Suddenly
the tiny figure of Hughes appeared on the platform before them. At
first they yelled him down, but he stood smiling, resolute, undaunted.
He began to talk: the tumult subsided: he stepped forward, stamped his
foot and said in a voice that reached to every corner:
"You shall not strike." And they did not. David had defied the Goliaths.
From that time on Hughes was the Brains of Australian Labour. He
organised his industrial rough riders into a powerful and constructive
union. With it he drove a wedge into the New South Wales Legislature and
gave industry, for the first time, a seat in its Councils. He became its
Parliamentary Voice. He was only thirty.
Having got his foot in the doorway of public life, he now jammed the
portal wide open. As trade union official he forged ahead. He became the
Father Confessor of the Worker. His advice always was: "Avoid violence:
put your faith in the ballot box." With this creed he tamed the Labour
Jungle: through it he built up an industrial legislative group that
acknowledged him as chief.
Though he was rising to fame the struggle for existence was hard. No
matter how late he toiled in legislative hall or union assembly, he
read law when he got home. He was admitted to the bar, and despite his
deafness he became an able advocate. When he had to appear in court he
used a special apparatus with wire attachments that ran to the witness
box and the bench and enabled him to hear everything that was going on.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190