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HISTORIC PAPERS I
Rescued By Minister
From Storeroom
MELBOURNE, November 12.
jfour large trunks covered with dust
.were rescued from a storeroom at
Parliament House, Canberra, this week
by. the Minister for External Affairs
(Senator Sir George Pearce). In the
trunks were hundreds of official docu-
ments and letters which would delight
the heart of the historian. In fact any
history of1 Australia during the period
l'J0S-3(i would bu Incomplete without
the treasures ot these trunks.
The documents have been ^preserved
by Slr George Pearce against the com-
ing of the day of his defeat as a mem-
ber ot the Senate. He felt free after
his defeat this week to delve into the
contents of the trunks. He has been a
Commonwealth Minister for 20 years,
and was 'Minister for Defence for the
whole ot the war period. Buried in a
mass of papers are documents which
turned the tide of Australian history.
There is the file relating to tho con-
scription referendum In Australia, and
the correspondence which passed be-
tween Mr. W. M. Hughes, then Prime
Minister, and Slr George Pearce, which
led to their resignation from the Lab-
our Party. The papers Include the
battle orders of Field-Marshal Sir Wil-
liam Birdwood at Gallipoli, and the late
Oenqial Slr John Monash in France.
Slr George Pearce intends to collate
this historical material so that eventu-
ally lt may be presented to thc Na-
tional Library at Canberra. It is pos-
sible he will décide to write a book ol
memoirs. .
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