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LABOUR MOVEMENT.
A LONDON DINNER."
MR. FISHER ENTERTAINED,
AN INTERESTING SPEECH.
London, May 26.
In the Holborn Restaurant yesterday
the Imperial Labour Party entertained
Mr Andrew Fisher (the Commonwealth
Prime Minister) at dinner. The leader
.of the party (Mr. Ramsay Macdonald)
presided, and among the others present
were Messrs. Thomas Burt, Heir Hardie,
Enoch Edivards, Charles Fenwick, W.
Brace, Will Thorne, Will Crooks, F. W.
Jowett, and G. N. Barnes, M'e.P., and
.many ladies.
The chairman, in proposing the health
of the guest; paid a warm tribute to
Mr. Fisher. The common people of Great
Britain, he said, had done great things.
'They had founded and developed one of
the most remarkable systems of demo
cratic self-help, courage, and sagacity,
namely, the trade union movement, and
they had supplemented it by co-operation.
But it had been given to their cousins
beyond the seas to show that in the do
main of high politics and the facing
of great and complex problems of
government administration the sons
of the common people could shine
conspicuously and successfully. Aus
tralian demooracy was not a one
sided affair, for it included women.
(Cheers.) He trusted that Mr. Fisher
would be with them at the next Im,;
perial Conference, for the British demo
cracy would by then include enfranchised
women. The Empire must rest upon a
Federation 'of self-governing people
maintaining the motto "Unity of Labour
-the Peace of the World." (Cheers.)
It was the common man and the
son of the common man who were
going to keep the British people asso
ciated with progress in the forefront of
that federation and union. (Cheers.)
Mr. Fisher, who was given a tremen
dous ovation on rising to respond, said:
-"I have noticed since I have been in
England that the newspapers assume the
same position here as in Australia. The
Conservative newspapers and the poli
ticians in Australia say that you, the
Labour Party in England, are much more
reasonable men than we are, and that
you conduct your affairs like good citi
zens. But when I am in England I read
that we are the people you -should ac
cept as your example. They say here that
we conform to the rules of right-thinking
people and conduct our political cam
paigns in a reasonable manner, and they
ask you to do likewise. That has been
the policy of those who do not believe
in reform and who do not desire real
progress if it touches their individual
interests. (Cheers.) The aims and efforts
of the Labour Party are the same the
world over. (Cheers.) Whatever the
name of organised labour, the under
lying sentiment is a desire for free.
dom."
After eulogising Mr. Thomas Burt,
M.P., and the late Mr. Alexander Mac
donald, as champions of reforms which
in the early days were considered out
rageous but which were now regarded
as very modest, Mr. Fisher remarked that
the same arguments were heard for 50
years against all reforms. They were
told when seeking to remove grievances
concerning the conditions of labour that
if they attempted by legislation to dis
turb frye competition it would mean the
undoing and the wiping out of indus
tries. The Labour movement was eco
nomic and not political, and because it
was economic it would be permanent.
(Cheers.) He had to convey, on behalf
of the great democracy in Austrlia, fra
ternal greetings and wishes for the suc
cess of the Labour movement here.
Regarding the inclusion of women in
the political movement, he was happy
to say that not a single party represen
tative in Australia dared to stand upon
a platform and declare that the giving
of the franchise to women had been any
thing but for the good of the Common
wealth. (Cheers.) He was glad to say
that the Labourites had constantly
declared that true democracy could
only be maintained justly by in
cluding both sexes as electors.
Reference had been made to his
humble origin. He was proud of it,
but why there should be any cause for
referring to a man's rising from the
ranks or from a humble position he could
not understand, because the principle of
greatness was honest labour..
After re-echoing the chairman's re
mark regarding the prosecuntion in the
overseas dominions of a system of govern
ment characteristic of England, which he
(Mr. Fisher) considered was an example
to the Legislatures of the outside Empire,
he continued:-"For that reason I glory
iii the motto at the head of the menu,
'Unity of Labour-the peace of the
world.' The Labour Party are the actual
leaders of a world-wide movement des
tined to link up the people of the world
in one~common effort for the good of the
whole and to remove injustice& from all
so that they should be free and happy."
The best means to that end was to co-.
operate mutually to prevent war and de
etruction of all kinds-(cheers)-and to
maintain their institutions as they were
now, to mend,rather than'to end them,
and to build upon the foundations with
out destroying them. For that reason
they had passed through the industrial
stage into the political movement. Un
less they were able to take the majority
of the people with them in their highest
aspirations they would be unable to pro
gress as speedily as they wished. He
hoped such would be the trend of their
movement. He felt sure, knowing the
leaders of the party, that they would
within a very short time be strengthened
and within the lifetime probably of most
of his hearers the representatives of
the Labour movement would be conduct
ing the government of this great Em
pire with the single object of the peace
and prosperity of every well-meaning
and industrious person in every country.
(Cheers.)
They wanted, he went on to say,
greater means of inter-communication
between the motherland and the do
minions, and also a closer association
with other peoples having aspirations
similar to theirs. The Labourites in no
wise desired the destruction of foreign
nations. They desired to live in peace
with all men, protecting their own in
terests and removing difficulties by means
of arbitration. This was the keystone of
the Labour movement, and it was pressed
forward by the Labour Party tore than
by any other party.
Mr. E. L. Batchelor (Commonwealth
Minister for External Affairs), Mr. G.
F. Pearce (Commonwealth Ministej for
Defence). Sir George Reid (Common
wealth High Commissioner), and Mr.
McGowen (Premier of New South Wales)
'also spoke.
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