The Hansard
Thomas Joseph Ryan’s anti-conscription campaign opened on November 19. Ryan however would face considerable difficulty in preaching his case to the Queensland electorate due to Billy Hughes tough censorship restrictions. Publications of Ryan’s opening campaign speech on November 19 were censored in the Brisbane Courier, Daily Mail, Daily Standard, and the Telegraph to give the impression that Ryan favoured conscription.[i] Likewise the Censors refused to publish Ryan’s statements declaring that these newspapers had been censored for the interests of conscriptionists. Ryan would then repeat his speech in Parliament and would then distribute the uncensored edition in The Hansard.[ii] Some 10,000 copies of The Hansard were produced and offered freely throughout Queensland until Hughes, a local military commanding officer, the Censor, and large number of armed soldiers raided the printing office and destroyed 3,000 copies.[iii] Ryan would later be accused though never found guilty of treachery and was labelled as a German sympathizer by Hughes government, and tensions were heightened to the point it was believed that Queensland would secede from the Commonwealth and form a separate nation.
[i] Murphy, D. J. “Thirteen Minutes of National Glory, The Warwick Egg Incident, 1917,” Queensland Heritage 3, no.3: 15-18; Murphy, D, J., T J Ryan: A Political Biography, (St Lucia; University of Queensland Press, 1975). 315-325.
[ii] Murphy, “Thirteen Minutes of National Glory,” 15-18; Murphy, T J Ryan, 316; Queensland Parliamentary Debates, CXXVIII, 1917, 3132-79.
[iii] Murphy, “Thirteen Minutes of National Glory,” 15-18; Murphy, T J Ryan, 316.
Thomas Joseph Ryan’s anti-conscription campaign opened on November 19. Ryan however would face considerable difficulty in preaching his case to the Queensland electorate due to Billy Hughes tough censorship restrictions. Publications of Ryan’s opening campaign speech on November 19 were censored in the Brisbane Courier, Daily Mail, Daily Standard, and the Telegraph to give the impression that Ryan favoured conscription.[i] Likewise the Censors refused to publish Ryan’s statements declaring that these newspapers had been censored for the interests of conscriptionists. Ryan would then repeat his speech in Parliament and would then distribute the uncensored edition in The Hansard.[ii] Some 10,000 copies of The Hansard were produced and offered freely throughout Queensland until Hughes, a local military commanding officer, the Censor, and large number of armed soldiers raided the printing office and destroyed 3,000 copies.[iii] Ryan would later be accused though never found guilty of treachery and was labelled as a German sympathizer by Hughes government, and tensions were heightened to the point it was believed that Queensland would secede from the Commonwealth and form a separate nation.
[i] Murphy, D. J. “Thirteen Minutes of National Glory, The Warwick Egg Incident, 1917,” Queensland Heritage 3, no.3: 15-18; Murphy, D, J., T J Ryan: A Political Biography, (St Lucia; University of Queensland Press, 1975). 315-325.
[ii] Murphy, “Thirteen Minutes of National Glory,” 15-18; Murphy, T J Ryan, 316; Queensland Parliamentary Debates, CXXVIII, 1917, 3132-79.
[iii] Murphy, “Thirteen Minutes of National Glory,” 15-18; Murphy, T J Ryan, 316.