A PEACE CONFERENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15825, 25 July 1913, Page 7

A PEACE CONFERENCE.

MR CORDER ON NEW ZEALAND.

| ADDRESS BY MR SELLARS. (FROM OUB OWK Corresponds.) ' LONDON, June 13. Leeds is glorified this week by the hold- ' ing there of the National Peace Congress at which, naturally enough, the " Compul- ' 6ory Military Service" section gave considerable attention to New Zealand's misdeeds. Mr Joshua Rowntree said Christian principles and war were quite irreconcilable. One of them must go. It was a mockery to put morality and oompuleory militarism together. Mr Herbert Corder, of New Zealand, said the dominion laws meant essentially child conscription. According to the Yorkshire Observerihe said the number of prosecutions which have been made-had been sufficien tto alarm those responsible for them, and one of tho most objectionable features was tho shameful and drastic penalties imposed. No conscientious objector had ever been able to claim or obtain exemption. There was a partial exemption clause providing that if any youth could satisfy a. magistrate that he had genuine religious objections to being trained and to serving as a soldier he might obtain exemption, but boys who had pleaded suoh objections were told that ministers of their denominations had accepted positions as chaplains under the Act, and that therefore there could be no valid religious objection. Boys had been told at the detention barracks, "We will make you drill or break your hearts." The speaker read an extract from a letter lie had just received with regard to a boy of 16 m New Zealand. The letter said': " The lad's employer has alreadv paid his fine on three occasions, and now at the fourth prosecution he decided to go to prison. He was put in with criminals of the worst typo -one a murderer serving a long sentence." Mr Corder produced figures to show that if prosecutions took place in England on the same scale as in New Zealand, there would be 3825 boys before the courts every week, He believed that the time was arriving when i there should be men, absolutely fearless and 1 unwillmg to exaggerate, who would counteract the attempts of the National Service Lea<ruo ( in thre country to saddle them with a like burden. A resolution was passed condemning what, the oversea dominions were doing, «nd promising encouragement to all tvfuTehould attemnt to fight the movement both here and abroad. Mr Fred Sellers recited the Odyssey of his familv, which concluded with the statement that though further fines were inflicted upon them as tho.y were on their way .to the coast, th<j New Zealand authorities made no nttemnt to prevent them from embarking for England. Mr Bruce Glasier spoke stirr'ngly of the The Mid Mullahs of Militarism." Tho congrcss is still in session.