Item #106027 A Nation's Agony. The Labor View of the Irish Question. Address delivered in the A.W.U. Hall on May 16th, 1921. The President of the Ballarat Branch of the Australian Labor Party (Mr. A.E. Potts) in the Chair. James Henry SCULLIN.

A Nation's Agony. The Labor View of the Irish Question. Address delivered in the A.W.U. Hall on May 16th, 1921. The President of the Ballarat Branch of the Australian Labor Party (Mr. A.E. Potts) in the Chair

Ballarat, Berry, Anderson & Co., Printers, [1921].

Octavo (176 x 124 mm), 20 pages.

Wrappers (with the slightly reset full title page details repeated on the front cover) unevenly sunned and slightly marked and creased; top corners of all leaves slightly creased (not affecting the text); a very good copy.

A rare pamphlet by a future Prime Minister of Australia. James Henry Scullin (1876-1953) 'was born in Ballarat, Victoria, had little education. He ran a grocery store and became an organiser for the Australian Workers Union and an active member of the Labor Party. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1910 to 1913 and became president of the Victorian branch of the party in 1917, while working as a journalist. He was re-elected to parliament in 1922. He became leader of the Labor Party in 1928 and Prime Minister after electoral victory in 1929. Immediately faced with the problems of the Depression, the Scullin government was hampered by a hostile Senate, uncooperative state premiers and internal divisions. After numerous desertions, including that of Joseph Lyons, Scullin was forced to an election in which his government was beaten by the newly formed United Australia Part under Lyons. Scullin remained party leader until 1935, was a close adviser to his successor, John Curtin and retired from politics in 1949' (information from the Australian Government's website on Prime Ministers). The Australian Dictionary of Biography is a lot more detailed (and considerably less anodyne) about Scullin's thoughts on Ireland at the time this pamphlet appeared: 'In 1918 Scullin unsuccessfully contested a by-election for Corangamite. He became more radical and inflammatory, especially in his assessments of the war and in his support for the Irish struggle against British rule.... In March 1927 he became deputy leader [of the Labor Party], following Frank Anstey's resignation. Scullin had mellowed on some, but not all, issues since his firebrand, pro-Irish, socialist phase of the early post-war years. Within the framework of his commitment to Labor he held other fundamental beliefs. He remained a devout Roman Catholic, some of the Church's teachings, for example "Rerum novarum", influencing him on questions of social justice. An Australian nationalist, he preferred unification to the Federal system. He was a strong supporter of the White Australia policy and of high protection for manufacturing industries'.

Item #106027

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