Series 01 Part 02: Hughes family correspondence, 3 April 1917-22 September 1918 - Page 267
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[Page 267]
Parliament N.S.Wales
Cranbrook Cottage
Double Bay
Edgecliff
Sydney 8th January 1918
My dear Geoffrey
Your No. 8 letter dated 14th November from Beaulieu, & your cablegram of 28th December from Cirencester, telling us you were posted to go overseas at the end of January, are the latest news of you that we have had. We telegraphed back at once agreeing with you that if you have to go, it is best to go soon.
The letters to you by this mail will therefore only get to you after you have gone to France, so I hope they will help to cheer you up wherever you are, though I am sure you are just the same plucky old infant you have always been. When I look at the crowd of "slackers" with whom Australia is crammed, I thank God that He has given to Mother & me such splendid boys as you & Roger & Tom, & we pray always that you may be spared to come back safely to us, & help to make this country a better place for those who may come after us.
Today the NO majority is 164,823, & the counting of votes is very nearly finished. The extraordinary thing is that the soldiers' vote is practically divided equally, ninety one thousand to eighty nine thousand. One really doesn't know what to make of it all. Hughes resigned office today, after backing & filling for several weeks, although it was perfectly evident many days ago that the Referendum was hopelessly lost. Nobody knows what will happen now – whether Tudor will try to force a general election in which event Hughes & his friends will be wiped out – or whether Hughes will be back in office with a new Ministry in about a couple of days. Bad as Hughes is,