Page:Women and the State.djvu/11

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marched to Edinburgh to oppose King Charles I., and the Duke of Hamilton, and this became known in history as the Whiggamore raid. During those troublous times there were also a large number of Irish "bog-trotters" or "Tories," who went through the land, robbing and plundering the people, while professing to warmly espouse the royal cause. From these two parties came the political nicknames of Whig and Tory, the Tories standing for the maintenance of the King's supreme powers, and the Whigs defending popular rights. Parliamentary authority over the Crown, and toleration of dissenters in religion. Ultimately the Whigs evolved into the party known as Liberal with a left wing known as Radicals, while the Tories became Conservatives, who were so well satisfied with things as they were that they did not want to change them. The names Liberal and Conservative were brought into our early Australian politics, though the parties that bore them were not identical in all points of policy with similar parties in the old land. But in recent years a new force has made itself felt, and the old names are dying out. The Political Labour Party, born of the strength gained by trades unions, came into being, and the uprise of this new factor in the political arena forced the Conservatives and Liberals to coalesce, with the result that the Conservative party as such has disappeared. Since the war there has been another highly important political change. When disloyal extremists tried to prevent reinforcements going to the aid of the fighting men already in the field, thoughtful Labour-