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Evening Star, Issue 16224, 20 September 1916, Page 4

Mr Hugkks, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Conscription in Australia, is coverAustralia, ing himself with 4 glory. We felt impelled to bestow no .stinted praise upon him when he. was making the. British Empire ring with the clarion note of high •patriotism which he sounded again and again when on his recent visit to England. He caught the ear not only of the Empire, but of the world. By the sheer vigor and boldness of liis utterance ho lifted himself from the platform of colonial politics merely to the platform of far-seeing courageous Imperialism. Hi? speeches acted like a tonic. They made the pulso of our nation beat quicker. To the outermost posts of Empire they deepened the sense of national solidarity. Thev inspired a. confidence in the power of the United Kingdom to administer a crushing defeat upon Germany. But they did more. They turned British men's eyes with calm assurance to the future that lay beyond the war. They made British men'feel that their race was young in vigor if not in years—still in the springtime, not in the- autumn of its career. All that was wanted was that Britain should be true to herself, should neglect no opportunity of fortifying herself militarily and industrially. Mr Hughes spoke of this war as of a religious crusade. His conception of the grand ideals of our nation was expressed in. words that were so quick with life that, as Emerson would say, thev would bleed if you cut them. With a grand appeal, he besought men protected by the Union Jack to make every sacrifice possible that the great destiny of the British Empire might not fail of fulfilment in any particular. In making these appeals he. used language which seemed to imply his determination to draw Australia into Conscription. So he spoke in England.

There were not wanting many cynics who caustically reminded what" hearers they could gain that Mr Hugb.cs was a. Labor Premier, that he was ruled bv a Labor Caucus, and that organised Labor in Australia, was violently and almost unanimously opposed . to Conscription. Some insinuated, some openly stated that Air Hughes's deliverances in England wero just fireworks. The Australian Prime Minister was away from home hobnobbing with Imperial statesmen, and was bent on currying favor, winning popular applause, tilling the newspapers with his name, and generally creating the conditions for the lionising of Mr Hughes. For a little-while after his return to the Commonwealth even some of his friends had misgivings about his condm-t. A measure of timidity seemed to seize him when facing the great issues, particularlv that of Conscription, which assorted ill with the dashing audacity of his speeches in London. Caution and reserve marked some of his public utterances. And when al! bis bold advocacy in Britain of Conscription, or whatever else was needed to expedite victory over the Hun, melted down into the submission of Conscription to a referendum, many of his most enthusiastic, upholders were chilled in their ardor. The cabled news published in our columns yesterday furnish a splendid corrective. All doubts respecting tho genuineness of Mr Hughes's fervid patriotism must have vanished from every man's mind as bo read of the biggest meeting ever held iu Sydney being urged by Mr Hughes, with all the intensity and passion which conviction gives, to support the affirmation of Conscription at the approaching referendum. There was no holding back; there was no hesitation: there was no cryptic utterance capable of a double interpretation; there were no politicians sheltering behind the will of the people: there was a straight-out direction to vote for Conscription. The Labor Prime Minister did not sit on a rail and ask the- people to decide the momentous question for him •• he jumped plump down on tho Conscription side, mid eaib.d upon the people to do likewise. A|pl the 4,000 that were within ihe reach ot his voice did—and that magnificently. They left seven only on the other side. It" must have been a stirring spectacle. Imagination has little difficulty hi conjuring it up. There is something electric in any enthusiastic and crowded, meeting But when the meeting is .unprecedented in size; when the 'thousands outside the building exceed Hhe thousands inside ; when the occasion of assembling is of capital importance in the. prosecution of an unprecedented 'war; when the pTi'ncipe.l speaker possesses Cue oratorical 'gift* of Mr Hughes, and. above all, wi:en the speaker flings the politician's characteristic prudence to the winds, and instead of feeling fhe pulse of the people, seeks to set the pace of its bsct—when these things concur, a public meeting becomes tumiilttiously, sensationally demonstrative. Even democracies love a lead from their politicians. They prefer it to driving or being followed. What a response they made to Air Hughes's leadership in Sydney! It is well to bear in mind the peculiar difficulties of Mr Hughes's position. He was elevated to power by a party which is oppostxl to Conscript-ion. His cont'nuance in office as a Labor leader depends on the approval of the Labor Caucus. On this vital question of Conscription he i-s at variance with that Caucus. Obviously, since his leturn to the Common. wealth, be has been in close negotiation with the Caucus. Recognising their unbending opposition, warned of what lie might expect from the resignation of his Minister of Customs (Mr Tudor), realising the impossibility of holding together his political party without the support of the Labor organisations, lie made, the concession of a referendum. It was the only way out of the impasse. Labor's democratic principles compels it to accept the verdict of th-i majority. And Mr Hughes would be the last man to violate the fundamental principle of British liberlv bv passing a Jaw in the teeth of tho resistance of the bulk of tho people. The gravo objections to tho referendum were the expense- and the djlay; hut almost | oortainiy it will be less expensive and ! dilatory than the task would have been j of bringing a dominant political Labor • party to tho point of passing a law deI nounccd by most of tho constituents of j that party.

But what we like above, everything c-lse is that Mr Hughes, after having provided for a referendum, showed his independence and courage by leading the cause of Conscription. Tho meeting in Sydnev on Monday night will be' historic, and it redounds to the credit of Australia and her Prime Minister.