Page:The empire and the century.djvu/481

, and could not be diminished, by widening the area of its political influence. Thus, after a year's experience of its operation, the Labour Party changed completely round, and became the ardent supporters of a Constitution they had previously denounced, and at the second General Election (1908-1904) so greatly increased their strength as to become the dominant influence in the Commonwealth Parliament. Whoever, therefore, wishes to understand the drift of Australian politics must not misunderstand the Labour Party.

Now, the Labour Party is by no means the party of the 'larrikins' (as has been absurdly stated by some writers in the English Press), for these find their account with the older political organizations which have money to spend, but contains the best and most serious elements of Australian public life. It certainly has a fringe of discontented 'have-nots' and a small wing of extremists who have preached 'Socialism in our time,' but without indicating by what legislative measures they could reach this goal, and without influencing public opinion to any appreciable extent. The party, indeed, comprises most of the farmers, nearly all the Bush-workers, and the city trade unionists, with a sprinkling of clerks and younger University and professional men; and although its present loose organization gives too much scope for intrigue in the selection of Parliamentary candidates, its leaders are men of recognised probity and ability, and its action has never been influenced by the prospect of personal gain.

The one just cause of complaint against the Labour Party, and that which alone separates it from the Liberals, is the dominance of the 'machine' outside Parliament and of the 'caucus' within. Both these instruments of organization would seem in their present form to have outgrown their usefulness. It is only in its early days of weakness that a party need bind all its members by a pledge, and require them to accept