Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1918. “SO-CALLED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS.”

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1790, 16 February 1918, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1918. “SO-CALLED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS.”

THE Prime Minister made the following referenee to the long statement published by Mr H. E. Holland in The Post on the subject of the so-called conscientious objectors under the Military Service Act: —“There is just one point I wish the people of this Dominion to thoroughly realise with respect to the men for whom Mr Holland is endeavouring to create a great deal of unnecessary sympathy as the ‘victims of atrocities characteristic of the conscript service of 'Prussia,’ etc., etc. 1 desire to make it clear that so far as the statute law of this country is concerned these men are not conscientious objectors, hut soldiers of the Expeditionary Force who have been called up with their fellow citizens by ballot to take their share in the defence of the

country of wlio.se privileges and protection they have taken full advantage; and that so far as the Defence Department, which has to administer that law, is concerned, they must obey orders just the same as their fellow citizens do, and bo, prepared to accept the consequences of sudh refusal. These men cannot be allowed to place themselves superior to the will of Parliament and obey no law but their own inclination. If this is tolerated we will soon see an end of all decent order and government and a state of affairs such as is now wrecking unfortunate Russia. I want every father and mother who have sons fighting and dying in defence of our liberties and civilisation, and ‘for the service of freedom,’ nqt to be led away from the real issue which is, that these socalled ‘religious, conscientious, and Socialistic’ objectors demand the right to accept and enjoy all the benefits accruing from fhe sacri-' flees of the sons of New Zealand but repudiate their obligation to share in these sacrifices. Mr Holland has made many statements and quoted many letters in the interests, as he says, ‘of the brokenhearted mothers of New Zealand.’ I think it is just as well that the parents of New Zealand generally should’ hte given an opportunity to gain a clear conception of the lofty principles and ideals which animate some of'these martyrs in the cause of conscience. The following extracts are from a letter, which was written by the parent St a ‘conscientious objector’ whose conscience only developed after his appeal on all other grounds had failed and his claim for exemption had been dismissed,; — “I’m afraid all this villainy is having a bad effect on us. David satisfies me. May he go down quick into hell, may, his flesh be torn by dogs, may his name be obliterated. Relax all the law “Thou shalt not kill,” and you’ll find ten thousand dead within one week. . . , A father of a returned isoldier told me this morning that the French so hate the British and colonials that they refused them the use of their wells, and at the Somme the French women preferred to go behind the German lines to being left to our troops. An American reporter has said that without a million American troops we cannot break the German line. Good job, too. AVell, where are we to go after the war? I’m sick of the Union Jack. For thirty years it has been blood-soaked without cessation. We English are played out. There’s no good in us. We are a set of brutal thieves. There’s a Socialist colony in California. . . . Our real enemy is alive, and none seem to move. . . . ’Curse them, as Elijah did, and as all did, curse them. Will no one come out? Will not one revolt ? Curse them. Curse them hard. They ought to die, for they are not only useless, but a stumbling block, and by all God’s laws they should die a slave’s death. . . Damn them, they are x’otten. By heaven, the whole country is rotten —absolutely rotten. . . . I’m regretting all the time now that you ever went near these people. It is my first close experience of “soldier,” and I find the great mistake; they are scum, not fair, straight people, but criminals worse than gaolbirds The idea of fighting for such filth makes one sick I’d love to change places with you now. I’d take the oath, and by God I’d kill all I could of these blackhearted scum. Curse them. No Australian blacks are lower. . . Wriggle out if possible, and don’t be particular. Once you get away from them you can manage till we can leave them to the Japs. May the Japs mutilate every cursed man and rape every woman. War they want —let them have it. Hell they want —let them go there — we don’t want it. . . . Curse them. God curse and blight them. One thing you may be sure about —if we British get a complete victory it will be our last; we shall be intoxicated with our hellgot gains and pride and power, and, just as Rome gained some • tremendous battles at her down- • fall, so with us. . . . I’m thinking that the war is steadily proving the superiority of the Germans at every point.” *** * ♦ COMMENTING on the recent reference by >Mr H. E. Holland concerning conscientious objectors, the Minister of Defence stated at Dunedin on Thursday that the fourteen men to whom Mr Holland referred could not all be classed as conscientious objectors. Five had gigged conscientious objections, which the boards rejected, five had appealed on the ground of hardship and public interest, and did not allege conscientious objections, and four did not appeal. No promise was ever made by Mr Massey, Sir Joseph Ward, or Sir Janies Allen that the men would not be forced to wear uniforms. The real religious objector, when exempted by a board, did not wear a uniform, and did service with the Agricultural Department. None of these men were entitled to this course, and most of them had not attempted to prove themselves within the category. The Defence Department knew as much about these traen as it knew about any other soldier that was embarked, and reached the other end. It was impossible to keep a record here of every man’s movements.