The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-07-30
PLENTY OF GINGER"

Naturally the people who think as Mr..
Hughes thinks crowded around him. The
newspapers which are for ginger" and
the protectionfst journals, took him up and
played him for all he was worth When
the commercial conference Of the entente
powers held in Paris was being arranged
the Hughes press insisted that the Aus
tralian should go as a British delegate.
and he was sent. Now that he Is about
to return home enthusiasts declare that
the government should ask him to remain
in England as a sort of free-lance ad-
wiser mo bloomin' fear!" the cockney
would say. The departure of Mr.. Hughes
will be celebrated with some signs of re-
lief. His campaign has not proceeded
without exciting criticism and antagonism.
although uttered in very considerate &C
cents. This has come from two sources,
those who dissent from the measures
which Hughes proclaimed. and certain
few irritated that a colonial statesman
should offer advice SO freely to the
mother country. One indictment was Tor
approaching great and complex ques-
tons loosely and grandiloquently. Hints
have been dropped that he was negiectlng
his own work in Australia.
1.-THE Australian Abraham Lincoln" as
Hughes has been called, whose life
spans only 81 years. and who has risen in
80 years from the status of an humble emf
grant to sit around the council table
as a privy councillor. Is anything but
strong man physically. He Is thin and
pale, with a face resembling Robert
Louis Stevenson's. but with the fire and
energy which often glow in a frail body
His career has been hard working one.
An old Australian friend in London re-
members him keeping a little umbrella
mending shop In Sydney, and always with
q book before hm-some work OF eco
nomics or philosophy. something IN the
line Of Henry George or Herbert Spen-
Ger. His first noteworthy political en-
terprise was the organization of tho I'M
skilled workers on the Sydney docks. He
advocated compulsory military service as
early as 1901. and made 1t plank OF
the labor party platform. AS the head
of the great state which has most nearly
approached socialism, his views on that
system are interesting. His belief is that
the growth of private monopolies narrows
the issues to "co-operation for the bene-
fit Of the few versus cooperation for the
benefit of the many"
The Hughes orations are more after
the American than the British model.
Compared with the classic. Oxford MUIR
tured, and precise diction Of an Asquith.
his style Is as a Welsh chapel exhorter's
to the Church of England ritual. 1t was
because much of the country was In a
mood for some prophet who would cut
loose from the r1tualiStlc atmosphere anu
let himself go. that Hughes has been
welcomed and acclaimed. He may be
portent of the leadership the nation will
demand after the war. \
IT like Bill Hughes because he takes
the big view," says Labor Leader Ben
Tillett. Certainly he has given the Unit
ed Kingdom a fresh and stirring view.
Books of his life and books of his
speeches are in all the shop windows;
postcard portraits are displayed with
those Of royalty. of generals and adj
mirals and popular actresses. His name
has been sprinlkled through the pages OF
the newspapers the past month more
profusely than any other except Kitch-
ener's. His position may prove perma-
nent. or the sober second thought OF
the people may write down the Big
View where the most sober and non
political Of commercial journals has writ
ten 1t. as a tumble of fallacies." But
while the bushranger-umbrella member
prime minister embarks for his colonly.
with his university parchments and his
golden caskets In his modest trunk. the
remarkable part he has played In making
the old country sit UP seems worth re-
cOrding,