PTE. WEBB, M.P.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1801, 14 March 1918, Page 3

PTE. WEBB, M.P.

“RESOLVED TO DISOBEY.” J REFUSES TO TAKE UNIFORM. TO BE TRIED BY COURTMARTIAL.

It is officially stated that on his arrival in Trentham Camp on Monday afternoon, Private P. C. Webb, 39th Infantry Reinforcements, refused to take (his uniform. On Tuesday morning he was remanded by the Camp Commandant (Colonel H. R. Potter, C.M.6.) to be tried by District Court Martial on a charge of refusing to obey an order given by his superior officer. The date upon which the court-martial will sit has yet to be fixed. LETTER TO THE MINISTER*... Private Webb, who is the reprtfe sentative of the Grey constituency in the House of Representatives, explains the reasons for his conduct in a letter which he has written to the Minister of Defence. This letter is published in this week’s issue of the Maoriland Worker as follows: —

Sir. —Re my Appeal,—ln view of the replies sent to Mr O’Regan in answer to that gentleman’s representations on my behanf under instructions from the New Zealand Coal Miners’ Federation and the Grey District Labour Council, I feel it incumbent upon me to address this letter to you.

“First, I would remind you that a General Election took place in 1914, notwithstanding the fact that the war was then raging, and that the enemy was threatening Paris. On 1 that occasion the Grey electors returned me with an increased majority. From the soldiers entitled to vote in the electorate I received an almost unanimous support, and they in particular requested me to look after their interests and the interests of their dependents and solicited my assistance in protesting against the shameful manner in which their dependents were being exploited by means of unnecessarily excessive prices, I have done my best to conform to their wishes, but being in a minority in Parliament, have been powerless to do more than protest. Further, my soldierconstituents expressed the wish that, in the event of their returning to New Zealand incapacitated, suitable employment should be found for them together with reasonable recompense for their injuries. Again, I have complied with their wishes in that connection and have protested emphatically against tho way in which many disabled men are being turned adrift unable to follow their ordinary occupations, and yet deprived of pensions. That the Government has failed 'lamentably to cope with the problem of excessive prices, and that men who have returned disabled are not being properly provided for is due to no fault of mine, inasmuch as I have repeatedly drawn attention to those clamant grievances. CONSTITUENTS’ REPRESENTATIONS IGNORED. “After my election in 1914, 1 stated publicly that if the Grey electors considered my services more essential at the front than in Parliament, on receipt of a requisition signed by 1,000 electors, I would resign my seat and abide by the will of the majority of the constituency. No requisition was ever presented, and, on my being balloted for military service, numerously-signed petitions were presented from my electorate and from the West'Coast generally, asking for my exemption, and I may say that the signatories to these petitions included a large number of parents who had sons at the front, as well as a considerable number of returned soldiers and men in camp. Moreover, these requisitions were supported by the whole of the miners’ organisations of this country. The Military Service Board, however, saw fit to ignore these representations, and dismiss the appeal, although the said board has repeatedly granted exemption in other cases on much more slender grounds. I then resigned my seat and placed myself unreservedly in the hands of my constituents, who re-elected me without opposition. My constituents then asked for a re-hearing of my appeal, but this was refused without anyone being heard in its support. WILL TAKE THE CONSEQUENCES.

“Now that my constituents are to be denied' the right of representation, in that I am not to be allowed to prepare for and attend regularly in my place in Parliament during the coming session, I feel that but one honourable course is open to me. I have either to re'main true to my constituents or obey the command of a board which, they believe, has not treated my case judicially, and which I believe to have been inllueneed by a strong spirit of political prejudice against me. In other words, I have resolv-

ed to disobey the board and to take the consequences. Incidentally, I intend ray action as a protest against the utter failure of your Government to deal fairly with thu disabled soldiers and their dependents, or indeed with the masses of the people of this country. That your Government has failed lamentably in its duty by the returned-sol-diers and their dependents and by the masses of the people of this country is fully evidenced by the fact that it has won the support of every person who profits by the sufferings of the masses of his fellow citizens. Perhaps under the circumstances it is only common gratitude on the part of such people that they should have sent their motor cars to assist in defeating the representative of Labour in the recent by-election. I would add that it is not surprising that a Go--vernment with such a record as yours should have postponed a general election. In conclusion, I may state that my address is Post Office Box 1500, Wellington. Yours trulv, P. C. WEBB, M.P. Hon. Sir James Allen, K.C.8., Wellington. .