The Australasian pastoralists' review : a monthly journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and landed interests throughout Australasia

Call Number
NL 338.1 PAS
Created/Published
Melbourne : Twopenny, Pearce and Co., 1891-1901
Issue
Issue Vol. 1, no. 9 (November 16, 1891)
Images
48
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Text

THE  

Australasian Pastoralists’ Review.  

MONTHLY JOUENAL AND RECORD  

Of all matters affecting the Pastoral and Landed Interests throughout Australasia.  

No. 9. SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE, NOVEMBER 16, 1891. Vol. I.  

SUBSCRIPTIONS.  

Pastoralists and others interested in the establishment of  

special organ for the pastoral industry are respectfully requested to  

urge the advantage of supporting it upon those who may not have  

received specimen copies. The terms of subscription are One Pound  

Steeling per annum, payable in advance. All orders should be  

addressed to the Manager, either at 63 Pitt-street, Sydney, or 473  

Collins-street, Melbourne.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS.  

The table of contents and list of advertisements will be found  

on the preceding page, at the back of the Union Steamship Com-  

pany of New Zealand's advertisement. This change of position has  

been necessitated by the increasing length of these tables, which now  

require greater space than can be given in single column.  

It is not too much to say that it would be hard to cram larger  

number of misstatements into more compact typographical space  

than Mr. Glassey, the parliamentary spokesman of the unionist  

agitators in the Northern colonies, succeeded in doing in  

resolution moved by him on 30th October in the Queens-  

land Legislative Assembly. The notice of motion on the  

business-paper read as follows:—“Having regard to the  

terms of imprisonment passed upon the persons convicted at  

Rockhampton and Townsville upon charges arising out of the  

recent bush labour dispute, also to the time already served by such  

prisoners, and to the general tranquillity now prevailing throughout  

the colony, and believing that no good purpose will be served by  

their being longer incarcerated, in the opinion of 'this House it is  

desirable that an address be presented to the Governor praying  

that His Excellency will be pleased to exercise his prerogative by  

releasing those prisoners.” The reply to the above is briefly  

this: —“ The few months’ imprisonment served by the men is  

nothing like adequate to their crimes. There is not general  

tranquillity prevailing amongst the Queensland unionists, and  

immense injury would be caused by these unscrupu-  

lous mischief-makers on the country at such juncture.”  

Mr. Glassey supported his motion with the usual supply of  

perverted logic which characterises his oratorical efforts. In the  

“exceptional circumstances” of the time when the offences were  

committed he sees reason why the sentences should be reduced.  

Most people will take the view that the “ exceptional circum-  

stances” compelled stern and uncompromising retribution, without  

which, indeed, Queensland stood fair chance of being handed  

over to complete lawlessness and general pillage. Mr. Glassey  

went on to admit that in the case of certain of the incarcerated  

men they “ did light fire and try to burn the station gatesbut  

then, he argued, with amazing inconsequentiality, “ it rained the  

previous night,” ergo the poor fellows must have known they could  

not do much harm, and should have been simply let off with  

warning, or, at most, with few weeks in gaol. Mr. Glassey’s  

auditors naturally received this strange reasoning with shout of  

laughter. The speaker’s next apology, however, capped this, for  

he gravely explained in connection with the conspiracy prisoners  

that the incriminating letter which advised the unionists to “ do  

nothing rash unless they were pretty well prepared,” merely  

meant that the men were advised “to work up the rolls for the  

coming general election !” With total disregard of notorious facts,  

Mr, Glassey went on to say that the country was now calm and  

quiet. Now, he must have known that assaults on free labourers  

and other deeds showing bitter and relentless animosity have of  

late been quite common in Queensland, while the unimprisoned  

leaders of the late strikers in their official organ and on public  

platforms openly avow that they are simply biding their time, and  

will act again the moment they feel themselves financially strong  

enough to resume their game of violence and intimidation.  

Mr. Glassey’s chief argument, however, was this, that the  

imprisoned leaders had banded themselves together, not for the  

purpose of their own personal aggrandisement and selfish ends,  

but to carry out the firm conviction of their minds. In acting as  

they had done, therefore, he contended they could not be held  

morally blameworthy. The ridiculousness of such an argument  

may be at once shown by reference to the Indian Thugs, who, in  

their worship of Bowanee, firmly believe that the foulest of  

murders committed on the persons of even helpless women and  

children are grateful services to their hideous goddess. These  

men act on conviction, but for all that it would need more  

eloquent pleader even than Mr. Glassey to make anyone think  

they did not richly deserve the hanging they invariably receive  

when their crimes are brought to light. The fact of the matter is  

that, stripped of all its verbiage, Mr. Glassey’s demand for the  

release of the men was simply based on the ground that they are  

unionists. These men may have caused, directly and indirectly,  

woolsheds to be burned, trains to be derailed, grass to be fired,  

fences to be destroyed, honest men to be mobbed and maltreated,  

but they are unionists, and, therefore, the prison doors should be  

open for them. In other words, the new unionists would arrogate  

to themselves the right of over-riding the law whenever their own  

skins and pockets are likely to be affected.  

Sir Samuel Griffith’s reply was brief and to the point. There  

was no flinching in his denunciation of the scoundrels who “ had  

brought more ruin and desolation to larger number of people”  

than any other criminals in Australia. The Queensland Premier  

went on to point the moral of the distress and want of work  

throughout Queensland, and rightly laid the blame at the door of  

the reckless and unscrupulous men who are now serving their  

well-merited sentences. He further pointed out that if there were  

manifested among the men themselves, and among their followers,  

the slightest signs of repentance and regret, the Government  

might be inclined to look upon the matter in another light. But  

when they found the whole force of the unionist combination still  

devoted to fanning the flame of discontent between classes of the  

community, and preventing confidence being established between  

employers and employed, thereby endeavouring to perpetuate  

state of things which must in the end prove absolutely ruinous to  

Queensland, and to Australia, he considered the hour had not  

Cite

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Work identifier

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36727932

APA citation

(1891). The Australasian pastoralists' review : a monthly journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and landed interests throughout Australasia Retrieved May 17, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36727932

MLA citation

The Australasian pastoralists' review : a monthly journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and landed interests throughout Australasia Melbourne: Twopenny, Pearce and Co, 1891. Web. 17 May 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36727932>

Harvard/Australian citation

1891, The Australasian pastoralists' review : a monthly journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and landed interests throughout Australasia Twopenny, Pearce and Co, Melbourne viewed 17 May 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36727932

Wikipedia citation

{{Citation
  |
  | title=The Australasian pastoralists' review : a monthly journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and landed interests throughout Australasia.
  | year=1891
  | section=v. : ill.
  | issn=0314-7096
  | issue=Vol. 1, no. 9 (November 16, 1891)
  | location=Melbourne
  | publisher=Twopenny, Pearce and Co
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36727932
  | id=nla.obj-36727932
  | access-date=17 May 2025
  | via=Trove
}}

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