage. While

they were out the rest of the employees, organised in craft unions of their own, remained at work materially

assisting the ironmasters. Were they not scabbing on the Ironworkers' Assistants just as flagrantly as if they

had stepped into their jobs? So with the Moulders' Strike which has now lasted sixteen weeks, while

engineers, ironworkers' assistants, and boilermakers, have been working all the time."

The amalgamation conference met on December 10th, 1910, and endorsed the proposal. The unions paid 80

per cent. of their assets after meeting all liabilities into the general fund. The constitution of the new

composite union largely followed that of the A.W.U. Queensland was divided into three districts, afterwards

subdivided so as to make five in all. The districts had a sort of organisation of their own, but on the whole

the tendency of the organisation was towards the centralisation of management. The highest authority in the

union was the annual conference consisting of a President, elected annually by plebiscite, a General Secretary

similarly elected, whose term of office was, however, three years, and delegates elected from the districts on

a basis of one for every 1,000 members, with a maximum of four. Conference controlled the general policy of

the union, and elected two VicePresidents, who, with the President, General Secretary, and District

The latter was vested with enormous power. It could suspend the rules or policy of the Association, impose

levies, and had the management of the General Fund, into which 80 per cent. of the revenue obtained by the

branches from the sale of tickets was to be paid. It also had control of strikes. The members of the A.W.A.

were pledged to stand by any member victimised, but only provided the Executive approved the action for

which he suffered. All industrial agreements required the endorsement of the Executive, and it alone could

provide financial assistance for a strike, which must come out of the general fund or from a levy. No

members were permitted to strike without the consent of the District Committees save in trifling matters or

emergencies when a branch meeting might, by a twothirds majority, take action without awaiting the

sanction of the District Committee. Similarly, the resumption of work must await the sanction of the District

Committees. Some power was indeed left to the branches which would be formed in centres such as mining

townships, camps, and so on. They could, for instance, retain up to 20 per cent. of the proceeds of the sale of

tickets. But the district organisation, though nominally representing the branches, was entirely subordinated

to the General Executive, whose endorsement was even required for the nomination of the District Secretary

The membership dues were fixed at �1 per annum, but the tickets of certain other unions were recognised. No

coloured alien, except a Maori or American negro was eligible for membership. Provision was also made for

the issue of political tickets to persons not eligible for general membership e.g., farmers or housewives.

Such a scheme of organisation plainly left great power in the hands of the Central Executive, who had almost

absolute control of the funds of the organisation and might act autocratically with little cheek from the rank

and file. But as a fighting machine it was highly efficient. Yet its aims were not revolutionary. Besides

"protecting the interests of the workers in the regulation of conditions of labour," the AW.A. only professed

to "assist in the movement for the socialisation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange," and

"to gradually replace the competitive system of distribution by a cooperative one." In not one clause of its

Aims or Constitution does the Amalgamated Workers' Association betray serious I.W.W. influence. Its

scheme of organisation was highly empirical, and took as its model not the industrial unionism of the States,

but Robert Owen's Grand National Consolidated as already adapted by the A.W.U. So likewise Messrs.

Theodore and McCormack did not worry about prefixing pompous Marxian statements to their practical

efforts, but accepted the traditional Socialism of the Australian Labour Party and the A.L.F., on the strength

of which they hastened to get into Parliament. Still the A.W.A. actually pursued a militant policy and

exhibited a great spirit of solidarity, which was well exemplified in the Sugar Strike of 1911.

Contemporaneously with the reorganisation of the A.W.A. went the expansion of the Butchers' Union into the

Amalgamated Meat Industry Employees' Union. That body traced its history back to 1880, but its operations

had been limited to the retail butchers and slaughtermen in the metropolitan area. In 1906 it joined the

InterState organisation, and appointed Gilday as permanent Branch Secretary. just about that date the meat

export industry of Queensland was being opened up, and the butchers conceived the idea of organising all

classes of labour, skilled and unskilled alike, employed in or about the meat works, into one body. During

1907 it had enrolled some 800 members in South and Central Queensland, and had secured for them

improved conditions by conference with the masters. Then Crampton was elected organiser. He proceeded to

the big new meat works in the north and did magnificent work. Unionism was then weak in that part of

Queensland. In the meat works it was absolutely taboo. When the managers refused Crampton admission to

the works he splashed across the tidal flats and crawled in through the thick jungle. Conditions inside were

indeed bad, but the men and boys followed the union organiser barefooted across the mud to hear the gospel.

Through such efforts a new state of affairs was established in the north. By 1910 Crampton was able to

announce that the contract system was abolished at the two big works. He reported that the tendency was

towards the breaking down of sectionalisrn and the adoption of a form of organisation that would include all

branches of labour in one fold on the lines of the A.W.U. and the A.W.A.1 At the Trade Union Congress in

Brisbane he announced that his society had 98 per cent. of all classes of workers in the trade within the union.

The skilled or "aristocracy of labour," he added, came forward to help their unskilled fellows.1 A system of

limitation of work was then inaugurated. At the Annual Conference amalgamation with the A.W.A. was

suggested, but as the union was already affiliated with the A.L.F. the question was postponed for the time.2

By the end of 1912 the butchers had secured an agreement with the meat export companies providing for

preference to members of the union. And, in fact, once organised, the meat workers were in a strong

bargaining position, for, as we have seen, a stoppage during the operation of the works means the almost total

loss of a considerable quantity of valuable and highly perishable products. The use of the power thus placed

in the hands of the workers was in the hands immediately of the "Board of Control" established at each meat

works. This apparatus is the best and most efficient instance of organisation "on the job" to be found in

Australia. The Board consisted of delegates from each department of the works slaughtermen, tinsmiths,

freezingroom hands, and so ontogether with a President, VicePresident, and Honorary Secretary. It could

be speedily called together at any time, and had full authority to deal with any dispute which would affect

only the particular works under its jurisdiction. It could even make agreements with the management, but its

actions were subject to a certain general oversight by the State Executive. The departmental delegates were

responsible for the maintenance of union's rules in their section of the works, and also for the collection of

During the operation of the preference agreement, all labour required at the works was engaged through the

union, who sent men in turn according to their position in the unemployment roll. When a new band was sent

down by the union office to the works he would report not to the foreman, but to the departmental delegate.

Similarly, if a worker was going to take a day off, he was compelled to report it to the delegate. The latter

through the works representative notified the District Secretary by 'phone, and he sent down next day the next

man on the unemployed register. These Boards of Control were able to usurp the functions of management to

quite a large extent. But in practice their exercise of control was purely negativerestriction of output and

other defensive measuresthey never showed any inclination to assume the responsibilities of management.

The Board of Control was thus the basic unit in the structure of the A.M.I.E.U. Above it came a District

Council consisting of the representatives from the boards at the several works and the other sections

fellmongers, retail employees, etc. together with officers elected by plebiscite, and above these State and

There were thus two militant unions in Queensland organised on industrial lines the Amalgamated

Workers' Association, and the Amalgamated Meat Industry Employees There remained the Australian

Workers' Union. This body was also, as we have seen, an industrial union confined to the pastoral industry.

These three organisations formed the mainstay of the Queensland A.L.F. during the period 19101913. But

in that period the question of a fusion of these three bodies became the central issue for industrialism. Even at

the 1909 Convention of the A.W.U. A. Rae had moved a demand for the amendment of the Federal

Arbitration Act under which the shearers worked, to enable a union embracing different occupations to

labourers, navvies, and other allied workers. The majority of A.W.U. members were general labourers when

not following the pastoral industry (which, of course, is seasonal), and it seemed anomalous that they had

union protection for a part of the year only. The General Secretary, however, thought that it would be

impossible for one man to obtain a knowledge of all sections and yet do justice to the whole. Still Rae's

Nevertheless the effective overtures for amalgamation did not actually come from the A.W.U. The hands of

the latter were forced by the wildfire spread of the A.W.A. after the expansion of 1910. That body distributed

broadcast pamphlets on industrial unionism, and the work of Theodore, McCormack, Lane, and Crampton

created a fervour of industrial solidarity and classconsciousness throughout the northern State. It infected

the shearers and shed hands till the A.W.A. officials were able to threaten the older pastoral union with the

absorption of the Queensland branches of the A.W.U. if the latter did not join hands with them first.

The general atmosphere is illustrated by a resolution moved by Sherry (Queensland Railway Employees'

"That it be a recommendation to the Australian Labour Federation to alter its constitution so as to put the

principle of the solidarity of labour into actual practice by supplanting the federation with an industrial

"Under the A.L.F. constitution," he remarked, "sectional or craft unions could affiliate with it, and at the

same time it allowed complete autonomy to those unions. Would not the result of that policy be the tying up

of those unions by various agreements? He wished to see an organisation which would abolish all trade or

craft barriers like the A.W.A. to see the distinction between skilled and unskilled workers removed."

H. Coyne, on the other hand, reminded Sherry that there would be no A.W.A. then but for the A.L.F. having

sent out C. Collins to organise. But Anderson, too, thought that the great object was to amalgamate into one

However, delegates were still under the spell of federalism, and that principle carried the day against

But while the spirit of militancy was thus expressing itself formally in the amalgamation movement, it also

found material embodiment in a great industrial upheaval. The unsuccessful issue of the latter incidentally

gave its deathblow to the A.L.F. and left the way clear for amalgamation to become the sole principle for

industrial reorganisation. The historic Brisbane General Strike arose as follows :

The city of Brisbane and its suburbs are served by an electric tramway system owned, not by the State or

Municipality, but by a company. The local manager was an American named Badger, who displayed the most

intense hostility to unionism. However, during his absence in 1911, the Federated Tramway Employees'

Association, which was trying to establish the existence of an "interState dispute," so as to come before Mr.

justice Higgins in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court, formed a branch among the employees of the

Brisbane trams. But on his return Badger began to take steps to smash the union. The exhibition of a notice at

the depot forbidding employees to wear the union badge while on duty brought the conflict to a head. This

issue was included in the plaint already filed before the Commonwealth Court, but the tramwaymen of

Brisbane felt it necessary to offer immediate resistance to Badger's attack, and at a meeting on January 15th,

1912, resolved to continue to wear the badge in defiance of the management, after receiving assurances of

support both from the Federal Council of the Association and from the Australian Labour Federation. On the

17th this decision was put into effect. The manager promptly dismissed the men, whereupon all the

tramwaymen left their posts, sometimes leaving their cars standing in the streets. But the number of highly

skilled men affected was small, and most of the strikers could be replaced by nonunionists. Within a week

Badger had a small and heavily overcrowded service running in spite of hostile demonstrations.

So the A.L.F. had to display its support in a practical manner. After a preliminary meeting of the Council on

the 21st a general meeting of unions was held in the Trades Hall on Monday, 28th. Amid the greatest

excitement the thirtysix unions represented came to a decision which was announced to the public through

"The Combined Unions' Committee of Brisbane and District, at a meeting held on Monday, 28th inst.,

resolved : 'That this meeting of delegates representing 43 unions, recognising that the action of the Brisbane

Tramway Company in prohibiting its employees from wearing a badge, the symbol of their unionism,

constitutes an attack on the principles of unionism and on the spirit of Statute Law, Federal and State,

"'That a GENERAL CESSATION OF WORK take place on TUESDAY, THE 29TH INST., at 6 p.m., unless

" 'That this resolution be forwarded to the manager of the Brisbane Tramways Co. at once.'

"The Committee desire the public to know that they are anxious, and will in every manner assist to have

hospitals, benevolent, and such institutions fully provided with stores and other requisites necessary to

effectually carry on same during this dispute, and carters, etc., supplying these may obtain the necessary

"We also desire it to be known that we will not in any way interfere with the measures taken to safeguard the

public health of the community, such as sanitation, etc., but all work in which the above 43 unions are

This proclamation created considerable alarm among the business community, but left Badger unmoved.

Accordingly on the appointed day the General Strike began. Next day the shops and warehouses remained

closed and the waterfront was deserted. There was a general rush to the Trades Hall for permits to handle

perishable goods. The strikers held a mass meeting, when Coyne emphasised the necessity for preserving

order and obeying the law, and then marched in procession round the city. The trams had ceased running, but

On this fatal day the Strike Committee made the really decisive blunder. They called upon the railwaymen,

or, at least, allowed them, to come out. Up to this point the Government, for all its real hostility, had been

preserving an attitude of almost benevolent neutrality. So far had they gone, indeed, that the Railway

Commissioner had agreed not to ask railwaymen to sacrifice their union principles by handling the coal

belonging to the tramway company stacked at Normanby. That almost meant joining in the boycott of

Badger's firm. Moreover, they had exerted pressure on the manager to meet the men, and had even managed

to get Badger and the union officials into the same ministerial office. But when the Queensland Railway

Employees' Association withdrew the porters, shunters, and signalmen, the Ministry saw that public support

Announcing their intention of preserving order, the Government brought in mounted police from the country

districts and enrolled special constables from among the ranks of the infuriated bourgeoisie and the farmers

who were cut off from their markets by the transport holdup. Publichouses were closed and police patrolled

the streets. A few trains were kept running during the day, but at night the service was entirely suspended.

The strikers, on their part, preserved excellent order. A Vigilance Corps was organised by the Committee to

prevent pillaging or disorder. The permit system was extended and improved, and the Courier foamed at the

mouth over the spectacle "of respectable business men craving permission from a surly bootmaker to carry

out certain necessary operations." The delivery of victuals was, of course, entirely suspended, but suitable

provision was made by the Strike Committee for the supply of necessaries e.g., 40,000 loaves "baked

On Thursday the Strike Committee decided to call out unionists in the country. On the same day the Police

Commissioner informed the Committee that no further processions of strikers would be allowed, but that the

Traffic Act would be enforced. So next day, when the strikers assembled as usual, the leaders, in accordance

with their policy of keeping within the law, discouraged any attempts at a march. Still a clash between the

police and the huge crowd was not to be averted, and the former found some excuse for a baton charge. Some

Encouraged by the success of the proceedings of "Black Friday," as the day of the baton charge was named,

the Government decided to put a stop to all public gatherings of strikers, and issued a proclamation on

February 5th prohibiting "unlawful assemblies." With regard to the Vigilance Corps the Police Commissioner

informed Mr. Coyne that the police were the proper guardians of order and would tolerate no interference in

these duties from other bodies. The railway shopmen at Ipswich, who had been called out on the 2nd, were

given till the 5th to return or else forfeit an their rights as civil servants. Meanwhile the Employers'

Federation had been busy and had got together sufficient scabs to overcome the total paralysis of the city's

life that had been achieved during the first days. On Monday at noon, welcomed by cheers from the

disgruntled professional c asses, the trams started once more to run over the rusting rails.

The strike was now in reality defeated. On Wednesday, February 5th, the shopmen at Ipswich decided to

return to work while the Strike Committee told the country unionists to go back and earn money for the

support of the strikers. But it was not until the 16th that the Strike Committee ventured to make overtures for

a conference with the employers. In the Strike Bulletin they then announced that they were actuated by the

"(1) The vital principle around which the whole battle has been waged, viz., the recognition of the union, has

These "reasons" were so palpably false that it is not surprising that the Employers' Federation recognised in

the Committee's overtures a confession of defeat, and flatly refused to meet the men. After that nothing could

stem the rout. On the 18th the Typographical Society and the hotel and caf employees returned to work in a

body, and on March 4th even the miners voted to abandon the struggle. Next day the strike was formally

declared " off." The nett result of the General Strike, therefore, was the crippling of unionism in Brisbane,

and the defeat of Labour at the next elections. The tramway unionists were indeed awarded absolute

preference, and the right to wear the union badge by justice Higgins, but by that time Badger had eliminated

Historically it is more significant that the A.L.F. was discredited by this disaster, and the unions so weakened

that they could no longer afford to pay the Federation dues. This indirectly gave afilip to the negotiations

between the A.W.U. and the A.W.A. These negotiations had already resulted in the adoption of a resolution

at the instance of Bowman for a plebiscite of the A.W.U. on the question of "enlarging our field of operations

by embracing all kinds of organisations." The mover cited to the 1912 Convention the success of the Railway

Workers and General Labourers' Union in N.S.W. and Victoria and the United Labourers' Union in South

Australia. Another delegate complained that at present he had to join as many as four unions in earning his

living through the "off" season. Lambert, too, wanted the whole of the bush workers in one solid

organisation. Blakeley and others, however, desired to restrict the amalgamation to primary producers and

exclude bodies like the A.W.A. and the UX.U., which included navvies and such classes of labour.

The A.W.U. consulted eminent counsel, and were advised that the amalgamation was now quite possible

without endangering their legal status before the Arbitration Court, thanks to an amendment of the Act passed

by the Fisher Government. Accordingly a conference of unions was summoned to meet in the Trades Hall,

Sydney, on July 6th, 1912. The bodies represented were the A.W.U., A.W.A., Rural Workers' Union,

Carriers, and Rabbiters. The last three were struggling organisations, and the vested interests of their officials

did not amount to much. On the other hand, the A.W.A. chiefs, Theodore and McCormack, were already

provided with safe seats in the Legislature, and were devoting themselves to the pursuit of political rather

than industrial ambitions. Thus the most formidable obstacle to any amalgamation, the vested interests of

paid officials, did not stand in the way of this particular plan. But it soon became evident that the A.W.U.

delegates were terrified lest they should endanger the position of that union under the Commonwealth

Arbitration Act and imperil the pastoral award. They were indeed satisfied that they could safely include

other pastoral and rural workers, but boggled at miners and navvies. But Theodore was determined that the

A.W.A. mu st be taken in as a whole. He denied that the latter would want to go for an award covering all its

sections. "The miners in Queensland," he went on, "have no desire to go to the Court for an award. They are

entering into this amalgamation to assist in closer unity, and more to make for industrial solidarity than for

any particular gain through legislation." The A.W.U. delegates continued to harp on the arbitration question.

"Unless," said Barnes, "there was something to safeguard the interests of those working under an award, it

would be unwise for the A.W.U. in any way to jeopardise what they had won from the Court." Grayndler

pointed out that outside Queensland the miners and meat workers had already separate organisations, and a

departure from the principle of only bringing in allied callings might lead to complications. A conflict with

the southern unions might lead to the cancellation of their award. At last McCormack declared :

"While arbitrations might be good, it was not entirely great, and that position should be considered. He would

not decry wages boards or arbitration, but the Arbitration Act had not done such a vast amount of good that

they should block the organisation of certain workers because. on account of technicalities, these workers

could not come within the limits of the Act. With the exception of the sugar workers, he did not know any

section of the A.W.A. that contemplated an appeal to the Court. They must consider the general labourer, or

some other body would. If the three sections were not included, the A.W.A. would have to drop out."

"Lundie, too, argued that while the miners might not be immediately allied with the A.W.U., they were all

fellow wage slaves, and there was a community of interest right away. Many shearers work at mining

during the off season. He had no false ideas about the Court, and if the workers could get what they wanted

"Grayndler admitted that all workers had identity of interests, but feared that the time had not yet come for

the beautiful scheme of the I.W.W. First group workers in allied industries into amalgamations; if allied

industries were departed from, it was open for registered organisations to object."

A further difficulty was in respect of organisation. All were agreed that a uniform ticket, giving admission to

all industries at one price, would be an irresistible attraction and a real boon. But as to details there were wide

divergencies. President Spence wanted as little alteration as possible. Theodore, on the other hand, was

convinced that an alteration of the A.W.U. methods was essential. "Finance was the vital matter. The A.W.U.

branches had control of finances and only paid a capitation fee to head office. The A.W.A. branches merely

retained a small amount and paid the bulk into the Executive." He and McCormack had worked out a

hierarchical scheme of General Conference, General Executive, State Boards of Management, District Branch

Committees and Industrial Branch Committees. Conference would consist of the General Secretary and

President, both paid and elected by plebiscite of the whole membership, one delegate appointed by each State

Board of Management and delegates elected by each District on a basis of one to every 2,500 members. The

Central Executive would consist of the paid officers and the representatives of the State Boards of

Management. The latter would be composed of a Chairman, appointed by Conference, the State Secretary,

elected by plebiscite, and the Branch Secretaries, who would in turn be elected by plebiscite within the

branch. The novelty lies in the industrial branch which would have jurisdiction over all members of the union

employed in a particular trade or industry. Such branches would not be local, but were to work in harmony

with the district branches. Financially 20 per cent. of the revenue from the sale of tickets was to be retained

by the subbranch in any centre. The balance to be handed over to the branch. Of this sum a district would

retain 5 per cent., an industrial branch 25 per cent. The surplus would go to the State Board which must hand

over quarterly to the General Executive 5 per cent. of the gross revenue from the sale of tickets within that

The whole scheme, as worked out by Theodore and illustrated by circular diagrams, clearly betrayed I.W.W.

influence. Still it was a hybrid between the established system of geographical divisions and the industrial

departments of the I.W.W. Its details came in for much criticism, but in principle the A.W.A. won all along

the line. Conference eventually disbanded without settling anything, but after agreeing to take a plebiscite of

the members of the unions concerned on the general question of amalgamating on the basis of a uniform

The Conference reassembled on January 6th, 1913. The ballot had resulted as follows :

In his opening address President Spence traced the history of the A.W.U., and explained how the recent

amendment of the Federal Arbitration Act enabled them to expand their organisation. How far they could go

he did not yet know, but he wanted to interfere as little as possible with the working machinery of the A.W.U.

Theodore complained that the President believed in the maximum of local autonomy. His experience in the

A.W.A. led him to believe that the more power in the hands of the central body the greater the general

success. He then referred again to finance and went on. The A.W.A. had organised the employees of the

Chillagoe Railway, but it would have been absurd to give such a group full autonomy. The A.W.A. had

organised many callings e.g., the shop assistants and carters who were organised separately in other

States. The advantage they were able to offer was the backing of a solid union operating on the spot, though

in other industries. This had given the unionists confidence and power in enforcing their demands. He agreed

to autonomy for a body like the A.M.I.E.U., but not for all organisations. On that basis the cooks and the shed

The carriers, however, demanded autonomy, pointing out that they were not always purely wageearners as

in many cases they provided their own plant. So, too, the timber workers' delegates stressed the difference in

circumstances between the several States. Lundie, on the other hand, objected that the industrial spirit of the

age was in favour of the broader expression of unionism, the rank and file were in favour of it, but there were

officials who kept them back. That was the case in South Australia. Still McCormack probably came closer to

the mark when he said that "the great appealing force" would be the "uniform ticket."

The details were left to a subcommittee, and their report was a clear win for the A.W.A. The latter was

allowed in practically intact, and merely augmented by the pastoral workers of Queensland. The three A.W.U

branches previously working in that State were fused into one, subdivided into five districts as in the old

A.W.A. Unlike other branches of the A.W.U, it was to have a complete set of officers of its own and a

separate branch executive, while instead of the annual general meeting of the branch, provision was made for

a delegate meeting in Queensland. So the whole framework of the A.W.A. organisation was embodied in the

constitution of the A.W.U as far as Queensland was concerned. In the other States the old machinery was

Thus the first step was taken towards the creation of a panAustralian amalgamation of unions. The A.W.A.

had launched the A.W.U on a course of practical One Big Unionism. The President expressed the opinion

that the amalgamation would lessen the risk of industrial troubles since employers would be more

circumspect in dealing with a vast body of 100,000 organised workers than they would be with isolated

organisations. He told the A.W.U Convention, which met immediately thereafter on the 22nd, that the

importance of the step just taken could not be overestimated, for it showed that the union had a good idea of

the true position and of what would in the near future have to be faced by organised labour. "Powerful

organisations must displace the craft unionism that had prevailed in the past. The huge combinations that

were now arrayed against the people must be met by powerful organisations on the part of the workers.

Combine must be met with combine. All talk about 'the old good relations between employer and employee'

was bunkum. Just as there could be no harmony between good and evil, so there could be no actual harmony

between people whose interests were in conflict and who were therefore utterly opposed to one another. The

worker had nothing in common with Capitalism, and the fight, begun long ago, would continue until

Capitalism as an institution was overthrown." He went on to forecast the absorption of other unions in the

All of which looks as if even Spence had discovered the I.W.W. Theodore, too, told the windingup

conference of the A.W.A., that the new amalgamation would not be governed by the Arbitration Court.

As there was some jealousy among the officials of both unions in Queensland, Dunstan had to be brought

Once launched on its career as the One Big Union, the A.W.U. forged ahead rapidly. The timid and

conservative officials soon found that their forebodings about the Court were unfounded, and that their jobs

were not imperilled, but their prestige and power increased. Next year the butchers made overtures. The

Queensland Branch at the January meeting approved the step. Crampton urged amalgamation in a lengthy

report. After dwelling on the dangers to the workers from the approach of the beef trust, he continued:

"I do not ask that you should organise to prevent the development of the combinethat is impossible. But I

ask you to span the gulf that separates one industry from another and assist industrial democracy to march

stride for stride with the everconquering and irresistible combine. My idea of organisation is that a man

should unceasingly strive to break down craft barriers, embrace every opportunity to link up the forces of

labour, and pay no attention to the industrial humbug who raves about a union losing 'prestige' through being

swallowed up in a larger whole. . . . Skilled workmen should not clamour for the cream of industry and

In this spirit the branch rejected a proposed agreement with the federated enginedrivers for common action,

and recommended the latter to join the A.W.U. The Federal Conference of the butchers endorsed the

amalgamation plan and ordered a ballot of the members. Meanwhile a conference was held between the

A.M.I.E.U. and the A.W.U. on May 15th, and drew up a draft scheme of organisation. Practically the plan

outlined by Theodore in 1912 was adoptedthe creation of an industrial branch. It was proposed within each

local (State) branch to set up a Meat Industry Section governed by a sectional Council, and an independent

Secretary. The Section would also be separately represented on the branch executive, but not on the Annual

Convention. Sections were to enjoy local autonomy, subject to the supervision of the branch executives. At

the Annual Conference of the meat workers (A.M.I.E.U.) in June, 1915, it was found that the voting had been

Conference decided to permit those branches which had voted in the affirmative to join the A.W.U. But at the

last moment Crampton and his colleagues stopped the Queensland branch from entering the amalgamation

which they had energetically advocated eighteen months before. They had discovered that the A.W.U. was

However, the timber workers, bakers, and shopassistants in Queensland actually did link up with the A.W.U

in that year. In igi5 the great union included among its aims : "To strive for One Big Union of the Australian

workers." In 1916 the Federated Mining Employees' Union proposed to amalgamate. This union had replaced

the old Amalgamated Miners' Association in the southern and western States, except at Broken Hilland, of

course, on the coalfields. The first agreement prepared by the officials provided for the formation of a

Mining Industry Branch with the right to hold independent conferences, make its own byelaws, and secede,

after a ballot, upon three months' notice. TheA.W.U.Convention, however, refused to ratify this scheme,

delegates complaining that the miners wanted to retain all their present powers in a kind of federation with

the right to draw out. The A.W.U stood for amalgamation, not federation. On the other hand, the Railway

Workers and General Labourers' Association in N.S.W. was admitted with the status of an industrial branch.

Even this meant a considerable modification of the existing geographical structure of the A.W.U. You now

had an industrial division cutting across the established regional branches, and separately represented at

Convention and on the Executive. The navvies were given just those privileges as had been enjoyed by a

territorial branch, and so got rather less than the miners had demanded. But even so some delegates objected

that this was federation rather than amalgamation. But they had to agree to the argument that you had to give

Some time later the F.M.E.A. came in, not, however, as an industrial branch, but as an industrial section

within the branches on the same terms as had been offered to the A.M.I.E.U. But dark rumours of corruption

hang about this amalgamation. At any rate the Barrier A.M.A. refused to accompany the other metalliferous

The year 1916 marks the culminating point of that phase of the amalgamation movement which was headed

by the A.W.U The last big union to come in was the F.M.E.A. Thereafter the movement, which in 1914 had

looked as if it would quickly absorb the majority of the unions in the continent, was abruptly arrested. The

cheek was due to the very same force which had given its initial impetus to the amalgamationthe I.W.W.

The impulse to One Big Unionism in the years 190816 was increasingly due to the doctrines of industrial

solidarity associated with the American organisation. Coming actually into Australia, that body exerted a still

stronger influence, for instance, over members of the R. W. G.L.A. in N.S.W. But after the 1916 Conference

of the A.W.U the Australian organisation of the I.W.W. openly threw its whole weight against the Big Union.

To understand this we must go back a few years and trace the events which dictated this hostility and which

THE most momentous event in the political industrial history of Australian labour, since the historic decision

in favour of political action in 1890, was the establishment of locals of the I.W.W. No body has exercised a

more profound influence on the whole outlook of labour in Australia. Yet its beginnings were insignificant.

Two years after the foundation of the parent society in America in 1905, small I.W.W. clubs were founded in

several industrial towns in Australia. These bodies were closely affiliated with, and indeed subordinated to,

the Socialist Labour Party. The latter exercised a strict oversight over the activities of the clubs and

overshadowed their industrial propaganda with its own political campaigns. There was, in fact, nothing

outwardly to distinguish these clubs from the numerous small Socialist sects that are dotted all over our

industrial centres, eking out a precarious existence in trying to convert the workers to dogmatic Socialism.

However, the industrial unionists, especially after the split in the I.W.W. of 1908, found their subordination

to the political aspirants of the S.L.P. irksome. They resolved to launch out on their own and become not

Hawkins, Secretary of the Sydney club, condemned this proposal as "insane." "One of the conditions," he

wrote in a letter to the Adelaide Secretary, "of a successful revolutionary union, is the existence of a

proletariat awakened to a very considerable degree of classconsciousness." There was much spade work to

be done ere that condition of affairs could be realised in Australia. Still the South Australians resolved to

apply to headquarters for a charter. The preamble of 1908 was only accepted after a struggle, the adherents of

the S.L.P. preferring the preamble preserved by de Leon and the other secessionists from the 1908

Convention. Nevertheless the Chicago preamble was supported by former members of the Australian

Socialist Party and carried the day. The Adelaide local received its charter in May, 1911, from Chicago, and

later in the same year was granted a charter as the Continental Administration for Australia with the right

itself to charter locals. The Sydney branch received its charter from Adelaide on the application of members

and exmembers of the S.L.P. and A.S.P. who were "tired of the tortuous methods of the politicians." The

first Secretary, however, G. G. Reeve, was a follower of de Leon rather than of Trautmann, and did not,

therefore, promulgate the doctrines of "goslow" and "the propaganda of action" characteristic of the

Chicago I.W.W. In fact, he used to denounce such methods at the Sunday meetings. But as in America, an

extremist section was organised to capture the Sydney local at the end of 1912 and during the first months Of

1913. One day (according to Reeve) a meeting was packed with new members, and the Secretary was voted

out of office. Shortly afterwards the Continental Administration was transferred from Adelaide to Sydney,

Hereafter the characteristic doctrines of sabotage and "goslow" were vigorously preached and illustrated by

the propaganda of action and organisation "on the job." The society was reinforced by exiles from New

Zealand after the collapse of the Waihi strike and deportees from South Africa, and soon made remarkable

The programme of the I.W.W. had been mainly drawn up to meet the needs of the semiskilled nomadic

worker of the Western States. In Australia, too, there was a precisely similar class which, with the formation

of the A.W.A. and kindred bodies, was coming to play an important part in the organised industrial

movementthe unskilled worker who roved about the bush to mines, railwayconstruction works, to harvest

the cane and grain or fruit of the farmers, or take casual employment in meat works or shearing sheds. This

class of worker approximates far more closely to the ideal proletariat described by Marx than any other

section of the Australian working class. The artisan, the State servant, the coalminer, has a relative certainty

of more or less regular employment. He has the chance to subscribe to benefit societies, to save money, quite

often to acquire his own little home, or even to purchase a little shop and retire as a petty capitalist, or

alternatively of spending his money so as to get a quite appreciable amount of fun out of life to banish care.

In a word, such workers have something to conserve and are, therefore, not likely to be the revolutionaries

Marx assumed. The unskilled worker, the navvy or general labourer, has almost literally nothing to lose but

the chains that bind him, and nothing to sell but his simple labourpower. He lives from hand to mouth with

the spectre of unemployment ever at his side, deprived of the solaces and distractions provided cheaply in a

big city. He has no incentive to thrift, for his position is too precarious ; the nomadic life forced upon him

prevents the formation of home ties and precludes the possibility of settling down close to a regular job. To

such it seems really more sensible to have a good time when they have money than to hoard savings that are

sure to be exhausted as soon as the period of slackness comes round, and cannot well be turned to the same

channels as those in which the more fortunate class of toiler can invest them. At the same time the nomadic

life fosters a spirit of hardihood and selfreliance which would not be found in a mere slum proletariat. To

this class the socalled benefits of modem civilisation, which might be impaired by a catastrophic change, are

of small moment, beyond their reach, while the loosening of the bonds of customary morality in wanderings

exposes them to permeation by revolutionary propaganda. Moreover, comradeship in the hardships of life in

camp or mine engenders a realisation of the solidarity of the proletariat. Thus there were closely analogous

conditions for the spread of I.W.W.ism on both sides of the Pacific. But it is important to note certain

The biggest is that sectionalism is much less rigid and exclusive in Australia than in the States. It is true that

Australian craft unions act in most cases independently and sometimes even in opposition to one another. But

there is not the same degree of aloofness that seems to prevail in America. Despite the absurd multiplicity of

unions they do generally manage to present a united front to the boss. Examples of one union continuing at

work or even replacing another at the time of a strike are excessively rare. Cases can indeed be raked up

during the strikes in the Maryborough ironworks, for instance, in 1908 and 1911, and when the Sydney

power house staff remained at work during the Tramway Strike of 1908. But these are isolated and

exceptional examples. The development of the doctrine of "black" goods and the unifying influence of the

Labour Councils have usually prevented anything in the nature of "organised scabbing" by one union on

another. On the contrary, instances can be multiplied in which the skilled men have come to the aid of the

unskilledfor instance, the support given by the seamen, ship painters, engineers, etc., to the Sydney wharf

labourers in 1908. Again the distinction between skilled and unskilledfor example, in rate of payis much

less marked in Australia than in the States. In the former the ratio between the average rates paid to skilled

and unskilled workmen is as 100 : 82 ; in the States the unskilled man barely averages 59 per cent. of the

wages of the artisan. The living wage doctrine finally established by Higgins J. in 1907 inevitably tended to

level up working conditions and bridge the gulf between skilled and unskilled. It was the latter who received

most protection from the courts and wagesboards. In America, on the other hand, the general labourer was

downtrodden to a degree, and the craft unions in the A.F.L. really did little to alleviate his wretched state. The

American I.W.W. was above all successful in organising the unskilled workers, outcasts from the craft and

sectional societies affiliated with the American Federation of Labour. In these circumstances its slogan of

"solidarity" had a meaning and cogency to the oppressed outcast that was really wanting in Australia.

In the second place the brutalities meted out by the employers in the U.S.A. were never reproduced on the

same scale or with the same nakedness on the other side of the Pacific. As E. G. Theodore put it, "the

doctrine of the I.W.W. was preached in a country where the industrial workers are ground under the iron heel

of Capitalism, where the worker has no liberty, and very few rights." Not only are the whole forces of law

available in defence of the employers in time of strikes, their operations are actually suspended in the

interests of the masters, who are at liberty to import armed strikebreakers, whose Pinkertons and gunmen

are granted almost unlimited immunity to maltreat and murder strikers, while the latter can be herded into

"bullpens" or railroaded into deserts in cattle trains. Such lawless brutality combined with the inhuman

conditions, under which the workers are exploited, encourages brutalitv on their part in reply. Force and fraud

are met by force and fraud. Australia did not reproduce these conditions. The capitalist was not sufficiently

firmly installed for public opinion to tolerate American methods. The legal status conferred on trade

unionism by the arbitration system was a serious obstacle to their application. The existence of Labour

Parties, which might at any time elevate union leaders into legislators with all the influence and patronage a

parliamentarian can exercise, had a restraining effect upon the police and legal authorities. We have, indeed,

quoted cases where unionists suffered severely at the hands of the police or the minions of the employers. But

the reaction of such incidents on the political parties responsible was not calculated to encourage their

Finally, political actionapart from the successes it had actually achieved in ameliorating the lot of the

workers had become to many toilers "almost a religion." At the same time it had become a profession which

opened to many a hardworked and underpaid union Secretaryand even to a rank and filer, if he was a

fluent and bold talkeran easy and comfortable mode of exit from the ranks of the proletariat. Hence the

I.W.W. preacher, in addition to the capitalist class, in addition to the adherents of craft unionism with their

prejudices and their jobs, had also to face the hostility of ingrained faith or reasoned decisions in favour of

political action, and the cupidity of those who relied fora livelihood on the workers' votes. And the strength of

Nevertheless, the new doctrines spread like wildfire. In 1914 there were four locals Adelaide, Sydney,

Broken Hill, and Port Pirie. Early in 1915 locals were opened in Melbourne and Brisbane, and in the

following year branches were established on the Westralian Goldfields, at Fremantle, and in North

Queensland, till they numbered a full dozen. Probably the membership rarely, if ever, exceeded a couple of

thousand, but the circulation of their paper, started in 1914 under the splendid title of Direct Action, went up

as high as 16,000 weekly. But the influence of the organisation was entirely disproportionate to its numerical

strengths. These facts are the most eloquent testimony to the insight into proletarian psychology of its

The I.W.W. did not rely exclusively on highflown appeals to lofty moral sentiments. It was quite prepared

to appeal to base motives. "Fast workers die young"; "A little sugar in the concrete will make a few more jobs

for the unemployed" Such are some of its aphorisms. True to the teachings of Bakunin and Netchaieff, the

organisation was not afraid to admit members of the socalled criminal classes. Anything tending to the

overthrow of the existing social order was in itself useful, and the socalled criminal was, after all, only one

who set at defiance the law and morality of the capitalist class. He was akin to the classconscious unionists,

inasmuch as they, too, were at war with capitalist society and bound to repudiate bourgeoise morality.Hence

there was an additional reason for the alliance than that advanced by the early anarchists; for the I.W.W.

recognised the class war, and were not afraid to draw the inevitable corollary. As W. M. Hughes well

expresses it : "The association, in fact, sets up two codes of morality one to be observed towards its

members and those who think with it and that to be observed towards all persons who do not think with it."

The organisation was not indeed without ideals, not even without a constructive programme, but in order to

arouse the class consciousness necessary to make its ideals real, it harped freely on the negative aspects of

the class struggle. Thus it attracted to itself, besides those who were in glorious revolt against the injustices

heaped upon themselves and their fellow wageslaves, others actuated by motives intellectually lower.

Loafing on the job appealed to man's natural inertia. "The Right to be Lazy" had an attractive sound.

Sabotage provided a relatively safe means of venting one's spleen on the boss or his hirelings, and gave a

spice of excitement to the dreary monotony of daily toil, without exposing one to unreasonable risks. Men

who were too mean to pay a real union subscription might salve their consciences by paying 6d. a month to

the I.W.W. and claim to be unionists at a third of the cost of an A.W.U. ticket. The extreme antimilitarism

of the organisation during the war provided a specious excuse to cowards who were not really

classconscious idealists. The I.W.W. took a leaf out of the Salvation Army's book and used crude songs

with catchy tunes to draw a crowd and attract converts. Their songs are remarkable for their coarseness and

brutality, but are all the more proletarian for that ; they take their diction from the real everyday life of the

camp, the factory and the mine. Street meetings were livened up with these in true Salvationist style. The

But it must not for an instant be thought that the members of the I.W.W. were all or even largely recruited

from loafers, cowards, or criminals. They displayed enthusiastic and unflinching energy. Members were

entirely careless of their personal safety ; the propaganda of action, for example, sometimes took the form of

free speech fights, in which comrades were called upon to surrender their liberty in flocks. So the I.W.W.

secured the right to sell literature in the Sydney domain by simply exercising it in defiance of the existing

regulations. A few members were gaoled for so doing, but their comrades soon demonstrated that there were

plenty of other recruits to hand on the lamp of life, and the Labour Government had in the end to climb down.

In a similar way, by simply "singing through the streets" of Sydney in defiance of traffic ordinances, this

enterprising body secured the right long ago accorded to the Salvation Army, but hitherto denied to the

Socialists of speaking in certain streets at night. In June, 1914, the freespeech fight at Port Pirie was

more serious. Some thirty comrades went to prison defying the traffic police, but the local announced its

ability and readiness to fill every gaol in South Australia, and in the end the authorities had to give way. Early

in 1915 a similar campaign was conducted in Newcastle. The method adopted was to put up a young member

to speak right under the nose of the "cop," and as soon as he was hauled off struggling to put up another until

Some of the "agitators" may have lived on the game and found it more congenial than dull manual labour, but

at least they were game enough to act and speak boldly in defiance of the law and take long terms of

imprisonment as the penalty. Tom Barker, the editor of Direct Action, did several long sentences, and all the

rest had to take their courage in both hands every day. As they defied the law, so they faced mobs of soldiers

and patriot roughs undismayed. Before "No Conscription" became a popular watchword, while the Labour

Party was still toying with militarism, the I.W.W. steadily and unflinchingly denounced the curse and

On the other hand, the leaders generally discouraged martyrdom. Open defiance was only to be used when

underground working became impossible. Members, when before the courts, always asked for time to pay the

fines imposed on them, though they never had any intention of paying, and when the time had expired they

never gave themselves up; they did not believe in saving the policemen trouble. So, too, they applied their

methods of goslow and sabotage most freely where they could do it most safely against the State or

against the most lenient employers. The application of these doctrines to the State enterprises, which under a

Labour Government tend to become refuges for militant unionists, was naturally peculiarly embarrassing to

such Governments. This circumstance may partly account for the intense bitterness displayed by Theodore

In January, 1914, the I.W.W. published in Sydney a paper under the striking title of Direct Action. Its

"For the first time in the history of the workingclass movement in Australia, a paper appears which stands

for straightout directactionist principles, unhampered by the plausible theories of the parliamentarians,

whether revolutionary or otherwise. We are, therefore, free from those handicaps which bind the

workingclass aspirant for political 'honours,' who sees before him a safe and sure means for advancing his

material interests and consequently, since economic determinism is such a powerful factor, cannot logically

be blamed if he advances those interests quite regardless of the workers' welfare. . . . Our agelong tendency

of putting our trust in princes has been a most potent factor in our enslavement.

"Every contributor, every supporter, is a member of the wageearning class, who is conscious of his slave

status in modern society, who is imbued, therefore, with motives stronger than mere sympathy or sentiment

in voicing the aspirations of his fellows. . . . Parliamentarians who, from motives of timidity or self interest,

are content to move within the circle which the legal and moral code of capitalism allows . . . have been the

The theoretical argument against political action based on the dogma of economic determinism here adduced

"When the GovernorGeneral of South Africa, in the socalled riots last July, called upon the military,

without consulting Parliament, to assert by force the supremacy of cosmopolitan capitalism on the Rand and

the right of the capitalist class to exploit unmercifully and without interference, he was giving only a bloody

and material significance to the oftexpressed opinion of revolutionists that the ballot is the greatest fraud

Political action was futile, because at best the State was only the managing committee for the bourgeoisie.

The labels of the committeemen made no difference. Even Labour Ministers would have to uphold

middleclass laws and administer capitalist justice. In so doing they would be in conflict with the

workingclass, and must assume the attitude of the employer and cast off that of the wage earner. So Direct

Action glossed the issue of 800 summonses by Labour Minister Cann against the miners of Maitland for

illegally striking in June, 1914. Sentiments, pity, gratitude or loyalty were puny and unreliable; in the test

While thus pouring contempt upon the pretensions of political emancipators, the I.W.W. ridiculed no less the

Labour Party's ideal of "emancipation" by the gradual and peaceable buying out of the capitalists. They

denied, indeed, entirely that nationalisation meant Socialism. It would not even end the exploitation of the

workers, but only meant that the State relieved individual capitalists of the trouble of themselves extorting

surplus value from their slaves, paying them instead that surplus value in the form of guaranteed interest on

the purchasemoney. The State enterprises of Messrs. Holman and Griffiths are worse than puerile:

"The State makes a hell for every worker employed under it by placing its timeservers and toadies in the

most desirable positions of authority, by systems of pimping and espionage, while superannuation schemes

and sliding wagescales are used to sap and demoralise whatever militant spirit there may be among the

The I.W.W. asserted that the Sydney trams, owned by the State, were the worst in Australia in respect of

working conditions. It certainly is a fact that George Boss, whose business Labour Minister Hall bought to be

a State bakery, had always employed exclusively nonunion labour, and continued to do so when he

managed the bakery as a Socialistic undertaking under a Labour Government he told me so himself!

That pet creation of political Labour, the Arbitration Court, was anathema to the revolutionists. Tom Glynn

"The Arbitration Court has bled the pockets and befogged the minds of the Australian workingclass, and it

has filled the pockets of the patriotic gang of legal luminaries who are the noblest product of Labour Parties

The strike, on the other hand, it was held, by its concrete expression of solidarity and the spirit of

comradeship in the struggle which it engendered, setting as it did the master class and the workingclass in

opposite camps in open physical antagonism, embodied and symbolised the unseen struggle of the classes,

promoted the classconsciousness of the proletariat, and so promoted the revolution.

Not only was the Labour Party, on this view, doomed by economic laws to futility; its votecatching policy

made it an absolute hindrance to the necessary industrial development of Australia. It aimed at creating small

landholders and "cocky" farmers, at assisting the workers to own their own little cottages and become small

blockholders, and at encouraging the little shopkeeper and the cockroach capitalist generally. These are

notoriously the most conservative and reactionary classes in the community. The Marxian regards them as

economic throwbacks, since they contradict the law of concentration of capital ; to protect and foster such a

class, if feasible, would only be to retard the development of the conditions postulated by these economists

An even graver error in the eyes of the I.W.W. was that the Labour Party stood for nationalism as against the

internationalism of the proletariat in their worldwide struggle against cosmopolitan capitalism. Capitalism

knew no boundaries of space or race, but organised internationally; yet the A.L.P. pandered to nationalist

aspirations and fomented race prejudices in enunciating its White Australian policy. Even worse, it supported

the jingo imperialism of Great Britain and her alliesand called on the workers of Australia to murder their

fellowworkers of Central Europe in the interests of the capitalist class. The I.W.W. maintained that the

employers and financiers should be left to wage their own wars. Direct Action thus described the famous "last

man and last shilling" pledge, enunciated by Federal Labour Leader Fisher to win votes in the wartime

"When George the Least, by the Grace of God and ignorance of the workingclasses Emperor of the Britains

and a millionpound shareholder in the American Steel Trust, wants a great European war to create a vast

demand for steel, Mr. Fisher and his gang and all their toadies rise to the occasion, and are prepared to give

our last man and our last shilling to see Georgie and his cobbers through the business deal."

Naturally their hostility to war and later to conscription brought them into conflict with the military

authorities. The Australian War Precaution Act and the innumerable regulations thereunder contained the

familiar clauses about prejudicing recruiting. For breaches of these regulations several I.W.W. men went to

gaol. Tom Barker, the editor of Direct Action, was sentenced on no less than three occasions, but in each case

the Fisher Government had in the end to release him under pressure from the leagues and unions or from

fright. It was during his third incarceration in 1916 that incendiarism as a means of intimidating the

Finally, the I.W.W. perceived the dangers of the alliance between the political Labour leaders and certain

sections wholely disconnected with the industrial workers. Direct Action exposed and denounced the

thinlyveiled intrigues between the Labour members and the liquor interest and their coquetting with the

In a word, then, the I.W.W. were revolutionaries. They did not believe that the transformation from

Capitalism to Socialism could be brought about by the gradual process of reformation advocated by the

Labour Party. The transformation would be cataclysmic and probably violent, inasmuch as the possessing

would seek to oppose it by force. To this extent, however, the I.W.W. was only repeating the oftreiterated

phrases of the A.S.P. and the S.L.P. But they were revolutionary in a further sense. They definitely advocated

violence both to carry the revolution through and hasten it on. Here they definitely broke with the Socialists.

Both believed in the inevitable and abrupt collapse of Capitalism as predicted by Marx. But the I.W.W.

proposed to facilitate its collapse by doing everything in their power to make the capitalist system

unworkable here and now. This was the philosophical justification for "goslow" and "sabotage." This ideal

provides the inner motive for the socalled criminal acts perpetrated by prominent members of the

association.For instance, J. B. King, Morgan, Goldstein and others, carried on the business of forging �5

notes (for which they were convicted), not with the idea of enriching themselves, but with the deliberate

intention of accelerating the d b cle of bourgeoise society by deprecating the circulating medium. It is true

that in the execution of this plan the conspirators had to make use of men of a different calibre ordinary

criminals but the prime movers were not actuated by a desire f or gain, but by the ideology of the class

war. The same holds good of the fires and the murder of a policeman at Tottenham. The I.W.W. believed in

making the established system unworkable, and had no scruples about the means they employed to that end.

At the same time these activities would develop classconsciousness among the toilers by openly embroiling

them with the bourgeoise authorities, and thus contribute positively to the constructive outcome of the

revolution. For once class consciousness was developed in it, the proletariat would arise in its might, and in

blind mass action sweep away the master class and take possession of the means of production.

Classconsciousness was more important than own momentum would carry through the expropriation of the

bourgeoisie. On this theory preparatory skirmishes in the way of strikes, riots, and acts of defiance towards

the established social order generally, had an intrinsic educative value whatever their outcome.

In many ways I.W.W. philosophy foreshadowed the Bolshevik dictatorship of the proletariat. They did not

consider it possible or necessary to convert a numerical majority of the population or even of the workers to

their creed ; they believed that a classconscious minority could carry along with them the inert mass of

unorganised "boneheads" just as the small block of intelligent and wideawake militants who are usually left

to conduct the business of unions can rely on the support of their fellow members if an open struggle is

precipitated. They envisaged the new social organism on the model of just such a union. To attain their end it

was necessary to band together all wageearners into one single organisation, centrally controlled and

capable of acting unitedly in defence of its members. This was the positive constructive side of I.W.W.

The one great union of their dreams was to be not only the weapon of the workers in their continuous struggle

against the master class, and in the end the instrument of revolution, but also the organ of the new social

order to be brought into being by that revolution. As the 1908 preamble finely puts it :

"The Army of production must be organised not only for the everyday struggle with capitalism, but also to

carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organising industrially we are forming

Plainly, then, the I.W.W. was not a strictly syndicalist or anarchist body. It was, indeed, syndicalist in the

sense that it repudiated political action and the machinery of the middleclass state as an instrument of

proletarian emancipation. With the revolution the political State would be superseded by an economic

organisation. Bourgeoise democracy, representative of unreal local interests, would give place to an industrial

democracy representing real economic interests. In place of the middleclass Parliament, purporting to

represent the consumers, but in fact only reflecting the general will of industrial magnates and financiers, a

union Executive would arise, composed of the delegates of the producers grouped in the several industries.

But with the destruction of the political State the industries and factories were not to be left uncoordinated

and autonomous. All the producers were to be gathered into one union on whose directorate the various

industries would be represented. Instead, therefore, of the chaos of warring interests which seems possible

under syndicalism proper, the I.W.W. offered a highly centralised organisation of society, modelled, indeed,

on unionism and restricted to "producers," but transcending the limits of individual industries, just as it

For the same reason the form of organisation recommended by the I.W.W. differed vastly from what is called

"industrial unionism" in England. In fact, there is no hardandfast line dividing industry from industry, and

industrial unionism in the narrow sense can assign no logical limits to the industrial units it wishes to

establish. This breakdown of all attempted limitations is particularly obvious in new countries. For instance,

railway construction is proceeding almost continually, and the navvies building the new lines are often, as in

Queensland, employed by the Railway Commissioners. Should these men belong to the Railway Union?

Clearly they have more in common with the builders of roads and dams than with enginedrivers, porters, or

even permanentway men; by downing tools the construction workers could not really assist in paralysing

the traffic of existing lines which would be the object of a railway strike. (This contest has actually been

fought out in Queensland, both the Q.R.U. and the A.W.U claiming the construction men. In the end the

Railway Union surrendered them to the A.W.U, which on its side gave up all claim to the navvies employed

Industrial unionism as preached by the I.W.W., and as now generally understood in Australia as also in

America, does not attempt to make the individual industry its basis. It is, indeed, an allgrades movement

that ignores craft and sectional divisions, but it recognises the industries only as departments within a larger

union. The I.W.W. scheme provided for six such departments, viz. : (1) Agricultural Land, Fisheries, and

Water Products; (2) Mining ; (3) Transportation and Communication; (4) Manufacturing and General

Production ; (5) Construction; (6) Public Service. Within the departments room was left for industrial unions

in the narrower sense e.g., in (3) for unions of railwaymen, seamen, waterside workers, carriers, post and

telegraph employees, etc. But these latter unions were to be subordinate to the departments, and they in their

turn under the rule of the General Executive Board. This structure the I.W.W. sedulously preached as the

unique scientific form of industrial organisation. The departments and unions, however, only existed on

paper; no attempt was made in Australia to create these members ; only the skeleton of the organisation

It was inevitable that the propaganda of this body should incur the hostility of all the recognised officials of

labour in Australia. We have already seen what craft unionism said of the I.W.W. The politicians were even

more outspoken. They had been spending years trying to convince timid voters that their Socialism did not

mean revolution or violence. Now the capitalist press was not altogether unsuccessful in coupling the Labour

Party with the revolutionary aims of the industrial unionists. Those, too, who really believed in "socialistic

enterprises" saw the success of the existing experiments, from which the whole fabric of competitive

industrialism was to be socialised, menaced by the "goslow" doctrines inculcated among their employees.

So every political leader of Labour came out with a denunciation of the I.W.W. W. M. Hughes, who was then

writing a series of articles entitled "The Case for Labour" in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, devoted a whole

article to a criticism of the new doctrine. E. G. Theodore, the founder of the militant A.W.A., and now

ActingPremier of Queensland, speaking both as a political and industrial leader, issued the following

"The Industrial Workers of the World are a body of irreconcilables who stand for direct action and sabotage

in industrial matters. They will have nothing to do with arbitration courts or any kind of legislation for the

Then, after contrasting conditions in America with those existing locally, he concludes :

"It would be nothing short of rank lunacy for the workers to discard these advantages and adopt the illogical

and unreasoning phrases of the I.W.W. I believe that any person in Queensland who exhorts his

fellowworkers to adopt any phases of sabotage is an enemy of unionism, should be treated as an industrial

But perhaps the most sweeping denunciation is to be found in the Presidential Address of W. G. Spence,

"A bastard kind of political philosophy has been imported from foreign parts. The real object of this

egregious lunacy is concealed. I refer to the syndicalists. Against new lines of thought on progressive lines I

have nothing to say ; but from this line of thought has sprung direct action. This method stands for rule by

minority. Reason and judgment have small part in the syndicalist philosophy. They expect when they have a

general strike to get possession of everything and institute what they term industrial government. The I.W.W.

want a perpetual state of war. They preach the immoral doctrine of not keeping agreements. A democratic

community implies truth and honesty. A contract must be recognised. The I.W.W. set up shibboleths of

classconsciousness and economic determinism. Whatever the I.W.W. do in America, I consider that the

position in Australia, which is on democratic lines, is entirely different. Why resort to these things if lawful

means are available ? The I.W.W. is a throwback in unionism to the dark ages of the destruction of

laboursaving machinery. Thirty years ago the A.W.U. contemplated organising all the workers, so there is

nothing new in the One Big Union. Australia is committed to a Socialist policy. Parliament may be a

cumbersome machine, but it moves just as fast as the people make it, sometimes faster, as the defeat of the

Constitutional Referenda has shown. The syndicalists are the tools of the capitalists."

Volumes could be filled with the denunciations of the I.W.W. by all the respectable Labour leaders in

Australia, yet the organisation had immense influence. On the union movement it left an indelible mark. As

already indicated, the impulse to amalgamation had been based largely on I.W.W. theory which was accepted

by many unionists who were unwilling to subscribe to the doctrines of violence and sabotage. Perhaps its

maximum of power was reached in the latter part of 1915. Then its individual supporters within the A.M.U.

seem to have made a bid to capture control of that organisation. It was alleged that an I.W.W. ticket was run

for the Executive posts that year. Certainly McNaught, who opposed Spence for the Presidency, was an

avowed supporter of the I.W.W. At the 1916 Convention he defended the association against the President's

"The I.W.W.," he declared, "is endeavouring to point out the fallacy of craft unionism. When the A.W.A. had

amalgamated with the A.W.U. there were great hopes of the one big union, but the President had expressed

himself against the methods which would bring it about. The A.W.U. has failed in organising in North

Queensland, and the union has been split up by arbitration which previously the A.W.A. would not stand for."

And the same Convention, under the same influence, discussed a motion having for its aim the abandonment

of arbitration. Several speakers were found, even at that highly conservative gathering, to endorse the method

of direct negotiation, but of course they could not carry Convention with them. Yet at that time shearers had

good cause to be annoyed with the interminable delays of court procedure. The old award granting 25s. per

100 had expired, and in the interim the A.W.U. Executive concluded an agreement with the pastoralists for

the 1916 season granting 28s. 6d. per 100. However, as this was far from covering the increase in the cost of

living since the previous award, the I.W.W. were strong enough within the union to foment outlaw strikes in

several sheds in northern N.S.W. where the pastoralists were forced to concede 30s. a hundred before

shearing could proceed. The union officials did their best to prevent these stoppages. In the Coonamble

district they succeeded in getting the unionists to shear at the agreement rates, even though other sheds near

by had won the higher rate. In the end the I.W.W. gave up the A.W.U. in despair, and went so far as to

publish a booklet entitled, "Why the A.W.U. cannot become an Industrial Union." It complained inter alia

that the A.W.U. were willing to launch their amalgamation "only provided they got the consent of the master

class of the registrar of the Arbitration Court" and that many of the members of the union were small farmers

With the miners, the I.W.W. were more successful. The Barrier A.M.A. officially recognised their tickets,

allowing I.W.W. members to work in the mines alongside the established unionists. This was not an unmixed

advantage for the I.W.W. It meant that men, too mean to pay the high fees of the A.M.A., took cheap I.W.W.

tickets, so that an undesirable type was attracted to the organisation. To prevent this Paul Freeman even

proposed that the price of their tickets should be raised even higher than that of the A.M.A., but this

selfdenying ordinance was defeated, and Freeman had to dissociate himself from the industrialists.

The I.W.W. reached the zenith of their power at conscription time. It was, as already shown, largely to the

untiring warnings of the I.W.W. speakers and the activities of their members and sympathisers within the

leagues and unions that the emphatic decisions against conscription by the A.W.U. Convention and the

N.S.W. and Victorian Labour Party Conferences were due. Even after the Labour Parties had declared their

They succeeded in making a tremendous noise about it, and produced the impression that they were a

formidable and desperate body that would resist to the utmost any attempt to impose compulsory service.

This impression was heightened by the crop of incendiary fires that roughly coincided with the return of the

Prime Minister. It is quite possible that Hughes was intimidated by the threats and deeds of this revolutionary

organisation and, overestimating their strength, feared to impose the system he desired by executive act or

ordinary legislation unconfirmed by the popular vote. He probably could have carried the proposal through

Parliament, and his apparent weakness in submitting the issue to a referendum may perhaps be best explained

Be that as it may, the association was officialy recognised by the bodies established by orthodox labour to

organise the "no" vote. The I.W.W., for instance, was admitted to representation on the special Trade Union

Congress called to devise means to oppose conscription, and this time Theodore had to sit with I.W.W. men

as recognised codelegates. Their propaganda was redoubled. Stickers and handbills were printed without

"Do You want Conscription ? While you are TALKING about what you will do at the BALLOTBOX

Hughes is ACTING and will have you called up next month and put under MILITARY LAW.

You must unitedly refuse to go up. If you are arrested, refuse to take the oath or drill.

The terror which the I.W.W. inspired in the authorities is clearly enough shown by the methods employed for

their ultimate destruction. They had broken the laws freely. To force the release of Tom Barker, imprisoned

for prejudicing recruiting, some members of the organisation resorted to the device of starting fires in

warehouses or factories. A chemist named Scully, who was prominent in the society, prepared the firedope

(P in CS2), as the inflammatory material was called. A wet rag soaked in the solution would soon burst into

flames through the spontaneous combustion of the phosphorus, which would be left finely divided as soon as

the solvent had evaporated. A number of fires had been started by these means, though they did not get far,

and even after Barker had been released the incendiarism was continued. Whoever in the organisation was

really responsible, it seems certain that the police had enough evidence to justify action nearly two months

Other members of the organisation, as we have seen, were engaged in printing and uttering forged �5 notes to

hasten the collapse of capitalist economy. At Tottenham, a mining and wheatgrowing centre where the

I.W.W. were powerful, a policeman was murdered in a peculiarly coldblooded manner. The constable had

just arrived in the town and had announced his determination to "clean it up." One night two members, one

only twenty years old, shot him through an open window while his back was turned some say, signing a

But the police stayed their hands till the middle of the referendum campaign. The forgers were dealt with

first, and this charge was used as a lever to extract a statement from the Goldsteins. Then Scully, against

whom the police had ample evidence, turned King's evidence. Armed with these confessions the police raided

the I.W.W. Hall one Saturday night. They arrested those who were supposed to be leading lights in the

association, confiscated all books, papers and documents, and carried off the printing press. Donald Grant

was arrested at Broken Hill, and brought overland to Sydney. The sequel has become history. An attempt to

implicate the prisoners in a treasonable conspiracy against the Empirein which the kingpin would have been

Franz Georgi, an escaped German internee, whom the I.W.W. probably succoured, broke down owing to the

staunchness of the German; but a charge of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to commit arson was worked

It cannot reasonably be doubted that some members at least of the organisation were implicated directly in

the incendiarism. Still the evidence brought against the twelve, and on which they were ultimately convicted,

might have served to convict almost anybody. The Crown's case rested exclusively on the evidence of

informers who were entirely in the hands of the police. These witnesses were easily shown to be perjurers and

utterly careless of the truth. And even so, Donald Grant and one or two others could only be connected with

the "conspiracy" by the flimsiest threads of evidence. All the usual laws about contempt of court were

ignored while the twelve were awaiting trial. The trial and the charges arising out of it were freely used by

Hughes and the capitalist press all over Australia to discredit the anticonscriptionists and connect them up

with disloyalty, arson, murder, German gold, and revolutionary violence. The unscrupulous use made during

the campaign of material which was to serve as evidence against the accused, inevitably prejudiced their

chances. Finally, on the eve of the trial, James, M.L.A., who had been briefed for the defence, threw up his

brief in order to take a portfolio in Holman's Coalition Cabinet. These circumstances, combined with the

severe sentencesranging from five to fifteen years' hard labour eventually imposed, and the obvious political

motives inspiring the whole proceedings led many to believe that the charge itself was a "frameup."

That is most unlikely. The inner circle of the I.W.W. was confessedly responsible for the fires, and some of

those sentenced may quite possibly have been connected with the plan or its execution. But it is quite another

matter whether the police picked the most guilty men. Probably the chief conspirators were Morgan, who got

The arrests robbed the organisation of its best speakers, its printing press and much of its literature. Yet the

Sunday after the raid the Domain meeting was held as usual. Direct Action never suspended publication,

though it went off in brilliance. Some measure of decay infected the union. An inferior class of members was

admitted, and jobs were created for prominent spirits, but the organisation lingered on for nearly a year.

But as soon as Parliament met after the referendum campaign, Hughes, still Prime Minister, though no longer

a Labour man, introduced special legislation to suppress the I.W.W. The Unlawful Associations Act, as this

astounding measure was called, made it an offence punishable by six months' imprisonment to belong to the

I.W.W. or other association to which its provisions might be extended. If the offender was an alien by birth,

he might be deported after the expiration of his sentence. Hughes justified this piece of special legislation on

the ground that society could not tolerate in its midst an organisation which arrogated to itself a special code

of morality in conflict with that of the whole. He detailed at length the "criminal history" of the association,

and even tried to implicate the Labour Party and its officers responsible for his expulsion with the

organisation. The Labour Caucus was so much alarmed by these attempts that it decided to support the Bill.

Tudor, their leader, declared himself absolutely opposed to "goslow, sabotage, murder, and arson, which

seemed to be the policies advocated by the I.W.W." His only criticism was that, granting that the I.W.W. was

all that Hughes said of it, the penalties imposed in the Bill were inadequate. Even Frank Anstey, who had

championed Tom Barker, in his earlier imprisonments, was now at pains to repudiate the I.W.W. and all its

works. So the monstrous measure was passed into law with the infamous blessing of the Labour Party.

Hughes probably hoped that the mere threat of such penalties would cause the organisation to melt away. It

speaks highly for the courage and idealism of the members that, despite its illegality, the I.W.W. continued to

exist and carry on its public work. A certain number of prominent members were occasionally gaoled, but it

was not until the time of the Big Strike in 1917 that a thorough roundup of the members took place, and in

the meantime they held meetings and published Direct Action as usual. But then the Federal authorities,

fearing the intervention even of the rump of this militant organisation in that great upheaval, arrested several

scores of members, and had them sentenced to the maximum terms of imprisonment under the Act. Tom

Barker and other leading lights, after completing their sentences, were deported, and the organisation was

During 1917 the main work of the I.W.W. had been to agitate for the release of the twelve prisoners. A

majority, both of the Labour Council in Sydney and of the rejuvenated Labour Party, let themselves be

persuaded that the twelve were victims of a capitalist conspiracy. They certainly were prisoners of the class

warso also were the note forgers and with a section of the workers this fact alone was a reason for their

release whether they were guilty or not. But that would weigh with a section only. No powerful or official

support could be expected for the release of incendiaries or forgers. The latter were abandoned to their

fatethe longest sentence any of them had received was five yearsand the champions of the imprisoned men

concentrated their energies on proving the innocence of the twelve. When the I.W.W. was finally put out of

business, the N.S.W. Labour Council and a number of unofficial bodies carried on the agitation.

E. E. Judd took a prominent part in this work, though as head of the S.L.P. in Sydney he bitterly hated the

Chicago organisation and all its teaching. Scully was unearthed, and with his aid Judd and Boote, editor of

the Worker, went through all the evidence on which the conspirators had been convicted. Boote published in

the Worker a most convincing exposure of inconsistencies, contradictions, and absurdities in the Crown's

case, and from the end of 1917 the "frameup" theory was taken up enthusiastically by the official Labour

Movement, industrial and political, which henceforth demanded a re opening of the cases. In 1918 as a

result, of the charges made by Brookfield and Mutch, Ms.L.A., in the N.S.W . Assembly, a Royal

Commission was appointed with a rather restricted scope to inquire into the conduct of the police in

connection with the cases. The mass of evidence presented at this inquiry tended to show the unreliability of

Scully and the Goldsteins, the principal surviving witnesses for the prosecution, and to discredit the

detectives ; but Street, J., the Commissioner, did not recommend a reopening of the cases. The agitation

was, however, redoubled, and a fresh inquiry was made a principal issue in all industrial constituencies at the

1920 elections. The result of that inquiry was to clear all the prisoners but one of the charge of arson, and

Ewing, J., recommended the release of the eleven who, with the exception of the forger King, were thereupon

released by the Storey Government. King served out his full five years for forgery, and the twelfth, Reeves,

The I.W.W. has now disappeared as a separate entity from Australia, but it has left an indelible mark behind

it. It can claim the credit for the defeat of conscription, and its antiwar propaganda prepared the way for the

A.L.P. peace proposals of 1917, the Labour Council's resolutions against recruiting and the Perth Conference

decisions of 1918. The Leftward movement in the Labour Party, culminating in the formation of the

industrial section in N.S.W., was partly inspired by I.W.W. propaganda. A. W. Buckley and at least one other

leading spirit in the section were exmembers of the organisation. To the same influence must be attributed

the increasing militancy of industrial labour in the period 191419. It partly inspired both the great Coal

Strike of 1916 and the General Strike of 1917. The widespread ramifications of the latter stoppage are best

explained by the existence of a general spirit in favour of mass action a sort of

"letustryageneralstrike" feeling. The crudity and ineptitude of its execution, however, was not the fault

of the I.W.W., who had they been on this side of prison bars, would never have countenanced the utterly

But philosophically the interest of theI.W.W. lies in the fact that it was the first body to offer effectively to

the Australian workers an ideal of emancipation alternative to the somewhat threadbare Fabianism of the

Labour Party. Accordingly its most permanent achievement was the birth of an industrial union agitation,

framed on scientific lines as contrasted with the swallowing process of the A.W.U. amalgamation, and this

THE most permanent and solid result of the three years' intensive propaganda of the I.W.W. was the creation,

on a new basis, and backed by the official leaders of labour, of a movement towards industrial unionism. The

attempt to make the I.W.W. itself the One Big Union by a policy of "whiteanting" existing organisations

was from the outset doomed to failure ; for it incurred the hostility not only of political and industrial

"bosses," but of genuine industrial unions as a whole, like the Coal and Shale Employees, the Railway

Unions, and so on. To have any chance of success, movement for closer unionism must have support from

some of the official spokesmen of the industrialists. Even in America the I.W.W. itself sprang from the

Western Miners' Union. In Australia there was no inherent reason why industrial unions like those just named

should not support a general scheme for closer unity. The success of the A.W.U.A.W.A. project, although

purely empirical and following unscientific lines, showed the possibilities of amalgamation. But their

exploitation required both the fertilisation of I.W.W. theory and the dissipation of the I.W.W. threat to

In fact, as early as 1916, a positive step towards the creation of an allembracing industrial union was taken

in N.S.W. On September 2nd a conference met in Sydney Trades Hall, presided over curiously enough by

Phil Adler, Secretary of the Blacksmiths. The leading spirits in this plan were also prominent members of the

industrial section of the Labour Party. Claude Thompson, Secretary of the Amalgamated Railway and

"That this Conference affirms the principle of One Big Union for the whole of the workers."

Mass unionism, he said, had been a failure wherever tried. By "mass unionism" he meant presumably the

system of amalgamation then advocated by the A.W.U. A.C. Willis, Secretary of the Miners' Federation, was

"Every unionist should be a member of an industrial union, though the trades should be departmentalised.

The wages board system had been useful to smaller organisations, but on the whole had only provided

But it was soon obvious that the delegates held very divergent views. O'Reilly (Hairdressers) moved an

amendment recommending the industrial grouping system. The delegate of the Canister Makers said that

federations and amalgamations had failed. Over all the differences, however, emerged a weariness of the

tactics of politicians, natural in view of their treachery on the conscription question. In the end Thompson's

A committee consisting of Willis, Bowling, and Pattinson (Miners), O'Brien (Furnishing Trades), Lenehan

(Progressive Carpenters), Rutherford (Saddlers), and Mrs. Kate Dwyer (Women Workers), was elected to

formulate a concrete scheme. As might be expected the committee never came to any conclusion. Lenehan

was a conservative representative of a conservative craft union. Mrs. Dwyer was an old battler in the political

movement, who had little sympathy with the newer unionism. Willis and Bowling were irreconcilable

personally, and O'Brien was looking for a seat. But the advantage of a solid organisation and the crying need

for closer unity received practical demonstration during the next twelve months.

In November, 1916, the most efficiently organised, daringly defiant, and completely successful coal strike

was carried through without a hitch by the C. S.E.F. The issue was clearcut ; the eight hours from bank to

bank, to which were added minor demands about wages; the men knowing what they wanted, decided to get

it, and stand no compromises ; the moment was well chosen as there were no large reserves in sight ; the

stoppage was complete, every coal miner in Australia downing tools simultaneously; the whole thing had

been carefully worked out in advance, and was intended to demonstrate the efficiency of the recentlyformed

The men were not to be sidetracked by talk of patriotism or German gold. They scornfully rejected the first

offer made by Hughes at a compulsory conference which he convened by the powers of the War Precautions

Act. The Prime Minister then offered an immediate hearing of the miners' grievances by the President of the

Commonwealth Arbitration Court if they would go back to work in the interim. The federation's officers,

however, knew Higgins,J., and what they could get from him, and would not hear of going back on the

eighthour shift. Eleven days later a special tribunal was appointed under the W.P. Act, with judge Edmonds,

of N.S.W., as chairman, and vested with power to raise the fixed selling price of coal as well as to adjust the

hours and pay of the miners. The men's leaders undoubtedly knew what the decision would be before they

accepted the tribunal, and even so they did not resume work till the judge had given a favourable decision on

Later on the judge awarded increases of from 10 to 15 per cent. to the miners, and allowed the coalowners

to increase the sellingprice of coal to a somewhat larger rate. The awards of the special tribunal were by

regulation given the same force as awards of the regular courts under the Arbitration Act. In fact, the tribunal

was just a screen. It preserved the form of arbitration, but its award was, in its main features, merely the

registration of an agreement secretly arrived at between the parties and the Government. In this case it had

taken the miners about three weeks to prove their power, and in that time they had paralysed industry

throughout the eastern States. The war emergency no doubt helped them, but probably they would have had

the community at their mercy in any case, as the stocks were low. This conflict was a dramatic illustration of

the value of direct action in the hands of a solid and allinclusive organisation effectively led. The victory

gave Willis immense prestige; for he was supposed to have planned the whole campaign.

The antithesis the uselessness of a strike, however widespread and popular, when the forces of labour lack

organisation and unitary control was cruelly demonstrated the next year. In the Great Strike of 1917 there

was as much solidarity as in the Coal Strike. The craft unionists and the unskilled fought loyally side by side.

But there was no directing plan animating the whole, and the solidarity was often misapplied. The whole

affair is most complicated and mutual recriminations, charges and countercharges after the defeat have

hopelessly distorted the true details. It is now impossible to disentangle from the conflicting accounts of

participants and eyewitnesses any reliable story of the inner events of the struggle. Fortunately that is

irrelevant. A brief sketch of the external happenings will indicate where the main lessons of the upheaval are

Even before the N.S.W. Labour Government had "ratted," the Railway Commissioners had sought to

introduce a "jobcard" system into the tramway workshops at Randwick. The object of the cards was to show

the exact time taken over each specific job. There had been, no doubt, a deliberate slowing down and

reduction of output at these shops under the influence of the many I.W.W. sympathisers in them. But the men

regarded the cards as part of a speedingup device, and an instalment of the notorious Taylor system. The

union representatives had secured from the Labour Government the withdrawal of the objectionable system.

But in 1917 there was no longer a Labour Government in office, and Holman had left his Chief Secretary,

George Fuller, a member of the old "Liberal" Party, as head of the Cabinet. So despite the protests of the

engineers, the same old card system was unearthed and introduced at Randwick on July 20th.

After deputations to Commissioners and Ministers had proved useless, the men determined to strike. The

leaders of the unions concerned informed the Executive of the N.S.W. Labour Council that they were unable

any longer to control their members, and therefore the Council refused formally to take the lead in the

negotiations. The unions concerned met among themselves on July 31st, and resolved to cease work unless

the card system was immediately withdrawn. Fuller replied to this ultimatum next day with a bellicose

statement. The Government, he said, intended to govern, and would not allow any outside unauthorised

bodies to dictate to them. So on Thursday, August 2nd, 1,100 men at Randwick ceased work, while the

majority of those employed in the railway workshops at Eveleigh, to the number of 3,000, marched out.

Some shopmen at Newcastle and in other depots on the northern line also downed tools.

A defence committee, consisting of the metal trades unions, the A.R.T.S.A., and the Tramways Union, was

now set up. To make sure of the conflict Fuller came out with a yet wilder statement on the 3rd, which we

"There are in this State a limited number of men for the time being in control of several trade unions, who

have lost all sense of patriotism and responsibility, and who are deliberately contributing to the success of the

"Ninetenths of the men do not know what the strike is really about, but are being blindly led into this

appalling conflict by a few dangerous leaders. I now solemnly appeal to every workman in the State to

consider seriously the direction in which he is drifting and to stand by the Government in its determination to

resist to the utmost the challenge which has been so wickedly made by thoughtless leaders. . . ."

Next day the fuelmen at Eveleigh downed tools apparently without orders. As a counterstroke the

locomotives were loaded by clerks and officials, so that participation by the Federated Locomotive

Enginedrivers and Firemen became inevitable. The Defence Committee offered to let the men return on the

conditions existing on June 1st, and to submit the whole question to a Royal Commission. The Government

replied that their employees were in revolt, and they could not consider negotiations until the men returned to

The capitalist press branded the strikers as proGermans and, on the other hand, set out to minimise the

extent of support the strike was receiving. Its testimony is therefore worthless, but there does, in fact, seem to

have been a lack of unanimity among the unionists directly concerned, and after the first few days men began

to scab. At the same time there was a vague desire broadcast among unionists for a general strike. The

brilliant victory of the miners and minor successes by other unions had inspired a general belief in the

efficacy of direct action, while the older unionists, who remembered the dark days of the 'nineties, were

On Saturday the L.E.D. F. resolved to cease work a decision rendered inevitable by the strike of the union

fuelmentand on Monday the other traffic employees on both trams and trains were called out, and left their

jobs at midnight. The electricians at the powerhouse, too, ceased work this time. Yet despite a tremendous

spirit of solidarity the stoppage was halfhearted and traffic was not completely paralysed except on the first

day. The men who were not in the A.R. T.S.A. did not all leave work, but took a ballot. On the 7th, Fuller, in

the name of the Government, issued an ultimatum to the strikers. They must return to work by Friday, or be

dismissed from the public service, losing all their privileges. On the other hand, he guaranteed full protection

to those who remained " loyal." The Defence Committee replied by repeating their offer to resume work

without the cardsystem. Next day the Strike Committee was reinforced by delegates from the A.W.U., C.

S.E.F. (CoalMiners), A.M.I.E.U. (Meat Industry Employees), Seamen, Waterside Workers, and Gas

Employees. Most of these unions were impulsively anxious to strike, and some of the mines on the northern

field had been already laid idle through a sympathetic strike of the enginedrivers.

Railborne goods were now regarded as "black" and few unionists cared to handle them. The wharf labourers

knocked off on the 9th, and the same day the cokeworkers at Port Kembla refused to handle railborne coal.

A number of carters and other transport employees on their own account began to boycott the railways. So,

too, the boilermakers and other engineering unions working at the Commonwealth Naval Dockyard refused

to use the electric current because it was generated by the Railway Department, and so walked out. On the

other hand, a certain number of the original strikers on the railways, especially in the traffic branch, returned

to work on the 10th in compliance with the Government ultimatum, while the authorities scoured the country

On Saturday the seamen struck, and on the following Monday as a result, the ship painters and dockers in

Sydney and the waterside workers in Melbourne failed to resume work. On the 11th all the unions connected

with the foodsupply met to discuss the situation, but postponed the question of a strike till the following

Friday. However, the Defence Committee declared railborne wheat and flour "black." The employees at the

Government Dockyards of Cockatoo and Garden Islands, following the lead of the painters and dockers and

their comrades at Newcastle, as well as many of the employees of private yards, ceased work on the 14th.

On its side the Government had imposed stringent restrictions on the use of coal, gas, and electricity, and

took power to commandeer all kinds of vehicles. An amendment of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, to allow

inexperienced miners to work at the coal face, was bludgeoned through Parliament in one sitting. A camp of

strikebreakers brought down from the country they were largely the sons of farmers and suchlike persons

was established on the Agricultural Society's show grounds, and later on another at the Zoo site at

Taronga Park. In these the scabs were treated royally, even being fed, clothed, and housed by the State,

supplied with free beer, and described by Ministers and the daily Press as "loyalists" and " patriots." Three

members of the Defence Committee, Hon. E. J. Kavanagh, M.L.C., Secretary of the Labour Council, Claude

Thompson, of the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Association, and A. C. Willis, of the Miners, were

arrested and charged with conspiring to cause sedition. To these were joined A. W. Buckley, M.L.A. The

Government seemed to hope that the arrest of the leaders would check the spread of the strike. As a matter of

fact the three firstnamed, at any rate, had done their best to restrict the area of the dispute, so that the arrests

Now the slaughtermen section of the A.M.I.E.U. struck work on the pretext of a dispute of their own without

consulting the Defence Committee. On August 20th the Barrier A.M.A. declared all coal "black," and

decided to cease work until the arrested members of the Strike Committee should be released. Further

sections of the A.M.I.E.U. and several other smaller unions or groups also came out. On the other hand, the

Defence Committee now offered to recommend a general resumption under a modified cardsystem provided

there was no victimisation. Cabinet refused to make any modification in the cards or to guarantee

reemployment to the strikers, since it was pledged to retain the "loyalists" in the service. Next day,

therefore, further unions came out at Broken Hill and the retail butchers ceased work in a body.

On the 23rd the Arbitration Court cancelled the registrations of the striking railway unions.Judge Heydon

declared it must be one thing or the otherthe Act or no Act. By striking, the unions implicitly said "No Act,"

and so they would get no Act any more. The latter had argued that the cardsystem constituted a "change of

working conditions," and therefore should not have been introduced without the necessary variation of the

awards having first been obtained from the Court. But technically such a system was regarded as a mere

detail of workshop management which could not come within the purview of the Court under the State Act as

On this same day the Government issued a Proclamation taking over the coal mines in terms of a small Act

hastily rushed through the Assembly. They announced their intention of working the mines with

nonunionists under police protection, guaranteeing the owners against all loss. Four days later the work of

producing coal by strikebreakers was actually begun. Strong camps of these were established on the

Maitland Field, and at Newcastle in the Sailors' Home. On August 24th the ActingPremier announced that

he would carry on no further negotiations with the Strike Committee or their intermediaries. "These

negotiations," he added, "were being carried on solely with a view to encouraging the unions to believe that

The Federal Government now intervened more drastically. On the 29th Regulations were issued under the

War Precautions Act, empowering the GovernorGeneral to deregister from the Commonwealth Arbitration

Court any union participating in the strike, and making it a criminal offence to impede the shearing or the

transportation of wool. This had instant effect. The heads of the A.W.U. determined on the 31st that the union

should not participate actively in the strike, but confine its energies to contributing to the strike funds.

However, on the lastnamed date the gasworkers announced their intention of refusing to handle nonunion

This further extension was suspended, however, to allow of fresh negotiations for a settlement. The Defence

Committee being excluded from access to the Government, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, R. D. Meagher, who

had been expelled from the Labour Party over conscription, but was anxious to return to the fold, now offered

himself as mediator. After consultation with the Defence Committee, he suggested that work should be

resumed on the conditions prevailing at the date of cessationi.e., under the cardsystembut that an

independent tribunal be immediately appointed to investigate the grievances of railway and tramway men,

and after three months to report on the workings of the cardsystem. In the meantime certain safeguards were

to be afforded the men to prevent an abuse of the cards. Cabinet, however, bluntly refused to modify its

In the light of this rebuff the Defence Committee announced its resolve to fight to the bitter end, and declared

its intention to invite all unions, including the A.W.U., to refuse to handle anything that had been touched by

"black" labour. In response to this appeal the gas workers struck at all the retort houses in Sydney and

suburbs on September 3rd, and next day the glassbottle workers, timberworkers, and all the employees of

the Clyde Engineering Co. ceased work, but the A.W.U. did not reconsider its previous decision.

In fact, the back of the strike was broken. Twelve mines were producing coal with nonunion labour. The

two mines of John Brown, Pelaw and Richmond Main, had been definitely taken over by the N.SW.

Government. The latter arranged with the Victorian Government to provide labour for one of these mines and

police protection. Non union crews had been scraped together for several colliers and coastal steamers.

Higgins, J., had cancelled the clause in his award which granted preference to members of the Waterside

Workers' Federation on August 30th, and the shipping companies, thus given a free hand, had enrolled a

tolerably efficient force of "blacklegs," for whom the Government provided accommodation in the premises

granted to the waterside workers by the See Ministry fifteen years previously. At the same time steps were

taken to prevent the families of strikers from receiving State relief when in distress.

Hence, on September 6th, the Defence Committee was forced to accept the offers of mediation made by J. B.

Holme, Special Commissioner for Conciliation in the Department of Labour and Industry. On September 8th

they agreed upon terms of surrender. The cardsystem was to be retained, subject to certain safeguards to

prevent a falsification of the record, and an inquiry by a Royal Commission at the end of three months' trial.

Other grievances were to be submitted to Mr. Holme, and by him to the Arbitration Court, where possible.

The Railway Commissioners were to have discretion in reemploying strikers to fill vacancies, but

employment was to be "offered without vindictiveness." The Committee recommended the acceptance of

these terms to the men on September 10th. Serious hitches still occurred. The men objected to having to fill

in humiliating forms in applying for reinstatement. These were generally considered to be a contravention of

the terms of settlement and many refused to fill them in, but many others gave way under pressure of hunger.

By the 17th the Timberworkers', Enginedrivers', Gasworkers', and other unions had resolved to return to

work, but in all too many cases found their places filled. The engineering trades did the same, but even here

On the waterfront and the coalfields, however, the official strike dragged on for nearly a month. On the 20th

most of the transport workers returned to work where it was available. The wharf labourers, however, were

completely locked out. The shipping companies and the Governments had set up National Service Bureaux to

recruit scabs, and by now had organised a body of some 2,000 nonunionists for constant work. They would

only engage men for casual jobs through the Bureaux, and the latter required from applicants a signed

declaration that they were not members of the Watersideworkers Federation. That was to avoid the

operation of the Federal Award which still stipulated a high hourly wage for members of that organisation.

The wharf labourers have never quite recovered. The companies kept up the bureaux after the war was over,

and organised their loyalists into a tame union, which was awarded preference in place of the Federation.

After many months some of the old hands were allowed to get stray jobs, but till the return of the Storey

The seamen in turn refused to work with nonunionists, and it was not till October 17th that both parties

Finally, the coalminers remained on strike for another month after the other unions had abandoned the

struggle. Negotiations were indeed opened up on September 12th through J. B . Holme, but there was the

trouble of the loyalists employed on the northern field and the " scabs " imported from Victoria. Willis had

done his best to keep the men out of the strike, and when released did his best to get them back to work, but

the first terms offered by the Government were intolerable. By the 25th, however, adjustments had been made

and the Delegate Board were prepared to recommend a resumption on the following terms:

"The unionists were to agree to work with non unionists and to admit them to membership of the Federation.

In future, no permits to work at the coal face were to be issued to unqualified persons save in the event of a

strike. But in reemploying miners preference was to be given to 'loyalists,' and the colliery managers were to

have the right to select labour without, however, showing unfair discrimination against unionists, and guided

in general by the principle, 'last to come, first to go.' The cases of men who considered themselves victimised

were to be examined by an industrial court judge, Local and regional conciliation committees were to be set

up to supervise the reestablishment of local customs and to try and prevent minor stoppages.

On September 28th the Western District Branch of the Federation accepted these terms and resumed work,

and a few days later the miners on the southern field followed suit, but in neither of these districts had there

been any large influx of nonunion labour. In the north there was much dissension. The Delegation Board

recommended a resumption on October 2nd, but many lodges recorded an adverse vote. It was not until the

15th that the strike was officially declared off on the Maitland seam. And even then Richmond Main was

manned wholly by the Victorian strikebreakers, while many members of the Federation who had been

prominent in the strike, or who had belonged to the I.W.W. or the Socialists, were locked out. These men

were long supported by levies on their fellows. But in the end the free labourers from Victoria found

themselves quite incapable of earning a decent wage on piecework and, despite their revolvers and their

police bodyguard, grew weary of living in constant terror from the unionists. So they elected to be

This account must suffice to give some idea of the progress of the great strike at its centre. Its eddies affected

more or less all the States. The net result, in N.S.W. at any rate, was that unionism was virtually crippled in

almost every industry. The railway, engineering, and many other unions were deregistered and so excluded

from the Arbitration Courts, and that was a serious matter in a country where the preparation and argument of

claims for the Court had become the chief function of unionism. In the railways and tramways "yellow"

unions were organised by the Commissioners to take over these functions, and men were given special leave

and free passes to organise these bogus bodies; for, as the Chief Commissioner explained to the Royal

Commission in 1921, it was necessary to have some body to "represent" the men before the Court! These

bodies were deliberately organised so as to break up the railwaymen into as many small sections as possible.

Similarly the "loyalists" on the waterfront were registered as an industrial union and supplanted the old

Federation before the Commonwealth Arbitration Court. Bogus unions were also set up in several other

The aftermath lasted long. The workingclass of Sydney experienced a period of distress and actual

starvation which had not been paralleled in their generation. Thousands of families were driven to subsist on

public charity which was given with no generous hand. On the railways and tramways despite promises of no

vindictiveness, those strikers who were lucky enough to get back at all were shown no mercy. All their

accumulated privileges and seniority were forfeited, and they were treated worse than fresh recruits to the

service. For instance, on the railways firstclass drivers on returning to duty were put to fire for men who had

not even been firstclass firemen before the strike. The whole seniority lists were revised so as to degrade the

strikers. In fact eyesight and hearing tests were altered in the interests of the loyalists and strike breakers, and

this had the effect, according to Mr. justice Edmonds, "of securing permanent employment to a number of

persons (loyalists) who would not otherwise have been retained in the Commissioners' service, and therefore

keeping out of employment an equal number of strikers who were eligible in all respects." The same judge

draws attention to a number of other points in which the settlement terms were disregarded by the

It is worth while pausing here to consider the two most generally accepted views of the origin of the strike as

beautiful illustrations of the mythmaking instinct in politics. The official view, as set forth in the daily Press,

and enunciated by the N.S.W. Government of the day, is that the strike was a deliberate bid by the extremists

within the Labour Movement to obtain by direct action the power which the people refused them at the ballot

box in May, 1917. Fuller claimed to believe that it was a carefullyplanned conspiracy to overthrow or

supersede the constitutional Government of the country by paralysing its industrial life. So in the statement,

"The Government is convinced that a section of the men were determined to have a strike under any

circumstances. There can be no compromise on the part of the Government when an issue of this kind is

raised. The time is now come for the people of this State to take a stand against those extremist's who have

for a long time been deliberately conspiring against the public interest, and who have been responsible for the

industrial ferment which has disgraced this State since the beginning of the war."

"It is absolutely more important that the Government should run the country than those irresponsible people

who are behind the trade unions at the present time should get a withdrawal of the cardsystem. . . . The main

question was whether the irresponsible gentlemen who are trying to run the country shall run it or whether the

On the following day the myth had grown, and Fuller now told a deputation of women, introduced by James

"This is not a revolt against the cardsystem, but against the National Government. We will not allow the

Government to be taken out of the hands of those who have been elected in the proper way to run the country,

and to be handed over, not to the unions, but to the irresponsible men who are endeavouring to force the

Government out of the hands of those responsible to the people and get possession of it themselves."

And eventually all idea of proportion was lost, and the official advertisements Fuller inserted, calling for

Finally we get the theory perfected, and are assured that the Government held ample evidence to prove that

the strike had long been premeditated and was political or even revolutionary in character.

This evidence has never been published. Even a carefully chosen capitalist jury was unable to convict

Kavanagh, Willis, Thompson, and Buckley of conspiring to bring about a strike in the railway service

(November 9th). Some colour was certainly given to the Government's pretensions by some stray utterances

of strike leadersespecially Buckleyat Domain meetings ; but no historical critic would take seriously the

utterances of leaders endeavouring to hearten a body of strikers in a losing battle. More plausible weie

Beeby's references to the abortive O.B.U. Congress in Sydney the previous year, and to the proposals before

the Melbourne T.U.C., summoned to consider conscription in September, 1916. But in view of the manifest

disorganisation of the strikers, it was necessary to modify the official view and assume that the deeper plans

of the "conspirators" had been wrecked by their inability to hold back the wilder elements within the unions

Now, a belief that a general strike would prove invincible no doubt existed very widely, and the general idea

of direct action had been popularised by the I.W.W. But that these sentiments had crystallised into a

conspiracy to use those weapons on a large scale is incredible in the light of the facts, and there is not a tittle

of evidence that a single responsible Labour leader wanted a big strike at that time. If he did, he would have

been a lunatic in view of the vast quantity of coal stored at grass since 1916. On the other hand, it is likely

that the leaders did want to be in a position to carry out a big industrial stoppage if occasion should require it.

Beyond this the official theory is sufficiently refuted by the patent lack of any defined plan in the conduct of

the struggle. For example, in the official statement issued on behalf of the Defence Committee on August 4th,

"It had been originally intended to confine the strike to those directly affected by the cardsystem, but this

was found to be impossible owing to the general dissatisfaction which existed throughout the railway service

due to the failure to remedy longstanding grievances and to the limited scope of the Arbitration Act."

All the evidence goes to show that many unions simply rushed into the fray from a mistaken spirit of

solidarity without any encouragement from the Labour leaders in fact, against their advice. It was not till

September, when too many unions were already embroiled, that the Defence Committee deliberately invited

In reply to the official version the unions evolved an amazing myth of their own. In its final elaboration, the

Labour thesis was that the whole dispute was deliberately engineered by the Government, in conjunction with

the Employers' Federation, with a view to dealing a knockout blow to unionism. It was contended that the

Government waited till ample reserves of coal had been accumulated and the cessation of public works had

thrown large numbers of men upon the Labour market. Then a step was taken which the Ministry knew meant

an upheavalthe cardsystem was revived, and to make sure of the desired breach occurring the

"Every subsequent step," says the Annual Report of the P.L.L. Executive, December, 1917, "proved that the

plausible ActingPremier, Mr. Fuller, was simply a willing tool in the hands of the Employers' Federation

which met daily to advise the Government. That the Government and the employers' organisations were all

parties to a conspiracy to break the power of unionism and force conscription upon the workingclass has

been proved up to the hilt by the discovery of the Secret Memorandum prepared by Premier Holman, and

circulated among his colleagues prior to his departure for Great Britain." (p. 17).

Now this pretty theory might fit in very well with poststrike events, but is otherwise selfcontradictory. In the

first place, the Secret Memorandum proves nothing of the sort. It was a series of suggestions for aids to

recruiting, drawn up under Holman's instructions and circulated among his colleagues for consideration by

Cabinet in the ordinary way. A copy was stolen, and published in the Press by the AntiConscription

Committee on the morning of the polling for the second referendum on that subject (December, 1917). For

the purposes of discrediting conscriptionists, it was highly effective ; for it contained a whole series of most

Prussian suggestions racing and amusements were to be rigorously curtailed; picture shows were to be

flooded with recruiting films; the Presscensorship was to be yet further tightened, and all papers were to be

obliged to publish columns of official war "news" and propaganda articles ; pacifist papers were to be

watched with a view to complete suppression; eligible single men were to be discharged from the public

service, and employers were to be encouraged to adopt a similar policy of economic compulsion. All this is

reactionary in the extreme, but where is there a hint of any plan for crushing unionism?

Of course the Labour theory is untenable. It proves, or seeks to prove, too much. How could the Government

or the Employers' Federation foresee the ramifications which the strike would assume ? On their own

confession, those who were responsible for the conduct of the strike had no intention of letting it spread

beyond the workshops. If the union leaders could not foretell the expansion of the strike and did their best to

limit it, how was any one outside the unions to foresee the implication of the coalminers or waterside

workers ? Really the acceptance of the Labour thesis would involve adherence also to the version of Fuller

On the other hand it is probable that the new antiLabour Ministry were resolved to challenge the authority

of the unions within their own employ. The cardsystem did constitute such a challenge, but there is no

evidence to show that that challenge was deliberately timed to suit the other employers. It was more likely

that it was just a coincidence that it came at such a convenient juncture. Nevertheless, when they saw men

coming out on all sides at a disadvantage, the shipping and coal interests resolved to seize the opportunity to

draw the fangs of the militant unions. They had long writhed under the repeated stoppages and interruptions

inflicted upon industry by the waterside workers and the coalminers. Now, these unions struck when there

was plenty of coal at grass and trade was slack. The employers were assured of the fullest support from the

Ministry, and pushed home their advantage ruthlessly. A happy combination of circumstances superfluity of

labour, ample reserves of coal, a war emergency (which was not an emergency in this sense in Australia

except in the capitalist dailies), a pannicky fear of Germans and I.W.W. incendiaries among the cocky

farmers and middle classes, and a spirit of undisciplined and misguided solidarity among the proletariathad

delivered the unions into their hands. Government and employers were united in driving home their

The lesson of the strike, so pitilessly driven home on the starving unionists of Australia, was the complement

of that of the BanktoBank Strike the preceding year, the futility of mere solidarity without direction, of

strikes alone deprived of plan and executive guidance. Unions had rushed out into the fray without consulting

anybody, and so complicated the task confronting the hastily formed Defence Committee. Yet the latter

lacked the authority to order back to work overzealous organisations or to call out others. Still less could it

conduct the strike on the scientific lines that persons wise after the event subsequently recommended. The

urgent need of reorganising the forces of unionism was, therefore, made clear to all.

The Secretary of the Labour Council, in his report for December, 1917, draws attention to this. In future, he

argues such matters must be controlled by a responsible body, not a scratch organisation without permanent

existence like the Defence Committee.He therefore outlines a sort of federal scheme to this end.All unions

should be grouped on lines of trade affinity into Industrial Federations governed by Industrial Councils, on

which each union would be represented by from one to three delegates according to membership. These

Councils should in turn be linked up to a State Council, and over all would be an Australian Labour Council.

The State Council would consist of one delegate for each union and would send two delegates to the

Australian Council. Voting was to be on the cardsystem, and no union might strike without the approval of

Kavanagh's scheme did not meet with the approval of the industrial unionists on the Labour Council. It was

referred to a subcommittee, on which the industrialists secured a majority dominated by men like E. E. judd,

The latter rejected the Secretary's scheme on account of its craft basis, and outlined a plan for One Big Union

in accordance with American theories. They did not, however, propose to scrap political action altogether, or

even to abandon arbitration. The new plan, known as the O.B.U., was approved by the Council after a

protracted debate. and a committee was appointed to explain the proposal to the unions. Meanwhile the

Secretary of the Council, E. J. Kavanagh, was appointed to the Board of Trade, and the industrialist, Garden,

elected in his place. Had the scheme been ripened and ratified a little earlier while the lessons of the Big

Strike were still fresh in the minds of unionists, it would have had a far better chance of acceptance. This

However, a Trade Union Congress was called and met in Sydney on August 5th, 1918. A. C. Willis was in

the chair, and nearly 150 organisations sent delegates. The scheme of industrial unionism laid before

Congress was, of course, opposed by the craft interests and also by the Central Banch of the A.W.U. On the

other hand, A. Rae and Cullinan, of the Western (N.S.W.) Branch of that union, supported it enthusiastically.

The scheme was preceded by a preamble inspired by the I.W.W. economics. It did not, however, follow

slavishly either the 1905 or 1908 preamble. In particular it precisely defined the meaning of the classstruggle

("the greater the share which the capitalist class appropriates, the less remains for the workers; therefore the

interests of these two classes are in constant conflict"); revolutionary ("a complete change, namely, the

abolition of the capitalist ownership of the means of production, whether privately or through the State, and

the establishment, instead, of social ownership"); and retains political beside industrial action with the

The actual organisation, too, was a much modified version of Trautmann's plan. The union was to be divided

into six departments (1) Building and Construction, (2) Manufacture, (3) Transportation and

Communication, (4) Agriculture and Fisheries, (5) Civil Service and Public Utilities, (6) Mining. The

departments were subdivided into divisionsthree in No. i, four in Nos. 3, 4 and 6, six in No. 5, and eight in

No. 2. For instance, in the Building and Construction Department there were the ShipandBoat Building

Division, the Railway, Road, Canal, and Sewerage Construction Division, and the Building Division proper.

(The construction of locomotives was assigned to Department 2.) The divisions were industrial. For example,

the Metalliferous Division of the Mining Department included, beside the miners, clerks and all labour

employed about the mines as well as those engaged in treating the ore at the smelters and refiners. But little

attempt had been made to adjust the American scheme to actual conditions in Australia. So in Department 4

the three most important industries of Australia pastoral, wheat and canegrowingwere lumped together in

one division, while the industrially far less important orchard and vineyard workers had a department to

themselves like the cottonplantation employees, who were nonexistent. Again, in the Mining Department a

whole division was reserved for oil mining. This had to be glossed in the explanatory pamphlet issued by the

Within the divisions of the Manufacturing Department there were to be also subdivisions five in the

Foodstuffs Divisionanimal foods, cereal and vegetable foods (millers, bakers, sugar refiners, etc.),

beverages, tobaccoworkers (wholesale and retail), and also hairdressers, and hotel and restaurant employees,

The government of the union would have been highly complicated. At the top was a Grand Council

consisting of a President and Secretary elected by plebiscite of the whole membership, together with two

delegates from each department also elected. This body had almost untrammelled power over the finances

and policy of the union and could call a general strike. No Department, Division or Section would be

permitted to take any action involving the members of the unions without the permission of the Grand

Council. All its members were to be fully paid. Departmental and Divisional Councils were similarly

constituted. There was also provision for District Councils made up from delegates from each Division in

industrial centres like Sydney, Newcastle, Broken Hill, and so on. Sectional Committees to safeguard the

interests of allied trades, and Shop Committees on the lines of those operating under the A.M.I.E.U. in the

meat works. The whole was designed to constitute a graded hierarchy of controls. But all the officers and

councillors were to be subject to the recall, and it was laid down that the highest authority in the union should

be a plebiscite vote of all the members. The ballot was to be used to determine all matters of interest to the "

unions. The extremist section denounced these latter provisions as reactionary, but they were inserted as a sop

While these events were taking place in N.S.W. a similar movement was on foot in the other States. After the

Sydney Congress in N.S.W., congresses were held in Victoria and Queensland which adopted the N.S.W.

scheme practically unaltered. Finally, an allAustralian Congress in Melbourne ratified these plans. But this

grandiose edifice came to nothing. It had officials provisionally appointed at Melbourne, but no members.

Craft and sectional prejudices were still too strong. Moreover, the politicians, as we have seen above,

THE opposition of the Australian Workers' Union was the rock on which the One Big Union went to

shipwreck. This great organisation was made the shield from behind which the alarmed politicians launched

their attacks and the rallying point for the jealousies of craft union officials. There seem to be two main

reasons for the A.W.U. hostility. In the first place they aimed themselves at being the One Big Union, and

were, therefore, jealous of the new organisation. But more serious, their officers objected to its revolutionary

policy. The A.W.U. was traditionally political, and its vast membership had been used as a machine for

raising its officials to political honours. The revolutionary preamble of the O.B.U. seemed likely seriously to

reduce the number of seats available for parliamentary aspirants in the Labour ranks. Finally, the A.W.U.

officials looked with distrust upon the coalminers' organisation, which had already robbed them of the

Broken Hill section of the metalliferous miners and seemed likely to wield the preponderating influence in

Accordingly, though the Central Branch of the A.W.U. had been represented on the O.B.U. Congress in

Sydney by J. H. Catts, M.H.R., and others, it quietly withdrew its support from the scheme there outlined

after it had failed to secure the acceptance of an alternative and very mild preamble drawn up by Catts or its

own scheme of organisation in contradistinction to the American model actually endorsed. So in Queensland,

though an A.W.U. representative was actually appointed to the local O.B.U. Committee, by refusing to attend

its meetings he succeeded in keeping propaganda work in that State hamstrung. Finally, the Annual

Convention of 1919 ignored the appeals of the O.B.U. Committee and refused to take a ballot of their

The indiscretions of the O.B.U. Committee eventually gave the A.W.U. officers an excuse for launching an

open campaign against it. When the A.W.U. ignored the latter's request for a ballot of their membership on

the question of dissolving in order to enter the proposed new organisation, the Propaganda Committee of the

O.B.U. decided to go behind the backs of the A.W.U. officials and take a plebiscite of the rank and file on

their own account. Such a threat was, of course, futile, since only the responsible officers of the union in

possession of the roll of members and enjoying the proper authority could take a ballot that would reflect in

any way the real sentiments of the members. Moreover the proposal to go behind the backs of the elected

spokesmen of a great union exposed its authors to the charge of body snatching and treachery to union

principles. It savoured of I.W.W. methods, and was compared to the attempt of the Nationalist Government to

undermine the Miners' Federation by employing agents to canvass individual miners in favour of the

Conciliation Committees after the Delegate Board of the Federation had definitely decided to have nothing to

This resentment was fanned into fury by the language used by J. S. Garden, Secretary of the Sydney O.B.U.

Committee, before the Social Democratic League in March, 1919, when he spoke of "whiteanting the

unions beginning with the A.W.U." in the interests of the O.B.U. Garden's unhappy phrase was never

forgotten. The A.W.U. bosses put the screw on the editorial staff of the Workers, and ordered them under

pain of dismissal to reverse the policy of the papers and cease supporting the One Big Union. They readily

yielded to economic pressure, and began to attack the skeleton organisation with as much vehemence as they

But if the reasons animating the A.W.U. can be thus simply summarised it is by no means so easy to explain

why the industrial unionists thought it necessary to construct an entirely new organisation instead of joining

forces with the A.W.U. in their amalgamation movement. The answer is that they objected to the structure,

policy, and personnel of the existing organisation. Instead of Divisions and Departments for the several

branches of industry, the A.W.U. went in, as we have seen, formass unionism, in which the balance of power

was retained in the hands of one section the pastoral shearer. Again the governing convention, instead of

representing the several economic interests of employees in different industries, only reflected the more or

less accidental grouping of workers by the locality in which they might happen to reside. So the criticism

levelled by the I.W.W. against middleclass democracy (Chapter X) would apply equally to the government

of the A.W.U. Moreover, with this structure, the detailed action by sections of the workingclass, essential in

the eyes of these theorists for success in the struggle against the master class, could not be ensured. That

required, above all, that a paralysing strike could be called of the whole of the workers in one specific

industrybuilding, mining, railways, etc. A union departmentalised on the American plan could carry out just

those tactics. The A.W.U. branches, on the other hand, lumped together all workers in all sorts of

disconnected industries just because they resided or worked in the same geographical area.

This difficulty might have been overcome by an extension of the system of industrial branches already

applied in the case of the navvies in N.S.W. But the opposition of policies was more serious. The advocates

of the One Big Union, though prepared to make some concessions both to the arbitrationists and the

advocates of political action, were resolved on having a lengthy preamble prefixed to their constitution. It is

open to doubt whether the Registrar of any Arbitration Court would admit a body under such a banner to the

benefits of the Court. Certainly the nascent politicians in the A.W.U. thought it would be a serious obstacle to

The industrialists on the other hand regarded the policy of the A.W.U. as devoted solely to getting its officials

into Parliament and then into Cabinet, regardless of the industrial interests of the workers it was intended to

serve. And here we come to the real crux. The O.B.U. leaders looked upon the A.W.U. officials as a clique of

reactionary intriguers and boodlers who were out for power. Hence their pursuit of a conservative revisionist

programme, their devotion to political action. and their horror of revolutionary propaganda. They only

wanted to absorb other unions, said the apostles of the O.B.U., in order to augment their own prestige, and

were careful in the process to keep the balance of power in their own hands. To this end they dominated the

policy of the union, manipulated plebiscites, and packed conventions. That is why they opposed a scientific

These contentions are so grave that they merit examination in some detail. For a strong case has been

presented in support of them. It is in fact undeniable that the government of the A.W.U. is, and long has been,

in the hands of the paid officials, who are in turn under the thumb of a smaller group at the top of the

hierarchy. Such a state of affairs is the natural outcome of the A.W.U. structure.

As we have explained, the supreme government of the A.W.U. is in the hands of the annual convention. The

members are represented on this Assembly by delegates of the branches chosen by plebiscite of the members

therein. Owing to the vast area of these branches, only those candidates whose names are very widely known

have a real chance of election. This circumstance gives the branch officers and organisers who travel about

the branch area, publish reports in the Worker, and appear before Arbitration Courts, an incalculable

advantage over the ordinary working members who can only be known as a rule to their actual workmates in

a limited area. Thus it comes about that the majoritygenerally a large majorityof the delegates to Convention

Even the more progressive officials of the union have recognised the impropriety of this arrangement. At the

Queensland Delegate Meetingconstituted like Convention of delegates from the Districts in that Stateof

"That not more than one fully paid official should be elected from any district as a delegate to the branch

He argued that it was wrong that officials should dominate Conference and regulate the policy they

themselves would have to administer. Riordan pointed out that paid officers got elected because they were

"We are drifting into a policy of bureaucracyof Government by officials for officials."

At the Annual Convention a similar motion was also brought forward, and a delegate remarked that a

As a remedy for what one delegate described as "star chamber control by officials" it was proposed at the

1916 convention to establish a system of initiative, referendum, and recall, whereby "10 per cent. of the

members as a whole or in any one industry might petition new rules, censure officials and regulate their

salaries." This motion was vigorously opposed by the dominant clique, and only found five supporters. W.

McCormack warned delegates against "catchy resolutions," arguing that the resolutions discussed at

Convention were all formulated by members of the union, and that the officials were annually elected.

Now, it is true that the vast majority of the resolutions on the Convention agenda emanate from meetings of

the rank and file, at shearingsheds or construction camps. But the number of such resolutions is stupendous

passing resolutions is a favourite pastime in off hours in the back country so that Convention cannot

possibly consider them all. Some selection must, therefore, be made, and it is reasonably easy to have really

inconvenient motions shelved in this way. Moreover, Rule 62 allows the General Secretary to omit from the

agenda published in the Worker, "resolutions containing irrelevant or improper rnatter," provided he retains

the original. Finally, no delegate from the meeting which originated a proposition is sent specially to

As to reelection in the A.W.U., as in most unions, this is a mere formality as far as the President and

Secretary are concerned. W. G. Spence retained the Presidency from 1898 to 1916, when he was suspended

and forced to resign, owing to his support of conscription. Donald Macdonnell was Secretary continuously

from 1900 till his death in 1912, and his successor Grayndler is still in office. Dunstan has been Secretary for

Queensland since the amalgamation with the A.W.A., while Bailey and Lambert have retained their positions

as President and Secretary respectively of the Central (N.S.W.) Branch nearly as long.

The government of branches was even more oligarchic. Save in Queensland the Branch Executive is the

supreme authority, and it is composed of delegates elected at a local committee meeting (Rule 75, 1919, since

revised). No such committees were in existence at a number of centres of the pastoral industry within the

Central Branch territory, and the local meeting would be likely to consist of the local office staff, and their

personal friend, Jack Cullinan (Western Branch), in fact, told the 1918 Convention that under this system a

few persons could elect an executive officer, and Arthur Blakeley asserted that the system of local

committees had failed in N.S.W. because of the nomadic habits of the members who were on the move

The general branch meeting is held at the head office of the branch in June or July early in the shearing

season. That was a convenient time when the branch offices were in the middle of the pastoral districts, but

since the Central Branch was transferred to Sydney in 1916 the working unionists have been de facto

excluded, and the attendance restricted to members of Parliament, the branch officials and the office staff.

Yet these "general meetings" have still power to exercise general control over the policy of the branch (Rule

The latter, apart from appeals to the unrepresentative general meeting, are almost entirely under the thumb of

the Branch Executive which may, on its own initiative, appoint additional organisers (Rule 58a), and suspend

or dismiss any organiser for faults, or if his services are no longer required (Rule 58d). Now, as apart from

the permanent officers the majority of the delegates to the Annual Convention are organisers or other

employees even more directly under the control of the Executive, the official junta can control a large bloc

vote at that gathering, since they can dictate to organisers and similar employees how to vote. (They are

allowed to make guardedly militant speeches if they like, for that is good business.) It pays to keep on good

terms with the junta, as an organiser's billet is in itself quite a pleasant one nowadays, and the junta can

reward faithful service by making generous allowances for travelling expenses. On the other hand, an

inconvenient critic can easily be punished. For example, in 1915 E. Lane came ninth in the ballot for the eight

Convention delegates. Men a substitute was needed for one of the eight, Lane was deliberately passed over

So the deliberations of Convention are, it is said, secretly fettered by a Tammany system of cliquism and

favouritism. Similarly all serious criticism of the officials in the Labour Press can be suppressed because of

their share in the management of the Workers. The Australian Worker, published in Sydney, and circulating

in N.S.W., South Australia, and Victoria, like the Westralian Worker and the Maoriland Worker (New

Zealand), is entirely owned and controlled by the A.W.U., and the same union has a major voice in the

management of the Queensland Worker. Control by the A.W.U., of course, means control by the official

clique. And so it comes about that the columns of these papers are not really open to publish correspondence

from members who have complaints to make displeasing to the official clique. For instance, in January, 1915,

E. Lane, as Secretary to the Literature Committee of the Queensland Branch, wrote to complain that the

committee had not been allowed the use of the funds voted by the branch the previous year for the purchase

of propaganda literature. (The reason apparently was that the pamphlets imported by the committee from

America encouraged a toomilitant outlook to suit the tastes of the politicians.) His letter never appeared in

the Worker, though the Standard, to which he sent a copy, published it! During 1918 Sydney Truth published

a number of letters purporting to come from members of the union, which the writers said had been

suppressed by the Workers. There is grave reason to doubt the authenticity of this correspondence, but,

assuming that the letters were forgeries, their contents are intended to be convincing so that it is probable that

An unmistakable instance of interference by the union officials is provided by the sudden reversal of the

policy of the Sydney Worker in 1919. From the most unstinted eulogies of the Trades Hall O.B.U. in one

issue we pass to equally unsparing condemnation in the next. Henceforth it begins to boost the A.W.U. as the

one genuine O.B.U. for Australia, and to describe its rival as an engine of destruction. Yet every one in

But not content with stifling criticism and manipulating the decisions of Convention, the bosses have on

occasions gone so far as to ignore the directions of that supreme body. We have already mentioned one such

case in Queensland, but it was followed by a still more glaring breach. The 1915 Convention resolved to

divide Queensland into two branches. The existing branch officers, however, issued through the Worker an

appeal against the division, and by March persuaded the General Executive to suspend the decision of

Convention, and to submit the question to a plebiscite of the members. During the ballot the whole machinery

of the branch office was used to get a negative vote. The ballot was declared ineffective, and despite strong

In accordance with the democratic theory on which the A.W.U. was originally founded, much is made of the

referendum. But in practice the officials seem loth to use it for any serious question. Thus they stoutly refused

to submit the question of joining the O.B.U. to the rank and file. It was only with the utmost difficulty after

three years' struggling by the Left that the issue "Direct negotiation with the employers (strike) versus

Arbitration" was submitted to a plebiscite vote. On the other hand, questions of the most vital importance

have been settled by a couple of officers on their own responsibility. Thus the decision to hold the union

aloof from the 1917 strike was made by the President and Secretary alone without consulting the Executive.

The "unscientific structure" of the A.W.U. has already been noted. As the I.W.W. put it, "The A.W.U. thinks

it is on its way to become an industrial union, if it swallows up another union." The reasons have now been

revealed in the grasping lust for autocratic power of the officials. They desire to extend the membership of

their union in order to swell their own importance, but they aim at keeping the unions that they devour in the

most complete subjection possible. Where a union has come in with the status of an industrial branch like the

R.W. G.L.U., its relative independence has more than once been threatened by proposals that all N.S.W.

should be under one branch. Moreover, the methods adopted to bring about some of the amalgamations were

reputedly not overscrupulous. It is authoritatively alleged that the A.W.U bosses bribed every one of the of

the officials of the Federated Mining Employees, in order to get the metalliferous miners to agree to terms of

amalgamation suitable to the A.W.U. Claude Thompson, Secretary of the Amalgamated Railway and

Tramway Service Association, was to have a seat in Parliament secured by a faked selection ballot as the

price of his support of the amalgamation between the A.R. T.S.A. and the A.W.U. On the other hand, when

the Barrier miners, distrusting the reactionary policy of the A.W.U., decided to throw in their lot with the

coalminers, the A.W.U. opposed before the Registrar of the Commonwealth Arbitration Court the

application of the latter union for permission to amend its rules so as to include the metalliferous men of the

Barrier. So Grayndler, Secretary of the A.W.U., ranged himself beside the Broken Hill Mining Companies

against the A.M.A ., and drew forth an indignant protest from the Broken Hill Branch of his own union.

Attention has already been drawn to the extremely conservative policy of the A.W.U. in its attachment to the

Arbitration Court, and we have seen how that policy reacted on the amalgamation move in 1912, the success

of the new amalgamation in Queensland, and the wages of shearers in the 191516 season, and have quoted

the comments of the I.W.W. thereon. On the tactics of the union officials, after the expiration of the

Shearers'Award in 1915, the comments of Mr. justice Higgins in granting a new award of 30s. per 100 are

"The union got its members to wait patiently till the award should have expired and, as I know from certain

conferences in my chambers, used all its influence to prevent men from claiming higher rates in the meantime

than the award permits. This attitude is all the more to be admired in view of the steady increase in the cost of

From the standpoint of the classconscious industrialist these eulogies hardly redound to the credit of the

A.W.U. bureaucracy, since they do not denote any sacrifice by those officials, but simply mean that they

prevented their underpaid followers from extorting by direct action the increases that even the President of

the Arbitration Court admitted were due, and which the successes of the outlaw strikes in northern N.S.W.

showed might have been secured. The same applies to certain remarks made by Falkiner, M.H.R., a wealthy

"I rose chiefly to contradict a statement made by the Hon. Member from Darling, in which he tried to connect

the Pastoralist Union with the I.W.W. He knows well that for many years, and especially during the last

twelve months, the Pastoralist Union has been doing its best to retain in office the present officials of the

At the time of the Big Strike the A.W.U. nonintervention policy looked to many as sheer treachery. It was

argued that if the A.W.U. had obeyed the call of the Defence Committee and withdrawn the shearers and

rural workers, the farmers' sons and other bushmen, who had come to Sydney as strikebreakers, would have

had to go home again to look after the crops. Similarly, the agreement between the proprietors of the Port

Pirie smelters and Secretary Grayndler, providing against strikes at the smelters during the war, made on

September 17th at a time when the Barrier miners were on strike in sympathy with their comrades in the east,

The composition of the union is also remarkably middle class. In delivering judgment upon the application of

Killeen for the deregistration of the A.W.U., Powers, J., states (April 14th, 1915)

"The evidence showed that barristers, members of Parliament, hotelkeepers, storekeepers, dentists,

hairdressers, and many other employees not engaged in any work connected with the pastoral industry, had

been admitted to membership of the union, while employers, not employees, had been elected as members

and allowed to continue as members of the registered organisation of employees. They had been allowed to

vote for the appointment of the Executive and the Executive generally determined whether claims were to be

The insinuation in the learned judge's remarks is obvious, yet he contented himself with ordering the union to

enforce its rules more strictly in the future. The Court's direction was, however, got over by appointing

members of Parliament and other unqualified persons "honorary organisers," thus making them technically

officials of the union and so eligible for membership. There is, further, no doubt that, as stated by the I.W.W.

in their booklet already quoted, members of the pastoral section of the union were cocky farmers. Small

farmers and their sons often leave their selections for a while to go shearing. Again, J. Bailey, the N.S.W.

VicePresident, when running for the Monaro seat in the Labour interests, solicited the farmer votes as a

The inference generally based upon these facts is that the A.W.U bosses have been out for political power

and the perquisites of office for themselves and their cronies. It is indeed admitted that those

bossesLambert, Blakeley, and Bailey, etc. had been the keenest critics of the politicians and political

control from 1912 to 1916. But this is explicable on the assumption that they did not object to politicians in

the abstract but only to any politicians but themselves or their tools. As Black and other parliamentarians had

argued at the time, the A.W.U. officials were even then looking for seats for themselves, and used their

criticisms of sitting members as a lever to supersede the latter on the coveted benches.

Certainly when the conscription split had created a number of vacancies in the Labour ranks, Bailey,

Blakeley, Last, and other quondam critics hastened to offer themselves to fill the breach. During the 1917

elections, Bailey, Holloway, Last, and Lundie were so busy looking for seats that it was impossible to secure

a quorum for a meeting of the General Executive of which they were all members, although there was most

urgent business to discuss, namely, the framing of the union's claim for a new award from the Arbitration

Court. General Secretary Grayndler admitted that he had been handicapped in the presentation of the union's

Everywhere the A.W.U. has provided a ladder whereby the ambitious unionists have sought and often

attained parliamentary honours. Some have gone so far as to argue that the whole campaign against Holman

and his colleagues in N.S.W. and even the amalgamated movement itself which President Spence declared

would be a considerable force in the political world, were merely stages in a gigantic conspiracy on the part

of the A.W.U. bosses to turn the political movement into an instrument for their own advancement.

The last thesis is certainly farfetched, and much of the other criticism here summarised must be discounted

in view of the personal prejudices of the critics. The union's adherence to arbitration, for example, may only

be due to the superiority of that method for settling industrial disputes and improving conditions. Certainly

the union's experience of the alternative in the 'nineties had not been encouraging, and the plebiscite taken in

1919 showed that a large majority of the members were in favour of the Court. More recently the union has

been prepared to revise that policy when it was obvious that the membership was ripe for a more vigorous

The same may hold good of political action which has been the policy of the union consistently from its

earliest years. Its efforts were justified if not actuated by the proved necessity of controlling the politicians in

But making the fullest allowance for these considerations, the policy and administration of the union could

not be regarded as satisfactory. The charge of bureaucracy is proved up to the hilt. It cannot be gainsaid that

Labour papers controlled by the A.W.U. have shown an inclination to suppress legitimate criticism. The

freest discussion of all aspects of the workingclass movement in the Labour Press and the Workers are

more than mere union journals is essential to preserve that movement from stagnation. Yet the attitude of

the Workers on the O.B.U. and on the N.S.W. A.L.P. split that followed, shows the danger of permitting a

As to structure, the question of mass unionism cannot be decided here. It must, however, be said that despite

McNaught, for Arbitration Court purposes, at least the A.W.U. for instance, in Queensland seems fully

capable of looking after the interests of the multifarious classes included in the union. Admirable awards have

been secured for miners, sewerageworkers, sugarworkers as well as shearers. Martyn's argument in the last

sugarworkers' case was a brilliant example of lucidity, profound erudition, and clear comprehension and

So, then, in 1919 the O.B.U. leaders found themselves standing in diametrical opposition to the officials of

the A.W.U. as to aims, methods, and persons. The opposition of the largest union in Australia added to craft

jealousy and parliamentary intrigue was fatal to their scheme. A few unionsthe Waterside Workers and

Trolley and Draymendid, indeed, take a ballot of their members on the question of merging in the O.B.U., or

Workers' Industrial Union of Australia, as it proposed to call itself; but as that body existed solely on paper

all rejected the proposition except the C. S.E.F. The coal miners and the Barrier A.M.A. did come in en

masse, and called themselves the Mining Department of the W.I.U. of A. But the change of name by one

union did not, of course, make a new union. In fact, the tactics of the O.B.U. leaders were at that juncture

doomed to failure. It was vain to hope that the mass of existing unions would abandon utterly their existing

identity and organisation to merge into a larger whole that was left hanging in midair.

On the other hand, their distrust of the A.W.U. excluded a process whereby some existing bodies might have

amalgamated under the W.I.U. of A. scheme, and formed a nucleus organisation to which other bodies might

later have gravitated. That might have been feasible. Instead the O.B.U. made an indiscriminate onslaught on

all unions, and by its policy of "all or nothing" courted annihilation. It finally received its quietus when its

leaders were expelled from the Labour Party in N.S.W., and allowed themselves to be manoeuvred into

forming a new party in 1919. By that step they earned for themselves the title of "rats"; for the majority of

unionists, to whom the Labour platform had become a sort of religion, saw no distinction between men like

Garden and Willis who left that body to go further Left and those who, like Hughes and Holman, went over

to the Right. At the same time their own minority broke up, suspecting Willis and some of their colleagues of

seeking political honours by pandering to moderates. These preferred Sovietism or pure I.W.W.sm.

Still the O.B.U. idea still lived, and at the AllAustralian Trade Union Congress in Melbourne in July, 1921,

the One Big Union scheme, preamble and all, was once more endorsed on paper. In the meanwhile the

position of the A.W.U. had altered considerably. Despite all the intriguing of their bosses they had failed to

dominate the new Labour Government in N.S.W., and Bailey had not even secured a seat in the Storey

Cabinet. In the shearing industry, too, they had been forced to support a direct action policy to secure the

fortyfour hours week, and the comparative failure of the Labour Government to redeem its innumerable

promises to the industrialists had induced a recurrence of militancy in the rank and file. So the A.W.U.

bosses, having thrown over their former allies Storey and Catts (they had displaced the latter from the

position of secretary to the Federal Caucus to make room for their president, Blakeley), were forced to find

As an outcome of the Melbourne Congress an amalgamation between the A.W.U., the Miners, and the

Waterside Workers was agreed upon in February, 1922. The miners now form the Mining Department of the

A.W.U., and the Watersiders the nucleus of the Transportation Department, to which it is hoped that the

Australian Railways Union and the Seamen will adhere later (the latter, indeed, only hung back because the

A.W.U. will not abandon its rule excluding coloured aliens, of whom the Seamen actually include a few). As

the price of their adherence the Miners have secured the adoption by the new A.W.U. of the preamble of the

W.I.U. of A. and something like its structure on paper. But owing to difficulties anent the disposal of Trust

Funds the scheme has not yet come into operation. It remains to be seen whether the change in the A.W.U.

goes any deeper. For the moment it looks as if this apparent victory for the industrialists will cost them their

ideals, and that while the One Big Union may be realised it will have to sacrifice its revolutionary idealism,

and will degenerate into that state of soulless mechanism which seems to come over all Labour activities in

the hour of their apparent triumph. As the Labour Party, starting with a band of inspired Socialists,

degenerated into a vast machine for capturing political power, but did not know how to use that power when

attained except for the profit of individuals; so the O.B.U. will, in all likelihood, become just a gigantic

apparatus for the glorification of a few bosses. Such is the history of all Labour organisations in Australia,

and that not because they are Australian, but because they are Labour. ADDENDUM In the period of

industrial depression which is now beginning the A.W.U. has suffered heavily. Called upon to prove its

vaunted value as an industrial organisation, it has failed to protect even its most favoured sectionthe

shearers. The Powers Award of May, 1922, reduced rates by 5s. per 100, and other items proportionately. so

that pastoral wages were reduced to the 1917 level, though the cost of living is still far higher. At the same

time the fortyfourhour week, which had been granted by the State award in Queensland and won by direct

action in N.S.W., was refused. The A.W.U. thereupon advised its members to refuse to work under this

award. But when an injunction was served upon the union forbidding it to uphold an illegal strike, its officers

climbed down. The strike did indeed take place, but no reports thereof appear in the union journals the

Workers and none of the union's wellpaid organisers visited the danger zone. It was left to men like

Arthur Rae, who had been expelled from the union for criticising its bosses, to organise the resistance to the