ALIENS IN THE NORTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16267, 28 June 1916, Page 4

ALIENS IN THE NORTH.

PROPOSAL FOR INTERNMENT. PROTEST FROM KAIPARA. PROMINENT SLAV'S STATEMENT. [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Dargaville, Tuesday. In connection with the protest of the Kaipara Chamber of Commerce against the internment of single unnaturalised gumdiggers in North Auckland who are Austrian subjects, and a communication from that body to the Prime Minister, emphasising the protest, the chamber received the following telegram from Mr. Massey :— " Your telegram received conveying resolution passed by the Kaipara Chamber of Commerce, the contents whereof have been noted. As the proposals of the Government relating to enemy subjects on the gumfields north of Auckland have not yet been finally decided I regret that the request .of your chamber cannot at present be complied with. The request of your chamber that " the Aliens' Commission should visit North Auckland and take evidence will receive careful consideration." To that communication the secretary of the chamber replied as follows : — I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your telegram, but am further directed to respectfully ask whether the Government will submit its proposals to this chamber for consideration before they are put in force." Though naturally the Austrians concerned are vitally interested in the proposals, those in Dargaville district manifest no excitement, and express themselves ready at any moment to follow out the behests of the Government.

Interviewed to-day, Mr. John Totich, president of the Northern Wairoa • subbranch of the London Slavonic Society, stated that two out of every three Slavs in the district had volunteered for active service with the allies, and that in regard to the 138 Slavs in the Dominion who were not willing to serve, he and his executive favoured their immediate internment. With reference to the 379 who by the national register cards offered to serve in a civil capacity only, they might, he said, be unwilling owing to matrimonial influences or to financial embarrassments to relinquish their daily calling at a moment's notice, but in all probability the matter had not been explicitly explained to them. He could understand that in a total of 1936 men there was a percentage of Anstro-Hungarians who were not in sympathy with the Slavonic movement, but he asserted that all Slavs in the Northern Wairoa district, who number 200, were financially assisting the allies. It was, continued Mr. Totich, as unusual for a Slav to be a pro-German as it was for a Britisher, and proof of this was illustrated by the enthusiastic welcome accorded the Crown Prince of Servia on his recent arrival in London by the Slavs in that city, the interrment of whom had never been mooted.' If, said Mr. Totich,in conclusion, the Government decides to intern all Austrians in the Northern Wairoa district, the men will readily obey the mandate, but they' put forth the plea that they shall be placed under guard on the extensive gumfields which they are now exploiting, and not be relegated to the Far North, where their earnings would be infinitesimal compared with those now obtaining.

MB. A. S. HARDING INDIGNANT. EFFECT ON MANY SETTLEMENTS. IBT TELEGRAPH.:FBESS ASSOCIATION.! Dargavh,le, Tuesday. The subject of the internment of Austrians in North Auckland was referred to in an interview to-day by Mr. A. E. Hardfing, ex-M.P., who presided at the meeting of the Kaipara Chamber of Commerce at which the resolution was carried asking the Government to submit its proposals to the chamber before enforcing them. Mr. Harding said the > Minister's reply was an insult to himself and to the people of North Auckland. At one moment he sent a telegram stating "that the Government had not decided on the proposals, and at the next he told a deputation that the proposals were decided upon. It was an i unprovoked piece of persecution and tyranny oyer an unoffending class of ] people, which must brine deep resentment. " The Minister said he had taken the advice of leading people in-North Auckland," added Mr. Harding. " I challenge him to name any leading citizen; I challenge him to publish the police reports. The -fact is that the Government has been hoodwinked. The whole business has been worked to. further enhance the fortunes of a wealthy absentee syndicate. Interning the Austrians will decrease the gum yield by two-thirds. Agitators for their internment little know its disastrous effects on many country settlements."