COLONEL SEELY EXPLAINS

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 20053, 11 April 1914, Page 5

COLONEL SEELY EXPLAINS

GOVERNMENT'S POLICY SET

FORTH

CONSERVATiVE'S CHARGED WITH

MISREPRESENT-ATION

Received 1 a.m., April 11. LONDON, April 10. i Colonel Seely, addressing his constituents at Longeaton, said the Conservative papers went mad and tried to make^he country and the army -tJhink a. great^Jlot was being engineered to overwhelm Ulster and shoot down enough people in order to make others conform to the Government's will. The Government never conceived such. a> wicked thing. There was a great Liberal principle that the army must never be used except to support the civil power to enable the civil power to exercise its duty. "When the Ulster crisis passes," said Colonel Seely, " there will remain the question how far the Government is entitled to use force to repress political opposition. If I had to stand alone, I would say: under no circumstances, under no provocation, shall we ever depart from that sound rule of liberty, that the army must only be used in tile last sesort; and then only to the extent required to protect the lives of citizezns. I told General ''Gough this. I explained that the army was bound to obey lawful orders, but as the army had got into their heada that the Government was contemplating unlawful action, I told him in good set terms that this was not so. General Gough then said he would obey all lawful commands, and the interview ended."

Regarding the document given to General Gongh, Colonel Seely said: "It was quite impossible for my colleagues to write what I said, as the document was incomplete. I added phrases without Wie remotest idea of dealing unfaithfully with my colleagues. The situation became intolerable when the document was claimed as a trophy. All the wild stories about the King intervening were \ untrue. The King nev^r knew about General G-ough's document until the day after.