ENEMY ORIGIN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1390, 23 November 1918, Page 3

ENEMY ORIGIN.

COMPLAINT OF INJUSTICE. jfv ii. p. vnii llaasl, of Wellington, lias -tui ,i letter lo members of both House* ol Parliament, complaining thai "grave injustice »viil I-.' done to a la-rge class o.i ',ov;i!, natural-born British subjects, born and bred in .\cw Zealand bul of German extraction, ii' tfio War Legislation Hill becomes'law hi in present form." "Such British {subjects (although many ol llicrii have fought and died tor their connuv).'' state* -Mr. von llaasl, "are by the lilll termed perrons of enemy origin, and ihey and their rtives are prohibited, lor all t .im'e— the Act be repealed—from acquiring land, or even leasing hj for more thaii two ,'oars. unless licensed to do so l, v Ur. Minister fo.r-Lands. Ibis prohibi,;',,n appears to extend to investment ol ~,.;> . - upon mortgage of land. Lei mc .nil attention to the consequences by concn te cases. "1. We ficcept as a volunteer, and compel lo light if he does nol volunteer, every imtural-bonn British subject, son of a German naturalised in New Zealand before his birth. Snub a man might have volunteered and fought all through the war, won the V.r.. and yet on his return he could not buy himself a home, or even rent u dweliinghouse for more than two years without a license from the .Minister, nor could his widow if ho were killed at the from. "2. Lei me cite my own case, because it is illustiative of the injustice done by the Bill, because 1 have no objection to being referred to by uamn in the course of the discussion, and because J am better able lo stand any attacks thai may be made upon Mi** than younger and less known men. ".My father, the late Sir Julius von Llaasl, ti German, bom in Bonn, was naturalised in Now Zealand nearly sixty years ago, and died more than thiuj yours ago. Jlis services to New Zealand speak for themselves. My mother was an Knglislvwoman, daughter ol the late Hdwurd Dpbson. C.E., o if the ( antcrbury Pilgrims, and another ol Now Zealand's pioneers. 1 was born in 1864, after my father's naturalisation, and born and bred in New Zealand. .My wife r,;h 'torn in Australia of Scotch parentage. No Now Zoalanth-r, therefore—on account of ihe for vices to the Dominion of his Ancestors on both sides—lias a. better claim to consult ration fiom his country, and a better right to have all bis privileges and his itatus as a Biitish subject [(reserved in their integrity. "Of my own attempts to serve the Stale I must let others speak. SuHicc it to sayas home proof of the confidence reposed in me—thai during the war the Wellington District Law Society elected me its president, the Government appointed me a member of the Bond, of Science and Art, and also of the University Senate, on which latter body 1 had represented the graduates for several years before. In spite of these facts, 1 am by the Hill declared a person of enemy origin. Neither my wife nor I may buy an eighth ol an acre on which to build a four-zoomed cottage, or rent ifliousc for more than two years, and in the event oi my death, my widow may not even buy a plot of land wherein to bury me in my own countrv — without a license from the Ministe- for Lauds. "And tiie irony of it is that the Minister himself may be not only ji person of enemy origin, but a full-blooded German, born in Germany, and naturalised in New Zealand. 1; will be .said that ihe person of enemy origin i : . protected because, if he is loyal, ihc Minister will grant him a license. But ihe Minister lias an absolute discretion. "If you lake away from the native-born New Zcalander of German extraction Ihe elementary right of a British subject lo ac quire his home and make ii dependent on the caprice of a Minister, a right possessed by tie* foreigner naturalised and resident. inly a few years in New Zealand, the criminal, the negro, the rebel, the seditionmonger, the coward, and (he shirker, the deprivation of his other rights may appear to the people not to be illogical.''