THE COMPULSION BILL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 June 1916, Page 2

THE COMPULSION BILL.

(To the .Editor). , £>.i.M.F." raise* some questions le tile above tliat it might be as well to repiy to, not with any idea oi convincing him by any appeail to reason, but solely that the puWtc who read your journal may not lb© left to think that there may be any truth iu tiic malicious mendacities of your iirosponsiblo correspondent. inciomtally "W.M.F. gives away the whole ease liu has iucidentalJiy piled up against the Flax workers' Lilian axkl the agitators. He tells us that he worked in a flaxmill before there was any union, and, ftntlier, that "wages and aoconi- . modation are now much superior."' 111 fa mere statement that it Bits not beou tiie agitators that have brought about the change, does no£ affect the facto. The revolution which took place about four years a,go, in regard to living accommodation at the mills is oi too recent date for anyone to be deceived by iiis mere assertion. it might even be pertinently asked, who, oil that occasion, Air Aiassey or tiie agitators stood lor 'taw and order'!"' Ihe former suppressed the report made by his own chief inspector on the

"often boitial'' conditions existing at the mills because "it might do somebody some harm,'' while the "agitators' in and: out of Parii&ment asked tur publicity and the instituting of "Law" and "order" in the mills, that men's lives should cease to be sacrihsed to typhoid ill the scramble lor 'bigger profits. " U'.-VL.i l '.'s" attempt to fasten tho tag ol "disloyal" and

"traitor' to those who oppose conscription marks the usual methods of the ulat*j bullies he stands up for. The flaxworkors, in common with the workers generally, have given of their best to the war, iu proportion to the itftei e&ts at stake the sacrifice of tho worker* outweighs nil othe.rs. 'W.M.F." makes tho •assertion that the number ol the "fluxies" gone to th« Avar could be counted; on one hand and at the same time asks his opponents to tell the truth re this and "shame AV.M.F." Sir, I will tell tiie truth but not with any hope of shaming "W.M.F." Tho number of the Flaxies 1 Union Who have gone to the front is 247, and that only include those on the books at the time of enlistment; and when we remember . how the industry was disorganised at the outbreak of war, and bow tho 'men were consequently soa/t-------lered over the whole country, there must be a large number of whose names there is 110 record. That, Sir, is tho truth, it ought to shame anyone guiitv of the assertion of "W.M.F." Personally <1 have to mourn the loss at the front of more persona] friends among the ''flasies" than I can count on on© hand,--men who were too good For "W.M.F." to lick their boots. They are gone and thoir bones lie afa* while "W.M.F." villifies them and t'heiir

Comrades in the safety they helped M-cuie 10. him. Will "W..M.I'. feel cduuui d iiow lie kn.iws the truths Ito tlu carriage sniflbhing incident at ■Shannon, ..>i.i' ." ougnt "to liave been m bed at tint time of night, in fact, Sir, 1 think ho was. However those incidents, foolish in themselves, tire not the worst that can happen; it was bellter, a« a main testation of the ispiriv of tho men that such a thing pJiouVJ happen, than that t<ho bigstick policy <»f the Government ai that time should have been allowed free p'ay without any protest. Vou see, "\\ .M.F." anarchy even in high places is still anarchy, and, as in ■Shelley's day it may still can itself "God, and King, and Law" and poor wtak-mindod people like you may take it at its t.wn value, while people with more (Spiritual vision can see beyond the .surface <and recognise it for what it is. Tho groat patriots of the past havt had to break many things,— heads,, ami laws, and even carriages too. The Duke of Wellington got his carnage smashed by tho patriotic people of London when ho stood in tho w«y of their advancing liberty, — perhaps the only point of resemblance botween the /two Prime Miuisteif. ho and Mr Massey. Hornwor, " W.M. K. you ought to be glad you did not live 2000 years ago, you would sure ts have horn one of tho mob shouting at the dwi'tli of tho Client Agitator, "Crucify him."—l am, etc. COMMON WBXiSE.