Now that the Labour ministries have been installed in South Australia and Western Australia the Country party is likely to realize what it has accomplished in. its selfish pursuit of political power and the gains thereof. If there is one thing that party wishes to accomplish it is the abolition of legal interference in the: wages and-conditions of work on farms. In pulsory arbitration and the making of awards, with the power of enforcement' behind them. More particularly do they object to the Commonwealth Arbitration Court having jurisdiction, which—the workers' "unions play off against their own State industrial courts or wages boards, squeezing each body in turn for better terms. Practically all the States, except Queens-Iand, were at one in trying' to meet the views of the primary producers, and various proposals were afoot to simplify the position without altering the: constitution. It was to be a matter of mutual arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States, and finality almost appeared to be in sight. 'Then the Country party with entire of consequences, due to its political inexperience, pursued belle sin' towards the governments which were trying to give them as much as possible of what they wanted, and placed Labour in power. It is hardly necessary to say that the two new Labour governiffents will cooperate with Queensland in maintaining the present position, so entirely satisfactory to the rural works. presentative Hill, a leading member of the Victorian Farmers' Union, declared in parliament that the industrial legislation was a baby left on the doorstep of the farmer for him to take care of, and he protested vigorously. Doubtless he re-echoed the feelings of many farmers, but none the less he is quite prepared to repeat in the Federal constituencies the same folly that hax destroyed all hope of the baby being taken off the doorstep "in South and Western
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.