ALIENS ON PUBLIC WORKS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17100, 24 February 1916, Page 7

ALIENS ON PUBLIC WORKS.

COMPLAINT AND OFFICIAL REPLY. TO THE EDITOR... Sir,—With your , permission, .1 would like to draw the attention of the Defence Department.-to the state of matters on the public works here and the other end' of this section, viz., Bealey. Here there are a lot of young men fit and ablo for military service who, when asked why they do not enlist, have a very hard-hitting reply. •• What, enlist! So that the Government can put a. lot of Austrians, Germans and Dagoes in our place! Not for minel Enlist your Dagoes, etc., erst,”; Some of the easiest and best-pa-id jobs here are held by Germans and Austrians, and if there is a good job going they are pushed into it in preference to Britishers. If you want to be on a good wicket here, you must be Dago, Chow or German or Austrian. As long as you are one of these, you will succeed here. What do the colonials think of it? Well, their remarks are unprintable; in fact, would burn the paper if printed.— l is ni, etc., • / BRITISHER. Otira, February IS. (The foregoing was submitted by the editor to the AVellington correspondent of this journal for inquiry. Tin; Minister of Public Works directed that the following reply should be made to our correspondent:— ENEMY' ALIENS ON MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS. Sir, —Ii reply to your inquiry, I have ihn iotiour, by direction ot ilic lion the Minister of Public Works, to inform you that the inly enemy aliens employed on the Midland Railway (Arthur’s Pass Tunnel) works, according to a recent, return are two Austrians and one Hungarian. Olio of the Austrians !s naturalised and married to a New Zealand lady, and is, moreover, a. competent electrical fitter, who would he difficult to replace. His services aro therefore being retained. The jfhers arc not naturalised, and the lion Minister has directed that they aro to bo implored on contract or dismissed.—l am, ttc, E. W. numiES. Engineer-in-Chicf. —Ed. “L.T.”)