"BOY-CONSCRIPTION."

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 262, 5 November 1928, Page 11

"BOY-CONSCRIPTION."

MR. OSBORNE'S PLEA FOR VOLUNTARY SYSTEM. LABOUR'S LOYALTY.

" What is the attitude of Labour in regard to the New Zealand navy?" was one of the questions put to Mr. A. G. Osborne, Labour candidate for Waitemata, at his open-air meeting at Devonport on Saturday. "We have no intention of interfering," replied Mr. Osborne. " National defence is a matter of prime importance. With regard to military defence, however, we hold very strong views. We believe in the old voluntary system, as it existed until boy-conscrip-tion was introduced. If boy-conscrip-tion is not good enough for John Bull it is not good enough for us." Mr. Harris had said the Labour party was disloyal, but he (Mr. Osborne) claimed that it was just as loyal as either of the other parties, and it certainly had more who had served the Empire in time of need than had Reform or United. It was a gross mis-statement for Mr. Harris to suggest that Labour was allied with the Communist party. It was not fair for any candidate to suggest such a thing; it was a deliberate attempt to mislead the electorate. Mr. Harris posed as an independent candidate, but he was no more independent than Mr. Coates. (Laughter.) The United party was a conglomeration of political misfits, and was certainly not united. Labour had a definite and constructive policy to place before the country.