SOCIALISTS AND WAR.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 2, 8 December 1911, Page 17

SOCIALISTS AND WAR.

Sir, —There are thousands of honest men and women in this country who ar«i deceiving themselves over this question. They know in their hearts that the only reason why certain people want the children to be taught to "murder" is for fear some -set of capi- • talists may want to come, land exploit the workers of this country more thari* they are doing at the present time. l'hey - know also that the so-called Labor party of Australia is catering for these capitalists by' being the first British political party to introduce compulsory military training. Again, they must know that, the hopes of„e<ver, stopping tlie capitalist from doing these things would be by bringing about Socialism in New Zealand, and;, these said capitalists would then avoid' this country as that much-abused gentleman down below is supposed to avoid holy water. Yet in the face of this, they are afraid to come right over and"' join the International Socialists, the only party that can stop war. Take this country. Why, they would require a small fleet, and then they couldn't take it unless the miners mined the coal to give them steam to cart it away with, and bread and .meat and other things would be required for this fleet, and who would provide these things if the workers refused to work? If they shot us, well they can't work a dead worker any more than they can work a dead horse, so that the key to the situation is in the hands of the workers, but they do not know;, how :to use his key until they understand Social-. ism and Industrial Unionism But Socialism is unpopular; it isn't respective! And so these good folks are waiting until it becomes popular and respectable before they join us, and yet directly we become respectable, then good-bye to any hopes of doing anything. , Wake up, my anti-militar-ist friends, and clearly recognise that, at the back of all trouble is the eternal economic question, or in other words, who shall have what the workers produce. But whero ignorance is bliss, I suppose it is folly to be otherwise.—l" am, etc., THE VAGABOND.