The Foreign Policy of William Morris Hughes of Australia

Abstract

A FRAIL, deaf, dyspeptic little man is still, after some three decades of governmental service, one of the outstanding politicians in Australia.' Although he left the cabinet when the Labor Party took charge in the fall of 1941, William Morris Hughes is now a member of the Advisory War Council. He is also the leader of the United Australian Party.2 There is little doubt that he will be one of the representatives of the Commonwealth when the next group of statesmen sit around the peace table, and that he will voice his convictions quite determinedly. An examination of some of his past views on foreign policy may well afford clues as to the position that he will take at the next peace conference. William Morris Hughes was only twenty years of age when he quit his work as a coal miner in Wales and left for the land down under in 1884.3 His first occupations on the island-continent were varied. He served as an actor, boundary rider, book salesman, cook, drover, locksmith, journalist, umbrella mender, school teacher, and labor organizer. His active interest in politics began with his work as a promoter of union activities. In 1894 he was elected to the legislature of New SouthWales on the Labor ticket. When Australia was federated, he was promoted by the same party to the Federal Parliament and twice became Prime Minister of the Commonwealth. The efforts of Hughes were largely responsible for the adoption of compulsory military training in Australia in 1909 and for the beginning of an Australian navy.4 When the European conflict opened in 1914, Australia was ready to stand firmly against the Central Powers. We will defend the Empire to our last man and our last shilling, pledged Laborite Fisher, who became Prime Minister in September 1914. The next year witnessed the appointment of Fisher as commissioner to England, and his Attorney General,