The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1917. “WIN THE WAR” MISAPPLIED

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9690, 19 June 1917, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1917. “WIN THE WAR” MISAPPLIED

“Win the war - ’ is various thing's to various men. To one division it is patriotism clear and straight, to the other —if m divide men first, into two classes of category—it is patriotism muddy and crooked. ’ In this way patriotism covers sins; but not all sins; only those to which the, patriots arc inclined, not those to which they have no mind. To some patriots ol those divisions “AVi.it the war” is a genuine cry of battle, even of the battle, they are to take part in with bayonet, hint, bullet, and battery. To other patriots it is a. whip to drive men out of licensed houses. There are patriots who shield the racecourse from the breath ol! criticism and call down the fires of punishment on the public-house. No 'matter moreover that the racecourse, can, if permitted, draw from the public pocket ton times the aggregate of the .annual drink bill; It must bo encouraged, while no ono can be allowed a thirst for anything but water. In many quarters “Win tbo war” is the motive assigned for the attack on the harmless, innocent pastimes for which; ;men find time on Sundays. The AVc llington City Council has joined this hand of unreason. As a matter of fact, it joined it surreptitiously when it adopted a certain by-law. But the by-law was declared beyond the scope of the authority of the council, which has no right 10 meddle with the religious affairs of men. The council at once became famous for its unu pa-ranted and unwarrantable interference with religious freedom. Bid its ia;nio bring a blush to tho municipal chodk? On the. contrary, it caused thq council to ask Parliament to make its interference with religious beliefs, warrantable. It is unthinkable than : any Legislature can make a hideous precedent by giving a municipal council tho power of religious intolerance! .merely because of tho ignominious ifniluro of its unprincipled attempt to exercise .such power without possessing it. Parliaments do strange things even in these days of twentieth, century freedom. But we refuse to bcl:k ve that tho Parliament of this Dominion is capable of granting tho municipal authorities tho power of religious intolerance, which is quite. outside!-the purposes for which they have a chartered existence. A Sunday golfer has : i),» much right to the streets and bolts'of our towns as any other citizen. I;ic is as free to use trains, trains and'. steamboats as any other citizen. Those usages are all in the list of things I banned by the tenets of an aggressive Sunday observance. The attempt lo enforce them tailed long ago. ‘ Ally should the tenet against, the iiin.ccent pastime of golf be now made good? The same rignt of . religious liberty protects the goiter. If the right l is jutringed there is no saying wnerc the infringement will end.. Open the door to intolerance and the municipal system will one day bcccsnc the powerful instrument of oppression, Municipal elections will turn not on the adminis-tration-of city finance i. Tho upkeep of streets, the making of - reserves, the management of tram uysteras and electric installations, tho beautifying of citics, the prevention of slums will cease to divide the voting power of the citizens. Elections will turn on the demand of one set of citizens to force their views of morality* on another set which rejects them. Ptui the golf club on Sunday and you mill ban the pipe and the cigar and tho 'cigarette, all of which have their encniies who lose no opportunity of denunciation. Yon will ban sea bathing, whicij is regarded by some minds as an invuution of Satan. You will ban the Surklay outings of thousands of people who regard their love of air and exercise simd healthy recreation as no more thipgs of evil than golf itself, or any other harmful pastime. Add “win tho vlar” to the list of tho specious motives in which intolerance delights, and you will 'have sumptuary by-laws, under which the stuff and ciifc of men’s clothes and children’s outfits will ’bo regulated. And you will hove an army of inspectors invading tho bounce of the citize.ns armed with powers compelling the disclosure of information bearing on the obedience to tbo suniptnary by-law, and tho number of new .suits ordered during the year. From clothing to food is a very easy step, and you will have tlie inspectors scanning; the household budgets of the citizens nnd the magistrates fining people for upending more money than certain coteries of ultra thrifty people have forced into the by-law by public vote. ; ■ These things and countless others will not be matters of Sunday observn nee, of course. But once let intolerance in on the Sabbath and the other days of the week will ho flooded. ■ The interference with the licensing laws stands precisely on the same footing, especially in these! latter days. Take the agitation for 16 o’clock closing as an instance. In '.ordinary times there would have been no such agitation. The campaign ajpiinst licensing would have followed its ordinary course of triennial battljt, with all its hardships to men who have done no evil. But tho time gives tho opportunity to disturb things with the weapon of “Win the war.” Without delay the cry is raised that the war cannot 1 be won without early .alosing. That means that the troops wp supply regularly to the war, cannot be made efficient, and that the public cannot find the money required to ;pay war taxes and keep up the patriotiic funds. Of course, if the cry for early closing does not mean that, it is a irpserablo sham. Sham or reality, it is nol; supported by either facts or figures, or even by appearances. The great fact about the troops is that the pcrfetliTSn of their efficiency is proved by their performances in the field to-day. Take the latest operations in Egypt and Palestine. Our mounted men There are described as the most formickthle body of horse ever seen in - thnso regions, by discipline, by valour, by endurance. Take the operations in Prance and Flanders. In the first the New Zealanders have had the highest praise from the Commander-im- Chief, from their Corps and Divisional! Commanders, from tho eoramandens of troops associated with them.in huittle; and as for the commendation of oxperts and correspondents, their nanip is legion.

As to the case in Flanders, it is only necessary to mention that New Zealand was given the honour of attacking the crucial point of tho strongest position ever fortified by tho German engineers, and that tho division took and held tho position in the most brilliant manner. Could these services have been improved by closing licensed houses at 6 o’clock? The question is too absurd for notice, to say nothing of answer. As to the taxes and tho patriotic funds —where is there any evidence of backwardness or of trouble in collection ? There is none. And the amounts subscribed arc not only ample for all purposes, but they amaze mankind. The early closers are on oven worse ground when they talk of the increase of drunkenness in our midst, for not only arc the military and financial facts against them, but the public statistics show a record of fewer convictions. The early-closing ease, when looked a-t closely', turns out to be a. mere cackle of intolerance. It is a shibboleth which Parliament must, without wasting time, declare unpronounceable by' tho community.