COMPULSORY SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2801, 20 June 1916, Page 7

COMPULSORY SERVICE

FEDERATION OF LABOUR PROTESTS

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE

PREMIER

A VIGOROUS RETORT

_Tho Prime Minister has just made available lor publication certain correspondence lie had with Mr. Hiram Hunter, secretary of the United I'ederatiou of Labour, while the Military Servico Bill was before tho House. ■ -

. Mr. Hunter Writes:—"l hays'to express regret on behalf ,of -the llnited Federation of Labour that the Government cannot agree to give the workers of New Zealand, and others who' may wish to do so, an opportunity .to express their views in reference "to .the. drastic provisions of the Bill. .. Members of Parliament may be determined to inflict conscription upon New Zealand without having recoived any mandate from their constituents, and in. defiance of the expressed wish of the working class, and tliey are in a position to do so, as far as the enactment'of tho measure is concerned, but,'if they do,'it will bo' none the less an outrage upon this democratic young country." The question of conscription was not'before the people at the general election; they have not had an opportunity of discuss- . ing tho' Question, and' they • would not . agree to it unless it was preceded by the nationalisation of. the resources of' the country, and then only if-it was'demonstrated to them, beyond a doubt, : that it was essential'to the success" of the Allied forccs. 1 ■•■'..■■ The Government's Pledge. "If the Government pledged itself to supply a certain number of men, and to.keep-up the originalstrength by reinforcements, prior to. taking steps to ascertain the number of men. available; by means of the National "Register,, if goes to show that its zeal outran : its discretion, and it is prepared to violate every democratic principle in its endeavour to make good. .We have it on the authority of Colonel Churchill that there aro 200,000 servants' waiting upon ufficers at the Western .'front,; and-another 50,000 acting as grooms;; and yet your Government has tho ; temerity to propose that this county shall conscript its manhood on the grounds of necessity. If ttio Government wants national service it must ensure that those who are called upon to servo the State are really doing so, and not serving merely the capitalistic combines landed proprietors, who are waxing -fat-upon the Empire's misfortunes; ■ If the Military '. Servico Bill is placed upon the Statute Book, and put into operation-prior to the levying of adequate'direct'taxation to cover war expenditure and appropriation, of all .war profits, it will- 1 be. against the best (interests:of the .Empire. "Th'e'voluntary system has 1 a ' magnificent sue-" cess, ajid all. the men this country can spare, without 1 unduly ■ hampering its productive capacity, will be forthcoming. The voluntary sysipm -will ensure a reasonable- amount -of . consideration.' : It tends .to prevent hazardous or foolhardy exploits, where men. are.'likely to' be needlessly, sacrificed; in short, it' prevents Prussian, militarism, and, the in-' traduction of conscription means that the Prussians have: obtained, to say the least, a moral victory, and British blood and treasure have flowed in vain. t "It is evident _ that your Government is out of touch- ;with public opinion on this question. The workers are convinced that you and your, colleagues are more concerned about iising conscription for industrial than for military' pur-, poses, and if ■ your Government forces the. passage of ..the Military Service. Bill it is simply emulating the ostrich.. . " . Prime 'Minister's Reply. The Prime Minister's reply td this letter was as follows :—' "•' ' < ■

l ?I have to -aclmawledge'tU'e'Tecbipt 'of your- letter' of I ''29, 'traversing ;the action of the Government in introducing the Military Service Bill, 'without i5 s y^ u alle 8 e ) giving the workers of rJew Zealand and others who may wish to do so, an opportunity to express their views in reference to' what' you are pleased to term 'the drastic -provisions of the Bill/v Tou further allege that Parliament is 'determined to inflict conscription upon New Zealand, in deiianco )f the. expressed wish-, o£ the working uass, and you characterise such a pro- 1 «dure as 'an outage upon this deinoratic young country.' . i- • •

carefully read comment upon the proposed action of tile Govern ment arid Parliament,l am impelled t< say that I am unable to accept you conclusions as either-logical, "or just/o as correctly; representing. the positioi you' seek to establish. * Most certainly X am bound to take very serious excep tionJ to your- statement that any actior by the Government, or by Parliament, ; ir Tiie direction you indicate, is 'in ' defi! ance of the expressed wish of the working class and ah outrage* upon the demo- '■'• -You can hardly bo 'of the fact that' the demand for what you term 'inscription' was .first publicly voiced in this country by . the' railway workers of Dunedin, when my colleague the Minister-of Defence , visited the railway workshops' there in : October last and was urged by the men to introduce compulsory military: service,' on the ground that it was at once the fairest and most equitable form of enlistment, bmce then the feeling in favour of compulsion has, grown: stronger and stronger," and I notice that even one of your colleagues has been -forced to admit - that the great majority ,of the people are in favour of prosecuting the war, and that, it. the. Germans came to New' Zealand, they would all fight.' I'ho claim you advance on behalf of the united Federation of Labour that its views are those of the working class generally must, therefore, be ruled out of court.

I have on a former occasion expressed my Views upon the manifesto drafted by the United Federation of Labour Conference upon tho conscription question in January last, \atid I see no reason to modify my opinion thereupon, that it does not represent the views of the greater number of the workers of this Dominion. Most certainly it has failed to influence public opinion in the direction aimed at, and it has been repudiated in raoro than one quarter, and I am . assured that upon this question of -compulsory military service the Government and Parliament of New Zealand aro correctly interpreting public feeling. Voluntary System a Success. Upon one point I am in agreement with you—that 'the voluntary system Las proved a magnificent success.' But it has been, and -is, in danger of failing, and for that reason the Government has to consider other measures. And here you force me to, remind you that the United Federation of Labour ha 9 done absolutely nothing to help on the recruiting movement, and to' thus ensure the success of the voluntary effort. On the contrary, some of its leaders, backed up by the journal that describes itself as the 'official organ of the United Federation of Labour and the 'Social Democratic Party,'-have done a good deal to discourage recruiting by the Unpatriotic stand they have taken in their comments upon the ,war and Great Britain's part in the struggle. That being i the case, and as I am well advised that you cannot point to a single member of .your Federation Executive who has personally interested himsslf in the matter, 1 fail to see how you. can possibly claim, .credit, for the success of the voluntary movement, which fins actually been imperilled by the past actions of your Federation. A Pertinent Question. "Bo you not think if. is about time that tho leaders of your Federation, with its rank and file,- began to recognise the responsibilities that citizenship entails? To me., it has always seemed a regrettable thing that so .many people are so ready, while accepting all the rights and privileges, to ignore tho responsibilities and duties of citizenship. You look to tho State for 'protection, against the aggressions of an enemy, and yon havo a right to do so, provided that, when tho State claims your services for the protection of others; yoiii wro Teady to help in the defence of your fellow citizens. The people who shirk their tesponsibili-

ties,- as citizens, nie no good to tho State, especially in times of such national peril as now confront ue, and I am satisfied that their opinions carry very little weight with their fellows in other parts of the Dominion. "The Elementary Fact." "60 far as the Government is concerned, it has the one supremo object in view, and I believe tho country is solidly with it- in its inflexible determination to do all within its power to assist the Mother Country and her Allies in bringing the war-to a successful conclusion, and to thus free the democracies of the world from the blight of Prussian tyranny. Apparently you, and those who agree with you, have not yet grasped the elementary fact that we are committed to- a life-ahd-deatli struggle, from which there can be 110 retreat until the issue is decided—a struggle from which it may take all our strength and wit to emerge triumphant. Were' Germany to triumph through any unhappy chance, the iron heel of the oppressor would soon bo felt by the workers of this Dominion, in common with those of the other portions of the Empire. What then would become of the rights and privileges you are able to claim in our freo democracy to-day— rights and privileges which you are apparently. so unwilling to defend against an unscrupulous and inhuman foe ? No Time for Whining Protests. "The present is 110 time for half-heart-ed measures, nor for whining protests against tile alleged 'Prussianisation' of the nation.' That can only be brought about if New Zealaiulers aro untrue to themselves, and fail to recognise that, just .as the. State has its duties towards them," so' they' havo their duties towards the State, and that, if they fail to'respond to" the call of. duty, the State has the .'right to demand their services for the defence of the community. While the State protects the individual, the individual must also help ,to proteot the State. '.Failure to dischargo the duties of citizenship in the hour of national peril can only be regarded as a sign of unworthiness in the individual, unfitting him for. the ordinary rights of citizenship."