WATERSIDE WORKERS AND DEFENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 216, 11 September 1911, Page 7

WATERSIDE WORKERS AND DEFENCE.

(To tlie Editor.) Sir,— Notwithstanding th<e letter 'by the officials of the waterside workers, written apparently in a sort of aapologetic tone, 1 gathered from the report oif their recent conference that the majority of them absolutely oppose any form of military training, and some of them said they would not care if Germany or any other nation took New Zealand. It is really lamentable to hear such statements made in dense ignorance of all history, and of what is taking place in Finland, the Prussian part of Poland, and the different countries under the sway of the autocratic governments of Europe. 1 judge 'from the sentiments expressed that the workers do not considef N"aw Zealand, or any country, worth lighting for. Very different to the workers of Germany, Austria, -Switzerland, Japan, etc. This is evidence of decadence sooner than resist a race willing and able to fight they will submit. Such a race does°not deserve to have a country, and will not have one for long. They will certainly not -be allowed to pass laws excluding other stronger races very much, longer t —'in fact, if their views about the brotherhood, etc., of man were sincere, they ought not to desire such laws. Directly Japan or China is strong enough to demand the cancellation of the poll-tax and the right of free entry the workers will have to submit without a struggle, seeing that they will be unable to meet their masters, the Asiatic, in the field—to say nothing of the German and other races. The fact is that these workers are sheltering behind the British Fleet, which is the sole power that lias enabled them to make their own laws without interference, and they even grudge the contributions towards the fleet. Without this fleet the "murdering," as they term it, would begin. It would he all on one side, though. No people in the past have ever maintained their freedom except by being ready, able and willing to defend their country .against external enemies, which is the 'first duty of the citizens, as it is the individual duty of the citizen to defend and support his family. The idea ol compulsory training for all is truly democratic. The only opposition to training comes from city-workers, who, arrogate to themselves the right to pass all sorts of restrictive and compulsory measures relating to all classes, including laws for farmers. Tlio farming community are netting pretty sick of labour law compulsion, but are responding to military training very readily, and as a large number do not want much training, as they can ride and shoot, I can te'J the city workers that the country people are not going to allow the city workers to pasa laws ior ever without regard .to

any interests but those of the city workers; while at the same time the latter do nothing to defend the country, "The Gun, the Vote" was the old Boer farmers' cry, and this ought to and will yet be the law of New Zealand.—l am, etc., A FARMER. " Temeraire," writing on the same subject, says:—"ln common with great numbers of others whom I overheard expressing their approval, I was greatly pleased with your remarks on the subject of military training. So true it is that self-preservation is the, first law of nature, and so certain also that it cannot by any possibility be ignored with impunity, that if the spirit of devotion to duty, self-protection and patriotism were really evaporating from our people, then we could say, and we could say It with the utmost assurance—all history is our authority for this—that as a frco and responsible people we are doomed."