The Labor Call 1-11-1906 Official Organ of the Political Labor Council of Victoria
Ladies and Gentlemen, -To-day we publish the first number of the “Labor Call,” the official organ of the Political Labor Council of Victoria. The new paper is produced under an agreement by which, next July, it will become the property of The National Progress Newspaper Society, a cooperative society of about two thousand members which recently purchased the plant and business of the late “Tocsin,” as a going concern. …. The new paper will comprise of a rostrum for the spokesmen of Labor and a pillory for its most powerful foes. A mirror of notable public men and events, and forum for the discussion of public questions. The Laborites of Victoria have long waited and hoped for this moment. As they read the insidious lies of the mercenary press, they have wished that a widespread refutation of the slanders could be made, if only once a week. …. But your ideal can never be realised without a powerful and widely circulated Victoria Labor paper. No great popular movement can afford to work without up-to-date means. A big political party without a vigorous press, it like the farmer who threshes with the flail, or the soldier who goes to battle with nulla nulla and hielaman. Such as been the condition of the Victorian Labor Party hitherto.