Summary

'How to Vote' card handed out at Footscray Parliamentary Elections by (or on behalf of) Labor candidate T.G. Gollings. Gollings stood for election in April 1889. He claimed a campaign was being conducted against him by a local newspaper (The Age, 5 April 1889, p. 5) and ultimately failed to win the seat (The Argus, 21 April 1892, p. 5).

Physical Description

Buff coloured, rectangular card, printed with text in black. The text reads: FOOTSCRAY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS/ ELECTORS!!!/ Fellow Working Man, balances in your hand weighted/ on one side proves lopsided./ Payment Members' Bill passed to give you equal/ right. Wealth and Corruption hitherto has lead the/ ordeal, blinded you, swindled and deserted you./ The cure-"COMBINATION," with its ring of music/ in it-VICTORY, its highest note./ Yours, &c.,/ T.G. COLLINGS./ VOTE FOR THE LABOR FRIEND.

Significance

11 How to Vote cards from the 1880s. These are visually rich and represent a cross section of candidates up for election in Fitzroy. Included in the group are two cards for Munro. They provide a valuable record of electoral practices in Victoria.

More Information

  • Collecting Areas

    Public Life & Institutions

  • Acquisition Information

    Purchase

  • Date Used

    Footscray, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1889

  • Inscriptions

    Text, printed front: FOOTSCRAY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS/ELECTORS!!!/Fellow Working Man, balances in your hand weighted/on one side proves lopsided./Payment Members' Bill passed to give you equal/right. Wealth and Corruption hitherto has lead the/ordeal, blinded you, swindled and deserted you./The cure-"COMBINATION," with its ring of music/ in it-VICTORY, its highest note./Yours, &c.,/T.G. COLLINGS./VOTE FOR THE LABOR FRIEND. Text, printed reverse: Footscray Parliamentary Election/ELECTORS!!!/Fellow Working Man, please observe how easy to lose,/how hard to redeem-WHAT?-your highest and/best interest./While Labor remains unrepresented in the Legis-/lative Assembly, so sure is it thrashing itself./Yours, &c.,/T.G. COLLINGS./VOTE FOR THE LABOR FRIEND.

  • Classification

    Politics & public protest, Parliamentary politics, Electoral materials

  • Category

    History & Technology

  • Discipline

    History

  • Type of item

    Object

  • Overall Dimensions

    114 mm (Width), 71 mm (Height)

  • References

    1889 'THE LATE FOOTSCRAY ELECTION.', The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), 5 April, p. 5. , viewed 14 Sep 2022, [Link 1] 1892 'THE GENERAL ELECTION.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 21 April, p. 5. , viewed 14 Sep 2022, [Link 2]

  • Keywords

    Elections, Politics, Voting Materials