LOYAL SLAVS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2805, 24 June 1916, Page 9

LOYAL SLAVS

. . THE- AUSTBIANS IN THE 'GUM-"' , FIELDS ; i There is present in -Wellington a , deputation' representing the so-called : Austrian gum-diggers in the 'North Auck- , land Peninsula. '! The deputation 'waited . pu the Prime Minister .on Thursday, and represented to him that'though it was , -customary, to . speak' of them ; as Aus--trans, fully 90 per 'cent, were really Dalmatians' and : Croatiaris; in other words,. they were' Slavs, nominally Aus-' trian subjects, but in . sympathy with Eussia in . the present European war, . and'perfectly loyal to' Great Britain.lt was stated that' a considerable number . of them had enlisted in the early days of the waiy'anil gone to the front with ' the Expeditionary Forces. • Some hundreds more were willing to enlist, bat the. British 1 authorities could riot see their way to accept enemy subjects as soldiers. . The. deputation assured the Prime Minister that the New Zealand Governmsnt need fear no trouble from them. They were T quite satisfied with . their treatment, in New .Zealand, 6nd only desired to have' an opportunity to show their gratitude.'. The members of • the denutation deprecated tlie. Jiysteri- - cal outbursts of a few individuals ir- Hto - community, and also ; the : misleading paragraphs which had appeared recently m- some : newspapers concerning their attitude.-, in-Teply, the:Prime.Minister indicated his pleasure at receiving the assurances that the deputation had given.