A CONTRAST IN REWARDS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21989, 13 January 1937, Page 7

A CONTRAST IN REWARDS

TO THB EDITOB. 0» THB PBKS3. Sir—"Verily I say unto you, they shall have their reward." I was visiting an invalid friend at the Public Hospital on Sunday, and there, unexpectedly, found material for serious reflection, particularly in view of the present unrest in Europe. ,That trite old maxim about "laying down ones life," etc., much quoted during the late war, received a rude shock; in fact, was annihilated. In the same ward was a returned soldier, and I heard his story. A married man with two children, he was badly wounded by shells and shrapnel in France. For close on 20 years this poor fellow has never known a day's peace, mentally or physically. Operations have reduced him to a shadow, and this week he has to have the knife again. He trusts it will be the finish, one way or the other, but the thought of leaving his wife and children adds xurther to his misery. This was his reward. While pondering over this distressing case, my mind switched over to the experience of another war hero of a different ; type—a single man, not a New Zealander, and a notorious shirker, whose idea of his duty to his adopted country in its time of danger was to spend some time in gaol as a "conscientious objector." To-day this individual is at the "top of the tree" in many ways, and is enjoying life and its fullness. There is a screw loose somewhere in i system of government that tolerates such a position. It would not happen in advanced countries like Russia, Germany, or Italy.—Yours, etc., MAC. January 11, 1937.