OUR GRATITUDE TO THE NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2793, 10 June 1916, Page 14

OUR GRATITUDE TO THE NAVY.

Sir,—We in New Zealand, join in Britain's sorrow at, the loss of so many of Britain's brave sailors 'in the rece-it naval battle; but I would suggest tli.nl we. show our practical sympathy as -.veil by oiiering the whole of our war prorits itowards assisting ■ in replacing the list ;fighting ships, and that an export tax ■be put on exported goods. What would our export trade be,worth if it had ret 'been for Britain's Navy? Therefore let. :Us do our duty. Hoping some abler.pen .than mine will'take this matter up iind icarry it to a successful issue.—l am, e>c., 1:., : A SMALL FABMEI?. ' PUBLIC WORKS HANDS AT FEATHERSTUN CAMP. Sir,—The letter appearing in this morning's issue of your paper, over the noni ,de plunio "Married Volunteer," calls for isome reply from those complained of. i'acts are always to .be preferred to those statements which are'mhde without due i'cgurd to correctness of detail, ami wilh y/J'ur permission I will give tno facts of. the ease as they are known' to those who have a. right to know them. Amongst tile men now employed on the works, there is only a small proportion of single men, and tho number of eligible men in the ranks of the. single men 011 these works is so'small' tliat comment is almost superfluous. Of the singio men who' are eligible, almost the whole number have cither enlisted or> have some' very good reason for not doing so. Not every single man who is apparently eligible is able to see his way to volunteer to go to the ;tront for service, and in tho case of some of .them the services they are. rendering here aro as much valued by the authorities as any service they could have rendered ill the rauks. The records show that a very large proportion of the men who are at present employed here by the Public Works Department are men who have/volunteered and who have been turned down by the medical examiners. Many of these men have good homes of their own in the cities, and still they arc putting 1 up with the intense discomfort of tho construction camp life, as a way of doing .their bit for the country in. the present struggle. Many men who enlist at once set about a scheme of loahng on their employers till they, are palled up, at the same time daring their, employers to dismiss them, under penalty of the effects'of "public opinion." There have been numerous instances of this' sort of behaviour on these works, and it is just possible that the instance quoted by your correspondent inqy como under this category. Tho men at m'eseut employed liero are keimly incensed at an imputation of '"shirking" being laid on them, and especially by one who is, after all, only a very late "volunteer." AYo have married men hero who volunteered for the Expeditionary Force as fnr back as the later months of 1914, and they .aro still willing and anxious lo go if the necessary medical pass can lie obtained. Since December last there has been a very steady decline in our numbers, caused by the fact that our men wore enlisting. Many of these men had enlisted prior to coming to these works, and others enlisted while employed hern, and remained here until, called up. When it has been necessary to discharge men from these works, it has been done by a process of eliminating tlie fit, and giving them the chancc of freedom to enlist if they were of that mind. Circumstances have boen taken into consideration in every case, and. at the present time it will be found that there aro very few single, eligible inen 011 these works who have not already enlisted.

, There lias always been the best of good feeling between the men of the Public Works Department and Ihe military, and there is no earthly reason why it not continue so. One would almost bo entitled to'think that no such thins as an absurd suggestion could come from any man who is. wearing khaki. After all, the work of camp-building must bo continued if the enlisted men are to l>e efficiently trained, and as proof that the Public Works Department has already done'the right thing in regard to sole;, tion of men, it might be pointed out that the staff at the eanui is entirely composed of married and single men who are either obviously over age or have been rejected on vohinteerinrr for service. Perlmrn, }" •your correspondent would 'extend his inquiries to the proper quarter he might gain some interesting information in regard to the status of the men employed on the caiiii) constructs" works nt Peall:prctnn jU'liffirr fnimiT cni. Krv. "ONE OF THE IfATiPTKR REJECTS." Featherston Camp, June 9.