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Wednesday, 22 October 1919

Mr BRENNAN - I think that that statement ought to be withdrawn.

Mr JOWETT - I withdraw the remark and apologize. I have already said that it is difficult to escape from the atmosphere that has been created by honorable members opposite, but I am doing my best. I ask honorable members to consider for a moment what must be the mentality and soul of a man who could say that the actions of the AttorneyGeneral, under the War Precautions Act, were more contemptible than, the deeds committed bv Germany.

Mr Mathews - It is true.

Mr JOWETT - No, no! I cannot believe that remark from my friend the duke; I know his heart too well.

Mr Fenton - I rise to a point of order. I submit that it is very objectionable for the honorable member for Grampians to refer to the honorable member for Melbourne! Ports (Mr. Mathews) as " the duke." I ask that the remark be withdrawn.

Mr SPEAKER - Owing to the interjections by honorable members, I did not hear the remark complained of. It is not proper to refer to any honorable member other than by the name of the constituency he represents.

Mr JOWETT - I withdraw and apologize. I say to the honorable member for Melbourne Ports, at all events, "Have you not love enough to bear with me when that rash humour which, my mother gave me makes me forgetful?" From him, at all events, I will not accept any statement that is hostile and unfair, because I know that whatever his lips may utter in this House, at heart the honorable member is as loyal a Britisher as ever entered this building.

Mr SPEAKER - Perhaps the honorable member will now address his remarks to the Bill.

Mr JOWETT - Unfortunately, there is a Bill before the House. The honorable member foi" Cook (Mr. Catts) states' that the Prime Minister (Mr. Hughes) has done things more contemptible than were ever done by Germany. I ask you, sir, as a student of psychology, to consider the mentality of a man who could utter such atrocious and malignant slanders.

Mr SPEAKER - I admit that I have many opportunities in this House for the study of psychology, and the subject is interesting, but I suggest that it is high time the honorable member addressed his remarks to the Bill before the House, otherwise he should resume his seat.

Mr JOWETT - This Bill from beginning to end concerns the actions of the Attorney-General. Therefore, when an honorable member opposite calumniates the Attorney-General with regard to his actions under the War Precautions Act, I submit that those actions are a proper subject for debate. I should like to remind those loyal and patriotic members who heard the statements made by the honorable member for Cook of what Germany was guilty during the war. Under orders from the High Command, German soldiers butchered the women and children of Belgium.

Mr Brennan - Is that in the Bill?

Mr JOWETT - Throughout the debate the actions of the Attorney-General have been referred to, and I am entitled to refute the statement made by the honorable member for Cook. As honorable members well know, the Germans committed crimes the horror of which staggered humanity. Yet there is on the Opposition side an honorable member of such mentality - will the rules of the House permit me to say brutality?

Mr Brennan - I think that remark should be withdrawn.

Mr JOWETT - I withdraw and apologize. Does not the- remark of the honorable member for Cook show that his mind and the minds of those who hold the same views have become so saturated with a malignant poison, so far as the relations between the Empire, our Allies, and Australia are concerned, that they, have absolutely lost their mental balance.

Mr SPEAKER - Order ! The honorable member commenced his speech by saying that he would confine his remarks to the Bill. He has been speaking for several minutes and has not said much in fulfilment of his promise. I ask the honorable member to desist- from personalities and to debate the Bill.

Mr JOWETT - I remind honorable members that this Bill was introduced, not by this' Government and party, but by honorable members opposite when they were in power.

Mr Tudor - Were not some of the members of the present Government members of that Labour Government?

Mr JOWETT - The present Prime Minister was then Prime Minister, but the responsibility for the introduction of the Act must be shared by every member opposite, above all, by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Tudor).

Mr Tudor - Why was I prevented from prosecuting the Argus ?

Mr JOWETT - I have no doubt that such contingencies were carefully considered and provided for when the Labour party introduced the measure. In any case, it is impossible to put the responsibility on this Government and their supporters for the introduction of the War Precautions Act, or for what has 'been done under it.

The honorable member for Cook, in his speech, took occasion to sneer at me for being an Englishman.

Mr Brennan - Quite right, too!

Mr JOWETT - Of course, the honorable member for Batman does not mean what he says. No one knows better than himself the words of that great statesman - that great Irishman - Edmund Burke, who said to the people, "You love and cling to England, because in all the ages she has been the refuge of the oppressed of all mankind."

Mr SPEAKER - It would be much more to the point if the honorable member would address himself to what is contained in the Bill.

Mr JOWETT - The honorable member for Cook, after having sneered at me for being an Englishman, sneered at the Prime Minister for being a Welshman. But, as I said at the time, what is wrong with Welshmen ? What have they done during this war ? Let us compare the record of the honorable member for Cook with the . record of Welshmen, Scotchmen, and Irishmen in the war. Is it not true that two of the greatest living men that Britain has ever produced are Welshmen ? I refer to Lloyd George - whose name will be immortal - and also to William Morris Hughes. Our Prime Minister may not have had such heavy responsibilities, or such opportunities, as Mr. Lloyd George, but he also has made his name immortal as standing, from the beginning of the war - even when surrounded by honorable members opposite - for the Empire, for Australia, and for civilization. The honorable member for Cook, having sneered at the Prime Minister and myself, went on to say that he himself is an Australian.

Mr Richard Foster - Do you think that he is?

Mr JOWETT - I take his word, as I would that of any honorable member. The honorable member has every right to be proud of being an Australian.

Mr Richard Foster - Are Australians proud of him?

Mr JOWETT - Are the 300,000 men, who fought for our lives and liberties, as proud of him as he is of being an Australian? I, too, am proud of Australians, for my children are Australian. If the mother of the honorable member for Cook had not come to Australia, probably from England, he could never have been born here.

When honorable members opposite question the actions of the Prime Minis ter in administering the War Precautions Act and regulations, which the Labour party introduced-

Mr West - Not the regulations.

Mr JOWETT - I am glad to be reminded of that. I can always depend on - shall I say? - the greatest statesman and financier Australia has ever produced, in the person of the honorable member for East Sydney (Mr. West), to put me right if ever I am inclined to go astray. However, I desire to point out that two of the most important regulations which appear in the schedule of the Bill- Statutory Rule, 1916, No. 112, and Statutory Rule, 1916, No. 122 - wereissued when the Labour party was in power.

The honorable member for Cook made a comparison between the actions of the Prime Minister during the war and the actions of the Labour party which' the honorable member follows. Perhaps I might ask whether the honorable member does not lead the Labour party - whether he is the one who inspires all their deeds, or one who merely follows? However that may be, the Prime Minister, from the beginning of the war, never spared himself, day or night, in stirring the poeple up to fight for Australia and civilization. But what has been the action- of the party represented in this House by the honorable member for Cook? In June last year, when the tide of disaster began to set against the Allies, and Germany, apparently, was nearing victory - and would have achieved it but for the valour of the Australian, Canadian, and other soldiers - when the issue was trembling in the balance, there was a by-election for Flinders. A Labour candidate was chosen by the Labour organizations in the person of Mr. Gordon Holmes, and a manifesto was issued to the electors by that party, in which occurred the words, " The Labour party stands for the immediate cessation of fighting." This was at a time when the German armies had almost overpowered the British and Allied armies. Our sons by tens of thousands had fallen fighting to preserve our homes, liberties, and lives.

Mr Brennan - Has this to do with the Bill?

Mr JOWETT - Yes; the honorable member has spoken about the Bill, and he shall hear my reply. My remarks have to do with the administration of the Bill, and I say that while our men were fighting bravely to stem the German advance, and had been almost overwhelmed - when the whole world knew that if we ceased to fight Germany would conquer and' crush mankind - the party and people whose views have been voiced to-night by the honorable member for Cook made use of the remarkable words I have quoted. I remember that, when speaking" during the Flinders contest, I repeated the words very often, in order that they should not be forgotten, and they were burned into my mind. - That was the attitude ' of the Labour party, members of which now insult the intelligence and honour of mankind by accusing the Prime Minister of having done worse things under the War Percautions Act and regulations than were ever done by the Germans.

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