Melbourne, Oct. 4.
The Parliamentary elections should take place early in December, on the 9th or the 16th. It is expected that three parties will to the country, namely, the Nationalists, Labour and Country Parties. Mr. Hughes, the Prime Minister, is strongly urging the Country Party to join him in presenting a united front{ to Labour, which is fighting under what is known as the- "Red Objective," namely, the socialization of all industry _and commerce. It is frankly a revolutionary objective, but Labour leaders will endeavour to convince the mass of voters that this is merely the star to which they have hitched their wagon, and is not really intended to be applied to their policies once they are resteured to power. The Country Party think they see in.the extreme policy of Labour a good opportunity to put a reactionary Government into office, and in this they are being helped by the Victorian press, which seeks to destroy the present Government, chiefly because it hates Mr. Hughes, and sees its only chance of retaining its influence in Federal politics in the political extinction of that virile and independent leader.
The Melbourne newspapers talk about a new coalition, one that will bring together under a Victorian leader, Mr. W. A. Watt, the Country Party and a few disgruntied Liberals. The movement is strictly a Melbourne one. The late Alfred Deakin once referred to Mr. Hughes og "an urchin dragged screaming from a tart shop,'' allude ing to the latter's violent speeches made at a time when, temporarily, Deakin and others had ousted Labour from office. In the present case, Victoria is doing the screaming, because it foresees that New South Wales, particularly, and the rest of Australia are taking away from it the tarts,.in the form of Federal expenditure, prestige and influence, due to Melbourne being regarded as the temporary capital. It is, however, noteworthy that, of all the Victorian Members of Parliament, only two are mentioned as likely to leave the Nationalist Party.
Leaving on one side the Victorian press attack, of which Mr.. Hughes takes little notice, the Government is likely to poll strongly throughout the Commonwealth. Of course, it will be subjected to a good deal of criticism, but this goes without saying. Practically the same. Government, with the same leader, has held office since the beginning of 1917, and in that time it has made mistakes, mastly arising out of the war. The mistakes were not those of policy, but of administration. Tha Prime Minister has already indicated the lines upon which he: will justify the Government and, if: he can do that, the rest is easy. Mr. Hughes will go to the country that his Government has done things, in-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.