The Days of a Man ^1914 



The famous American professor's address was almost over- 

 shadowed by the pompous red and gold military gathering at 

 which General Hamilton spoke. Any one looking for melo- 

 dramatic effect could have found it in the contrast between the 

 blood-red assemblage of swarthy men at the Hamilton dinner 

 and the quiet, pale assembly at which Jordan discoursed on 

 peace. . . . Yet, although Hamilton and Jordan differ in their 

 treatment and even more in their method, they reach the 

 same conclusion . . . that war in the Pacific can be at least 

 indefinitely postponed. . . . 



Those who have seen Hamilton in Australia have been im- 

 pressed by his fine presence, his eloquence, and his physical 

 fitness. The first impression is one of resplendent manliness. 

 But the second and lasting impression is that this is the type of 

 military man who must essentially be subjugated to civil author- 

 ity. He is all for the army; he likes ceremonial parades, is exact- 

 ing on points of etiquette, is magnificent in colored dress, and 

 frankly cultivates the military spirit. It would not be fair to 

 say that he advocates conquest. The fair thing to say on that 

 point is that he conveys the idea that the red corpuscle demands 

 aggression, but he does not put this idea in words. 

 Hamilton is the type of fighting man who makes wars. Cold 

 showers and calm thought are required in the morning after a 

 Hamilton dinner. . . . 



[Australians] may hope that their citizen army will not necessi- 

 tate a military caste or militarism in any of its objectionable 

 forms. They turn from Hamilton with the lesson of efficiency 

 learned, and with the great wish that the legislators may keep 

 cool heads and nip all undemocratic tendencies, however alluring, 

 in the bud. 



Melbourne has had the antidote in Jordan. It has been a 

 wholesome antidote, though Hamilton has beaten him badly in 

 publicity and the famous American has been found only by 

 those who sought him. Jordan is not a peace-at-any-price-man; 

 he admits, for instance, that circumstances might arise in which 

 Australia would be embroiled with a northern power in the 

 Pacific. ... In such a case, he told me today, the United 

 States would stand in with the British Empire. There would be 

 no hesitation; America's navy would range alongside that of 

 Australia. . . . 



C 568 ] 



