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Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 561, 26 November 1915, Page 6

The problem of the "deserting husband or defaulting father who is not a husband, is certainly one that remains to be solved, but the members

of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board did nothing towards a solution when some of them suggested at the last meeting that such of the defaulters who are expiating their unsocial instincts in gaol should be sent to the front compulsorily. The only thing which it seems possible for the State to do with these deserting husbands or fathers is to complete a system whereby they may be caught, and when caught, to compel them to undertake some work, under supervision, by which they will be able to pay for their own keep and to earn something more for their dependents. That may not be so simple as it sounds, but it is the only method likely to be effective m any way. To suggest, as Messrs Horrell and Cooper did, that such men should be compulsorily enlisted and their Army pay confiscated to reimburse the board for looking after their wives and children, is not indicative of great Wisdom. It docs not help to solve the problem, and it does not help matters to imply that our Army is a proper institution to which to relegate blackguards. When we first began to raise our forces, there were certainly a number of wife or child-deserters who endeavoured to escape their responsibilities by enlisting, but the Defence authorities stopped that by giving dependents a first claim on the soldier's wages. Possibly such men make as good soldiers as most, but there is all the difference in the idea of saddling the Defence Department With a company of criminal defaulters —the decent men" who serve because of a sense of duty do not wish to be classed with those whose very lack of that sense amounts to crime, and everyone will recognise that point. Our leading citizens sometimes show a lack of that humour which is the basis of common sense.