CONSCRIPTION REFERENDUM.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 258, 28 October 1916, Page 9

CONSCRIPTION REFERENDUM.

CAMPAIGN rw ATJSTHAtTA. TO-DAY'S POLLING. VICTORY ASSURED. The Sydney correspondent of the Christchurch " Press," writing on Octo- ; ber 18, states:— ■ "The result of the conscription referi endum, it is generally believed, is no) I longer in doubt. There is, unquestion- j ably, a very strong opposition, which is j ! as full of fight as ever, but men who pro- '■ fess to have their finger on the public • pulse say that the only thing , that • puzzles them now is the size of the majori ity with which Australia will declare for • conscription. A week or ten days ago ■ these same men regarded the immediate i future with anxiety, and almost with • gloom. The change may be ascribed not , so much to the growth of the " pro " sen- , timent as to the discrediting of the I " anti" cause. To this, more than one . factor has contributed. The sensational i exposure of those exceedingly active anticonscriptionists, the 1.W.W., has had its due effect. ' I.W.W.' is already becoming generally a term of opprobrium and! reproach. Again, the fact that every; public man who counts for anything in Australian life is advocating conscrip-; tion, has had a great influence. The " pros " have consistently appealed to all that is best in human nature and national life; the " antis," somehow, seem to have aroused only the baser emotions and prejudices. And in this latter fact, probably, lies the ultimate success of the conscriptionist party. The " antis," at their own meetings, but more often at " pro" meetings which they have invaded, have given expression to sentiments which have disgusted every de-cent-minded voter. They have shown themselves to an extent incredible, utterly disloyal and selfish. Their complete indifference to or loud-moruthed contempt of personal and national obligations was unexpected, but, unfortunately, these things arc only too clearly proved by the innumerable newspaper reports of meetings. " The extent to which. oonj3cription, having been agreed to, will b* applied, is exercising many minds. Mr. Hughes has said repeatedly that, if t/.ie Government's estimate—that 170,000 single men, between 21 and 35 yea/rs, are still in the country—were correct, they could provide all the recruits ne/;essary until next July. Until then he said they did not think it would be necessary to call on the married men. To-day, it is announced that 151,000 have been registered, and the figures are not yet complete. Of these, 136,0 m have been medically examined, and it is estimated that nearly 100,000 of them are fit." "The single men w.jo are pouring through the military depots as compulsory soldiers, and who are thronging the Courts this week and prosecuting claims for exemptions from military service, fall easily into two classee—those who will serve, with a good grace, einee they must; and those who will resort to anything to avoid service. The latter arc numerous, and full of wiles and stratagems, but they meet their match, generally, in the nulitary doctors and magistrates. "There- ia. a Melbourne etory of twomen and a truss. X"he first to wear it eaid nothing, but let the doctor find it for himself. He was promptly "unfit." The friend, to whom : he passed it, talked 'volubly of how he was injured by a fall. But he was passed as fit. Vigorous protests, ending with the doctors remark: "If you'd learned your part well, yon wouldn't be wearing it upside down." Another man ewore he was deaf. The . doctor, with some hesitation, declared: him unfit, then, as he went out, asked him in an ordinai-y voice to "close the door. The dodger did so—and was promptly brought badk and relieved of his medical certificate. There are known to be cases of "doping"—men going, drugged, before the doctors, and feigning heart or nervous troubles. But the medical officers are extremely alert, and seldom misled. False statements by men that they are short of eight, or deaf, of lame, are usually exposed by some unexpected ■ test."