THE MEMBER FOR INVERCARGILL

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 98, 27 April 1932, Page 8

THE MEMBER FOR INVERCARGILL

(To the Editor.) V' . .Sir,—ln the welter 'of ' personal abuse directed by, members of the Labour Party towards the Government in the recent debates, the reported attempts by Mr. }-' ar.1". the member, for' TimarUi. to belittle Lieut.-Golonel J; Hargest, the member for Invercargill; .'by- referring to himi as \ a jumped-up whipper-snapper'^is particularly objectionable, and as a member of. the Otago Regiment which, with the Canterbury Regiment, formed the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the N;Z:E.F:, T wish1 to make a strong protest. Lieut.-Colonel mrgest as second, in command of thelst Utago ,Battahou and subsequently as the omrer, commanding ; the 2nd 'Battalion P£° ve<*h"nself to-be one off New Zealand's ablest soldiers and discharged to a very marked degree the sacred trust reposed in him by the people of Kew Zealand. •• The following reference .to -his worth is .extracted .from the Official History/'.' of \he Utago Regiment at page 388 on the oeca^ sion. of;Lieut.-Colbnel Hargest severing hisconnection .with the regiment in France and .returning to f. England :?upori the termination; of the war:— '■:•■'■ ' v ■'..'. <_",On;.the^s;ime day: :Lieut.-Co]onel J. Hargest, D.5.0,, M.C, (P.),. terminated his service with the Otago Regiment in the field, and departed for • England; .-.-.' In the,course of his long-connection with the' regiment/ Lieut.-Colonel Hargest by his thoroughness, his '"soldierly"ability and bearing, his sense ;of: military honi our, and - his extraordinary. energy and unexampled dash in action, commanded tUe highest admiration and confidence of all ranks: while the rapid and'exceptional success which attended his military career has won for him a foremost place ambii" the distinguished soldiers of the New Zealand Division." .'■ ■ ■

In addition to the military distinctions, namely, the D.S.O. and,H.C. referred to in the above paragraph, Lieut.-Colonol Hargest was twice mentioned in 'dispatches and France honoured him and Aew Zealand too, with the. Legion of Honour (Croix de Chevalier). ; . ■'. So this is the. calibre of the 'man to , whom the member for Timaru refuses to apologise when requested so to do by the Chairman of Committee. lam sure his action : will incur the i indignation and' resentment of. every surviving member of the Canterbury and Otago Regiments. May I refer; Mr. Carr to the final paragraph in the. concluding chapter o£'. the sanie Official History at page 391-—"To those who suffered . and . died for their country posterity must owe an everlasting debt and 'cherish, hallowed memories; for those who'fought and suffered and lived for it, there must be no -less admiration and gratitude; for the "stimulus and inspiration of their lives are not of to^dav but must livel for ever." •'- ■:;■'

_■ Is the time not overdue, for the offending T Labour, members, to realise .that to make a personal-attack against a'niember -is m reality to commit aii elementary logical, fallacy recognised as such long ago by the Ancient Greeks and 'known as1 "argumentnm ad hominem;":and which fovqns a leading writer iii'logic, says, is the great resource of-those' who...have to support a weak case."—l am, etc;, ■••• ' -

~ ■; ;V. C,F. ATMORE. - •_. • . ,-imr Battalion '"Otago Regiment. Ojtaki," ■"'■ '.'. ■' ••- 20th-April;'■ . ■•- ■ ■ ■' '■- ■