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
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