More Jailing of the Boys.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 21, 28 July 1911, Page 10

More Jailing of the Boys.

Heed Herbert Spencer.

May we remind the leader writers of New Zealand, and the many letterwriters supporting them., that the opposition to conscription has got beyond the jocular stage, and -that the situation is now serious. In Hacptmaiin's great play "The Weavers" there is illustrated the case of an overseer who passed from contemptuous indifference to craven fear as the weavers' strike reached the point where the overseer's limb and life was threatened, and who then in his livid fright could only whimper "It's serious now." And in New Zealand this "is no time for burlesques of the tremendous passion against jailing New Zealand's sons because they will not register for compulsory military duties —nor is this a time for jeers and sneers about "wild-eyed," "mock martyr' traitors in red ties. The Crisis cannot thus be met. Those who with a remarkable obtusencss rave at one and the same time about the great Empire and New Zealand's danger from the colored peril stagger us by not knowing that the majority of tho Empire's soldiers are colored people. Those a\ ho truculently cry that in preparation for war is there the safeguard of peace never by any means advocate that the way to end prostitution is to prepare for it—nor do they use their sumo lines of argument in respect of any other evil.. Those Avho parade the views of Robert Blatehford and W. T. Mills never quote the immense volume of Socialist authority against conscription and militarism, nor do they really subscribe to the views they parade. Blatehford would not countenance the jailing of boy.-> as our boys are being jailed! Mills" idea of "defence is as far sunder as the poles from the castepromoting, work-robbing, disenfranchising New Zealand scheme, with all that- scheme's capitalistic exemptions and permanent ordainment of non-pro-motive posts, and obedience for the '•inferior menial working-chv-s. It is again remarkable how the paper scribes who e:cult in their charge against N.Z. Socialist-; wauling New Zealauders to accept Mills' views yet not accepting the view.-:. themselves. fail to realise that the •'inconsistency" is equally on the scribes, .seeing that tho scribes repudiate Mills' Socialism while professing to love his militarism! For our part, if in their crude notions

of •'•'consistency" our paper scribes accepted the whole of Mills' views (Socialism as well as militarism) —as they think N.Z. Socialists should—then we might readily complete tho exchange, and accept all of llr. Mills' views (militarism as well as Socialism) The fact of -the matter is that "N.Z.'s Defence Act was foisted upon the people of N.Z. by the press of N.Z.—and if the people, are to be greater than thi press then the press must be defeated by the people. As ever the way Avhen inert unanimity prevails and legislative measures are rushed through without guiding criticism, our Defence Act reeks with preposterous provisions entirely at variance with the traditions and ideals of democratic people. The hurrying and scurrying of the daily papers to the "downing" of the Socialists is not meeting Socialist argument, and surely slinging-off concerning "disordered imaginations'' and Red Tie maniacs cannot longer deceive the people? Ah ! Tho people are stirring I Were they not doing go, they were Herods and Nero.s on unpreeedentedly wholesale scale. There has been a crop of prosecutions of boys since we last wrote on the subject, and also a crop of magisterial mouth in gs worthy only of beings blind, deaf and dumb to manhood and humanity. And more boys are being jailed ! Mr. Bishop, Christchurch, S.M., in sentencing two lads to. prison went so far as to jokingly-—save the mark !—remind one of the lads that "you won't be missed when you are gone," and after heaping upon the lad's head the penalties which would oome of disobeying the law (a bigger ass on this occasion than usual) said "They may stop you getling married yet." as if this would be quite the right and proper thing to do ! And New Zealand people stand the growiugly dictatorial attitude of their bosses who fiich from them the bloodbought rights of conscience and the franchise, and who . to assert dictatorial privilege and . caste-arrogance begin on the boys, afterward® t<3 drive and brow-beat the parents who. hadn't pluck enough to protect their sons from the prison-taint. Either these bosses will get their way. or New Zealand will see in the imprisruuiv.'-nt *>- Cornish and Cooke the foulest *mm New Zealand's excutcheou h;v; yet had to bear. Fortunately, the people are stirring. Now is the need of the Labor Federation and. Socialist. Party—leaders and muk-and-filer:s, though here all may be leaders— redoubling their energies auaim-t the Defence Act and its confer iptive denial e-i the right of the in-

dividual to own conscience or bread, and its outrageously impudent undermining of citizenship and freedom of thought. Now, too, is the time for anti-conscription leagues to dot tho country and link-up in their grand deeds. And if Australian democracy has been decoyed into being used as helper of the British eonscriptio nists, why not New Zealand add lustre to its fame as helper of British anti-con-scriptioiiists ? Work as never before! Heedless of jibes as to your "pathetically foolish attitude" and "open defiance of the law" (audi fthe splendid "reckoning" with the muck-slinging daily papers would bo to beat them) and of "the thin Red line" of betrayers and lunatics. Let us lengthen the "line"' nntil it reaches from North to South and from East to West, thus making tho cross upon which conscription shall be crucified. The enemy would stifle us into silence with his glorification of lawless law, but the law which brands the boys with the brand of Cain, or as alternative soils them with the slime of ja.il, is law for slave® and not for men adoring Liberty dearer than life. 11l fares the land to hastening ills? a prey, Wliere -wealth accumulates and. men decay. By what ethic those who exempt themselves and sons from military service make a crime in others a virtue in themselves we are at a loss to understand. By what process of fair play the militarists would bludgeon the antimilitarists into doing what the militarists ought themselves to glory in doing of themselves we cannot comprehend. ,_■■ A section of the community cannot deny the capacity for and violate the right of another section to liberty without losing faith in the capacity of its own section for liberty. A section that strikes at the liberties of another section commits suicideThere never existed a section that could be trusted with the liberties of another section. No section can be free save by, standing for. the freedom of all sections. If ever there was a chance for the Church to strike a blow for its founder's basic pr inclines that chance is (here land now. Remember Rusk in "3 words in "Modern Painters'' : "The ■world would be a place of peace if wo were all peacemakers." Finally, heed Herbert Spencer. Whom neither "Post," nor "Dominion" nor "Times" or the other sewer-age-slingers will dare try to refute. "Whatever fosters militarism makes for barbarism. Whatever fosters peace makes for civilisation. There arc two fundamentally opposed principles, 011 which social life may be

organised, compulsory co-operation, or voluntary co-operation, the one implying coerciA-o institutions, the other free institutions. Just in proportion as military activity is great, does the coercive regime C« r hieh army organisation exemplifies in full) pervade more and more the whole society. Hence, to oppose militarism is to oppose the .return towards despotism. But my fear is that the retrograde movement has become too strong to be checked by argument or exhortation. It seems less likely that teaching can do anything, considering hoAV little teaching has done. After nearly 2,000 years' preaching of the religion of amity, the religion of enmity remains pre-emin-ent, and Europe is peopled by 200 million pagans, masquerading as Christians, who reA T ile those who wish them >fco act on the principles they profess."