THE COLONIST. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1916 A FUTILE MANIFESTO

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13999, 1 February 1916, Page 4

THE COLONIST. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1916 A FUTILE MANIFESTO

Thk oonfereuoe convened at Wellington .by the federation of Labour to protest against the introduction, of conscription Jias duly protested, and tho protest has been embodied in a. curious manifesto purporting to express ihe views of the 87 labour organisations that were represented in the, proceed* ings. If the manifesto really reflected the feeling of so large a number of organisations wo should .be'very much surprised, especially if the'% circum stances'"trndor which some of the delegates were appointed, which have provoked considerable controversy amongst unionists in thp South, were reproduced elsewhere. Far less, we are sure, was the conference entitled to speak for tho mass of New Zealand labour, which must have regarded the conference as singularly inopportune at such <a time, and as arranged under aaispices which could ?iot evoke a genuine expression of the views of the labour movement of the Dominion. The manifesto, under-the guise of dibcusisimx possible war contingency, is really.an impractical and illogical dissertation upon the political aims of its framers, and as such it certainly does not reflect the attitude concerning the war of a section of the community, the largest, which has shown and is showing such a "splendid spirit, of loyulty and .„, self«.. sacrifice, "and has furnished so creat a proportion of the troops whose valour has won the admiration of the world. The manifesto professes great concern for tho principle'of equality-of sacrifice, which is the' somewhat peculiar ground it takes for opposing conscription. This jirinciple, it argues, would be in greater jeopardy under conscription than is the caw under the voluntary system of enlistment. "Where only some are forced to give their lives for the .country:/ 1 we are told, *'no equality' of sacrifice is possible." If,.»a]l vphjjsically fit .men .wjere compelled to enlist, certain primary industries would be seriously cripoled., and.if to obviate this-inconvemenco t)er-are-exejnpted-from.. military service, "the doctrine of equality o~f -sacrifice becomes absnrd." This anticon.scriptionist reasoning leads to an impasse: "When human life is at stake all men stand equal, and there can be no moans of selection devised that can bo considered fair, and the policy of insisting on enlistment for service abroad of men and youths is in-: imical tq the best" interest of the nation and the potentialities of the race." Beyond some ill digested theories on the subject of soldiers' pay, the manifesto has no suggestions to offer for the maintenance of the (supply of men. It refrains from emphasising the only means by which conscription may be averted, and by which we all trust it may be rendered unnecessary an adequate and sustained response io the appeal for recruits; and it has nothing to say on the duty of every eligible man to voluntarily offer his

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