RECRUITING

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXIII, Issue 15628, 31 May 1915, Page 3

RECRUITING

To the Editor. Sir, —I think what “ Eyes Front ” says in his letter in your Monday’s issue re the “ shirker ” is something very hard to contend with. As several writers have put it the “ shirker ” at home at a time like this will be a “ shirker ” in the trenches, if forced to go. It is a great pity the Government does not give a little more encouragement to recruiting by first of all interning all alien subjects, naturalised or unnaturalised, and deport them, after the war, thus putting an end to. possible spying and rid the country of them. Tbe atrocities performed by their brothers and fathers and perhaps sons, on the poor Belgium women and children, 2nd to follow this up by sinking the ‘‘ Lusitania/’ with 1400 innopeople aboard, and the uses of asphyxiating gases on our men at the front,' contrary to laws of war. All go Jfi show that Germany is prepared to stop at nothing, and give us a little indication as to what would happen to our women and children if by any chance we were oyerrun by the Germans. We are sending a lot of our very best of manhood from this Dominion ; many are sacrificing their businesses and very manyrgiving up gpod positions as they feel it thejr duty to go and help to chain up the “ Mad Dog of Europe,” while his countrymen are allowed to stay in New Zealand free with all the rights of true British subjects to carry on business and take the place of our boys who have gone to the front, many never to return to us again. > The Germans in this country need no sympathy. We will probably be called on to fight soon don’t voluuteer, but be quite .happy whichever way the struggle goes (especially if their brethren are victorious) as they will not be called on. To quote the words used by a naturalised German of twenty years in this country :—“ If Germany is beaten the war will be forgotten in six months, and Germany will regain her lost trade, as the people must have German made goods.’* A very patriotic consolation for a supposed Britisher to insinuate and tends to show how their feelings are, and as they should be with their birthplace Germany. We, in Te Aroha have been very patriotic, we have supplied a good many men, and will, be supplying a good many more as time draws on. We have done all possible for our troops at the front, we have unsparingly helped the starving Belgians, and fcave agreed to de so till the end

of the War. No body can feel it more than we do, as we read of the long lists of casualties coming through every day. But there is one thing we owe, and that is a a grave apology to cur boys at the front for sending petitions to have unnaturalised alien subjects released (after the military authorities had deemed arres’s desirable) to allow them to follow occupations or directly or indirectlylake the places of our boys who have gone to the front. That is not the way to encourage recruiting, it is not just, to ask a man to lay down his life to save us, and then sign a petition to release a man to perhaps I join his own ranks and fight against cur toys. his Worship the Mayor will call a public meeting at once, and get the feeling of the people and pass a resolution to be forwarded to the Government, like resolutions from other towns, to have all aliens interned and their property confis cated, to pay for their keep, and thus be doing as our allies Russia and France are doing Then we should be showing how serious things are, and perhaps get more recruits much more quickly than at present. lam “ NOT GERMAN ”