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Prudence and common sense forbid
the idea that the referenda proposals
are in any way connected with a na
oinal policy. There is nothing national
whatever in the attitude of the Fi~der
Government, backed by the caucus, to
wards the Commonwealth .constitution,
and their request to' the people for unre
stricted powers to be employed by the
Federal Parliament is unparalleled in the
history of constitutional government.
The constitution is capable of amend
ment, we all know, but it is against the
wishes of the people as a whole that
it should be amended from a purely par
tisan standpoint. The Commonwealth
Parliament must never be at the mercy
of any one party, Liberal or Labor, that
may chance to be in power. The wel
fare and destiny of our country is too
sacred a thing to be allowed to become
the sport of party caprice and spite.
The referenda campaign is a momen
tous one, and its result, whichever way
it will go, will mark deeply a page in
Australia's history. It had 'been hoped
that the years since federation would
have taught a lesson of patriotism, but
the Labor party still clings to the same
narrow party views as of old. The
Labor party's platform is impossible of
realisation without serious and lasting
injury to the whole community. Its re
ferenda proposals aim, not at nationality
as embodied in the federal sentiment,
but at unification and socialism, at the
control and administration of Australia's
national business and affairs by a cen
tralised system of Government at Yass
Canberra, There can be no dodging the
inevitable fact that such a system of
government is as unthinkable as it is
dangerous, We do not, surely, desire
a political machine Parliament, that
refuses to allow the exercise of per
sonal independent judgment by the
people of the Commonwealth and by
their representatives in Parliament. Pro
posals that are clearly and unmistakably
designed to abrogate the functions of
the state and- individual members of a
state, and to give the whole conmmerce,
industry, and trade and labor machinery
into the .hands of one centralised party
ridden Parliament, and a scandalous
libel upon the intelligence of the coim
munity, and a mocking of national as
pirations. If Labor speakers are in
capable of understanding the needs of
the nation, why should they talk as
though the people possess the same
limited perceptions? One answer alone
should be given to the referenda, a
point-blank refusal to countenance such
uncalled-for proposals.
If the example set by the Calulu
Brass Band should be followed by other
district bands, of visiting Bairnsdale
and playing in the rotunda, band per
formances may be expected to be one
of the regular attractions to the
promenaders of the streets on Satur
day night. For a young band the
Caluluians played creditably last Satur
day night. On Tuesday night the Mu
nicipal Band was in possession of the
rotunda, and gave a programme of
music that was much appreciated. The
lighting of the rotunda for band per
fo mances has Ibeen defective, but there
will be an improvement in this respect
very shortly, the shire council having
decided to expend £5 in properly il
luminating the building.
A meeting of the Bairnsdale Has
pital carnival committee. to deal with
the statement of receipts and expendi
ture, will be held next Thursday even
ing. The profit made on the carnival
was £321/2,11, being £35/5/6 above
the amount realised last year. The
ladies' comnmittee had a credit balance
of £190/5/1, being £3/9/7 greater than
the previous year. The general com
mittee thus cleared £3i/15,11 more
than last year.
After prolonged ill-health the Rev.
Robert R. Paton died at his residence,
Blackburn, on Tuesday night, at the
age of 46 years. For fifteen years the
the late Mr. Paton, who was a son of
the late Rev. Dr. J. G. Paton, and was
held in high esteem by a large circle
of friends had been unable to under
take a regular ministerial charge, ow
ing to his health. He was born at
Adelaide, and after being educated at
Scotch College, Melbourne, graduated
at Ormond College. After being a home
missioner- at Buchan and: Lindenow, he
was ordained to the charge at Drouin.
Subsequently he was in charge at Bal-"!
lan until his health broke down. He
leaves a widow and five children.
Probate is being applied of the will
of James Strothers, late of Briagolong,
grazier, who died on 9th March last.
He left estate of the value of £3197.
realty and £1856 personalty to his
widow and children.
This being holy week a special re
ligious service will be held to-morrow
(Good Friday) night at St, Mary's R.C.
Church. The passion sermon iill be
preached by the Rev. Father Cremin.
An unfounded rumor gained currency
during the week that the skating rink
was to be closed owing to the out
break of diphtheria. The rink will be
open as usual until further notice.
Miss Collins, of Tyers, was at last
night's. meeting of the Bairnsdale Hos
pitaLt committee appointed.'a probationer,
m place of Miss Clarke, pupil nurse,
who has resigned.
The man, Abel Williamson, who at
tempted to commit suicide in- Main
street on Saturday by cutting his throat,
is to be removed to-day to the Sale
gaol hospital. He is proving somewhat
troublesome, requiring: police surveil
lance day and night.
The Hon. Jas., Cameron will pddress
the electors at LuckuQw this evening.
An enthusiastic meeting of music lo-.
vers was held on Monday evening at
the residence of Mri< J. H. Cooper. It
was explained by the chairman (Mr Tl.
L. Hellings) that there was abundant
room in the town for a progressive
musical societ.y,, prepared to furnish
good concerted ,and! solo music. It
was decided that a new musical body,
to be named the Bairnsdale Glee Club,
should be formed and commence re
hearsals forthwith.. The officers for
the ensuing twelve months were then
elected, and a code of rules drawn up
and adopted. The officers are as follow.
-Hon conductor, Mr T. L. Hellings;
secretary and treasurer, Messrs WV. Ba
ker and R. Cooper; pianist, Mr A.
Boyce; pianiste, Miss Bailey; librarians,
Mrls Tinsley and Mr. H. Baker; com
mittee, Miss MI. Bailey, and Messrs W.
Armstrong and S. Wood. Rehearsals
,-ill commence tafter the Easter va
cation, the first selections to be the
choruses from " Lucia de Lammermoor"
and "La Figlia del Reggimento "; the
part song " Anchored " is also set down
for rehearsal. An orchestra will also
supplement the vocal work of the club:
Mr J. MI. Yeates, clarionet: Mr C. Swan,
cornet; Mr A. Munday, horn; Mr T.
Munday, euphonium.
At. the meeting of the Chiltern Shire
Council on Monday last it was re
solved that the following resolution be
sent to the Municipal Association for
discussion at the annual conference:
That the Government should be asked to
amend the Local Government Act, so as
to give every ratepayer one vote only,
irrespective of the value of.property or
whether he shall have paid his rates
by the end of June.
To-morrow and on Monday next the
steamer for .Sale w:;l leave Cunning
hame at 7.30 a.mn.
Two successful special stock sales
were held this week by Messrs A.
M'Lean and Co. On Tuesday 3500 head
of cattle were yarded and over 3000
sold, including 1700 bullocks, of which
1200 averaged £6 per head. The yar
ding was considered the best ever seen
in Gippsland as far as quality and num
bers are concerned. Yesterday a special
sheep sale was held, 11,000 sheep of
all classes.being yarded. Of that num
ber 9000 were sold. A line of 600
aged crossbred ewes sold up to 14/2,
crossbred wethers, in low condition, to
13/10; ewes to.15/ and weaners to' 12/S.
The s.s. Gippsland brought a record
cargo of fish to Bairnsdale from Cun
ninghame yesterday, there being 573
boxes on board, about 20 tons weight.
Included in the ,consignment were 100
boxes of bream and a large quantity
of salmon,
An excursion will be run to Mossiface
to-morrow by the p.s. Tanjil, leaving
Bairnsdale at 9 a.m. and calling at
Johnsonville and Swan Reach. The re
turn fare will be 2/6.
To-morrow evening a sacred concert
will be given in the Theatre Royal by
Madame Lena Conly's concert company
-a company that has won great praise
for its splendid ren'dering, of good
music.
Operations at the Maffra beet sugar
factory will be started after the Easter
holidays. Some of the growers expect
a return of upwards of 15 tons per acre,
but it is not thought that the average
will exceed 10 tons. It is the intention
of the department to in future bind
the growers by written contract to put
a given area under crop. There is a
great scarcity of laborers for field work.
The concert and dance in aid of the
Bruckner fund, held at the Lucknow
mechanics' hall on Tuesday night, was
not as successful as it amight have been.
No doubt the counter attractions and
the postponement of the concert from
the previous Wednesday had a de
terrent effect on the attendance, but
nevertheless everything went off satis
factorily. The concert was not as
varied as expected owing to fully half
the artists failing to put in an ap
pearance. Those who contributed items
were:--Misses P. Andrews, D. Taylor
and Clark, Messrs J. M. Stuart, W.
R. Armstrong A. P. Agg and C. W. L.
Watson, each :being much appreciated,
especially MIr Agg with his comic items.
Messrs C. Watson and T. Holloway
supplied the accompaniments. The hall
was cleared and dancing kept up for
several hours. Many thanks are due
to those who assisted in the noble
cause, especially the secretaries, JMessrs
E. Taylor and J. Phillips.
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