A FIRM REPLY
Sir James Allen was at his best in dealing with the deputation from the Labour Conference which waited upon him yesterday. He is the Minister of Defence, and the title applies with special propriety to one who is a defensive rather than an offensive politician. Sir James Allen is not strong in attack*, but in defending a position where a. principle which commands his allegiance is at stake he can hardly bo surpassed. The considerations that embarrass the ordinary politician are no embarrassment to him, and the fiercer the attack the more uncompromising his defence. The demand of a Conference which claims to represent 60,000 workers would have seemed a very serious- matter to some of Sir James Allen's colleagues; but as he was quite satisfied that the demand was wrong it did not trouble him. What the Labour Conference desires is that a numW of military defaulters who went, to prison gluing the ww ahagid be »•
leased now that the war is over. " Conscientious objectors" is a fine-sounding term, but " defiant objectors " has a less attractive sound, and " shirkers V must be admitted to be positively ugly. The deputation claimed an amnesty for them all without discrimination, so that even the shirker or the recalcitrant who refused to render non-combatant service is to enjoy at once the freedom which the valour of his fellows has protected* while he has been shirking. To these defiant objectors Sir James Allen offers no hops vof compromise, but he has already established a Board to -consider the cases of those religious objectors for whom the much-debated exemption clause failed to provide, and he went so far yesterday as to say that he would endeavour to deal with the " honest conscientious objector " and release him if it were possible. But it is a case of "thus far but no farther" with the Minister, and we believe with the country also. The men who shirked their obligations during the war should not be allowed to enjoy the blessings of peace until their offence has been fully purged.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19190131.2.42
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 27, 31 January 1919, Page 6
Word Count
345A FIRM REPLY Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 27, 31 January 1919, Page 6
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.