THE MANIFESTO.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17078, 29 January 1916, Page 9

THE MANIFESTO.

DOES NOT REPRESENT MAJORITY OF WORKERS. MR MASSEY'S STATEMENT. GOVERNMENT KNOWS ITS DUTY AND WILL DO IT. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. WELLINGTON, January 'MThe Prime Minister made tho following statement to-night:— '' I road tho manifesto of the conference called by the Federation of Labour, but I cannot believo that it accurately represents the views of those who wero present. I am quite certain that it does not represent the view of the groat majority of workers of this country, tho great bulk of whom are both practical and enthusiastic in their patriotism. That is proved by the many thousands of wage-earners belonging to the _ Dominion to-day wearing the King s uniform and fighting for their country on the other side of the world. " I am sorry to say that, so far as I am able to judge, there is very little evidence of enthusiastic patriotism in tho document which was given out as the result of the conference. The authors quote a. Germanmade opinion which appeared in the ' Clarion ' bitterly opposing conscription, but many articles might be quoted from the same paper just && strongly on the other side of the question. I saw one not long ago 'referring to the National Register and concluding with these words: 'By and by compulsion should become invaluable, and who then, if defeat and invasion threaten, will dare to oppose conscription.' "I do not intend here to discuss the respective merits of either conscription or the volun>tary N system, but I would say to those who are responsible for the manifesto that if •they want to avoid conscription or compulsion, then their course is clear. Let them assist heartily and enthusiastically to make the voluntary system a success during the present war. Let them realise that the Germans are out to smash Britain herself and invade British territory overseas, and that if they are to be prevented from giving effect to their intention it will be by every section of the community assisting with all its heart and soul and strength to defeat the common enemy. "In our own country we know that such manifestoes are of very little value, and do not represent the opinion of more than a very small proportion of tho population, but, as nowspapors from every part of the Empire reach the enemy, a great deal of harm is done by such productions encouraging the German authorities to believe that the. British people are disunited with regard to the war and longing for peace at any price, whereas tho contrary is tho case. The British people were never so united at any period of their history as they are now. "If the manifesto is intended in anv way to influence the New Zealand Government, it will not have the slightest effect. We know our duty, and will do it to the best of our' ability. We are giving the voluntary system a good trial. Tf it fails (and it has not failed yet), then to do our duty/as a community there is only one alternative— compulsion, and the latter must be adopted when that time comes." (The full text of the manifesto issued by the Wellington conference of Labour representatives, some extracts from which were published yesterday, appears, on Pa ere 11.)