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CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS.
\ - - Mr. Seymour-Howe « opened the
-/meerim? punctually; and" said that it
gave bim great, .pleasure, tç welcome
the two speakers; There^was no real
need to introduce the Leader of the
Opposition: They had followed the
eood work thajt » he had done for
Queensland; and he thought that it
must gratify Mn. Moore to be received
by such a vast audience. Probably he
had never addressed an audience un-
der such, conditions, said the speaker
-referring to *'thé wonderful decora-
tions of : the halL" (Laughter.) With
-egard tp.the" candidate for Cairns (Mr.
Muir) hè wàs a sri!all chap, but they,
all knew that good thmgs .weré. wrap
ned up lin small parcels. ' - He was' â
born organiser, however.' and although j
they were told before he» started out. !
Mr. Muir had not a l"dog"s chance of j
wirmin/r," the candidate would yet
prove to be the Surprise packet of .the
elections. - * y
Mr. Muir was . îhtfodücedi first.. ? and
st the. outset expressed his pleasure;
: Pt having the honor tb stand before
them as the selected candidate, of the
Country Progressive Nationalist
Farty to content Ca the;
fitting meinbef ^and Pr^ier,-Hon. W^j
McÇor^acW,v Heosrijsft^
Ii« desired tp, &afcëi'the'rfight! a clean
r ne; but he craved their indulgence if
r: om. time to time he.'faad¿tp^refer to'
i'T.c. : Premier a'rjd- > nis^T'Government
directly. . ?i- ... ;
. .?:-HI'S'"iOÄ^.CTjyB.;-;-.
''?-fiif'f$ ? $ r*lt . «L\; ''
He', would endeavour to ' clear the
r ¿moépherpj . v in/áview of certain re-
marks madeuhy^' Mri * McCormick on
«^T.uesdayj>^jjj& and. tc support- heart
tieir leader;'litr. Moore, whom; Mr.
c^acic^saw. fit to. belittle during
üursé -of, his address, i He also
- v.isned tb éndéár^u¿:to^disprpve:;Somfe
of. thc stàtements made by -tile- Pre-
mier. . Hfe made hö~r apology for-open-
ing his campaign in that manlier, De-
cree-it w¿si ^rougKt"about by- the at-
titude of Mr. McCprniack,- himself.
Dut Mñ Moore ,wa|'there to speak
more é^tènsiye^y^ù^on "the .issues at
stake aha'tipou. the record of the pre-
sent Government, a reco'rd 'that would
convict 'fjiem bf .the need 'for placing
tl:e affairé Ipf; pf a
Libre '-honbraBîè/,Bôarîd!'Ôf Directors. '
A I¿d^v(decisivery): Nol (Laugh-
ter). %i0^3\'' '':Vzx: '
Tbe/^p^li^^eájumea that, the rank
r nd fife; c'oirïinued to say. that" it was
impossible.ipr the Premier to be de-
feated,' because he . was' the Premier
rnd. because be had done sb much for
Cairns.-: But it-was possible, and he
r believed highly probable, that . history
would .repeat itself -iti so farVthat an
unknown v' quantity of the .elections
tpight defeat-the sitting,member; and
that Mr.;.McCo^rmack would be outed
from -.the -leadership of -an ;arrogant
autocracy. Dr/Nott had. beaten "Big
Ted" (Mr. Théodore) who, was con-
sidered a,< certainty¿ ? and Mr. Riordan
who was,; sb weil known -in all circles
of trade- unionism had "been defeated
also. 1 'r~ ;~-'. ''"
PREMIER'S METHODS.
Mr. McCormick, in . .endeavouring to
belittle Mr. Moore Pri; Tuesday night
had adopted" the- tactics of .a Domain
orator iii pandering tb the gullibility
of the . public; ' if; suggested that he
realty felt the possibility of defeat
i when he stopped .to tlipse tactics. The
/ Premier had ;Álsp .beeni astray when
' Nbe referred, tbthe attempts, allegedly
nfade to, depose Mri Moore .ffom the
leaderships of-the Party. Nd. such ef-
forts had .been made"ari.all by any
member pf thè pàr.ty; Mr.. Moore was
still the' lëadeX- and ;-wouldV remain for
Jong .-m. outstanding'figure in the pub-
lic life of the. State. (Applause). And
also a very 'honorable figure. (Re-
newed applause).
Mr. Muir also referred to the critic-
isms Of Mr. ^Elphinstone and of Mr.
D. J. R. Watson, the second of whom
he referred tb -as a disgruntled Na-
tionalist who, had vainly sought hon-
ours from the Party.
NO. MAJORITY.
Mr. McÇormaçk boasted of his re-
presentation of the :màîofî^Iîof'' the
people, but his . party "--"did- not hold
office with'thç wish ôfftKe;irôjori'Qrj5of.
the electors^* The GÔvëfSmeiit'^ènt;
into office- by%* sysjé^
and electdfat^rfiggihg '- tactics^ *>i AtriD
Mr. MçÇbrmack. had ' plen'fy *6& food
for thought in-the intern^ tföubks'rbf:
his own' party, without: referring .'to
those that really did not exist in the
C.P.N. ' Party. He referred to thc
plebiscite'' for 'Cook.
The Speaker was subject to much
interjection" and .'laughter, but above
the din he retorted: I am here to
clear thèse things up to-night, so you
may heckle me as much as you bally
well liké. (Loud applause and laugh-
ter). - ;"'.
AN INTERLUDE.
He was again interrupted by a per-
sistent lady in front who demanded
"some of your' oWn# stuff and leave
everybody, else alone " Then she
jumped up excitedly waving à handful
/ of pamphlets that seemed to be of
X importance to! her. She was assisted
L by a large section bf the audience,
-.who kept up the good humoured ban-
ter. :. -'H' * *
'.*'' Mr. Muir ' protested :tfiat they did
not attempt to heckle Mr. McCor
mack and the lady rejoined:. "Ah; but
Mr. McCormack was a better man
than you'll ever, be." (More laughter).
REPRODUCTIVE WORKS.
The Chairman restored order and
the speaker resumed. He said that
Mr. McCormack charged Mr. Moore
with having, asked him to spend more
money, while at the time denouncing
the Government as a boom, borrow
and burst Government,/ TBut ,. Mr..
Moore wanted the money¿sperl^üpórr
reproductive works. ....
'iii 7 O'): ííiO.i
C WORK AND WAGES.
,.. VOí"'\íVr,ÜT
The Premier said tb^ogj^^ecp^p
mic chaos, would TesuÍtj'frQrñj^*3^!^
eral reduction in wagésj ygíJhjs £pv¿.
ernment/had redüc^J^age^'.j*hI^22t'
and the next year they m^reasgj$i$éÍ?
own salaries.. The Gpy^ç^eft,trrjjsèçl .
100 per'cent. American. "caYs.Vwn.ëVèas
the Federal Government was using
100 pçr cent. British. Yet Mr. Mc-
cormack regarded the purchase of
American cafs ?as a big factor in un-
employment. He also mentioned the
Government's, importation of British
locomotives, and' other goods by which
thousands . of men were rendered
worktess. in the State. The Govern-
ment had been responsible for driving
capital to. gilt-edged securities instead
of _ its being sunk in industrial enter-
prises which , would create and main-
tain employment.,
BETTER* CONDITIONS
The speaker made a final appeal,
because he was earnestly supporting
a party, thátT would .interest itself in
the creation of better condtions for
the-.people, and bring about public self
respect:'.ähd. self-reliance, which were
the .basis pf'.every'honorable aspirar
tion. (Loutf applause).
MR./MOORE'S FACTS.
Mr. -Moore was tiïen introduced and
was receiyedvWfth much cordiality. He
said'alsq.. that he was'pleased to 'speak
cn behalf pf a candidate who was'ad-
vocating principles that'he believed to be
in . the best interests of the ' community
of Queensland.
. ' AUTOCRACY.
Mr. ^cCbrmack the other , night ap-
peared bef oré. them in a new role. He
was alwayVà/dbpting.new roles. In Too-
woomba} he ' threatened à railway official
because he dared to ask a question. Some
time agtf 'his'róle was to withdraw Gov-
ernment advertisements from the "Stand-
ard-' because, that paper had had the
temerity* W1'criticise his administration.
Then only .'last week he had treated the
Brisbape^ijTelegraph'' in a similar way,
and thereby had given the paper a greater
advertisement'thän it had ever had be-
fore. Mofé; recently he had appeared to
a .CaúrnfMfaúdieñce ,as a prophet . He
seemed ipi: think at times that he was
really Queensland, or that he had the
power to stand on the shore and tell the
waves the way they should go.
FAILURES. .
When; his (Mr. McCormack's) Gov-
ernment had gone into power it had made
certain definite. promises to operi\'up
new roads of employment; to reducé"!fhe
costs of jiying"; to break, up ithe--timl)ef
ring so that people could gettchëâp"itîih
ber for/homes'; to establish rS&t&eiftef
prises so that the prof its of:-public! Miti&
ties would be acquired by the State as
a whole. After 14 year s-îibForiên^ the
promises had been fulfilled. They had
even gone back on,.thc âaj$6f|$4&ç§or.
They were not asking - the;^élëetofs to
vote for. the. Labor party; they were
merely seeking votes for the?, McCor-
mack Administration. They wanted tc
get away from the pledges laid down- bj
outside conferences.
CHILLAGOE.
^ The socialisation of industry, distribu-
tion and exchange was not mentioned bj
thèm.
Mr. McCormack had said that if the:
wanted to keep Chillagoe open vote foi
Mr. O'Keefe, and the people voted foi
, him. But were the smelters kept open ?
A voice: Yes! (Loud laughter).
Mr. Moore said that within six week;
of Parliament meeting, notwithstahdin;
the Premier's promises, Chillagoe ha<
closed and the North had been depopu
lated as a result. The Government ha
spent ¡¿788,000 on Chillagoe and the rail
Ävays.jand, had .endeavoured to work th
mines; ipr, ^seven, years rand keep thre
.smelters "'gçmg.^Ln Toowoomba, M:
iMcGqjrhack'' said that there was nc
i enough ore there to keep one smelte
^pingi for six wdtff^--"
i»;-'A[^oice: There ain't, either! (Laugl
fer.) <5ÏH£ 0
. Mr.; Moore: Then .what justificatic
iW.asl there for.ithej jßpvefnment to spen
:so much money in-.acquiring it? Th;
is one reason for the unemployment th
exists.
Mr. Moore then read a report writt<
by Mr. Cliff G. Routledge, metallurgi
and mining engineer, who had reporto
upon the possibilities of economical
working Chillagoe.
The report was as follows:
In formulating a policy fer the le:
and copper mining industry it was nece
sary to review in brief the history '
what has taken pjace. The Chillag
Company spent a huge sum of money
the^rection of smelters, in buiiding ra
: ways, and in opening mines, only to fi:
. that although both lead and copper c
; cur extensively throughout that ari
- the tonnage of payable ore in any o
? or adjacent groups of mines was i:
? sufficient to make profits on the arnot
of capital expended. In the operati
' of the mine; it is essential to the ul
? mate success if a deposit of ore be i
t comparatively high grade, that a v<
i large tonnage of low grade ore nu
be available to give a return on the d
velopment expenditure. Only in rare
I circumstances is the former case of any
j use to a company. Experience throughout
¡the world is that tonnage, and tonnage
alone is profitable for a company. The
i Chillagoe company, after spending a
great deal of money in attempting to
work the mine altered its policy to allow
the small owner to supply the ore, and
in the ^ end worked only the Einasleigh
mine itself. The supply was received
from these small owners and from thc
Girofla mine owned by a Melbourne com-
pany. The smelting was so developed
that only one of the large furnaces was
in operation, and this pclicy was so suc-
cessful that had it not been for the large
amount of interest which had to be paid
on capital lest, the company would never
have gone out of business. Then came
State ownership of the works. The fail-
ure was due to many causes, the princi-
pal being extravagant management, not
taking advantage of the experience of the
Chillagoe company in that it proved con-
clusively that the field could not supply
sufficient ore of a payable grade to keep
more than one of the large furnaces in
operation. Also that it was mere profit-
able to concentrate on the lowering of
the smelting costs, thereby making ore
available from the small owners, leave
the mining to others, and smelting ore of
little recoverable value. Had the course
been adopted of following in detail the
last practice of the Chillagoe company
the operations would have been of won-
derful value, not only to the north, but
to the State. On account of this failure
it is impossible to look for any relief
from any private enterprise. Outside
the scattered tin areas, the whole of this
great area is now depopulated where there
should be a contented mining commun-
ity.; There is a marked difference be-
tween the initiation of the State enter-
prise and the resuscitation of an in-
dustry which has been taken over and
temporarily ruined by the State. The
Chil'agoe field consists of . numerous
small mines of varying grades of ore
and great differences in chemical com-
binations. This latter is a great asset
providing it is made use of by intelligent
metalurgy^.. It is quite possible to so ,
reduc£ ' the ..size of the furnaces that an j
adequate, supply of payable (to thé
miner<) "ore would be received to keep one
smalli furnace goinjç to full capacity.
The fiejdjras it exists tb-day can only
be expected'v to produce approximately
4ÇP tb 50Q tons of ore a ' week. Hie
price! pf .read and copper increased so a
jf£rgejambirnt would be available.. This
ore wpuld;he of a' grade sufficiently'high
't<j¿ warrant '¿melting and allow of the
'furnace's being run at a reasonable cost.
In almost all cases- of léad smelting, the
higher the grade of ore, the cheaper will
be the smelting costs. The mines which
would supply this ore áYe scattered all
over the Far North, the boundaries of
which are Mungana, Georgetown and
Herberton. The contents of the ore with
lead' at present prices would not allow
the seller to receive ordinary miners'
??rages when paying the full cost of
smelting. A scheme can be easily initi-
ated by Which a graduated smelting
tharge would be made-as the metals in-
creased in price, so the seller would pav
a higher smelting charge.- By doing all
the lead smelting in. one furnace, pf a
reduced size, it would -be possible Ito. do i
the work at a total cost, of 46/- per ton. I
This might appear high; in comparison
with figures from other".works, but. Chil-
lagoe is so faf ^north .anti'the distance;
so great from the coast that : wages and;
ccst bf material^are the highest.-Almost
the whole of the lead ores , contain a
certain amount of copper,*although'the.
quantity is small, and this could be made,
profitable. In.the past it,-has-been ;the
practice to smelt, this by-product, and:;
all the copper ores in blast furnaces.
Owing to the high. cost of fuel . .and
wages, this is most uneconomic, and,-the
erection of ä small Teyerberatory. "furnace
to use in conjunction with-the roasting
section would; also ' help to. reduce costs
is mentioned;:x BefóreAeyen with a small
plant dperating(.a;Jregplftr-supply .of çreC
it is a vital necessity .-vît. is weil'(known...
that operations in the: past haye vbeen
greatly restrictedly the^ mines being con- '
trolled by a seïeàfced . fèw. Although it
would be fatal:.«fpr the-State to operate
the mines, a cçr^âin amount cf control.
must.be placed in.the hand's of ;a.sym-.
pathetic management.; There are a.nura-'
ber of mines in. .the area"! which must Ii i
worked continuously, to ensure the re-
sults outlined above.. It is unfortunately
true that there aré many mineownprs, who
after being granted leases, only work
their mines to suit themselves. There
have been cases where the owner has.
used his power as a supplier of essen-
tial ores to extort terms most unpro-
fitable to the smelters. As the project
outlined is purely cooperative, each sec-
tion must be disciplined sufficiently to
get the best result for the many of the
State. To carry out this scheme each
man as now wculd have the right to
apply for any mine or section that he de-
sires to work, but his ownership of the
mine would be dependent on the use he
made of. it. This would be at the dis-
crétion pf the .'management of the works
with the/sbîè fight of appeal to the war-
den ?whpl$ust: be guided in his decisions
safely ¡oh the needs of the co-operative
çbçccfrn! as 'a' whole. By this means il
would be-4)ossible.for the management to
obtain thc "type required for the most
economical. work. It is estimated there
would be lÓd men in the employment of
the smelter. By laying down "a strict
policy, of equal treatment to all mine
owners this swculd go a long way in
building up the confidence of the indi-
vidual miner, and so greatly help in the
supplies. Complete control can be ex-
ercised bv the minister with properly tab-
ulated returns. The metal market is .th-;
only lcop hole for an incontrollable loss,
but over a period of say three years, thc
metals paid fer at a certain price and
sold in London at a lower price would
be counter-balanced by the opposite hap-
pening providing there was a continuity
of work.
VITAL CONCERN.
, Mr. Moore continued that the mat
I ter was of vital concern to thc North
and to the State who had to make
good the losses on Chillagoe. Pro-
gress had formerly been due to prac-
tical miners who were sent into the
nrosnecting field. But now there was
much expenditure on office staffs and
no assistance to private effort in thc
practical side.
He quoted a number of figures res
oect'ner the charges and production.
In 1913 and 1914 the value 'of produc-
tion was £6,135.531 and Government
revenue was £65.862. Tn 1927 and
1928. however, the product'on was
£3.242.768 and Government charges
£80,032. It was a decrease of £3,443.
">ro n^t] r>-. jprr/»;!ce jn charges of
£14,170. That burden had been p!rced
upon the industry. The Mining De-
partment expenditure for 1913 and
1914 was Í48.S65 in regard to staffs
wages and salaries but only £38.007
was spent to actively aid the mining
industry. In the years 1927 a;nl 1928
the salaries expenditure was £80.536
and the industry was a:ded by the sum
of £16,229. It merelv pointed again
?to the increase of Government ex-
penditure becoming a burden upon
legitimate industry.
STATE'S LOSSES..-»*"
Mr. Moore also touched' unon tho
unemployed and dealt effectively with
, statistics in redaron to the increase
during the regime of 4he. Government.
He quoted^figures from the M'nistry ]
for Labor to the effect- that' the num
ber of unemployed registered at the
Labor exchanges for last year were
10,049; partially employed 73,261, and
the permanently employed numbered
123,202. That was what Labor pre-
sented to the electors after 13 years
of alleged government. In 1915 Mr.
Collins said that no new Government
could be expected to put right the re-
sults of centuries of drifting at once,
but if at the end of three years the
Labor Government had made no im-
provement then they should be turn-
ed out as a failure. The Government
had been in power for 13 years, but
to-dav the unemployed walked the
streets in greater numbers than ever
before.
APPRENTICESHIP.
He had given one reason, and an-
other could be cited in the apprentice-
ship system in Queensland. In the
last year 1311 boys had sought to
enter the ranks of industry as ap-
prentices, but of that number only
536 were placed. There were no open-
ings for the others.
CAPITAL.
As to Mr. McCormack's gibe con- I
cerning the existence of capital in .
Queensland the speaker quoted "Han- )
sard" of last year in which Mr. Mc- i
Cormack was reported as saying that i
they borrowed money overseas be- j
cause they hesitated to borrow in Aus-
tralia. While they realised that there
was plenty of capital in Queensland
they preferred to haye it available for
investment for profitable purposes in
local industry. ,
t Why, asked Mr. Moore, was that
money not made available for industry?
Since Labor went into office the pro-
duction per employee in the State had
considerably and steadily decreased
despite the fact that wages had in- .
creased and the weekly hours had act- i
ually decreased-by four. ¡
I PRODUCTION. I
! . . ? »
He would hot care two-pence if
wages increased and hours decreased |
so long as an efficient standard of
production were maintained. There
had been also a decided decrease in
the. factory employees while the shop
assistants had increased that meant
that selling had increased while the i
making of things had not. In other i
words most of what was sold in the
shops had been imported from other
¡States, Mr. Moore suggested" several
methods by which unemployment
could be obviated. j
He proposed a proper system of co- ¡
operation, piece-work and financial as-
sistance to industry such as was pro- j
vided by thc British Government. At '
the Townsville convention Mr. Mc- ?
Cormack had himself advocated piece-
work and proper control to prevent ;
employers from exploiting the em
plovee and the employee from ex-
ploiting himself. j
COOPERATIVE, MARKETING.
Mr. Moore alsp made,.reference to
the cb-operatiye met}iodSt-of. marketing,
-stating that tb-d-áy, 96 per cent of the
primary produce of the State wás
manufactured an& marke'ted under a
*o-operative system, .towards:¡which
.'the Labor Government had done ab-,
sólutely nothing, thé act being passed
long, before a' .Labor Government
came! to "power, and they-had only re-
tained it because thev.had been forced
to do .so. Mr. Hartlejr,1(a mgmber of
.the Government Partys himself had
said that nationalisation rivas the right
policy, and that pamofthe credits of
the State should beusedrto help along
co-operative concerns. But Mr. Hart-
ley, when it-carne to the point, had
voted with - the? Government: ! '
-INDUSTRIES. . !
" ; Exactly the same principle should be
extended to secondary industries-as to
jirimary industries, lt had bceri';döne
in ,other parts'of the world with'-con-
spicuous success. "When'."the loan Bill,
had been considered at the last ses-
sion, Mr. M'voor'mack had stated that
he had beeh giving consideration to the
question of using ;;art of t.ie State's
credits, either for the sustenance or
the establishment of secondary indus-
tries, but unfortunately, he' said, he '
rpuld see no way in which the money
could be utilised in this direction.
PIECE-WORK.
' Mr. Moore also stated that every
opportunity should be given to bring
about a system of piece-work. They
must give a- pian- incentive to use his
skill and brains to the best advantage.
As a result of th.s system there would
be higher wages, a lower cost of liv-
ing, and less unemployment. When
this was suggested to the Premier, he
had stated that the people would first
have to be educated. In the opinion of
the sneaker, they had first to educate
the union leaders. There were three
bases to solve unemployment, that was
the using of part of the State's credit,
the creating of pi«ce-work conditions,
and co-operation.
The speaker instanced where the
Government had made heavy losses in
the Bowen coal mines until tiley had
put the miners on a system of piece-
work. The mine had then paid its way,
and the men who had been on wages
before were still employed on the
piece-work rates.
TAXATION.
Mr. Moore also dealt, with taxation.
Mr. McCormack had stated in 1924
that if taxation in Queensland were
increased, further unemployment would
result. Since then, however, Mr. Mc-
cormack had increased taxation by
over .£1,000,000, and the result was ex-
actly what he Had anticipated. One
reason was the loss on the railways
and State enterprises. The increase
would* not have mattered if the tax-
able income had increased, but it had
not done so. In Victoria, the taxable
income of the people had increased by
08 per cent, but in Queensland it had
decreased.
lThe Premier of Tasmania had
caused an investigation to be
made into the capacity of the in-
dividuel to pay tax, and they found
t>a+ JP Queensland, the in-Uvidual
paid £4/7/- in taxes, in Victoria,
¿5/-, New Soath Wales. £3, and
South Australia, £2/8/.
(When they rcw that, they could
realise what burden was/ on the
shoulders of the Queeftslanders.
Tn 19??, the taxable,In-nme in
Queensland was £22,000,000, and"
the tax £740,000. Ten years later,
the taxable income had 'decreased
. by about £6,00^000, but the
amount of tjie-^ax collected had
increased-.'"' v
-,j£>ín 1918 there were 411 manu-
facturing concerns in Queensland,
. and ten years later, there were
only 270. In the first-mentioned
date, they paid £10,596, and in the
j latter, £153,613 in income tax.
VHow could they expect the matra
j facturer in Queensland to com
' pete with those of other States?
That was one of the reasons why
I they should use some of the State
' credit to help industry. They had
' np desire to continue conditions
i as at present, and the time had ar
rived when something should be
; done.
I RUSH TO THE CITIES.
Another of the reasons for the large
I amount of unemployment in the State
was ascribed by the speaker as the
rush to the cities. He stated that
from 1908 to 1914 thc cities popula-
tion had increased by 43,000 and the
country by 77j000. From '1920 to
Î926 the cities had increased by 153,
Ö00, and the country decreased by
126.000.
The only way to make for prosper-
ity in the State was for the man on
the land to produce more and to ex
I port greater quantities overseas.
¡ There was no other way, ior they
were unable to export their manufac-
tured goods. Thc great rush of people
! to the cities was one. of the worst
causes of unemployment. One of the
< reasons why the men were not going
i onto the%laiid was thc system of lease
j hold tenure.
I if his party were returned to power,
they .would give the man on the land
i wnatcver form of tenure he desired,
so giving him a chance to work out
his own salvation. With freehold ten-
ure, he would have a mortgagable as-
set on which he would be able to borr
row money to make improvements.
STATE ENTERPRISES.
Mr. Moore also spoke at length of
the State Entérprises which f.'ere al-
lowed to compete on the open market
with private enterprises. He men-
tioned specially the State butcher's
shops and stations, and observed that
the State capital was used to allow
sheep to be brought from New South
Wales and sold in open market va
competition with local traders. He
did not like to see money being taken
from the pockets of thc people to
make a profit for the State. Private
enternrises did not want a hionopolj;
all they wanted was r a. fair -deal.
THE RAILWAYS.
\ ? .- , .,f
' The railway policy of the Labor
Government ' was" also criticised 'at
length by the speaker, who stated
that he objected to the railway being
used for party political'purposes, as
the Government had done.. He meh
tione'd the number of men who had
been put on before elections, and then
afterwards v/htjii they Were no longer
.required, gradually retrenched.
ARBITRATION.
r.ocaking of wages, Mr. Moorn
stated that on the last occasion that
the railwaymen had been in court, the
advocate for the Commissioner' stated
that the railways were not in a finan-
cial position to stand-an 'increase in
wages. The counsel for the men stat-
ed tnat rates and fares.could fee /in-
creased. ;fBut"v (Mr. '/Wills''j[fdr'y the
Commissiorter/f .observed'' thift;'. the
stage had -beëiv'*reached wehere'any in-
crease in these would^^níeán-á' falKrii
off in revenue, as the people , would
refused'to usc "the 'railways* -an'cTpaj;
higher rates, ..butf'instead, ..would .seijcï
their:i goods -by^foàd. rThëre was" . no
intention on the part of- his party tc
control wages.i-i It was«;nbtf thei-^func-
tion bf aj^Parliament io- dó.thÍB¿Jbut
it'would- belief fr Tto;f the!: Arbitration
Court. '??>.< /V.-mUyi"<>. '-t .
IEFFICÍENGY. JU»-iii ?->.?>
» . ».. >'« r- *"<.»:.
Reverting to- efñéiénc'jr, Mr.; Moon
stated that there could be no ?. chance
.pf the .railw&ys^ ^eçar^^^efBcien
while, they *wéié" ús¿d"ás7 a political
machine. They^should"be%used*solelj
for tlie'sé/^icè'bj th'e'ipe^Rl^*,pLe dil!
not waiit îp'séôian óÉcér shifted from
one district, to another,.. .because. r.he
did- iiiot vote for a certain man.jWitl
things like that' happening, they/ coule
not possibly have efficiency.
LAND ADMINISTRATION.
Speaking of land administration, Mr
Moore stated that it;would'b/e better te
have a Royal Commission to inquin
into a particular matter before th<
country was committed to an expense
than to have one afterwards to fin<
what had been the cause of failure
In regard to land administration, h
¡".tated, there was an extraordinär
position in Queensland.
The Premier had appointed th
Land Advisory Board, and in thei
report, the amendment of the lam
legislation passed since 1915 had'beei
recommended. Now Mr. McCormacl
was taking credit for what he had don
in the way of land administration. Th
Land Advisory Board, also recom
mended that the incomes (for taxatio
purposes) of men on the land' shout
be averaged over a period, but Mi
McCormack had'refused to" accept tha
His policy wa's "bow much can' we ge
out of them," not "how can we hel
the men on the land."
THE CHILLAGOE AFFAIR.
Mr. Moore again referred to tl:
Chillagoe scandals, and stated th;
after the speaker had made charge
in the House, the Premier had refuse
to give a Royal Commission into tl
matter. He, had, however, appointed
' departmental inquiry which( said M
Moore» was to whitewash the positió
A V°'ce; That was stratagem.
Mr.1 Moore: I call it dishonesty,
they had nothing to hide, they wou
have jumped at the chance of a Roy
Commission. The Departmental i
quiry discovered such a scandaloi
state of affairs that the works we
immediately closed.
A Voice: You made those charg
under privilege.
Mr. Moore: I made them in. ti
place where they should hav« ^ei
made-in the House.
j TRADESMEN.
1 Mr. Moore also spoke of the lack
opportunities existing for the youth
the country to learn a trade. T
Auditor-General, he said, had stat
that there had been £64,000,000 spe
on works in Queensland that were r
paying interest. That all had to co.i
i ont ot the pockets of the people,'' a
( that was one of the reasons why :
ii.istries Had to close" down, and the
w ;rc pp openings for their growi
lads, and "why one of the finest appre
ttccship schemes in the world h
proved Pf no use at all. The positi
could only be remedied bj' a copipl«
overhaul of the present industrial s;
tem and thc, removal of many of i
existing absurd and unnecessary
strictions on industry.
FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS
in his concluding remarks, Ï
Moore stated that all he had said tl
evening could be proved by offie
records. He did not want them td ls
his word for anything, but to look
thc facts for themselves. If they
»ot want to do this, then it was it!
own fault. He was looking to
interests of Queensland as a whole
It had been said that "if the T
Government was returned to po
there, would be a reduction in wages,"
but it was his policy to leave all mat-
ters of wages to the Arbitration: Court,
and; there was very little chance 'bf it
rëducing wages. He also believed that
before an appeal'to. the Arbitration
Court was made, proper/round table
conference in the various businesses
should be held between the employers
and employees, but Under the present
system of round table, conferences;
these were merely a humbug and used
liv both sides to find out what the
other knew before going into Court. :
L ' THE' PUBLIC 'INTEREST.
fi* :.{ v.:.7t-->m-o«- < .
-.fT'H-e, ^a'd''put'-before^ï'hem some of
.the, thinlgs^Hvhich lie 'thought'[ would
^irnedy. the present position in Queens
fend^ but if they, didjTbr agree with
bim., lie Could-4*o¥* -¿sic them to, but
merely) askn|he'm to pop,sfdêr the econo
.tnicííjfactor's,1 áfñd- if VôsVible prevent a
recurre ricev^He1 coUld^hot1.find work
foFevÍTFmc%i¿üáí ih;:Öie; State, but
«»tUäri^e .Öppprt^ those en-
gaged náfih'dü'stri'éá. to: do so. Ii they
agreëd^with this, then they would vote
for the Nationalists. (Applause.) >
'QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
In reply to a question .whether if
returned to power, his party would
continue what the present State Gov-
ernment was doing iii respect of relief
for the widows and children Pf miners
who had died from miners' phthisis,
Mr. Moore stated that he had no in-
tention whatever of interfering with
the operations of the State Insurance,
under which these cases were cared
for, as he considered such functions
a vital 'necessity.
He also stated, in reply to another
question, that- be would leave all ques-
tions of hours and wages to the, Atb'£
tration Court. ';
A Voice: Is it not a fact, '.that*tltfe1
unemployment in QueenslariOT'«inijyr$;
ly due to the large number' pf?3ium¥
grants brought into the connïry' vïHW
out jobs by the Federal: Gô^err/nïéïiï ?a
Mr. Moore; Not' a single-'iníp^farir
. conies Jo-Queensland witho^íhé'ÍÓft
seht;:bf the State Government.0"'"«^.
' .Another Voice: The trouble -'is?the
Dagoes taking white men's work-from
theni.
Mr. Moore: You must give them
some consideration. You let them into
your unions and take their fees.
Another questioner asked whether,
if returned to power. Mr. Moore would
see that preference of employment was
given to Britishers on Main Roads
work in thc North. The man stated
tha« most of this work was being done
by Italians and Finns.
Mr. Moore, however, stated that he
did not agree that it was the function
of the Government to do such a thing,
and it would be left for the Arbitra-
tion Court to decide.
VOTE OF THANKS.
At the conclusion of Mr. Moore'«
address, a vote of <. thanks to thc
speakers was moved by Mr. R. A. Till:
¡ and carried by acclamation.
CV. Kennedy and R. J. Sutton, 2'.
Abbott-street, Cairns.)
$