Robert Samuel Ross (5 January 1873 – 24 September 1931) was an Australian socialist journalist, trade unionist, and agitator best known as the editor of a series of political magazines associated with the Australian labour movement in the 1890s and early 1900s. Ross' militant journalism and agitation against Australia's involvement in World War I led to repression by the authorities. Ross' works during the war were censored and confiscated by the police and Ross faced multiple arrests for opposing

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, waving the socialists'

red flag Red flag may refer to: * Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem ** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists ** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...

, and circulating

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

literature. His publication of the article "Bolshevism Has Broken Out in Heaven" led to a 1919 trial for

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

. Ross' political views were drastically moderated during the 1920s. His contributions to Australian political life ended with his death as a respected member of the Australian Labor Party in 1931.

Biography

The eldest of three sons born to Robert Mitchell Ross, a Scottish-born

compositor Compositor may refer to: * Compositor (typesetting), a person or machine which arranged movable type for printing ** Paige Compositor, a device developed to replace manual compositors, which was a commercial failure * Compositing software, used i ...

, and Anne Matilda (née Bonham), Robert Mitchell's English-born wife, Robert Samuel Ross was born on 5 January 1873 in Sydney. The Ross family relocated to Queensland in 1885, where Robert Mitchell Ross found work as an editor. The younger Robert was educated at state schools, attended a Brisbane Baptist

sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

, and contributed to the family's finances by working as a messenger boy before became an apprentice compositor at seventeen.Ross, Edgar (1988). ''These Things Shall Be! : Bob Ross, Socialist Pioneer, His Life and Times''. West Ryde, N.S.W.: Mulavon Publishing. p. 13. . Damousi, Joy
"Ross, Robert Samuel (1873–1931)".
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Online Edition. Australian National University. . Retrieved 22 May 2010. An precocious youth, he began working as a magazine editor at twenty, at first editing the sports magazine ''Queensland Cricketer & Footballer'', later becoming editor of the ''Queensland Sportsman''. Politically involved by his early twenties, Ross was self-taught in the political dimension as a voracious reader of socialist and rationalist texts. An early influence on Ross' orientation in this respect was the writing of Australian labour movement pioneer William Lane, whose 1890s work concerning a co-operative society gave emphasis to the role of trade unionism. Ross responded to left-wing appeals of this kind enthusiastically. He became a founding member of the

Queensland Socialist League ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1894 and helped to found the

Socialist Democratic Vanguard Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...

in 1900. He married Ethel Slaughter, who would become an ally in his political efforts, on 14 March 1900. Ross left Brisbane in January 1903 in order to edit

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

's ''Barrier Truth'', but soon found himself at odds with the local workers' movement over strategy and his anti-clerical concerns. Reproached for undermining the authority of the local Australian Labor Party chapter, Ross resolved to abandon ''Barrier Truth'' following a vote of no confidence in his editorship and resigned his position in November 1905. Consolidating support as head of the Barrier Social Democratic Club, he went on to establish and edit the ''Flame''. Employed as a Broken Hill librarian from 1906 to 1908, he succeeded in introducing radical literature into the municipal library. Ross became secretary and editor of the Victorian Socialist Party's magazine the ''Socialist'' in August 1908. Lavishly praised by Tom Mann, he received accolades a "comrade" of "whom it would be impossible to speak too highly, he is exceptionally well read, keeps in touch with the movement internationally... a good platform man, but superb as an editor."Mann, Tom (September 1909)
"The Industrial and Social Outlook in Australia" (Part II).
''The Social-Democrat'', Vol. XIII., No. 9. pp.392–398. Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 24 May 2010. At times and attracted to and at times repelled by the Australian Labor Party throughout his life, he supported permeation tactics following the failure of Socialists against the Labor Party candidates. Ross edited New Zealand's ''

Maoriland Worker The ''Maoriland Worker'', later called ''The Standard'', was a leading New Zealand labour journal of the early 20th century. It was launched in 1910 by the Shearers' Union and was initially published monthly (Frank Langstone was involved). The ne ...

'' in Wellington from 1911 before returning to edit the socialist press in Melbourne, Victoria in April 1913.Troughton, Geoffrey (November 2006)
"The ''Maoriland Worker'' and Blasphemy in New Zealand".
''Labour History'' 91. History Cooperative. Retrieved 24 May 2010. A strong supporter of

secular society Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

and rationalist ideas, Ross joined the Victorian Rationalist Association during the Melbourne period. His influential pamphlet ''Eureka—Freedom Fight of '54'' appeared in 1914 – in commemoration of the Eureka miners' rebellion of sixty years earlier. A significant portion of Ross' political work during the First World War, which Ross stood against from the beginning as a committed

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

, consisted of

activities. He agitated for a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

against Australia's entry into the conflict in 1914, and lent his support to various organizations organized to oppose the draft and the wartime crackdown on the political opposition at home. He was arrested for such activities on various occasions after 1914, but remained unflinchingly committed to the anti-war cause in spite the political repression targeting the pacifists and socialists during this time. The ''Magazine of Protest, Personality and Progress'', founded and edited by Ross during the war and soon known simply as ''Ross' Magazine'', came to acquire a reputation as a source of anti-militarist, anti-clerical, socialist, and

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

radicalism.Coleman, Peter (1974). ''Obscenity, Blasphemy, Sedition: 100 Years of Censorship in Australia''. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. p. 72. . Though he considered Bolshevik methods of struggle inapplicable to Australia – and would continue to support the distinctly moderate line of

reformism Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

for the remainder of his career – Ross greeted the

1917 Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

in Russia warmly and produced the supportive pamphlet ''Revolution in Russia and Australia'' in 1920. A

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

article entitled "Bolshevism Has Broken Out in Heaven" – penned by an anonymous author known only as "Woodicus" and published in a Ross-edited magazine – led to a Melbourne

trial and a sentence of six months' imprisonment.Schroeder, Theodore Albert (ed.) (2010). ''Free Speech Bibliography – Including Every Discovered Attitude Toward the Problem Covering Every Method of Transmitting Ideas and of Abridging Their Promulgation Upon Every Subject-Matter''. Read Books
p. 158.
.Evans, Raymond (1988). ''The Red Flag Riots: A Study of Intolerance''. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press. p. 116. . Undaunted, Ross protested the looming gaoling by joining the poet R. H. Long and other socialists in Brisbane for an illegal public display of a

– one more activity officially forbidden at the time.Ross, Edgar (1988). ''These Things Shall Be! : Bob Ross, Socialist Pioneer, His Life and Times''. West Ryde, N.S.W.: Mulavon Publishing. p. 96. . The flag-wavers were violently suppressed and Ross was once more arrested. The draconian sentence for blasphemy was, however, eventually reduced to a mere fine of £50 on appeal. No longer so much on the political fringe during the 1920s, Ross cemented his association with the Australian Labor Party in the post-war decade. He became council-member of the University of Melbourne in 1925, and trustee of the Melbourne's public library and museums as well as the National Gallery in 1928; he was appointed a commissioner of the State Savings Bank in November 1930. The Victoria branch of the Labor Party elected him to its vice-presidential post in 1930–1931. Ross died of uraemia in Richmond, Victoria on 24 September 1931 and was cremated after a modest and secular ceremony. Among those paying the last respects were

Tom Tunnecliffe Thomas Tunnecliffe (13 July 1869 – 2 February 1948) was an Australian politician. Representing the Australian Labor Party, he was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the electorates of West Melbourne (1903–1904), Eaglehawk ( ...

, J. P. Jones, Don Cameron, and

Harry Scott Bennett Harry Scott Bennett (1 June 1877 – 24 May 1959), originally Henry Gilbert Scott Bennett, was an Australian socialist speaker and organiser. He was born in Chilwell, Victoria and died in Sydney. He was MLA for Ballarat West, Victoria for the ...

. Ross' two sons, Lloyd (1901–87) and Edgar (1904–2001), both became prominent as Australian activists and trade unionists.

References

External links

Papers of Robert Samuel Ross, 1907–1927
at the National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Robert Samuel 1873 births 1931 deaths Australian librarians Australian magazine editors Australian pacifists Australian political writers Australian prisoners and detainees Australian socialists Australian trade unionists People convicted of blasphemy Journalists from Sydney