History of the New England newspaper press 10 - A country party to serve country interests

Hay bailing late 1880s. The expansion of farming in the period 1890-1910, the problems faced by farmers in, laid the base for the emergence of the Country Party. Photo Museum Applied Arts and Sciences.

This is the tenth in a series on the history of the media and especially the newspaper press in New England, the third column on the emergence of the NSW Country Party 

In my last column I referred to the relationship between David Drummond and press man Ernest Christian Sommerlad, a relationship that was critical to Drummond’s somewhat unexpected election to the NSW Parliament on 20 March 1920 as one of two Progressive Party members for the multi-member Northern Tablelands electorate.

The proposal to form a country party for country people had had a long and chequered history. The need for better country representation had been widely accepted in country areas, particularly among farmers, but there was no agreement as to the best way of achieving this objective.

Should it be done via a new party or by working through existing political institutions? Attitudes here were further complicated by the rise of the new Labor Party which created new political divides.

The result was a period of experimentation and change. In 1892, 1902 and 1913 'Country Parties' had been formed by parliamentarians within the existing parties to represent country interests, but each had failed and disbanded quickly. Then in 1917 two embryo country parties emerged in 'Uncle Wiseman's' Country Party, sponsored by J.S. Stephen the editor of the Farmer and Settler, and in G.S. Beeby's Progressive Party, though neither was immediately successful.

The Farmers and Settlers Association (FSA), the main farmer organisation in New South Wales, was deeply involved with this period of experimentation. Better communications in combination with new technology had led to rapid expansion of farming, especially dairying on the coast, wheat inland.

The new generally small scale farmers faced significant problems in markets, prices, finance and the supply of schooling and other services. Economically vulnerable, they focused on cooperative action and were more radical than the conservative pastoral and grazing interests.

The FSA had been non-party political in approach. However, by 1905 opinion had changed sufficiently for its Conference to pass a motion providing for the selection of FSA candidates. Thereafter the supporters of independent action lost ground, and the re-grouping of the non-Labor forces to form the Liberal Party resulted in the Association entering into informal alliance with the Liberals.

Many Labor supporters now left the FSA which launched an aggressive recruitment campaign to rebuild numbers. This brought in many small farmers such as Drummond who were uncommitted or opposed to the Liberal Party.

From the 1913 FSA Conference those supporting independent action were clearly in the majority, although there was also still majority support for that action to include some form of electoral alliance between Association candidates and the Liberal Party.

In 1915, the FSA the Association decided to form an alliance with G.S. Beeby and his Progressive Party. A 'Progressive Party' platform was adopted and a Political Executive Committee formed.

This move was aborted by the split in the Labor Party over conscription and the subsequent formation of the National Party which effectively absorbed Beeby and his Progressives. However, the base had been laid for a new political party.

Note to readers: This post was prepared as a column for the on-line edition of the Armidale Express. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020 

History of the New England newspaper press 9 - Drummond, Sommerlad and the emergence of the Country Party in New England

David Drummond, Glen Innes, early 1920s.  A former ward of the state, Drummond  had left school at twelve, was very deaf and had worked as a farm labourer. He was not expected  to win election, but did so in part because of his relationship with pressman Ernest Christian Sommerlad. This is the nineth in a series on the history of the media and especially the newspaper press in New England, the second column on the emergence of the NSW Country Party 

The country press has always reflected the political climate of the time both in reporting and through their active involvement in the promotion of their communities. It has also reflected the attitudes and interests of particular proprietors.

At the time the first papers emerged in Northern NSW, the broader New England, they reflected the divide between liberal and conservative interests. They also reflected a then key issue, the question of separation of Queensland and the possible creation of a new colony in Northern NSW.

As time passed, the position of the papers evolved to reflect both changing political trends and, more importantly, economic and social changes relevant to their particular areas.

In the lower Hunter, the Miners Advocate and Northumberland Recorder began publication in 1873 and then grew rapidly, becoming a daily in 1876 under the title Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate. Its masthead was ornate, carrying a sketch of a colliery pit-top, including poppet head and chimney.

The Herald shared many of the attitudes and concerns of papers further north, including the idea of Sydney oppression of Newcastle and country interests, and would play an active role in the formation of the NSW Country Press Association.

Despite these links, the paper’s industrial interests precluded participation in newspaper activities further north that would now facilitate the emergence of two new political movements.

The first of these was the Country Party, the second a resurgent new state movement. Both would help shape New England’s history over the twentieth century.

Like the Labor Party which first entered Parliament in NSW in 1891, the Country Party was based in part on industrial interests, the need to give primary producers and especially small farmers their own voice in Parliament.

The party also drew from the idea of an oppressed country, an oppressing city, articulated in what Professor Don Aitkin described as a sense of country mindedness.

In Northern NSW, the new party also supported and drew from the separation movement, a movement that gave it a town base that it might not otherwise have obtained as a rural party.

At the elections on 20 March 1920, just over one hundred years ago, the Progressive Party as the Country Party was then known entered the NSW Parliament.

David Drummond was one of those elected for the new multi-member Northern Tablelands electorate.

He should not have won. A former ward of the state, he was just thirty, had left school at twelve, was very deaf and had worked as a farm labourer. He did so in part because of his relationship with pressman Ernest Christian Sommerlad.

In my next columns, I will look at that campaign and the relationship between Drummond and Sommerlad.

Note to readers: This post was prepared as a column for the on-line edition of the Armidale Express. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020 

History of the New England newspaper press 8 - Press cooperative becomes a powerful force

Ernest Christian Sommerlad. Born of German immigrants, E C Sommerlad played a major role in New England's history and in the history of the New England and Australian press. This is the eighth in a series on the history of the media and especially the newspaper press in New England, the opening column on the emergence of the NSW Country Party 

In my last column I spoke of the birth of the NSW Country Press Association in October 1900 and of the role of Thomas Mitchell Shakespeare in helping the new baby survive. 

Herding the fiercely independent country papers into cooperative action was like herding cats.

 The papers needed to cooperate to break the hold of the Sydney advertising agents who maximized their returns by playing one paper against another. They needed to cooperate on common industrial matters and on matters such as training and the use of defamation actions to cripple papers. But, like cats, each paper would fight the others for a small bowl of food. 

The formation of the New South Wales Country Press Cooperative Company Limited was key to the transformation of the Association from a herd of cats into a powerful force.

 In 1904 when T M Shakespeare was appointed as Association secretary and head of the Cooperative Company, the Company was struggling to sell the necessary shares to allow formation.

When the Company was formed, its issued capital was only £253. Yet from that small base and under Shakespeare’s leadership it became a significant commercial force in selling advertising and supporting its members.

As one early example, the outbreak of war in 1914 resulted in interruption in newsprint supplies from Canada. The very survival of country newspapers was threatened. The smaller papers could not buy paper or could only do so at exorbitant prices.

The Country Press Cooperative Company stepped into this void, buying in bulk and then supplying paper at reasonable prices to its members. Initially this was just to NSW papers, but then spread to country papers in other parts of the country.

In 1928, T M Shakespeare finally stood down. His place as head of the Cooperative Company was taken by Northern pressman Ernest Christian Sommerlad, a significant figure in the history of New England as well as the New England and Australian newspaper press. 

E C Sommerlad was born at Tenterfield on 30 January 1886, youngest of twelve children of German immigrant parents John Henry Sommerlad, farmer, and his wife Louisa Wilhelmina, née Marstella.

The Sommerlads are part of another thread in New England’s history, the rich contribution made by German immigrants in the Hunter and Clarence Valleys and on the New England.

In my next column I will look at E C Sommerlad’s role, in so doing introducing you to the political movements that helped shape New England’s history in the first decades of the twentieth century,

Note to readers: This post was prepared as a column for the on-line edition of the Armidale Express. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020 

History of the New England newspaper press 7 - Birth of Country Press Association

Thomas Mitchell Shakespeare (1873-1938), editor Grafton Argus and later founder of the Canberra Times, who helped transform the NSW Country Press Association. This is the seventh in a series on the history of the media and especially the newspaper press in New England 

One of the challenges we face as historians, whether professional or amateur, lies in the difficulties involved in breaching the barriers imposed by the present to enter that far country called the past.

What we think and feel about the past, the questions we ask of the past, is inevitably affected by current values and attitudes and by the world around us in often unseen ways. 

Today we are used to instant communication, to the sudden emergence and sometimes disappearance of new movements or organizations. It is hard to really visualize a world in which the only forms of communication were by letter or telegram on urgent matters, one in which travel could be slow and expensive despite the spreading railway lines.  

The many country papers at the end of the nineteenth century faced common problems that dictated cooperative action. These included industrial legislation, the cost of postage and the constant threats of defamation actions that could bankrupt individual papers.

Access to metropolitan and Government advertising was a particular problem. The many generally small country newspapers had no means of marketing directly. To advertisers, the large number of generally small country newspapers made placement of ads difficult and costly.

Advertising agents stepped into this gap selling advertisements in supplements that papers were then forced to carry at low profit margins as the only way of accessing metropolitan advertising.

The need for cooperative action was widely recognized, but hard to achieve. The various editors or proprietors knew or knew of each other though their papers, but only met at irregular intervals usually on the sidelines of particular conferences or meetings. The fierce competition between papers also impeded cooperation.

In 1890, a first attempt to form a provincial press grouping failed because of lack of interest. Discussions continued, but there was no concrete action. 

In 1889, proposed changes to the NSW Defamation Act brought country and metropolitan proprietors together in an industry meeting. There a group of country proprietors including W H Midgley (the North West Champion, Moree) and James C Leslie (Corowa Free Press) formed a committee to try to bring an association into existence. 

Progress was slow, but finally in October 1900 the NSW Country Press Association was born. The new Association had aspirations, but almost no money. 

By October 1903, the Association was in crisis. Revenue for the year was just £52, the salary of the Association’s secretary was still in arrears, while the Association had a net debt £51. The outlook seemed grim.

Just three years later, the position was very different. Central to that transformation was one man, Thomas Mitchell Shakespeare, proprietor of the Grafton Argus and later founder of the Canberra Times.

Note to readers: This post was prepared as a column for the on-line edition of the Armidale Express. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020