THE CHRISTCHURCH ANTI-MILITARIST.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1659, 28 January 1913, Page 3

THE CHRISTCHURCH ANTI-MILI-TARIST.

, Sir,-Once upon a time the public could *• et the newspapers 'and made to swallow" almost'.anything publ? ■' , tlmo has passed when such is possible, and the advance of education has not only given the populace access to avenues of information,: but it has quickened their thinking faculties, and enabled them to weigh' evidence, and "?s° n out propositions. Now, in your little criticisms of-my address to the Labour Conference-on Thursday last you attempt to treat as scarcely worthy of notice, niy ; statement that a reccnt ctepuinrnmm Ward represented 100*100 workers, just as if'such a thing nere absurd. In a speech in 1908 Sir Joseph Mard said that he had;exceptionally reliable information which warranted hnn in saying that compulsory training was not wanted, by the majority of the inhabitants •of this country. And everyone who knows anything about the feeling of the Dominion, can substantiate (this, and all your-protestations will' not m s In this. connection you attribute to me words that I did not use. I never said, nor does your report bear any such construction, "that military men • generally in. all countries opposed compulsory training," Reference to the report^will show that my remarks jvere . much more serious. I eaid that military nieh generally. were of opinion that militarism and- democracy could , not exist in the same Colonel Ross, in his book Government and, War," establishes this as an axiom, ami' concludes ' that therefore, representative government must go! This is just wheife. the danger in our system lies, and not'-' withstanding your attempt to' twist my meaning, what I stated was. perfectly, clear, and was a quotation of the beforementioned Colonel Ross. Compulsory military; training disciplines the whole nation in conformity to the military idea, so that in time of war-scare there is no opposition to the military authorities \practically taking control of tho civil government, and this is what is advocated by the gallant Colonel and other high military authorities. Such a state of affairs is impossible in any democratic country not under conscription. The. workers of-this and other countries are too wide awake to-day'not to realise the gravity of the situation, hence the difficulty of tho capitalists ;to raise armies to support their respective proaganda,'• or what is now called "Imperialistic" expanThe worker pays the price ef war in his .life's blood —in other words, "dies for his country," when :he could do .infinity more good by living, for it.—l am, etc., ' C. R. N. MACKIE. ■ Christchurch, - January 25.,...- • -'.[lf our correspondent, when he said that military men generally were of opinion that militarism and;'democracy cannot exist together, did not mean that they opposed compulsory training,'-it is difficult to know what relevance His obser- '. vation: could have to his attack on compulsory training. In point of fact, the opponents of our defence system always :use "militarism," "conscription," and compulsory training as interchangeable terms. , Our correspondent, indeed, does so in this letter.]