Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, MAY 3rd. 1917. GREYMOUTH’S LOYALTY.

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 May 1917, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, MAY 3rd. 1917. GREYMOUTH’S LOYALTY.

The Press throughout New Zealand lias given prominence to the recent Municipal elections in (iroymouth, and eulogistic references have been made to the manner in which the loyalists in tin's town answered the challenge of the anti-conscriptionists. That the word “Loyalty” was used as no mere catch-cry to win votes is proved by the fact that the Mayor-elect (Mr. J. 1). Lynch, in outlining his platform at yesterday’s installation ceremony, made it clear that the chief aim of the , party which ho represents is to assist the Empire to win the war. i Everything- else is of secondary •Importance until this great aim is -achieved- The task 'which the ■ new Council has before them is j harder than many of them anticijpate. At present ilio district is seething with industrial unrest, and no sooner is one strike settled • than another is at hand. The • whole of the wheels of industry 'are rapidly getting- clogged, and ; men who are perfectly loyal, am] quite willing- to work are liable to find themselves without employment simply because a small section of the miners consider it their main duty at the present crisis to “down tools” to secure some object more or less praiseworthy under ordinary con- :

<1 i i ions I)iit call in *»* for nof lii n **■ lull, condemnation when tlie Jim])ire is struggling for iis very oxistenco. liven the strongest opponent to conscription must begin to wonder whether his views ere not grievously in error when he finds a nation such as the Unified States adopting compulsory service with but slight opposition- The President, and people of the United States were spectators of the great war for over two years- They had ample opportunities of viewing the many problems that arose, and now that they have entered the war as contestants they have passed a' verdict in favour of Conscription. Like all peace-loving and libertyseeking people tliev like tbo idea

of conscription as liiile as we <lo; but they wish to end the Avar victoriously in as short a suace of time as possible. In order to do tics they must be able to draw at will on the man-power of the people. The people of Grojinouth

iu supporting l conscription while ■the war lasts know that they have adopted a principle that has beau endorsed by the whole Englishspeaking world- Wo must not disguise the fact that wo have in our midst n small section, noisy and discordant, who do not wish to see (lie Military Service Act working smoothly, for they know Hint they will ho compelled to do their part in defence of the Empire, This they have no wish to do, and they will take advantage of the industrial unrest to stir up strife- It is for tho Loyalists here to band themselves together so that if an emergency should arise they will be able to act promptlyIt is a great mistake to leave everything 1 to chance. The Borough Council is thoroughly loyal, feud upon this aspect of their duties we may rest assured that there will be no discordant voice at the Council. “Win the war” is the slogan that will stifle all signs of disunion- There is one point that we wish to make clear and it is this: We do not accuse the miners as a class _ of of being disloyal and of wishing the Empire to lose the war- We are quite confident that the majority of the miners are true Britons and are ready to do their part in crushing German _ militarism- Unfortunately a section of noisy agitators hold the reins of office, and they speak as if they had the supnort of all the minersIt is a case of the tail wagging the dog- The present crisis may in the end do a great deal of gfor it may permit the miners who wish to do their part for the Empire to act uninfluenced by pressure- The people of Greymouth can do a great deal towards moulding a more healthy tone of loyalty in the district. Until the results of the elections were known the' disloyalists thought that they were a majority and acted as such- They have been taught their place and they must he kept in it- In the first place, the manifestations of disloyalty, such as remaining seated during the singing of the National Anthem, should he promptly dealt with- Persons who make a practice of disloyal utterances and disloyal behaviour should he excluded from all public gatherings, and he treated as alien enemies. Employers who utilise the services of noted disloyalists should he sharply admonished- In short, the people of Greymouth should make their loyalty "as practical as possible- It is no use giving utterance to high-sounding patriotic sentiments in a public and then going home and utilising German goods and hobnobbing with noted disloyalists. Those who are not with us are against us, and we must hear this in mindDo not let us imagine that wo have done our duty if wo have subscribed a pound or so to the Patriotic Association and loudly applauded the speech of some patriotic speaker- All. this counts for very little iu winning the war.