1913
9 October 1913
Origin and Cause
Of the F. & S. Association. (To the Editor).
Sir, - It is now over 50 ago since a branch of this association was first formed in Mudgee, the first secretary being Mr. Horatius Thurston, and the first chairman Mr. D. Cassin. But it was not a success. I was not interested in this movement at that time, I being then a tenant farmer under a generous landlord. The association came into existence through the passing of the Robertson Land Act of 1861, which gave every man the right to select a block of land of 40 acres and up to 320 acres on any Crown land, wheresoever situated, either before or after survey. The land was valued at £1 per acre, and on the following conditions: 5 per cent, per acre deposit, the balance to remain at 5 per cent, per annum, and the land to be improved up to the value of £1 per acre within three years, the selector to make it his permanent home during that time. There were numerous branches of this association formed in different parts of the colony, and they were mostly composed of free selectors to defend themselves against the treatment they were subject to at the hands of the squatters, who looked upon every man coming on what they called 'their land or run' to select a piece of land for a home as a robber. The Sydney 'Herald' even described him as having no other stock-in-trade than a rusty musket and a bullet mould and a pickling cask, whose only object was to rob or levy blackmail on the squatter. The selectors were subjected to all sorts of annoyance. The squatter charged him for agistment or pounded his stock, overrun his selection with his sheep, and tried to starve him out. They also charged miners a monthly fee for digging on their runs, which very often proved to be on Crown land; but it did not matter where you went to select a piece of land, it would be sure to be on some squatter's run. They generally rented a few sections and claimed all the other - that is, all the land between noon and sun down on one side, and from sunrise to noonday on the other, with no limit but the Day of Judgment between the other two points. This was the description of the squatters' runs in olden times, and the surveyors, who were supposed to be either in the pay of the squatter or in collusion with him, were also very exacting and irritating in their demands, finding fault with improvements, and putting men on the land very often to extra expense, by altering the boundaries of their selections, or perhaps survey a road through it after it was partly cleared or fenced. There were many other petty annoyances, and any satisfaction or redress to court was out of the question, for the squatter occupied the bench, and the surveyor was generally the principal witness and both seemed combined to exterminate and stamp out the selector. The squatters occupied all the frontages on the principal rivers and creeks, and, generally speaking, had all the eyes picked out of the country, and the selectors were compelled to go on the back-blocks or mountains or gullies, and were very often surrounded by hosts of 'dummies.' They had a hard struggle for an existence. About this time Mr. Cassin became the clerk at Chapple's flour mill, and consented to act as the first chairman of the Farmers and Free Selectors' Association, as he was in a position to hear all the complaints about the treatment the selectors were subjected to at the hands of the squatters. He tried his very utmost to get them together in sufficient numbers to do something to defend their homes, but, after several ineffectual efforts to do so, he declared the whole thing to be a rope of sand, and washed his hands clean of it. This, I think, was some time in the '60's, or after the great meeting of delegates held in Sydney, to which Mr. W. Wilton was sent to represent the Mudgee branch. It was at this meeting that Mr. W. P. Crick first came into notoriety, as a representative of the Wellington branch. He was only quite a lad, or a very young man, working on his father's selection, and although the growling still continued, things were not quite so bad in Mudgee as in other places, with the exception of perhaps Cooyal and Stony Creek, where one or two squatter's treated the selectors in a most barefaced and shameless manner, and quite up to everything that I have mentioned in this letter. In many other ways the squatters sorely tried the selectors' tempers and passions, but, to their everlasting credit be it said, they never as much as retaliated: on the contrary, they behaved as friends to one of these, men, who, by his grasp ing disposition, brought ruin on himself and family, and died in extreme poverty. Although a prominent and popular man in his time, very few people, even to this day, know where he is buried. The association was partly revived again some time in the '70's by Mr. T. F. De Courcy Brown, when he was editor of the old 'Independent,' then the property of Messrs. Richards and Cohen; but it assumed quite a different form and purpose in Mudgee, and died a natural death. However, it was carried on with increased vigor, and various results in other places, until some time late in the 90's, I think, when at a meeting of delegates from the various branches held in Sydney, it was decided to slightly alter the name by substituting the word 'settler' for the word 'free selector,' and became a lopsided political organisation. Incidentally, it also became the insignificant and intolerant rotten old rope of sand that we find it today, consisting of the same old capitalist, sharks, and boss cockies, but worse and more numerous. Some of these were once poor themselves, or the sons of very poor parents, who at one time had to struggle for an existence, but are now the greatest crushers of their fellow poor men. Their only object now is to crush out labor and bring conditions down to the old standard: yet we hear of some of these same people spending thousands in motor cars and whisky, and other luxuries and extravagance, while at the same time they decline to pay their employees a living wage and treat them like human beings. Yet they call themselves Liberals! It is hard to define what is meant by the word 'liberal,' for there are so many different brands. One man calls himself an English Liberal, while another says he is a born Liberal, and Mr. Wade and Mr. Wood are other brands. Mr. Wade's is well defined by the liberal manner in which he abuses the Labor Party, and Mr. Griffith and Mr. Holman in particular. We all know that the Labor Party has many faults; but the Liberals have but two. viz., there is nothing good they say, and nothing good they do or ever did or ever will do. Yet Mr. Wade is making money out of this business. He received a good full purse for this sort of work not long ago, and no doubt the dollars are roll in again on this occasion. Then, again, we have a new brand, for a man comes along with a mouthful of cheap beer and says he is a confirmed Liberal, that he would not give his vote to Labor because they voted themselves an increase to their own 'screws' without consulting the electors. But he should have said, too, that a number of the Labor Party did not forget all other branches and grades of the Civil service, and the conditions of the masses of all grades of wage earners was improved. Yet the classes lost nothing by the change. Mr. Wade is in his proper place, and doing well, and all that is required now to keep him there is for the masses to roll up and show their gratitude and appreciation for all the good they have now inherited under Labor conditions. Let them not be led away by any false promises of something better which the Liberals might offer, and which would afterwards be destroyed by the crushers of the Farmers and Settlers' Association after the same manner in which an insignificant and intolerant majority turned down and entirely wiped out for the next three years Mr. E. J. Lowe, a native of the district, and gave the preference to a man from Newcastle and a stranger to the district. Mr. Gilbert should stay at Newcastle, where he is best known. Newcastle would be his proper place. This rule would also apply to Mr. Lowe, who has all the same qualifications, and would also make a good Country Party representative. We would have the satisfaction of knowing that we were represented by a Mudgee man, and there are hundreds of people of all grades and shades of opinion outside the F. and S. Association who would vote for and support him as a Country Party candidate - men of broad minds and experience on both sides believe that this party must come very soon. They recognise that it is nothing but education that has brought the Labor Party into existence and power, and it is nothing else, will do the same for the Country Party. With the spread of education amongst the rising generation, the masses must rule. They will never consent to go back to the rotten old times of the Liberal and Conservative Party, which must die very soon. If we should have the misfortune to have this man from Newcastle elected as our representative, we would have the humiliating spectacle of having a House of Parliament without a Mudgee man, which would be the first time in the history of responsible government. At one time, perhaps, this would not have made so very much difference, viz., while we had a faithful representative in the Upper House to look after our interests; but now it would be a slur upon our intelligence, our manhood, and our district, when at one time it used to be our pride and boast to be represented by some of the greatest statesmen in the colony's history. It would be unthinkable for Mudgee to be represented not only by a stranger, but also by a three times rejected political hack, who has been everything in his time, but nothing long. Why, any of our old members, or even any of our young men, would be preferable. Although they might not be quite so eloquent, they would be far more creditable, and, although he is only the choice of an insignificant few people, among them be ing a lot of busybody old women, it is to be hoped that our present member will again have the pleasure and satisfaction of upholding the dignity and reputation of our district. People of both sides, who know him thoroughly, say Mr. Dunn is equal to some of our previous best men, and has done nothing to forfeit the confidence of any elector who previously voted for him. He has the reputation of being energetic and attentive to his Parliamentary duties, and is courteous and obliging. He has fulfilled every promise, and has the advantage of being a farmer and a country man pure and simple. Under the new Labor platform there is nothing to prevent any Liberal who really believes in a Country Party, from voting for a Labor Candidate. It is entirely meant for the encouragement and growth of Australian ideas. Australian literature, Australian science, Australian manufactures and inventions; it is in the interests of Australian life and living, and is designed to heal the breach between the working farmer and the rural worker, besides effecting many other improvements in the interests of Australians of all classes. - I am.
JOHN LEE,
Ashbourne. 7.9.'131
.