Russel Ward on Staniforth Smith

Abstract

Russel Ward claimed that Miles ‘Staniforth Smith, a radical Protectionist, who later joined the Labor Party, was perhaps the most rabidly racist member of either House’¹ of the first parliament. It has gone unchallenged in the literature, a case of sans aucun doubte.² This article inquiries into the strength of the claim by first drawing on newspaper reporting and finds that Ward had drawn a longbow. In sum, the article provides an important lesson on taking statements at face value and allowing them to become historical fact.

KEYWORDS:

• Russel Ward
• Staniforth Smith
• First Federal Parliament
• newspapers
• Othering
• Federation

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Ward, A Nation for a Continent, 31–32.

2 Translated as ‘without a doubt’ or nothing to doubt about.

3 Miles Staniforth Cater Smith was known by the shortened version of his name, Miles Staniforth Smith. See Thiel, Twentieth Century Impressions, 47, and Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 37–43.

4 Labor and Labour are both used to refer to the Australian Labor Party.

5 Ward, A Nation for a Continent, 31–32.

6 For example, de Garis, Miles Staniforth Cater; Hoskin, Australia & the Pacific: A History, Chapter 11.

7 Western Australia, interchangeably referred to in this paper, as WA.

8 Abbotts, One Man’s Life.

9 The National Library of Australia, Catalogue Item NLA MS 1709.

10 Predominantly focused on his time in Papua and as administrator of the Northern Territory.

11 Ward, A Nation for a Continent, 31–32.

12 Ibid., 31.

13 Latin for ‘Of the dead, say nothing but good’.

14 That involves attitudes and thoughts that denigrate and marginalise people.

15 New South Wales Centenary of Federation Committee, “Sir John Kirwan 2000, My Life’s Adventure,” 170.

16 And with with his brother, William Charlesworth Cater Smith. See Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 28–36.

17 ‘The overextension of the 1880s property boom and its unravelling led to an abrupt collapse of private investment in the pastoral industry and urban development and a sharp pullback in public infrastructure investment. A fall-off in capital inflow from Britain, adverse movements in the terms of trade and drought in 1895 accentuated and prolonged the depression.’ Fitz-Gibbon and Gizycki, “A History of Last Resort Lending and Other Support for Troubled Financial Institutions in Australia”, 21.

18 Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 21. His first job was as a book-keeper for CR Knight and Co in Coolgardie and then in 1896 manager for Reuters Telegram Company in Kalgoorlie. For a greater discussion on Staniforth-Smith’s time in WA, see Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 37–38.

19 “Kalgoorlie Municpal Council,” Kalgoorlie Miner, November 17, 1897, 4; “Kalgoorlie Recreation Association,” Kalgoorlie Miner, February 4, 1899, 6; “Kalgoorlie Branch A.H.A.,” Kalgoorlie Miner, June 25, 1900, 2; “Federation,” Kalgoorlie Miner, June 28, 1899, 4; and “Mr. Moran and His Constituents,” Kalgoorlie Miner, September 5, 1899, 2.

20 City of Kalgoorlie, Weight of the Chain, 6.

21 “Staniforth Smith is Placarding the Whole Country Side with His Posters,” “Political Patter” Westralian Worker, March 15, 1901, 3.

22 For example, “The Federal Elections, Mr Staniforth Smith’s Candidature,” The North Coolgardie Herald and Miners Daily News, March 26, 1901, 3; “Correspondence. The Federal Elections. Mr Staniforth Smith’s Candidature,” Geraldton Advertiser, March 19, 1901, 3; and Staniforth Smith, “Correspondence: The Federal Elections. Mr Staniforth Smith’s Candidature,” The Geraldton Express and Murchison and Yalgo Goldfields Chronicler, March 22, 1901, 12.

23 For example, “Mr. Staniforth Smith’s Candidature Speech in Perth,” Western Mail, March 16, 1901, 57; “Federal Elections. Mr. Staniforth Smith’s Candidature,” The West Australian, March 12, 1901, 5; and “The Federal Elections. Mr Staniforth Smith At Menzies,” The Menzies Miner, March 23, 1901, 10.

24 Abbotts, One Man’s Life- Staniforth Smith, 41; de Garis, Miles Staniforth Cater, and “West Australian Figures. The Senate,” The Southern Cross Times, April 3, 1901, 2; “Top of the Poll,” The Umpire, April 24, 1901, 4; “Heads the Poll,” The Evening Star, April 3, 1901, 2; and Parliament of Australia, Members of the First Parliament.

25 Ibid. In particular, focus is had on the two bills (Posts and Telegraph, and, Immigration Restriction) second reading to align with Ward’s interest.

26 Ward, A Nation for a Continent, 32.

27 New South Wales, interchangeably referred to in this paper, as NSW.

28 Trove, “Newspapers and Gazettes.”

29 The literature does not support this claim along with an email from W. A. Labor Party, received June 4, 2020.

30 In particular, the second reading focus, to align with Ward’s interest.

31 On 27 October 2020.

32 Ibid.

33 “The Work Of The Federal Parliament,” Western Mail, October 25, 1901, 43; “Federal Matters. Return of Federal Members. Some Interviews–Reporter Interviews with Fed. Politicians,” The West Australian, October 21, 1902, 2.

34 “The Candidates. Their Careers and Political Views. Senate Election’, Mr. Staniforth Smith,” The West Australian, March 13, 1901, 13.

35 “Federal Matters. Return of Federal Members. Some Interviews. Mr. J.M. Fowler and the Trans-Australian Railway,” The West Australian, October 21, 1902, 2.

36 For instance, Mr. M.F. Cavanagh a Protectionist, “advocates a White Australia”, Mr. J. Charles, Protectionist, “the exclusion of alien races”, Mr. J. Phair, Protectionist, “prohibition of aliens and coloured labour” and Mr. R. Gell, Independent, “exclusion of aliens” in “The Candidates. Their Careers and Political Views. Senate Election,” The West Australian, March 13, 1901, 13.

37 “Federal Matters. Return of Federal Members. Some interviews – ‘Reporter interviews with Fed. Politicians,” The West Australian, October 21, 1902, 2.

38 See for instance, WA Legislative Assembly, 1902, Motion – Immigration Aliens, To Precent Influx, January 29, 1902, 2603–20.

39 King, The Voice of the Goldfields, 100 Years of the Kalgoorlie Miner, 58.

40 Ibid., and for an extended debate see Ibid., 70.

41 Kirwan, “My Life’s Adventure,” 169. This also was found to be evident in the two being members of the Eastern Goldfields Reform League.

42 “Immigration Restriction Bill,” Kalgoorlie Miner, October 19, 1901, 2; “Immigration Restriction Bill,” Kalgoorlie Miner, September 28, 1901, 4; “Immigration Restriction Bill – Deputation to Mr. Barton. The Premier’s Reply,” Kalgoorlie Miner, August 13, 1901, 5; “Senator Matheson on Immigration Restriction,” Kalgoorlie Miner, December 17, 1901, 4; “Immigration Restriction,” Kalgoorlie Miner, October 16, 1901, 4; “Immigration Restriction. Two Hindoos Blocked. Views of Japan,” Kalgoorlie Miner, January 22, 1902, 6.

43 Aired in his maiden speech to the WA, Parliament. See, W. A. Council, “The Hon. J.W. Hackett,” January 29, 1891, 47.

44 Weller, Caucus Minutes, 46., and, Farrell, “Socialism, Internationalism, and the Australian Labour Movement”; Beattie, “Chris Watson’s Resignation of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party.”

45 As evident for instance, in the well-publicised libel case of Reverend John Gribble versus The West Australian. Hackett and his partner, Charles Harper demonstrated that The West Australian, like the Kalgoorlie Miner, was subject to their politician editor’s opinions and values as well as readership that subsequently shaped their reporting.

46 See for example, “Views. Senate Election,” The Western Australian, March 13, 1901, 5.

47 See for example, “Federal Affairs,” The West Australian, June 10, 1901, 5; “Federal Affairs,” The West Australian, August 13, 1901, 6; “Federal Political Notes,” The West Australian, September 18, 1901, 2; “Federal Parliament. Senate,” The West Australian, December 6, 1901, 5.

48 “Federal Politics,” The West Australian, November 1, 1902, 10.

49 “Federal Affairs,” The West Australian, August 13, 1901, 6.

50 “The Government Policy the Forecast,” The West Australian, May 10, 1901, 6; “The Federal Parliament,” The West Australian, May 11, 1901, 6; “The West Australian – Vigilans Et Audax,” The West Australian, May 13, 1901, 4; “Federal Affairs,” The West Australian, August 13, 1901, 6.

51 “Federal Parliament. Senate,” The West Australian, August 29, 1901, 5; “The Federal Parliament,” The West Australian, May 11, 1901, 6; “Federal Affairs,” The West Australian, August 12, 1901, 6.

52 “Federal Affairs,” The West Australian, August 13, 1901, 6.

53 ‘Mr. Fowler (W.A) drew attention to Afghans being employed in tailoring establishments in Perth. Sir John Forrest: They can’t get in. Mr. Fowler said they were getting in despite the Act. The State was overrun by all sorts of aliens … Mr. McDonald (Q.) said a large number of Syrians were working in the Western district of Victoria for 5s. a week. Mr. Crawford (Q.) said the necessity of restrictive immigration was becoming more pronounced from day to day.’ “Aliens in Western Australia”, (The West Australian, August 29, 1901, 5); ‘Mr. Page (Q.) asked if Mr. Barton’s attention had been drawn to the statement published in the London “Times” on July 5, to the effect that a large number of Russian artisans might be shortly expected to land in Australia, and whether he would take steps to prevent such immigration.’ “Federal Parliament. Senate,” The West Australian, August 29, 1901, 5.

54 Pratt, David Syme: The Father of Protection; and Morrison, David Syme: Man, of the Age, 8–9.

55 Ward, A Nation for a Continent, 32.

56 ‘Mr. Page [Labor](Q.) said he was dead against the black man and whenever he had a chance of hitting him, whenever in the stomach, or the head, whether in the shins, he was going to have a go at him. (Laughter.)’ “House of Representatives,” The Age, September 9, 1901, 7.

57 ‘Mr. Crouch (V.) pointed out that the American negroes were not specifically referred to [in the Immigration Restriction Bill] and thought that the new clause should be amended so as to include all colored people (Hear, hear.) He would suggest that in future the Government should arrange with the Imperial Government to deport colored criminals to the Andaman Islands, where there was a penal establishment for offenders with the Indian Empire. The Prime Minister: We can’t do that; it does not belong to us. Mr. Crouch thought it could be arranged. (Hear, hear)’. “Federal Parliament, House of Representatives,” The Age, October 2, 1901, 7.

58 ‘The Vice-President of the Executive Council [Richard O’Connor] pointed out that if the amendment was carried American negroes, and South American and other colored aliens, who would be even less desirable that Asiatics, could freely enter the Commonwealth.’ “The Senate,” The Age, December 6, 1901, 7.

59 ‘The subject of a “white Australia” had been one of the most important placed before the electors … the question was not a new one, as it had been keenly considered even 50 years ago, when gold was first discovered here owing to the influx of Chinese.’, “House of Representatives,” The Sydney Morning Herald, September 26, 1901, 8; “On the Question of Black Labour Queensland was Solid. Not a Single Black Labour Candidate Had Been Able to Get a Seat in the Senate,” The Sydney Morning Herald, August 15, 1901, 8; ‘Willis (N.S.W) … the establishment of that “white Australia” to which the whole of the Commonwealth [referring to Australia only] was pledged … was not a party question and they all should be prepared to give a straight out vote in favour of absolute exclusion.’ “House of Representatives,” The Sydney Morning Herald, August 26, 1901, 8.

60 “Commonwealth Parliament. House of Representatives”, The Advertiser, September 21, 1901, 6.

61 ‘I favour legislation which will preserve this Commonwealth from the social and industrial dangers to be feared from the unregulated admission of alien and inferior races.’ “John Langdon Bonython, “Personal, the Federal Parliament”,” The Advertiser, March 5, 1901, 5.

62 ‘While the Bill was being debated, he was shown photographs of schools in Queensland where the scholars were of all shades, ranging from white to black, and he, for one, did not wish to see our country peopled with a motley mixed race. In the interests of morality and purity it was necessary that the kanaka labour be abolished, which it would be, and by 1907 there would scarcely be a kanaka in Australia.’ “Federal Policy,” The Advertiser, December 31, 1902, 8.

63 Baumeister et al., “Bad is Stronger than Good,” 323–5.

64 Ibid.

65 Miller and Schamess, “The Discourse of Denigration,” 39.

66 Rohleder, “Othering.”

67 David Sibley, “Self-Other,” 85.

68 White, “Perception is Reality,” 125; Udah, “Searching for a Place”; Van Dyk, “The Othering of Old Age.”

69 Birindelli, The Passage from Youth to Adulthood.

70 Davison, “Rethinking the Australian Legend,” 433.

71 By early 1900 it was considered “‘Australia’s Eton’, even adopting the same shade of blue for the school colour.” https://www.ggs.vic.edu.au/explore/history-and-heritage-2/.

72 Our Illustrations, Mr. M.S. Smith, Mayor-Elect of Kalgoorlie, Kalgoorlie Western Argus, November 27, 1900, 15.

73 Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 37–38.

74 Bridge, “Anglo-Australian Attitudes,” 192; Mr. Staniforth Smith’s Meeting, Southern Times, March 5, 1901, 3., Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 125.

75 Forsyth, “The Russel Ward Case,” 125, footnote 15.

76 Auatralian Imperial Force referred to in this paper, as AIF.

77 A.A.F 1946, Proceedings for Discharge, Russel Braddock Ward. National Archives of Australia. NAA: B883, NX112482.

78 Member of the Order of the British Empire.

79 Or those that laboured on the Home Front for instance, ship and aircraft building and munition factories.

80 Ward, The Australian Legend.

81 Carniel, “Of Nerds and Men,” 100.

82 Featherstone, “Sex and The Australian Legend”; Davison, Rethinking The Australian Legend, Saunders, “Specimens of Superb Manhood”; White, Inventing Australia; Harper and White, Symbols of Australia.

83 Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 37–8.

84 Reuters.

85 “Mr. Staniforth Smith At Kalgoorlie,” Western Mail, April 6, 1901, 22.

86 The Legend’s publication in 1958 reflected an arising Cold War and Ward’s personal, political, and cultural life. For a detailed discussion on this see Cottle, “A Bowyang Historian.”

87 Ward, In My Mother’s Hands; Crowley, “The Ward Fabrication”; Cottle, “A Bowyang Historian”; Forsyth, “The Russel Ward Case.”

88 Ward, Radical Life, 237, 254–8.

89 MacIntyre and Clark, The History Wars.

90 Ibid., 6.

91 Forsyth, “The Russel Ward Case.”

92 Some sources limit this to 8 years (1941–1949). For example, Norman Abjorensen, “Ward, Russel Braddock.”

93 Bridge, “Anglo-Australian Attitudes,” 192.

94 MacIntyre, The Party: The Communist Party of Australia.

95 June 1940 to December 1942.

96 National Archives of Australia, “NAA: B883, NX112482. Ward Russel Braddock.”

97 “My strong growing, commitment to pacifism” was evident from 1930. Ward, A Radical Life, 103. Ward was a member of the party between 1941 and 1949. He enlisted on 19 September 1942 two months before the ban was lifted. “Ban On Communist Party Lifted After Satisfactory Promises,” Examiner, December 19, 1942, 5.

98 The literature informs that he a key reason he joined the Communist Party was his antifascist stance. The nation was equally antifacist. While the Australian Government and the Commonwealth were opposed to Fascism like Communists, democracy and communism are different political philosophies and practices. It certainly raised concern during the Cold War period as to the place of communism in a democracy. Pacificism added another dimension and may explain why he did not see action. However, it raises the issue of having signed an Oath of Enlistment and unwilling to resist enemies was concerning during War. As Richard Rempell observed: ‘Whatever the case if pacifist values had prevailed in Britain Hitler would probably have reduced the country to bondage and created incalculable numbers of martyrs. It says much, therefore, for the basic toleration in British society that pacifists not only could put forth unpopular ideas, but also had the opportunity to flourish after the war.’ Rempel, “The Dilemmas of British Pacifists,” D1229.

99 MacIntyre, The Party: The Communist Party of Australia; Symons, “All-out for the People’s War”; Johnston, “The Leading War Party.”

100 Abbotts, One Man’s Life, 107–108; Staniforth Smith, Australian campaigns in the Great War, being a concise history of the Australian naval and military forces, 1914 to 1918, National Archives of Australia, “NAA: B2455. Smith Miles Staniforth Cater.”

101 Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections.

102 Ward, Australia Since the Coming of Man.

103 Bongiorno, “Two Radical Legends.”

104 “Historian Debunks a Myth – ‘White Australia – an Un-Australian Import,’” Tribune, February 14, 1962, 7.

105 ‘16. -(1.) No contract or arrangement for the carriage of mails shall be entered into on behalf of the Commonwealth unless it contains a condition that only white labour shall be employed in such carriage,’ Post and Telegraph Act, Commonwealth No 12. Of 1901. http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/pata1901121901213/pata1901121901213.pdf.

106 Edmund Barton, Hansard Debates, Post and Telegraph Bill, August, 14, 1901, 3737.

107 Billy Hughes, House of Representatives, Hansard Debates, Post and Telegraph Bill, August 14, 1901, 3736.

108 Staniforth Smith, Senate Hansard Debates, Post and Telegraph Bill, 3 October 1901, 5551.

109 Staniforth Smith, Senate Hansard Debates, Post and Telegraph Bill, 3 October 1901, 5550.

110 Ibid.

111 Saunders, “Specimens of Superb Manhood,” 100.

112 Ward, A Nation for a Continent, 31–2.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Belinda Beattie

Belinda Beattie, School of HASS, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia E-mail [email protected].