Page:The empire and the century.djvu/475

 the session was, it has defined the position of parties, and its incidents deserve notice upon that account.

Mr. Deakin resigned because a combination of Mr. Reid's followers with the Labour Party carried against him an amendment extending the operation of the Arbitration Act to State employés. The Governor-General, however, to Mr. Reid's unconcealed chagrin, entrusted the formation of the new Ministry to Mr, Watson, who held office for three months with success and dignity. The same Arbitration Bill, however, which had wrecked the (Government of Mr. Deakin proved fatal also to his successors. The blow came upon a proposal for preference to Unionists—Mr. Watson insisting that no measure for dealing with industrial disputes would be of value unless the Court had power to deal with the question of 'free labour,' and also that the small advantage of preference was only a reasonable compensation to workmen, who by the Act gave up the right to strike.

On Mr. Watson's defeat everything was in concision. He had always looked forward to an agreement with Mr. Deakin, and was understood to have formed his Ministry with a view to an early reconstruction to effect that end. Nor was Mr. Deakin averse to the alliance. His health, however, was at the time bad; and the thread of the negotiations was broken by misunderstandings and suspicions on both sides. The Trades Hall Party in Victoria were averse to any coalition with the Liberals, and Mr. Deakin declined to lead any Ministry on terms which left him at the mercy of an irresponsible 'Machine.' Consequently, in Mr. Watson's fall Mr. Reid obtained his long-coveted opportunity. He was, however, powerless alone, for his following was not one-third of the House. Mr. Deakin, however, possessed of the idea that 'cricket could not be played with three elevens in the field,' agreed to support Mr. Reid in order to restore the two-party division, provided that the latter would abandon his opposition to a fiscal truce and accept the measures of the Barton Government, which