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Fri 1 Mar 1912 - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954)
Page 8 - LIBERAL LEAGUE.
LIBERAL LEAGUE.
ANHUAL CONFERENCE.
IMPORTANT REPORTS AND PRO
POSALS.
FEDERAL PLATFORM ADOPTED.
THE FINANCIAL POSITION.
The annual conference of the Liberal
League of Western Australia continued its
business in the Liberal Club Rooms, Hay
street, yesterday, the proceedings lasting
from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. The president
(Sir John Forrest) occupied the chair, and
was supported by Mecsrs. F. Wifcon, M.L.A.,
and J. M. Fowler, M.iR.. At the close of
the proceedings of the previous day it was
decided to appoint a committee to inquire
into the quesuon of
JHiAGUE FINANCE.
On behalf of tho commeutee Mr. H. P. Cole
batch presented ttre ioowimg teport:
"Io the president and memOas of the
conference.--our committee begs to report
tnat it wa, furna?ied with mte rullesr muor
mation in regaril to ashe iuances at the Lib
eral League from its meepuon, born as to
soUrces or revenue and detaus of expenal.
ture; that it appears ao tme committee that
a very large amount oi usexus drgamsing
work has been done on a sum of money smau
by comparson with that expended annually
by our pontical opponents, and- very much
below the amount popularly believed to be
at the disposal of tao league; that the sys
tem of financing on pnvate donations of
variossamunuts was probably the only sys
term by which. the league could have been
estabhlished and that the cause or Liberalism
is deeply indebted to those gentlemen who
have so generously recogunsea the responsi
bilities of citizenship. Whinst the lame
system of private donations must be main
ly rehed .upon for the immediate future,
your committee is of opinion that the or
ganisation will be lacking in stability so
long as the contributors are comparatively
so few in number. Your committee is of
opinion that it should be the aim of the
crecuatie to gradually remove the responsi
bility of fiiun~inngthe Liberal League from
the shboidiis" of wso few to the shoulders
of the many, and heartily welcomes the
proposed broadening of the constitution of
the executive as the first step towards se
curing a .larger popularity. Consideration
was given to the question of fixing a mini
mum subscription, and it is the opinion of
the committee that such minimum should
be sufficient, (a) to secure the permanent
fiunna. staoility of the leagia, always a4)
mitting the occasional need for larger con
tributions for fighting purposes, and
(b) To give the member himself some feel
ings of mterest in the League. Whilst un
able to agree as to the amount of the mini
mum- subscription, your committee is unani
mously of opinion that the present fee of Is.
is entirely inadequate, being practically a
negligible quantity so far as financing the
League is concerned. and quite insullicient
to cause a member to treat his position seri
ously. Different members of the committee
suggested 2s. 6d. and 5s. per annum respec
tively as the minimum, whilst others fa
roared a higher subscription, and strongly
urged that wherever possible the club system
-now working so successfully at Kellerber
rin--shold be adopted. Under that sys
tem the subscription would be from ls.- to
2s. 6d. per month, and the member in re
turn would have the convenience of a room
or rooms in which to write letters, etc. The
system is, of course, chiefly applicable to
agricultural centres, and has the merit of
sustaining a live interest in political mat
ters all the year round. Your committee
entirely disclaims any expectation of being
able at one brief sitting to arrive at a solu
tion of the most difficult problem in connec
tion' with the working of the League, but
would suggest to this conference that the
remodelled executive be. strongly urged to
deal at once with this question, our opinion
being that whilst we are in Opposition
whilst our supporters are daily experiencing
the disadvantages and disabilities of Labour
dominance-they- will be more ready to take
their share of financial responsibility than
they would be in other circumstances."
In presenting the report the speaker re
marked that the central. League had been
most generous to the country districts. What
was wanted was self-supporting branches.
A discussion took place, participated in by
Messrs. J. H. Fowler, Halbert, W. Wilson,
J. Parker, Dobson, Rendall, and Wright.
The report was adopted unanimously.
POSTAL VOTING.
Conference passed the following resolu
tions:-- "_is Conference condemns the ac
tion of the-Federal Government in abolish
ing the sick, infirm, and absent vote, and
considers such action will disfranchise many
thousands of voters unable to attenda poll
ing place. Such conduct on tli part of
the Socialist party, who make special claims
to be humantarian. is without reason or
justification."
it was resolved to increase the executive
committee by electing thereto a represen
tativa of each-branch and two representa
- (to be created) when their number reached
fifty;
THE LEAGUE PLATFORM.
tonsiderasbl tied wan spent on the pro
posed aenments o tohe constitution, to
t objects of the league, and to the pro
posed Feeraml-and State platforms. After
to adopt the resolutions of the Melhoune"
Conference, which submiitted a Federal plat
form and machinery clauses to create "The
Australian Federal Union." A sub-commit
tee was appointed.to wsbmit a State plat
form and to report the following day. Minor
ed,and conference adjourned until to-day at
.... -A S?L EVENING.
Thedklaine smet thn;F;Ir -,...7 ._
tained lass night at a social in the Liberal
Club:rooms; when a large number of mem
emy were present, including Sir John and
Lady Forrest, and.Mr. F. Wiikon.
Mr. A. Sanderson, who occupied the char,
said.he .wished on behalf of the committee
and the members of the Liberal Clhb to ex
tend thheartiest welcome to all the-visitors.
He had :listened with close attention and
much iiterest to many of the speeches that
had been made at the conference, and he
might add that he had kept silence even
from good words, realising that he would have
that. eveninsg an opportunity of addressing
the delegate. It was a tempting prospect
to roam over the large field that the speeches
already made had opened up, hut on the
purely political side of the question he had
recently put on paper his views of public
affairs, and if any wished to know his opin
ions he would have much pleasure in pre
senting a copy of a paper read before the
ebb on "Liberalism and Labour in Western
Austra?a." He would spare them, therefore,
his'ipolitical views, or in th9 words of the
secretary, he would take them as read and
devote the time at his disposal to a considera
tion of the dffairs of the Liberal Club, which
he desired to see the focus and centre of
Liberalism in Western Australia. They had
at present 800 or S00 members. He would
like to see a membership of 5,000, and their
rooms an exchange for thought upon Liberal
ism. He would like to see a combination of
,the three working Liberal forces in the State
-The Liberal League. the Women's
League, and the Liberal Club. It had been
brought up at theconference that afternoon
and it was desirable, indeed, that all three
should be housed under the one roof. Ho
referred to the question of augmenting the
library, and thought there muut be more
commncling between the upholders of Lib
eralism muthe East and in the West. There
were men like Mr. Deakin, Mr. i-vine, and,
of cose. Sir John Forrest, who could win
a seat in any part of Australia, and he
a L? al champion to ncome over and cn
test one of the Senate seats. It was the
only way to combat the position on the gold
fields.
Sir John Forrest, who was greeted with
applause, said he was particularly glad to
be present that evening. As they all knew,
the conference" was in progress, and they
had had a strenuous two days. Practical
unanimity had been the experience. On the
next occasion they met he hoped the.women
as well as the men would be represented.
They had agreed that the time had arrived
when oneconfereuce was prefe?able to direct
the aairs of Liberalism. As far as the
smen's leagues were concerned, they had
passed a resolution that would pave the
way to amalgamation, and if the women
approved of it in their next conference they
would be united to do good in this country.
{Agpplause.) The President was a sangnine
man-the kind of ma. they waned-and
the ideas he had given them: that evening
were good. They certainly ought to bring
'about the housing of Liberalism under one
roof if they could manage it It would
require a good deal of energy and money,
but, after a in a land where buildings
were so valabke there should not be any
difficzty in caisng debentures. The new
committee which would be elected -could
take it up. They had liberalimed the con
titution of the executise in the direction
of each branch having a member. on it.
Their enemies talked. of exclsivenes is
t Liberl League, but as a matter of
fact thee was none of it, as the lahsmen
tioned decision showed. They would base MO
epreseaes on the executi.e, and tteted
some of them wonld be gifted with fian
cial acmen in view of the projects they
would have in hand in rceti to bumld
He was glad they had got past the dark
days of Liberalism in this country. They
had had leagues upon leagues in the past
which had languished and died because they
never had any financial stability behind
them. That had been evidently overcome
at last, but still they had much to do and
wanted every man on their side in politics
to join the league and the club. Let them
show faith in their political views and send
in their names to the secretary of the
league. The workers who had not bowed
their heads to Baal were on their side, as
well as the large army of other people in
terested in industry, justice, and fair deal
in". He quoted the interests allied with
Liberalism, and urged that they were not
yet serfs and dumb driven cattle, but men
and women who wanted to see brought
about that which was just and right. When
he thought of their strength and power he
felt almost ashamed of the little they had
done. They had allowed the position to
drift, and it did not redound to their credit.
They had not been strenuous enough. nor
had they fought the battle too well, but
still there was time to be up and doing, to
fight the good fight, and win out in triumph
to victory. (Applause.)
The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Frank
Wilson) said he had listened to Sir John For
rest telling them of all the classes whoewere
with them, and could not help thinking what
became of them last October. They all went
to the poll and voted the other way. It
was, perhaps, a form of temporary insanity
which overtook the public, who wanted a
change. Time swung the pendulum, and to
the Liberal Government in power it was
shouted-"Out you go." They went out, but
had the peopl benefied by itv (Voices:
"No.") The rich man had buttoned up his
pockets. He would not speculate, and there
was a cessation of land transactions. He
had passed down the Avenue the other day
and saw a man at the Lands Office and four
others leaning over the counter serving
him. He went inside, and found the "cue
tomer" was an officer also. "Hello," be (the
speaker) said, "are you all having a holiday?"
"Yes," was the reply. "Can't you find us
something to do? We have had no one in
during the whole of the morning." Contrast
that with the state of affairs a few monuths
ago, when it was almost unpossible to get
served at all. He regretted that it all
pointed, he was afraid, to an unemployed
problem. should the stagnation continue as
it was continuing at the present time.
Money-lenders were even declining to lend
now on C.P. leases. He hoped the people
were beginning to think, and find out that
the leasehold policy was not going to prove
the salvation of the State. The panaceas
offered in place of mdividual ambition and
energy were not going to make a prosperous
community. Was it by curtailing the right
of the worker to give the best day's work
for his money that they had built up the
British Empire? True, they were a nation
of shopkeepers, but merchant princes as well,
and were all imbued with the sense that har
mony and co-operation between worker and
employer were essential if they wished to
build up the fame of the British nation in
Australia. (Applause.) With Sir John he
bade them be of good cheer. There were
good timeslcoming, when the thread of Libe.
ral thought and justice would link up the
community and return again to power the
representatives of a party which did not say
"the spoils" to any particular creed, but
to the benefit of the people as a whole. (Ap
plause.)
Mr. Fowler, M.H.R., said he felt sure they
were getting along very nicely, and that
what appeared to be a rebuff was only prov
ing a lesson of the utmost advantage to
them. He has noticed that when Labour
Admministrations took office Liberalism in
variably' looked up, and there was really
no need to feel doleful at present. "Libe
ralism is .dead," said a Federal member to
him that day, but it was going to have a
pretty lively resurrection later on. (Ag
-plause.)
An excellent musical programme was pro-.
vided. as follows:-"Snowflakes," Miss Fell;
"Love is meant to make us glad," Miss Wib
berley;' "The Silver Cup," Mr. Rendall
"Farmer's Pride," Mr. Haywood; "Syr?
pathy," M.'. Jones. Refreshments termi
nated an enjoyable evening.
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23865911
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page2740402
APA citation
LIBERAL LEAGUE. (1912, March 1).The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23865911
MLA citation
"LIBERAL LEAGUE."The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) 1 March 1912: 8. Web. 30 Mar 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23865911>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1912 'LIBERAL LEAGUE.',The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 1 March, p. 8. , viewed 30 Mar 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23865911
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23865911 |title=LIBERAL LEAGUE. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |volume=XXVIII, |issue=8,086 |location=Western Australia |date=1 March 1912 |accessdate=30 March 2025 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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