CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 11 July 1912, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

wonder, Sir., what your idea is as to what constitutes a MAN. I will give you my definition. It is this : A MAN is one who, by the exercise of his reasoning' faculties, is prepared to accept the xe-| sponsibility of all his actions. Does 'that strike you, Sir, as being correct, for if so, you will admit that military training never made a. MAN, and never will. Of co'urse you have shown the objective is war, and as General Sheridan says, war is heil—'the objective is bad, the military system aims at so d.. ..iiing men's reasoning powers, that every unit shall simply be subject to one will, and, of course, are supposed not to have any responsibility 'with regard to Your great Wellington is reported to have said, "A man to be a good soldier must not have much religion." And, further, one of the leading ministers in a church in New Zealand said the British Army is rotten—so much for the moral aspect of the question. You say. this training does not make the boy a partner in the worst business under the sun. Well, you are welcome to your opinion on that matter, but without a doubt the money spent on this training is the worst wasted of the much that is wasted 'by the Go--.—7-!v.-nt of New Zealand; and as long, Sir, as you consider it right to slaughter your fellows at the order of another, you certainly cannot subscribe to the principle laid down in the Sermon on the Mount. In conclusion, Sir, allow me to inform you that there are thousands in this country who-will not take up arms, believing it is not only -wrong, but is the worst possible way to protect 'themselves and their families. They know the best protection they can have is to occupy every available acre of land and make it (productive, and at the same time, trade fair with other people. It is nonsense to tell us that any nation wants a country already occupied. Wha.t every nation wants is to trade, exchanging their goods for others which they need. And there are other thousands who will not fight, for they say, and truly, that it is not worth while fighting to keep a country for the money lenders* it is bad enough to have, to work for the money lender, they say, without fighting for them. I will give you one more suggestion. an<j if you can get the alteration I suggest made ,in the Defence Act, you will have given this country the best defence of any country under the sun. In the event of an attack the first line of defence shall consist of the Executive, all M.H.R.'s, and the editors of all newspapers in the Dominion. I know this is not. a new suggestion. The writer of an old song suggested it many years ago when he wrote. "Those who make the quarrel should be the only men to fight" : but our legislators are careful to exempt themselves from anything so disagreeable, and hence tb* boy£ are to be sacrificed. I am, etc., ' , J. W.' WIN.