LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2796, 14 June 1916, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LIEBKNECHT: A POTENTIAL PROMOTER OF PEACE. Sir,—An insignificant cable which recontly appeared in the daily newspapers convoyed nows of an event which may soon give birth to a much more momentous faotor in bringing the present war to a conclusion than any of the mow striking events preceding which have attracted immeasurably greater notice. 1 rofer to. the indictment of Karl Liebknecht, the Socialist leader, on a charge or alleged high treason to the German Empire. This act of temerity is little short of suicidal madness on the part of the Prussian autocracy, inasmuch as- it is not merely the prosecution of a single individual, but the unsheathing of the Hohenzollern sword against the millions of people who are behind Liebknecht. This rash proceeding may precipitate a disaster far greater than any which may befall the Huns in the trenches or the bottleil-up fleet in the Kiel Canal, and may shake the very foundation «. the German Empire. Kaiser Wilhelm may yet say, in'regard to this, as he is reported to have said when lie signed the Declaration of War against Russia, "Gentlemen, you will live to regret this," for Liebknecht, himself is a king, and lie, too, though uncrowned, holds sway in proud Potsdam. It was a bitter pill for Kaiser Wilhelm when, in 1912, Liebknecht was returned as the Socialist member of the Reichstag for the very constituency in which the members of the reigning House were p?rsonaJly canvassing on . behalf of the rival and unsuccessful candidate. Kaiser Wilhelm represents a I'arty—the Party against whom we are fighting; Liebknecht, too. represents a Party—the .Party with whom, when the inevitable end comes, we shall be joined in amity. Following the lead of his father, who went to prison because of his views, ho' has uncompromisingly -from the first been an opponent of this Titanic war, and has more than once been refused the right to address the Assembly of which he was a duly" accredited member. Nothing daunted, he wrote a speech he was not permitted to deliver, and hapded it to the President of the Reichstag, but that dignitary, with characteristic Prussian pugnacity, refused to accept the damnatory document. Liebknecht stands for freedom of thought, of speech, of action, and, as such, can no more be silenced than the wind that bloweth where it listeth. He is a man of the highest education and attainments, a barrister by profession, and a man of keen discernment, a power, forsooth, that cannot be suppressed. "His indictment will' involve a trial of strength between despotism and liberty, and the issue may. result in the final overthrow, of Prussian' militarism the establishment of Liberalism in Germany and a permanent peace' in Europe.—l am, .etc., " PERCIVAL R, WADDX. Trentham Camp, June 10, 191 G.

SINGLE MEN AND DEPENDANTS.

■ ?' . Sir,—l have read, with interest the correspondence that has been in your paper oil this matter, and I certainly agree with tho correspondents that Parliament (unless it amends the Bill) is not treating single men and their dependants at all fairly. The Act seems to put a premium on tho married "shirker," while those who have stood by their helpless dependants iii their want are being penalised. The Hon. Mr. Allen has said that the. position of the single men with dependants will .be considered by the board, but surely, Sir, these men : should be at once placed in Division 11. • Instead of that the Minister says they will have to go before the board and state the whole of their private affairs, while the married man with no ohildren or one child, and the man married since the war up to May, 1915, is to be exempted from this trial. The Government's attitude is tantamount to saying to all men who are single, "You should marry, no matter who your dependants are—whether widowed mothers, delicate sisters, or crippled brothers—and let these dependants go to a charitable aid board or some other such institution." I consider the single man, who would'leave a helpless mother,, sister, or brother in destitute circumstances, in order to take on the "protection" that is given under the Act by marriage is worse than the "shirker."

Mr. Allen says he is going to exhaust Division I before calling on Division. 11. Does this mean that single men with dependants, .no matter the number of them (as all single men are' classified under Division I) are to be called up before the married men with no children or even with one grown-up child. 'If this'is so, I think, Sir,"you vrill agree with me that it is a disgrace for Parliament to enact such a measure. Can there be any comparison in the position of- dependancy of an aged mother, a young sister, or crippled brother, on the one hand; and that of a young wife on the other hand, who is easily able to work, or if necessary can easily go back to her parents during the war,period? Surely life is only commencing before tho young married woman, while the mother's day is passed. Why, Sir, even Germany—a name that stinks in our nostrils—does' not conscript f*fe only single son of a widowed mother. Do you not think that this is a matter that should be remedied before the Bill is finally passed?—l am, etc.. BRITISHER.