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THE LIBERAL LEAGUE.
WELCOME TO MR. W. K. HEDGES,
M.H.R.
THE FORTHCOMING FEDERAL
ELECTIONS.
Enthusiasm was the keynote of a meeting
of Fremantle Liberals yesterday afternoon,
the occasion being a welcome to Mr. W. N.
Hedges, the member for Fremantle in the
House of Representatives. Mr. Hedges
found it necessary to proceed on a business
trip to the Eastern States, and the Fre
mantle branch of'the League conceived the
idea of tendering him a welcome prior to
his departure by the Maloja, and 'at the
same time preferring a request that he
should again. allow himself to be,nominated
for the Fremantle seat. There were a
large number of prominent people present,
amongst them being' Sir John Forrest and
the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. F.
Wilson).
The Mayor (Mr. F. J. McLaren), who pre
sided, said that he was very pleased to have
the opportunity of being present that after
noon to. welcome to Fremantle Sir John
Forrest and Mr. Hedges. 'they were always
pleased to meet those gentlemen who were
doing their best for the welfare of this
State in the Federal Parliament.
After the loyal toast had been honoured,
Mr. J. F. Allen, president of the Fre
mantle branch of the Liberal League, pro
posed the health of Mr. Hedges. They had,
he remarked, npet there that afternoon to.
express in some way their appreciation of
the splendid work performed by Mr. Hedges
during the time he had represented Fre
mantle in the Federal Parliament. They
all recognised -that he was carrying on the
-work of the State to the dctrinent of his
own affairs, and in asking him to again
contest the Fremantle seat at the forth
coming elections they knew they were ask
ing him to make a big sacrifice. Mr. Hedges
was leaving that day for the Eastern States,
and in wishing him a very pleasant trip.he
hoped that he would see his way clear to
accede to the wishes of all Liberals, and
again represent them in the Federal Par
liament' He would assure Mr,.Hedges that
the Liberals would see to it that he was re
turned at the top of the poll.. (Hear, hear.)
In rising to support the toast,: Sir John
Forrest, who was received with prolonged
applause, said that: it afforded him .very
great pleasure to again meet his old- Fre
mantle friends ois the eve of the New Year,
especially on an occasion such as that. Mr.
Hedges had been-associated with him in the
Commonwealth Parliament for the past six
years, and in his opinion he had well served,
not only the interests of Fremantle, but
the 'interests of the whole State. He (Sir
John) was only one of the many people who
wished to show Mr. Hedges how much they
appreciated his good-work. "He had an inti
mate ,kndwledge of that gentleman; and he
could, say withput hesitation that he had
;shows himself to be, during his Parla
mentary career, a man of sterling qualities,
and'a man of good sense. He had also de
monstrated that he was a man with great
practical knowledge. He had proved him
self a good representative of this State, and
was looked upon by all members on the
Liberal..side'ot the Federal Parliament as a
man of sound knowledge and a sterling
friend;. It was very pleasing to him to be
associated with such men as Mr. Hedges and
Mr. Fowler in the Federal House. They hail
been in sympathy with one another, and
had always endeavoured to see that right
was done,
Continuing, SirJohn said that he regret
ted that there were not more men of the
right stamp 'willing to ,.enter the Federal
political'arena. They had always been very
anxious for Federation-(cries of "No.")
well, there were some exceptions, but since
they had got it he had noticed that those
who had clamoured most for it were those
who had done . nothing for their
State by going to . the Federal
.Parliament. In view of the fact that the
Commonwealth Government proposed to still
further interfere with the powers of the
States it was necessary that they should be
up ,and doing. It Blehoved them to make a
great sacrifice if. necessary in order that
their country might be well represented in
the next Federal Parliament. He trusted
that' Fremantle would see that one man
at least woild be' nominated in the Liberal
interest in 'the Senate elections. In conclu
sion Sir John said that he hoped always
to be able' to. find men public-spirited en
ough to represent this State in the councils
of Australia. (Cheers.)
In supporting the- toast, Mr. M. L. Moss,
M.L.C., said that 'the people of. Fremantle
were well satisfied with Mr. Hedges since
he had been a. meinber of the House of Re
presentatives. 'He was regarded on all hands
as a man who had fulfilled'his duties in,a
thoroughlyv able"aind conscientious manner.
N Nr was this opinion of Mr. Hedges con
; fined to tfi 'memnbers. of the Liberal Party.
He was conifident 'that should Mr. Hedges
consent to.. again contest the election the
Fremantle 'people would see' to it that he
was returned. 'Mr Hedges need have' no
doubt but that. (he peoule' of Fremantle
would support him throughout the whole of
the contest. It was imperative that' the
people of this' State should see that their
interests were protected. The Federal Go
vernmenot was bent on stripping the States
of theit rights: Not satisfied with the rebuff
which it received in regard to the referenda
it was again placing these proposals before
the electors. If they were carried it meant
that some 60 or .70 matters now within the
purview of.the States would be taken away
from them. In:the fight which was sabout
to take place it would not do for them to
leave everything to Mr. Hedges. Their duty
was to stand "shoulder to shoulder at the
back of the -man who had done his duty
faithfully and well. (Hear, hear.)
Messrs. R. J. Lynn, M.L.C., and Mr.
Peters, of the Belhont branch of the Libe
Sral League, also supported the toast.
Mr. liedves. who met with a cordial re
ception, said that he had had no cxpecta
tion of the reception which they had ten
dered to him that day, and be thanked them
sincerely for the. kind remarks they had
made concerding him. If his work had met
with the approval "of the people of Fre
mantle, then he was grateful for it. Of
course, when they entered the Federal Par
liament they must expect to do their duty
both to the State and to Australia. They
had had to deal with some very big pro
positions during the last three sessions of
Parliament. and the work had been long
and, arduous. They did not mind this when
they knew that the people were behind
them, but it was disheartening when they
found the people apathetic. It was the
apathy of the people which broke them up.
Among the big problems they had
had ; to deal with was the- ques
tion of preference to unionists.
which he characterised as a piece of class
legislation-legislation that was no good for
any country. Then there was the Electoral
Act, which he supposed was the most dis
graceful enactment at present in existence
in any part of the, world. Under this Act
a person meeting with air accident perhaps
a-day before the election, would not be able
to vote, and yet a person.leaving the coun
try for good, say a month before the elec
tions, was entitled to vote. He claimed
that such acts as those he had outlined 'had
cost the Labour Party tholsands of votes
in this country.
Continuing, Mr. Hedges said it had not
been his wish to again come forward as a
candidate. He had been in indifferent
health of late, and he felt that it was one
of the hardest propositions any man could
take on. They were up against a stone
wall. Parliamentary government was now
a thing of the past in the Federal House; it
was government by caucus and Labour
Conventions. While the Liberal Party had
the numbers with them during the recent
discussion on the sleepers question, they
found that when the whips were cracked
members who had supported them in the
debate voted with their party. As he had
said before,' it was the apathy of the people
that disheartened them. Unless the people
of Australia woke "up it was no use for
their representatives in Parliament to try
to do anything. He was proceeding to the
Eastern States that. day. and on his return
in about three weeks' time he would .be
able to let them know definitely his inten
tions. He felt satisfied, however, that there
were many men in Fremantle just as cap
able of doing as well as he had. (Cries ot
"No.") Whatever they did, however. before
this and the elections, the chief question was
to rescue the country from the Socialists.
Ati the present time there was far too much
gold leaving Australia. This, he thought,
could be stopped if they had good govern
ment. As showing the amount of
gold leaving -- ustralia at the present
time as compared with previous years,
he miiht point out that in 1910 two and a
half millions left the country; in 1911 there
were four and a half millions, whilst eieht
months of the present year had seen from
eight to nine millions leave the Common.
wealth. Was it any wonder that people
were having to pay 7 and 8 per cent. when
all that money was going away? In ronclu
sion. he'wished to thank they; again for
their kind remarks, and he promised that
when he returned he would rive them a de
finite answer. (Loud appla'-,~.)
-The Leader, of the Opposition (Mr. F.
Wilson) proposed the health of the Mlayor,
said in doing so. remarked that Mr. Hedge.
was one of the very beit men they had sent
to the Federal Parliament. As they were
illwell aware, good governmeant was beet
secured when they had in it men who could
bring their knowledge to bear .on the affairs
of the State. Sound judgment was based
on knowledge, and knowledge was based nt
experience. He-wondered where they could
find a man who had had Trester experience
and possessed sounder juigment than Mr.
Hedges. It was men of his stamp whom
they wanted to take an active' part in the
affairs of the Commonwealth Parliament.
How could they expect men, who had had
no experience in business affairs, to handle
the affairs of the State, let alone the affair
of the Commonwealth. In making this
statement he did not wish to give offence
to anyone, but he was simply stating a plain
fact.
In concluding his remarks the Leader of
the Opposition told his hearers to be of
good cheer. It had been a hard struggle
swimmir; against the .bb tide, but the tide
had now turned in other parts of Australia,
and he predicted that in Western Australia
also the tide was turning. He felt quite
satisfied that victory would'be assured them
at the next elections. (Loud cheers.)
After the Mayor had responded, a large
number of those present proceeded to the
wharf to bid good-bye to Mr. Hedges.
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