MR. P. C. WEBB WELCOMED HOME

New Zealand Tablet, 9 October 1919, Page 18

MR. P. C. WEBB WELCOMED HOME

■ ♦ —. After serving a term of imprisonment in Kaingaroa prison for refusing to put on military uniform in camp when being called up under the Conscription Act, Mr. P. 0. Webb, ex-member of Parliament for the Grey district, was given an enthusiastic welcome back to Greymouth by his sympathisers on Saturday night, September 27. Mr. Webb, who arrived by motor, was conducted by an enthusiastic procession to the Opera House, which was immediately filled. Messrs. Webb and J. O'Brien appeared on the stage first, followed immediately after by Messrs. P. O'Rourke, P. J. O'Regan, F. Turley, Knight, It. Beban, It. Spencer, McQuilkan, Miss M. Anderson, and other members of the Labor Party. Mr. O'Brien presided. In opening the meeting, the chairman said it gave him great pleasure to see so many people present, which, so far as Greymouth was concerned, was an effective answer to the Prussianism which had been imposed on tho country during the past fivo years. During that period they had suffered under the whip of militarism because of their love for their fellow-beings. The Scriptures said, "Thou shalt not kill," but during the war a creed of hate and anarchy had prevailed, and to men like Mr. Webb, who had suffered torture, even death, they owed an everlasting gratitude. They thanked them for their services in the fight for their principles, and on behalf of Demo-. cracy and all who believed in the movement, he welcomed them back to their friends. Mr. P. J. O'Regan, who was received with prolonged a'pplause, welcomed back Mr. Webb. Ho proceeded to deal with compulsory military training, holding that conscription began, not during tho war, but with the passing of the Defence Amendment Act, 1909. In spite of all that bad been said about the system of management tin-!], it: had proved such a miserable failure from a military point of view that the Minister of Defence was now anxious to scrap it, and to replace it by a system of compulsory detention in barracks for four months at a time, and that proposal he denounced as a scheme to corrupt the youth of New Zealand. (Applause.) He warned his hearers to bear this matter in mind at the elections. As for the promises of politicians, the Act of 1909 had been passed notwithstanding solemn pledges to Hie contrary at the previous elections. When it was being discussed they were assured that its solo object was the defence of New Zealand and that no man would ever be asked to serve abroad except as a volunteer. How had that promise been kept? They were now invited to subscribe to the extraordinary doctrine that defending New Zealand meant chasing Turks across the deserts of Arabia, dropping bombs in the Jordan Valley, and dictating the government of Alsace-Lorraine. (Laughter.) His reply was that if that was the price of imperialism, then away with it. The word "shirker" rose readily to tho lips of Mi - . Webb's critics, but his reply was that there were other shirkers. For example there wero the society "limelighters" who called for men and more men,, but who were not infrequently responsible for standardised families of two. (Laughter and applause.) __ These people were as comical as tho French atheists, who affected to be horrified at tho bombardment of cathedrals. Although an unrepresentative and demoralised Parliament, whose members had virtually voted themselves £6OO, in consideration of which they had surrendered control of the country to Cabinet and also the Crown Law Office—this Parliament had dared to pass legislation disfranchising men like Mr. Webb, while the lowest criminal was allowed to vote on the serving of his sentence. In one sense, however, he was pleased at tho disfranchisement, for tho men attacked would be a greater political power than if they had votes. Their relatives, friends, and sympathisers had the franchise, and they would strike when the proper time came at the ballot box. {Applause.) Apart from disfranchisement the treatment of conscientious objectors was a disgrace to New Zealand, and he was glad the terrible story would be laid bare in the book now in the press by Mr. Holland. (Applause.) Finally, the speaker urged the people to show at the ballot box that they feared neither press dictation nor political tyranny. (Applause.) Mr. O'Brien said that a number of congratulatory wires had been received referring to Mr. Webb's return to liberty, but as they were too numerous he would not pick and choose in reading them. ; : i'f*:'■';':'■ On rising to speak, Mr. Webb was received with continued applause. \ He said ; he was somewhat nervous in

once, more' appearing before a Greymouth audience. Had he the brains of Dan O'Connell or the imagination of Shakespere he could not put into words his feelings that % evening. Had he to live his life over again he would follow the same path. (Applause.) He regretted nothing,' .and was as glad to go into his prison cell for abiding by his principles as he was to enter Parliament on the first occasion. In prison he had -met men who held different views to him. Some were .religious objectors; but they had all stuck to their principles in the same way as those who had scoffed at the dangers of Nero's lions. They had in camp an Irishman, who when asked if he believed in liberty, said: "Sure I do." When asked if he believed in the rights of small nations he said: "Yes; give me a free berth to Ireland and I'll fight for a small nation — , I'll fight for liberty." If the Government had wanted to conscript, it should have conscripted wealth, not flesh and blood; but it seemed that wealth was too sacred. A few days ago Mr. Semple had to appeal to the soldiers to give Mr. Massey a hearing, and some of them had told the speaker that it was only the men with Labor views who had stuck to them. When he resigned his seat in Parliament the last time he had decided that if he was defeated he «would take up stretcher work, not so. much •on his "own initiative, but because some of his friends' mothers might have wished it. He had been returned unopposed and was determined to go to gaol as a protest to the Government, and in many cases a man to be true to his conscience, had to oppose the group of men who controlled the country. Concerning the Russian question, he did not profess to know anything about what was happening there; but he did know that the Northcliffe Press was one of the most corrupt agencies in the world. Before the war broke out 13,000,000 people in England were on the verge of starvation, due to the corrupt landlord system, and even in "God's own country" they could not say that 20 per cent, of the people belonged to the homes they lived in. In conclusion, he asked all present to strive towards returning a Labor Government at the next election, and appealed to them to vote for Labor first, second, and last, and so bring about an equity of conditions where all would havo the same chanco in life. If Labor was returned they would honor every pledge made to the returned soldiers. He again thanked those present for their welcome. (Applause.)