RETURNED SOLDIERS DISCUSSED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2567, 15 September 1915, Page 6

RETURNED SOLDIERS DISCUSSED

IN PARLIAMENT '• ACCUSATIONS OF COWARDICE SCOUTED BY THE HON. J. ALLEN , Speaking in tho House of Representatives last evening on - tho motion to go into' Committee of Supply, to disouss the Estimates,' Mr. G. Witty (Riccarton) said ho wished to remark upon the fact that the Tahiti had not sailed and the men. were left' here stranded. He alleged that someone, had blundered very, badly. Of- course the firemen aboard had left the ship, and they were quite right in leaving. Their engagement was at ail: end. . . ■ . • Mr. Massey: Do you justify them r 'Mr.'Witty: I don't justify anything. Mr. 'Massey: You aro woreo than they are if you do. Mr. .Witty asked the Prime Minister whether ho had ever worked as a fireman .through tlie tropics. ' Mr. Massey: I know this—-that no 'man worthy of \th&. name would leave these sick men stranded here. ' Mr. Witty blamed the_ Government for not having stepped in at once. Some arrangement should have , been madei to .take tho sick soldiers home.

A Sinister Rumour. Mr. J. 'IV-Mi Honisby (Wairarapa) .'said that the; Tahiti had arrived with something over. 400 men.. Of those, some had been- through ; the : fire and relumed broken and maimed. But there .were hundreds oil' the- ship who,, liio believed, had never seen the firms line.'He= did not;wish .to reflect on .any of the men, but he thought it un-; that tlie. men wlio had; fought iind hied in battle should only get the saiho reception as 'the others about, whom all sort's- of things .were being; said. Hon. members:■• What- things? Mr. Hornsby: All. sorts of dreadful things are being said about - some of the men. who havo come, back, ; and who haven't gone past Egypt; They aro accused, in plain language, of cowMr. Massey: You should not say that.

Mr. Hornsby i I am only what is being said, and sureljr if it is' liot true it ought to bo-denied from tho ' highest place in the land. Ho called upon the Minister to deny the . statement. It was not fair or decent to give to these men the same reception as was : given ■ to men who had had their bodies broken in the-service •ot tho Empire. . , . Delay of the Ship., The Hon. J. Allen (Minister of De-. r fence) 'said ;he was very-much obliged to the member for Riccartoh for taking such a' deep' interest in the affairs of the soldiers on the .Tahiti, but perhaps ■fif lie had exercised his influence in :'<jertain- directions the soldiers might : .Jiave sailed on Saturday,night,'as was ' 'intended; It was perfectly: true that ; 'Ithe. men .had signed articles for ,Welljng■v ton,' but lie had every to, believe that the, crew 'would ..sign; on again to take tho ship to Port Chalmers. Jiarly •»n Saturday morning, at the very first ' opportunity, the ..secretary-of the-Sea-■;men's Union (Mr! Young) went on to the Tahiti to induce tho crew to take the ship to Port Chalmers. He did not. succeed at that tiine, but he went on at '12 o'clock again;' and ( > after lie. (Mr., lAlleai) came back from the ceremony at tho Town. Hall, he, met the manager of the Union Company, who informed him .that things had. improved, and that a considerable, number of the crow would bo prepared-to : south ' on' Monday at latest: He had no reason' to alter' that. opinion during tho time ' that he was in •Christchurch on Sunday and Monday. When he arrived back in .Wellington on Tuesday morning lie found that the ship had not gone on, ' and steps', .were' taken .to: transfer the juen for Duiedin. to the Warrimoo, and the Christchurch men to the Monowai. The cost would, liave to :be ,"borne by 'tho New Zealand taxpayers. None of. . these men jvould 'be charged a halfpenny for thoir voyage down. No Cowards. "I am! extremely sorry," said Mr. (Allen, "that the honourable gentleman should have raised this question in the • Housed I have not conceived it to he .my, duty to draw any distinction be- , tween these' men who have been to the ifront and those who have come back sick from Egypt. .1 am not going to discriminate between those men, and I am mot going to allow any man to hint that :' aany one of these men is a coward."! Mr; Hornsby: I don't hint that. Mr. Allen: The honourable gentleman has brought it up in tho House of Representatives that it is stated in the by-ways of tho streets that tlieso men are cowards. . . • . I- want to repu-

diate in the strongest torms the suggestion wherever it comes from that any single man who has come back by the Tahiti or who enlisted to. go away can lie guilty : of cowardice. -I;haven't heard a whisper of tho word cowardice. I have been told," and I do know, that there 'are a certain number of men who could not. go. to the front'because they were sick in hospital. Mr. Hornsby: How riuiny? Mr. Allen said , he was not able to Bay how' many,'but he ! was 'having a .return prepared. • Some of tho;men who had come, baok sick wero suffering from "pneumonia «hd wero still in beds in liospital, and. some had contracted tubercular disease, probably in the desort., ; The suggestion; that; these men iwere' guilty of. cowardice was revolting to him, and ho ■ was 'sure it was reveltirig v to all decent; New Zealanders. .The information ho had was_ that these 'sick-'meu- were cursing, their, bad luck because they could not get to tho front. !Ho believed that if , they ; had , gone the same , would have' been' said , of y them as had' becn said about every other. New #ealarider—that no single • New Zeaiander had ever once turned his 'back on the.,foe. ■ He disapproved very [strongly of the suggestion that theso men were cowards. ' Regarding the hospitality shown to the men ho. did not think 'the'public desired to discriminate ■between wounded and sick men. As a ■matter of fact, it was impossible to select -the sick men and the ■ wounded <men. Would it be fair to say to tho eick men, "You are not worthy of a public reception"? '• Mr. Hornsby, in a personal explanation, denied that he had hinted that nny of the men were cowards. Ho hod said that statements were boing made charging men with cowaiHice, and the statement was being made by officers of : tho Defence Department. Views of Other Members. Mr. J. Payne (Grey Lynn) said that the member for Wairarapa, had heard rumours that had come to the ears of other members, , and it was the duty ol somebody to bring the : matter to the • ]i"]it of day, so that it could be cleared up. They had a right to trace rumours 'detrimental to the men, and give them sv denial from the highest place in the land. Ho felt certain that no young Now Zealanders would be'guilty of cowardico, and the suggestion was only an incident of . 'the matter had been cleared.up to the satisfaction of tho mon, and the member for. Wairarapa had only done his Jthity. 1 ' ; : Mr. 'A'. E. Glover (Auckland Central) regretted the discussion, and' said that he did not think an £ " differentiation

should have been mads with the men on the Tahiti. v . Mr. P. 0. Webb' (Grey) agreed that it had; been the talk of the town and the talk of the House that a lot or the young fellows returned because they were too cowardly to go to the front. That was a serious statement, and he hoped the Press would put it down with the "iron heel." He had talked with the doctor on the ship, who had' said that 'all the men who were .fit were anxious to get;back,J>ut their health would not permit it. He hoped the discussion would have the effect or causing the next man who was so cowaialy as to make snob references about tho returned men'to be severely dealt with. Mr. 0. ,H. Poole. (Auckland nest) suggested that an officer of tho Government should meet returned transports .at Adelaide, so. as to have. everything cleared up when tho vessels arrived here. ■ •. '