FOR HOME AND COUNTRY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 144, 15 December 1909, Page 6

FOR HOME AND COUNTRY.

♦ Sir Joseph Ward's reply to the deputation from the Wellington Trades and Labour Council which waited upon him yesterday to protest against the compulsory clauses of th.6 Defence Bill showed him at his very best. It was courteous and conciliatory, but it was quite uncompromising, and it covered the ground in a very comprehensive way. It was closely argued, and therefore more convincing than his principal speech in the House, doubtless for the reason that in the House he was speaking to an audience that was already convinced, but yesterday he was dealing with opponents. There is only one important addition that he might have made with advantage to his telling ai'ray of arguments, and that is a denial of the right of the deputation to be regarded as accurately representing the opinion of labour, or even of organised labour, on the subject. There are strong supporters of the principle of compulsory training on the Wellington Trades and Labour Council, and at the recent congress of the whole party a hostile motion was only carried by a small majority. When the proposal is more fully understood, we believe that this antagonism will disappear, but it is important to note that even now it is quite a fallacy to suppose that the attitude of the party is one of such uncompromising opposition as the views of yesterday's deputation might lead a stranger to suppose. With the expression of those ! views wo have no occasion to quarrel. They were temperately and reasonably stated by the representatives of the Trades Council, the only extravagance being that of Mr. Hogg, M.P., who is not a member of the council. Mr. Hogg stood alone on the deputation in denouncing any system of compulsory training as "absolute tyranny, if not cruelty to the. youths of the Dominion. 4 " Compulsion of any kind is tyranny fAm one point of view, but Mr. Hogg occupies the singular position of warmly .approving the compulsory teaching of 'the young in arithmetic and geography, while resenting the addition of the elements of the military art to the course as tyranny and even cruelty. If Mr. Hogg could take a poll of the victims of this tyranny, he would find •drill a good deal more popular than the multiplication table. The two strongest points in Sir Joseph Ward's strong presentation of the- casefor compulsory military training were his repudiation of the preposterous comparison of his mild proposals with the

contention that the practical alternative to his scheme was to do nothing at all. With regard to the first point, he made it as clear as words could make it that the obligation to compulsory service is not touched by the Bill. This particular tyranny has been vested in the Government of the day for years past, yet it has not throttled our liberties, and the Bill will not put them in ikmore, parlous position than that which they now occupy. The only new compulsion will be that applied to boys and young men between the ages of twelve and twenty-one, and even that will not be entirely new, for, as the Premier pointed out, drill and physical training have for years been prescribed as compulsory subjects for the children in the State schools. Unless this principle is extended as proposed by the Bill of the Government, how are we to ensure that in its hour of need the country will find a sufficient number of competent defenders to answer to its call ? The alternative to the compulsory qualification of our young mep to discharge one of the fundamental duties of a citizen is, said Sir Joseph Ward, "to follow tho 'do-nothing' policy" which, in the course of time, might put New Zealand under a foreign flag. Instead of being the mere figments of a fervid imagination, "tyranny" and "cruelty"' might present a very unpleasant reality to our people by that time. Even Mr. Hogg would not pretend to regard such a prospect with equanimity. But neither he nor any other member of the deputation had a single suggestion to make •which offers any hope at all of making the present system even tolerably effective. The very men who now talk vaguely about giving further encouragement to the volunteers and tho rifle clubs as a sufficient solution of the problem are those who in the past have taken no. practical share or lively interest in the working of these institutions, and are candid enough to refrain from professing any intention to adopt a different attitude in the future. The duty of defending one's country is everybody's duty, and everybody who is physically capable should be taught to discharge it. To ignore the whole I business, and so to drift blindly on into 'danger, or to delegate the du|£f to a military caste, whether paid or unpaid — either of these alternatives is surely unworthy of a patriotic democracy. Such is the view of the Labour Party of Australia, and we believe that it will be shared by the representatives of Labour in this country as soon as they have devoted an equally careful attention to the subject.