Series 01 Part 02: Hughes family correspondence, 3 April 1917-22 September 1918 - Page 265
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[Page 265]
4.
Victoria has gone NO by over 10,000 so far. The N.S.W. figures are simply appalling, & the only State to stick stoutly to its previous large majority for YES is Western Australia. The YES majority of Tasmania has nearly disappeared.
Everybody now says we never had a hope of winning. Still, you know, if you didn't keep some hope alive, you would never be able to keep going, addressing public meetings, and we simply had to battle it out to the end. Of course we all knew that Hughes should never have held the first Referendum, much less the second one, but we had to keep our mouths shut on that subject when the mischief was done, otherwise we should have been beaten without even a fight. In spite of the hateful victory of what I firmly believe to be the worst forces in Australia, one doesn't really feel as much cast down about it the second time as we were on the first occasion. It seemed to be simply hoping against reason to hope for a win this time. Dr. Mannix is of course a popular hero of the moment, & the Hibernians of Sydney have invited him to Sydney where he will be fêted in the Town Hall on next Sunday week. I hardly think I shall be there.
Poor old Archbish Kelly, after keeping off the grass for weeks, wobbled over the border in the last week & made a couple of speeches about the danger of voting YES if it meant the conscription of teaching brothers, & ecclesiastical students! Hughes had publicly pledged himself to exempt them, but the effective answer to Hughes pledge was simply that he was a liar, & wouldn't do it if he won.