WHY! ENLISTED.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 10526, 2 December 1916, Page 10

WHY ! ENLISTED.

(By Victor Grayson, ex-M.P., in the Chrisfcchurch Star.) The notice of one':; enlistment has apparently caused something of a flutter in the dove-cotes of erstwhile friend. 1 ; and quondam adherents of the Socialist-cum-Labour movement in New Zealand. Letters containing "deep regrets," fatal prediction;., and post-war threats have already reached me, and I have laughed consumedly at my mail of abusive epithets. On the other hand, various good folk have congratulated me for enlisting, and I must confess that the bouquets have left mo more bewildered than the bricks. Let me explain, THE ANTI-MILITARIST RUMP. Towards the end of the year 1909 I joined Robert Blatchford and others in warning the people of Great Britain against a possible, and (as we then thought) an inevitable invasion of Great Britain. The stolid trade unionists and viscid Socialists of the Old Country were astonished that Socialist leaders and guides to the millennium could so far forget themselves as to advocate expenditure on armies and fleets, while the poverty problem remained unsolved. it was the theory of the social democracy, and of certain intellectual cranks, that the Empire's recognised surplus should be utilised solely in the interests of social reform or revolution. Those of us who had studied and closely observed ihe movements of Germany and Prussia were seriously alarmed concerning the future possibilities of a conflict between Germany and Britain. We agreed that all available moneys should be used for the social and industrial betterment of the people; but we realised that there was enough wealth in Britain to solve the problem of poverty whilst retaining in Britain's hands the reins of Imperial power. The idea of Impel ilism in no way negates any defined principle of Socialism; but as Bernard Shaw aptly expressed it, "The most formidable obstacle to the attainment of Socialism was the Socialists," Shaw's phrase has been more than confirmed by my experience in Australia, and New Zealand. I carne as an apostle of Socialism —a philosophy which always postulates an organised citizen army as its basic support. Personally, il believe, and have always believed that a citizen army is the best and most effective means of defence in legitimate aggression than the mind of man lias conceived. Hut the Socialist-Labour Pump in New Zealand don't agree with m*\ The almost defunct Social Democratic Party still and proudly retain.- a military clause in its ahsurd programme or "platform," making a strident demand for a standing army which may be used-only for the purpose of murdering foreigners or strike-breakers. The Socialistic parties are composed of kindly and well-intentioned women and men who sincerely and rightly believe that war is a beastly business; and they are almost more than willing to accept the yoke of German control, because Karl Marx wrote "Das Kapital," because Ramsay Mac Donald had io escape from an angry mob of British patriots; or because the brave and impetuous Karl Liebknecht has talked himself into a dungeon. THE NEW ZEALAND LABOUR PARTY. Needless -o say the Socialist-Pacifists are anti-conscriptionists, but their real disease is anti-miliiarism. If a fire broke out in the, domestic abodes they would talk to it gently. If a German assaulted their wives or daughters, or if a Prussian crushed the skulls of their babies . . . they would explain that sue]) conduct was not, in keep ing with the spirit of the international. ! am a Socialist- and a democrat to Ike von roots of mv being, but I confess that ih\ bosom comrades are entirely incomprehensible 10 me. The Labour Party in New Zealand had the chance of their lifetime when the horrid word conscription was mooted They could and should have accented a conscription of men, on the guarantee of the Dominion Parliament to conscript capital and wealth. They stupidly missed their sublime opportunity, and arc now bleatine harmlessly, well behind the fighting line about matters which cannot and will not be settled, or even touched, until the world war is terminated, THE ENEMY WITHIN THE CAMP. The pacifist (whether lie calls himself a Socialist or a. Quaker) is a greater menace than the guttural Hun in the trenches o! Flanders. Some Socialists wear knee breeches, caps, badges and red ties, but tha; has nothing whatever to do with Socialism. I have : oined the Army and hope to fight the Pruiso-Germans. because X believe that my ideals stand the best chance of realisation under a British regime. Probably few men have fought more defiantly against the horro"s of our own social system than the present writer. But I £«"' constrained to postpone the class war until the great war s termination. I have enlisted because I air. eick of the cant of anti-militarism. I have accepted the khaki of the fighting democ- | racy because the flamboyant ted tie of the mouthing stand-backs has mad© mo weary lof a terror-stained cause. I The German Socialists are fichtmg, the French Socialists are fighting, the Russian and Italian Socialists are lighting—and the doctrine of Socialism is untouched by the smoke and smother of war. I loathe the slimy pessimism of Schopenhauer; I shiver at the brute philosophy of Nietzche and Treitsehke. The German Emperor is frankly following in the steps of Alexander the Great, Xerxes and Napoleon. He, his fleet, his power and his memory must be expunged from the, records of modern civilisatiom I am a Socialist and will wear the uniform of the warrior with good logic and a, bright spirit. I hate war and I hate killing Yet if I account for one of :no vassals of the world's mad dog I shall have "done my bit" towards the world's regeneration. . „„„*_.