LET THE YOUNG MEN GO FIRST

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22796, 23 August 1939, Page 16

LET THE YOUNG MEN GO FIRST

ro tec ed it on or the pbesb Sir, —In “The Press” this morning Mr J. R. Hanan, Mayor of Invercargill, is reported as asserting that “any man who opposes compulsory military service is either a fool or a traitor.” Such a statement should not be allowed to go unchallenged. It is based, of course, upon the idea so widely trumpeted that it is a young man’s duty to fit himself for the defence of his country. Now, what does this mean? It means that when the State goes to war its action must not be questioned; that the young man must be prepared to murder or be murdered in defence of his government’s foreign policy; that He must silence all Christian scruples, stifle his own free thought and moral judgment, and reduce himself to a brainless cipher. “Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.” So far this alleged duty of defence has been presented to men for their voluntary acceptance. Mr J. R. Hanan would impose this “duty" compulsorily. But, however put forward, the idea is fundamentally false. As Professor MacGregor says; “War, as a moral problem, is not merely a national or a State concern, but is primarily a persona] concern. The assumption that the moral duty of a Christian citizen can be scheduled lor him by the State strikes at the very roots of moral responsibility. ‘Duty’ is a compulsion to be accepted from within, not to be imposed from without.” The Christian knows that his first duty is to God and to humanity; It Is this honourable and devout consideration that deters many from military service. ■''Yet these men who are seeking their country’s good in the only way it can be attained, that is, through conformity with Christ’s purposes of love, are held up for genera] derision as “fools” or “traitors,”— Yours, etc., J, R. HERVEY. . August 22, 1939,

TO THE EDITOB OF THE PRESS. Sir, —In “The Press” of to-day, under the above caption, you report Mr J. A. Hanan, Mayor of Invercargill, as saying, inter- alia: “Any man who opposes compulsory military training is either a fool or a traitor.” As I and all my associates here, have already volunteered our services, have been accepted in different departments for the defence’of this splendid country, and yet vigorously oppose compulsory military training, I suppose we must all come under his drastic opprobrium. We are now wondering what terms of endearment he will place upon those gentlemen, including‘himself, who for many months now, have been vigorously advocating the conscription of human life (especially the younger men), yet strenuously opposing the conscription of wealth. I wonder if he has ever studied Holy Writ. His remarks do not show any knowledge of it.—Yours, etc., J. HILL. Conway, August 21, 1939.

TO THE EDITOB OF THE PBESS Sir, —The Returned Soldiers’ Association is once more in the news, and this time, according to the report in “The Press” this morning, it is Mr Hanan, the Mayor of Invercargill, who , is providing the association with a gallant new motto, “Let the Young Men Go First.” How it does take us back to the good old days of the last war! . •"■.V.

Just' what is the position of the Returned . Soldiers’ Association and its

offer of service? It seems to haye blun- -' dered by allowing itself .to become * the pawn of the recruiting author!-' . ties.

: We learn from Mr Hanan that the : Returned Soldiers’ Association is using . its influence for the introduction ■ of compulsory service in New Zealand —presumably so that the young men may go first! The fact, is, of course, ■ that the Returned Soldiers’ Association should never have allowed itself to be jockeyed into this position. I question whether returned soldiers, who know exactly what they are asking the young men, can really be serious in their to force them into service. If they do, then they appear to have learned little from their experience, and deserve to find themselves in a dilemma. As one of Mr Hanan’s “traitors,” who believe that compulsory military train- . ing is the greatest step towards the totalitarianism we wish to avoid, involving loss of individual freedom and atrophy of conscience, I should like ,to ask the Returned Soldiers’ Association the following question; Did it secure the support of the firms who sponsored the recent recruiting pages in . the newspapers, or were these worked : up by newspaper salesmen as a commercial proposition?. Personally I feel that thousands of

returned soldiers must be disappointed - in the lead given by the assbeiation in : this matter of recruiting, and that they would recoil: from acting as enlistment ■ agents to the horrors of modern war- • fare. '

Finally, I recall Bernard Shaw’s - statement that if there was any sense : In sending men to. fight it was only reasonable to start with the old men

and work down. Certainly war would not be so popular.—Yours, etc., R; THURLOW THOMPSON. . August 21, 1939.