WATCHING THE GERMANS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 21 October 1914, Page 8

WATCHING THE GERMANS.

NEED FOR STRICT CAUTION

[By Tjeleghaph—Spiwwi, to Stau.l WELLINGTON, Oct. 20.

An interesting question on the position of aliens of a hostile nationality was put to the Minister of Defence j this afternoon by Mr. Bradney. The ! member enquired whether the Minister would take steps to order all foreigners in" the Dominion to report to the i authorities at once. j The Hon. Jas. Allen (Minister of Defence) replied that it was rather a : large order to ask all foreigners to report themselves. So far, Itovrerer, as, Germans and Austrians were concerned, the authorities were having a ! most, careful watch kept upon them, ; except those Austrians on the gumfields of the north. He had hoped to have had for the House that afternoon a list of the Germans and Austrians now interned at Motuhehi," Somes Island, and in the south. Every now and again letters were received that this or that individual was a German reservist. In every instance immediate steps were taken to ascertain the truth, and, when it was considered necessary, the individual was arrested. The Minister explained that there were Germans who had been in the country for a lengthy period, and. that it was ! a very ticklish matter to arrest such people unless there was a good and ! definite reason for so doing. In answer to a member, Mr. Allen said that there had been a Germnn in one of the forts at Auckland, but that he had been taken out, and .was. now on the staff of the coast defence geetion. Mr. Reid:-He ; s s tui i n the forts? The Hon. Mr. Allen: Not that I know of; but the officer in question was born in New Zealand", and is to j all intents and purposes a New £ejl-' land subject. . J The Prime Minister stated that members would recognise that in its treatment of Germans and Austrians in New Zealand the Government had been acting under Imperial instructions. "There are Germans and Germans in I New Zealand," continued the Prime Minister. "Germans who are oldsettled British subjects, whose sympathies, I believe, are with us in the present crisis, as some have proved by sending their sons with the expeditionary force." So far as the Austrians were concerned, they had proved their sympathies by contributing liberally to the patriotic funds. Mr. Atmore: That is no proof. Mr. Reid: There is no doubt about the Austrians..

The Prime Minister: A man is known by his works, and if a man offers to go to the front and contributes to the patriotic funds, that proves where his sympathies lie. However, there were undoubtedly in New Zealand a number of Germans whose sympathies were against us, and we could not trust them. Everything possible was being done to safeguard the interests of New Zealand citizens: He did not wish to go into, particulars, but if it could be proved at any time that any German subject was supplying the enemy with information detrimental to the country, he woxild be handed over to the military authorities for court-martial. If found guilty, he (Mr. Massey) need not tell members what would happen. Self-preservation was the first law of nature.

Our Eltham correspondent states that Messrs L. Theobald, C. Allen, and N. Hull left Eltham this morning to ]om the Expeditionary Force.