THE RETURN OF MR. HUGHES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2854, 19 August 1916, Page 2

THE RETURN OF MR. HUGHES

A DYNAMIC SPEECH

CRUSHING THE HUN VAMPIRE

Perth, tho .capital of Western Aus-. tralia, has probably never seen such a meeting as was held in His Majesty's Theatre to welcome Mr. W. M. Hughes (Prime Minister of Australia) on the evening of his arrival there en route Rome from his visit to England. Mr. • Hughes, on tising to address the meeting, was given an ovation which lasted for more than a minute, .'the, audience, which embraced all phases of political thought, standing and cheering him to the .echo. Ho said' that he felt it was a great privilege to stand thore and know that the Australian people approved what he had tried to do in England. (Cheers.) " There were somo men who had said in England that ho did not possess the confidence of tho people of Australia. (Cries of ".Rot!") Ho was pleased to say that tho people of Britain generally had shown that ho voiced that which was in their minds, and that he had given expression to that which' every man who loved liberty felt in his heart and de-' sired to say. He had sailed across 12,000 miles of ocean, and seen no flag but British. (Cheers.) After two years of war it was a great thing surely that from Dan to Beershoba, and from Dovonport to Fremantle, not one enemy ship showed upon the surface of the water to-day. (Cheers.) Tho ■ British Navy had saved Australia from utter destruction. It had not only Bave'd Australia, but it had saved Europe. It had saved civilisation. "In this struggle," fie said, "the great Issue-'is whether men shall be.allowed to develop and work'out their destiny as they think' fit, or as somo j»reat military despotism shall decide. That is the question. And whether, we hold one political faith or another, at' least wo are agreed on this point. We have our ideals, and desire to realise them. We desire to achieve that which we believe to be right. There-never was', since the beginning of tho world, and never will be to the end, a wider freedom, given to any people than to us in Australia without' respect to sex rir class or status. To every man and 1 woman is given -an equal voice, .in tho government of the country.-- Wo may havo in this country what kind of gov-, ernment and policy wo wish. WiTcan have this if we are prepared to fight for it; (Cheers.) Sri long as we can hold that, freedom we can have it. "We can have it until Germany, wrests tho sceptre from Britain and the Empire, and then we can hold it no longer. The Imoerial Bundle of Sticks. "Nothing is more certain than that the Empire is like.a bundle of,sticks tied together. Being strong it cannot be overcome, but taken singly we are as reeds blown hither and thither in the winds ' of no avail. (Cheers.) I say to you, after seeing much of the world, after having had an opportunity to compare this place with others, that it is indeed a land fit for free men, a great heritage which .wo should bend our every effort to develop, and to mako it, as I believe it is inevitably destined to become, ono of the greatest nations the world has ever, scon. The tie that binds us to. Britain is ono that cannot bo weighed or measure. It is a tie of kinship, of, common ideals,, of common purpose. It weighs as little as eiderdown upon us. . It does not hamper our .movements.— At rests-as-light as •feathers upon us, but in the hour, of danger it is as unbreakable .as. iron. And we' stand to-day; not by-virtue ofour own.strength, but because we are able to say that round the earth wo have a democracy to link up the waste spaces, and that we have a fleet capable of upholding our liberties, and that whilst these stand we are saved. (Applause.) I wish I could tell you something of the spirit, with which Britain is facing this war. The circumstances of our fellow-citizens ' in Britain are not as easy as ours. Having received their call in this great crisis,all sorts and conditions of men are doing their duty faithfully and well. . But a little time ago, when war first broke upon us, it found Britain unprepared. She was as a man set upon by footpads, but now -she has gathered out of the' great resources of her laud an army as numerous as thesands of the seas. (Cheers.) This army is proving itself worthy of the race from which they have sprung, and they are carving 'out in France and Flanders on the bodies of their enemies tho indelible imprint of free men', compelled to take up the sword, and resolved never to sheathe it until victory is theirs. (Cheers.) AVe shall never he quite tho same after this war. I feel very certain that it is teaching ns many stern and noble lessons in ' this country, as in Britain and elsewhere. For example, it has taught us that we havo duties to tho State and to the community, that citizenship in a free country like this is not a mere : question of receiving, but it is also a question of giving. Free men cannot expect to bo free "unless.thoy are prepared-to make tho payment' that is necessary for their freedom. (Cheers.) The freedom that we havo has come to us.' How? By prayer, by protestation, by lip service? . Never! It has been won by sacrifice, whether it be sacrifice on. tho fields of battle, martyrdom at the stake, or in a hundred and ono other ways by which self-sacrifice can achieve things. Freedom is not. a thing that you can measure,or handle or test by any of the material' standards by which men, judge; material things, but it is a thing without which life to us would bo unendurable. (Cheers.) If wo are not like that it is because we have been immersed in this ease, of liberty so long that we have grown, as it were, no longer to recognise what a priceless boon this liberty is to us all. (Applause.) The Beast Let Loose. "Now we find that civilisation, while climbingup the slopes of progress, has its progress arrested by a beast lot loose from barbarism. There can bo no punishment too drastic for thoso who have deliberately prepared this bath of blood in which' to dip humanity. (Cheers.) I say it deliberately. ' Olio thing I hope is that wo may all live to seo the criminals of Germany placed l in one dock, not of public opinion, but in that dock whoro a tribunal armed with plenary, powers ccn deal out the ■punishment that their crimes deserve. (Cheers.)_ If my vuico can turn the scale against thorn it will be heard. I do not speak hyperbole, -but speak that which I believe. .Millions of our great Russian friends, millions in France, Italy, and Britain • are crying aloud to avenge tho outrages perpetrated by tho enemy towards non-combat-ants. Millions, I say aro crying aloud for justice, and although the day has not yet como whon they can bo arraigned wo all hope that the day is hot far distant. (Cheers.) For over two 5-cars wo havo walked in the valley of tho shadow of death and there'has been no break in the clouds. (Cheers.) It is evident that our resources aro right, and that German forco is no longer going to prevail against us, for tho Russian juggernaut is thundering and crushing down on tho enemy at ono end, and on tlio other fronts the Germans aro being walled round with a ring of steel. Day by day the Allies are creeping closer and closer towards the goal. It is my belief that this - strugglo is likelv to be long, and tho price of victory dreadful, but so certain as night follows day victory' is ours,

for I believe that every member of the groat family of the British race has resolved to do "his duty to tho end. In Canada, South Africa, and Britain— everywhere, in fact—the people are of the same- spirit. All sorts and conditions of men havo forgotten their ancient ieuds in the determination to win. Everywhere 1 have been I have found myself basking in the glory of tho Australian soldiers. "It is a great thing for this young country, without tradition and without any history, that, when she first leapt into the great arena her gallant sons comported themselves as they did. (Cheers.) The Australian soldier has covered the Australian nation with glory. He has lifted us up in tho eyes of tho world. The Australian' soldier has made Australia a living reality as a nation. The great things which tho Australians did in Gallipoli, which, as a military operation, I regard as a failure,'were tlie most glorious failure in tho .history of tho world. (Cheers.) It has set a standard.,lt has driven homo to the enemy the stern fact that to make war against Britain is to make war, not only against those 48,000,000 people in the narrow seas, but also against those millions in the great, seas beyond. (Cheers.) The women of England are doing a magnificent work in connection with the war. No on* can express adequately what the women of England are doing. (Cheers.) Words cannot desoribo it. They are poor, miserable tokens. It ia pleasing to record that these women, despite all that thev are doing feci that they are doing all too little for the Australian soldier, who has done so much tor them." (Cheers.) Crushing the Monster. He hoped that in Australia the fields of industry and commerce would he run over with the harrows of resolute purpose until there was left not the smallest vestige of German commerce in this land. (Cheers.) Germans had no claim to leniency or citizenship. They j had forfeited every right to be regarded. as. men .fit'to' come within tho pale of civilisation. They had been welcomed and they had bitten the hand that fed them. "Thank God," continued Mr. Hughes, "we awoke at the eleventh hour, for in a very little while, they would have overwhelmed us. They were sucking the juice from our industrial fabric and scooping out the kernel of the nut. They would have loft us entiling but the husk. Thank God-we awoke in. time, and we shall put it past their power to do that thing again. (Cheers.) For these men leniency is a crime, for they regard leniency as a sign of weakness. They recognise one thing only, and that is the sword. They have appealed to the sword; they have apotheosized force; then. let them go down under the juggernaut they have erected, to be wiped out utterly. (Cheers.) I hope that in whatever else we fail we shall not fail in this, that we 'shall make this land of Australia as free from German influence of any kind as heaven is free from the demons of hell." (Loud cheers.) Voices.—That is the way to talk. Mr. Hughes: "We have a great task before us.. We must not, and dare not, falter, for to f after would be to fail, and failure would be our destruction. In this war, in which we stand as a free partner in the great partnership of nations which we call the Empire; we must do our part to achieve victory ; we must not lag behind. (Cheers.) Bather, having set a good example,' must we press on as far as possible in the vanguard; at any rate, we must' see that the lustre of Australian glory' is not dimmed. (Cheers.) We must see that Australia's exploits are not overlooked. After the war there will l be the beginning of a'new and a greater era .for Australia. We are striding forward io onr great heritage. We must develop this great continent. We must-people it with man upon -man. Thero is no community of 5,000,000 which-cau-holda continent capable of holding 200,000,000 safe unlessthey increase their numbers to: be ready : to defend 'their shores. The old life of jogging along without any set purpose must make .way for the narower life by which we must all endeavour to do I something by organised, effort for each other and for tho country. ■ (Applause.) I believe in organisation. 1 have seen what has been done in Britain by the power of organisation. After seeing Great Britain's effort towards winning the war, I am a. greater believer in organisation than ever before. I saw the ..power of organisation. It. produced, as it were, out of nothing, one of the mightiest armies which the world has seen. It wiped out as a wet sponge from the slate a hundred and one miasmal vapours • which were blinding the people of Great Britain. (CheersO It has done great things for Britain, and great things for the world—(cheers)— and it will do great things for Australia. (Cheers.)'.'. I thank you for this magnificent reception. -It ,is ample repayment for all that t have done. I j hope'we shall aoe before long the Allipg triumphant, the criminals punished, I and civilisation onco more taking its I'etahd firmly to clear away al? oustacles and steer itself to the highest 'possible end." (Lord cheers.)