Doleful Twins

There is no rivalry between Mr. Buttenshaw1 and Mr. Bavin2. Daily Paper3

PEACE, perfect peace! They understand each other No cause their perfect constancy can change. Each sanctions all the purposes of his brother And nothing can their followers estrange. Well, nothing much. Of course, each hates like poison The man who et might try to take his seat. Still, there is not one cloud on the horizon, Only, at most, a little passing heat. Peace, perfect peace! They sail in halcyon weather In the same boat to reach the self same goal. The simply mean to see it out together. Die in one ditch. Get bogged in the same hole. The Country Party is a noisy faction That makes itself a nuisance now and then. But it is always solid for reaction And backed by very fat and solid men Peace, perfect peace! Sad Bavin can endure it, And Buttenshaw may make his burden light, Where awkwardness exists they cannot cure it, But personally everything is right.
/2

Ernest Albert Buttenshaw (1876-1950) was deputy leader in 1922-25, and then leader of the renamed Country Party. Buttenshaw came to an arrangement with Thomas Bavin for the 1927 elections and held out for portfolios in the coalition: he was secretary for public works in 1927-30, and minister for railways in 1927-29.
2

Thomas Rainsford Bavin,(18741941) Following his election as a Nationalist Party member to the federal parliament in 1917, Bavin rapidly rose through the parliamentary ranks, becoming deputy leader of the Nationalists in October 1920 and served as AttorneyGeneral and Minister for Justice in 1921 and Attorney-General of New South Wales from 1922-25. After the Nationalist loss at the 1925 election, Bavin was elected party leader (and by dint, Leader of the Opposition). Following an agreement by the Nationalist and Country parties not to stand candidates against each other, the coalition won the 1927 election and Bavin became NSW Premier and Treasurer on 18 October 1927.
3

The quoteded article Political Leadership was published in The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 22 July 1927, Page 10 a full copy is attached on page 3.

Dull as the dust of thought long dead and withered Is all they say in public when they speak. Yet newspapers report what Bavin blithered And the vast wisdom that Buttenshaw let leak. Peace, perfect peace! A peace as thick as solid Almost as solid as a fat mans skull. Were any pair of leaders quite so stolid? Were any pair of leaders quite so dull? Bavin and Buttenshaw! To own such leaders Fat must be surely be feeling very sad, Although the Morning Herald tells its readers They ought not consider them as bad. Peace, perfect peace! Will, to the final licking; And after that a row like hell let loose. When each sits sore from the electors kicking So me solid language may be much in use.
W. Pseudonym of David McKee Wright N.S.W. Australian Worker 27th July 1927 p.10

Quoted press article is on the next page /3

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP.
In the coming election voters will have practically only one of two choices open to them. They may vote for an Administration led by Mr. Lang, the present Premier, or they may demand that one be chosen by Mr. Bavin, leader of the Opposition and of the National party. On the appearances of to-day the caucus now led by Mr. Mutch will have little or no strength in the next Parliament; and while It s not unlikely that the Country Party will increase its representation it will still he small as compared with the Nationalists. In any case there is no rivalry for leadership of the Opposition, or of the prospective new Administration, between Mr. Buttenshaw and Mr. Bavin. On the contrary, there is between them a complete understanding and an agreement to cooperate which is admirable. If, then, it is not to he Mr. Lang again as Premier, it must be Mr. Bavin. Those who do not want the one must elect to take the other, or make default in the performance of their most important civic duty. In the circumstances that exist it seems desirable to be quite frank about this matter of leadership. A win for the party led by Mr. Lang at the polls will be a tragedy for the State and for the Commonwealth. It will mean a warrant to abolish the Legislative Council, perhaps to change the Governorship from an imperial to a local and probably partisan appointment, and to attack the foundations of our society in the way approved by the "Reds" with whom the Premier and his colleagues have identified themselves. We assume that the majority of electors do not want that to happen, but it may come unless those who are averse to it get solidly behind one or other of the two organisations that are fighting to change tile Government. Mr. Bavin being the accepted Parliamentary leader of the Opposition which comprises those two organisations. It follows that the electors must get behind him also. He has newly come into leadership, but as we have previously pointed out, he is by no means new to political and Ministerial responsibility. On the contrary, he shouldered his responsibility for a considerable period with so much capacity and 'distinction that when Sir George Fuller retired from the leadership of the Nationalists Mr. Bavin was regarded as in the nature of things his successor both for that position and for the leadership of the Opposition. Nevertheless, it would be unwise not to recognize that there are those who are by no means favourable to Labour, and who yet only grudgingly give allegiance to Mr. Bavin as their political loader. If Mr. Bavin had some real defect as a leader, common sense suggests that since there was no feasible plan to' replace him with a better man the thing to do would be to put the best face on the situation. Even an indifferent leader would work better if he were made to feel that both he and his work had the loyal support of those for whom he was working. Mr. Bavin has the honesty of purpose, the courage of his opinions, and the power to convey to on audience, whether from the floor of the House or the public platform, his exact meaning in language which is as eloquent as it is well chosen. By long training in the school of life as well as in the academy, Mr. Bavin has equipped himself for the highest office of Statehe has political sagacity as well as a knowledge of the science of politics which is wide and deep.

We do not believe that the ultra-critical have any desire to throw the State again into the political arms that have held it for two years and a half: but they certainly are not going the best way to avoid that denouement. If the Opposition is to beat Labour out of office it will require not merely the votes of those who have already convicted Labour of unfitness, but their encouragement and enthusiasm as well. Doubtless, in spite of the many outrages on the cause of good government that the Labour Administrations of Mr. Lang have committed, there are still many unattached voters who want to be on the winning side, and are not sure which it will be. Denuded of more than half his Parliamentary following, attached to a conference which has been declared bogus by both the official State and the Federal executives of his party, Mr. Lang yet conducts himself as though be were sure of return to power. He is playing for the votes of the unattached electors as the American political manager plays for them with bands and processions and other symbols of optimism. Those who are opposed to him would regard his success at the polls as a deadly blow at the prestige and prosperity of their State. Let them match his spirit by getting whole-heartedly behind the leader and the parties through whom alone their wishes can be realised.
The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 22 July 1927, Page 10 Source: National Library of Australias (NLA) Trove Service