Queensland

Parliamentary Debates [Hansard]

Legislative Assembly

WEDNESDAY, 1 AUGUST 1917

Electronic reproduction of original hardcopy

484 Adjournment. [ASSE~IBLY.] Questions.

v,~ED!>iESDAY, 1 Auoc:sT, 1917.

The SPEAKER (Hon. W. McCormack, C·airns) took the chair at half-past 3 o'clock.

PAPERS.

The following papers, laid on the table, were ordered to be printed:-

Annual report of the 1,; nder Secretary for Mines for the year 1916.

Return to an Order, relative to purchase of Queensland sugar crop for 1917, made by the House, on motion of Mr. Armfielrl, on 12,h July.

QUESTIOKS.

ASSISTAXCE TO MINI!>iG hmr,STRY.

Mr. WALKER (C oorool'cl) asked the Chief Secretary, for the Sccreta.r.: for Mines-

" 1. 'What '~a.s the amount appropri­ated by Parliament for tho assistance of the mining industry for the financial year 30th June, 1916-17-(a) For prospecting; (b) for deep-sinking ; ( c} for loans under the Mining and Machinery Advances Act.?

" 2. ·what was the amount actually granted for pro,pecting-(a) The num­bm· of prospectors to whom as,istance was granted; (I!) the amount actually expended; (c) the total nur:obcr of appli­cations rcceiv0d?

" 3. ·what was the amount actually granted for deep-sinkin:c-(a} The num­ber and the names of the mines for which grants were made; (b) the amount of the respective grants; (c) the amount actually paid in the respective cases; (d) the number of applications made for assist.a nee ?

" 4. The number of applications made under the Mining and l\Ia0hinery Ad­vances Act for loans-(a) The names of the mines in connection with which the applications were made; (b) the respec­tive amounts applied for; (c) the amounts in the respective cases actually expended; (d) the names of the mines in respect of which loans were granted?"

Qu,stions. (J AUGUST.) Questwns. 485

The PREMIER (Hon. T. J. Ryan, Barcoo)rcplioo-" I table herewith the information .de,ire.d by the hon. member. "1. (a) £5,000. "2. (a) 14.

(b) £20,000. (b) £202 3s. lOd. (c) £5,000. {c) 36.

''3-(a)

Names of :\'lines for which Grants were Made.

Total, !7.

W. H. Short, ,Jone< Hill Southern Drninfli!B Board .. . Northern Drainage Board ... ... ... . .. (irel t Northern fidlt J'lining Company, Limited Amalgamatefl :\Ionklanrl and <;~anmire ... {JoJumbia. Conso1idatcd Gold ~line..;, Limikd Drainage Board ... . .. "1\ 1V. Adams and party, Yictoria Xorth .. 1\iadelaine SvndiPate . . . .. earring-ton iJuited Syndicate ... . .. lL J. Olsen and pat'ty, }!ills U'nitod G10und 0Hs:ey nnd party, Deep L1 ad E. P. Meehan ar>d party. :SatiYe Cat l1rank Jones, Khartum R. L. Duus ... C. Knudsen and party :Morris and party

(d) 39." "4.-

(a)

:Xame of Mine.

Gym pie do. do. do. do. do. ... . ..

Charters Towers do. do. do. do.

Herberton do.

Chil!agoe ... ~fount ~!organ ... B~mford ... Mount 1Vind or

(b)

(b)

Amount of Grant.

£ s. cl. lOO 0 0 750 0 0 750 0 0 lOO 0 0 500 0 0

1,500 0 0 1,500 0 0

75 0 0 230 0 0 BOO 0 0 lOO 0 0 300 () 0 S42 10 0 lOO 0 0 lOO 0 0 150 0 0 150 0 0

(c)

(c)

Amount Actually

Paid.

£ s. cl. lOO 0 0 408 9 7 391. 16 8 1ro o o 500 0 0

1.500 0 0 1,500 0 0

207 ... 1 157 16

87 .. ,6

150 0 0 150 0 0

(d)

I Applied for. Expended. Granted.

----------------------------------------

Alexander 1Iacdonald, Kitchen er :tline, Chillagoe ... P. ::Y.Ic~;Iay and pnrt.y, :\lonnt Mascotte l\1ine, Yungaburra J. T. Bradv, B1ggenden Bismuth -:\line. Biggenden J. R. Davies, J.R.D. ::\-line. Ravens wood B. Goodson and others, Pin gall Copper :\1ine South lilau <Jharles E. Ortt, Gladstone 'l'in Mine, Chillagoe ... 1-fe~srs. Crb-p & Oss, Au•·iferous •railing,g, Charters Towers T. MacLaughiin, All Xations l\Iine, Boolboonda ...

PRICES OF \VOLFRAM AND MOLYBDENITE.

Mr. H. J. RYAN (G'ook) asked the Min­ister representing the Secretary for Mines-

" 1. As the efforts of the Mines De­partment to have the prices of wolfram and molybdenite raised by the Muni­tions Minister of the Imperial Govern­ment have, according to a report public.hed in the last issue of the 'Min­ing Journal,' been successful, will the Secretary for Mines inquire why the Commonwealth Government has made the increase inoperative, so that the producers of theBe metals in this State are still being paid the old prices?

" 2. Is the Mines Department still persisting in the end0a vour to have the agency monopoly. enjoyed by Dalgety and Co., Limited, ended, and the Go­vernment's proposal to act as the pro­ducers' agent made a fact?"

The PREMIER replied­

" 1. Yes. "2. Yes."

I understand that a telegram has been received from the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth this afternoon. I .do not quite know the contents of it, but the hon. member may inspect it at the Chief Secretary's Office.

£ 3,0!'0 1,250 1,2(0

lOO WO too 100

60

£ £ 3,0Jtl

500 1,200

lOO

REGuLATION OF CANE PRICES AcT.

Mr. SWAYNE (Mirani) asked the Secre­tarv for Agriculture and Stock-

• " 1. The total amount collected under the Regulation of Cane Prices Act, to 30th June, 1917?

" 2. The total expenditure under the different headings?

"3. Under what authority is the ex­penditure made?"

The SECRETARY FOR AGRICULTURE AXD STOCK (Hon. W. Lennon, H erbt rt' replied-

" 1. £11,717 Ss. 7d. '' 2.

Salaries Local Board fees and

penses ex-

Printing and stationery Rail and steamer fares and

advertising Clerical assistance Tra veiling expenses, Central

Board and staff AppointmenG expenses

(board members and check chemists, et e.)

Legal fees and costs {por-tion to be repaid) ... ...

Postages, telegrams, con-fercnc('s, and sundries

£ s. d. 7,066 9 7

714 1 7 358 19 10

513 15 3 378 12 7

1,064 5 4

439 4 10

459 14 0

2,305 12 0

£13,300 18 0 " 3. Under the authority of the Min­

ister."

486 Questions. [ASSEMBLY.] Addresa in Reply.

EUNDAMBA COAL USED O:N THE ::\fARYBOROUGH RAILWAYS.

Colonel RANKIN (Burrum) asked the Secretary for Railways-

" 1. The ordinary railway freight per ton on coal between Bundamba and Maryborough?

" 2. The quantity of Bundamba coal purchased by the department for use on the Maryborough district railways for the twelve months ended 30th June last?

" 3. The present price paid for Bun­damba coal ttt pits?

" 4. The price at which coal has been offered to the department by the Tor­banlea Colliery, Torbanlea, and the Dundee Colliery, Howard ?"

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS (Hon. J. H. Coyne, TVarrer;o) replied­

" 1. 18s. per t·on. "2. 35,219 tons. " 3. 12s. 6d. per ton. "4. 16s per ton."

LAND TAX EXE1IPTIO:N FOR FARlJERS.

Mr. BEBBINGTON (Drayton) asked the Chief Secretary-

" Seeing that the land tax has returned this year £362,532 lls. S·d. cash paid to 30th June, in future will he allow each farmer engaged in and using the land for bona fide production a further ex· emption of £200 per annum before paying land tax?"

The PRE:\HER replied-" It is not within my province to

dispense with the provisions of an Act of Parliament."

PRIVILEGES OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES. Mr. HOD.GE (:Yananuo) asked the Chief

Secretary-" Is there any truth in the rumour

that it is the intention of the Govern­ment to extend to employees of all other branches of the Government Fervice the same privileges enjoyed by railway em­ployees, as regards free passes for them­selves, wives, and families when on holidays; also the privilege ~f reduction in fares and free freights thev are en­titled to as per answer to my question to the Secretary for Railwavs of 26th July, 1917?" ·

The PREMIER replied-" I have not heard of any such

rumour.''

AMOLI!'iT OF PUBLIC BALAKCES. HoN. J. TOLMIE (Toowoornba) asked the

Chief Secretary, in the absence of the Trea­surer, without notice-

" Is the hon. gentleman prepared to give effect to the promise made to the hon. member for Murrumba oil 17th July, that a statement of the disposal of the public balances at 30th .June 1917 will shortly be published in th~ ' Go: vern1ncnt Gazette'?"

The PREMIER replied-" I have no doubt that any undertak­

ing given by the Treasurer will be carried out."

HoN. J. TOLMIE: Shortly? It IS over a fortnight since then.

STATISTICS RE GOVERNMENT MOTOR­CARS.

On the motion of Mr. MORGAN (llfurilla), it was formally resolved-

" That there be laid upon the table of the House a return showing-

1. The number of accidents during the past two years, in which Govern­ment motor-cars have been concerned, which have come to the knowledge of the Government.

2. The number of these accidents which have prove·d fatal.

3. The amount of compensation paid for the accidents, and to whom.

4. The cost of running the motor­cars per month, including upkeep, wages, and petrol.

5. A statement of cars not on Go­vernment premise,, where they are kept, and under whose charge; and what check is there on the use of the cars which are kept Dff Government prmnises. ''

FEES PAID TO BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS.

On the motion of Mr. PETRIE (Toombul), it was formally resolved--

" That thE>re be laid upon the table of the House a return showing the £ees paid to barristers and solicitors from 1st July, 1916, to 31st July, 1917."

ADDRESS IN REPLY. RESUMPTION OF DEBATE.-

Mr. H. J. RYAN (Cook), who was greeted with Government "Hem·, hears," said: I think, at this advanced stage of the dE>bate, I might be E>xcused if I eschew the customary congratulations that are generally associated with a motion of this character, but I might be permitted to extend my congratulations to the Labour Gm·ernment on their recent triumphs at the Maryborough and Rock­bampton by-E>lections.

Hon. J. TOLMJE: They want them badly. Mr. H. J. RYAN: Those successes, follow·

ing on the success gained in Fortitude V alley as well as in the Gregory electorate, point to the fact that the people of the State en­dorse the policy of this Government so far as its legislation is concerned, and they have also endorsed the administration of the Cabinet and officials of the various depart­ments. The result of the Rockhampton by­election is especially significant, because it followed so closely on the Federal elections which occurred only a week or two previous. It goes to show t}_ at the people of Queens­land, and of Rockhampton especially, are awake to the danger to democracy through the success of the "V\' in-the-war" comedians at the Federal ekdions. The result of the Macquarie by-election lately held in New South Wales hears this out, because the Labour candidate on that occasion increased his majority by over 200 per cent. on the previous Labour victory.

The criticism of the Opposition during- this debate has been conspicuous for the abuse and misrepresentation they have heaped upon the GovE>rmnent. They haTe endeavoured to associate the Government with unlawful associations such as the I. W. \V. It is not my intention to give the J. W.W. any advertise­ment. I am not going to criticise the I.W.W., as I have not sufficient knowledge of the ob­jects of that organisation to voice any

Addres8 m Reply. Ll AUGUST.] Addnss in Reply. 4-87

opmron. I can only say that those who arc so intolerant and w uncharitable as members of the Opposition have shown themselves to be, should do as I am doing, and that is leave the que,tiOil where it is at present. Those men who ll~ve been gaoled have re­ceived sentences, and I do not think it is my place to rivet the doors of the gaol any tighter upon them. Those men, if they have committed any act which has brought them within the pale of the law will, at least, have to suffer the consequences, and if they have not committe·d any breach of the law they will get justice, or, at least, I hope so in a democratic country like Australia. At all events, I want to dissociate myself front the LW. W. I believe they have a very poor standing in this State, although, no doubt, in New South Wales they have ·a fairly strong organisation.

I noticed when the hon. member for Gregory was speaking, and I think also when the hon. member for Brisbane was speaking on the question of conscription and recruiting, that members opposite said there had been no Sixth Division formed on t!Je \V estern front in Europe. I have some .:orre· spondence here dealing with the subject. as well as some articles in a newspaper which bear out the staVcment made by the hon. member for Gregory and other hon. members on this side, who have pointed out that a Sixth Division has been formed at the front. In the first place I will read an articlo written by Mr. Keith Murdoch, in the " Man­chester Guardian" of 20th March, 1917. In regard to the need for more men, he says-

" It would be a mistake, however, to regard Austra!i.,. as weak in its position in the world war to-day or likely to be picked up by the first land-hungry Power of the future. Her population of 5,000,000 is less than that of London, and it is custodian of 3,000,000 square miles. And yet the strength of Australian manhood, in production, in promise, is very great indeed. Though every soldier has in this war to be transported across 12,000 miles of ocean, her Expeditionary Forces are considerably greater than those of any other Domimon. Five years ago who would have expected the Commonwealth to maintain six divisions in the field in a world war?"

Those words " Sixth Division " are there. " She is to-day amongst the lead­

suppliers of the allies' wheat and meat; up till 1898 she was a wheat­importing country, yet in 1915 she had over 3,500,000 tons to export; she exports nearly £5,000,000 worth of frozen meat a year, and has an unlimited market opening up after the war. Her mineral production is as valuable as her wool, and she alread;c produces a larger exportable surplus of zinc than any countr;y, whilst new sources of ore supply are being opened every year, and her coal supplies remain rich. So luxurious is the metal in the Broken Hill Proprietary's holding in South Aus­tralia that it pays to take it 1,500 miles to the coal at Newcastle, where the first great Australian steelworks are now established. It is a trite saying that this island continent-the continent which, although within an Empire, is possessed by one people, speaking one tongue­could provide all the food and raw material for lhe United Kingdom."

I would also like to read from the " Tarn­worth Observer" of 28th ,July, 1917, only last week, a report of a letter recnived by Mrs. P. P. Abbott, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott, of the 65th Battalion, 16th Brigade, 6th Division. It says-

" Mrs. P. P. Abbott received a letter from Lieut.-Colonel Abbott, in which he said he was now in command of the 65th Battalion, 16th Brigade, of the 6th Divi­sion, now being formed in England, and is at Wareham, [)orset."

Mr. ROBERTS: That is what I said. That is where my boy is.

Mr. H. J. RYAN: You denied that there was a Sixth Division.

Mr. RoBERTS: I denied that it was m France. I said that it was being formed in England.

Mr. H. J. RYAN: Then, you admit now that there is a Sixth Division forming?

Mr. ROBERTS: Yes, in England. They are waiting for the Australian recruits to make up the full number to go to France. (Go­vernment dissent.)

Mr. H. J. RY AN: Here is an article which points out that Colonel Abbott has been appointed to the command of that division. He would not be appointed until the division was formed.

Mr. RoBERTS: Y~es. He is in charge, and they are getting the rest of the men.

:VIr. H. ,T. RYAN: It says here-" The division will be ready Yery

shortly for France." " The new command comprises 60 per

cent. of men who have been to France. The remainder are reinforcements from Australia."

Mr. ROBERTS: 'rhat is what I said. The remainder will be made up of reinforcements from Australia.

Mr. H. J. RYAN: But they must be there. This article shows that they are there now. It goes on-

" Sergeant Norman Thomas, Corporal O'Brien, and CorpqJal Hugh Draffin a~e with Colonel Abbott, and Corporals Leslre Ross and Phillip King have been trans­ferred to him. The 16th Division is under General Anti!!."

Mr. RoBERTS: That shows they are in Eng­land, as I said, waiting for reinforcements.

Mr. H. J. RY AN: To show how they are preparing for conscription, or that conscrip­tion is looming in the distance, I will quote fr,om the Sydney " Daily Telegraph" of the 24th April of this year-

" Mr. Hughes said that conscription would not be introduced again unless necessity demanded."

This is supposed to be a confidential docu­ment, and not for publication, and I do not know if I will be able to get it into " Han­sard." Anyhow, I am going to read it.

Hon. J. TOL2\!IE: You cannot read it if it is confidential.

Mr. H. J. RYAN: It says-" No reference is permitted to the

formation of a new Australian Imperial Force Brigade or to the possible appoint­ment of Brigadiers-General Sinclair, 1\_1ftclagan, an~, Gellibrand to the divi­siOn concerned.

I think that that is sufficient evidence to

Mr. H. J. Ryan.]

488 Address in Reply. [ASSElVIBL Y.] Address in Reply.

prove that there are sufficient reinforcements in Europe to carry ·on Australia's part in this particular war, when we see that they are prepared now at the present time to send another division to the front. That means another 20,000 men with the necessary reinforcements to fill the gaps.

Mr. KrRWAN: They said they did not have enough men to fill the Fifth Division, and now they are forming the Sixth Division. Why do they tell lies ?

Mr. H. J. RY AN: Regarding conscription, I ask hon. members opposite who are con· scriptionists if they have read a little leaflet or reprint that was forwarded from We,tern Australia on the goldmining in· dustry.

Mr. ROBERTS: What did General Joffre tell them in America?

Mr. H. J. RYAN: In Australia they sav they want more men and more men, and they point to the fact that the late Prime Minister (Mr. Andrew Fisher) of Australia in using a figure of speech during the early part of the war said that Australia would come to the assistance of the Empire with the last man and the last shilling.

Hon. J. TOLi\!IE: That is so. Mr. H. J. RY AN: Even supposing that

eYery State in the Commonwealth is to be tied down to those words because Andrew Fi&her mentioned them-if we ha Ye to be tied clown to them, where is the last shilling?

GOVERNMENT MEMBERS : Hear, hear !

Mr. H. J. RYAN: Are they going to send every man out of the country before they produce the money, and are they going to continue to send misguided women from corner to corner to instil the militaristic spirit into men? I am satiHfied that the present system of collecting and endeavour­ing to obtain money is only done for one purpose, and that is to gain political kudos.

GOVERNMENT MEMBERS : Hear, hear ! Mr. H. J. RYAN: It is done for political

purposes only. The result of the Macquarie election in New South Wales shows that a lot of women who voted for the Labour candidate this time saw the false promises that were held out to them bv the " Win­the-war" gentlemen of the Federal Govern­ment.

I notice in the Governor's Speech that reference is made to repatriation of Boldiers. As ono who represents a district of very large extent, and one of great possibilities and groat potentialities with regard to cane­farming and general farming, I would like the Minister for Lands, who is ohairman of that particular Repatriation Committee to carry out the promise that he made i~ a speech which he delivered some time ago. and in which he said that the com­mittee would do all in their power to re­patriate men in the districts from whence they came. .\s one who represents a far­away r>lectorate-in fact, the furthest-away electorate possible from the centre of go­Yernment-I think the Repatriation Com­mittee should send the men who came from that district back amongst their own people to settle on the land in the climate that thev have been used to. This is a question which should get the sincere attention of the Repatriation Committee. In one dis­trict alone, at BailPy's Creek, there is an area of land that would repatriate from eighty to 100 soldiers. They could be

[ilf r. H. J. Ryan.

settled there, and a small mill could be established there, or one of the mills now lying idle in the South removed there. It is only by doing something like that that }he far Northern district will hold ,the population that it should. There is no doubt about it, if that portion of the State and Commonwealth is to remain an integral part of Australia, there is only onP way of doing it, and that is by populating 1t (Hear, hear!) The population is becoming abso­lutely depleted at the present time, because of the attractions elsewhere. However, I leave the matter to the consideration of the Minister and the Repatriation Committee.

I mentioned that the electorate I repre­sent is one of very large extent. I should also like to emphasise the fact, or at least my belief, that there is no other electorate which ha,s so many industries within it.

Hon. J. TOUIIE: Why is it in i'ts present position?

Mr. H. J. RYAN: We have suffered from misgovernment and neglect at the hands of past Governments right up to the present moment. As representative of that district, I have been tolerant of this Government

since they have been in office [4 p.m.] because I acknowledge and recog-

nise their ·difficulties. Amongst the industries represented th<>re are the pastoral industry, general agriculture, marine fishing, mining in many a,nd various phases, a' well as other indmtries which are general right throughout the State. I notice that the hon. member for Jl.'[urrumba, when speak­ing the other night, referred t{) an amount of mon0y which had been spent to assist mining as being an actual waste of money making a hole in the ground, or words to that <>ffcct.

Mr. COLL!NS: It shows his intelligence. Mr. H. J. RYAN: It shows at any rate

that his knowledge of the State is confined to the Southern and Central portions of it; he has no knowledge of the mineral poten­tialities of the Cook. Ohillagoo, and Herber­ton districts. I notice that the warden, i'n his report of July, 1917, refers to the finding of 5 per cent. wolfram on Howitz Island, outside Cooktown. That is a very important fact, because it is possible that, if the atten­tion of prcspedors is directed to those islands surrounding the. coast, minerals will be found of various natur(:3. I notic0 also that a new find of schoelite has been made at Carbine, which is very important. Schoeme is one of the rare minerals which, along with its sister minerals. wolfram and molybdenite, is so largely uoed i'n making munitions. I also notice that diamonds have been found for the first time in the Cape York Peninsula. A sample has been sent to ex)wrts in Bris­bane, and from here they have been for­warded to England and France for the opinion of experts there. Hcwever, those who examined them in Brisbane have very pronounced opinions regarding their quality. and so we ca.n sav that the el<>ctorate of Cook is goi'ng to be productive of diamonds in the near future.

Dvring last session the Government brought in a Bill to give them nower to acquire the Chillagoc smelters and mines. That measure was passed through by this House and was thrown out by the Upper House. The fact that it was rejected has left that district, which amounts to a province-and the southern portion of the electorate I repre-

AddJ·ess in Reply. [l AUGUST.] Address in Reply. 489

0cnt is in close proximity to the nunmg ~field-in a state of idleness. Had those smelters been purchased the miners would have had an opportunity of getting the value of the minerals they have produced, and the .State would have had the use of the money that would flow into that district by the employment of men, and the Empire would have had the use of the munitions that might have been manufactured from the metals that would have been concentrated at Chillagoe. I had an opportunity of visiting the Herber­ton district some time ago, in company with the mentber for the district and the hon. member for Eacham, and during our visit there we saw several mines. It was shown to us by the mi'ners there-who are in a small way, most of them are men at work in small co-operative parties-that they had to throw away all ore up to 10 per cent. 'That goes to show that there is an absolute 1oss of that particular metal which is so needed at the present time by the allies and the Empire. I am going to read in this oConnection an article copied from the "Cairns Post''-

"At a meeting of the Cairns Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon a motion was carried that the chamber urge the State Government to provide smelting facilities without delay, either by taking over those at Chi!lagoe or Mount Molloy and putting them into working order or by erecting new smelters at Mareeba.

"Mr. A. J. P. MacDonnell, in moving the resolution, quoted figures showing the enormous extent of the area contain­ing valuable minerals in the district in­land from this port."

Hon. J. TOLMIE: Is he a labourite? Mr. H. J. RYAN: I believe he is since the

Labour Government have been of so much assietance to the North.

" It was mentioned that Herberton last year prcduced 54,000 tons of copper, while this year so far 45,000 tons had been sent away. This quantity would have been largely increased if smelting facilities were ayailable near the vicinitv. Owing to the cost of transport over the long distances south and east, only high­grade ores can be handled. With local smelters erected it would enable numer­ous large ]ow.grade propositions to be worked at a ha.ndwme profit, with bene­fit to the State and Empi';·e. From Her­berton £100.000 worth of miPerals had been sent away this year. Unfortunately all of the minerals either had to go south or east, and all of the tin, with the exception of. that treated at the Irvine­ba.nk company's works, were sent to the Strait> Settlement. If the Government would provide the State with smelting facilities benefit would result both to this State and to the Empire.

"A c·ubcommittee was appointed to lay the matter before the department."

I hope that when this matter is laid before the Government they will give it serious con­sideration. becaus0 there is no doubt that if thev do the result will bo favourable. There i's no question that there is an amount of copper. together with other metals, !:ring idle all along that particular hinterland which would be of great benefit to the motherland for munitions purposes, and as the leading men of the Empire have said that they require assistance in the order of

money, munitions, and men, at least this Government should assi'st them to obtain munitions.

Now, it is quite possible tha~ history will repeat itself in regard to thrs war. vVe had the spectacle some years ago of Gympie lifting this State out of the slough. ~f despond into which it had fallen, and rt IS quite possible that we may have a rec':'rrence of that particular phenomenon. Gympre came to the rescue of this State in 1867, and later on that was followed by the rush to the Palmer and Herberton and Croydon and Charters Towers and other places.

Reports go to show tha~ the. older _mining districts have been wamng m the;r pr?· ductiven~Css · but there is a vast terntory m the Cape York Peninsula which is. almost unexplored. This territory, as the mmers up there would oay, has been " pig-rooted ".or " hon·scratched," but beyond that nothmg bas been done there. The reason for the \Vant of development, perhaps, is that that particular portion of the State is so isolated that men have to live under ver_y adver~e conditions while they are prospe>ctmg. It 1s difficult for thorn to obtain supplies, and since the war broke out the cost of living has been 50 high that it has ma.cJe it im· possible for them t'? car~'Y. on. Anyone w~o has been engaged m mmmg know~ that It has a certain fascination for the mmer-the digger-and that if a digger is able to get along it is very seldom that he ever leaves the work. They are the class of men who should be encouraged. The .small pro~u~er is the pioneer, not only m th.e mmmg industrv but in all <Jther industries of the State a"dd the Commonwealth, and he should receive every encouragement from th.e State. Hi,tory has proved that no other mdustry has assisted more in the .development and settlement of the country than the mining industry. Therefore, the Mines Depar~ment should pay due regard to. the partiCular mining centres I haYe mentwned m the far North of Queensland. They. ought to arrange for prospecting to be earned out m some­thing like a scientific manner:, such as by the appointment of a geologist wrth local men to work under him. There are ·prospec. tcrs up there who would co·opcrate with the Government, .and assist the geologist b_Y showing him through the country: If th1s sug"'estion were adopt8d, I am satrsfied that the bhon. member for Murrumba would not have so much to say about money expended or1 mining being wctsted money. On s_eve_ral occasions the warden in the Cook drstnct, in his monthly reports, has endeavoured to attract the small digger and the prospector, and I am satisfied that if this country were populated in a small degree by assi~ting miners to develop its resources, other mme~s would be attracted lo the place, and rt would soon be populated in a greater degree than any other portion of the ~tate ..

As one who has had experwnce m con· nection with the rare metals, I have been asked on F8veral occasions by members of this Hou'e how !hose rare metals are pro­duced and for what purposes they are used. Havinoo a little knowledge of the production of such metals and of the concentration of them, I intend to devote a little time to their consideration. These metals-molyb· denite. wolfram. and scheelite-occur princi­pally in granite&, quartzite, or greisen countrv, talc-spar, and mica schists, and are al;o found in alluvial deposits. Wolfram

Mr. H. J. Ryan.]

490 Address zn Reply. [ASSEMBLY.l Address in Reply.

was first found in Queensland by an em­ployee of one of the squatters who had a big occupation license. He happened to come across a. piece of the black metal, and showed it to someone who thought it was tin. Eventually, I believe Dr. Jack, who was then Government geologist, came across it in an hotel bar in the 1'\orth, a.nd recognised it as wolfram. That led to the opening of what is called \Volfram Camp, which has a population of about 1,000 at the present time. The uses to which these metals, in con­junction with other metals and minerals such a' cobalt, manganese, and nickel, are put are the h"rdening of steel, and they are also used for chemicals and for other purposes. Wolfram and scheelite are both tungste:1 ores, and they are more plentiful than molybdenite. The addition of tungsten or molybdenum to steel increases the hardness, toughness, and elongation of the metal. Molybdenite high-speed steel is used for machine tools, such as drills, lathes, etc., is extremely hard, and will retain its cutting properties even when raised to a high temperature. The compounds of the metal are also used in scientific work, and as pig­ments in various arts and industries. The ammonia salts of molybdenum are largely used in steel works and laboratorieq for the estimation of phosphorous contents. Seeing that tungsten and molybdenite are metals of such eminent Yalue to the Empire and the allies in the pre,ent war, I think the Recruiting Committee are doing something which is again't the interests of the Empire i1: s~nding recruiting sergeants into those d1stncts to secure recruits. Queensland has a special and unique opportunity of renderino­ic·,s best service to the Empire by fosterin:;'. the production of these metals, and should not neglect that opportunity. 'I'he prices of such metals have increased greatly since the war. The prices of one or two at any rate have in~reased. The price of molybdenite has not mcreased very greatly, but the price of wolfram has gone up to a certain extent.

No less than 80 per cent. of the world's production of molybdenite wolfram and Echeelite is obtainf'd in Qu~ensland s~ that this matter is one that ought ;urely to occupy ihe attention of the Mines De.part­ment. With regard to molybdenite, Queens­land produces more than one-half of the world's production, and Queensland and New South \V ales together produce more than three parts of the world's production. Queens­land, New South \Vales, and Norv;ay have furmshed the greater portion of these metals, the rest of the world furnishing only 10 per cent. of the total production. The countries produ_cing this 10 per cent. are Canada, Austna, Gr~at Britain, Japan, Mexico, Natal, Rm~Ia, Sweden and the United ~tates of America. Th~ quantity produced In Queensland between 1902 and 1914 was 1,062 tons, valued at £200,000; New South Wales produced during the same period 492 tons, Norway 313 tons, and the rest of the world 186 tons. The total world production of molybdenite during that period was 2,053 tons.

It is v:orthy of note that Queensland­an~ when I say Queensland, I mean the Chillagoe and Cook mining districts-have produced 1,062 tons out of this total of 2 053 tons. The mining for these rare metal~ is yet in its in~":ncy. Notwithstanding that fact, the rccrmtmg agents have visited these places and have di·afted men away from there to such an extent that, according to

[Mr. H. J. Ryan.

the report of the warden in the " Mining Journal " for last month, the mill at Mount Carbine has had to close down. For the two years previous to the war the Mount Carbine district produced 600 tons of wol­fram and scheelite-the tungsten-producing metals-and I would like to point out that the metal produced there is of a higher percentage of purity, generally speaking, than anything obtained in any other part of the world. They produce wolfram there as high as between 72 and 73 per cent., and they produce scheelite containing as high a percentage of the metal as 75 per cent-. and 76 per cent. I have read mining articles and magazines even of America, and, so far a3 I have been able to find, there is no ore nearly so pure as that. In America the standard for scheelite and wolfram is from 60 to 65 per cent., and for molybdenite the standard is from 85 to 90 per cent. I note that· the Secretary for Mines and his officials have taken steps to correspond directly with the Imperial munition authorities, with the re­sult that they have broken down the mono­poly that has been hel·d up to the pre­sent by Dalgety and C.:o. It is quite possible that after this that company will still be the agents, but something is going to be done to prevent them obtaining more than a f:.ir thing for handling these metals. As one who_ knows something <tbout this phase of the industry, I may say that I have received many communications from the secretary of the Miners' Producing Association, as well as from the progress associations at Wolfram Camp and Mount Carbine, the two principal producing centres in the North, and they have pointed out that the metal can be handled and 'hipped to England, even allowing a fair thing for the agents, at a cost of £23 or £24 per ton. Dalgety and Co. have up to the pre­sent been receiving as high as £68 a ton for 96 per cent. molybdcnite, which is about the average standard of the metal produced at Wolfram Camp. That is the highest per­centage obtained in the world. I have known the Treasurer, who represents the district of Bamford, to hand to the Government assayer a sample of ore cleaned at the \Volfram Reducing Mill, which was so clean that the assa~·er pronounced it almost pure molybdcnite, which shows that there was no dross or foreign substances along with it. \Vhen the agents received £68 a ton, less the cost of handling and transhipping it to the munition authorities in Great Britain, it must have given them at least £40 odd a ton for the little trouble they were put to. But, io addition to this, th!'y have also worked on a margin of from 2 to 3 per cent., give and take; that is to say, the producer loses from 2 to 3 per cent. on his molybdenite, and, if it is considered that the price, roughly speaking, is £5 per unit, it means another £10 or £15 taken from the pro­ducer. The snme thing applieo to wol­fram, although they do not obtain the same charges out of wolfram, the amount they receive under their agreement with the Com­monwealth Governmi:mt being- 9s. 10d. per unit. They have received £34 18s. 4d.-per ton for 70 per cent wolfram and scheclite. Granting that it costs £21 a ton, the same as molybdenite-or, say, £20-it would be less, of course, because the ad valorem duty would be much less-it would leave them at least £14 a ton for handling wolfram and seheelite. It is worthy of note that in

Address in Reply. [1 AUGUST.] Addres8 in Reply. 491

X ew Zealand the charge for transhipping those ores is 5s. ld. per unit, or £16 10s. 5d. per ton. In British Burmah, where wolfram i,q produced by black labour with British capital, the charges amount to only £7 10s. per· ton. I asked a question in the House to-day regarding the agreement that has been made, or is about to be made, between the Commonwealth Government and the Im­perial munition authorities. This matter was broached first by the Secretary for Mines of this State, and this is the reply received from the Prime Minister of the Common­wealth-

" Premier, Brisbane. Your telegram of 27th July Commonwealth Govern­ment as agents for Imperial authorities prepared purchase wolfram scheelite 65 per cent. basis at fifty shillings per unit, molybdenite 85 per cent. basis £5 per unit at mining fields. Prices to take effec~ from 1st July. Will shortly make pubhc the announcement as to arrange­ments, which are still under considera­tion."

I am sure that, when that is made public, the miners of the North will welcome it, and their thanks will be given to the Secretary for Mines of this State and his department for their action in breaking down the mono­poly that has been held by Dalgety and Co. 'l'he increased amount the producers will receive for 70 per cent. wolfram and scheelite will be from £20 to £25 per ton, and in the case of molvbdenite the incr-ease will be something lil{e £47 per ton. Before I leave the subject of these rare metals, I would like to point out that the districts where they are obtained in this State are some con­siderable -distance from a railwav. A move­ment is on foot at the present time to have them connected with a railway, and I hope that the Railway Department will see ib:~ way clear to connect Wolfram Camp with Dimbula. While mentioning this matter I would just like to revert to the building of the Mount Mulligan line. At that time I was secretary of a progress association at Wolfram Camp, and I took a big interest in the building of the line. Just before the line was passed in this House, and before

anything had been done to com­[4.30 p.m.] mence the building of the line,

action was taken by the residents in the Wolfram Camp pointing out to the Railway Department and the then Denham Government the necessity and desirability of building the Mount Mulligan line through Wolfrai_D-. Camp. It would have meant only an additiOnal three-quarters of a mile or a mile. The line as constructed is something like 29 miles and some chains in length. By taking it through Wolfram Camp it would have meant increasing the distance only bv about a mile, and increasing the cost bv a few thousand pounds, but the Denham Go­vernment turned the proposal down. This goes to show that the appointment by this Government of the Public ·works Commis­sion to take evidence ~tnd inquire into the best route for building railway lines is a matter that should have been undertaken long ago. As one who has had communica­tion with people who' met the members of the Pul1lic Works Commission, I think it is a good thing for the members of the com­mission to even travel through the district in question, because the knowledge they have gained with regard to the far Northern dis­tricts and its potentialities will be of service at any rate to those particular electorates,

and indirectly to the State generally. How­ever, I hope that when the matter is brought before the Secretary for Raih' ays by the progress associations in the far North he will give favourable consideration to the building of a line to Wolfram Camp at an early data, notwithstanding the misthkes which were made by the Denham Govern­ment when they built the Mount Mulligan line. If the line had gone to Wolfram Camp, the revenue from that part would have paid for the whole of the line right through to Mount Mulligan, which at the present time is a losing proposition.

I notice that reference is made in the Governor's Speech to the acsi stance to be given in connection with npatriation by providing new sugar-miJ!s. I hope that consideration will be given to the report of the sugar inquiry board which visited several districts in North Queensland to in­quire as to the desirability of establishing new mills, and for other purposes. I hope consideration will be given to the report wit·h regard to the Bailev's Creek lands. The holders of those particular lands have otfered to surrender them at a fair value to the Government, and if they are acquired bJ· the Government for repatriation purposes, the soldiers will be able to go back to the district and engage again in the cane industry to which they have been attached.

I also notice that it is the intention of the Government to reintroduce the Regulation of Sugar Cane Prices Act Am!'ndment Bill, and I hope that an amending clause will be inserk·d in the measure making it compul­sory for millers to crush their cane.

GOVERNMENT MEMBERS: Hear, hear ! Mr. H. J. RYA]\:: I think that a penalty

should be imposed in case of default some­what on the lines laid down under our Arbitration Act. We compel our workers to observe the arbitration awards, otherwise they are subject to a penalty. I think the same thing should apply to sugar-millers who can hold up a big industry like the sugar in­dustrv at their will. We have an instance of th.is at the present time in the Isis dis­trict where there are 30,000 tons of stand­over cane awaiting treatment. I think that the action of these millero; is one savouring of sabotage in its worst form.

Taking the Govemor's Speech by and large, I think that the Government are to he con­gratulated in this their first term of office on the good work they have done, in spite of the obstacles which have been placed in their way by the Upper House and in many other directions. They also had to contend with a drought as well as with the war. Even our opponents admit that this Govern­ment have been "up against it," to use a colloquialism. Of course, there are some people who will JH'ver be satisfied; but, al; any rate, the Go,~rnment, considering the conditions under which they entered into power, have done work which will be of benefit to the State. Our friends opposite a·dversely refer to the Government entering into national concerns; but, as one who represents a district far removed from this ceutre, I recognise that a commencement has to be made somewhere, and when we estab­lish timber mills cwd State butchers' shops. the benefit will eventually be felt in the far distant portions of the State, which w.!l re­ceive the benefit of the experience gained by the officials who have the concerns in hand.

GovERNMENT ME:JIBERS: Hear. heal' !

Jfr. H. J. Ryan.]

492 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Addt·css in Reply.

Mr. BOOKER (Wide Bay): In addressing myself to the Speech as read by the Governor -of course, it is not the Governor's Speech-­when siUing in the other CJiamber when His Excellency was delivering that Address, I could not help observing that there was a rising smile as paragraph by paragraph he read his Speech. He evidently felt, like other men in the community, that the whole thing had no business in it, and t-hat it was an insult to the intelligence of the averag5 man and woman in Queensland. It sug­gested itself to me that the Government must surely have beliP.ved when they com­piled that Address that it was mea.nt for a colony of coolies instead of a colony of in­telligent men and women.

We have heard a good deal from our friends opposite as to the by-elections, but I do not think that up to the present the truC' story has been told, and I would just like to explain it. On t-he morning of the last election in Fortitude Valley, an old cabby friend of mine took me t-o the station. MY old friend explain0d to me why the present mem­ber for Fortitude Valley was to be elected that day. His exolanation was this, and I enjoyed it ver;: much: Our esteemed friend, the hon. member for Fortitude Valley, has some very choice Jersey cows, <tnd the electon can always go to Mr. Wilson and have o pul! at the cow. Mv old friend said he also ha.d had that morning a pull at the milk and the rum, and he appreciated that fact, too. (Laughter.) As a matter of fact, Mr. Wilson's Jer&ey cows had a good deal to do on that occasion. At Maryborough the cow that was pulled ·was the State cow. After all, the ·dairy industry has some standing in the political affair' of the country, just as in the primary ·affairs of the country. It is the cow politically, and the cow in the dairy, that helps to bring grist to our friends.

Dealing wit·h th" Governor's Speech, it is stated in the second paragraph-

" Of good omen, too, is the announce­ment that Rusl'ia, having overthrown th~ tyrannical form of government which prevented her from exerting her full strength against the similarly mled Central Powers, is now prepared to CO·

opemte with her allies to the utmost extent of her vast resources."

At this pa.rticular time that is tragic. What is wrong with Ruosia and what is wrong wi'th the part that has to be played by the allied nations? The rabble has taken po~session of the Russian forces, and the allies of the world know the influence it has on the wel­fare of the world at large. That is the pre­sent position. Then, we rca.d again about what provision is being made and has been made for our returned soldiers. Before I go any further I would like to read a le~ter that I have here from a returned soldJer, and it has a very big bearing upon the serious outlook in our railway service to­da v. This is the letter I received on the 26th July-

" District Engineer's Office) " Maryborough.

"I saw in the 'Courier' last Fri"dav that the Minister for Railways had given :VIr. Stcvens the assurance that he had not given authority for every railway servant to be compelled to join an indus­hial union. Notwithstanding that Mr. Coyne--''

'rhe SPEAKER: Order! The hon. member is not in order in reading a priva.tc letter.

[Mr. JJooker.

Mr. BOOKER : This letter has a very big bearing on the question.

The SPEAKER: The hon. member will be in order in quoting from it.

Mr. BOOKER : This letter has a very big bearing on the situation that prevails in Queensland to-day; and that situation might, and probably will, if the Government ·~o not take a certain actwn, be the most trag1c event in the industrial and social life of the State's servants, not only in the railways but in every other branch of the public service.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: "What action do you suggest they should take?

Mr. BOOKER: The letter continues-" I am at the present time being told

I will be compelled to join the Queens­land Railway Union. As I do not desire to become a unionist, the foregoing means that I will have to leave the service. The local secretary of the union ra.ng the district engineer up to this effect t_hi's morning. Mr. McArthur before takmg this course has submitt~d the matter to the Chief Engineer for his decision."

The letter is signed "Dan Erickson." And this is the tragic part of it; this is why I wanted to get it in. This man says-

" I have had about twenty months' service in German New Guinea, Egypt, and Gallipoli, being invalided back with malaria, and further, my eldest brother has latelv been killed in France, which goes to s'how we have .done our share i'n the great struggle."

He is only one of hundreds who have come back and gone back to their places in the >ervice and that is the kind of treatment meted 'out by the tyrannous conditions that prevail in the Railway Department to-day. Dealing with the Railway Department, I want to say this: That it is cor.nrp.on pro­perty-not rumour-that the MmiSter for Raiiways is supporting a mea~ure ~y _his Commissioner to carry on an mvest1gatwn as to economies in the department. \Vhy was the boa.rd to inquire into the working of the Railwav Department recalled? Experts of the de"partment were appointed afi:d. the appointments were endorsed by the Mm1ster. Those men got to work without delay, but when they got to the crux of the position and possibly were showing; certain features that aw at work in the Railway Department at this time, that boa.rd was recalled. Wh~t is the public opinion about the recall? It Is public knowledge that in pla~e _of that board, in place of a Royal CommiSsion of exp?rts like !Ylr. J ohnston who has for some tune been inv~stigating the 9ondi!ions that prevail in the Victorian serviCe ; mstead of secm·­ing a brainy, able, masterful man like Mr. Johnston, a man with a knowledge_ that few men i'n the railwav world equals-mstead of that what .do we· find? What is pu~li~ly stated? That a parliamentary '?ommisswn is to be appointed, and Mr. Knwan, the hon. member for Brisbane, and Mr. Cooper, the hon. member for Bremer. are to be Ifl:CTn­bers of that commission. It just remmds me of the speech the hon. member for Ere­mer made the other dav in which he said that the hon. member for Wide Bay had moved that a Royal Commission be appointe-d to comprehensively inquire into th!l workings of the Railway Dl'partment. He d1d not al~o­gethcr agree with the ho?. member's re,trw­tive motion. What he d1d not agree to was that portion of the motion that if it was

Address in Reply. [l AuGusT.] Address in Rep.y. 493

accepted by the House would have made i't impossible fer any member of this Asse'nbly er the other Chamber to be on that com­mission. JVly friend, the hon. member for Brisbane, would still remain a private mem­ber without any further emoluments, and the hon. member for Bremer would be likewise placed. 'l'he appointment of these gentle­men, considering the po•,itions they occupied in the service, is monstrous. I have no fault with the hon. members personally, but I do say, with tho rosponsibilities of my position here, that if that commission is composed of any members of this Assemblv it is a mon,,trous piece of work. Talk about Tammany ! Tammany is not i"n it with it. And what will be the result of that com­mission? I can see quite plainly that the r~·sult of that commission .will be espionage right throughout the serVIce. That is one of the worst features about it. If a com­mission is to be appointed the best brai'ns in the railway services of Australia should be secured by the Government to make a com­prehensive and thorough investigation as to where the leakage is, where the screw is loose, ~nd give to the people of Queensland a certam measure of benefit from the inquirv. The idea of having those two hon. membc~s on that commission ! Their work on that eommission will be in one direction. That is ~elf-evident.

The SPEAKER: Order! The hon. mem­ber is proceeding to discuss a commission not yet appointed, and presupposes that mem­bers of thi"s House will be on the commission

Mr. 2\IAcARTNEY: It is reported in thi~ afternoon's Press.

'l'he SPEAKER: Then the hon. member may read the report.

Mr. BOOI~ER (a newspaper having beell handed to him by another hon. membe~) : I have seen this. (Laughter.) Hon. members know all about it. Who knows better than you, Jl.~r. Speaker?. You are in a position to know JUSt how far it has gone and no further, and you know-no one knows better--the personnel of the commi 'sion, although, per· haps, so far His Excellencv the Governor has not given the necessary halo to the hon. member. Coming back to the position: What value will the result of that c-ommis­sion be to Queen•land? It will not be of any value. J f you take men who are not in P:Xblic life, men wii!J some qualifications, men big enough to h,ndle the question-If men ouch as that m<J.de investigations, then we would know wmethinp: about the position. 1'o-d<J.y it is patent to everybody who has any knowledge of the Railway Department rf Queensland that primarily the ConmJis­sioner for Railway;;, who gets a very large salary for managing .the railways, has had the busmess o1 the rai!wavs taken out of his hands since the r,rcsent" Government took office. Heads of departments have been dressed down before t'heir juniors. ·what took place in Mr. A damson's period of office "I Mr. Robinson, the general manager of the Ipswich workshops, was told, "This man Robinson-wc will deal with him." Why? Because he WfiS doing his best to get the best results out of the plant at Ipswich and the men employed there. He became unpopula1' with some of the men throughout the service because he recognised his duty to the State and his duty to the department, and he was endea vonring to get the best results out of the men and the plant. Because he was doin,. his duty he was a marked man. Then, I say

again. the present :Minister for Railways was not in oilke as :Minister more than a few .clavs before he found it necessary to take up tiw Commiesioner for Railways' duties; that was to travel throughout the State, and seo for himself that the construction work wfis as it should be, and thn running of trains as it should be. Is the present Minister for Rail­ways better qualifie.d by his upbringing, better qualified by his limited experience in the railwayq-is he better qualified than the Railway Commiesioner to carry on the dutie" of tho Commissi(Jncr for Railways? All these things tend to ma]a,dministration by the Government, Iuore particularl:v in con­nection with our railways. Just now, as I wid before, the railway service of Queens­land is striking a most critical period in i~s history, and the Government, whether they like or whether they do not, to see the wheels of industry going round-to see the industry is movinp-, and the people in the back centres with more than one service a week or a fortnight-will be forced to do a certain thing, and no doubt they will do it, And then the inconsistency crops in. I! is generally rumoured-and I believe it is correct-th<J.t the 'I reasurer has gone North to sec> if he can scay proceedings. The stav of proceedings will be in the direction of the Government taking certain action. But the Government . di~ not .take action last year, when a certam rmpossrble award was the out­come of an arbitration case, where the unfortunate ftnmcr had to bear the brunt of the award. The inconsistency will be as notorious in the course of two <lays as the conduct of the Premier and 'Treasurer was last vear in connection with the mismanagement· of the sugar industry. The Premier has said, since his return from (,reat Britain, ~hat he was doing something for the sugar mdU3try. That has been his statement all alm•g the line. Why didn't he do something le et year? Why didn't he r!o something in the ettrly part of this year? Members on this side repeatedly put ques­tions to the Premier and the Treasurer, as Acting Premier, as to certain contingBncies that were cropping up from day to day. It wfis common knowledge in the sugar indus­try that if certain action was taken in the sugar industry last year then the sugar in­dustry would hav0 given people sugar at a good price, and the general prosperity of the sugar industry would have been assLtred. But we find the Government holding off dav after day, week after week, and month afte'r month. They di-d nothing, and the farmers lo'-t thousands of pounds in the sugar dis­tricts. ~ow we are told the Government have done a certain thing, and the farmers know most about it. \Ve arc told also that m the present Parliament the Government are making provision to settle people on the; land-more particularly returned soldiers. It ie a very remarkable thing that last year when grazing areas were made available for settlers in the St. George district, and there was a very big d<?mand for the blocks pnt up, th<J.t this que.stion was put to the com­missioner prior to lhe holding of the ballot !Jy those repn-senting returned soldiers--

" Mr. G. H. Whippell asked if priority woul·d be given to returned soldiers, and the commissioner repile<l that instructions had been received from the department that prioritv to soldiers was limited to agricultural farms and pear selections."

If there was eyer a travf'>,ty uprn land

Mr. Booker.]

494 Address in Reply. [ASSEl\lBLY.] Address ~n Reply.

settlement, or a tragedy in connection with land settlement, it is to be found there.

The SECRETARY FOR RAILWAYS: That is not :true.

Mr. BOOKER: The grazing areas are no good for returned soldiers, but prickly­pear selections and agricultural blocks are good enough for returne-d soldiers. If there is one class of men who should get some of the grazing areas of the State it is the re­turned soldiers. The land for the returned soldiers should be the grazing areas. There Rre millions of acres which, with ·a little expenditure on water conservation, can be made the safest source of income to the soldiers. The Government are starting <H the wrong end. T·he pastoral land is the land that the great majority of the soldieu< eame from.

The SECRETARY E'OR RAILWAYS: You are libelling the farmers if that is the case.

Mr. BOOKER: A great majority of the men who went away from Queen.sland in the first lot were mounted men, and the great majority of them came from the country districts. The great majority of them came from the far Western districts. These men have been roaming about the Western country as jackaroos, station hands, and rouseabouts. Are these men going to Beerburrum to take up pineapple farms? Are they going to Stanthorpe to take up fruit farms? Are they going to these placDs and be penalised for ten years? Not they. It is a reflection 011 our Administration that they should issue publicly that statement that the soldiers had no right to priority 011

grazing leases, but they only have priority on agricnltural farms and pear selections. The thing is monstrous. Then, the idea of giving these men ]llerpetual leases and tying a millstone round their necks for ten years : That is another generous action!

The SECRETARY FOR RAJLWAYS: Why are vou not fair? • Mr. BOOK ER: Fancy offering these meH perpetual leases ! The hon. member for Burnett raised this question, and raised it bold! v in the interests of the State. The Mini~t<>r will receive a letter to-day indi­cating the spirit of the men at Beerburrum. Thev do not want perpetual lease, nor do any· other settlers who are anxious to. settle en t.he land. I have never met a man 111 my life who wanted 'I perpetual lease when he had the means to acquire the freehold.

The SECRETARY l'OR RAILWAYS: Then you must have met onlv traffickers in land.

Mr. BOOKER: .The hon. gentleman has not settled on ihe land, and I have. Fancy taxing the freeholders ! Hundreds of men have left their freehold to go to the war, and their properties are being depreciated by fully 50 per cent. I would like to know if the Government can realise this about their methods of taxation. Do the Govern­ment know that they are discounting the nlue of the lands h .. ld by freoholders in Queensland? 'I'he rnen who are the pioneers,

who, when the State was impover­[5 p.m.] ished, when there was little money

in the Treasury, as there is now -th0re will be lees probably later on-but at the time when the Government of this country were absolutely without means and could not go to London or to America for money-I believe the Premier suggeste<il later {)n to go to America-they had to find the means of governing from the people who were in the State, and then the policy of

[Mr. Booker.

sdling Crown lands was initiated, and those men who bought the lands at that time paid more for them than their descendants ever got. These pioneers of Queensland, these men who have made things so comfortable and luxurious for our friends on the other side, had in many cases to borro\v 1noney themso!vm, and in many cases the security of an individual was better security than the security of the Government just now. These pioneers-right up to the last two years­have built their homeq and improved the eFtatc of the State, and they are penalised to the extent that they have half the value of their freehol ds wilfully taken a way from them in the interests of prospective selectors. These prospective selectors-where are they? Are they coming along? To what extent ha< the land settleme"t developed during the last two year,? \Ve see in the Pros" from day to day that lands are put up as perpetual ler,"se, but there i,. not a bid, or if there is a bid it is at the upset price. It is only in isolated ca•.?s, where peculiar conditions pre­yail, that there is any competition at all. The people should know this. I believe the men on the land do know it, and they will g1ve such a rc•cord when the occasion arises­whether in October or next vear-of their appreciation of the method, c.f the Govern­ment that the Government will come over h_ere, ':'nd come ov<:r here for a mighty long bme, Just ns the vowe of the people indicated the feeling of the people a few months ago.

Speaking about the " generous" treatment by the Goyornment of tbe men who are trying to build up the p1imary industries of the State and its secondary and allied industries, I want to mention that some eighteen months ago the poop!< in the Cinnabar district, on the 1'\anango Railwa:l' in the \Vide Bay area, were anxious to have eatablished on the railway lino at the railway sta>ion a cheese factory. It i5 well known that nothing improves the ;5eneral prosperity of a district more than the establishment of a cheese factory or a butter factory. This is what took place. Representati.-es of the company WO'lt _to the Commissioner for Railways and submitted a c~rhm proposal and asked the Commi•,ioner whether he was prepared to a!Iow them to build their factory inside the rmh1 ay area. 'l'ho Commissioner very courteously said, " \Vel!, if I can manage it, I will do w," and the rent was to be a peppercorn. But delay after delay occurred. These men were becoming very anxious to expedite mat_tcrs in order to have the factory established m time to catch last spring's supplies. The d1rectors saw the Commis­sioner again, and it "'ppcars that certain regulations or conditions prevailed, and they had to go to the Lands Department. But finally, in order to get the thing moving, the chairman of ·directors handed over sufficient Lnd without any cost whatever to the State-land that had been bought origin­ally from the State-so that the factory could be erected. Then what do we find? We find that tho Minister for .Agriculture would not allow that factory to he built. virtually. The Minister for Agriculture would not lend them the. money necessar~· to carry on their busmess till they got the title deeds of the land. ':£'he Minister for Lands said, " You um bmld your factory," but the Minister for Agriculture said, "We will not find the money to enable you to go on," and the company had to go outside and get assist­ance from the notorious middleman. The

AddJE~s m Rcpl!f. [l AUGUST.] Address in Reply. 495

i\lini~ter for Agriculture was feeding the middlE>man bv his actions-handing over th<> <"Ompany to the middleman by those condi­tions! This io what happened : The land had to be put up to public auction and any verson in the district who had any animosity .against the dirt?ctors could come in and run those men up to, say, £50. The factory was already erected, but the Crown, although the chairman had handed the land over free to the company-the Crown comes in and says, " You must pay us the upset price of £4 per annum." TlHn there was a further charge by the Railway Department, and the whole cost runs into a considerable burden on these people. The Railway Department forget that that kind of treatment really is a lors to the department. The erection of the factory was checked, and for many months cheese was hindered from arriving at the wharves. That is the kind of "generous'' treatment that is meted out to the men who are trying to help the,nselves, and by helping them.oelves carn·ing on the development of the country and bringing revenue to the State, and helping to make the community generally much more prosperous.

I come now to th~ question of roads and bridges. 1'his is a question about which I sympathise with the Government in regard to findin:; monev to enable local authorities to go on· with their work. There are bigger iBsucs at the present .time than finding money to make roads and what you might term locd authority work, but there should b~ some practical system in regard to dealing with our big main roads. I have made the sug-gestion before in this House; I make it again this afternoon. There is only one authority which should have the handling of our main tnffic roads, and that is the Railway Department. These roads are the great feeders of our railways, and the Railway Depart­ment ha vo all the machinery at their hands. They have their engineers, they have their gang·s and all the other machinery necessary to earn on that work ecmomieailv and thorcu~hlv. and if the Government ,.;ere to realise -ha·,;. important it ie, they would get on to it. But not a word about it! In a c;csual way they suggc•st that r·ome method will be considered. Thcv should enable the local authorities to co-ncentrate all their dl'ort on the small feeders to the main arteries leading to the railw<1y station. This i!l a practical method, and it would not only materially help the revenue of the Railway Department, but it would also help ten-fold the men who are pioneering in rough country, more particularly the selectors.

Then we hear much about what is being done in regard to forestry, and the 1\:Iinister, when speaking last year, took t-o himself the unction that this Government had done so much more in that respect than previous Governments. I might tell the Go;·ernment that the late Gm·ernment-as a matter of fact I believe it was the hon. member for Toowong when he was Minister for Lands-were re­sponsible for the appointment of Mr. Jollv. That appointment is the cause of the progre;s that has b<·en made-so far as the director can go-but the Government are unsvmpa­thetic and unresponsive in carrying on the development of the department as thev are in other departments. ·,

Then we come down to the question of the sugar districts. The hon. member for Burrum dealt with it very comprehensively last night, and I appreciate the fact that the Premier

appreciated it also. He felt how small he was in the hands of the hon. member, and he was of such generous instinct as to permit the hon. member to finish his speech. But as certain as I am talking here this after­noon, there will be little cane grown south o! Mackay in the Yery immediate future . The beginning and end of the whole thing is the ineptness, incapacity, maladministra- " tion, and legislation of the Government with regard to the sugar industry. Nerang mill has closed down, and the mills as you go north are going to show a very serious position at the end of the year.

The s~cRETARY FOR AG!UCl..'LTl'RE: 1'he mills in the :\' orth will show better results.

Mr. BOOKER: I know that if I have occasion to go to the hon. g-entleman in the early part of next year-I shall not have to go to him in the middle or towards the end of IH'xt yE>ar, because somebody else from this side of the House will occupy that office-but, if by accident he is in office in the early part of next year, and I have to go to him on serious business in connection with my district, I hope he will be more generous in dealing with that business than h,, has been in the past with regard to matters I have had to see him about.

The SECRETARY FOR _l,GRJCU!.1'URE: It all depends upon what you have to say to me.

Mr. BOOKER: On the eve of the Mary­borou'Sh clectiou, the Premier stated at Ma,ryborough that the Government had sold l\Iount Hntton and made a clear profit of £70,000 out of the transaction. And his colleagues, the present Minister for Mines and the Minister for Education, confirmed that statement at Gavndah. I was in Gayndah the night th-ose two gentlemen addressed the Burnett electors in the interest of Mr. Martin, and I can say that the :Minister for Mines didinctly stated there that the Government had made £30,000 out of Mount Hutlon. Turning to his colleague, the l\linistr·r for Education. ho said, " Isn't that so?" And his pal s:lid, "Yes." The cattle were not sold, and that was a mis­statement, one of the misstatements that helped to carry the ::Ylaryborough election. I vcnbre to Gav that when the Government _\uditor audits "the Mount Hutton accounts, and m:::kes allowance for the purchasing price, and many incidental charges "hich appertain to the managemE>nt up to the time the cattle wore sold, the report that he will submit will open the eyes of the people. I should state that the Premier subsequently reduced the profit from £30,000 to some­where about £25,000. The hon. member for Bowen the other night said that men on the land h:cd not gone to the war. I say that no individual man in Austret!ia or Great Britain can cast any reflection on any other clas:; of men as to their sacrifices in connection with the war. The man on the land has played a very big part in the war, and the miner has played a very big part in the war. On the Burrum mining field there are only two or three unmarried men who h'we not gone to the war, and they cannot go, or they, too, would have gone. And I say distinctly and emphatically that men who own freehold land have enlisted for senice. I know thousands of freeholders in Australia. and, throwing my mind back, I cannot recall one family that has not made a sacrifice in this matter. What man can cast a reflection on those men? 'l'he hon. member cannot cast any reflection on other

Mr. Booker.]

Ill

496 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] A·ldress in Reply.

men. and other men do not desire to cast any refll'ction on him. The F:Teat big heart of the Australian people is playing a very big part in this war, and it will be to the lasting honour of the people that they have played that part; and I hope that Auo­trali"t will jmt keep moving in the mattrr, eo that wh<'n the final decision takes place

• we e-hall have a Ycice in fixing the demar­cation of where the Central nations of Europe arc to go in the Pacific. if they are to go there at all. That is one of the reasons why I think, from an Australian's point· of Yie-H, Australia should be in this war and play her p>trt until the bitter end, and be in a position to say that there is no place for the Central nations of Europe in the Pacific. If those nations do get a place in the Pacific, the war that is now raging will be a sm21l thing compared with the war which will rage at no distant period.

·with regard to the determination of the Government to establish a big fishing in­dustry, I may say that I have been in close touch with the fishing industry for many yeara, and I realise that the Government have involved the country in the expenditure of a large sum of money in the enterprise. The fish market on the south side of the river will cost a large sum, and this exp0ndi­ture, together with the expenditure which must be incurred in other centres in order to develop the industry, will probably mean that £150,000 capital will be invested in the busine3s. While I a<;ree that it is up to a.!! of us to help the Government to make a succe;·, of the enterprise, I haH' my doubts as to what the results will be. I fear that the Government, in their usual free and e:tsy way, have over-capitalised the industry. The population of Queensland is a small one, and is not likely to increase in a normal way for some time to come. If the Government had gone warily, and proc~eded step by step and experimented, and had gone ahead when they had proved that the industry can be carried on under State control, that would have been all right. But I fear scriouslv that the in­dustrv, as controlled bv t!1e Government is oV'er-capitalised by many thousands of pounds, and that is going to come back on the men who supply the fish in the Yarimn centres. Already, as I say, the Government arc involved in an expenditure of £150 000 and with the purchase of trawlers, thev' ar~ going to be involved to a much greater extent. I!l New South Vi"ales they have a popula­tion of oYer 1,000,010 more than we have irt this Sta to, and yet they lost on their trawlers during the last two years some £3,000, and, if the Government of Queens­land adopt the methods adopted in New Sonth \Vales, they also will le-se largely on their trawling operations.

I now come to the Government proposal to build ships. That appeals very seriou-,ly to me. The meatworks of Australia are loade-d up with meat; the butter companies Iik0wise. There are 600,000 bales of Aus­tralian wool stored in S:-·dney to-day. Here we are on the eve of the shearing season, with thousands of bales going into Sydney. I am informed by a man who knows what he is tvJking about that there has been lost to New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia approximately £8,000,000 sterling through the depreciation of their wheat and its destruction by mice. Here are our four biggest primary industries-meat, wool,

[Mr. Booker.

butter. and wheat-leaving fruit put of the­question, all loaded up with their products, and there is no way of taking that produce to the markets of tho world. Fortunately, we have at the present time at the head of national affairs the Hon. W. M. Hughes, 'vho knows the worki'ngs of the industrial unions of Australia. It is verv fortunate for· Australia that at this junctu~e he is where he is. He knows the weak spots, and he is tr~·ing his best to bring the great big indus­trial armies of the Commonwealth to realise· the gravity of the position and the important J:;art they should play in the building of ships. What should appeal to the Aus­tralian people more than the building of Au>tralian ships, out of Australian material, bv Australian workmen, to take Australian pi·oduce to the world's markets? Mr. Hug-hes realises it, and the National party reahse it, but, unfortunately for Auetralia, unfortunatelv for the industrial workers of Australia, the loaders of this army of workers apparently have taken up a wrong attitude in connection with this great national scheme, and we see by the Press and hear conridentially that the scheme is hung up. \\"hy? Because the industrial workers, who wo,_{]d benefit so much by the eotablishment of a shipbuilding industry, are hanging back. It was only last week that we had Mr. King Salter, the g-eneral manager of the Cockatoo Island shipbuilding works, in Queensland making investigations ns to our possibilities. for shipbuilding. He had conferences with the industrial workers who '' ould have to carry out this great national work, but he found a lack of sympathy, a lack of appre­ciation of the gravity of the situation, and the importance of the proposal to every soul in the community. These people failed to reali'-e that the very abundance of our har­ve-, t and of our other primary produ~ts i's. calculated to aggravate the position boc:ause of the increased cost of harvesting those products, and then there are no means of carrying what is produced to the markets of the world. How are the Government going to meet their obligations if our produce is not shipped out of Australia and gold, or its cqui valent, coming i'n to help to keep the country aliYe? The Government state in the Governor's Spc8rh that they are deter­mined to cc:tablish a shipbuilding industry in this State. I would ask the P-remier how far he has gone? He has not gone into the scheme at all. It has not impr8ssed him one bit. But the National Government are endraYouring to influence the men who will gain so much from the establishment of the industry, and to induce them to get on with the work at once. I am associat~d with Walkcro< Limited, in Maryborough. If the unions would agree to the conditions laid down, there would be two or three keels laid on the Mary River within three months; but the whole scheme is hung up because the unions in Queensland were not consulted by the unions in New South ·wales and Victoria. There is a feeling that they have not been taken into- the confidence of the dominant pmYers in the South, just as the smaller unions in _\ustralia are feeling the baneful i-nfluence of the big union-the Australian \Vorkers' Union.

Thcr<' is one matter I wish to Tefer to before I resume my seat. I would ask the Premier : 'Vho is the dominating influence in Queensland to-day? Is it Parliament? Do the Government control the business of this

Add1·ess in Reply. Ll AUGUST.]. Address m Reply. 497

State 'I Of course not! In connection with one of our greatest primary industries-the meat industry-the Premier was forced last year by l1 powerful outside influence to take certain action, and the action then taken had a very big influence on the voice of the people in May last. At the present time we Bee one of the saddest spectacles it is posc:ible to see. Here are the Government, drifting, drifting, drifti'ng for the laet three weeks. Instead of addressing myself to-night to the Addrc's in Reply, I would sooner be helping the Gm·crnment to devise some method of "a ving- our industrial enterprises from drift­ing out of existence and of dea.ling effec­tively with the unemployment problem. Un­employment i's preva.lent all over Queens­land. The only districts where work is plentiful are the pastoral districts. But in those districts, from Oharleville to Hughen­<kn, for the last three weeks shearing has been hung- up, and the wool and the sheep are deteriorating; there is no wool for our railways, and men are idle. The Govern­ment have passed legislation to make i't i,ur"'ssible for men to stril'e and to hold up our great industrial enterprises. What action ha Ye the Government taken? Their utter lack of action is their answer to my question: Doe;; Parliament rule, or dO(·S it not? \Ve haYe union dictati'on-not democracY. Democracy to-day in Queensland is dirt. \Yhy Y The Government are devoid of all recognition of their obligations to keep our industria.! life going and to protPct both th<: employer and the employee. They are domg nothing. Instead of doing thei"r be· t to ~ring thP two great force9 together-the worKers, and the men who are finding the brain,, the energy, the enterprise, and the capital, that has been made largely out of their . brains and their enterprise-instead of d~n;g that, they ":re blackmailing and penahsmg the one sectwn of the commnni'ty who are finding the sinews of war for the great industrial army and enabling them to make good and become employers them­"'lvc~, Let me ask the Premier, can he menh®u fh·e of the masters of industry of this city who haYe not risen from the ranks of the workers? Can he mention half "' dozen pastoralists in Queensland who r~ccin d money from the family estate that dtd not _make good out of their own brains ,1nd. _thmr owr: energy'? The same oppor­tumtws preva1l to-day as prevailed when other men made good. and the industrial workers of to-day arP just as ambiti'ous and anxious to mrrke good and carry on an industrY und employ other men, who, pro­bably, have not the same capacity to manage. But th0 forc0s and the laws passed by hon. members opposite are making it a.bsolutelv impossibl0 for the struggling man to make ,tpod and beeomc one of those who are "arrying on tho industrial life of the country. The whole fabric of our industry is drifting to-day, through the fact that the Premier, as leader of the GoYcrnment, is not doing his duty by the country.

:\fr. GLEDSO::\ (lptLrich): I desire, first of all, to off,•r mv congratulations along with other hon. m0mbers, to the t~vo new mc;nher' of the House, on the able way in "·h,ch they moved and seconded the motion for the adoption of the Address in Reply. T also desire to congratulate the electors of Rockhampton und Maryborough on the ehoice they have mado in sending representa­tives to this House.

1917-2 I

In listening to the addresses which have been delivered in this debate, we find there has been very little new matter raised. The first thing we hear from the other side is that the Address delivered by His Excel­lency is all window-dressing, and the next thing that it is empty-it has nothing in it. It is very seldom that a shopkeeper or a business-man puts nothing in his shop• windows; it would be very foolish if he dis­played an empty window to the public in the way the Opposition say that the Go­vernment are displaying their progra.mme. Evidently, there is nothing in the Speech that they can fasten on and criticise and beat the Government with. We had the very candid statement of the hon. member for Burrum last night that he was not here to criticise the Government, but to condemn them, and that seems to be the attitude of the Opposition all the time; they condemn the Government for every­thing that is done, whether it is good or bad. I take it that hon: members are selected to represent the electors in the interests of every section of the community; the fact that they are returned by a majority dc:es r:ot ':lean that they are to neglect the mmor1ty m the electorate. The members of the Labour party have set out on the lino< that they represent the whole of the prople of Queensland, and must legislate in the interests of the whole of the people. The Governor's Speech shows that the party on the Government benches are out to do the best they can in the interests of every section of the community in Queensland. There are several matters which have been dealt with specifically in connection with the Speech. I would like to refer to some st,,tements which have been made on the other side. The hon. member for Nanango m :td~ a st!lteme_nt the other night in con­nectiOn w1th the men employed on the Wolston abattoir site, and said that those men were not doing work for the wages they received. I want to g-ive that state. mcnt an absolute denial. I have visited the place on more than one occasion and can say that the men employed there give value for their money; in fact, thev work harder I suppo'e, than the hon. " member eve; worked in his life. . Mr. HoDGE : I should be very sorry if that 1s true, I can assure you.

Mr. GLEDSON: The hon. member led the House and the country to believe that the'e men were employed brushing the ground at Wolston. As a matter of fact, that ground at \Volston was heavily timbered with large timber.

Mr. :f!:onGE: You do uot know what you arc talkmg about.

Mr. GLEDSON: I know that I was all round it. If any hon. member gets np and slate; the working men of. this country, I am here to defend them agamst unwarranted attacks of men like the hon. member for ;\1 anango, who abus~s working men who vvork for 9s. and 10s. a day, which they e:1rn.

Mr. HoDGE : Which they never earn.

Mr. GLEDSON: Let me tell the hon. mcmbc_r that these men were employed for a spec_1fic . purpose, not merely to clear the abuttmr s1te .. but becau.se at that time pri­vate enterpnse had fa1led to find employ­ment for the workers of Queensland. We find that priv:tte enterprise shut down their

Mr. Gledson.]

498 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.) Address in Reply.

works because they were not making sufficient profits, and turned a number of men out on the grass, practically speaking, and there was no work for them to do.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: Are not the Government responsible for the failure of private ent·er­prisu?

Mr. GLEDSON: The Government of which :the hon. member for Toowoomba was a member was responsible for placing the <:ountry in the position it was when this Government took office. We had then to deal with the question of unemployment. The facts in connection with the Wolston abattoir site are that these men were put on in order that they might have work. The Secretary for Agriculture said, "We will put them on, and, instead of employ­ing machinery, they can grub the land."

Mr. HonGE: They did not grub it at all; they brushed it.

Mr. GLEDSON: They grubbed the stumps out, and split up the timber themselves for the fences.

Mr. ROBllRTS: You cannot have seen the ground where the work is done.

Mr. GLEDSON: I went over the ground when the men were working there, and saw the work being done. The hon. members for Nanango and East Toowoomba come along and slate the men and run them down.

Mr. HonGE: With Yery good reason, on your own showing.

:i'Vlr. GLEDSON: 'rhose men were em­ployed with the pick and shovel to dig those stumps out, and they honestly earned the m one·· they got; in fact, they deserved more· than what we arc able to give them, became a man who grubs stumps and falls timber is worth more than 9s. a day.

Mr. VowLES: Tell us about that fence that cost £250 a mile.

Mr. GLEDSON: You are thinking of casr-e where they have sandy eoil and all that is necessary is to go along with some stumps, knock them in the ground, and shove the wire through. The'e men did not do that. They had to split their own posts and rails from timber that was not of the best, mortise th0m, and put the posts up.

Hon. J. ToLMlE: Dlcn can make good wages at 4s. 6d. a rod doing that.

Mr. GLEDSON: At Wolston the men cut a lot of firewood as well, which was after­wards sold by the department. 'Those things have not been taken into consideration.

Mr. VOWLES: Did they not get paid for that,?

Mr. GLE:QSON: They got paid for the work they did.

Mr MoRGAN : The fence cost £250 per mile.

Mr. GLEDSON: Those are the statements they make in running down working men who honestly earn their money, but when the elections come round you will see the hon. member for N anango getting on the platform and saying, " I am the working man's friend. I appeal to you working men t:J give me your votes."

Mr. HODGE: On the principle of " a fair clay's work for a fair day's pay."

Mr. GLEDSON: Did you ever hear Op­position members appe~Jing to the capitalists

[ 1lf r. Gledson.

for their votes? Do they appeal to the trusts and combines for their votes? No. They are sure of their votes and have no need to appeal to them, but they appeal to the working men for their votes because lhey want to split the working man's vote. 1f they can get sufficient votes from the workers they will get back to their old posi­tion on the Treasury bench, when they will h<:~ prepared to slate the workers. If the working m<'n read "Hamal'd" and sec the Rtatements of the hon. member for Nanango u,nd tho hon. member fer East Toowoomba, then• will be new members for those elec­torates after the next elections. If the hon. member for Nanango was paid according to the work he did I am afraid he would be V"''Y short at the end of the year.

Mr. HoDGE : I am prepared to take yon OJL {Laughter.)

A GOVERN~IENT MEUBER: Is that another PhallcmgG?

l\lr. GLEDSON: There are many ways of taking people on. (Renewed laughter.) I am here to-night to take on the position of defending the working man, anrl T am pre­pared to show that the men at Wolston did atl honest day's work under the supervision cf inspectors who were present all the time and who reported that thev were satisfied

" with the work that wa3 don~.

Tlw hon. member for V'.'ide Bay made l'eferenco to preference to unonists as it affects the returned soldiers. Let me tell him wmcthing about the preference to re­turr,ed soldiers on the part of the friends of hon. 1ncn:.bcr., opposite. The hon. n1ember fur \Yidc Bav statc·d that in some of the ccmlfields most of the miners who were eli­p-ible had gone to the front-not only the single rnen, but the marrie-d men as \YelL One of these young men returned invalided f1·e>m the front, and was not able to work "on the face" whc•re he worked before leav­ing for the front He Wllllt back to the colliery where he had pre,iously worked, and they gave him work which he was un­able to do. He was only able to work a por­tion of the day and had to leave,. and the 11overnment had to find him light employ­ment because the friends of hon. members opposite would not do it.

Hon. J. ToL:VIIE: Oouidn't they find light work?

Mr. GLEDSON: There is always plenty of light work about these mines. As a matter of fact it would not have hurt those people had they made a job for that re­turned soldier, as they are getting sufficient profits. That brings to mind the statement th.at >Yas made by Judge Heydon in New South Wales. Ho said the coalminers of Australia put their fists up to the community ~nd ··aid. "If we d0 not get 3s. per ton extra we are not going to work." It was not the minPrs of A11stralia who got the 3s. per ton increase. Tt was thP- mincowners who turned round and said to the community, " If we .do not get 3s. per ton increase we are not going to give the mcm what they are justly entitled to for eight hours a day under­ground." As "' matter of fact, the miners in Australia have got an advance of from 15 per cent. to 20 per cent. owing to the increased cost of living, and the employers got something like a 30 per cent. increase

Address in Reply. [l AuGusT.] Address m Reply. 499

in the price of coal, >Yhich gives them an enormous profit. The hon. member for Bur­rum oomplained that Bundamba coal was going up to the Burrum district.

Colonel RANKIN: No; I complained of the waste of public money.

:Mr. GLEDSON: So far as that is con­·ccrned, I think each district •hould supply its own requirements. We do not want any of our coal to go into another district and tld<e "ork from the men in that district; but what is the position? The proprietors of the Bm·rum coalmines who were already getting. 3s. per ton more for their coal than was pa1d for Bundamba coal. came down on the Railway Department and said, " If you do not give us h. per ton advance we are going on strike."

Colonel R.\NKIK : Had not the Bundamba people increased their price just previously?

Mr. GLEDSOX: The Bundamba people got ls. per ton advance, but that ls. per ton went to pay the increase·d wages y,·hich the Burrum proprietors refused to give, and at the prc·~ent time the men in the Burn•m are worbng at a 10 per cent. disadvantage as compared with the other miners in Aus­tralin.

Colonel RANKIN: They have a higher hew­ing rate in Burrum than in any other part of Australia.

Mr. GLEDSON: The hewing rate has nothing to do with the advance given. Th" hewing rate is paid according to the seam that is workeJ, and if the seam worked en­c,bles a man to make wages at 4s. per ton hce gets 4s. per ton, and if the seam requires 6s. per ton he gets 6s. pq· ton. In some places in Burrum I 'uppose they m·e paying 7s. per t"m, and in other places in Queensland they are getting 7s. 6d. per ton, but that has noth­ing to do with the advance giYen to the miners in Australia which the Burrum pro­prietors rcfu,ed to give, and yet they come along and a·•k the Government to pay the 1·• p·r hn extra.

Colonel RANKIN: The Bm·rum collicrie· pay the Arbitration Court award. They must do so.

Mr. GLEDSON: That may be so. A lC per cent. advance above the Wages Board <tward was given to all other miners in Aus­tralia, but the Burrum Company refused to give that advance.

Colonel RANKIN: You have no proof of that statement.

Mr. GLEUSON : If the Burrum Company gave a rise to the men the same as other mining <'ompanies are giving then there would be no objection to them getting an advance of ls. per ton for their coa!. It would be unfair for the Burrum Company to get ·a rise of ls. per ton for tl;leir coal and then put the money into their own pockets.

Colonel RANKIN: Now we hear why the Government declined to pay the increased price.

Mr. GLEDSON: I hope you do know it. Mr. CoRSER: You have been deceiving the

miners of Burrum.

Mr. GLEDSON: If I deceived the miners .of Burrum like the hon. member deceived

the farmers of the Burnett, there would be some complaint to make, but I have not done th.at at all.

Mr. CORSER: I never told the farmers of the Burnett that they could get an advance of £260 per mile from the Savings Bank for fencing.

Mr. GLEDSON: If the hon. member for Burnett told the farmers in his electorate that he believed b a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, he would not be here. The farmers do not want to sweat their men, and a man putting up fences deserves a fair clay's pay.

Mr. GORSER : So does the miner.

Mr. GLEDSON : If you like to go into the Burnett and tell the farmers there that they are not worth 9s. a day for fencing that is your lookout.

Mr. CoRSER: That is what the bank tells them.

Mr. GL.EDSON : The hon. member for Wide Bay, in dealing with the preference to unionists clause, and the returned soldiers, did not know the men who have gone from the coalmines of Bundamba and other places were members of a trade union, and every member of that tcade union has been kept financial during his absence. If a member of this union gE,ts killed in action or dies from wounds or sickness then his dependents get £30 out of the funds of the union. There is u fund kept for that purpose. If these men return to Que0nslund they are members of the union just the same as when they leave. Thev arc financial members of the nnion "Jl tl1e time. I received a letter frorn one of thc'Je men :lt the front to-day and hCJ advocates the clo"ing up of the ranks of unionists, and the strengthening of the union, bee a use he sees in other parts of the world the necessitv there is for unionists to keep together.. That is what they are advocating from the front to-duv. The hon. member for Wide Bay quotes an isolated ~ase of a re­turned soldier who does not desire to bec-ome ,, member of a tr:~de union. \Ve have seen men before who have not desired to becomP members of a trade union.

Mr. KIRWAN: But they take all the benefits without paying.

Mr. GLEDSON: There are men who ha V<'> done all thev poss1 bly can to prevent uniom from being formed in their district, and wo have members in this House who have done all they possibly ,;,m to· prevent unions from being formed. We find very often that men who did not want to become unionists have afterwards joined the union, and when they have found the benefits of unionism they have become strong advocates for unionism (Hear, hear !) Th''Y tried their best to keep out, and when they joined they became the best workers in tho movement. (Hear, hear !) \Ve hope also that. in the ca··e of the re­turned soldier mentioned by the hon. membe1· for Wide Bav, he will see that it is to his interest to join th" union. It is to the in­i<'re·,ts of every man getting a daily wage to join a union, because he not only gets the protection of the nnion himself, but he gives some protection to other men <lS well. Another ;tatement made by the hon. member for Wide Bav was that Mr. Robinson, the manager of the Ip,wich Workshops, had been interfered with and marked because he tried to do his duty to the State. It happens that Mr. Robinson is not the works manager at

Mr. Gledson.]

500 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Address in Reply,

Ipswich at all. I do not know where the hon. member for Wide Bay got his informa­tion from. The acting works manager is Mr. J. H. Wall. I do not know that he has been interfered with in his work. Mr. Robinson is the divisional mechanical en­gineer. I do not think that he has been interfered with in his work in any way. I have ha·d no notification of it and no word of it.. If the hon. member for Wide Bay got ·:'HY word that any State employee had been mte~fered with in his work he should give a spemfic case. I do not think that the divi­sional mechanical engineer will thank the hon. member for Wide Bay for bringing up his name in this House and saying that he has been interfered with in connection with his work.

One of the things that I would like to deal with to-night more particularlv is in connection with the establishment of State enterprises by the Government. This Government have set out on ·a policy of establishing State <mterprises that would be for the building up of the State and for the benefit of the State. We find that members opposite have beBn trying all they can to defeat the establishment of these enterprises. In fact, they go eo far as to say that when ~hey g~t into power they will wipe all. these mdustnes out. They say that they will do away with <tll the cattle stations fish mar­kets, State coalmines, and iron~orks, and ev;erything else established by the State, and wipe them out altogether

Mr. SwAYNE: Where are the ironworks? Mr. GLEDSON: They are State iron­

works that are to be established. Mr. SwAYNE: Where are they? Mr. GLEDSON: They are in course of

establishment. It is just the same as any other industry established by the State.

Hon: J. A. FIHELLY: The idea annoys them. Mr. GLEDSON: That is so. They are

annoyed in connec1ion with this matter. I would .like to r~ad a; little cutting from n paper m connection With a meeting addressed by Sir Alfred Cowley. Some hon. men,bers ?pposite know that gentleman. This is what 1t says--

" Sir Alfred Cowley was in a prophetic vein a;t a pul>lic 1!'-eeting at Toowong last mght. Hc> smd that all that the Queensland Liberal party wanted was a firm leader who would stand up--"

A GOVERNMENT MEMBER : A new leader? Mr. GLEDSON: Yes. a new leader.

" and tell the Labour party that when his side got back to power all these State fish shops and cattle stations and hotels and all the other similar ventures would be closed. Persons seeking emplovment at these places should be warnQd for the Liberal party was going to get 'back to power, and as soon as it had the Treasurv benches these enterprises would be shu~t down."

J\.Ir. KIRWA:<: The voice of the "junta."

Mr. GLEDSON: We want the workino­mcn and working women of Queensland t~ see wha.t the Liberal party will do when ~hey gam co!'trol of the 'l'reasury benches. The;c arc gomg to shut down on all State enterprises. They will shut down on the Sta~e Insurance scheme, on the cattle 'tatwns, butchers' shops. fhh markets State coalmines, and if we start a State iro~works they will shut them down, too. All these

[·lfr. Glcdson.

things are to be shut down. We want the people of Queensland to know where they stand, and what is the intention of hon. members opposite.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: ThFy know where they stand. They stand on the brink of insol­vency.

Mr. GLEDSOC\f: I do not believe that they stand on the brink of insolvency. I suppose the hon. gentleman is dealing with the deficit that is facing ihc Government. We find the statement made that this deficit comes about through the increased wage'> that have been paid to the Government employees. So far as we a.re concerned. we would face a deficit of £500,000, and pay !he people decent wages. With regard to

the interjection of the leader of [7 p.m.] the Opposition, in my opinion,

it is far better that this Govern· ment should pay their employees and the servants of the pccople of the State a fair wage and decent remuneration for the work they do than that they should be able to show a surplus of a few hundred pounds. We have always advocated that peoplP employed on a wage should receive sufficient to mable them to live in comfort, and, be­lieving that, this Government would have been lacking in their duty if they did not provide, at the earliest opportunity-even though we arc going through trying times -that the employees of the Government should receive, at any rate, sufficient to e-nable thc·m to live under those conditions. y;-e find that the additional expenses in th<" Covermnent departments during the past hcclve months are practically accounted for bv the additional remuneration that• has b0en paid to Government employees. I take it that the expense's will be still further augmented-that they will go further, be­caus0 there are employees who have not yet received the increases they ought to get-but even if it means a deficit, and if it means extra taxation on the community--

Hen. J. ToL~nE: On the community, or on part of the community?

Mr. GLEDSON: On the community. If it mmm''' that extra taxation is to be placed on the communitv, then it is only right that the whole of the community, and not tlw public servants or those employed by the Government, should bear the expPnse by having their wages cut down below what thc•y ought to get. These increases that haYe taken place so far are mainly in con­nection with the railway service, but in­crease"' are foreshadowed in regard to the teaching staff, which has always ~been under­paid b:;.- past Governments.

Hon. J. 'TOLl\!IE: Then you favour the re­moval of the exemption of income tax?

Mr. GLEDSOC\f: I do not know that I said anything about the exemption at all.

Hon. ,J. TOLliiiE: You said, "Put the bur­den on the whole community."

Mr. GLEDSOC\f: Yes, and I want to point out that the whole community bears the burden of taxation. The inference that tho le" der of the Opposition would draw is that those receiving big income; are thos<" who pay the taxation.

Hon. J. ToLl\IIE: No, I am simply asking you for a definition of "community."

Mr. GLEDSON: The community are the­people in the State. The leader of th<"

Address in Reply. (l AUGUST.] AddJ'ess in Reply. 501

Opposition is not so ignorant that he does not know that. There is no need to get· a dictionary to explain that to him.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: If they are, you favour a removal of the exemption.

Mr. GLEDSOK: I want to point out that those who are able to bear the taxation are those who are receiving big incomes, but [ also want to point out to the leader of the Opposition-if he does not already know it ---that those incomes are obtained mostly from the work of those who are not receiving big incomes, who arc not• receiving sufficient to enable them to pay income tax. \Ve will take the leader of the Opposition and his friends who are receiving their £3,000, £4,000, £5,000, £6,000-up to £10,000 a year. (Laughter.) Where do they get that from? They get it out of the working men and women of the country. Everything that goes into their pockets come& from the working men and women, and the working nH"n and ,~~omen are paying the inco1ne tax. although it is not distinctly taxed on thei1; incomes., but on .the incomes that they <T<:'ate by their labour. If the leader of the < lpposition will take th<J trouble to go into thc• library, he will find Adam Smith's " \V ealth of Nations " and other books dealing with capital and labour, and with the properties of each as applied to the other, and he will find out what capital really is. He will find that capital is the surplus profits of labour, and that the in­comes that are made arc the result. (Hear, hear!) ·when the leader of the Opposition and his friends talk about removing the <>xemption on income tax--

Hon. J. ToLMIE: I only wanted to get a clear expree.qion of opinion.

Mr. GLEDSON: I am just going to tell the hon. member what it is.

Hon. J. ToLMIE: You are not so clear now as you were before.

l\fr. GLEDSON: The men and women who pay the taxes are the men and women who work with their brains and their hands, and not the men who sit in their homes or rid(• about in their motor·cars or live in foreign countries and draw their dividends. They do not pay the tax, because the income is created for them and they get the surplus of the labour of this country. Thev have the handling' of the money, the plcas'i..re of tak­ing it and doling it out, but that money actually comes from the work that is per· formed by the working men and women of this country. (Hear, hear!) Take the hon. member for Burrum. \Vhere does the large amount of money come from that goes to those who own coalmines? \Vho makes that incomP-?

Colonel RANKIX: There is ono thing. You no not.

Hon .• J. Tor.;vnE: You know that you said that the Government paid £60,000 extra on fre!ght to Ipswich to maintain your popu­larrtv.

Mr. GLEDSON : I must be a very popular member of the party then. I never saw any of the £60,000. Suppose that the hon. member's shore of the profits of the Howard ::Vline-which has been under discussion yes­terday and to-day-comC's to a matter of £5,000, which is putting it down at a small '0stimate--

Colonel RANKI;<r: Why not make it £50,000? Give u~ a decent figure.

Mr. GLEDSON: I wanted to be modest. It does not say that because the<>e men had the opportunity of getting into those busi­nesses or own the land in which the coal is, thev are the ones who c1·eate the income or en,;hle tlw wealth to be obtained. The mp,n who go down into the bowels of the earth and mine it and take part in its transport­these are the ones who earn the capital and the interest. Let us take theBe mineowners right along the line from one end of Queens­land to the other. Most of them have st~rted with practically nothing, and now they are able to ride about in their motor­c-ars. 'rhey have not obtained their money by handling a pick or using a shovel, but have obtained it from the profit on the labour of the men they have employed; and it is those employees who pay the taxes of the "ountry, not the men who have the handling of the money and are able to pocket big incomes. As a matter of fairness and jus­tiel', it is right that the Government should pay their employees a fair wage, and the money to pay that wage should be obtained from those who are best able to bear the burden of taxation, that is, those who are re<'eiYing profits on the labour of the work­mrm and workwomen whom they employ.

'!'he hon. member for Wide Bay charged the G<l\'crnment with not dealing with the problem existing in the pastoral industry at the prespnt time. 'l'he hon. member surely knows that this Government have nothing to do with the award under which the in­dustry is working. It is not a State award, but an award by a Federal Court, so that if the hon. member has any complaint to make about the matter he should make it to his friends in the Federal Government and not to the State Government, and not make a charge against the Stat<) Govern­mPnt respecting a matter they have nothing to do with.

An HOKOURABLE ::\1EMBER : They blame the Governm0nt for the drought.

J\1r. GLEDSON: Yes, they blame the Government for everything. \Ve have heard something- about "spoils to the victors," but there is a little matter that I should like to lmYo explained. I have here an invitation to a function which is to take place on the 11th Augu:;t, and it states that the "Hon. W. H. Barnc,, M.L.C., will preside." H that is eoiTl'Ct, and such an appointment has been made to the othe1· Chamber, I do not think it is fair to the supporters of the Go­Ycrnment that thev were not informed that sueh an appointmc'nt was to be made.

Dealing with the iron and steelworks which the Government propose to establish, I would remind hon. members that official reports show that right throughout the length and breadth of Queensland we have very fine deposits of iron ore, and pr~ctically every­thing that is needed for the manufacture of iron and the manufacture of steel. Those reports show that from one end of Queensland to the ether there is any amount of iron ore that can be profitably worked; in fact, that can be workC'd more profitably than such ore is worked in other countrie2.

Hon .• J. TOL:l!IE: Why don't you work it, thPn?

Mr. GLEDSON: In the British Isles they have not the deposits we have in Queens­ln.nd, and they have to obtain their iron under mnch more diffic'lllt conditions than

Mr. Gledson.l

502 Address ·in Reply. [ASSBl\IBLY.l Address in Reply.

we can get it in Queensland. The leader of the Opposition asks why is this not done? The reason is that the party with whiC'h the leader of the Opposition is associated haYe been in power for fifty years, and during all that time have done nothing to put Quc2ns­land in its proper place in regard to this matter.

Hon. J. TOL':I!IE: We say it c;:,nnot b~ pro­fitably worked; but you say it can.

Mr. GLEDSON: The hon. gentleman now goes back on what he just said, and oays it cannot be profitably worked.

Mr. KIRWAN: And he said why doesn't this GovernlllLnt work it.

Mr. GLEDSON: We say it can be profit­ably worked, but at the same time 1 wish t') point out to start ironworks is a very different proposition from starting steelworks. Anything ihis Government have done has heen in the interests of thB whole com­~nunity, whereas when rhe Opposition were m power what they did was in the interE·,t of their own private friends. If we look through the records of their transactions Sl_teh as those concerning the purchase of btg estates, and of land at \Varwick and ~inken~a, we see that they were. not acting m the mtercst of the community, but in the intere't of certain individuals who are friends of the other side. And all the time they are trying to prevent this Government establishing cntflrprises. Whv? Because that will be agaipet the intere~t of the pri­vate explorter. lhey want to fnrther the intere3ts of t·he company promoter the man who c:tn sit down in his office, run' off a list. float a company, and put £21,000 or £30 000 into his pocket. They ''ant to do all they ?an to. prevent the State taking part in mdustrral and nmmercial enterprises, so that large profits may be made bv indi­viduals. That is all they are co~ccrned about; they are concerned about the profits of private enterprise. and not about the interests of the communitv as a whole. \Ve s;;.y that th8re ought to·- be e8tablished in Qu"e!'sla':d, not in onq portion of the State, but 1!1 drfferent centres, iron smelters, and that the ore ought to be smelted in each district.

Hon. J. TOLJ.IIE: Why is it not done?

l\Ir. GLEDSON: Because past Govern­ments have neglected their opportunitv and their duty in this matter; because they ha Ye fail<'? to take advantage of what natlire haa pronded. (Hear, hear!) Those mi'ncrals are for use, and past Governm0nts have neglected to use them, and have allowed the State to get into such a position that to-day we haye t'? pay n<>arly £100 per ton fo'r galva.msccl n·on to roof our houses with. If nast Governments had been a!iye to their opportunities, they would have established ironworks, and we should now have been able to roll our own galvanised iron and sur~ply it to the people at a reasonablo price. ~t ts no use the leader of the Opposi'tion say­mg. " \Vhy don't you do this " and "\Vhy don't you do that?" He knows that t!'tis Go­vernment a.rc faced with difficulties such as no Government in Queensland h•ve had to facP. and that it would be impossible now to obtain the machinery and other things neces­sary to carry on such works as those I am diBcussing. The hon. member knows that we cannot turn out the necPssary machinery.

[J£1·. Gledson.

But i'f the hon. member and his associates had been a!iYe to tlwir rlutv in the na"t and had established ironwm:ks, our f~un­dric:i would now haYe been able to turn out the n1achin0ry \VC require, and vve should ha Ye been able to continue ( _ta,bli:hi:;;g i~~dus­tries for the b0nefit of the people. \Ve ought to establish iron smelters in the northern part of the State, somewhere near Cairn.'. another at Bo'\\·cn. another in the Central cli',;trict, and a.nothcr in the Southern district.

Hon. J. TonnE: There is good iron ore at Flag·stone Creek.

Mr. GLEDSO=-": The leader of the Oppeo­:-;ition tolls us that it is not po,~~~iblo to ·,~;ark our iron ores at a profit, and then he tender> the advice that there is good iron ore at r;""lagstonf~ Creek, lltlar his 0\Vll electorate. No,,:, what are we to make of that? If it <·anaot bG profitably worked, why does the hon. gentlema.n want an unprofitable cnkr­vri~ e r'stablished in h:is own electorate?

Hon. J. Tourn:: It >vould put a large nnnibcr of electors there for your benefit. (Laughter.)

'!\Ir. GLEDSON: ·r think we have suffi­<'IPnt PlPctors in the 'roowoomba electorate to win the hon. gentleman's seat at the next election. and tho hon. gentleman is only eoncerned about the next elu::.ion. \V(• belif've in establishing iron smelters, and \H' r,lso believe in establishing one central steel works so tha.t the iron can be taken ther<· from the smelters for treatment. There an' cerhin things required .to enable us to carrv on the i'ron and steel industriec '·UC•oess­fu Uy. The fir·-t thing is to have v, sufficient quantity of iron ore with a sufficient per­centage of iron in it. The next rcquirmnent jg to have the limestone and other material for ftuxing.

:Mr. COLLIXS: There is plenty of that near Bowcn-in the harbour.

Mr. G LEDSON: The next thing we want i's to have coal of coking quality. We hav•' all these requirements right to our hand. According to the official reports. we hav<' abundant supplies of iron ore in various parts of the State, and of a quality which would enable the work to be c·:rri<'d on pro­fitablv. Then, we havu coal which i.; capable of producing coke better in quality than in any other part of Australia.

Colonel RANKIN: Especially the Burrum coal.

:Mr. GLEDSON: The Burrum coal does not produce coke equal to what is produced from the Tivoli seam.

Colonel RANKIN : The Burl'lim c<:>al pro­duce:, better coke than any other Queensland coal. I could give you m·idence of that.

Hon. J. A. FIHELLY: The Burrum coal produces good dividends. (Laughter.)

~h. GLEDSON: The minPs nt Howard die! produce coke at ono time, but the cokP OYPllS l\ ere shut down some years ago, and they haYe practically fallen to pieces.

Colonel RANK!)! : Because it paid bPtter to sell the coal owing to the railway rates charged by the Government.

Mr. KIRW.\N: And a Liberal Government at that.

Mr. GLEDSON: For some years past ther0 ha.s been no coke produced on the Burrum

Addrr.ss m Reply. (l AUGUST.] Address m Reply:

coalfield. I am not going to nm down the Burrum coal. 'l'he analvses of that coal show out very well ; it has the lowest per­centage o.f ash of any coal in Queen• land, and the coal Is go0d. I want to sec th<• BUlTum !\eld. develop into a big field, and I believe It will do that some <Lv becau'c the field hcs possibilities that J:i~ve not vet been Upped. I hope to S<'C a State 'coalmiEc !here. I be!ievc the field has a great future m front of It, but the Burrum coal doe not make coke equal to our Tivoli coke

Colonel RANKIN: Your Government have done their best to kill the Burrum coalfield.

Mr. GLEDSON: We know that the Go­v<;rnment have done all they possibly can to kill not only t-he coalmining industry but every other industry in Queensland.

OPPOSITION MEMBERS: Hear, hear !

Mr. MACARTNEY: The truth at last. {Laurrh-ter.) "'

Hon. J. ToLllliE: A candid admission.

Mr. GLEDSON: As the hon. member fot· Burru111 says, the late Government practically put the Bm·rum coke ovens out of commis­sion so111e eight years ago.

Colonel RANKIN: What Government was that?

Mr. GLEDSON: The Denham Govern­ment. And yet the hon. 111ember supported tha~ Government, and he would support them agam.

Colonel RANKIN : The coke ovens I spoke of were started over twenty years ago.

Mr. GLEDSON: I know it is not over twent.y years since .th~y were put out of. commissiOn, because It Is not more than nine years since I saw them working there.

Colonel RANKIN : The first ovens were put up over twenty yens ago.

~r. GLEDSON: Nine years ago coke was bemg turned out at Howard, and the late Government put them out of commission They have that and manv other sins t~ answer for. ·

Hon. J. TOLMIE: Why have not this Go­vernment brought them into commission again?

Mr. GLEDSON: Does the leader of the Opposition think that the present Govern­ment are going to put into action coke ovens t? swell the profits of members of the Opposi­tion? {Laughter.) That is not the way this Government is built. When they are able to get a State coalmine there and to have a La.bour member for the Burrum they will be able to run things on right lin~s. ·

Colonel RANKIN : You are trying very hard to get a Labour member there.

Mr. GLEDSON: And we are going to do it, too. (Hear, hear!) I have analyses of Queensland coal and coke as well as analyses of New South Wales coal from the South Coast district. It was stated here the other night that the coal and coke in Queensland were not suitable for use in the Northern smelters, but the analyses of coal from the Tivoli seam in the Abermain Mine show that both the coal and coke from that mine are superior to the South Coast coal of New

South Wales. These are the results, showing the superiority of both the Queensland coal and coke-

Aberm~in coal.

Moisture Volatile matter Fixed carbon ARh ...

A ve:·at!'e t•omposition !:5. Co:,st coal, K.S.l\r.

per cent. per cent. 0.37 .97

26.61 23.10 64.68 65.26 8.34 10.67

100.00 100'.00

Colonel RANKIN : You know that those are not the only determining factors in the quality of coke.

Mr. GLEDSON : The analyses of the coke ma-de from those samples Show the superiority of the Queensiand coke also-A vt>r;;ge of 4 sampl1::.:

.\hcrrn ,ilJ eukc.

Moisture Volatile matter Fixed carbon Ash ... Sulphur

Avtroge of 12 ~ttniples of ''OUlhern c l..:e, .:-; S.\V.

per cent. per cent. .OB .73 .51 1.02

84.95 82.06 14.46 15.83

.36

100.00 100.00

I hase also a report here showing by analysis that the distillation of the Bundamba coal i,; equal to any coal in the world. vV o could produce from the residue of the Bundamba coal <'verything required for making dyes, and for other industries, equal to anything thev have been producing in Germany in past years. The report has been kindly lent to m<' by Mr. H'ury Hart. and I regret that I have not time to deal with it in detail as I should have likr•d to do, as my time is exhausted.

:Yir. 'VILSON (Portit11dc Yall~y): I desire to make tt few remarks on this debate on the motion for the adoption of the Address in Reply to His Excellency. I think that the Governor and his advisers, and the people of Queensland, arc to be congratulated on the progress which has been made while the Ryan Government have been in office, There is an indication in the Speech that further progressive measur<'s are to be brought forward this session, notwithstand­ing the depressinn caused by the calamitous war in Europe. I congratulate the hon. member for Rockhampton and the hon. mem­ber for Maryborough nn the splendid efforts they re>pectively put forth when moving and seconding the motion for the adoption of the Address in Reply. I desire also to pay my tribute to the Government. Charges of disloyalty have been made against the Government by hon. members opposite and their Press barrackers and supporters out­side. I am pleased that the Government are steadily pursuing the policy they have laid down of assisting returned soldiers, but instead of receiving assistance from hon. members opposite in their efforts in this direction the Government has to face open hostility and obstruction to measures which have been specifically r\P,ig,.pcd 'to that end. I refer particularly to the rejection of cer­tain measures which have been opposed by members of the Legislative Council. The first one, which I will briefly refer to, is the Income Tax Ad Amendment Bill, which proposed to increase the income tax in the

Mr. Wilson.]

504 AddTess in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Ad!h·eBs in Reply.

case of per" Jns and corporations who were best able to bear it, so as to find money to assist in the work of settling returned sol­diers on the land, but that measure was reiected by the other Chamber. There was also the 11eatworks Bill, which, if passed, ,-.ould have enabled the Government to take eontrol of the meat supply for the Imperial troops, but it received drastic treatment at the hands of members in another place. There was also another passed in this Chamber to enable the Government to acquire a large and valuable tract of coun­try for the purpose of settling our returned soldiers-namely, the New Cannindah Rail­way line, and that was also rejected by the Upper House. Th0se are but a few of the measures which have been strenuously opposed by hon. members opposite, who endeavour to pose as the fiionds of the returned sol­diers. It would appear to me that the opponents of the Government, both here and in the Legislative Counc-il, are out to decry everything that thi.s party does in the eyes of the people outside. If I am any judge of the sit.uation, I am perfectly satis­fied that actions speak louder than words, and when we face our masters I am con­Yinced that there will Le an overwhelming vote in favour of the Ryan Government.

GoVER~1MENT lVIEMBERB : IIear, hear !

.Mr. \VILSON: I would like to 'ay a few >\Ords in connection with the Department of Labour, the work of which, I think, is en­titled to some consideration from the mem­bers of this Chamber. In connection with the labour exchanges which were established by this Government, the department is ren­<lering splendid service in placing returned soldiers in occ·upations in various parts of the State. I am not attempting to give all the credit for placing t he'e men in occupa­cions to the Labour Bureau; I am quite prPparcd to admit that the \Var Council has done excellent service in that respect, but they have had the machinery of the Labour Bureau to assist them in the work. I feel sure that the work which the Government has done in that connection, in spite of the opposition of our opponents, will win for them the confidence of the returned soldiers themselves. I have hero a small cutting from the "Daily Mail" of 24th July, 1917, giving a summary of the transactions of the <'mployment ;.ubcommittee for the week ended 21st July. It states-

" Summary of transactions of the em­ployment subcommittee for the week ended 21st July:-Total registrations to date Registrations during week Applicants unprovided for at end

of previous week Applicants fo1md employment

during week through Bureau ... Applicants found employment

during week through Cairns Auxiliary Committ.'e

Applicants found employment dnring week through Brisbane Auxili•uy Committee

Applicants found employment during wenk through Towns­ville Auxiljary Committee

Applie:mts unprovided for at end of week

2,456 33

29

38

2

2

1

19."

That is just for the week ending July. 'I11()

[Mr. Wilson.

auxillary eommittoed referred to are tho labour exchanges at Brisbane, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Gympie, _Mg,ryborough, R<;ckhamp­ton, Bundaberg. Mackay, Townsv1l!e, and Cairns. The newspaper report shows that the labour exchange.;, working as auxiliary com­mittees to the "ubcommittees of the War Council. have greatly assisted in pl_aoing t~e returned men. To the \V ar Council, too, IS due a arcat deal of crc·dit for the work they have d~no in fmding positions for returned men, and not only returned men, but people all over Queensland. I have also. a quota­tion from the report of the Duector of Labour and Chid Inspector of Factories and shops for the year ended 90th J ~no;, 1917. I quote this because I consider this IS

a department wmthy of a [jOOd deal of consideration by members of th1s House, and has a right, at all events, to be brought prominently before the people in order to Id them know the good work that has been done by the Director of Labour. I notice in his report he says-

,. At the beginning of the year under rcvie-,v many of our most important industries were seriously affected by the drought and the war, and, in consequence, manv men were thrown out of employ­ment. The pastoral and meat industries, toP"ether with the building trades, were affected most, and, had it not been for the absorption of a big number of these people by the Government in railway construction work, the seriousness of the position would certainly have ~eco;ne more acute. \Vithout the orgamsatwn of the exchange·:, it certainly would have become most difficult, if not impossible, to accuratGlv measure the extent of the depres,ion, lot alone cope with the de­mand put forward hy the worldeos men. Bv mobilising the workers seeking em­ployment and making their requirements known in a systematic way, the object that the Mini-tor had in view when he decided upon the introduction of the ex­change system was undoubtedly assisted. Employers in search of labour were brought in touch with those seeking em­ployment; and in this ''ay job;, were found for 6.4-+7 men, while 7,269 men were placr'd by the Government through· out the Statn, making a total in all of 13,716 being sent to employment through the <'Xchanges. During the previous year 5,592 nEn pasoed through the bureau, the total registrations for that year totalling 9,095 as against 30,759 for the year enclQd 30i:h June, 1916."

That speaks volumes for the amount of good work done and S'crvice rendered by the ex­changes. Of course they have the machinery, bnt it shows that they have a man running that department who is entitled to credit for the able W<lY he is running it. He j,, doing his best to mak<' a success of the department and I hdieYe he was of considerable help to the \V ccr Council. There is also in the report mention of the female labour ex­changes. another branch of the department The report states-

" The female labour exchange, situated in Adelai,cJe street, was opened on 3rd March, 1916. The Minister's desire in establishing this office was for the purpose of mobilising available female labour, drrssifying the registrations, and placing at the disposal of women workers and

Address in Reply. (1 AUGUST.) Address in Reply. 505

·Bmployers needing labour the benefits of a free agency. All classes of female labour now take ad vantage of the agency, which, under the capable management of Mrs. Charlton, is fast developing into a very busy office. In the near future it may be deBirable to extend the prin­·ciple of " female exchanges" to other parts cf the city. During the four months from 3rd March, 1,031 female workers registered at this exchange, out of which 534 were placed in employment."

That is very good business, too. I also notice, in looking over the "Industrial Gazette," a further report for the year ended 30th .f une, 1917, in connection with the female labour exchanges. It states that the applica­tions registered totalled 170; the demand fm· labour, 184; persons sent to employment, 128; excess supply, 42; demand, 44. That ,peaks very well indeod.

Hon. J. ToL:I!IE: That means that forty­two people were not satisfied.

Mr. WILSO::'-J: It is not a question of not being satisfied, as very often people follow a particular class of trade and will not nccept employment in any other calling.

Mr. ROBERTS: \Vhv don't you quote July figures? '

Mr. WILSON: I have no doubt that they are pretty fair too. The figures I have <.juoted go to show that this agency, es­tablished by the Government, has proved its worth as it has been able to find employ­ment for such a large nu1nbcr of persons instead of them baying to go to private registry olfices which charge exorbitant fees, thereby fleecing the poor unfortunate women and girls s0eking employment. I recollect that not a great while ago a friend of mine informed me that a relative of his was seek­ing a situatiun on a ~tation. This girl went round to one of the registry offices to try and '?'et employment on a station as a governess. After waiting a m'>nth or six weeks, during which time she had frequent interviews with the registry ofricP people, they informed her that they had secured a situation for her at the rate of £50 per annum, and after she had been there a month or six weeks she would get £55 per annum if she stayed two years. \Vhcn she inquired the fee for secur­ing her the situation they told her five per c;ent. Not only did they charge her 5 per cent. on the first year's engagement, but they had the effrontery to charge 5 per cent. on the two years' engagement, and yet she wonld not know until aftE'r she got to the -tation wh0ther she would stav the other twelve months or not. '

Hon. J. 'l'oL~f!E: Are these private registry (,flices wiped out yet?

l\fr. WILSOX: I do not know, but I know the regulations are yery strict, and when the matter was brought under my notirn I said to the young man, " That young I ady is a friend of yours. If you went to the Department of Labour vou would find out that that wo.s an exorhitai1t fee and you could have the matter rectified." He did so. I forget the exact amount., hut I know that in place of having to pay 5 per cent. for two ~-cars the charge was reduced to 4s. and the othc'r money was refunded to the girl.

Hon. J. TOU!IE: Hear, hear! I am glad ro hear that she di·d mud1 better than the :Vsistant Minister did for the lawyer.

Mr. vVILSO~: It is in the interests of both employer and employee to know that ".'C have got .an exchange of that descrip­tion, and also a branch for females m Adelaide street, which is very ably con­ducted by Mrs. Chrtrlton. I think it is only right to giYe credit to the department for the able way in which it is run.

'The next mattnr on which I would like to say a few words is in connection with the State cold stores and markets. I see by the Governor's Speech that this is really the fint item mentioned-

" A Bill to authorise the estab'ish­ment• of cold stores and markets for primary products."

I am pleased indeed to know that the Go­\'t'rnrnent are bringing forward that measure, because I have a re<•ollection that the first time I .opoke in this Chamber last year on the Address in Reply, I mentioned the matter, and said that I hoped that the Government would start a State market and cold storc•l.

1\lr. RoR.F.RTS: Did you say it was the first Bill the GoYernrnent introduced?

l\Ir. WILSON: It is the first Bill on the list mentioned in the Governor's Speech. When I was seconding the Address in Reply last year I mentioned the matter of cold store~ and markets, because the object I had in view was that it would bring the con­sumer and producer closer together_ In my opinion, the establishment of a State mar­ket and distributing agency must he of f~reat benefit to the producer as well as the consumer. The farmer at present is at the mercv of a host of middlemen, who are, pract'ically speaking, a combination. The t'stahlishment of a State market would mean not only the selling, hut the storing of pro­ducr, and, in addition to its direct action, it would have a restraining influence on the rest of the pure ha sers. There is no doubt that under the present method we are work­ing under, neither. the producer nor t.he consumer get a fan deal. Take, for m­stance. the difference between the amount received by the grower and the price paid by the consumer. It is something enormous, running to 200 or 300 per cent. A State market would provide a better system '?£ distribution, ensure to tho grower a fa1r return, and also protect the consumer. If there happenPd to be any surplus product over it could be put into the coJ.d store to be disposed of later on. What are they doing in Tasmania to-day? That i9 the place where thev grow a consj.dcrabk quantity of apples. \V c' find that there is no shipment oversea' just now. At the present time they are not able to g-r,t their product overseas from Tasmania, vet in Brisbane to-dav we have to pay i6s. per case for apples: Do you think that th<" g-rower•, arc g-etting that price, or any­thine•· near it? No. Just a few speculators who have cornered the supplies are making the public pa,·. To my way of thinking, all this 1>:onld be obYiated by having a State market.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: The Government should send the " Allinga " down and get a ship­ment.

Mr. WILSON: The fruit-preserving works which are contemplated by this Government would solve a very great problem indeed,

Mr. Wilson.]

506 Address Rep!y. [ASSEMBLY.] Addres11 in Reply.

"o far as the fruit man is concerned and proyc a great boon, especially to the 'small man. I was reading an article in a paper dated the 23r.J Jl!ly. There were two· columns in this article, and it is not a Labour paper. It was the Melbourne "Ac;···" I have only got a small portion of the artic!•', and it reads as follows:-

" The c,lst of every item in the dailv expenditure of an ordinarv household ha-; increased, regardless of the fact t!tat in many cases it ought at this tn.;e to be cheaper, and not clearer. Vegobble; nre up from l.OO to 200 per cent., and the public ;, seeking in won­dorm~;:t for a rc;ason. Meat is costing ~lore .ln ..Anstr.aha, vvhere it is grown, than m countnc' that depend upon im­portation. Applic; are beinrr sold in the suburb3 of Melbourne at a"s much as 6d. a lb., and thous md3 of case.; bought by middlemen and speculators are dctPriore.~in~ in cold s~orage. Every WE'ek a limited number IS unloaded on rho market, and, as the price rises from 8s. and 10s. to as hig·h as 12s .. and even 14s. a case, the speruhtor. rubs his hands with glee in thought of the thou ands of case,;; he still holds and for which he origin~Jly paid 3s. a'nd 4s. a case."

lYe know perfectlv well that mattprs of that sort shonld not happen. If we had cold e,torage and a State market, I am convinced that they w~mlcl confer a great benefit on the ~ommumty. As I said in opening, I mentwn<:>d tins matter on the Address in Reply. last year, and I recommended the <'stabhshment cf State markets. I know where a State market could be erected in the centre of the city at' a minimum ex­pense to tJ::c .Goyernment. They hold the land, a!ld It 1s m the centre of the city. There IS a large and valuable piece of ground.

Mr. GRAYSON: 'iVhcrc is it?

Jl.~r. WI!,SO"": It _is in Fortitude Valley. It 1s. not m tb' Forhtude Valley electorate, but m. the electorate of the hon. member fo! Bnsbane. It is a piece of land between 9'PVS street and Brunswick street. It ts on!;.: a qu~stion of putting piers across the railway !me somewhere about 600 feet long and 60 ft. wide. The same thing would ar;ply to the land between Gotha street and Gipps sh·e~t. There is onlv a cheap cottage property on about 10 or 12 perches of !and; so it would not cos~ ';UUCh to resume It. The property was ongmally de~tro.ved v•hen the ratlway :vent throug·h. The Go­vernment C'ould easily put in a siding and have th_e approaches built up. I commend the suggest.IOH to the Minister for Agriculture. There IS no better place in the metropolitan ~rea for Stat:' mark0ts than that place. It I.< centra~ly Sitt~ated, and in close proximity to the e1ty. \\ e know that at present the cold stores are con~rested. . Hon . • T. TOL'IIIE: Would it not be a better

Site down near the stevedores' wharves?

Mr. WILSON: I do not think so.

Hen. J. TOL'IIIE: Tlwre is deep watet· there.

Mr. WILSON : I do not know about the deep water. T_he railway is at the place I s;;eak of, and It would be a market for all kmds of produce. We knmy JWrfectly well

[111r. Wilson.

that some of the unfortunate farmers ar<-­not too well treated. I sec my

[8 p.m.] friend, the hon. member for Drayton, opposite, who hardly

gives this Government credit at any time for doing anythi'ng in the interests of the farmer. and when we do launch out on dE,cent project to help him we are told that we arc not seriom. To mv mind the re"! frie'1d> of the fa rm<'rS an' .. on this side; thev ar" doing all they c!ln to a,_,,ist the farmer and tho man on the land.

:i.Vlr. BEllBilWTo:c-;: Hard to believe.

Mr. WILSON: 'Ne continually hear from the other side of the House, " Who sto!e -the' farmers' butt<'r ?" and " 'Who stole the meat?" but, nevertheless, the Govern­ment are sincere in their proposals to a"~ist the man on the land. V\Te know per­fectly wdl that many of the unfortunate, farmers on the North Coast-and I suppos<' it is the same on the Darli'ng Dovms-'.,,end their produce down to market and the prices they get will hardly pay the commission and other expenses they have to pay. I was Sp<'aking to a friend the other day who told me that hP had a crop of sweet potatoes, but it would not pay him to send it down.

::\fr. BEBBI:c-;GTOX: Quite right.

:\h. WILSOJ\' : Bnt go along the streeb and notice from the windows what the shops arc charging for those sweet potatoes. The· prices they are retailed at is sufficient t0 let one know that they ought to be able to pay thocc charges. We arc told that when they are plentiful they would not pay the freight do\Yn to BrisbanP, but that does not coin­cide with the prices the retailers are gettinc:.

Mr. GII.LIES: \Vbo fixE's the prices of them?

Mr. WILSOX: We> know who fix0c, tho prices, and that is why I bring it out as evidence to show that the Government arP trying to a.osist the man on the land as well as the consumer bv the establi'shwent of Stato markets. ·

Mr. BEBBINGTO:c-; : \Yhy didn't they fix the storekeepc,r's pric·e ~ They only fixed the farmer's price.

Mr. WILSOl\: Not in everv ce.se. It is the middlemen who are floeeing the pro­ducer and the consumer all the time. They are the men who are making the money an'd building palatial houses. 'The n~xt matter I want to touch on in a few words is that I am pleased to notice that the Government rropo"e to incorporate the local authorities around Brisbane into a Greater BrisbaiH~ seheme.

Hon. J. ToL'\IIE: That is a " stand-over " from last year.

Mr. WILSON: Greater city schemes are­already accomplished facts. \Ve have them in Ipswich, in Toowoomba, and i'n Rockhamp­ton, and they are of great adyantagc to the people in those centres. This reform undoub­tedly will make for more equitable rating. economy in the management of local govern­ment affairs, and, generally speaking, greatm· dficiency and a. better state of affairs alto­gether. \Ve know that around the metro­politan area there are twelve or fifteen local authoriti'es within a radius of 10 or 12 miles, and the amount of overwork and waste that occurd by having a town clerk and staff of officers in each of them-foreman of works,

Address m Reply. (1 AUGUST.j Address in Reply. 507

engineer, and various derks-should all be done away with. The work could be done from one central oflice.

:Mr. BF:BBio;GTOX: Do you think it \Yould help them to take over the trams?

Mr. WILSON: It would help it. It would also help eome of the outside shire' to get better \Y.Jrk donr- in C)lll1E'{3tion with the thing, they are called upon to do-drainage and othc r thing", for instance. 'fhey find that un1e~'.., you happen to be an aldcrn1nn or '-' sh:'m VJUc "illor you will get very littJ,, done. It ~cems to be a. saying amongst local authority people thnt if you sec a nice pien of road in front of a good house. then an aldcrtn ,,n or a councillor rnu t Jiyc- tb0r'", and if it i-J done extra well, then he wust hP the mayor. (Laughter.)

lllr. MrLAf'HL'X: I thought all the retired fEr:tdCT:J liv~d there?

:M:r. IYIL~ON: Some of tlwm are not too badly off. They are the most indqPndent class cd people I know in Australi,L

::Yir. PL:ERSOX: Did you eYer try it!

Mr. IYILSOX: Yes, I did a bit of it my­self.

Mr. GRWSOli: I wish it \V ab true.

:\1t:. WILSOX: I do not think the hon. n,cmbcr hac anything to complain abnut. I think that a Greater Brisbane scheme would gin' the local authorities a better chance of in1proving their positions. \Ye know· per­fu:tly \Yell th,,t any increase 1n rating i's not popular with the ratepayers, no matter wheth<>r :vcu represent a city or a shire. H you 'Yant to put on an increase. no matter what you want to carry Dut, you find the capitrrlist ami the capitalist's representatives ·down on ycu.

Mr. B:<:BBio;GTO:\: The farmers cannot pay any more in the ,,hires; thc·y are up to the limit.

Mr. \VILSOX: The farmers are pretty well protected. Notwithstanding that the hon. member ''ays they are not, he i"s always smiling and happy when h{' gets away from asking us who stole their butter and their meat. And is it not a fact that a deputation recentlv waited on the Premier and asked for a wheat pool? I think the people of Queens­land ought to g·et clown on their knees and thank God that there is a Labour Govern, ment in power. (Hear, hear!)

Another rropo al in the Government pro­gramme is one which will be Wf'lcomed bv visiting- people and also by metropolitan residents generally, that is, the exprc<.sccl intention of the Government to introduce a measure to deal with the Brisbane Tramwa ,-s Company when th<·ir lease expires in J 920. I hope that the Bill will be framed and passed by this House, borause I know that this is the only Government frcn which ihe pr-oplc can look forward to getting :"t. It will prevent .the poss'bility of any furtlHw "Badgering " of the Brisbane people. \Vh:11 I come to consid<cr the handsome dividc:nds thnt have been so long extracted from a long­sufferinG" public and put into the pockNs of absentee shareholders, I feel sure that this Bill will be a boon if it proposes to take thAm over and make them an a<liunct of t.lte Hailwav Department or places thnrn undnr the loca:l

authoritic<. It will me.m betLJr accom,n·xl.t­tion-cf that I am :.atisfied-ox'cnd.cd so-­Yiccs, nnd cheaper far<· . I notice that see­tion 49 of the Tra:nwa_. s Act s:1ys lhat Lh<' C(l::'HjJ'' ny ~ ha.lJ--,

''Provide <Jnd r11n (·Er'3 in 61L1li.ciL·nt .l:Jm!lt•r., for 1 hP .H·· .. onFil )d.tt!o 1 of 11v: ;n..1blir front thP ~wnr nf scYHl in the morning until ten o'clock in the evening ui (X:_ry cla:: exc:'pt Sunday."

Now, we know perfectly well that ;>1r. Badger and the Trumways Company have not done that. It is needless for me to mention to this House--it must be patent to everybody, at least everybody who uses the trams-that at certain hours of the day it is really disgraceful. You cannot get a seat, you <annat get standing room even. Any­where from about a quarter to 5 to half-past 6 in the evening and also in the morning, the accommodation that is provided to take people to and from the suburbs is a standing disg-race. It is high time that something was done to remedy this state of affairs.

Hon. J. 'foLMTE; You could compensate that by starting e-arlier in thG morning.

2-J:r. WILSON : It will also be noted that Mr. Badger, when any mention is made in the House of the insufficiency of the tram service. will send out his overseers or offieerB to check the traffic, and will afterwards pub­lish a report in the Press giving the number of passengers and trying to make out that th<n·e was ample accmnmodation, though it is· well known that at certain times of the day prcssengers have to hang on to the straps.

Mr. KIRW.AN: If they had to do that in a railway train there would be a riot.

Mr. WILSON: If the trams were run by the local -authority or by the Government, I do not think the people would take the matter so quietly and allow themselves to be fleeced' in the manner in which they are fleeced by the Tramways Company. We know that on race days the company charge 6d. for ea<Jh passenger going to Ascot. >Yhich is 50 or 100 per cpnt. above the fa1·c usually charged; Rnd that in going to the Exhibition passengers have to pay a special fare_ o_f _3d. from the Vallcv corner to the Exh1b1t10n I have frequenti:v seen children get in there and have to pay· 3d. :More especially is this the case with thaw who come from the country and do not know the fares.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: Isn't that a usual thing on special cars?

Mr. WILSON: They have all to pay the same on special CJlrS. Mr. Badger says the tram service here is better than in any other Rtate in the Commonwealth, but I do not believe that such is the case. The cmnpany ar'' suppose,] to keep up their tim0tablP. hut on race days or at Exhibition time you will find that a number of cars are taken for those special services, and that the ordinary services are not kept up. It is a wonder to me that ,a greater number of accidents do not take place than actually happen. Passengers have to hang on to the straps like a lot of pigeons, and hold on as best they can in the crowded ears. I have a return here which will probably interest hon. members. 'The hon. member for Merthyr went into this matter pretty fully, <1nd it is unnecessary for m<e to cleal with it at any

J1f1·. Wilson.]

,508 Add·ress in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Address in Reply.

length. I shall, therefore, content myself with giving the particulars of a return furnished to the council by the company-

" The gross earnings of the Brisbane Tramways Company, Limited, for the last five years have been as follows:-

Year. £ s. d. 1912 243,479 9 4 1913 300,114 5 4 1914 327,647 12 0 1915 349,124 17 6 1916 364,741 14 8

"Under section 196 of the Local Authorities Act of 1902 the Tramways Company pay to the various loool bodies by way of rates 1~ per cent. of the gross earnings of the vehicles of the company. On the above figures this would amount to-

Year. 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916

£ 8. d. 3,652 3 10 4,501 14 3 4,914 14 3 5,236 17 5 5,471 2 6

" Actually the amounts paid are less than the abov<:>, because the majority of the local authorities allow discount ou the amount of rates. For instance, the Brisbane City Council allow 10 per cent. discount. Seeing that the Tramways Com­papy. !have the exclusive right to the prmmpal streets, and the best portion thereof, it is C'T1ly reasonable to assume that they should pay more by way of rates than thr,y are compelled to pay under the present Act."

The next matter I wish to touch upon is '{)ne that I mentioned last year when speak­ing on the Addre's in Reply, and that is <the accommodation at Brunswick Street Rail­way Station. Hon. members must admit that that station is unable to handle both goods ,and passenger traffic. That a station like the Brunswick Street Railway Station should be there so long is nothing short of a disgrace.

Hon. J. ToLMlE: I have been there hundreds of time~, and I have not seen thl' platform crowded.

Mr. WILSON: The hon. gentleman should have been there during holidays or after business places in the V alley have closed.

Mr. MoLAOHLAN: It is one of the most important stations in Bri~bane.

Mr. WILSON: As the hon. member for Merthyr says, it is one of the most important stations in Brisbane, as I shall prove presently when I give the amount of revenue which the Government collect at the Bruns­wick Street Station. It would be an easy matter to shift the station down a little from the Valley Corner 'o a site where they would have easy ingress and egress. It is a wonder to me that there lLre not more accidents at that station than c•) happen. For some con­siderable time past we have endeavoured to get alterations made at the station, but have not succeeded. Special deputations have waited on previous Governments ur(;iing them to move the station a little further back. The hon. member for Albert is well aware that such deputations have waited on pre­-vious Governments, and I think it will be generally admitted that such an alteration as 1 suggest would be a boon to the residents <Jf that part of the city and to the travelling

[llfr. Wilson.

public. I applied to i_Jl~ Acting S_ecretary to the Railway CommissiOner for mfori:la­tion regarding the traffic at t~e Brunswick Street Station and on thf' Buhmba Branch, and he kindly suppl.ied me with the following return:-

' ----00

t "" " "' ~ i

~~-·--\ I I ' I i I I I I I I

l I

~~~~ ~

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'l'hose figure> prove conclusively that the amount of revenue obtained at the Brunswick Street station warrants some attention being paid to the wishes of the community in that part of the city. There are several larg;e businesses in the Valley which send all their heavy goods to Roma "st:eet, because of ~he inadequate accommodatiOn at Brunswick Street, and the passenger accommodation is scandalous. The hon. member for Merthyr and I hope to induce the Secretary for Rail­ways to visit the place, when we shall be able to show him that at comparatively small expense considerable improvement can be effected. I do not wish to take up any further time, as the debate has been worn threadbare. I sincerely trust that the Go­vernment measures foreshadowed in the Speech will be placed on the statute-book, and I hope that hon. members opposite will so influence their friends in another place that thev will realise that we are doing good work he"re. (Hear, hear!)

The PREMIER, who was received with Gon'rnment clwcr~, said : In rising to address mv:self to the motion before the IIou'e I d-;,sire, in common with other hon. memb~ro, to extend my congratulations to thP mover and seconder of the moti'on. I think they showed very great promise in their maiden efforts in this Home, and I feel certain that, with honest, assiduous, and cap­ab],. attention to the duties that devolve upon them as members of Parliament, they will attain a high place in the councils of tho countrv. I wish them all the success that they dese;ve. I desire, too, to thank the h01i. membf'r for Toombul, who I understand spoke on behalf of the members of ~he Op­position in expressing sympathy with my wife and mysp]f in connection with our recent bereavements. (Hear, hear!) Expressions of

Address in Reply. [1 AUGUST.] Address in Reply. 509

that sort are appreciated, and they are com­forting at a time when one is stricken as my wife is at present. (Hear, hear!)

I have li'stened with very considerable interest and very closely to the speeches of hon. members opposite. I have been endeav­ouring to find what r, 11lly was the line that the Opposition were taking with respect to the proposals \\hich arc put before Parlia­ment in the Governor's Speech. but it has been quite impossible for me to ascertain any common purpose, any fixed line, that the Oppositi'on are taking with respect to the propocal< contained in the Speech. In fact, each one seems to have adopted a different role, to fa"" the question from a different viewpoint, and all differ from ono another. (Hea,r, hear !)

Hon. J. TOL:\fiE: You se<! there are so many points of attack.

The PREMIER: I have tried to classify the different criticisms that have been levelled against the Government. I find that the leader of the Opposition, who I took it was speaking on behalf of the party, set out by saying-

" 'vVe must not forget that the humani­t~trian work that has been effected, a,nd for which they claim credit, is the work, not of the Labour party, but of the Liberal party sitting here, and the grcJttest compliment that can be paid to us is that hon. members sitti'ng oppo­site endeavour to follow a.long the lines we have laid down."

That is the attitude taken up by the loader of the Opposition. He says that the greatest compliment we can pay his party is to en­deavour to follow on the lines thDy had laid down. Then, there is another type of criti­ci'sm indulged in by quite a number of hon. members sitting opposite. In endeavouring to bre~k down the Dffect of the Speech and belittle the matter contained in it, they say that the Government do not mean what the Speech says, and, thet if they do mean it, it cannot be donD. Then, we have another attitude, and that is the a.ttitude taken up la•t Dvcning by the hon. member for Bur­rum, who no doubt saw the weaknec.e of the spee<'hcs delivered from the Oppositi'on benches, so he took i't upon himself to assume the role of leadership. He certainly indulged in no personal abuse, and generally his sp.·Fch "R > on a high plane, if I ma.y be permitted to say so. He took it upon him­self to lav down what was the attitude of the Opposition, because I have no doubt he felt that those who had preceded hi'm had utterly failed to make any effective criticism of the Speech. This is what the hon. mem­ber said in condemnation of the Speech-

•' The charge has been levelled agniw•t this side that we have not cri'ti­eised the Speech. I plead guilty, on behalf of those with me on this side, to the charge. for the simple reason that there is nothing in it to criticise-that there is nothing in the document worthy of criticism. VV e are not going to criti­ciF•' the establishment of butchers' shops; we condemn them. \V e are not going to cri'ticise the est:tblishment of a, fish shop; we say it is not the business of the St~tte to enter into the fish industry. We arc not going to criticise the estab­lishment of coalmines ; we condemn those things. We are not going to applaud

or criticise the establishment of iron­works, whi'ch have proved so disastrous in other States and arf' bound to prove cv<'n more disastrous under the con­ditions set up by the present Adminis­tration. No, I say, we are not going to criti:oiso. 'vVc are going to condemn­because I consid0r that is the only term th-"t may be appliect to a document of this natur<'."

There I have set out the manner in which I classify the spcechP' that have so far come from hon. members opposite. The leader of the Oppoaition says that W<' can do no better, and are doing no better, than follow­ing in the footsteps of our predeceseors ; the· other section-the hon. member for Albert being the principal amongst them­say that we do not mean our proposals, and finally, th<:' hon. member for Burrum says that the Oppo,•ition condemn our proposals. I am sure that supporters of hon. gentle­men in the country outside must view with very great concern the ineptitude of thei'r representatives in Parliament. (Opposition la,ughter.) They have shown that they are incompetent and unable to form a, policy, and that they arc unable to indulge in effec­tive criticism. An Opposition ought to be, able to pull togr·ther in some way for somt> fixed purpose, but instead of that, they are "ll at sixes and scvem, and their attitudB i' a.n entirely different one from the other. (Hear. h_•ar !) They have shown clearly that they, at all events, are unfitted to be given the r2ins of government in this country <a.t a critical time like this. GOYERK~IDfT MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER : It is well known that even their supporters outside have no con­fidence in them. GOVER~~IENT ME~IBERS: Hear, hear! and

Opposition laughter. The PREMIER : They are a discredited

Oppo:,ition, a.nd their attitude in this de­b~tte on the Address in Reply has proved­ancl I hope they will not take offence at thP oxprco,,i'on I am about to apply to them­the. t they are a collection of incompetent mediocrities. (Loud Government laughter.)

Hon. J. TounE: You arc speaking like a police court lawyer now.

The PREMIER : In the caucus which they summoned, the least they might have done wao to have laid down some common lino of atkck upon the Governor's Speech, but the Let is that when they read the Governor's Speech at their first caucus they '"'-re t?,rowl, into utter confusion by the practical nature of the proposals contained i'n it-(Governmcnt laughter)-and were un­able to make up their minds as to how it should be attacked in the House, and, con­•<.equGatly. "e have the miserable spectacle di- pla:cd be the Opposition during the course of thio, debate.

I would like to deal with the aspect of the critici'sm that "we do not mean it," because, if they are going to damage the Government at all, it is only by endeavour­ing to convince the public on tha,t point. But they have only got to read the Speech to see that the Government ar·:· placing a practical and statesmanlike programme before Par­liament. And there is only one thing they can do-and I congratulak those members who took up that attitude, for it is the only attitude they could take up in dealing with

Hon. T. J. Rrwn.]

JlO Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Addr?ss m Reply.

a Speech of this kind-that is, "thut the Uon>rnment do not mean it." Let hon. members cast their minds back over the progrc,mme which has been put through by the Government up to the present time, and l'ead t},e Barcal•line speech and the previous Governors' Speeche?, and compare that with thu list of legislation which is on th<' statute­book end the administrati<>n which has 15one on siuce this UoverHtncnt came into power! "Will <till one sa v we did not mean it? The great ~-utcry agaimt the Government has been that they did mean it; that• they have gone on with the proposals contained in the Governor's Spoeches.

GOVERKMENT MEMBERS : Hear, hear !

'l'he PREMIER: There is nothing that has Ll ·~n contained in any Governor's Speeeh doliYered since the Government cane into power that is not based upon the programme which ww; placed before the country by me at Barcaldine on the 29th March, 1915, and which was approYed by the electors on the 22nd May of tho same year.

Hon. J. TonnE: And we see what an absolutely futile programme it is now.

The PREMIEH : That programme 1s contai1ied in tbP Barcaldine speoch, and il; is again put forward in the GoYC'rnor's Speech, opening this sessiolJ. It is no afterw rhou:>ht that the proposals contained in the present GoYernor's Spe<'ch have been brought L,•forc Parliament in this the last session of l'arliament, because those proposals were contained in th(' speech v;hich was placed befor0 the country in ~1arch, 1915, and we haYe been carrying it out.

Hon. J. ToL:\liE : And the country turned it down on the 5th of May. (Government laughter and dissent.)

Mr. O'SLLLIV.\;<;: What about the by­·dcctio~''i?

The PREMIER: Do hou. members sug­gest that the Government wero not in earnest when they brought fonvard the Workers' Compensation Bill, which conferred each great advantages on the workers of Queen-,. hnd? Do they s1~.ggt'"'t th11,t \Ve \verc not in Parn~st when we brought forward the pro­posal for compen· ation in the case of indus­trial diseases, particularly in regard to miners' phthisis; that WP were not in earnest in the \Y orkers' Accommodation Bill, the Labour Exchange,; Bill, in the Industrial Arbitration Bill, in the Sugar Cane Prices Bill, in the State Savings Bank Bill, in the Public Curator Bill. and in the State Fire r ::c1 Cc•'1o;·al Insnrr.nce Bill?

GOYERN';fENT l\1El.rBERS : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER: If you judge the Govern· ment by what they have done and by what is contained in the BarcoJdine programme. you find that they have never put forward propohals that they have not carried out in the face of the strongest opposition from behind hon. members opposite.

GOVER'lMEc;T JY1E:UBERS : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER: It is the same with regard to the proposals which we are putting for­ward in this Speech. As I previously re­marked, hon. members opposite al~o assert that if the G'oYernment do mean what the f'.peech says. it can't be done. lillh;t, for j, ·:tancP, c·•nnot iron and steel works be < stablishecl? Why cannot shipbuilding be carried on? It has been done successfully

[Hon. T. J. Ryan.

in other places, and it can be done here. We h11ve no time for those who say, " It can't he done." Hon. members know that the people of Queensland are satisfied that ~his Governn1ent is a Government of determina­tion-of action-and that when they put proposals before Pa:rlia~ent t_hey are deter· mined, as far as he~ m then power, that those proposals will be put ~n the stat~te­book and brought into practJCal ?porat10n. That is why hon. members opposite are so ('on corned a bout the contents of the present (; 0 vernor's Speech. 'fhey feel that it goes right into their preserves; that it affBcts the rk~tors from whom thee· had hoped to draw their support; and that is the reason wl)y thne have been such divided counsels m the speeches we have heard delivered in this House during this session. It is the same rPason why we find such a chaotic state. of things amongst their supporters outside. The;.' are squabbling amongst themselv.cs. Thev do not know how to face the policy imt "forward b:;· the Government, and they displnv unmistakably, that they are out 1 ,crolv 'io att:Lin the reins of office. (Hear, !;ear!) They do not care how they achieve that Pnd, but that is the main purpose t~ey ] on' in Yio',", without any constructive policy Ychate.-cr to place before the people.

The load<>r of the Oppo~ition indulged . in <lTtaiu criticism of the Go,-ernment wrth regard to their adion in connection with the ,., ar. He criticised the Government for not hcn·ing done more. He wanted to know what they haYo clonP. I would like to remind the hmi. member that when he had the oppor­tunitv of remaining on the Queensland ·war Com1eil he resigned from that position.

Hon. J. ToL:UIE interjected.

The PRE::\IIER: I regret that the hon. member made tho attack which he did on th•' Queensland \Var Council, and that .he follows U'> that attack by the interjectwn ,,·hich he 'has mad<' to me this eyening that thev were an inept body.

Hon .• J. ToLMIE: \Yith the exception of one or b·o ,cet:ons. I wrote so at the time.

The: l'RKMIER : I think it is regrettable that any hon. member of this House should go ont of his way to make an attack upon a body of men who are sincere, and w~o are giving their time gratuitously to ass1st the country to carry out the great burden ,,-hich falls upon us in consequence of the \var.

GovERNMENT :!\'l:E:l1BERS: Hear, hear! Hon. J. 'l'OL>IIE: And producing no ade­

quate results.

The PREMIER : I would like to remind the hon. member of the resolution which was pv.>cd b:v the Queensland War Council. w~th regard to his resignation when he sent Jt 111. 'l'hat resolution w:ts moved by the pre~ident of the Bri,bane Chamber of Commerce, Mr. 13on~, and it was carried. This is the rego­lution, of which the hon. >member was advised-

" Moved hy Mr. L. Bond, and carried­' That the resignation of the Hon. J. Tolmie as a member of the QueE\nsland vVar Council be acceptl'cl, but the council is of the opinion Mr. Tolmie has failed to rccogni··e the responsibilities of the position which he accepted.' "

GovERXc\IEXT ME~!BERS: Hear, hear!

Address in Reply, (1 AUGUST.] Address in Reply. 511

The PREMIER : That is on the motion of the then chairman of the Brisbane Chamber o£ ·Commerce. It is not as if it were moved by some Labour man.

. Hon. J. ToL~IIE: I recognised that you were not working up to your responsibilities. You stand publicly condemned now.

The PREMIER : I regret the leader of the ( lpposition went out of his way to make that attack upon those gentlemen, because I think, instead of being attacked, they deserve every credit for the work they were doing and that they are doing in connection with the Queens­land War Council. (Hear, hear!) Not only has that bc1m the attitude of the leader of the Opposition-and I take it that is the ",ttitude of his party, because he speaks for l1ie partv-but they make a great outcry with r£g·a_rd to the settlement of returned soldiers upon the land. ~ow, the hon. gentleman ":ho leads the Opposition was once Minister for Lands, and he then held certain views with 1r:pect to the dc:,irabilit:r of settling returned soldiers upon the land.

Hon. J. TOLIIIIE: That is so.

The PREMIER : Ar.• thev the same views that he holds now? ·

Hon. ,J. TOL>llE : Yes, on indifferent quality land. (Gm.-emment laughter.)

The PRKMIER: Does he now think that the i'etur;,ed soldier, after having led a roving lifc 7 is not ~uitable for s{'ttlerrtent on the land?

Hon. J. TOD'IE: Whar I said was that tlv' r<''urned soldier ]lnless he was dealt with ~·> suon 1~3 he came back-the tendency of hiJ iifc would be to roam. Is not that the case?

The PREMIER : I am making this speech, and the hon. gentleman is misleading in the interjection he has now made. I say he hold the view with regard to the returned >oldier that he was not altogether a suitable man to put on the land.

Hm1. J. TOL1!IE: That is not true.

The PREMIER : I would like to read a minute signed by the hon. gentleman when he was Minister for Lands, because it is very interesting to know what his views were then and whr.t they are now.

Hon. J. 'foL~nE: Be honest and read the \vhol~ minute.

'fhe PREMIER : Then he had the power; now he is criticising in Opposition. On "31-3-15 "-I am quoting the extracts from th;s report. that bear upon what I have just said.

Hon. J. TounE: Read the whole of it.

'fhe PREMIER: You can have the whole report afterwards. I have only one hour to >'peak. The hon. gentleman can explain afterwards what he meant. The•>e are some of his words-

" I am inclined to think that a large proportion of those sought to be benefited would be of the Reid River kind of settlers."

Most hon. members know what the Reid River sdtlement was in the Gayndah dis­trid, and the result of it.

Hon. J. TOL1IIE: Men who had no experi­ence ou the land.

The PREMIER: That is what the hon. gentleman wes inclined to think-that a

large proportion of those prop?sed ~o be benefited would be of the Re1d River kmd of settlers. Later on he says this-

" In the first place, the man, •as the essential factor in the case, must be con­sidered. Once men have followed the roving, exciting life of a soldier, they Rettle down with great difficulty. We have learned something of that by our experience of returned South African wldierq. In this case we must not for­get that, as a general rule, the men to be benefited will put no capital into the venture, and, if the agricultural work should prove irksome and monotonous, may discontinue it without any financial loss to themselves."

Hon. J. ToL:I!IE: That is so. What is wrong v:i th that ?

The PREMIER : The hon. member will be at liberty later on to explain what he rne:mt bv this statement. We have the ex­JLrioncc·" of what p1·evious Liberal Govern­ments have done with regard to the returned soldier, particularly with regard to the re­turned South African soldier-(hear, hear!)­and here we have the then Minisb'r for Lands, d1o is now the leader of the Opposi­tion, placing upon recor·d his view of the aptnc8 '· of the returned soldier for settle­ment upon the land; practically an indica­tion-e' I read it-that if he ~,,·ere in power he would treat the returned soldier as the then Government treated the returned South African soldier.

GovtRX"L:T ;\1E1!BF:RS : Hear, hear!

The PRIDMIER : The criticism which is )··veiled azaimt this Government with regard b the returned soldier might have more pffect, because some people might be misled, had the people not had the experience of >YI1at a Liberal Government did when in power and ,.~hen they had the opportunity of dealing with the returned soldier. So much fo;· what Liberal Governments have done for returned soldiers. (Hear, hear!) At the <-:est, pe.rhaps, of wearying the House a little, I df ~·3re to nlace on record an outline of >Yhat this Gm;ernment have done in thnt con­nection. First of all we have passed a Soldiers' Settlement Act, which allows of no rent being paid fo1: three years, no survey fees, rtnd after that time on the leases made to the soldiers they have only 1~ per cent. to pay on the capital value of the land. It provides for '~'dvances up to £500, with interest rang­

''ing from 3~ per cent. to 5 per cent. We have made land available for returned soldier settlcmcnt-60.000 acres at Beerburrum, fruit­growing land; 17,000 acres at Pikedale; 157,000 acres at Beatriee River, and other areas to be operated upon at Injune Creek, Bowcn-Callide Railway, and Northern Bur­nett; 125 acr0s at Sunny bank for soldiers' homes. We have mftde a remiesion of rents to eoldicrs on active service amounting in the 3·ear 1915-16 to £21,879. We have given railway concessions in regard to raihYay transport of horses. troops, and military rn,ttcrial; concessions in the tramport of gifts to patriotic and Red Cross orgn,nisations; pae',es to wounded or invalided soldiers, or soldiers on home leave; concessions to parents and wives visiting their sons or husbands in camp; railway services to assist in recruiting, amounting- to the end of the year 1916 to £54,845. We have given free legal advice to soldiers making wills.

Mr. VowLES: Ah! Ah!

Hon. T. J. Ryan.]

512 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Address in Reply.

The PREMIER: The hon. member laughs. I suppose it deprived him of the opportunity of making some fees. In the remission of succession and probate duties in the interests of the soldier's widow and children, about £2,500 has been waived; in the payment of superannuation contributions and a.ssurance premiums for public servants on active ser­vice, about £4,000 per annum has been expended; the status of public servunts who have enlisted has been preserved as regnrds seniority, leave of absence, and other privileges ; th•n there are sundry other ser­vices-printing for Recruiting Committee, rent for Red Cross rooms, cabling tracing wounded Queens!anders, remitting moneys free of exchange, donation to Residential Club-

Hon. J. ToLMIE: £1,000; yes.

The PREMIER : Probably if the hon. gentlemun had been in power they would not have received that much. We have taken action to see that the dependents of soldiers at the front are not exploited by profiteers.

Govr:RN:l!ENT MEMBERS: Hear, hear !

The PREMIER: That is where the es­~ablishment of State butchers' shops comes m.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: You charged them extra for meat.

The PRE:\HER : Of cour"\ hon. members opposite can make a cheap sneer at State butchers' shops. \Vhy should they come down to such commonplace things as the price of food and the price of meat? (Hear, hear!) Thc:v are not concerned with the welfare of the elector in his home. They want to do something more statesmanlike than that. They want to indulge in criticism about having been left in tho railway carri­~Lges at night when tlw porter forgot to li"ght the gas. (Loud Government laughter.) We believe in doing something practical in order to protect the dependents of the soldiers who are at the front, and there is no gainsa3 ing- the fact that the C9tablishment of our butchers' shops has cheapened the price of meat.

GoYERNMENT MEMBERS: Hear, hear !

'l'hc PREMIER: Not only has it cheapened the price of meat in the State butchers' shops themselves, but it has also had the effect, to a considerable extent, of controlli'ng the price charged by tho pdvutc butcher.

GovERN~fE;>~T Jl.fEMBERS: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: It is well to know-and it is well to have a plain statement such as was made by the hon. nwmber for Bm·rum last evening, and made by .the hon. member for Toowong and others by interjection and otherwise-that they condemn the establish­nwnt of these ·hops, and that if they get into power they will wipe them out. (Hear, hear!) vVe know where we are now, and the public will know where they are if hon. membr,rs opposi'te get the opportunity of f"etting on the Treasury benches.

In addition to that we have encouraged the production of metals in Queensland. We endeavoured to get the Chillagoe works re­started, but we were prevented in our efforts in that regard by the action of the Legis­lative Council.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: You are most unfortunate. Y cu were prevented in everything.

[Hon. T. J. Ryan.

The PREMIER: Not in everything, but. in everything where hon. members opposih• had an opportunity of preventing us they· did so.

GOVERNMENT lVIE}lBERS: Hear, hear r Hon. J. 'roLi\lfE: YE>t the .. p-eople approvNl

of their action.

The PREMIER : A little while ago, when ;t seemed likely that the smelters engaged in the production of copper in the North would be comrwllecl to cease by reason of the fact that there was not the means of carrying coke and f'nal to the North, what did thi~ GovernmE>nt do? They chartered a. steamer-because we could not obtain frei'ght in any other wa:v-to carry coke and coa.l there and bring copper and other commocli .. ties down. That had the effect of keeping" those smelters going, and in that way doing a great deal to keep up the very necessary supply of metals to the allies in the conduct of this war.

GovERNMENT Jl.;fE}fBERS: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: I might go on and dc:al with other matters that we have attende-d to in that way for the purpose of assisting the Empire in the great struggle which is being carried on. but in a broad way, surely hon. members do not forget that whatever state of preparedness-if I can l'';fer to pre .. pn.redncss in connection with the war-thf'r<' was, was due to the fact that on the Treasury benches for some time prior to the war thc:l'P was in power a Labour Government.

GOVERNMENT MEMBER~: Hear, hear !

The PRE::YHER : They were responsible' for our Australian N a YY; they were responsible for h~ving a system of universal training, and everything that was done by Australia. in thE' early stages of the war was done under Labour government.

GovERNM&'fT MEJfBERS: Hear, he~r!

The PREMIER : There is only one thinp: that hon. members opposite complain about this Government. or c:an complain about. That is that we· did not join with them in the campaign that was carried on to enforce conscription. (Hear, hear!) \Ve believed then, and we still believe, that Australi:k ean do her pnrt in thj,, great war-and Australia will do her part-under the volun­tary system. (Hear. hear!) When the con .. scription campaign was brought on last October. what wcr<' the people of Australia told ? The v were told that the War Office had advised the Commonwtealth Oovernment that 16,500 men were required monthly t-n keep five Australian divisi'ons up to fighting strength. Now, the other day we were told quite a different story. \V e pointed out that 16,500 men per month was more than An.-.­tralia could provide. We pointed out thRt that number was not required. Her<' we have a statement made by the Prime Minister on th" 29th J tmc last-

" The \Var Offic:e in October last at! .. vised the Commonwealth that 16,500 mr•n were required monthly to keep five Aw­trali'an divisions up to full fighting strength. Happily, later experience ha' proved that the estimate of the British War OfficE' was too hig-h. The Gov<'rn .. ment is now appealing for 7.000 mc·n monthly."

That is a big differ('ll<'<'. I. for one, hopp tha.t-

Arldress in Reply. [l AUGUST.] Addre.9s in Reply. 513

whatever is required from Australia will bo kept up. (Hear, hear !) But it is rather s.ig­nificant that there should be such a Wide difference between the numbE'r that was mentione-d as being required in October last, and that mentioned on the 29th June last. The mo.3t regrettable thing in the whole matter is this: that if that conscription cam­paign had not been brought on at all, Australia woulrl have gone on providing the necessary number per month under the voluntary system.

GovERNMENT ME~IBERS: Hear, hear ! Hon .• J. •roL~liE: :'\o.

The PREMIER : Whatever hon. gentle­men opposite may say, there is no doubt of this: that the introduction of proposals for compulsion had the effect of materially damaging the voluntary system. (Hear, hear !) Before the campaign was brought on, Australia was providing the necessary num­ber per month, and would have gone on doing so. That is one of the blunders that were committed by our hon. friends opposite. I know that blunders mav be committed. Xo one can be free from them. At the same time it is well to aclmowlcdgc it when we do commit a blunder in order to be able to succe,,d afterwards.

Mr. BARNES : At Rockhampton you told the people that Australia had donL' Bnough.

The PREMIER: The hon. gentleman may try to give a false impression to what I said, but I never said any such thing. GoVER~~IENT MEMBERS: Hear, hear !

The PREMIER: I have alwavs advocated the voluntary system. I have always advo­~atcd that Austr:dia should do all she can do, and I fool that she will do all she can in. ordN to bring this great struggle to a successful issue. It is most unfortunate that in the midst of a great struggle like this there should be a partv such as we have in opposition accusing another great party that has done so much in the prosecution of this war-accusing them of not doing their duty. GovERN~IENT JY1E:I1BERS : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER: That is not an attitude calculated to be in the best interests of the C'ountry, or of enabling us to concentrate our whole efforts upon the winning of the wa.r, as we ought to do, and as I feel sure we finally will do.

Mr. VowLES: Your bosses will not ]et you go recruiting. You have to do what you are told.

Tho PREMIER: Compare what we have done ~with thP action of our friends in the Legislative Council with regard to the sum of £100,000 that was placed on the Estimates last year for the purpose of assisting re­turned soldiers. It was passed on tlw Esti­mates hero, and when the proposal went from here to the Legislative Council to raise that amount by means of a tax, which was prin­cipally to be levied upon incomes over £3,000 per annum, they turned it down.

Hon. J. TOL'lriE: Is that the only thing they turned down?

The PREMIER: That is a specific thing. It was placed on the Estimates, and it was to be raised by taxation proposals which were put before the House. With that know­lPdge, tiH'y turned it down

GovERN:IIENT ME1!BERS : Hear, hear !

1917-2K

The PREMIER : It only proves the hol­lowness of their protestations. They say, "You oug·ht to do this," and "You ought

to do that," and when we show [9 p.m.] the way of raising the money,

from the people who can afford to pay, they say, "No, you shall not have that money; that amount should be found by the Commonwealth."

Mr. VowLES: Why didn't you accept the half million from the Commonwealth?

The PREMIER: We have accepted any money that has been offered to us by the Commonwealth, but we were not prepared, and are not prepared, to allow the Com­monwealth Government to appoint a board, composed of men who would not understand all our conditions, to control our policy with regard to the settlement of men on the land. \Ve have large areas of land suitable for the­'\cttlement of returned soldiers. We are going to make those areas available, and 'ive shall be able to provide the money that it will be neces0ary to advance to those men. to settle them on the land. (Hear, hear !} 1'hc opportunity was left to us, as a Govern­ment, to come into the Commonwealth scheme if we so desired; but we felt that this board would be a restriction, that we would be controlled by the States which had a much larger population than we had, that they would not understand our conditions, that they would want money in proportion to the <>xtent of their population; and also that Queensland would not be able to do so well under that scheme a, under the proposals of this Government. Why, in the State of Victoria-which would have representation on the board-they would have to buy up <cob:ttes at a high cost; that will take a lot of money. They have a large population, and they would want money in proportion to that population. Here we have large areas of Crown land and we shall be able to settle a large number of men on the land. (Hear. hear !) I am quite sure our action was a wise one, and it will be proved to be a wise one, one that is in the interests of those who are intended to be benefited-the returned soldiers.

GOVERNMENT MEJ!BERS : Hear, hear ! JYfr. VowLES: That is a very lame explana­

tion.

The PREMIER : So much for the criticism of hon. members opposite in connection with the war. Now I come to ~he primary pro­ducer. There are proposals m the Governor's Speech for the establishment of State mar­kets. It is intended to bring the producer and the consumer closer together-to cut out the micldlcman-(hear, hear !)-to get more money to the producer for his produce and tQ get it to the consumer at a cheaper price than he has to pay nmv. (Hear, hear!) WP propose to eliminate tho middleman, becausf' under the present system the producer sends down his produce to the markets here. where it is sold at a very low price, and if you go into the retail shops you will have to pay a comparatively high price. (Hear, hear!) Now, someone is reaping the difference be­tween what the producer gets and what the consumer pays. It has been well recognised by the man on the land that there was some­thing wrong with the system, ancl that is why it was that many of the farmers in Queens­lan4 raised a very considerable outer~· agamst the late Government. (Hear, hear !)

Hon. T . .f. Ryan.J

514 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Address in Reply.

They began to feel that, notwithstanding the protestations of the then Government, there \Vas something wrong; and the Government, seeing that, the critiei'sm was becoming a bit too hot, propo,ed to introduce a Stock and Farm Produce Agents Bill. This was a Bill intended to prevent th,e middlemen from getting an undue share of the profits. What happened to that Stock and Farm Produee Agents Bill? It was introduced into this House, and several amendment&-of which I wish to remind hon. members-were proposed by members of this party, who wet·e then sit­ting in oppo,.ition. On the initiation stage it was moved by Mr. Hunter that it should provide for the establishment of a Govern­ment produce agency. Amendment rejected. In Committee it was moved that no person who was a produc<' merchant should act a.s an agent-in or.der to preYont agents from offering produce for sale a.nd buying it i'n themselves. Amendment reJected. In Com­mittee also it was moved to insert a pro­Yision that any stock or produce agent who rendered a false account or converted to his own use or failed to pay to the person entitled thereto any part of the proceeds of any transaction, should be liable to imprisonment for two years. Amendment rejected.

Mr. BEBBI:i"GTON : The Bill contained that.

The PREMIER : In Committee it was moYed that agents must render account of sales and pay over the proceeds within four­teen days. Amendment rejected. In Com­mittee it was moved tha.t agents should keep accurate and detailed records of all trans­actionc, which must be open for inspection by consumers. Amendment rejected.

~Ir. BEBBINGTON: It contained that when it went to the Council.

The PREMIER : The Bill, with those proposed amendl'!lents rej ectcd, went to tl_w Council. The B1ll was then dropped. B1ll lost ! Because the Legislative Council in­sisted on the elimination of stock agents from the provisions.

Hon. J. ToL~IIE: Did you ever lose a Bill?

The PREMIER: That Bill wa.s lost. There wa3 never any business in it, as 'vas shown by the rejection of the amendment pro­p~sed by hon. members then sitting on the Opposition benches.

GOYERNMENT MEMBERS : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER : Just the same as they introduced the Regulation of Sug'ar Cann Prices Bill, and it was dropped.

Mr. SwAYNE: By your engineering. (Go­vernment laughter.)

The PREMIER : vVhen our friends oppo­site were in power, they r,efused to do any­thing to alleviate the lot of the man on the land. One of the most important things for the man on the land is the marketing of his produce, and they failed to do any­thing in connection with it. Compare that with what the present Government have done. I have shown you what we attempted to do by way of amendment in the then Government proposals, when we were sitting in opposition, .and I might remind hon. members that we attempted to have the then Cane Prices Bill carried. What have we done? We have passed a Regulation of

[Hon. T. J. Ryan.

Sugar Cane Prices Act. (Hear, hear!) We desired to make it more effective. The Legislath·e Conncil has prevented us from doing so. And why should not the Liberal party do tha.t '! We have had their policy laid down to us by a prominent member of that party when he was sitting on these benches. He laid it down in plain and un­mistakabk language-and I like to have propositions laid down i'n that way, so that they cannot be misunderstood, beca.use I think one of the great needs of the public is that public men in speaking should speak so that they cannot be misunderstood.

!Vir. BooKER : Do YOU mean that? \Ye do not find it with yot;.

ThP PREMIER: This is what he said, and it is contained i'n "Hansard." The hon. member for Toowong, speaking on the Sugar Cam, Prices Bill, which was intro­dnr•'d lw the hon. member for Bm·rum, said- ·

.. I say unhesitatingly that this Bill splinters every principal plank of the Liberal platform. and adopts straight out, to the same extent, the platform of thP Labour party."

'There you have the poli'cy of the Liberal party-that the Sugar Ca.ne Prices Bill oplinters cYery principal plank of the Liberal platform. and adopts straight out, to the e.ame ext~nt, the platform of the Labonr party.

J\Tr. Yowi.ES: And it has been a failure.

ThP PRKI;IIER: Now, the Regulation of Sugar Ca.nc Prices Act has done a great deal of good to the sug<tr-growers.

GoYERX1!ENT JY1E:I1BEBS : Hear, hear !

Tlw PREMIER: 'Gnfortunately, it has scme imperfections, which we desire to have remedied. One thi'ng that we desire to do is to obtain power to enforce awards. \Vhen an award is made there should be no doubt that the miller will be compelled to pay the pricf' fixed by that award. At the present time some of the millers are taking up the attitude that unless the growers will consent to take a price lower than that fixed by the a ward they will not crush their cane.

Hon. J. ToL>IIE: \Vhy don't you enforce the award in your own railway servi'ce?

The PRE::\1IER: Of course, the hon. gentleman would like to draw me off the question d the primary producer. but I am not going to be drawn off it. The Govern­ment arc anxious to obtain legislative power to take oYer such mills and work them, and to account to the owners, and to pay the price that is awarded by the Qane prices board.

Mr. BooKER : You "-ill make a mess of it.

The PREMIER : We wi1! not make a mess of it; we will make sure that the mills pay the price awarded by the board. At the pre~·cnt time mills are coercing the growers by threatening that if they will not accept a lower price for their cane, they will allow the cane to rot in the fields. I have sym­pathy with the growers who, under those ci'rctnnstanC'es, are con1pelled to accept a lower price.

::.\lr. BooKER: li aye you shown it~

Address in Reply. [1 AUGUST.] Address in Reply. 515

The PRKMIER : The hon. member asks if I have sympathy with the growers. I leave that queotion to the growers to answer. I am quitB satisfied that they know who are their friends. (Government "Hear, hears!")

Mr. BOOKER : They know; they know all nbout it.

The PREMIER : If there is one industry more than another which this Government <'an claim credit for having benefited, it· is the sugar industry, because when we came into power the vrice obtainable for sugar was a very low price indeed, owing to the fact that the price-fixing boards in the South fixed prices in the interests of jam manu­facturers and others, and were keeping the price very low. ·when we came into power we made an arrangement with the Common­wealth Government that the price should be raised to £18 per ton for raw sugar, and that arrangement continued for two years. At the beginning of the second year I had written requests from the growers and also from the millers to have the arrangement which was then made renewed, and it was renewed accordingly. During this year an arrangement was made under which raw sugar will be paid for at the rate of £21 per ton. Last evening the hon. member for Hurrum accused me of being responsible for not having that arrangement made for three years. It "·as not in my power to have i·t made for three vcars. That "as a matter which was cntirefv in the hands of the Com­monwealth GoYernment. They proposed that I should give an undertaking that the waterside workers and other workers should continue to wqrk for three years at the same rat23 of wages as they were then receiving.

Hon. J. ToL:mE: That was not the first proposal.

The PREMIER : The first proposal re­quired an undertaking with regard to workers engaged in the industry. How was it poe>ible for me to give an undertaking of that kind? It was not possible for any human being to give an undertnking like that. If I were prepared to give an under­taking that I could not carry out it would be easy for me to give that undertaking, but I am not accustomed to doing things like that.

Colonel RA~KI~: Isn't that the law?

The PREMIER: There is no law that sa vs the agreement must be for three years. (Hear, hear!) You may make Euch laws, but it is another thing to enforce them. You cannot force a per:;on to work under certain condi­tions if he does not, 11 ant to work. You have to look at these things in a practical way, and until you get public men who will look at things in a practical way, you will not find a solution of a great many of the tlifficultics with which we are confronted at th" present time. ..

Hon. J. Tor.~nE: But you said you were going to force the mills to crush cane.

The PREMIER : If the Government can do anything to ensure that the millers ~hall carry out thP a wards of the cane prices board, they will do it.

Hon .• J. 'l'OLMIE: You said you were going to force them to do it.

The'' PRI<JMIER : We are not going to take oYer any mills simply on any terms the

mills like to law down. I am asked why we did not• take over the Baffic Creek Mill. Arc the Government to take over sugar-mills of this State at whatever valuation or what­CYer terms the owner~ of mills may fix?

Hon. J. TOL:ll:IE: Xot necessarily.

The PREMIER: Not necessarily. We require a law to compel millers to observe the awards, and we shall have ;m oppor­tunity of making that law during the pre­sent session. (Government "Hear, hears!") But let me go on to remind hon. members of what this Government have done for the man on the land, for the primary producer. \Ve abolished the Railways Guarantee Act. \Vhile the late Government were in power they talked of doing that; when we came into power we did it. Yet this is the Go­n'rnmont which hon. members opposite think to convince electors do not mean what they say. In whose interest was the Railways Guarantee Act repealert? In the interel)t of the man on the land.

J\Ir. BOOKER: What!

The PREMIER : By the repBal of that nwasure we relieved the farmers and st:'ttlers of a liability for the payment of £220,357 of special taxation. We spent in 11roviding seed wheat for di.stribution among farmers on easy terms in 1916 a sum of £33,443, and on the distribution of fodder for ~tarving stock a ""urn of £12,362.

l'vir. VOWLES: The Denham GoYernment did that.

The PREMIF.R : The hon. member for Dalby says, ''The Denham Government did that." He is accusing us again of following ia the footstep' of the Denham Government·. On the distribution of cane plants to Burde­kin settlers and the distribution of seed maize we spent considerable sums. Alto­gether the expenditure under the above heads amounted to the sum of £47,QOO. \Ve also reduced the freights for the carriage of fodder for starYing stock, the total reduc­tcons aggregating £40,566. We reduced those fl·eighb< by 75 per cent., and wo also reduced freights for the carriage of starving stock. giYing a rebate of 33~ per cent., which aggre­gated £18,181. And all this was done for the man on the land.

Mr. VOWLES: That has always been done.

The PREMIER: Xo; it has not always bcPn done.

GOVERKMENT ME~!BERS : ~ o; never before.

The PRE:\HER : I am afraid I am inter­rupting somebody. (Laughter.) If this Go­vernment had been unfriendly or hostile towards the man on the land, they would not bv Executive minute haYe made those reduc­ti"ons in freight. Thev could have allowed the ordinary freights "to prevail,' and they could have said, as the hon. member for Burrum said last nigh:t, " There is no drought," and consequently no need to re­duce freights and fares.

Colonel RANKIN: You increased fares and freights.

The PREMIF.R : If we had allowed those freights to remain as they wer<', we would ha vc in the Treasury an additional sum of £58,700 odd, which has gone into the pockets of the men on the land-the men who wanted

Hon. T. J. Ryan.]

516 Address in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.] Address in Reply.

fodder for their starving stock, and the men who wanted to travel sta-rving stock to relief country.

Mr. VowLES: ·what did your increased freights realise?

The PREMIER: We also established the Government Savings Bank. Is that not a statesmanlikc piece of legislation-a measure which increased the amo.IJ.nt which could be a,dva.nced to the man on the land from £800 to £1,200, which increased the advance for unspecified purposes from £200 to £400, and which allowed an increase of £100 to pur­chase stock where 35 acres of Rhodes grass was planted?

Mr. VowLES: That is onlv window-dress­ing, because you do net give it.

The PREMIER: We also passed the Agricultural Settlers' Reli'd Act, which gave relief to the Jimbour settlers. \Ve passed the Land Act Amendment Act. As I am reminded by the Sh·retary for Public Lands, thE' for;ner measure involved a sum of £87,000. In whose interests was that passed? Wa" it not in the interests of the man on the hand? (Hear, he"r !) And then hon. mem­bers opposite tell us that we haw• no con­cern for the man on the land. and that we ha.ve done nothing for him. ·

Mr. VowLES: They do not think much of you. anyhow.

The PREMIER: I am not concerned of what the hon. member thinks cf me.

Mr. VOWLES: I am saying what the man on tlw lapd thinks of you.

The PREMIER: I am thi'nking of the public int-.,rests. \Vhat I am concerned about i' what the people of Qucen~land think of me, and not what the hon. nwmber for Dalby thinks of me.

:.Vlr. BooKER: They recorded their appre­ciation on 5th May.

A GOVERN:>IENT ME:\IBER: And at Mary­borough and Rockhampton.

The> PREMIER: We offered to provide a wheat pool for the farmers on the Darling Downs in order to protect them.

Mr. BAYLEY: That is not true.

The PRE:'\1IER: It is true. The farmers on the Darling Downs know that it is true. Thev know that this Government tri'ed to for~ a wheat pool and were prepared to fino.nc·e them if they agreed that it was a desirable thing for them to do. This Go­wrnment felt that it was a desirable thing to do. And who was re~ponsible for advis­ing the farmerb to act against their own intErestJ '! \Vas it not the hon. member for \V arwick and the hon. member for Cunni'ng­harn?

GovER-NMENT lYIEMBEnS: Hear, hear! i\1r. B.mNES: That is nDt true. I never

adviecd.

The SPEAKER: Order :

The PRENIIER : The hon. member for \V arwick a.nd the hon. member for Cunning­ham-the hon. member for Warwick was the principal offender-may tell us in this House that they only put forward what their con­stittwnts told them; but is it not the duty

~Hon. T. J. Ryan.

of a representative of a constituency in Parliament to lay before his constituents what he thinks is in their interests?

GOVERNMENT 11E11BERS : Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: Will the hon. member for \V arwick or the hon. member for Cun­ningham say that they told their constituents that the best thing for them to do was to agree to the formation of a pool? On account of the failure of the representatives of those constituencies to joi'n in with other hon. members sitting opposite, the farmer& on the Darling Downs have suffered.

Mr. VowLES: You penalised them.

The PREMIER: I am scrry indeed that they have suffered. I did not penalise them, but there is no use in a wheat pool unless the whole of the wht'at in Queensland is included in that pool. I was not going to compel them to go i'ntc a pool against their will. I certainlv think they ought to be willing to have a pool formed, and it would have been formed but that thev were ill­advised, and consequently they a~e suffering to-day. I much regret it. I am told that the Government ought to prevent the impor­tation of wheat from the Southern States.

:\fr. VO\VLES: V\'hy not?

The PREThHER : Well. those hon. members who recommend mE' to do that arc evidently wanting to put me into a lawsuit-(Govern­ment laughter)-because the present Gcvern­rnent ha vc no pew er to prevent the impor­tati'on of wlwat from the Southern States. If we had tho power to fix prices, there might be somethinrr ·done iu that direction; but that power ha.s been taken Dver by the Com­monwealth Government. At all events, if thE':-- can show nw any way by which that assistance can be given to prevent the farmers from being exploited by the millers and others, I shall be only too happy to give th()ln any assistance I can.

GovERNMENT ME:IIBERS: Hc>ar, hear !

The PREMIER : In any ca,se, I will under­b.ko to intervi"ew the millers and have a heart-t0-heart talk with them, because I think a good deal can be done by seeing that the millers pay a proper price for

. wheat, or else have the price of flour re­duced. It must be one or the other.

The SPEAKER indicated that the hon. gentleman's time had expired.

The SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC LANDS: I beg to move-That the Premier be allowed an extension of time t{) continue his speech.

The SPEAKER : Is it the pleasure of the House that the Premier be allowed an 0xtcnsion of time ?

HoNOURABLE ::YlExrBERS : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER : I thank hon. members for giving me an opportunity to complete m~· speech. I did not think that an hom· had elapsed since I began to speak. I now proceed to deal with the question of finance. A considerable amount of criticism has been indulged in by hon. members opposite wi'th regard to the financing of the present Go­wrnment. It is complained that at the end of the financial year there was a •deficit in the vicinity of £250,000.

Hon. J. ToL~IIE: So far as we know.

Address in Reply. (l AuGUST.] Address in Reply. 517

The PREMIER: And they cry out that this means financial chaos-that it is ruina­tion. Why, the hon. member for Bm·rurn ;·eminded me of the prophet J"eremiah when he was speaking last night. He was fore­c:usting all kinds of doleful things that were about to happen if this Government eontinucd in power. As if a deficit was an nnknown thing! It is not only a Labour Government that has a deficit.

Mr. BooKER: \Vith an enormous revenue.

The PREMIER : In strenuous times, is it not the duty of a Government to keep thingo a:; normal us possible?

GoVERNMENT MEMBERS : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER : Even if there should be a small deficit, we should keep things going normally. It is a good 1thing for the \mrker. it is a good thing for the business man, and it is a good thing for the whole community. What does a busine's man do if he is pas<ing through strenuous times, >tnd if his customers are not paying up? He goes to his banker for an overdraft.

The SECRE'rARY FOR PrBLJC LAKD~: Or cuts down his staff.

The PREMIER : Or cub down his staff, or perhaps both.

The SECRETARY FOR AoRJCULTURE: He cuts down his staff if he is a Liberal.

The PREMIER: Yes, that is what he does if he is a Liberal. (Government laughter.) \Vo adopted a different system. \V e believe in k<'<'ping things as normal as possible.

Mr. BDOKER: And drift.

The PREMIER: It is not drifting, be­rause our proposals last year made pro­nswn to raise an additional sum which would have nearly wiped out this deficit if we had been allo·wed by the Legislativ<' Council to pa>:l that measure.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: That meant additional taxation.

Tbe PREMIER: LE't mp compare what has happened in other States governed by Liberal Governments.

Hon. J. TOL'.\HE: That does not matter. (Government laughter.)

The PREMIER: Of course, the leader of the Opposition thinks it does not matter: but the people of QueE'nsland think that it tloos matter a great deal.

Hon. J. TOL'.\!IE: 'rhey want to know what you are doing in this State.

The PREMIER: The hon. member is in­viting the people of Quel'nsland to let a Liberal Government come into power that will show us how to do things. Now, I am going to show how Liberal GovernmE'nts do things in States where they ar<; in power, nnd what they need to do when they were in powet· here.

Hon. J. TOLll.UE: 'I'ake the record of the last Government here.

'l'ho PREMIER : Let me take the State of Victoria.

:Mr. BODKER: Tell us about Western Aus­tralia.

The PREMIER: For the year 1914-15 there was a deficit in the State of Victoria

· of £1,195,470; in the year 1915-[9.30 p.m.] 16 they had a deficit of

£232,815; in the year 1916-1917 tlwy had an estimated deficit of £388,860-or a total dciicit for the three years of £1,817,145. The only way they can see of rPducing that deficit, it has been announced, i' to raide railway freights and fares. 'fhat is Liberal government !

Mr. FORSY1'H: Show how Western Aus­tralia and South Australia, under Labour Gnv(lrnm~ntf:, turned out.

The PREMIER: With the National Go­v('rnmcnt in South Australia there is a dc·ficit for 1915-16 of £384,<109, and in 1914-15 of £689,185.

Hon. J. 'roL,IIE : A Labour Government.

The PREMIER: No; a National Govern­mt'nt, they call themselves. That makes a total deficit for those two years of £1,073,594. In New South Wales there is a deficit for 1916-17 of £268,800.

Hon. J. TOD!II:: A Labour Government.

The PREMIER: A Xational Government under Mr. Holman. If there is any rolev:an~y i,, tllP t]Uestion of what Government IS m pmYPl' in those Statce, perhaps I had better conlin" myself to the State that has had an 0ntirelv f~iberal Government, the State of Victoria and their deficit is largest of all­£1,817,145 during their three years of office in Victoria, and the only way they ha--:e of reducing it is to raise the railway freights and fares. Let me remind hon. members, too that in New South \Vales, according to a telegram from Sydney, dated 29tJ: July, thel'(' will be a loss of £1,000,000 durmg last year on tlw Kew South \Vales railways.

::'llr. BooKER: That is the aftermath. Tell lht> truth.

Th<' PREMIER: I am speaking of 1915-16 Tht' aftermath will be thousands of un-t•mployed, . and rctrcnchnwnt, and poll tax.

GovERx'.\IENT ::Y1Eo1BERS: Hear, hear!

'l'he l'HKMIER: This is a telegram from Syclnt>y, dated 29th July-

" Mr. Fraser (Chief Railway Commis­RionN) in a statement issued vesterday, ~hows that the revenue and expenditure Jo not balance by about £1,000,000. This was brought abo~1t by the extra expen?i­tnre as compared with 1913-14-wages m­creases through the wages board awa~ds, £561 250 ; increase in the cost of materials owing to war conditions, £236,076; differf'nce between the departmental and the military pay to railwaymen serving with the A. I. F., £79,480: increased interc·•·t bill, £372,215; services rendered to the Federal Government a:t half

rates, approximately £100,000; total, £1,349,021; less additional revenue from increased rates, £339,868; difference £1,009,153."

That shows what took place under the Liberal Government.

Mr. BDDKER: 2'\o; Labour government in )Jew South Wales.

ThE' PREMIER : They are passing through strenuous times, and, no doubt, in course of

Hon. T. J. Ryan.]

518 Add1·ess in Reply. [ASSEMBLY.} Address Hl Reply.

time they will be ablP to make provision against what is a temporary shortage. Queensland has had its experience of deficits, and its experience of Liberal Government's methods to me0t the situation.

Hon. J. TounE: \Vhen wao that?

The PREMIER: It is well that the people of Queensland should be reminded of it when thc>y are invited to place in poWl'r a party that v:ou!d do the same thing over again as they did then. That was under the Philp Go,·ern:nent in 1901-02. There was a deficit at the end of the year of £431,939. nearly double the deficit there is at the end of this year. Tlw retrenchment during thc't year was 7!._ per cent. t,1 15 per cent. of the public servants, amountir ; to £95,234.

:Mr. BooKER: Be hone;t, and state the revenue for that year.

The PREMIER : The deficit at the end of the year 19J2-03, under the same Govern­ment. was £191.341, and thu·e was a re­trenchment of £103,348. Then under the ::\1org-an Gon:>rnment, at the end of 1903-04 tlwrc was a deficit of £12,424, a retrenchment amounting to £62,947.

Mr. RARXES: \Yho supported him?

The PRKMIER : It is well to know that onr friends opposite would go in for this class of retrenchment. Instead of the public servants having their automatic increases re<tored as far as we could restore them, in­stead of giving them access to the Arbitra­tion Court--

Hon. J. ToLllliE: \Vhich you are not alia\\­ing- them to have.

The PRE::VIIER : Which we are allowing thc'm to have. (Hear, hear!) All public sNvants with a salary of under £300 per annum are allowed access to the Arbitration Court. There are some anomalies in salaries over that amount, I will admit; but those anomalies, I think, we will be able to rectify i'l th~ course of time. To some extent we ha vc to " cut our cloth according to our 1ma-ure." but the measure i's a great deal more libera1 than i.t would be if our friends opposite held the ;·eim of government. GOYEEX~lEXT :MEMBERS: Hear, hear:

'Mr. BOOKER : That is merely an assertion.

The PREMIER : The Arbitration Court is mainly intended for the lower paid servants. They are the people who most require the intenention of an Arbitration Court to pro­tect them. The hon. member says it is m<:re assertion on my part. It is not a case of mere as3ertion, because we have had the experien0c of pr3vious Liberal Governments. I pointed out our experience of thE'cn in deal­ing with !'<'turned South African soldiers, and our expNience of them in dealing with a time of financial etre's; they put their hands in the pockets of the public servants; any­thing to avoid taxing those who support them in the countrv outside and who arc b"'t able to pay it. "(Hear, hear!) \Ye have had, during this session, expressions of opinion as to how we ought to curtail what is alleged extravagance. I have been listen­ing very carefully to find out where this alleged extravagance is taking place.

Hon. J. TOLMIE: \Vhat about the Govern­n1Pnt n1otor-ears?

[Hon. T . .f. Ryan.

The PREMIER : ThP hon. member for :VIurrumba says that W<' ought to have rP­duced the amount that is spent on cleaning our Sbte schools. and the amount payablP to fost0r and natural mothers. These arP the kind of savings he would make at the expen<e of poor people who are most in need of tlw money. (Hear, hear!) He looks upon tha.t as high finance. In addition to that, hon. members opposite say that there should be a poll tax. They imposed a poll bx ur:dcr the Philp Government during the period of these deficits, and we have had a definit<' pronouncement-and the people of Qucc•nsland cannot undPrstand this too thoroughly-from the leader of the Oppcsi­tion, the · hon. me:nber for Murrumba, and the hon. member for Toowong particula.rly. that a poll tax is a good tax.

2\-Ir. FoRSYTH: So it is. (Loud Government laughter.)

'The PREJ\.UER: I hope the people will bear in mind what the hon. member says. \VhPn I was spcaki'ng on a want of con­fidence motion proposed by the leader of· the Opposition last session, a; reported in '' Hansard" of 31st January, 1917-this year -page 2945, I said-

" Thev took the taxation off the big man an'd they imposed a poll tax, and that is what they would do again.

" Mr. Macartney : A very fair thing it was, too. (Government laughter.)

•' 'The PRE>HER : There it i's. It is not often we have the pleasure of such a frank admission from an hon. member opposite. Thev would impose a poll tax, and they would retrPnch the public ser­Yants."

0PFOSITIOX ME~iBEHS : \Vho are "they" ? Mr. MACARTNEY: That is your interpreta­

tion.

The PRE::\1IER: "They." that is the partv to whom hon. members opposite belong. In "Ha.nsard" for July, 1917, th<> hon. member for Murrumba, Mr. Forsyth. said-

,, We put on a small tax, which brought in £100,000.

"Mr. Pollock: You put on a poll tax.

" Mr. FoRSYTH : A poll tax would be a Ycry g-ood thing to put on now."

:\1r. FoRSYTH : I do not deny it. DDcs the hon. g0ntleman thi'nk that any man e:uning £100 a year cannot pay 10s. a year to thP State?

The PREMIER: It is a well-known fact that the hon. member for Murrumba would be the prospective Treasurer if by any pos­sible chance this Government was removed from office and no doubt one of his financial proposals Zvould be the imposition of a poll tax. (Hear, hear!) I do not want to com­ment on that any more.

Mr. BARXES: This side is not in sympathy with a poll tax. (Loud Government laugh­ter.)

The PRKYIIER: Really, I am sorry that we have not a building large enough to have the whole of th" electors of Queensland in it listening to the interjections of hon, mem­bers opposite. (Laughter.) We have the official admission from the front Opposition

Address in Reply. [l AuGusT.] Address in Reply. 519

bench that they believe in a poll tax, and the hon. member for ·warwick behind, know­ing how dangerous that is, says, " This side dot's not believe in a poll tax." Everybody knows that they believe in a poll tax, and !f tlwy got the opportunity they woulrl Impose it. (Hear, hear !)

.Mr. VowLER: We know now what is com­ing at the general elections.

'I'hc PREMIER : It is just as well that you should know what is coming at the general elections, because you will wake up with headaches after the general elections. (Governml'nt laughter.) Once the people of Queensland nncler&tancl what the true issues are, what this Government has clone and intends to do, there is no doubt as to what the result of the next election will be. The people will not be carried away bv the attA.cks of pettifogging incompetence:

Mr. VOWLE'·i: You are getting personal now.

The PREMIER: I am not getting per­sonal at all. I do not intend to be personaL Far from it for me to be personal. I can say sincerely that I have no personal · antipathy to any hon. member sitting before me. But I am bound, in my public capacity, to criticise the methods that are adopted by hon. members sitting opposite; and I say the Opposition have ;hown, during the whole course of this Parliament, by their actions inside and outoicle of it, that they are i11Com­peten~ for the carrying on of the gov<'rnment of th1s State.

GovEmD1EXT ME~IBERS: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: They attempt, as the hon. nwmber for Dalby attempted the other mght, to draw red herrings across the track, to make pettifogging criticisms. Because the present Attorney-General did what other Attorneys-General did-only that in my case I have been compelled to go into court to always defend against the attacks made on the Government through the courts­therefore the Government is to be con­demned. The hon. member actually made an attack upon a ca_pable, trusted, and im­l•artial public officer, the Taxing ]\/[aster. Ho referred to his taxing ''S a farce, because it was not revi<•wed. He knows what a review n1eans. A revic,v as suggested mnans an appeal, and such appeals could be carried right on to the Privy Council, and would involve a great additional cost to the State. Such a suggestion was absurd. I refer to that as an example of the criti· eism, the kind of taetic'l that are indulged in by our friends opposite. I did not in­tend, during the course of my speech, to digress, because I think the question at i"ue is too big, except to refer to it as a sample of the kind of criticism that some hon. members opposite think will be effec­tive. that will deceive the people of Queens­land, and draw them away from the real issues with which they will be confronted during the next elections. I am prepared b suffer all the criticism that can be levelled against me-, and I am prepared to stand on my reputation before the people of Queens­land, and to disclose everything that is re­quired by hon. members opposite, so that th~re will be the full light of day on every­thmg. (Hear, hear!) There is no doubt there are indications outside that those who

are opposed to the Government-the sup­porters of hon. members opposite-are pre­pared to go to any length to try and stir np opposition to this Government. I regret that somp of those who hold high positions in connection with their party are foremost in endeavouring to fan and foment bitter­nesses which should not exist at a time like this, and differences between the people. I have too much faith and too much confi­denee in the good sense of the people of Queensland to think that they can be drawn away by such attempts which are made for politieal purposes, and for political purposes only.

GOYERNn!EXT :ME:IIBERS: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: One cannot help gather­ing, from studying the whole course of events that ure going on at the present time, that very great forces are arrayed against the Govcrnn1ent. The G'ovcrnment is neverthe­kss determined to go on with its policy. (Hear, hear !)

Hon. J. ToL~IIE: The fore,; of public opinion is against you.

The PREMIER: Hon. members opposite will not be able to raise public opinion against us. We have been fought in Parlia­ment; we have been fought out of Parlia­ment; we have been fought in the Press; we have been fought in the courts, but the Government will be able to withstand it all.

Go\-ERX:\IENT li'IEMBERB : Hear, hear !

The PREMIER : · I am ·satisfied that the pendulum is already beginning to swing even after the result of the last Federal eh1ctions. (Hear, hear!) We have evidence of it in Western Australia the other day when Mr. 8eaddan, who acc2ptecl office uncll'r the new National Government, went to his constitu­ency and they would have none of him. '!.'hey felt confident, as a result of the Fede­ral elections, that he could risk a by-election and accept office, but after holding the seat for thirteen years he was turned out.

Hon. ,J. ToL:\fiE : That often happens.

The PREMIER : I know it often happens, but when it doe' happen it is an indication of the trend of public opinion. A similar· thing happened in New South Wales. The other clay they had a by-election following on the general election, through the death of one of the Government supporters, and the Labour party gained the Macquarie seat from the National party. That is another indication that the pendulum has swung against a party that deceived the people in the pledges they put· before them at the rl'cent elections.

1\'fr. BOOKER: Macquarie has been a Labour seat for thirty years.

The PREMIER : Hon. members may try to minimise the effel't of the~e elections, but there they stand. They are the most recent indications of public opinion in those places. which show a change-a remarkably sudden change-from the opinions expressed on the 5th May. Compare that with the result of the by-elections iu Queensland ! We had a b:v"election in Maryborough, when the leader of the Opposition and nearly the whole of the party went up there to fight it. The " Brisbane Courier" proclaimed that it would

Hon. T. J. Ryan 1

520 Adjournment. [ASSEMBLY.]

be a test of the public opinion with regard to th<' Gov!'rnment, and I accepted the <"hallenge. What was the result'! vVe won Maryborough by a larger majority than ever we won i't before.

GO\'ERKMEN'r Mg~JBERS: H<ear, hear! :.\Ir. BOOKER: No.

The PREMIER: Take Rockhampton! A bv-election was hPld at Rockhampton since the '!ate Federal election, and our friend, Mr. Ford<:>, who was practically an unknown man in Rockha<npton, came out against one of the best kno\Yn men, and a very pop)llar man,· in -"'1r. H. Grant, the best candrdate that could be put up by the Liberal party, assi9ted by the leader of the Opposition, and he was returned by a majority of over 600 votes.

GovERN,\IENT MimBERS: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: I am convinced that the people of Queensland are sa.tisfied with this Government, and that notwi'thstanding all tlw att •mpts made by hon. gentlemen opposite-notwithstanding all the financial assistancf' they will get-I know they will get many thousands of pounds-notwithstanding all that, w<> a.re prepared to mC'et the people at any timn, and I han· every confidence as to what will be the result.

UoYLitN}IDT ~h::\!BERS: Hear, hear!

Th0 PREMIER: We may he only one Labour Gon•rnm<:'nt in Australia to-day, but \\·e an• one Labour Government fighting against great od<ls. (Hear, hea-r!) I am satisfied that whPn the <'lectors of the other States get an opportunity again, we wiU not be the onlv Labour Government, but we ,,-ill eontinue t~ hP the Government of Queens-land. ·

GovERNMEKT .i\h:mmus: Hear, hear!

The PREMIER: l am satisfied that when th(' time comt•s-and l am prepared for that time a.t any time-it does not matter how 'oon it <'Olll<'-s-I am satisfied that the in­te!ligPnt democracy of Queensland will give uo an opportunity of carrying out our pro­gramme. (Hear, hear!) So far we have only laid the foundation. If our friends opposite got into powpr that would be <mtirely re-

, moved, but tlwy will not got the opportunity of getting into power, as the people will t•xpress tlwir confidence in us and give us an opportunity of completing an edifice which is worthv of the foundations which we have laid. (Government cheers.)

Mr. LLOYD (Z.:rzoggGra): I beg to move the adjoumrnent of the debate.

Question put and passed.

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

ADJOURNMENT.

The PREMIER: I beg to move-That this House clo now adjourn The first business le-morrow will be private members' business, and after that the continuation of the debate on the Address in Reply.

Question put and passed.

The House adjourned at six minutes to 10 o'clock.

[lion. 7' J. Ryan.

Questions.