SECOND DIVISION LEAGUE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 194, 6 May 1918, Page 6

SECOND DIVISION LEAGUE

Sir,—Tho disgraceful exhibition of tlio Christchureh brunch of this league reached its climax at their meeting last week, and to those, who know this branch and the mettle of its acmbers it came as no surprise. These bravo heroic "men" have long since established a record for .mock heroics. Not one. word was uttered by them against the injustice of compelling hoys to military training without recompense or pay, nor against the illegal fines and imprisunmont imposed upon these boys by Magistrates who misunderstood the Act. Sir, isn't tho whole thing palpably apparent These Second Division men raised no protest against single lads of twenty and under going to the front lo light and to i ic "for them": neither did they trouble ono whit how tho wives i'.nd families or the real heroes—the married men who volunteered—got on. Tha lioor old fathers and mothers of tho young lads conscripted could shift iu privation and want fur aught liny cared. No, sir, let I he other fi-l'imv go,' let all the boys be slaughtered, but don't touch us, is iho motto emblazoued upon their banner. "Provision for wives and children"! What; a sham, what arrant hypocrisy! They never cared for the relatives ot the young lads nor provision for tho wives nnd families of tho married volunteers. They howled for conscription so long as it didn't touch them, and were content to let the boys fight and die to tho end.

But the moment the law called upott them to emulate the boys who had perished, all this "provision for dependants"' was trotted out. Oh, the mockery of it all! Go into our city streets, look at theso very wives and families, dressed as they never dressed before; parading their vanity unblushingly before the khaki-clad boys, whose heroism makes their indulgence in these things possible,, and wearing expensive "allotment coats'' they had never dreamed of in normal', times. Is this "the provision" theSecond Division wives are howling for? Are these the things tiie women of Christchurch behaved iu such unwomanly vulgarity to retain? Echo answers "les. This and nothing clse-a retention of luxuries hitherto unknown. What are the women of New Zealand, doing to help win the war? Nothing;, absolutely nothing. Hundreds of thousands of women me working in England, and France, on tramcars, as railway guards, in the fields, in munition factories; everywhere where they can help they do it. And why? To release their men, to let their husbands go to tuo lront. No shrieking for "provision" there, but a noble sacrifice for Empire, and for freedom—freedom not as wo. know it in Now Zealand, for it is but a. piracy of the word out uore. A greater faico never existed than local "patriotism"; it is a whitewash patriotism, of that sort which lets the other fellow and tne boy do it, but howls with indignation it" any demand is made "upon responsible householders or property. The> irresponsible nobody, the boy unenfranchised and without citizenship cam do tho lighting. Those who haven't— in the Socialist phraseology-'sJiytking; to defend." . "

"Returned Soldier" puts it very concisely when lie characterises this opposition as "n so-called Second Division,'' for it is all talk. There is no sincerity whatever about it. if there was they'd not: have wasted mouths in wrangling and. snarling over "allowances," nut havebeen long ago shoulder to shoulder with the bravo young lads in the trenches who have put them to shame in many a hard-fought field. Boys, with nothing but courage, love of country, and devotion to dutv, to urge them on; boys whose, outlook upon life lias scarcely begun, yet. without hesitation, wrangling, or compromise stepped forward unlliuchingly at the call of duty. What comparison will the Recording Angel make between these heroic lads and the prosaic dignityof tho pompous Second Division "swell," who appraises his value with a magnificent air of self-consciousness, without a semblance of loyalty to country or Empire, refusing to line up ,vith the rest; till iiis own fleshly wants are administered to the full. What is it to them thatNew Zealand has used more young lads than all the other colonies combined. Their voung lives f.re the altar upon which the Second Division man's bxisir ness and property have been held secure,. What compassion has ho for tho aged, parents, who have seen their last .boy.s. nume-thcir baby of twenty-figuring: upon the casualty list? He sees no reflex, of. shame in this either upon him, his women, or his household. _ There is but one thing explaining it all. At the back of the agitation for allowances, provision, and other objections of this Second Division agitation stands out in glaring and conspicuous prominence the desire to avoid service, and that is tho Alpha and Omega of tho whole agitation.-.! am, etc., CHRISTCHURCH CITIZEN. rWo have found it necessary to omit portions of this letter. We must again, ask correspondents to compress their views into as short a space as possible.]