The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1916. AUSTRALIA WAITING FOR A LEAD

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2857, 23 August 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1916. AUSTRALIA WAITING FOR A LEAD

• * " The demand for a definite pronouncement by the Australian Government on the question of compulsory military service has now become so strong and so insistent that tho Prime Minister must soon declare ( whether ho intends to thoroughly organise the man power of the Commonwealth for war purposes or to continuo tho present ineffective and unfair .method of recruiting. The movement in favour of conscription has been daily growing in strength. Tnero is a solid pressure of public Opinion behind it. Men and women of all political parties have become convinced that tho voluntary system is no longer able to ensure tlio enlistment of a sufficient number of men to enable Australia to do all that she could and should do in assisting tho Empire to defeat its cnoTr,ies. A London cablegram which will bo found in another column states that tho overseas politicians who are at present in Britain have come to the conclusion that no part of the Empire should be content with anything short of its utmost endeavour. We are told that some of these visitors who wore at first opposed to conscription have changed their opinion on this question. They have had special opportunities for forming accurate ideas regarding the meaning and magnitude of the struggle, and what they have seen and heard appears to have convinced them that the voluntary method of recruiting will have to bo supplemented or superseded by some form of compulsory service. Mb. Hughes has also seen tho war at close quarters, and has been taken into the full confidence of tho Imperial Government and its naval and military advisors. It is safe to assume that ho now knows much more about the war and the conditions of victory than ho did before lie went to England. Is ho, too, convinced that the time for compulsion has arrived? Some of his recent utterances indicate that he believes that a new departure must be made, and tho people of Australia are waiting for a full disclosure of his mind on this vitally important question. Since his return to Australia, Mr. Hughes has made many references to the war, though he has not yet made any straight-out declaration of his views on conscription. But his indirect allusions to the subject appear to have given satisfaction to members of the Universal Service League. They contend, with good reason, that the only logical conclusion to bo drawn from his words is that he intends to ask Parlia--1 ment to pass a Compulsory Service Bill. In the course of an address at an open-air meeting in Sydney, Professor MacCalluji assorted that Mr. Hughes had told one audience that they could hope for no realisation of their ideals until they had utterly crushed the military despotism thrust like a spear-poi'nt at the very heart of civilisation, and that though that day might still be far distant, _ and would demand much self-sacrifice, they would not falter. Again Mr. Hughes had said: "What will bo necessary to win this war who can say; but whatever is nccessary must be done and will be done. I hope and believe that the citizens of Australia will do their part, whatever it is." Mr. Hughes had added, "So far as the light is revealed to mo I shall follow it, no matter where it goes." In a third spcech he had said, :; I believe in organisation," and further had declared, "No man has a place in a h'eo society who is not prepared to light for freedom." The necessity for Empire organisation was insisted upon with great forcc by Mr. Hughes during his stay in Britain. How convincing was his condemnation of tho folly of the old go-as-you-pleaso policy! Our resources must be organised—that was an essential part of his message. And that, said Professor MacCallum, was the cry of the Universal Servico League. There is at present a slump in recruiting in Australia. It was pointed out at a recent meeting in Brisbane that tho figures for the last six months showed a considerable shortage of the number required to

keep up the supply of reinforcements. In Victoria tho position is far from satisfactory, and tho Sydney Morning Herald, referring to the Commonwealth as a whole, declares that the voluntary system has nearly reaohed its limits. The war - census cards revealed the fact t-hab there were 120,000 single men, free from any family obligations, who could have gone to the front long ago. Mil. Hughes has now a splendid opportunity of practising what ho has been preaching with such persuasive eloquence. Ho recognises that this is Australia's war as much as it is Britain's, or France's, or Russia's. He says that Australia's duty is clear, and that he will do his duty no matter whom it pleases or whom it displeases. If ho does the right thing in the right way, and docs it promptly, ho may gain the ill-will of a noisy group of irrcconcilables, but ho will have the enthusiastic support of tho great mass of the people. Mn. Cook, the Leader of the Opposition, is ready to assist him to pass the necessary legislation, and Sift William Irvine has publicly stated that he will loyally support Mr. Huqhes if he will "give effect to the sentiments he expressed in Great Britain, and carry out those things which, in his speeches at Home, electrified and thrilled Europe." Mn. Hughes says ho is confident that the people of Australia, aro ready to do the right thing, but ho must himself do tho right thing. He must give the pcoplo a courageous lead, and put their patriotism to the test. If he 'docs this he is not likely to be disappointed.