THE TALKERS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 561, 26 November 1915, Page 10

THE TALKERS.

OFFICIAL PROTEST NEEDED. "ALMOST TREASONABLE UTTERANCES." SUGGESTION FROM MR L. M. ISITT. A suggestion that official protest against statements which have been made in the British Parliament recently should be sent from New Zealand was made by Mr L. M. Isitt, M.P., in conversation with a Sun representative to-day. Mr Isitt expressed distress and indignation at the wild .and unjust utterances of members of the Home Parliament. They certainly, he said, were not "playing the game" there anything like as well as members of Parliament were playing it here. Party rancour and jealousy were evidently at the bottom of very much that figured as conscientious and legitimate criticism. In his opinion it was a scandalous thing that a man like Lord Milner weeks ago should have publicly stated that the troops would have to abandon the Dardanelles. The comments of Lord Ribblesclale and Lord St. Davids, reported in the cables two or three daj r s ago, were even worse. There could be no possible excuse or justification for these men giving public utterance to such sentiments, even if they were sincere in their convictions. They Were men of position and influence and had private access to the Ministers, to whom tiie'y could have __> stated their opinion with quite as much chance of that opinion doing good as when publicly uttered. He felt that it was time that an official protest went from this country—not from I the lips of a private member like | himself, but from some representative of the Government, and he hoped that both Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward would take the matter into serious consideration. He was quite sure that a protest on their part, in the interest of the Empire, would voice the intense sentiment of nine-tenths of the community, and it was high time that these almost treasonable utterances were put an end to. Mr Isitt added that it seemed farcical that these statements should be published broadcast to the world while the censors carefully expunged information of trivial moment.