LABOUR AND THE WAR.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1514, 24 February 1916, Page 4

LABOUR AND THE WAR.

WHAT A LABOUR LEADER WHO HAS FOUGHT THINKS.

The Rev John Fox, M.A., resigned from his ministry in England. and became a farmer in New Zealand because of his advanced socialistic views." In the Manawatu and other districts he became particularly well known in labour movements, and finally settled at Pahiatua. When the war broke out, he happened to be in England, and as soon as the New Zealanders in the Old Country began training to meet and join our contingents, he joined them, ultimately becoming “Sapper John Fox,’' of the Main Body. Sapper Fox is back in New Zealand wounded after seeing heavy service, and his views ought to enlighten some of our alleged Labour leaders who haven’t ventured on his way of acquiring experience. We had some of them by cable from the Old Country, but there are more of them in this interview in the Wellington Post. ENGLAND IS DIFFERENT.

“England is different,” he said, discussing the conditions of affairs at Home. “It is difficult to define exactly what the difference is, but it nevertheless exists. Perhaps it is that the Motherland is at last a country united. When war broke out it was remarkable how the people all became one. This feeling lapsed for a time during the munitions trouble, but it is again apparent. The aristocracy came forward as as a man. Men 1 had known at Oxford have all enlisted long ere this, and probably have all been killed. Labour equally' has done her share, and done it magnificently. At the first flare up the Government utilised the Labour organisations. They realised that Labour had its own organisations, recording the men in all the various trades, and they communicated with the unions, suggesting that these organisations should be used for the purpose of obtaining recruits. The whole Labour forces were utilised for this purpose. Each society became a recruiting committee. SHOULD BE DONE HERE. “This sort of thing,” said Mr Fox, “could be done here. The unions know what men they have on their books, and who among them are eligible for service. The Government could say to them : ‘The country has committed itself to so many men, and we have to find them; we also believe in the voluntary system, and we ask you to back up the country ; your organisation is in existence, and we will trust your patriotism to help find these men. In case you do not do your part, we may have to resort to other means, such as compulsion.’ Labour has everything to gain in this attitude, because if men come back from the front and ask : ‘What have you done officially as Labour people ?’ What can they say ? The Labour organisations should have said to the Government; ‘We have these organisations in existence, and we will find the men.’ There are Labour representatives in this country who object to conscription, and yet in the meantime they don’t make any effort as an organisation to procure men voluntarily ! These people will stand in an awkward position at the end of the war. MERE PRETENCE. “They also say they want to see what the Allies’ terms of peace are before they help. Mr Asquith made it plain in his Guildhall speech that Belgium had been wasted and her people driven away from their native land, and it was to be one condition of peace that Belgium should be restored and compensated ; and, furthermore, Mr Asquith has stated that small nationalities shall be protected. That implies that no annexation can take place in respect to the conquered provinces that have been occupied by Germans and Austrians. That In itself is quite sufficient assurance for anyone that Britain herself has not made up her mind to conquer in order to annex territory. There was ample evidence at the start of hostilities that Britain by her very unpreparedness was not looking for war, and did not desire it ; she ha£ had to create a new army and equip it; and no man can throw it in our teeth that this is a war of our seeking. WHAT BRITAIN HAS DONE. “To show that she is willing to see the thing through, Britain has raised nearly five million men, who have enlisted voluntarily ; that the

Chancellor of the Exchequer has forecasted a tax of nearly 50 per cent, on profits without a murmur going forth. There is no grumbling of any sort at Home in respect to the burden of the war. New Zealand does not yet realise that a war is in progress. We here are far away from the centre of action. We don’t see the wounded men until they are almost well again ; at home the sight is harrowing; the wounded return direct from the battlefield. The men here are treated by everyone, not so much with sympathy, but also as soldiers who have gone forth to protect their own, and have returned from that duty.” Sapper Fox was twenty-one weeks at Gallipoli. For some time he was under Capt. Donald Simpson, until the latter was wounded. Subsequently he was invalided, home.