TO DEAL WITH SHIRKERS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 64, 15 November 1915, Page 8

TO DEAL WITH SHIRKERS.

I'ISU i'liESB atobOCllAi'lUJvi. Wellington, November 14. It is understood that in tne matter of young men of military age leaving the country .u there is any appearance on their departure ol an evasion oi military obligations, ihey will receive the fullest attention from the authorities. The Prime liiui.si.er lias stated that probably yesterday's butch by the Moaua would be the last big shipment of young men to the United States for some time. One suggestion had been made that it young men depart from their country at a critical time in its history, and forsake it, a law should be passed preventing their ret urn,thus virtually banishing them for ever from these shores. YOUNG MEN FOR AMERICA. THE SviOANA'3 CONSIGNMENT. Wellington, .November 12. More than hlty young male New Zealanders, between the ages of seventeen years and thirty-live years, left Wellington yesterday by the mail steamer iVloana, bound lor San Francisco. Some ol them had business in the United States But there is reason to believe that the majority of them left the Dominion in order to avoid coming within the scope of the National .Register. "We believe that conscription is coming, and we object to military service," said one of the travellers, who wore the badge of an anti-militarist organisation. -

1 An oflicer of the Moana shrugged his shoulders when asked by a reporter how many "shirkers" he had aboard. 1 "We don't usually carry so many young men," he said. 'The boat seems to be full of them. But 1 can't say anything about the business of passengers. Perhaps all these young fellows have perfectly good reasons lor going abroad just now. And if their reasons are not good, then they are no loss to anybody, so 1 wouldn't* I worry about them. The British Em-' pire has no use for the man who won't light," A rumor gained currency during the afternoon that the Moana mignt be delayed owing to the unwillingness of the crew to go to sea with ablebodied young men who were leaving the Empire in a time of crisis, and some interested persons were waiting on the wharf at 5 p.m. to watch events. The steamer did not leave up to time, owing to the late arrival of a mail, but she moved away soon after G p.m. A score or so of young men leaned a gains tthe bulwarks. The matter was mentioned to the Prime Minister. Mr Massey said that he had secured a copy of the passenger list earlier in the day, and could say frankly that he had been surprised. There seemed no escape from the conclusion that some young men were running away from their duty. The Imperial Government had found it necessary to stop that sort of thing by requiring that men of military age should secure passports before leaving the country at the present juncture, and he was considering what steps, if any, ought to be taken in New Zealand.