Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-12-08
PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
HAS HAD STRENUOUS CAREER
Ii Is WeIshman by Birth and Has
Just Entered His SIND Year.

Melbourne, Australia, Dec. Cor
respondeuce of The Associated Press) /
William Morris Hughes. who this
week became Prime Minister of Aus
tralia consequent upon the assumption
of the Commonwealth High Commits
sionership in London by Andrew Fish
er. has had a strenuous and pictures
que career. He is a Welshman by /
birth and has just entered upon his |
62nd year. Until he was about ten |
years old he knew but little English, |
but when he had acquired better |
knowledge of that language he became
a devoted student of 1t through the |
medium of classic works-the Bible, |
Shakespeare and Dickens for example. |
Before he was 20 he was obliged to |
earn his living as a state school teach |
er. and, his health having suffered
from the strain, he came to Australia.
This step he took in 1884 For the
next ten years his life was a success
sion of struggles to find work, keep it
and retain his health. He was at
various times boundary rider or
ranch hand; q railroad freight sta
ton hand; shed-builder; a post-hole
digger; a vineyard helper: an en-
ploye in different capacities on coast
wise steamers and a driver; and once
he tramped 600 miles to obtain en-
ployment only to be disappointed.
An illness finally turned him to
seeking his fortune in the city of Sgd
ney, where he had to peddle books,
| mend umbrellas and do almost any
thing else which, came to hand. At
| this stage he became a socialist and
| a single taxer-the latter from hear
| ing lectures by Henry George who was
| then on a tour of Australia and read
ing Mr.. Georges work Progress and
| Poverty"
| Party in New South Wales as a sep
| arate entity Mr.. Hughes threw his
whole soul into the movement, and he
/ may quite properly be said to be a
| founder OF the party as 1t exists in
| Australia today. He spent three years
1880 sS-in organizing the labor and
trades-uniou elements in the then
colony and impressing upon them the
| power which they would WELD IL they
adopted the solidarity pledge" which
| they they-he and William A. Hol-
man. now Premier of New South
| Wales. has originated. This work of
organization eventually resulted in the
acceptance of the pledge by the lab
orites-and solidarity is the key to
the Labor Party'S success at the polls
both in state and federal elections and
the rule of guidance for the distribu-
ton of offices.
In 1894 Mr.. Hughes was elected a
member of the New South Wales Leg
islative Assembly and he soon gained
a reputation as a trenchant speaker
and hard worker. 1t was during his
service in this body that he introduced
and had passed the Early Closing Act.
In 1901 when the first elections were
held for the government of the forth
coming Commonwealth-the several
Australian colonies having voted to
form a federation-Mr. Hughes was
elected a member of the House of
Representatives by a constituency in
Sydney which is composed mosely of
wharf laborers. These workmen he
had already organized into a union of
which he was made the secretary and
later he was instrumental in the for
nation of the Waterside Workers
Federation. which embraces not only
the lockers and the like in that par
ticular quarter of Sydney but those in
every part of the state of New South
Wales. Mr.. Hughes was created the
! president of this federation and ne has
been retained in the office ever since
So popular is he in his electorate that
he has been returned to the House
! without a break.
, Mr.. Hughes was admitted to the
bar in 1908 and in 1904 he rose &c
cabinet rank. This was in Australia's
; first Labor Ministry-that of ]. c
: Watson. He was Minister for Exter-
nal Affairs during the short life of the
Watson Government, but on the La
: Dor Party's again coming into power
! III 1908 he became Attorney General
This position he has held in every
successive Labor Cabinet and he doe:
not expect TO rellnqulSn now that nj
has become Prime Minister by the &C.
e ton of the Labor caucus: which is tc
s say he will assume the duties of botf
D offices.
:. Several landmarks in Common.
J. wealth legislation are largely due Il
Mr.. Hughes initiative. Notable
among these are federal land taxation
and the system of compulsory military
!. training which has attracted atten'
ton in the United States Of late. Since
= the war in Europe emphasized the
value of material for munitions he ha:
| attacked with characteristic vigol
what he called the German meta
2 / ring with the result that the British
: | government has taken action agains
a number of firms engaged in tht
. | hrrSinas<