It is, of course, unfair to label the whole Australian
Labour Party, led by 'Mr. Charlton, as " Communist," but the party has only itself and its leaders to thank if it has suffered in this way. As soon as the election was, in view the party began officially to disclaim sympathy with the Shipping Strike. They should have done so sooner. -Even the " Reds " hastened' the end of the strike when they saw how it would affect them at the polls, though there are signs of a flickering revival now. Labour Ministers in the States passively, and even actively, by their control of the police and in other ways, made the Commonwealth Government's task of keeping order more difficult and sometimes almost impossible. We are not surprised at the result. The action of the Queensland farmers, who met force by force, and saw to it that their produce should not rot unloaded on the quays, indicated where public opinion lay. Compulsion to vote under a penalty (nearly 90 per cent. of the electorate polled) was expected to bring up more moderates than extremists among new voters. It evidently did so, and .confirms Opinions that we have expressed in regard to the Referendum.
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