REPATRIATION.

Observer, Volume XL, Issue 18, 3 January 1920, Page 9

REPATRIATION.

(By "GUNNER.")

THE Germau is here again without his disguise. Only a few days have elapsed since an at-, tempt was made by a German agent to introduce some of his country's goods on the Auckland market. Of course he is always among us. He appears at all sorts of odd times and the soldier finds that no longer may he regard with suspicion and watchfulness the guttural voice or the name that sounds like the arrival of a heavy shell. In business the German accent jars strangely on the returned soldier. At the sound he recalls those lonely and perilous saps No Man's Land from which the } hoarse voices of the enemy could be heard. He visualises the man in the ! little cap and grey unform of tho German regiments, or fancies how . forlorn he would look in his place— . a prisoner of war cage. But, they will tell you, he has signed papers and proved beyond doubt that he is a true British subject. Perhaps! but other countries have found to their cost that a man .with a drop of German blood in his veins has an admirable loyalty to the Fatherland. During his lifetime he may be unable to serve the Fatherland, but, if our fair land had known the red tide of • war and our streets had resounded with the tramp of iron heels, no one doubts on whose side these men would fight. It has been proved. For the excellent local knowledge of the Colonial Gorman, the invading army would have made him *- commandant bf the city, and to those who have seen and heard of -* the behaviour'of these men in France -•the very thought of our girls being commandeered by the German staff arouses a man's indignation and / fighting spirit until he washes to ->■ meet the embryo tyrant in his rightful place, no man's land. When the returned soldier recalls the violated homes of France and knows that before him is the man, who, provided the opportunity and the power were granted, would have done the same to our own home and loved ones, well, the old spirit of the battle surges up in a man's breast— but that must be-stifled. It is one of the mental attitudes that the soldier must readjust.

The Conscientious Objector. Then again we have men who, rightly or wrongly, suffered for their principles, or as the soldier puts it ieft his mates in the lurch, j hey are generally quite loud in advertising their adherence to principle but it seldom occurs to them that the soldier also was loyal to his principles. The principles he held ay tit: those of freedom, honour and right, and he suffered for his principles mo-e than can be imagined. But V-e is content to remain silent about his shaid&Hps A returned soldier 1 ears a man proclaiming to an audience « that he suffered great hardship as tlu result of vegetable planting in P\ the rain, sleeping on a hard board, i or having wet clothes in a nrison, Hand the soldier wonders whether, Lafter all, that is such a terrible pnI vation. > In distinction to these fancied hardships comes the case of our own lads who were subjected to cruel treatment while prisoners of var, and suffered privation and all that flesh could endure because of their allegiance to the principles of British patriotism and their refusal to disclose to the. enemy the British plans and fortifications.

When these objectors were moaning about hardship, with three good meals a day, a sound sleep, and, assured safety in New Zealand, then fellow countrymen in France fought f.mi dawn till dark and on thrmurb the night, hungry and chilled by icy winds, and driving rain, and continually subjected to heavy shelling and murderous machine gun hre. These men tenaciously held the line in the face of heavy counter

attacks,, and saw their comrades fat ling a l ' around, thuß entailing increiiscd work and hardship for the days and nights they stemmed the surging tide of war and prayed for ammunition but as to the reserves— the remainder of eligible men were developing religious scruples. Many men who would not actually fight did courageous and valuable work in the ambulance. corps and to the devotion and bravery of these men many a.soldier owes his life. And there comes the remembrance of stretcher bearers killed and hospital orderlies wounded and the clearing station staffs working day to day almost without sleep and refreshment to deal with fresh cases. And when one thinks of men who would prefer prison to saving the lives of their countrymen, to put it mildly, the arguments in favour of refusing military service leave the soldier very cold and unconvinced.

Those men with the scruples assumed during wartime an aspect very similar to the man in grey in the'opposite trench, the only difference being that the German fought well for his country and the objector did not. To the' soldier who now comes face to face with an objector, a flood of memory stimulates a personal animosity.

So this, thinks the soldier, is the man who refused to help us when we were all but spent, but now claims the privilege of freedom and citizenship, for this man and others, mv comrades were maimed and killed, for this man I fought and endured. And then the old fighting spirit surges up—but no! It must be suppressed, for the War is over, and we are told to respect these men.

Settling Down. The mental attitude of the returned soldier seemp at times as inexplicable to his friends that they are at a loss to know just how to help him, and he must conquer his disturbing memories alone. For the opinions and thoughts expressed by the soldier are the outcome of personal experience and the realisation of the essential factors when the superficial view-points are dismissed from the argument. When a man is experiencing the vital facts of life at war, his mental attitude is influenced, and even controlled by the factors of physiThe thoughts and deeds of a man under the influence of hunger, cold, hate, bloodlust, and excitement, seem strangely unreal in the calm, genial atmosphere of home, and gradually the soldier forgets all but a few of his most pronounced impressions. Chief among these are a quiet little opinion of Germans, and also of the men who left insupported their comrades in the firing line. The soldier's thanks are now due to those brave women and men who did all in their power to cheer and comfort the soldier while he was away, and are now doing all in their power to help the boys to realise that home is the best place on this earth. Can those who watched the pyres of Empire burn, Saw grim artillery re-shape the hills, And crimson stains disclour crystal rills, . Once more with quaet ease ana joy return. To simple tasks of homely, small concern ? Can those who lately left warwasted land, Cast shell and bayonet from stormsarred hands, And once again the lesser duties learn. Ah! now the chance of those who • stayed behind, Who have no frightful visions to forget; But may with care and cheer and kindness bind Heart wounds of men who worse than death have met. And lending helpful bands down each hard way, Restore to them the Vise of every day.