PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF ALIENS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 201, 25 August 1919, Page 10

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF ALIENS.

<T.. the Krtitor.l i —Some of the Jugoslavs have complained that the regulations concerning them were unjustly administered. I am | sorry to have to agree. Single men with :no permanent interest in our country , were given exemption simply to lix.k I after gum they had grabbed in the' absence of our men at the front. Others were given exemption for no apparent reason whatever. The returned soldiers are now "enjoying" the fruits of this mad policy. While they are chewing over the Jugoslavs' leavings for a meagre -uh-istence the Jugoslavs are shipping -<T the rich harvest they reaped durinf the war. You need not take my word for it. Just inquire for yourself. On the other hand, however, we have the following case:—Here is a Dalmatian who has resided in New Zealand for about .10 years. He is rearing a family of half-a-dozen rather tine child itn. These you will understand are New Zea'anders. They know no language but English and no country but New Zealand. Even in ordinary time* the man who brings up a large family confers a boon on the country. In these days j of bloated prices he is by way of bciti_r i a hero. But what encouragement l ''d this man <iet? His eldest boy wa« necessary to keep Ihe pump going while the father was digging in the deep, net ground. Formerly. in spite of her six children, the mother had t<> do this. Vet ! as soon a* the boy reached the age of IS he was taken away to the public works. I Could downright wickedness <ro f-irther? Every alien who has failed us iii any i way during the war should be shipped | out of the country without so n _j or ceremony, but. on the other hand, every i alien, whether of German or other origin, I who has behaved dutifully, should receive the same rights and privileges as Britishers. The boy referred to ought never to have been taken away, and since the d°ep digging season ii nearly upon us he should be returned home to his parents at once. Possibly this is not a solitary case. —I am. etc., j BLACK WATCH. j