FIRST CALL TO SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16097, 10 December 1915, Page 9

FIRST CALL TO SERVICE.

THE MINISTER'S STATEMENT.

AUCKLAND CRITICISM.

VIEWS OF THE MAYOR.

"A BREACH OF FAITH."

The war register and the statement made by the Minister for Defence in Wellington on Wednesday that he did not see any way to touch the men -without dependants who are not prepared to render any service were discussed by a number of prominent Auckland citizens yesterday. Mr. Allen is reported to have said — " I do not see any way to touch them. X think wo must call up first the men who are willing to go. I do not see how we can do anything else. Of course, we shall endeavour to find the recruits required according to tho classification in the national registration. That is to say, we shall draw first upon the single men without dependants." Mr. Allen said also that he hoped to havo th« new recruiting scheme based on the register in operation by the end of January. Until then the present system must be continued.

That the Minister would be committing an absolute breach of faith if ho proposes to use. the national register for the purpose of recruiting was the opinion expressed yesterday by the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. J. H. Gunson. " The reason for taking the war census was clearly defined at the time, and the assurance was given that it would bo regarded as strictly confidential. It was incredible, he said, that the information so gathered would be used in the manner that had been suggested.

Asked if he thought that Parliament should be called together to consider the whole position with regard to a supply of men for the forces, Mr. Gunson said : " I do not think Parliament should be called together just at present. If we wait a little while we will see whether wo can get men for the twelfths. We have the men required for the elevenths, and it has not yet been established that any other system of getting men is necessary. It may be apparent in a week or two that some other course is required, but it is premature to say that the time has Already arrived. In these matters, any undue interference with the Government —which is, after all, carrying all the responsibilityis not advisable although men in public positions are always justified in voicing the sentiments of the public. It is exceedingly difficult at a time of national crisis like the present to do this without the appearance of harassing the authorities. But I am sure that everyone desires to co-operate in furthering the country's interests at this time, and the Government must realise that a strong public opinion must be respected." AN INJUSTICE TO THE WILLING. MR. PARR SPEAKS OUT. **I have held for some time past that the voluntary system is the most unfair method in the world for raising soldiers to defend the Empire," said Mr. C. J. Parr, C.M.G., the member for Eden. " It simply offers," he went on to say, " a premium to the slacker and the unpatriotic. Promiscuous recruiting such as wo have in"" thus country simply means that we ask the willing to go and fight/ to save the homes of the unwilling. Could anything be more unequal or unjust! Men of principle and grit leave good jobs to volunteer, and will come back to find their billets filled by the timid and selfish men who stay behind. The volunteer system violates the essential principles of democracy, which aims at distributing the national burdens equally. Mr. Allen's latest idea bitterly accentuates the injustice of voluntaryism. The Minister is unable to find a way of touching the men who have refused to serve their country! He proposes first to draw upon the single men without dependants. Obviously he will next call upon the married men without children, and the next call will be on the married men who have wives and families dependent upon them. Mr. Allen's programme is against the first principles of elementary justice. I am sure" the country will not stand it for a day. It ie the duty to find a way of touching these men. Should he be unable to find some way out I should thank it is a case whera Parliament might be summoned for the purpose of deciding upon a better and a more just method. AN UNFAIR SCHEME. DISENFRANCHISE SHIRKERS. " I consider it is very unfair to call up the men who are ready to go and leave tho 'shirkers' untouched," declared Mr. George Elliot. " There is only one thing to do now, and that is to bring in universal service, the eligible men in the various districts being balloted for as required. There are, of course, a great many people who cannot make up their minds, and the Government should make it up for them. It is quite probable that a great number of men who have refused to serve in any capacity have very valid reasons for so doing, but if conscription is not introduood I think the Government should obtain their reasons. If these are not valid, the men should be deprived of their vote, for if they are not willing to serve their country, they should have no say in its management. There is no doubt that the volunteers are the best men, but it is very unfair to deplete the country of these and leave the worst class behind. If a compulsory system were introduced, all would be on the same basis, and even the ' shirkers' might be turned into good fighters, and under a compulsory system every man would start from the ranks and work himself up to a higher position by sheer merit " I think that Mr. Allen's proposal is quite wrong," continued Mr. Elliot, "and until we have compulsory service any system will be wrong. It was stated by the Government in the registration forms that any communication made would be private. Immediately the returns are received, however, advantage is taken of them by the Government, which suggests that the willing man be called upon first, while the 'shirkers' go untouched. Tf compulsory military service is not adopted, the Government should certainly take steps to disenfranchise those persons who cannot show sufficient reason for refusing to do their duty." ° DISTRIBUTING THE BURDEN. MEN OF NO RESPONSIBILITY. Mr. C. H. Poole, M.P., strongly disapproved of the principle of taking an undue advantage of the candour of the men who have stated their willingness to serve at the front, and allow the shirkers to go scot free. He was decidedly of opinion, now that the young manhood of New Zealand had declared itself on the question of readiness to go, that the burden of service should he placed evenlv unon the shoulders of the men of no responsibility and of few responsibilities. If this involved an amendment of the Defence Act, as it. probably would, the Government should not hesitate to call Parliament together for the purpose. A POLITICAL DANGER. VIEWS OF MR. J. S. DICKSON. Mr. J. S. Dickson, M.P., said he saw in the despatch of New Zealand's best men to the frost and the retention of the shirkers at home a possible political i

danger. " If," he said, "we are going to send 40,000 or 50,000 of our best manhood to Europe, is it not possible that in their absence a general election may occur, and that the 35,000 shirkers may constitute a sufficiently strong voting body to largely influence the politics of the country? Why should such unpatriotic persons be left virtually in charge of the Dominion? To my mind the situation is decidedly grave. If it is really true that Mr. Allen purposes to call up the willing unmarried men in January, and after that proceed to call the married young men, I consider that Parliament ought to meet in January, and emnower the Government either to compel the able-bodied shirkers to go to the front, or to give some service to the State in a civil capacity." •

ASTOUNDING AND DISAPPOINTING. MR. W. B. LF.YLANDS OPINION. "This statement is grossly unfair," said Mr. W. B. Ley land, who was president of the National Defence League when the Hon. J. Allen's announcement was mentioned to him. He went on to say that he could not understand the "Minister for Defence admitting that he could not find a way of touching the men who refused to do their duty. It was unfair that these men should be allowed to enjoy the privileges of citizenship, and at the same time shirk important responsibilities. Mr. Leyland said he was certain that Mr. Allen's method was not in the best interests of the State. It would tend to limit the effectiveness of the help which New Zealand could give, because it limited the choice of the authorities in selecting the best men for the best positions. It was astounding and disappointing to find that the Minister for Defence should make such a statement. RETURNED SOLDIERS' VIEWS. "WILLING HORSE" TAXED. THE WAY WITH " SHIRKERS." There were no differences of opinion at the Soldiers* flub in regard to the statement made by the Minister for Defence. The men one and all expressed unqualified disapproval of Mr. Allen's proposal, and waxed very warm when referring to the single men without dependants who dec'ined to do their duty. It was generally agreed that the Minister had been altogether too lenient in dealing with the "slackers." who, they asserted, should receive the attention of the authorities before any call is made on the services of those who have expressed their willingness to volunteer.

" I have done many months in the trenches," remarked one of the men, who returned to tho Dominion by the Tahiti wounded in tho shoulder and back. " I am keen to get back to the front, and have so far recovered that I will be able to do so very shortly ; but it makes my blood fairly boil to think that I am going to fight for these worthless eligibles who won't render even civil service. They should be made to feel their position by some means; they don't know the meaning of citizenship, and should certainly be deprived of all civil rights."

Another returned soldier, late of the 16th, Waikatos, but now discharged owing to injuries and shattered nerves, received at the front, expressed his views in no uncertain fashion. " I cannot see why these men who have refused to serve should be allowed to Ret off ' scot free,' and I am sure the willing ones will have something to say in the matter. It is not fair to them that the)- should be called upon first, simply because they have offered to go. The Government should rather compel all those eligible among the unwilling to come forward before the others are approached. The authorities have introduced the national registration scheme for the purpose of finding who are eligible, and it is only fair that all able to go should bo called upon. Why should these men be left alone because they say no?" "It is a decidedly week-kneed proposal," commented another Aucklander returned from the front. "It appears that the national register has been used to single out the 'willing horses,' who are now calmly asked to sacrifice themselves for those who won't go. There is no doubt about it that conscription is in the air, and if the Government is going to 'hedge' like it is doing the quicker conscription is introduced the better. A grave injustice will be done if the willing men are taken first. Why doesn't the Government "sort out' these 34,000 slackers. They have stated flatly that they are not walling to serve, and the Government should take some action to find out why they are not ready to do their 'little bit." If they can give no sufficient* reason for their refusal they should be again called, upon, and if they "then decline they should be deprived of their rights as citizens and their names made known." " These are the fellows who a few vears hence will be talking about the grand work done by the Empire, while thev now refuse to do a hand's turn to get the work done." interpolated another returned soldier. "I think that in the colonies there is a greater call than at Home for the men to turn out and do their 'bit.' Most of them own a piece of land and have a stake in the country, and for the many privileges they enjoy they should be manlv and patriotic enough to come out and fight."

UNPREPARED SINGLE MEN. MR. ALLEN'S ATTITUDE. ANOTHER STATEMENT. [BT TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington. Thursday. The attention of the Defence Minister, Hon. J. Alien, was drawn to statements of critics regarding single men who on their registration 'cards say they are not prepared to fight and not prepared to act in a civil capacity. "No one can tell what the class consists of," replied the Minister, "or what their reasons individually are for saying this. Until an analysis is made of the cases, and they are classified, it would be very wrong to judge. I was asked what could be done with these men, and I said I did not quite know under the voluntary system. Either they must volunteer of their own free will or bo compelled to go, or there is one other possible course which may be made worse than straightout compulsion, and that is the bringing of such pressure to bear upon the men as would make it impossible for them to live in New Zealand in peace, and so indirectly compelling them to go and fight. Such course is very open to argument as a fair thing to io. Can the critics suggest an alternative? It is easy to be destructive, but I shall be glad to have some constructive policy suggested. There are only two forms of voluntary and conscriptionand, as I have said, there is a way of making the voluntary system more severe than conscription, by bringing pressure to bear, which is unfair, unjust, and un-British." FARMERS DESIRE CONSCRIPTION. CANTERBURY RESOLUTION. [BT TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Ashburton', Thursday. The conference of delegates from Canterbury branches of the Farmers' Union, by six votes to four, carried a motion urging the adoption of conscription in the Dominion.