The Sun WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1914. THE TROUBLES OF THE DEFENCE MINISTER.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 53, 8 April 1914, Page 6

The Sun WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1914. THE TROUBLES OF THE DEFENCE MINISTER.

The Minister of Defence is unduly accommodating. He is anxious to meet a small number of utterly unreasonable persons who are incapable of realising that citizenship in. a country such as this involves duties and obligations in addition to conferring privileges. There is no necessity to circularise local bodies asking them for suggestions'as to How young men who deyelop '' conscientious '' objections to military training might, b£ provided with work in lieu of military drill. Such a proposal is merely the thin end of' a. wedge ;that only requires to be driven home to break up the defence system. .The Act is based on the principle that military service is a common obligation which it is the duty of the citizen to perform as a precaution necessary to the preservation of our ' national existence. There is no room for any discrimination. JThere, are always a few cranks who object to any form of legislative compulsion; When, education was first yriade compulsory many persons had "conscientious '' objections, and there are numerous laws that are objected to by sections of the community which think them unnecessary. But the strict and impartial enforcement of the laW generally results in its acceptance, particularly when the principle on which it is based is sound and unassailable. On the other hand, a half-hearted administration of the law, or a disposition to wink at its evasion by cantankerous individuals who are always ready,, to make trouble, is simply offering en-, couragement to these people to harass the authorities and to incite others to do likewise. Nine times out of ten the "conscientious" objector to military training is an arrant humbug whose mind is filled with ideas on the subject of universal peace in a world peopled by men who are almost as primitive in their instincts now as they were a century ago, when most of the European nations were at war. The question of the necessity for military training is one for the Government, which is responsible for the safety of the Dominion, to decide, after going into the matter with the Imperial authorities. A Liberal Government decided that the present Act was necessary, and a Reform Government is evidently of the same opinion. After several years' trial of the system, which unquestionably makes considerable demands on the patriotism, not only of the Territorials themselves, but on their parents and employers and the taxpayers generally, public opinion is undoubtedly in favour of its maintenance. There is no logical reason, therefore, why the provisions of the Act should be relaxed in favour of shirkers, 1 ' passive resistors," or others led nvviiv byj j, sentimentalists who talk us if peace were simply a matter of engrossing Parliamentary enactments on sheets of parchment. Firmness is required by the Government at the present juncture, and it ought not to be impracticable to deal with refractory Territorials and passive resisters in barracks or special camps, where they could be put through their drills like anyone else.