The Dominion TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1918. ASSISTING REACTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 136, 26 February 1918, Page 6

The Dominion TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1918. ASSISTING REACTION

For those who care to give the riiatter attention, interest and instruction may be found in a comparison of public utterances of the Socialist candidate in the Wellington North election with the waraims approved by the inter-Allied Socialist Conference as these _ are outlined in cablegrams published yesterday and to-day. Such a comparison will bring out clearly enough that, in addition to the more obvious of''his disqualifications, Mr. Holland is not even a democrat of advanced views, and is, in fact, a political reactionary of the worst and most dangerous type. Tho in-ter-Allied Socialist Conference which has just concluded was attended by delegates of what may fairly be called extreme pacifist tendencies. Yet one conspicuous product of its deliberations is _ a memorandum declaring that the victory of German Imperialism would mean the defeat and destruction of European democracy and liberty, and that Socialists, though they oppose a war of conquest, are inflexibly, resolved to fight until the task of liberation is achieved. Honest men, whatever political label they may wear, could have reached_ no other conclusion or determination. With tho appalling example of Russia before their eyes, the Socialists could not but agree with their president, M. Vandervelde, that the gicat lesson to be derived from the fate of that unhappy country is that Democracy would commit an irretrievable mistake by throwing away its arms before German Imperialism is defeated. In contestins; the Wellington North by-elec-ties, Mr. Holland openly and without apparent shame urges that tho democracy of New Zealand should throw away 'its arms before German Imperialism is defeated. This and nothing else is involved in his persistent denunciations of what he is pleased to call conscription and i: his most undemocratic contention i

that only public-spirited and patriotic men should bo called upon to face tho hardships and perils of war ar, a time when the' fate of democracy is trembling in the balance and that universal immunity should be granted to all slackers and cowards.

To go further in comparing the Allied , Socialists with tho present _ mouthpiece of the local article is to "emphasise the gulf by which they are separated. It is true that the Socialist representatives who lately deliberated in London ardently desire tho.-return of peace, and look to a time when militarism, including compulsory military service, will be abolished. So do all reasonable men. But, unlike Mr. Holland, these representatives are wise enough to see and give full weight to the fact that the world can never be made safe for democracy until Prussian militarism has been overthrown. Whatever is weak or doubtful in the conclusions and decisions of the conference is redeemed by its recognition of this cardinal point. The leading plank in tho policy of the New Zealand Socialists is opposition to the fair and universal apportionment of a duty which could not be generally, or even to any large extent, evaded in Allied countries without bringing upon the whole Allied world the fate of Russia. It is only in Russia that Mr. Holland's favourite doctrine of service to the State by those who care to render it has been freely applied, and the results of its application are to-day visible to all—not ease and comfort for slackers and those who desire to shelter them, but a tide of the most awful misfortunes that have befallen any nation since the days of the barbarian conquerors. By his attack upon the. orderly measures and common obligation of service which alone enable the democracies of the world to defend their existence, by harping continually upon petty grievances and shortcomings, and by ignoring the supreme duty and necessity of concentrating all energies in resistance to the most infamous attack ever made upon the liberties of the world, Mr. Holland identifies himself, not with the representatives of advanced democracy in the Allied nations, but with the feeble incompetents and wreckers who have laid Russia helpless at the feet of ruthloss plunderers. These facts should carry weight even with the ill-in-formed minority whom Mr. Holland has deluded with fine phrases. They should carry tenfold greater weight witli those who are perfectly well able to perceive where the La-bour-Socialist candidate stands, and yet are creating a danger that he may be returned by obtruding the claims of a second candidate in what should bo a united camp. It is impossible to belittlo or obscure the issues by pleading that Wellington North is a small part.of New Zealand, and that New Zealand is a small part of the Allied world. In this by-election votes will be cast for or against the effective prosecution of tho war which must be won by the Allies if liberty and democracy are to endure.