The Referendum campaign which is going on in Australia must
draw thither the attention of the rest of the British Empire for two reasons. It is concerned with the regulation of Labour and Trade Unions ; god we watch each other's Labour difficulties with sympathy. It also marks a stage in the balancing of Federal and State government. This side of the matter will, no doubt, be followed with academic interest in the United States, but with practical care in Canada, Newfoundland and the Union of South Africa. Australian Labour politics are occasionally forced upon us at home as when lately the shipping and external trade of that whole Continent were held up, or when Queensland's credit in the Money Market received a momentary shock. But few of us realize the ordinary daily influence on life and trade that is exercised by the giant's strength of Labour there, even when its possessors do not tyrannously "use it like a giant."
* *