THE ANTI-MILITARIST.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14304, 15 March 1912, Page 9

THE ANTI-MILITARIST.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE PRESS." ■■"ir, —As a constant reader of your paper. I have become just a little Min the military movement and tho method in which "a few of the public take exception to the Defence Act. We are at present inclined to Think that with the advance of civilisation lias come the decline of chivalry; but when we seek out those who, hy their pnssi veness. stir up strife, we thank yoodne.'is that they are very tew per cent. On the weakness ot the Premier's action in releasing from prison one of our law-breakers, I shall Jiot dwell. We may expect quite startling events from that quarter at this precarious period. inasmuch as admitting that in New Zealand we have f-omo very queer laws, 1 am prepared to a.Lcreo with these anti-militarists, and I can suggest to those who feel themselves oppressed by the Jaw the very bc"*t way out of the difficulty. And I may mention that when the people 01 Ibis country see fit to carry Prohibition 1 intend to adopt the course I am now recommending. If our house does not suit 11s, what do we do? Why, get another, of course; tho same with our town. Why not p:o a step further and apply the. reasoning to tho country! , ' There aro plenty of other countries, and if our country's laws become such that we cannot see our way to submit to them, "well, then, away we £0 to another land where wo shall find 'things moro satisfactory, and as tho antimilitarist would say, where wo don't have to As this scheme of resistance is very weak and narrow, and must be condemned on all sides, I trust that those interested in resisting tho law will give due consideration to this friendly suggestion of mine.— Yours, etc., REASONABLE. Christchurch, 11th March.

TO TDB EDITOR OF "THE FMWS " Sir, —1 think it about timo that Sir Joseph Ward should drop his frightened jolly-fish attitude and enforce tho Defence Act firmly and consistently. What is the reason of his letting a stubborn youth defy tho laws of the country, and then releasing him after ho had been arrested and gaoled ? Theso few malcontents aro studied as if they were the cream of tho country, instead of a band of querulous fanatics. What is Sir Joseph's game? 1 bcliero tho reason is this:—That he, knowing that Labour is ngain.st the scheme, wishes to pander to that party and keep their support. Tho release of Cooke has been a serious sot-back to tho scheme. Sinco then tho boys aro harder to drill, and many misguided youths who would eventually havo joined, have put off tho day in tho hope that '-something would turn up." In regard to tho allegations of theso people, about tho evils of camp life, I would like to relate an occurrence after tho anti-militarist meeting at In tho train coming homo from Lyttelton, 1 struck a gang of about thirty of these "innocents," "children of compassion," or whatever cognomen they go under. Every now and then they burst into a wild chanting of some doggerel that was distributed, in tho form of handbills. They soon dropped this and then occupied their timo by shrieking out epithets and jeers to every person in uniform tho train happened to pass. The language in tho train was fairly hairraising, as I can prove. Now these are tho "innocents" that tho leaders of the movement weep crocodile tears over, and bemoan their unhappy fate. Let mc tell these anti-militarists that tho dangers they fear in the camp arc only ton real in their own ranks. —Yours, etc., T. CHAPMAN.