Anzac bulletin : issued to members of the Australian Imperial Forces in Great Britain and France by authority of the High Commissioner for Australia

Call Number
Nq 940.394098 ANZ
Created/Published
London : Published by the authority of the High Commissioner for Australia, 1916-1919
Issue
Issue No.71 December 22, 1916
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4
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Text

Anzac Bulletin  

Issued to Members of the Australian Imperial Forces in Great Britain and France by authority  

of the High Commissioner for Australia.  

No. 71. LONDON, DECEMBER 22, 1916. Gratis  

The Australian Referendum.  

FORCES OPPOSED TO COMPULSION.  

PARTIES IN THE CRUCIBLE.  

(FROM "THE TIMES" CORRESPONDENT.)  

Sydney, October 31.  

Australia is looking at herself in the  

glass. And she does not admire the  

reflection mirrored there. The shout-  

ing and the tumult have died away  

and she is weary and wan and just  

little ashamed. The conscription re-  

ferendum has revealed depth of  

selfishness and ignorance which has  

filled her with vague but haunting  

dread. Never before in the Common-  

wealth has any polling had such  

remarkable effect upon the public  

mind'. Every man and woman who  

studied the portents feared the worst  

but hoped for the best. Eight to the  

end wholesome optimism prevailed  

that Australia would come through  

her supreme test with credit to the  

Empire.  

The platform fight was conducted  

with vigour and viciousness pre-  

viously unknown in the Dominion.  

Most things are counted fair game in  

fierce electoral struggle, but the  

Antis placed themselves right out-  

side the pale by issuing most scandal-  

ous literature. They grabbed the  

electoral machine of the Labour Party  

in all the States, and they pitted its  

organisation against the magnetism of  

the personality of the leaders of the  

movement ?the Prime Minister Mr.  

J. C. Watson, ex-Prime Minister  

Mr. Ilolman, Premier of New South  

Wales Mr. Vaughan, Premier of  

South Australia. They worked with  

incredible intensity and filled every  

State with ready and persuasive  

speakers. And no country in the  

world ?not even the United States?  

has better open-ah speakers than  

Australia. The Prime Minister and  

his supporters strove to expound the  

case for conscription and to refute the  

gross misrepresentations of their oppon-  

ents, but the voluntary effort of the  

antis far exceeded the activity of the  

affirmatives.  

FEARS AND MOTIVES.  

Polling day itself was dull?deadly  

dull. Some of the States had pro-  

claimed public holiday at the in-  

stance of Mr. Hughes. All the hotels  

were closed everywhere and no pro-  

gress results of the polling were issued  

until after midnight. All these pre-  

cautions were taken to prevent possible  

street disturbances. The commercial  

community were convinced that sabot-  

age would accompany the polling.  

Insurance offices were besieged by  

legions of business men seeking insur-  

ance against civil commotion. Great  

numbers of additional watchmen were  

stationed in all the large buildings.  

The fire brigades were on tiptoe of  

expectation. The police were on duty  

right round the clock. But the vio-  

lence generated by the Industrial  

Workers of the World doctrines never  

came into play. The polls closed at  

o'clock. By 10 it was generally  

known that an extremely heavy  

"No vote had been polled. The  

cities were deserted. On Sunday when  

the first figures were published the  

streets were still more deserted. The  

great majority of people appeared to  

be too shocked or too ashamed to  

move freely abroad.  

The first referendum on compulsory  

service ever taken in modern de-  

mocracy failed because of half dozen  

easily defined reasons  

(1) The Irish vote was closely  

organised against the Government's  

because every Yes vote  

was considered vote cast for England.  

(2) The best class of eligible single  

men volunteered and went to the  

front weeks previously.  

(3) The Antis raised the bogy  

of an Australia stripped of its fighting  

males falling an easy prey to any  

covetous Asiatic nation.  

(4) The remoteness of Australia  

from the war area and the general  

feeling that it is all thrilling camera  

film or nightmare from which the  

world may awake at any moment.  

(5) The distrust of the Prime  

Minister's figures as to reinforce-  

ments.  

(6) The emotionalism of the women  

electors, who thought they would be  

condemning men to death if they  

voted Yes."  

MR. HUGHES'S MISTAKE.  

In sorrow it must be set down that  

the Prime Minister went from one  

mistake to another. If he had take*  

the bold course when he returned to  

Australia and had submitted the issue  

straight away to Parliament he could  

have won through, though after much  

turmoil and tribulation. Instead of  

this he was mysterious and dumb.  

Much he said about following the  

light which he saw, but nothing did  

he do to reveal this light to the people  

until after he had compromised with  

his Cabinet and shifted his responsi-  

bility upon the electorate. From that  

moment his prestige suffered irre-  

parable damage. His stature as  

great leader shrank like that of the  

father in Vice Versa after handling  

the fateful stone. For the rest of the  

fight he was only skilled advocate  

when he might have been popular  

idol. Impartial students will probably  

acclaim his masculine conduct of  

most intricate and trying campaign,  

but they will have to confess strategical  

and tactical mistakes which must have  

cost thousands upon thousands of  

votes.  

For example, thousands of young  

men evaded the call to camp prepara-  

tory to the passing of conscription.  

The Prime Minister wished to make  

regulations which would enable them  

to be identified at the polling booths  

and their votes be put aside for further  

consideration. While he was, in  

Sydney these regulations were placed  

before an Executive Council meeting  

in Melbourne at which Mr. Higgs,  

Treasurer, Senator Gardiner, Assistant  

Minister of Defence, Senator. Kussell,  

Honorary Minister ?all opponents of  

compulsion?were present. They re-  

fused to pass them, maintaining that  

no elector should be intimidated in  

the exercise of his franchise. When  

Mr. Hughes heard of this he convened  

special Executive in Sydney and put  

the regulations through. His three  

colleagues resigned dramatically on  

the day before the poll was taken.  

Public opinion inclined to them. The  

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http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-9054037

APA citation

Australia. High Commission (Great Britain). (1916). Anzac bulletin : issued to members of the Australian Imperial Forces in Great Britain and France by authority of the High Commissioner for Australia Retrieved May 9, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-9054037

MLA citation

Australia. High Commission (Great Britain). Anzac bulletin : issued to members of the Australian Imperial Forces in Great Britain and France by authority of the High Commissioner for Australia London: Published by the authority of the High Commissioner for Australia, 1916. Web. 9 May 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-9054037>

Harvard/Australian citation

Australia. High Commission (Great Britain). 1916, Anzac bulletin : issued to members of the Australian Imperial Forces in Great Britain and France by authority of the High Commissioner for Australia Published by the authority of the High Commissioner for Australia, London viewed 9 May 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-9054037

Wikipedia citation

{{Citation
  | author1=Australia. High Commission (Great Britain).
  | title=Anzac bulletin : issued to members of the Australian Imperial Forces in Great Britain and France by authority of the High Commissioner for Australia.
  | year=1916
  | section=201 v. : ill. ; 28 cm.
  | issue=No.71 December 22, 1916
  | location=London
  | publisher=Published by the authority of the High Commissioner for Australia
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-9054037
  | id=nla.obj-9054037
  | access-date=9 May 2025
  | via=Trove
}}

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