The Moving Finger
Maoriland Worker, Volume 8, Issue 319, 4 April 1917, Page 4
About this newspaper
The Moving Finger
G "The mortar fla_er wrifts; and, havlai -ril, 0 G mores on."—OMAR. 0
This has to do with a New Zealand Passport Russia has decided to abolish the Passport System. Why should not New Zealand follow Russia's good example? a s c c The other day I found myself applying to the Passports Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs (presided over by the Hon. G. W. Russell <or a permit to visit Australia—my native land and the scene of many heroic working class struggles on every field, from the tragic battleground of Ballarat, by way of recurring great industrial upheavals, to the crushing defeat of Prussianism on October 28. I had received an "urgent" cable from the secretary of the Australian No Conscriptionists asking if I could leave New Zealand immediately for Australia for the purpose of undertaking a lecture tour of the Commonwealth during the Federal Elections Campaign. The official who confronted mc at the Passports Counter was courtesy personified. He explained all the routine, and handed mc an application form to fill in, with the intimation that it would be necessary to supplement my application witli a letter. 9 The application form required answers to queries regarding my name, age, height, complexion, the color of my eyes, and the color of my hair— which the extremely conscientious official relentlessly insisted on viewing for his greater satisfaction. I heaved a sigh of great relief when I found tie Regulations did not require him to look at my teeth to verify my age—after the manner of Artemus Ward when he encountered tho old maids while taking the census. Then I had to say where I was born, where my father was born, and where my paternal grandfather was born. "Unto the third and fourth generation," looking backward, as it were. I had further to set down the names and ages and sundry other particulars concerning my wife and children. I was also required to say why I desired to depart from God's Own Country. I said: "TO 1 CONDUCT ANTI CONSCRIPTION LECTURE TOUR DURING FEDERAL EJECTIONS." Finally, I was required to give the name of some citizen to whom the Department could refer. I gave the name of an eminent politician; and decided to dispense with the supplementary letter. I left the Passports' Office convinced that the Permit would materialize. I said to myself that Comrade G. W. Russell—friend of Labor (during election campaigns), constant reader of "The Maoriland Worker," and devoted admirer of everything anti-Prussian and Australian (in spite of the convict stains) —would see justice done tho' the heavens should fall. a This was Thursday, March 22. My confidence in the guardian of the turbulent Avon seemed justified on Saturday, March 24, when I was informed over the 'phone that THE PERMIT WAS GRANTED. The Scrap of Paper that would enable mc to climb the gangway of an Australian mailboat was to issue. When Monday, March 26, came theie also .came by afternoon delivery a large official communication. It was the Passport, of course! Alas and alack! It was from the Internal Affairs Do- partment, to be sure. BUT THE i PASSPORT WASN'T THERE. It was s merely a stoney-eyed official intima- J tion that it was "regretted" that A i PERMIT COULD NOT BE ISSUED, i AND THAT I WOULD NOT BE AL- I LOWED TO LEAVE NEW ZEALAND c DURING THE'CURRENCY OF THE WAR! x What for? There was no word of explanation i why I had been told the Permit c had been granted, nor any explanation f at all as to WHY it was now refused, i Had some one blundered in the first place or had some one changed r his mind in ihe second place? Did any communication pass be- 1 tween N.Z. and Australia in the inter- t val; and, if so, what was the nature 1 of it? t Does this latest line of policy mean that no representative of Labor,will I be permitted to leave N.Z. to assist in t an Australian working class fight for v freedom on the political field? Doc* A it mean that no Australian Labor re- c presentative will be permitted to coma c here to assist us to win N.Z. from the p political enemies of Labor? s IP IT DOESN'T MEAN THIS, a WHAT DOES IT MEAN? A Will the Hon. tho Minister of Inter- nal Affairs tell the N.Z. Labor movement? H.E.H. o
