CORRESPONDENCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12688, 9 July 1919, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE C.O.'S. TO THE EDITOR. kir ; —“ Union Jack'"' claims to ho an honest patriot. He refrains from mentioning who the dishonest ones are, and as an honest patriot 1 would address one or two remarks to him, with your kind permission. From the tone of his letter one would gather that he has never had the opportunity of meeting a real live C.O. If he could take a Nde to Raparua Gaol some hue Saturday afternoon he could actuallylook upon one of these wonders, and it might help him to understand them better; or, if he prefers, he could see one or two who are loose in town. But, sir, the point I would like this honest patriot to consider is this; In August, 11)1(5, there was placed on the Statute Book of this Dominion the Military Service Act, under which certain penalties were prescribed for refusal to become a conscript, and as a consequence numbers of men have since languished in the gaols of this country—some now tindergoing their third term. Our ordinary ideas of justice would lead us to acquit these men on the expiation of their offence; but, instead of this. Parliament in December, 1918, put through a measure empowering the Minister of Defence to name any of these thousands of C.O.'s in a “ Defaulters’ List,” the simple naming of whom has the effect of depriving them of civil rights lor a period of ten years, and debars them from Government employment, from employment by any public authority, from exercising the vote, or from standing as members of Parliament. Leaving out of the question the constitutional nnsoundness of imposing for tie nine offence additional punishments, n anticipated at the time of the first conviction, I would call “Union Jack’s” attention to the practical effect of this last measure. The political and economic disabilities supposedly aimed at these C.O.’s in reality react upon the whole body of electors and the Public Service of New Zealand for (a) 2600 men have become ineligible for candidature for Parliament or for any other elective body, and: to this extent the electors have been debarred from a free choice in the selection of their representatives; (b) 2600 inon are debarred from earning a livelihood in the only occupations to which they have been trained in many instances. Not only is this a cruel wrong against the citizen, but it reacts against the State or public authority upon whom the prohibition is enforced, as it is thereby prevented from availing itself of the exceptional skill and energy of highly qualified men. As an elector, therefore, I protest against the infringement of my rights as a free citizen. Surely even a “Union Jack” will soar above such a vindictive spirit as manifested! in this Act.—l am, etc., O. R. N. MAOKIE.