SOLDIERS BY COMPULSION

NZ Truth, Issue 568, 6 May 1916, Page 1

SOLDIERS BY COMPULSION

808 THE GOVERNMENT TROSI THE PEOPIE?

bodies and the Government on the point of recruiting yolxmteers indicates that new methods should be employed. There is no evidence that all methods have been exhausted, and certainly results do not justify force, or a system which would mgan Conscription formany and provide an opportrinity to shirk , to: , others. Conscription wfll violate, the liberty of a democratic <Mrantry. 'It is perfectly true that t&e wor£ liberty is often abused and^ made to mean what it does not mean. If the National Government, or any other Government, wish to violate the liberty of the people as a mass, first let there be an assuiv ance that it intends to violate the liberty of a favored few to exploit the people, to wax fat on the war. Let there be no war profits, let the Government give reasonable guarantees that the solder, his wife and children will not be exploited, and vofantaryasm-will succeed.

Notyiffi^faLnfling thjjr; bullying, bouncing, and, m many respects, i boisterous attitude of certain poli- { tikaans on the momentous question, of the conscription of the workers, there are indications / tlifit, with the^ approach of the opening of Parliament, those same politicians are "drawing m their horns, " and, are I realising that it is one thing to stand on the publio platform and ' belch forth empty platitudes about "slackers" and "shirkers," and another thing to pass a law, ,the 1 effect of which %ml be ta shackle the workers withi the gyves of yiTTtarfam. Yet, these politicians on the publio platform have almost pledged thejinselves to enforce Conscription pn thepeople of New Zealand, m effect, have committed themselves to support any scheme of compulsion which the National Government will submit to them as the representatives of the people. Of late, the Prime Kinister has not. appeared to be bo downright, so 1 emphatic on the question of the compulsory enlistment of physically-fit males of a military age, and, if "Truth-i s aot mistaken, it believes that there is a rift m the political lute, and that thft Prime Minister and his colleagues are finding it-an extremely difficult matter to frame a Law of Conscription which will not unjustly affect the workers of this country. In the circumstances as they affect the Dominion, it would not be an altogether unreasonable thing to expeot a Government which "trusts the people" to give the community an outline of the proposed Compulsory Law. Beyond bluff and bounce, threats and tho thumps of tables, the Prime Minister, his colleagues, and politicians generally, have not taken tho community injjp their confidence, and, presumably, the reason for this is to be fotmd m the fact *that' the draft Bill has considerably exercised the 'minds of Cabinet Ministers, and^j what is more, it seems clear, that tho Bill has not proved acceptable to Cabinet itauif. Indeed, since it has been known that Cabinet has considered the draft Bill, and that it has been 'revised and Ire^revised, 'the change m tone, if liot m attitude, of Ministers and politicians, has given rise to the suggestion that if New Zealand is to have Conscription, it will be on a very modified form; m fact, bo Modified that it will not amount to Conscription at all, and that, aftor All, we will find that all the talk of the past has been nothing but talk. x Sir Joseph Ward has spoken m glowing terms of tho fact that Now Zealand, up till recently, and undj# v a voluntary! system, had raised an army of 55,000, a pro6f m itself that this young and most distant outpost of the British Kmfriro has not failed m its duty to tho Mother Country. Everywhere we find reeruituig proceeding apace. It is true? that hero and thero the need of a stimulating effort is required^ but, on the wtofe, thero is nothing which jus-

tdJs.es Conscription. And when tke people are threatened with Conscription are/S^ey not entitled to i>e informed of the nature of the Conscription which the Government proposes to enforce! There can be no paltering with the question. Conscription IS Conscription. There can be no modifieacation, A modified form. 'of Conscription means undue hardships on certain, sections of- the community, m short, a greater avenue of escape for shirkers and slackers of a class, Iwcid the people, the working people of New Zealand, are entitled to know, even before the Bill is introduced m Parliame^ what sort of so-called Conscription Government seeks to impose on the community; who are exempt, who must take up arms, who must leave New Zealand to fight ior the Empire on foreign soil. If the National Government dares to infaroduce N Conscription, let it be thorough, and, above all, let it trust the people. - '.■.'. •".•'■ : ■;■■ '•■ ':,■;■-■•■ ■ ' While we have riot failed to note jC the. remarkable change m tone, which almost indicates that the (^oyernment has baulked at the hurdle of Conscription, public attention has been directed to another point. Already the cry has gone forth that a ■'■• ' conscript soldier from New Zealand must be distinguished m some way or other from the volunteer soldier. Not only has 'it been suggested that a distinction should be drawn between soldiers, but the cowardly* yet not altogether strange or unexpected suggestion has been made that a "conscript" soldier must not expect the same rate of pay as the volunteer, while also it has been hinted that he will not be entitled to the same pension and the same privileges as the volunteer. It has not been said, but it is implied, that the dependents of maimed "conscripts/* the widows and children of "conscripts*' killed, m action, will receive different treatment from the widows and orphans of the volunteer soldier. Certainly such sentiments have not been uttered, or echoed, by responsible Ministers of the Crown, nor do we think that responsible Ministers of the Crown subscribe to those sentiments. They are the sentiments of Fat, the rich man who fears that he will bo supertaxed to do the right thing by the widows and children of those who fall bravely fighting for the Empire. * • f • • ■, The coining session of Parliament will be one of the most momentous m the history of responsible Government m New Zealand, and if the National Government forces through an Act making it compulsory for cortain sections of tho comI munity*- to take up arms, then a | crime against democracy m New i Zealand will bo committed. We have said before, and repeat, that the Voluntary System m New Zealand has not failed, but, on the contrary, has succeeded, and is capable of greater success. The difference of opinion between local