NEWS AND VIEWS

Maoriland Worker, Volume 8, Issue 322, 25 April 1917, Page 1

NEWS AND VIEWS

Mr. J. J. , . Wil-;un--otie of (he abk-sf j jibiU'iJi-iii i.peal;er.s in .\ustralia,. and i'onnerly (.-oimectad with tin- Aush-aliau Socialist .Tarty—has been sent to jail in .Sydney on a churgr- which alleged that lib "was a member of an unlawful association, the J.W.W.." anil, had "incited action calculated io hinder .production, manufacture, and transport ''or purposes c.mnecVt'd with the war." 3lr. W'il-on <.'O!idti<-l. d his o\v7i deff-nee, and tin , sentence inllieled was the maximum I'or which the Uu,'h:;;-made law provided. Australia will liavo .1 lot , of J'rii.ssiain'.-iri to unload after it uas ompti'd out the ai-ch-Prnssianist on .May 5. A Imp sTieech fiylit wa? proceediug in Fitzroy. llulhoiii-np, when last mail let't'. Tho No-v'cnsi.ripiion J'ellowship had lulvertised a nufiii!;;, and a dozen police v.f-re waiting when the speakers and wm<? humlied-i of people turned up (says the "Socialist"). Orant was the first speaker. She had opened her discourse but a. couple of minutes when she was arrested, and continued her address, speaking over her should?!-, to the hundreds who followed, to th? ■police station gate;, Sir. Xornian Grant (sec X.C.F.I was the second j ] speaker, and shared the late of Ms ; sister. Tilr. Kussell, who called upon j sympathisers to follow their secretary, i ! was included in tho haul. As the three ! ! exponents of Freedom of. Speech (for j whiel' young m-eu are alleged to l>9 j ' dying in Europe) passed 'through the- '• prison gates, tho crowd behind raised a ; ' hearty chrer. They were subsequently ' α-pleased upon .CIO bail each, to appear ' before, tho Fitzroy Police Court on ■\\V(!ne?day. The Political Labor Council ' held a meeting on (lie opposite side of ! Smith Street. Tt is said they were '• v.-avncJ by t!;? police not to r.peuk. ■ They also defied the™, and Air. Tudor ' and other Labor politicians addressed * the people. They were not arrested. | ' '' i Major Conlan, of Auckland Jfilitary f Servicv, wased warm vrheu n bcxit- c maker applied for csempiion. He said ] tlttTe wore women walking the streets j of Auckland whose footwear cost .£J 10s. <■ and more per pair. Well, Major, they ( \ i

;>r..> not worn Ly Ihe ralrons of "The. Ahiorilainl Worker. -, t.'on.sf<i-iyt the h\ S proiits of llio profiteer, and -there will I.*" no clear boots under short .skirls. According (o "OUgo,' Daily Times," a slay, probably hunted for its antlers, in desperation struck the sea coast near , Up; mouth of tho .Ashburton I.'iver, and tlion struck out to sf-a and bade goodbye to New Zealand. Hunted, out to bi-;i to escape tlio craving for slaughter! Tn "Passing Notes" of "Otago Daily Times" a correspondent signing himself "Night is Might," suggests that the • iuvernment should deal with the West Coast minors in the fashion they did in; 'he days of Captain Marryat's nowis.— ! "Hog them on the buttocks," though ' the correspondent prefers they shonM bi* shot as rebels. And "'Cives,' who is nsponsiblo for the notes in this coluuiu, agrees with "Right is .Alight," and addj.- "I should be glad lo look on end see jt done." Every Prussian-minded person would. But what would the minf-rs be doing in the meantime? An Ansh-nlian, who had the courage to sign his name, sent this letter to the OJuistchureh "Sun": "Sir,—l hare seen sfveral pars printed in the Sydney papers, taken from New Zealand journals, all waking attacks on Australians t<n account of the adverse voti> cast on the conscription issue. Whilst I personally regret that No was in a majority, I must admit that it was almost too nnmh to expect any country to, of its own free will, vote its people into uniform. You have Conscription in New Zealand, but not mi the .voice of tho people themsehv?, they had not the chance to : ('peak for Aye or Nay. What is Hie result? By your own records as published in our papers yon have had great tt'ouble with shirkers, who by evf-rv means in thoir power try to <?vad<> tho law." And the editor of tho "Run," which seems to be as "dark" as night, added this footnofo: "In reply to our correspondent: (1) Parliament, which ' pie<innubly speaks on behalf of (he : people, voted Conscription in by an overwhelming , majority. (■>) Thero has been no great trouble with the

"shirkers" who, numerically speaking, ;ir.' a negligible factor. (:1) There arc no iiulifiifkiiH whatever I hat a. majority'of (lie pfojilc are in favour of the rt.penl of the .Military Service Act. The (videnoe- is nil ilte other way." UV ndd —■ a footiiole to a. footnote. First , , ]'arliameiit did no I: speak on the authority , of the people; "presumably" is an odi- { rorial shuttle. .Secondly, unwilling eonscrijited men—falsely called shirkers— £; have caused military authorities trouble; and thirdly, the Military Appeal Boards, j to say nothing: of many others, give denial to tho "Sun's" third statement. Fourteen keepers of soft drink shops and restaurants at Auckland were charged , ; with Sunday trading because. they st-!d '_: sol't drinks. Here is the Press '. lion's comment: ''.The judgment w.is ~■ ihat thoiij,'h no objrrtinn ennld be taken to the supply of r.ofh drinks with meals jS or afternoon tea., (lie supply of such by HJ themselves not bn considered a r$ work of necessity. .As the practice had . ):ren permitted for n number of years '%fa the magistral" imposed no penalty, on,|f '""" » coiivicliou only. "Bumble" '% should bo resurrected and sent on lo i 3. Auckland to pass his famous jud;jjS. meut —"Hip laV is a liass." /* $!• A bye-election was held* at Moryjgj borough, Queensland, on Saturday, jSj March HI, to fill a vacancy caused by fp the resignation of Labor member IJamilg,j ton, appointed io represent the fiovernSji nient in (lie Upper Hoy" ' vx -q result Hi was: David Weir (Labor), 1>312; Hording , Wi ('l'fry-C'onscriptjonist), lfiOli—a majority Sfj of (Jl9. Last election the Labor Party's }fj majority -was 492, and previous to thatj >£; the coutests wore usually neck and neck, j The latest: rebuff was a staggerer for *! the Prussianists. I M Alexander Baxter, Archibald wj Baxter, John Baxter, and William \ Little, recently tried at Wellington and; fj penteneed to 81 days' in jail for refusing , «| to obey orders while undergoing deten- % tion, aro Socialist couscientious object- || 'ir.-.. Oh <'br.iple(inf: the 81 days' sen- ;& tence, they will be returned to camp— |and re-sentenced/ This process will apM pareutly be repeated ns long as they perin their conscientious objections. iS A unique "GisWno Times"adverliseraent to sell a fnniV: "Would you like to b? rich? Who are tlie- rich men of Ciisborne?" And -"then the "ad." answers its own questions: "Property owners! Property!.' Property! Property!" Usually aro mostly pnff, bUt.riiliTGisboin& i *oii'o*is--a I candid confession that the rich own the i earth and the fullness thereof. IP in Kockhanipfon, Queensland, (hey have a. Tory Mayor as hot as (lie climate. According'to Brisbane" "Daily ; Standard" they lield a Ttiunicipal election in the tropical city, and things were going bad for the Tories. In the midst oi' the count a Labor pressman appeared on the scene. It was tho red rag to the bull. "You get out," the infuriated Major cried. -"Your men might bo ahead now, but it won't be for long." And out from the pressroom the inky way man was ojected. Tories ever take their gruel badly. Last week yet another Conscription ballot was drawn iv Wellington, wh?:i the fate of 4512 men hung upon the rattle of tho marbles. Because the engineer in charge of the Waihi-Athonree lino was drawn in the i Conscription ballot, work was stopped jon thai; section, and some 20 men, with ■ wires and families dependent on them, have found themselves disemployed. A suggestion, that a foreman of works or superannuated engineer, of the Department ineligible for military service should carry on the work, was rejected as "unpracticable." The people of N.Z. are getting what they voted for alright. How the Australian soldiers voted on Conscription is still worrying the main- j land. William Morris Hughes has supplied figures which have called forth j denials. Hugh Mahon, the ex-Labor | Minister, who ought to know Hughes, says this of his lato chief: "Aa one intimately familiar with the Prime Minster's methods, I should much prefer to accept the assurance of the Chief Electoral Officer regarding the matter/ That is a refined way of calling , William a perverter. When the motion was before the House of Commons to congratulate the new Russian Government, Mr. Oinnell force- j fully pointed out that "they were con- • gratulating , successful rebels in Russia | though they had been hanging and ; shooting unsuccessful rebels in Ireland." In Australia they haw ordered that. 75 per cent, of hides are to be made available for locpL requirements. Here in X.Z. wo could easily make all our ordinary animal hides available for export by utilising the thicker pelts-of our local Prussianists.