GREY PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION.

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 July 1918, Page 7

GREY PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION.

on WEEKLY MEETING,. The weekly meeting of the (Jreymoutl Patriotic Association was held yesterday, when the following were present : The Mayor (Mr. .1. 1). LyneJi), Messrs A P. Mackenzie, J. Ring, J. McLean, ~" D. McKay, Brook-Taylor, I). Tennant, W. it. Kettle and I'. Jeffreys. The only item of correspondence considered was a communication from the Advisory Board of the New Zealand War Relief Societies, who in acknowl. Judgment <-f the Association's coml. .mni)ication. in effect stated tha.-" l. the Association did not consider a conl. ference of delegates necessary, but that l. the letter would be placed before the i. Chairman of the Board for considerai. tion.—Received. l. Mr. I). Tennent moved : "That in view of the inevitable hardship attached to the calling up of the married men with families of this Dominion, 5 and in the face of so many shirkers, deserters and evaders of the Defence Act of the First Division still at large, this Association strongly urges the National Government to use every means in its • power to arrest these men, and failing their immediate return to duty that they be disfranchised for life in New Zealand." The discussion that followed was in f} complete accord with the principle of '.- the motion, members as a whole aver:l ring that deserters and their kind !- should be compelled to do their duty, ) and as the mover of the motion ob--5 served "They should get out of the i country" t Similar views were expressed by Messrs Brook-Taylor and Kettle, who strongly advocated the policy of taking strenuous steps to compel evaders of military service to do their duty. The e motion was carried unanimously.