y of the chief
citizens to be present. My object in reading this paper was to push on
the question of universal service. The title I had selected for the
lecturette was, "What has Australia done for the Australians, and What
are Australians doing for Australia?" After I had finished the Lord Mayor
made a few remarks with reference to the subject at issue and concluded
by moving a vote of thanks. This was really outside our practice at the
institute. I thanked the Lord Mayor for his kind remarks, and in quite a
colloquial way said that it was distressing to go round the public parks
about Sydney on holidays and Saturday afternoons and see thousands of
young men sitting on fences smoking cigarettes, content to loaf and look
on while a few men played games. It happened that the previous Saturday
had been the last day of one of the cricket Test Matches, against England
played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The attendance thereat had been
enormous, as usual--some thirty-five thousand people. The next morning I
was astonished when I got the morning papers to see the following
headings: "The Citizens of Sydney insulted.... Forty thousand loafers at
the Sydney Cricket Ground. So says our new Commandant, General Gordon."

Then followed a statement to the effect that while addressing the
officers under his command and many eminent citizens the evening before,
the general had stated that on the previous Saturday he had been present
at the Sydney Cricket Ground and had seen thousands of loafers whose time
would have been far better taken up if they had been devoting it to
fitting themselves for the defence of their country, and that they (the
newspaper reporters) considered it a very undeserved reflection on the
thousands who were watching the big tussle at the Test Match.

Knowing full well that these headings would have been telegraphed to the
Press throughout Australia and have appeared therein that same morning, I
at once wired to the Military Board, for the information of the Minister,
to the effect that the newspaper reports were inaccurate. I was reported
also to have stated that I had ready for the consideration of the
Government a scheme which would form the basis upon which to found a
system of universal service. This latter part of their report was
correct. I had made that statement. I had prepared the scheme in Adelaide
eleven years before.

Shortly after sending my wire to the Military Board I received one from
them d