Series 03: John Brady Nash letters, January 1914-December 1915 - Page 528
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 528]
the historical precedents which have established these ideas as oft repeated truths. The want of due regard for these principles as guides is the great danger that is present with every set of men who have not had a sound training in early life, upon which can be built the higher stories in the progress of education. It matters not how the strong man may be abused in times of peace and quietness, every one has to depend upon him in times of strife and war. Few have the power to lead and dictate, most of us have been constructed after the fashion which requires leading and directing. Think you not so?
Many thanks my dear for the cuttings from the newspapers. The letter by our little Dickey Bird smells of the midnight oil when he was dreaming of us far from home. It was sweet of him to think so kindly of those helping in the great fight, but it must not be thought that those at home are not playing a worthy and necessary part by keeping the pot boiling, because upon the manner in which it does so depends to a great extent the result of the work of the fighters abroad. Keep battling all of you.
I had not seen before: Bean's letter from Mena camp; The reasons why Deakin, Neilson, and the other members of the Panama commission resigned; Arthur's "To the unknown dead"; The debates in the Labour conferences. Again many thanks for all of them. They have already been read by several of my people, and they will be read by others.
See you that my Tabby takes care of herself. If she has headaches tell her to consult some physician about them.
A coat of paint will cover up the blemishes in the Parliament house buildings. It is rather a come down for Robert Parker to descend from grand opera to the Tivoli stage. Is it not wonderful how Mrs Holman continues to flourish? She is typical of the superficial crowd who were in my mind during the writing of some observations earlier in this letter. Well intentioned but sadly lacking in the essentials of ordinary common sense. Very bad guides are such people for the crowd, because the majority, while protesting strongly against being led, always follow the leader because it is easier than learning to think for one self, and in the end it is the happier course, this throws greater responsibility upon those who have the leading parts to play.
Holman, Hughes, and the like clever men know what is correct, but they follow circuitous roads, hoping that, at some turning, they will be able to direct the train of thought of their followers, who keep them in power, into the correct channels, but the cost to the country of the travelling along byeways is very great and sometimes
[Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (1879-1968), barrister, teacher, journalist and war correspondent, best known as the writer/editor of Australia's official history of the First World War.
"To the Unknown Dead" by Richard Arthur, published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 2 June 1915. (Source: Trove.)
William Morris (Billy) Hughes (1862-1952), 7th Prime Minister of Australia (1915-1923).]