was prominent in the Australian Socialist League, and in 1891 appeared as a witness before the Royal Commission on Strikes. He provided the inquiry with an analysis of the history and theory of socialism, and told it that "the State should be the sole employer of labour [...] it should provide everything, all the necessaries of life and all the comforts". Higgs was secretary of the South Sydney Labor Electoral League, and at the 1891 election stood unsuccessfully as a candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of South Sydney. The following year, he was a delegate to the first general conference of the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales and was elected as the organisation's inaugural chairman. After moving to Brisbane, Higgs unsuccessfully stood for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Fortitude Valley at the 1896 general election. He had been elected to the executive of the Queensland Labor Party earlier in the same year. Higgs was elected to the Brisbane City Council in February 1899, representing North Ward, and the following month successfully reprised his candidacy in Fortitude Valley at the 1899 general election. Although his time in the Legislative Assembly was relatively short, he did gain favourable publicity by revealing an attempt to bribe him to support a government bill. He crossed the floor to vote against the Labor Party just a few months after being elected, opposing a motion that would have allowed recipients of government scholarships to use them at non-government schools. Federal politics After Federation of the Australian states, Higgs became a Senator for Queensland from 30 March 1901 until 31 December 1906. He served as Chairman of Committees from 1903 to 1906, the first member of the Labor Party to hold the position. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1910 general election as the member for Capricornia, Queensland. He was the first former Senator to be elected to the House of Representatives, and the first Queenslander to have served in both houses of federal parliament. He served as Treasurer in the ministry of Billy Hughes from 1915 to 1916, until he resigned due to his opposition to Hughes' support for conscription during World War I. Hughes and the other pro-conscriptionists were expelled from the party soon afterward. However, Higgs was somewhat troubled by the expulsion of many of his old friends. He was also concerned that