WHAT IS IT?

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2793, 10 June 1916, Page 6

WHAT IS IT?

f MAORILAND WORKER " CHALLENGED ' i'V; ■ "■ » , v f ' A 1 GRAVE INDICTMENT ' ITS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE WAR jV: the .Socialist newspaper, ' p'The:■Maoriland Worker," has taken, in d. ':\ {relation to! the, war, recruiting, and confer ?,'Wription,'-'was discussed very;fully in the . House of Representatives last night by . Mr. T. A, H. Field, member for Nelson, 5:;-: . jpaaking on the Military. Service .Bill. The Voice-of "Labour"! Tho Houso had listened, he said, to almost threats from some honourable ;N; that the introduction of con■~V.' jscription-would result in industrial strife, ir; [He .wished to quote some extracts from ja'' newspaper published in . Wellington. - i'The editor of a newspaper was usually v? (content' with the editorial "we." The (editor of this paper apparently called (•himself "Labour," and this was what the k; ■ [editor, styling himself "Labour," said % v about the passage of the Conscription ©ill. ;V' '■ V' "Labour, will watch the division ' lists for political extinction every politician who, traitor■y. ■- ously votes to destroy our British ;•- is'no occasion," Mr. Field said, F'for me to dwell upon that, because every t \member of this Hoi"»e will .treat that with' \ the contempt it. deserves. This man goes further and threatens every" man * and ' ' .^. er y woman and every child in this Do- .' pinion with industrial .strife if this Bill . -js. passed. Ho says:. ■ j;: . . .." 'Any; : attempt to fasten conscrlpon Australia would end in inp]dustrial. revolt; . .Our short-sighted " politicians' cannot see that the "same thing is true of Maoriland. As soon r . BS . what Sir Joseph Ward describes as .-'tke worst form of Prussian militarism commences to operate and the work of . forcing men to the front at the- point ■ of tho bayonet began, this country would,find itself convulsed industrisi : i ■ , fl Uy .: -, ..it is dangerously possible that the outcome of the enaotment of Prussianism would mean civil war if s'-v.'.' the'madness and the horror of it - . should be persisted in;' "This man calls, the members .of this W-jHousa'wlio vote for the Bill 'knaves and itraitors.' Speaking of the Bill he says: ;■ , ' " Hven if enacted into law it cannot ,-.i succeed. : Indeed, it would require a Parliament of knaves and'traitors to %: ' vote it into law, and.it would need a '• . nation of cravens and degenerates to submit to. its wickedness if it becamejlaw.' . , "One naturally asks, himself why this V , abuse and this ' fulmination. ;.. . .There: is a German Labour; organisation stalled the 1.W.W., with headquarters in Berlin. It may be said that this asso--Iciation has -a branch' in 'Berlin, just-as ; It has branches in Russia and France. , /It may have its tentacles in Russia and in France, as it has its tentacles here in New Zealand, but ; the, head .of the fectopus is in Berlin. '• A Red Fed.'s View. - ■-"Now I want to disabuse" the mind of Jhnybody in this House, who thinks these> lare the opinions of those .who' are called' ..''Bed Feds. There is a letter here from n Red Fed.:— ' ■ ' j "'I: know'l disagree with the "Maoriland Worker,' an old friend of !•.' 'mine,, which -1 have read in ' the C, / trenches at Gallipoli, but one can't (help. that. ,1 further, say. that in your leading article you make use. of. cor- ■ tain words, ;.'We ..pf... the 1 . Labour,,:, movement.' I ambdund to say Hhat' ' ■ you ought to state, .'Some .of ..us of ' ;, the Labour movement.',; Now about -, r. . recruiting. lam bitterly''disappoint . cd that Labour organisations have. : Dot .used their ■ power's of persuading • • men to enlist, and I . hear that some ■ ;of'them are against enlistment alto- \ gather. This ;in" itself-proves that you and all the organisatipns.,aro out .. "~? : .-real touch- with l -tho majority of .'the workers., I,am a';Red:Fed.,,"a"Sb-'"' S ' : cialist, ;and-a -Tebel,. arid, a -believer in .' compulsion. .Compulsion against ' monopoly, • compulsion of certain , working hours, "compulsion for a minimum, wage, compulsion to; prevent Germany beating ,us.—Tours,. Lri : ; "j. T. FOX, •iv-. ' ' "'Sapper, N.Z.F.. Hospital, ; •" 'Pahitua.'" Ms It Pro-British? ;'f"ln-order to learn if paper irpro'British it ; is necessary to consider some : - bf"'its utterances. We have heard from Belgian papers and from diaries of Ger;'v : pan soldiers what happened in Belgium . jn the way of-..German outrages. This is ft'hat.this; paper\saysl;al)put fiat: "It is Te&lljtiMractive also to hear the issue from : 1 the lips, .of -'oux^' ''patriots" at the 'dreadful outfages''wKich tho Germans are ropor.ted-'to bo': committing. One >vould 'think thattli'ey had expected . a. Sunday school treat,. or somethirij; . ' of the like when tho war came along. An'TionV member:,ls,the editor of that ' Jmper a German?. • . p Mr...Field: li : dOn't .know what-he is. ■ Mr. Hornsby: Ho is worse. Mr,.-Payne.:-That«hould be a recommenf.;,: gßtion .to this House if he is a German. • Mr. "Field said? that, a deputation ,of Tunnel wdrkers-waited on one occa- . -pjon .upon-the-Minister of Public Works ' , ,-in Christchurch..,,Ono,6f their complaints, ;.:yut 1 -: forward by one, Jfr. Nicholas, was that a-man had been put off the works .- , end a pro-Gennan. kept on. - / A ;"Mr. said: » .. . .This.-;man,' 6S a matter of..fact, had been put off'.. V ' and a He cbuld i,; give the 'latter's niame.'■ Mr. Fraser : : said he didn't want the man's name. - ' r WTia.t>is.-a:. : .pr,o : -Gernian:?.-'' ho asked; • . "a, nian who says he hopes this country will be beaten," isays Mr. Nicho- .. - Jas. The "Maoriland Worker," com-". \ nienting npoif-HiU' matter, saids "To deprive a man tho right to' ytok be- > cause of his views would bo an aboin- ... ination." >' ■ ;Sneers at Recruiting. :.v - "Iu the : course, of this; debate," Mr. (Field continued, "wo have , liea/d ' the T: (Minister of Defence and the Right Hon. . Itlie-Prime Minister'criticised by certain taembere of tho Labour Party' for hin.-. ; "tiering voluntary enlistment." Have they Wer said a word about tho "Maoriland .-,'jtVorker" hindering recruiting? This is ' .tvhat the "Maoriland Worker' 'says about ■ Jrecruiting:" :" j ('Mr. Allen and Mr. Isitt were billed as; the "star" turn at a variety, show . ' held at the big theatre. They wero billed to speak about the "glorious - Empire" and what the Government scheme meant. . . ..' Mr. Isitt and 'i. ; the famous doctor were thefe, but the ; s people woro not. A few old ladies ; : and gentlemen turned up. When it t '.'was announced that we would fight £. • to our last man and last shilling, they f. ■ .'cheered and champed their gums with ; delight." x This is.another extract from the paper: "What roally, gets me thinking is . these old grey and bald-neaded ~ .-"roosters," who were always throwing . their mud at the rising generation be- . cause they won't go ,away to the front and get their'hides punctured with. German ironmongery. Of course .if they wero young they would go— my oath. . . . Ask the next ante- , diluvian howler for conscription whether he figured in tho Crimean disturbance, and what he was doing, •: anyhow, when Gordon wa? caged up at /'.Khartum." .' t Their Own Medicine. *'It is a. peculiar thing" conttiiued Mr. : (Field, "that these men who call them- - selves keen critics, and who aro so fond W criticising other people, appear to be pempeTamentally unable to stand a dose ■ pf their own medicine. Apparently some fearicatures appeared which offended i ' them, hence this outburst:— i • "It is time someone spoke straight ["■''■ 1 to a few .of the jingo cartoonists.whoso j 1 spiteful little drawings disgraco the | pages of-certain alleged papers. For | instance, Norman Lindsay's "Food for the Vultures," in Sydney "Bulletin" j .; . of February 10, will constrain not a iv ■ few to make pointed inquiries as to ■. .whether Norman Lindsay is not with- I

in military age, and why he doesn't get behind'the gun at the front. We . arc also reminded that the perpetrator of some of the most cowardly and insulting attempts at caricature in a Wellington Weakly is a physically lit person not yet out of his twenties." They; get very 'indignant wfion they get a little bit ot criticism themselves. In this debate we have heard something about Egerfon who lives, 1 believe, it Auckland, and who is not in favour of conscription. If this ' paper is in favour of yoluntary enlistment, you would think it might yet have sometuing good to say about the boys at the front. This is wliat it says, and you will see how cleverly it is said, so as to keep still on Hie suuuy side: "Prussianism rules with a heavy hand in Australia. L. Klausan, also of Sydney, has likewise been fined .£IOO for sayiug tlie men who wero slaughtered at Gallipoli were "mugs . for going there." . . . Tho .£SO fine in tne case'of Egerton Gill, of Auckland, has also been uphold." . "And it finishes this paragraph with these words, "Three cheers for freedom"! A Gross Insult. "One 'or two words from this paper about the fathers of- these men:— ■'Old men, .cowardly old men, dare to rise in their places" and . boast they have done their duty to their, coun-. try by sending their sons to the war. In otlier ivords,' by sending {heir sons ... to do their fighting.' "Tens of thousands .of these men are tho sons or working men, and this paper deliberately insults these fathers. It only/wants to spit its venom at tho mothers to oomplete its infamy. If. There Were No Law-r—. ;■ "What would'this-pajier say-but for the lawf A .newspaper. m Sydney may not be sent through the post there be-, cause ■of its seditious utterances. This is what the .'Maoriland (Worker* -. says ■ about that:— - ' *•;. . "Postmaster-General Webster atrociously violating every. Labour funda-. mental has blacklisted "Boss's," and Tefuses to permit it to pass through the Post Qificg. The'publications of

the employers "are not in any way interfered with, and on top of Mr.. Webster's Prussianism, "Ross's" finds itself faced with other difficulties, ' one of which is that Gordon .and ■ Gotch have refused to further handle its wholesale distribution. The fact that such an-attack is being directed against the magazine is all tho .more reason why it should be made to live. A life subscription can be made for .-61; Send it by next mail." "Also, in answers to a correspondent called 'Query,! the paper eays this:— ■ "If we published your final suggestion, though it is" quite sound,_ its publication would land us in jail. Prussianism is here, too." "It calls those, who go to the front 'mugs,' calls us fathers -of thgse ■, men 'cowardly old men,' and it .'stops from going farther because it might land itI6elf in gaol! The Finished Product. "Now, Sir,'at one of the last Territorial camps at Reefton some of tho boys there, who get their ideas froito this paper, would, when they received the order to ground' arms, dash their rifles <iown muzzle foremost' on t'he stony ground, in order to smash the sights, saying 'Bill Masse/s rifle.' And when butter was served to them they would.get pounds of butter above their allowance and bury it under a sod, saying 'Bill Massey's butter." When the National Anthem was sung they would start singing tliei TJed Flag.'" - Mr. Webb made some interjection. Mr. Field: If tho honourable member .for Grey wants to know a,bout it ho will find in, this paper a paragraph, which I have seen, approving him for teaching the children to sing "The Red Flag." Mr. .Wobb: That can't bo right, because I can't sing., That's the only thing I can't do. , • ; '.; Is This a Time? . • Mr. Field concluded his speech" thus: Now, Sir, is this -,a. time, when our boys are fighting and dying at the front, when thousands of soldiers.and sailors.have: died to save the Empire's shores from' ,invasion; when we have lost, the greatest of our soldiers—is this a time for any man to stand up and threaten the people of the Dominion with, industril strife and civil war?" \ Mr. M'Combs (Lyttelton) said that the member for Nelson took exception to the "Maoriland Worker" because some of its articles had referred to .some men as "bald-headed old roosters." The articles, so. far as, he could judge, were not editorials, but were contributed articles, Mt. Field: Some were editorials. . Mr. M'Combs added that he recognised some of tho articles as being from a contributor whose articles were accepted by other newspapers throughout the Dominion. It was to the credit of the "Maoriland Worker" that none of its articles or even a portion of its articles had tieen suppressed by the military censor.