DUDLEY: It was the last section which brought most of the people along. Also of course we had open air meetings in areas where there were no public halls suitable for a meeting. I can always remember one meeting that I had in Newcastle Street outside a local hotel. Instead of starting at eight o'clock, we started at nine, so that when the bars began to let out their patrons we would be sure of an audience and of course there were a few rowdy ones among the audience which doesn't do much harm to a speaker as long as he can be good natured with him. I always remember this night because I'd been going about five minutes, a little chap who obviously had had a little too much to drink turned in circles around and around and around, three or four times and then he collapsed right in front of the platform. And I remember saying, 'Well now ladies and gentlemen, if it will just give you an idea of what telling the facts of Federation can do, look it's bowled this man over already.' There was always questions and answers, some of them sensible some of them insensible at the end of a speech, which usually took about an hour to an hour and a quarter.

But it became evident as the campaign continued before the referendum that the people as a whole were being more susceptible to listen and to learn than they were say two or three years before. This of course was what we were seeking and prior to going to the poll we felt that we would win the day. But of course at that stage I must say that we weren't optimistic enough to think that we would win by as large a margin as we did. The Federal League had one or two meetings in city halls, but as far as we could ascertain the majority of the persons in their meeting were secessionists and that there weren't too many there who were heart and soul in favour of continuing the Federation. And of course at the conclusion of those meetings the speakers had no difficulty in answering the questions because most of the questions were asked by members of the Dominion League, who had them all written out nicely and bowled the speakers over because they couldn't answer the questions in favour of federation!
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