"THE IRON RULE"

NZ Truth, Issue 602, 30 December 1916, Page 1

"THE IRON RULE"

THE DUTY Of EVERY CITIZEN

'Jut th© people of N©w Zealand are j folly aware, there have been a number Of prosecutions and convictions, resultIng m more or less well-known men, vtyled "Labor Agitators," being sent jto prison y: for a period of twelve i months, for committing breaches of j the War Regulations, which, from time to time, each occasion seeming more drastic, have been given the force of I law, and what is more, exceeding the powers generally associated with laws which presume to better govern the community. It Is. not ...possible *to * repress the ftetthg o¥ regret that it has been deemed necessary to not only enact such regulations, but that the regulations, elastic and drastic as they lure, should have been enforced. Nevertheless, tho fact remains that a number of men have transgressed j these regulations, and the law has been put m operation against them, and the result is that they ore now m prison. There are many people j .who are full 6f sympathy with these j men, and earnestly desire tbAt they should bo liberated at once, while on the other hand, there tire, possibly, a greater number of people who are of the opinion that these men are danserous to the community, and that it is best m their own interests and m the interests of the Dominion that they should be sent to gaol, and taught that the laws of tho country are enacted to be obeyed and that their observance will be enforced at all costs. Both classes of community are right. In all communities a section will be found whose sympathies ore extended to the "under do«." This section of the community, If opt exactly countenacing or encouraging opposition to the law, say that! there Is a class of moil, who" no matter the circumstances and conditions prevailing, Will be "agin the Government," who | do not fully realise. what they say and no., and consequently aro not to bo taken seriously. The section of tho community which regard such/ men or, as they are called, "Labor Agitators," as dangers to the community, uro of tho "Law and Order" , variety; that IS to say, they maintain that all laws, good or bad, which havo been. Buncted by Parliament, or x-atlfled by Parliament, .must bo obeyed and observed untllifluch time all it is deomed necessary to revoko or repeal these taws. Perhaps, Buch is the correct view. It Is not hard to imagine tho stato of this or any other country, tf because a law is bad, unjust, tyrannical, inoro or lean irresponsible lndlrlduals succeeded m inciting men and womon to rise m revolt and .turn topsy-turvy tho existing stato of. affairs. • • • However, this m neither tho tlmo nor the placo to tUscuus what we might *ptly dcacribu ac ''academic" intsuca. Just now tho British Empire is engaged m a life and death struggle with tho Hunnlsh hordes, and notwithstanding our feelings against: tho horrors and butcheries of war, notwithstanding tho yearning* m our heartn (or peace, tho fact romainfl that tho triumph of Germany by foreo of arm«, would mean tho disintegration of tho BritJuh Emplro, tho substitution of British rule And British constitution.!! inulluitlonu for tho "blood and iron" of Prusslnnlum. whllo a, tyitcbod-up peace, an inconcliifllvo peace, n p*ac« on Gorman terms, or at German dictation. couWl have* no other effect but to pumponr. pcrhupn for huif a generation.. On» oar Jes of blood now obtaining «n the continent of Europe. Nothing !h mor** cortaln that aooner or later there will bo pcaci>. If. as (tomo people lnui#in«v pence la not far off. then by nil moana lei un have p«xce t but th^ro can only toe one peace ror iho British Kmplrc. «nd for that matter for Ksw 'Zealand, ami that id tin honorable peace, v. pcn.ee that will enduro not for ftU time, luit at any rato for centurie* to come. Unless we havo a pevace, practically dictated by Ihd Allies, and Mint I* practically enforced by "powder, shot, jjttipo and boll," tho world cannot hope for rest. To ur£o « pcac« which will bo a patched- up one. which will bo inconclusive! which is not honttable, which m «iXeot w)U rnoroly

postpone the shedding of blood, has been made an offence m New Zealand, and it is just as well that the citizen should not only bo reminded of tho fact, but that he should bo deeply impressed with the fact. •. • • Now, we have no doubt but that the people of New Zealand have learned, or read with amazement, the nature of the charges which have been preferred against the men who have been sent to prison. v These men were either brave or ..foolish enough to say what was m their minds. As -Truth" has often pointed out, and m doing bo, Iras quoted the sentiments Of magistrates, these ore not normal times. In ordinary times great license or liberty is allowed the platform speaker, or, as he is called, "the soap-boac" orator, and he gives expression to sentiments or his thoughts which are not repugnant to the general community, but m times which are not normal, these sentiments or thoughts are considered, m fact often are, outrageous, unpatriotic, and m a senso poltroon. In such times, men must be guarded m their utterances. They are at liberty to think what they please, but they aro not at liberty to say what' they are pleased to think. Liberty of Thought m a great thing, but Liberty of Thought is nothing if not accomplished by Liberty of Speech. The man who m these times suys what he thinks, even if what he thinks is right, is either a brave man or a fooL Bravo men have paid tho penalty before to-day, not only m the British Empire, hut m other Empires, &ud the day has dawned when they have been revered as martyrs, entitled to the martyrs' crown. On the other hand, fools have been paid according to their folly, and it might possibly happen that the fool of to-day might bo the martyr of future generations. Still; when all is said and done thero is little, if any, occasion for men to bo oither fools or martyrs, because notwithstanding the seeming severity and drastic nature of tho laws, there Is no law yet conceived m the mind of man, tho effect of which Will be • to deprive Englishmen of the remedies which are In their hands, and which, it slow, are Buro, and which despite their slowness are better than no remedies at all. which certainly would be the lot of th e Britisher if wo were crushed under Hunnlsh heels, • • • Now. when we com© to insider tho War Regulations, such as they are, and such as they are likely to be . wo must not lose sight of the very pertinent fact that if thoco were no Government at all, our plight would be a very haploss on©. What is the duty o/ a Government which happens to bo m power, and faced with the unprecedented position of being m power right m the middle of tho greatest war m th« history of tho world? Is it not the duty of the Government, if it has not already tho power, to acqulro tho power of maklntr laws f or the safety and security ot tho State? Ami, ha/ not tho present Government asked for that power, and ha* It not been granted by tho rtMir«scntaUv«B of the people m Parliament? Accordingly wo jyo back to 191-j, and wo find that Parliament pas/jod an Act which purported to confer orl* th<& Governor m Council jwwer to m&ta/'beuer. provision for th« public surety during the present war." ami which further authorised iho Ciovnrmm*nt In Council to "mako eucli regulations as ho thinks necessary." that i* to say, to niakft litueh regulation* from time to time a.«* the vxlffonclea of (h<« jjcrlud dfimunded. Orieinully, tln« Act \n aiK-s---tlon was to rurtthiMi- m operation ' until tbi» linn day of August. m&, "a n <i no longer." to quoto tho Act Usolf. i SubtHMiuenUy, the original Act wn» amended u> n-aU: All regulations htrctMoro mnO«? ! ©r hwtafivr tw be madv tnoreunder, shftU, unless sooner repeated or n>vokGtl.<r< t rrts(n m optirnUan dur- ,, „' I:ik Uid preisem war with Ounwa »/""'"'! and for ono year .thereafter, or ; : * for such ebon«r period, thereafter i

as the Governor may by Proclamation made after the end of that war determine, and on tho expiration of such period shall be deemed to be repealed or revoked. From this is v will bo seen that the regulations are not to be in 'force any longer than is actually necessary, yet they are liable to be repealed or revoked by the Parliament which authorised or counselled the making or framing of the regulations, or by any other Parliament which the people of New Zealand might elect. It is a ridiculous suggestion to make that Parliament having once enacted some measure, cannot be called upon to repeal or revoke that measure. The present Parliament, and the present Government have not been elected for all eternity, and any man to assume that it has been should be placed m a mental hospital. • • • ' •■„;' Now, it is just as well that the public mind, or tho mind of. a section of the public should bo disabused of the fact that the present Parliament or the present Government have passed measures, or framed "War Regulations for the purpose* of crippling or hurting Labor, or of crushing Labor under an "Iron rule." New Zealand's War Regulations are on a par with the War Regulations which have been framed m all the British Dominions, and it might be almost Ironical to say that m Australia the War Regulations bavo been administered with greater severity than they have been m this country— and that, too, m the face of the fact that a socalled Labor Government is m power m Australia. Tho latest War Regulations framed and ga2etted, and at present m operation m Now Zealand are undoubtedly severe, or at any rate drastic. They have yet to be ratified by Parliament, but this fact is not mentioned with the view or hope of encouraging the idea that they are illegal, or m any way ultra vires. In Australia, the Senate has seen fit to Tofuso to ratify some drastic regulations, which had been In force, and m other cases had modified others which seemed to be unduly severe and unjust. The Parliament of New Zealand can, when tho opportunity presents itself, refuse to ratify or modify wny of tho War Regulations which at present are causing so much concern. But the question arises, will Parliament do anything of the sort? Parliament has done Quito a number of things which presumably it would not dare do m normal times, and sooner or later the question is bound to arise, whether Parliament has not exceeded the wishes of the people. For instance, "Truth," last election, which was held m war time, supported the Liberals and Laborites' m order to defeat the "Reformers." "Truth," as a newspaper, has not taken kindly to the Coalltiou Ministry, and refuses to take kindly to it, and no doubt there are many Liberal and Labor supporters m New Zealand who aro of the same frame of mind. "Truth" did not support Sir Joseph Ward, and urge the people to return Sir Joseph WaTd to power, In ordor that he should consent to Parliament lengthening Its life. It did not urge tho people to return Sir Joseph Ward and his followers to power m order that they should Impose conscription on the people. Yet, by passing tho Military Servico Act, and by lengthening the term of Parliament, '"Truth" cannot aay that anything outrageously unconstitutional has been done, and "Truth" is not going to bo a party to any proceedings, nor will it encourage any proceedings on tho part of anybody or of any section of tho community, tho effect of which will bo treason, riot, strike, strife and general misery for ail concerned. If tho coalesced Government has done wrong, tho people can bo trusted to punish it at tho proper time. It tho people feel that wrong things have been done. Parliament will be mado to foel tho forco of public opinion, and that without Industrial turmoil, striken, riots, bloodshed and «U the concomitants of wild and unrestrained passion. Tho people of New Zealand, and tho working people generally, who aro the people of Now Zealand, do not need bloodthirsty, flery fulmlmUions from frenzied platform orators to convince them of any Parliamentary cmrenchraontU on their rights and liberties. • • • ••Truth" wants to bo candid and it wants to bo fair. Tho war must bo won, and an honorable peace Hocured. Moreover. It must bo moru thun honontblc, li must be lasting. Now Z«u- --! land, like oil other portions of the Urlilsh* Empire, mum "do its bit." *«<! the better that bit In done, tho prouditr I nil New Z<NvlaiHler» will bt? m th<> future. Hut whllo wo are doing our bit to win the war. tho people must ever bo on their guard against the introduction to New Zealand of any\h\nr; sftvorlnjr of autocracy on thO part of anybody or of »ny section. I Man who aiv furwr up "&i;&ln*c the ! ! Oovi*rnm«*»t" hswo kjfwl nm\ conuutu- i I ?ion:U ttu-.thudrt t>( alrhitf th«?lr wrong* i ! ar.4 ih< !r grlfivhncQ*. It they persist 1 ' \n Urr-irinsr ih*: law v.-hkh guvtms ail. i !hi»v v- ill puy the penalty. Far better ! is n sm i?*r-'*i»», \o ' twrsevfirc. 10 plug i uivfiy nt th* S«1oa of Labor controUirsg ; ib<? Mns of Government m N«w Zt-a.» j "in ml. If irftV'Or'n right* are tranu- i 1 ur^KJ**d. if Lubcir'tf arntidons are! htltlod, wht> nro tv blame? Why iho working clawea them««lv«w. "Tbt

Square Deal Government" was returned Co power iv 1914, contrary to ull proeedent. It dealt iho heavy hand to tho strikers, yet, wtiul waw Labor's reapoiwe at tho ballot box? If Labor is not satis Hod with the manner m which this Government is now managing tho a/fftirs of iho country during tho war, th«n next election ihrro will bo no dearth or Labor candidate* offorln* thofr aorvJetH, Th«n, und not till then, will b© the tln>» for jalklny of turning tho lirosent CJovommcnt. or tho "Reformoni" out of otnc*. War Government* jfonerully provo unpopular tn ttme« yf p^w**?, t>fcau»o war OovernmenU have to do thlngu wMch the heart of mnn htartlly dl«---llki*^. but for which {.ottx 1 yullUclanj* urv prepared to imi>' lln< ponally— that i.»v tbo penalty of political «*xtinction, ; jf l-abor can tut looU nl (hlngx m tbelr truo oernjiecllv** they wi!l «^p a real ro«y lltiui uh«>ad of It, ttutt U ' if Vtho workvrti rcutlv wstnt a Labor Oov<f!nt)ttcntr Vtrhnpx itftpr ihc war. the worker)* will \hi gln<i ot tuiy <;overnment which baa n^t the reputation which adhere* to the ■'isifuarfc .£>*»). Party." ' i