advance of our industries by the sending out of the country 200,000 to 300,000 of our men, and replacing them by coloured labourers." Much of the propaganda against conscription sought to play upon the fears of several sections of the community – women would lose their sons and spouses, farmers' fields would fall fallow without sufficient labour, and workers would be replaced by cheap foreign labour in their absence. However, just about every influential public man in Australia otherwise supported the conscription campaign. All non-Catholic church heads published in support of the movement, as well as the Salvation Army, the newspapers, and many jurists. Upon the announcement of the campaign and the vote, most media outlets quickly took up the cause, brandishing stirring rhetoric and powerful images. Norman Lindsay and David Low produced some of the most powerful images of the war with their posters in support of the 'yes' vote. Public meetings The conscription issue deeply divided Australia; large meetings were held, both for and against. The women's vote was seen as important; there were large women's meetings, and campaign information from both sides aimed at women voters. The campaigning for the first plebiscite was launched by Hughes at a huge overflow meeting at the Sydney Town Hall, where he outlined the Government's proposals. This was followed by a huge pro-conscription meeting at the Melbourne Town Hall on 21 September. Anti-conscriptionists, especially in Melbourne, were also able to mobilise large crowds with a meeting filling the Exhibition Building on 20 September 1916; 30,000 people on the Yarra bank on Sunday, 15 October, and 25,000 the following week; a "parade of women promoted by the United Women's No-Conscription Committee – an immense crowd of about 60,000 people gathered at Swanston St between Guild Hall and Princes Bridge, and for upwards of an hour the street was a surging area of humanity". An anti-conscription stop work meeting called by five trade unions held on the Yarra Bank mid-week on 4 October attracted 15,000 people. Campaign Hughes' campaign over the next months involved traveling great distances. From the opening in Sydney, he traversed the country, reaching major stops in Melbourne on 21 September, Adelaide on 25 October, Sydney and then Brisbane on 1 October, Hobart on 12 October, Melbourne again on 15 October, Albury on 23 October, Newcastle on 25 October, and Sydney again on 26 October. Throughout the campaign, he was