SOCIALIST DECLARATION.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 58, 19 April 1912, Page 9

SOCIALIST DECLARATION.

"This conference- dec-Urea itself uncompromisingly hostile to all forms of militarism, recognising that whilst t-lia present class St.a to exists the armed forces will lj.» usivtl to buttress up capitalism and t<i hold down tin) work. vs. ■ The eieileee'iee further recognises that \ all the energies of tho working-class I can he most profitably utilised in building i:p their industrial and political organisations, which shall ii.eally render war impossible, and which organisations by international affiliation and alliances between tho working-classes of all nations are at present the chief guarantee of tho peace of tho world. "This coiifcMcnce proclaims its sincere sympathy with those youths and young men who, denying tho right of the State to force them into military service, have resisted the encroachment upon their liberlies, and in consequonco have suffered hue or imprisonment. This conference also declares that the so-called Now Zealand Defence Act is not truly such, that it is not in the interests of pea-x\ but tends towards war, in thai, being designed with a view to the co-ordination of tho military forces of the. Dominion with those of tho Mother dusury in aggressive as well as del', n.-dve warfare, it will bo considered by the peoples as a throat and a menace to them, and may lead to reprisal-;. That- the enormous cost that v.ould be entailed by carrying out the present proposals is more than can bo boino by this community, and must place, extra burdens on the workers. ibis coiueici.ee further declares that no such extraordinary measures as are embodied in "ibe compulsory clauses are necessary in this Dominion, and it calls for the immediate repeal of the Act."