MILITARY TRAINING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 7 August 1929, Page 6

MILITARY TRAINING.

COMPULSION OPPOSED.' (By Telegraph —Press Association.) TIM ABU, Tuesday. The question of military training and conscientious objection was the subject of a long discussion to-day at a meeting of the Timaru Presbytery. This was taken in committee but the attitude of the Presbytery, as indicated in a motion which was carried, was unanimously released for publication. The motion was as follows: —The Presbytery of Timaru hereby resolves that in the matter of military training and all other public services and relations to the State, it be respectfully pointed out that the Presbyterian Church has always stood and still stands emphatically for the rights of individual conscience. The Presbytery therefore supports the Assembly’s Public Question Committee in its appeal. The Presbytery furthermore emphasises the loyalty of the Church and dissociates itself from any claim that any particular servant or member of the Church should be exempted from military service, except upon the grounds' of their individual conscientious objections. A further motion, moved by the Rev. P. G. Hughes, was also carried unanimously: “That the Presbytery urges upon the Assembly’s Public Questions Committee the desirability of appealing to all members and adherents of the Presbyterian Church to use constitutional means to secure a repeal of the compulsory clauses of the Defence Act on the grounds that compulsory military training (a) is contrary to the whole trend of British sentiment and policy; (b) fosters and encourages a 'spirit which has already brought civilisation to the very verge of destruction and (c) is diametrically opposed to the church’s deeper understanding of mind and the spirit of Christ.” Speaking to the motion Mr Hughes made a sweeping condemnation of the military training system, in the course of which he described it as “absolutely futile” and “waste of time and money. ’ 1 His view was supported by the Moderator (the Rev. 11. P. Pell) who declared that the present system of Territorial training was absolutely no use in actual warfare. Mr Fell spoke from personal experience, having been on active service.