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THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
- 0
PROPOSED PUBLIC WORKS.
RUMOURED MINISTERIALIST DIS
SENSIONS.
A SPLIT PREDICTED.
POSSIBLE FORMATION OF A
"CAVE."
MEETINGS OF PARTIES.
Throughout the whole of yesterday
indications were not wanting to show
that the political atmosphere was in a
atate of unrest. Meetings of members
of the Assembly had been arranged for.
and during the earlier part of the day
several of the leading spirits on both
sides of the Speaker were stated to be
in consultation. By the man in the
street it was surmised that the trouble,
if any, as was supposed, existed, had
arisen in conjunction with the dissen
sions in the Cabinet relating to the pro
posed official recognition of the railway
employees' organisations, which had led
to the Commissioner of Railways, Mr.
F. 11. Piesse, M.L.A., resigning his port
folio. A little inquiry, however, shJwed
that this was not the cause of the
troubled condition of parties, and that
the cause, .or causes, must be sought in
other directions.
During the afternoon a meeting-tf a
section of the Ministerialists 6as n?;,u,
and there was also a meeting of the OU
position. The proceedings lasted some
time, and at their conclusion attempts
were made to elicit from those believed
to have attended the meetings, an ac
count of what had taken place. A strong
determination was shown by those
gentlemen to withhold all information
trom the Press, and they absolutely de
clined to furnish the slightest hint as to
the nature of their business, more
especially as, according to their state
ments, no decision had been arrived at
concerning the matters before them, and
further meetings for the consideration
of the questions were to be held to-day.
Notwithstanding the persistent reti
cence of members, certain particulars
have transpired, from which it would
appear, in the absence of authoritative
information, that the following fairly
represents the present position of
affairs: -
For some time past it has been
rumoured that the support given by
several members sitting on the Minis
terial side of the Assembly was weaken
ing, and that shortly after Parliament
met, there would be an attempt to gal
vanise the political life of the dissen
tient portion into a separate existence.
Nothing of a definite character was done
prior to the meeting of Parliament
that would substantiate the correctness
of the rumours and, indeed', one or two
of those alleged to have been disaffected
stated that any announcement at that
time would be premature, asno action
had been taken nor, indeed, would be
considered until after Parliament met,
and the intentions of the Government
declared in His Excellency the Adminis
trator's opening speech.
It is needless to say that after the
event which was awaited took place the
speech of His Excellency formed the
subject of consideration amongst hon.
members. In the intentions of the Go
vernment, as expressed in the speech,
it would seem, was found the occasion
which*a number expected, namely, the
public works proposals of the Govern
ment. These include the construction
of certain lines of railways. One
is the construction of the Cue
Nannine railway Parliamentary au
thority for which was obtained in
1896, and for which provision is now
asked to be made on the Loan Esti
mates. Another is the construction of
a line from Coolgardie to Norseman,
which last session received the assent of
the Assembly, but was rejected by the
Legislative Council. It will thus be
seen that the Assembly has already ap
proved of both these works, and it would
seem that, having done so, it would be
an act of stultification on the part of
members to oppose them now. It is
claimed, however, that the position has
been altered since that time. In the
first place, the colony has decided in fa
vour of uniting with the rest of unstralia
in the Commonwealth, which the disaf
fected section urge will bring it face to
face with the probabilities of a future
diminished revenue, and consequently
the spending power, and also the power
of the country to borrow, will be corres
pondingly restricted. Then, again, it is
contended that Parliament is practically
moribund. and that to sanction the im
mediate construction of these works is
to impose upon the next Parliament re
sponsibilities in which it will have had no
voice. To provide for these works it
will be necessary, they state, to apply
loan moneys dedicated to other pur
.. . . 1, - ' .4 In.
neither of which, it is contended, is jus
tifiable in the circumstances. A further
consideration is said to be the constitu
tion of the Assembly, which belongs to
the time orevious to the redistribution of
seats and the extension of the franchise.
Consequently it is claimedthatParliament
as at present constituted, is not repre
sentative of the people. These consi
derations, it is understood, are regarded
as having considerably changed the po
sition of affairs since the Assembly gave
its approval to the construction of the
lines of railway already mentioned, a
change which does not justify the as
sumption of such a responsibility at the
present time.
The alleged disaffected Ministerialists
number nearly half a score, and it is un
derstood that provided they can obtain
sufficient support from the rest of the
House they will consider the desirable
ness of taking steps to give effect to their
opposition. There is reason to assume
that overtures have been made by them
to the Opposition for their support in
the event of a resolution being moved in
the House, but the extent to which their
overtures may have been received has
not authoritatively transpired. It
would seem, however, that there is some
ground for the assertion that the Left
may be inclined to assist in securing the
passage of a resolution which would have
the effect of defering, for the present, at
any rate. the construction of the railway
lives mentioned. As already stated,
meetings of the disaffected Ministerial
ists and of the Opposition were held yes
terday afternoon., but, so far as could be
ascertained, no decision was arrived at,
and further consideration of the matter
was adjourned until to-day. In the
meantime it may be said that the dis
affected are confident of being able to
carry the resolution. Heads have been
counted, and after making allowance for
absentees and others who are not ex
pected to vote, it is believed th2t 39 out
of the 44 members may be expected to
vote. and that the result will be the pas
sage of the resolution by 21 to 18.
Besides the meetings which, as al
ready stated, will be resumed this after
noon, it is understood that a meeting of
the supporters of the Government will
be held to-day, but for what purpose has
not transpired.
NOT YET ACCEPTED BY CABINET.
The definite announcement made in
the Press yesterday that Mr. F. H.
Piesse, MI..A.. had resigned the port
folio of Commissioner of Railways and
Director of Public Works in the Forrest
Ministry was the chief topic of conversa
tion in town durine the day. Rumours
of various kinds were abroad, and several
well-known politicians were each stated
to have been appointed to succeed Mr.
Piesse. Again, it was reported that the
difference of opinion between the Pre
mier and his colleague on the question
of the recognition of the Railway Em
nloyees' Associations no longer existed,
and that .se resignation of the Commis
sioner of Railways had been withdrawn.
On being interviewed last night by a
"West Australian" reporter, Mr. Piesse
said that he had no statement to make
as to the developments, if any, which had
taken place durini the day. The Pre
mier and himself had arranged not to
say anything at tnat stage.
Sir John Forrest, on being interviewed
at a later hour. was equally reticent,
When asked, however, whether the re
signation of Mr. Piesse had been ac
cepted, he replied that it had not.
THE QUESTION OF DISSOLUTION.
DISCUSSION IN THE TRADES
CONGRESS.
THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED.
The political outlook was discussed by
the Trades and Labour Congress yester
day. after hearing the report of the pre
sident (Mr. G. F. Pearce) of the deputa
tion who waited on the Premier with
regard to various labour matters.
Mr. S. G. Pearce moved-"That any
member of Parliament who, by voting to
close the session, or otherwise tries to
block the passing of the Industrial Con
ciliation and Arbitration Act will be
looked upon as an enemy of labour."
Mr. Findlay seconded the motion, and
thought it was necessary to take this ac
tion to ensure the Premier being sup
ported when the measure was introduced.
Mr. Cartwright said the motion found
tdem in a peculiar position. He did not
think the time would come when they,
would find themselves supporters of the
Forrest Government, but they would,
have to do this to obtain labour legisla- !
tion. Otherwise the session would be
frittered away with votes of censure,
and the election of new Ministers, and all
that the workers had been striving forc
for years would be lost to them. He
thought they should do all in their
power to get the Opposition and the
labour party-(laughter)-to help the
measures through. They had a labour.
party; it had been formed that day, and
was constituted by the members for
North Fremantle, Fremantle, Be
verley, and East Coolgardie. If
these two parties united they
could throw out the Government,
and the session would be lost; but if the
labour party would sink its little differ
ences against the Forrest Government
and strive to have these useful measures
put on record, a great good- would be
achieved.
Mr. Guilfoyle said that he did not like
the wording of the resolution, as it look
ed as though they wished to assume the
power of members of Parliament. They,
should retain their respect for the Par
liamentary representatives. He would
move as an amendment,--'"That, in the
opinion of this congress the Industri·l
Conciliation and Arbitration Bill should .
be passed into law during the present
session of Parliament, and that we use
every effort to secure that end."
Mr. Cooke seconded the amendment.
Mr. Croft, in supporting the motion,
expressed surprise at the attitude taken
up by the representatives of the Railway
Association and the Lumpers' Union, in
view of what had transpired in the past.
It was absolutely necessary in their in
terests that the session should be con
tinued its full term in order to enable
the voters to be placed on the rolls.
Mr. De Largie said that though it had
been said that labour delegates were
agitators and always "agin the Govern
ment," occasions sometimes arose when
they could go with the Government. and
this appeared to be one. The Premier
had given them a distinct uromise that
the Bill would be introduced this session,
and it was their duty to support him.
This was a question op which they could
not afford to differ.
Messrs. Cumming, Reside, and Gavan
having spoken, the amendment was put
and lost, the voting being 23 to 9.
Mr. Diver wished consideration of a
point. If the Forrest Government re
signed, and went to the country, would
congress be pledged to support ,the Go
vernment by the motion before congress,
or a labour candidate?
A Delegate: The Premier must carry
out his promise to hold the pledge of
support.
Mr. Field moved a further amend
ment, that Sir John Forrest, having
promised that his Government will in
troduce and carry through immediately
the Conciliation'and Arbitration Bill. we
will look with suspicion upon any mem
ber who votes against it as being anta
gonistic to labour.
Mr. Bath seconded the amendment, to
allow further discussion.
Mr. S. G. Pearce said he did not care
if it was the Forrest, IllingwQrth, or
Vosper Ministry. If it would but be
true to the Labour Party, he would
support the Government.
Mr. Owens moved that the words "or
fails to support" be added to the mo
tion.
Mr. Pearce agreed to add this to his
resolution.
Mr. Field's amendment was out, and
lost, and on the motion being submitted,
the voting was 30 for, 7 against.
FEELING AT ALBANY
Albany, August 16.
Mr. Piesse's stand is upheld by the
people here, who express admiration at
the way he has "stuck to his guns." The
reported proposed appointment of Mr.
B. C. Wood as Mr Psesse's successor is
regarded as weal'.
raLLJ*.iLL AL iVVAULUAILu .
Coolgardie, August 16.
The resignation of Mr. Piesse as Minlstes
of Railways did not create a great deal of
eurprise. It has been felt here for some
time past that the breach between the
Minister and the Premier must end in a
rupture. The appointment of a successor,
however, is causing more than ordinary
iiterest, as many residents in Coolgardie
anxiously desire that Mr. Morgans should
accept the office as Minister for Railways.
It is generally considered that he would
make a capable administrator and establish
the department on a satisfactory basis.
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