AN ALLEGED DESERTER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2858, 24 August 1916, Page 4

AN ALLEGED DESERTER

Some days ago the Prime Minister announced that a member of the ]S T ew Zealand Expeditionary Force in France had deserted and gone over to tho enemy., Ho mentioned no name, and stated that he had refrained from doing so until tho facts had been confirmed. Mr.'Masses' made a mistake in mentioning tho matter at all unless he waß in a position to state the circumstances and to give the name of the person who had been guilty of this shameful and dishonourable act. Until tho name of tho • man is made known there is bound to bo speculation and comment as to his identity, and tho position is an unpleasant one for thoso having friends and rolatives in tho fighting lines. Moreover, in view of the facts which have since come to light through newspaper and private correspondence, the secrecy observed by the Government is liable to give rise- to tho suspicion that Ministers havo something to hide. As a matter of fact, from tho information at our disposal wo believe there is not ' the slightest ground for any suspicion of tho kind. The name of tho man alleged to have deserted is not that of a foreigner, and his action is said to nave been prompted by a sense of personal grievance rather than by any_ leanings to the enemy. Be that as it may, however, the statement has been published by at least one London correspondent of the New Zealand Press that the deserter's name has been published in N.Z. Army Orders in France, and his dismissal from the force recorded. If such is the case, then there should not be tho slightest reason for withholding tho name here. It is, in fact, tho duty of tho Government, in tho interests of the whole of tho men in the fighting lines in France, to make known tho name of the deserter at once.