THE DESERTER

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3140, 19 July 1917, Page 4

THE DESERTER

♦ FURTHER REFERENCE IN PARLIAMENT. Reference was made again in the House of Representatives yesterday to the case of Private Nimot, the Now Zealand boldier .who is alleged to have deserted to the enemy. The Minister of Defence had stated, in answer to a question, thai Nimot was reported to bo at present a, prisoner of war in Germany, and would l>e tried by court-martial at the close of the war. 'Mr. J. V. Brown (Napier) protested tiiat the reply did not go far enough. The Houso was entitled to information of a more detailed character. Mr. J. T. M. Hornsby (Wairarapa) said ho wished members would cease to drag a, painful incident before the House m a way that conld servo no useful purpose. Nimot had come from the Wairarapa district, where his parents were old and respected residents. The simple fact was that the lad had not been responsible for his actions at the time when he deserted to the enemy. .Ihe comrades I who had tried to shoot him as he went across to tho German lines, whuo they deplored his act, admitted frankly that for some time prior to his desertion he had been subjected to a great deal of mental torture from the remarks made to him about his German origin. There was definite ovidenco that Nimot had been irresponsible at the time. If the lad ever came to trial it would W proved by indisputable evidence that he had been deficient and not accountable for his action at the time of the desertion.