WEDNESDAY, December 29th, 1915,

Grey River Argus, 29 December 1915, Page 4

WEDNESDAY, December 29th, 1915,

BOTH in Noav Zealand and in iSiisUvJiH .scAf-ral' trade. ovf;.'.'nisalions liavie shown marked antipathy to fbe war census, and persist ill 'reading ♦'conscription into it. In this iJbby are quite wrong, for the National. Register is not tho 'enemy of. unionism . The defeat of the 'Vli.Mcs that form the Quadruple Entente Avill bring with it tho dvtrlhrow oi ; thy principles for the. deforce of which 'Trade Unions auto on lied into tveing. We were not the aggressors in this great world^wide .struggle, and wp. and our Allies . are fight,ii i.'.- to dofend demibcracy against the ambitions of a -madman who has conceived tlie idea of becoming a A^oi'ld master. The war Will decide whether the old doctrine of the Divine Right of viii"- shall triumph over the nobler doctrine of the Rights of Mail ■which is the proud : task of ourselves and our Allies to defend. A. victory for Germany will mean the qverthrow of democracy and 'the establishment of ; a system of' tyranny beside A\iiich feudalism pales into insignificance. -Tradaj TJnidhisni has a golden opportunity of asserting itseif as a power for good in the world's' affairs^ Xf it persists in magnifying trivial grievances arid causing, industrial troubles "when all our energies should be- devoted/ to one end — the speedy and successful termination of the war— it will bring disaster upon itself and lose its op portunity. to exercise'w'orlcl wide

irfluoncc. If , on the other hand, it uses' its "influence to oi'ganise the woi-'kcrs to assist the Government it will obtain a position from which it can never afterwards be ejected. There, is an old saying that "necessity -knows. no law." This is hardly eon ..»« under the present conditions. St should rather be "Necessity creates fresh laws." The Trade Unionists must recognise that industiies cannot at present be bound down by hand and fast ruLes, hoAvevei $ood useful these may be in as" sistiny the cause of the workers in normal times.,. Labour is orTauised to meet present, requirements when its energies go tow ar- 1 ds hclpino- the nation in a serious and genuine spirit to increase the sr>-^ii- of munitions or to keep up the primary industries of the country to their full capacity. Trade is organised for war when it kafvps commerce within our own hands or in the hands of our Allies, and in order to do this an aniplo supply of ships must be al.wavs available to carry goods wlicrevor they are iiequired by our Allies. Capital is organised when, it is available at all times for war loans, or when it can be taxed up to its full capacity dor war purposes. Capital is disorganised wheii it is allowed to pass out of tli'O. country or is spent in the purchase of luxuries. The spirit k that must animate all sec--tious oithe conuuunity at, the present time is th^t of self-saeriiice. The rich man must become less rich. The. worker must put forth "'•cater efforts. The National Register that has just been compiled gives the strength of. the country and its available recourees. Every man avlio is free to do so should offer his services to -ho Empire — not necessarily to sj'Tve on the battlefield, for the wheels of industry must be kept goino'. and some could be more profitably employed in a civil capacity than in fighting- in the trenches. If the voluntary system fails then there is nothing left but conscription .or defeat, the supply of men must .be maintained if we arc to bring the war to a successful issue. The Gov'eminent must carry out -its duty, and not be influenced one jot by any threats that may be made' by those who are opposed to conscription 1 . These people who are so fond of prating about tbe advantages of the voluntary system over conscription do not practise ■vhat they preach. They say that the voluntary system has not been given a fair chance. They demand that better pay should be given to those enlisting and a - more liberal pension scheme . be l brought into force. It is impossible to point out the claims of patriotism to these people, for they 1 boast that they have no country. Thyyare willing to become soldiers — so they assert— if they are adequately paid for their services. Jn plain English they are willing to become mercenary soldiers, swashbucklers ready to light for the country offering the greatest bribe. They say that they would be just as well off under the Gcr- ! man Hag as under the Union Jack. )So they would, from their point of view, provided that the Kaiser paid them well to draw a sword on his behalf. Those who have read European history are aware of how tho greatest tyranny carried out their infamous- designs by .means of mercenaries: Let our aiiti-conseriptionist friends' who are so fond of sneering at conscription remember that tho) coir script is on a plane infinitely high er than that of a mercenary, and it is mercenary soldiers that they see n 1 so anxious to sec introduced., into the country. v ■

An emergency meeting of Lodge Mawbera will be lield to-inorrovv night at eight o'clock. ". ■

Wanted to buy Second hand clolkiug, boots, jewellery, old gold and silver.— T. iritzgimmons, Greymouth and Hokilika.

Come aud se what we caa do in. Summer Dress Goods. We have a magnificent stock in, striped and spot Voiles, Crepes, Tobralco, Prints^ Zophrs, Muslins, etc.— Yfalker 's, Boundary Street.— Advt. ..

A useful hint* to those sending gifts to soldiers at the front -is coUtained-iu a letter from the Rev. Guy Thorntou, a . • ch.apla.iu with the Expcditioiiary Force, who writes from Zeitouu Egypt v lie points out that unless cigarettes are packed in air-tight tins they invariably arrive in Egypt i,u a. mouldy, and consequently useless, "condition, lv hundreds of cases the kind donors have packed them, in s'oeks, but the cigarettes all have to be thrown > away. "This is. apparently a small matter," says the writer, ' ' but many - pounds which could have been utiliged. for other purposes have, by this mistake/ been wasted."

AVun ted known-^Ska ting to-uight at Westland Opera Hose, Hokitika. Great Fun. .Gents 1/-, Ladies 6d[— Advt.

- We have just cleared a manufacturer's stock of blouses and collarettes at a large discount. The blouses are in. all materials, silk, voiles, print poplins, muslins, etc. Prices run from 2/11 to 21/- each. The .collarettes' are all this season's goods, and are real bargain priceja, fr.om 6d to .376. Hardly two "alike, as they are' genuine samples.—Walker, Boundary Street. — Advt Presents for . Christmas SeasonSmart Bags in silk and leather, Handkerchiefs from 2d. to 2/6. each. White Kid Gloves, three buttons, French make at 4/6. Porfuincs, Hosiery, Gent. 'a Socks, etc., at Walker's, -T-iouu'dary' I Street. — Advt. / & .

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Among the best -stories recordri] by a well-known angler is one about :•. Scottish laird who was one da£ relr' ng to his friends at the dinner table ti'<- story of a line fish he had caught. "'Donald" gaid he to the servant behind his ch:iir. — an old man but a new servant"how heavy was the- fish I took yesicr day" Donald neither spoke nor mov.ed. The laird repeated the question. /'Weel," replied Donald, "it* was two pund at breakfast; it had gooteu to aucteen at dinner time, and it was sax and twenty when ye sat doon to supper wi' the captain." Then, after a pause he he added: "I've been tellin' lees a' my life to please shooters, but I'll be dashed if I'm going to tell lees 'in my auld age to j)leasc tlie f ushers!" Tho Grcynwrnth Bowling Club will hold a tournament on Xmas Day and Boxing Day. Rinks will bo . selected from players on the green at 9.45 a.m. —Advt. Your Xmas Prcsntation Goods may be purchased at much low-er tuan the usual price at"B. Dixon's Tainui btreel The complete stocks of Books, Fancy (Irtods and Toys are selling rapidly. Come in and secure your share. — Advt. Attention has been aroused in New , York by reports from Berlin of the measures the German Government is de bating with the object of counteracting the logs of population. At a meeting held in the Prussian House of Lords early in October, under the auspices of a, newly-f oimed league,, attended by scientists and thinkers as well as repre seiitatives of tlie Government, a dclinite programme was unfolded for the renewal of the male population. Among measures rccomiendcd were the aboli- , tion of the legal age for marriage (i.e., young girl brides,) removal of all the - bureaucratic obstacles to marriage, as- ( sistanee for those who feel they are n- ( able to marry, and State premiums for , large families, heavy taxation of . bachelors, old maids, childless couples, k and those with only one or two children. A vagt propaganda of an educational i character Avas decided upon to impress men and women it is their patriotic „ duty to increase and multiply. In this work the churches and schools are to be ciilisteil. Measures will be taken for . the Government adoption of children or . phaned by the war. ' , Xmas Week at W... McKay and Son. j Snap \ip the- Bargain lines offering at uur store for Xmas week. High grade blouses at 3/9 worth double. Snap some, of tlie cheap hats offering in the showroom special liats • offering. Childrens millinery and summer dresses Vv. I M'KAY, AND SON, the Leading Drap eih, Greymouth ,Hokitika, and Nelson # 1 —Advt. ' - ■ Prompt jind soldierly action on the 1 part of a lance-corporal in training at ' Trcntham probably prevented a very si'i'ious disturbance on Lambtou Quay ■on Saturday night. The military train for Trcntham left Lambton at 11 • o'clock, suid just prior to that hour a Jjirgc number of soldiers and civilians ■ had congregated outside the station. • As usual sonic of the goldiers were in ' high spirits, and one of them had an 1 altercation with a member of the Military Police— the "red caps.'' The 1 soldier resented tho treatment he received, and promptly knocked the po- ' lice ofiicial down.,. The action attracted a. big crowd, mostly in khaki, which taking the soldier's part, pursued the red cap, after dcalinng with him in anything but y, gentle manner. "When the red cap broke away he made for a shop in the Hotel Cecil, and the crowd followed him across the road in a threat ening manner. Here tnc lance-corpor-al bfef ore-mentioned' came on the spot. ; At the critical moment ho jumped off a tramcar and holding up both arms to the oncoming soldiers ho said: ''Soldiers! Stop! Whatever is the trouble 7 It is up to us to play the game. Never mnid what civilians do, we in unform must play the man." These remarks served theff purpose, and the trouble came to an end.