The Daily News. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1912. GROSS MISREPRESENTATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 111, 26 September 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1912. GROSS MISREPRESENTATION.

j We afe, pleased to set' a protest against the statements made in a cablegram re : ceived several days ago stating that several English papers had referred to the military training in New Zealand as | being obnoxious and vindictive, and stinking in the nostrils of the people generally. Of course, the statement was inspired, and came from the anti-mili-tarist party, who, like the suffragettes, seem to stop at nothing, however false and however unreasonably emphatic, in their "kicking against the pricks." The protest this time comes from loyal Pahiatua, where a meeting of Territorials carried the following resolution: "That tie attention of the Government be drawn to the letters on the subject of compulsory training in the Dominion, as. appearing in the columns of the Manchester Guardian and Daily News, and that the meeting desires the Government to give true details to the British public, and that a copy of the motion be forwarded to the Prime Minister." We are glad that Pahiatua has given a lead in this matter, because, although it does not really matter what is known as "one Continental curse," what anonymous and irresponsible correspondents to the English papers think of our efforts at domestic defence, it is just as well that their statements should not be allowed to go by default. We are altogether too careless in allowing others to see us through the distorted spectacles of personal prejudice and unholy comparison. The picture that has been drawn at Home of the flower of the youth of the colony being haled to gaol to the accompaniment of weeping mothers and sisters and sweetheart? and aunts, because thev decline to accept compulsory military service, is so ridiculous that the ordinary man is content simply to laugh at it. As a matter of fact, not an infinitesimal decimal par', of a bad egg has pul up such a bluff, for the youth of the Dominion have practically accepted the military regnlalions in the spirit in hieh thev were framed, and are cheerful!l. doing their iitfli' bit (o qualify themselves to defend their homes should I he necessity arise. There are a few passive registers of an indifferent kind, but they are being properly dealt wilh by the law, and their objections to ser- \ ice have been shown to be more selfinterested than conscientious. l''rankh\ the Manchester Guardian and the Dailv Mail. to lapse into the vernacular, have h.nd their "legs badly pulled" when Xew Zealand has been depicted as seething with discontent at a sy.-.tcm which has reduced her sons to sullenly participating in a system of ''conscription'' which bids fair to wreck their home life, and number them among the list of "national murderers," It would be inrpos-

sible to imagine a nunc! gross misrepresentation or a more imbecile summary of the position. AH that our hoys are asked to do is to qualify, not for war, but for defence, if called upon, and, to their credit and to the credit of our own fair country, they have appreciated their responsibilities generally in a wholehearted spirited of patriotism that is unqualifiedly commendable. 'Probably the Manchester Guardian will not be able to even pronounce the word "Pahiatua" properly, but it is significant that this early protest should have come from a tiny corner of the Dominion that is probably unknown outside our immediate midst. Still it reflects the spirit of the country, and it is to be hoped that other districts will strengthen the hands of the Government by carrying resolutions similar to those which our country friends have passed. A lie takes a lot of overtaking, and possibly our English friends are not anxious that this particular one should be overtaken, but it is up to the Government, armed with a backing from the country, to at once squelch this monstrous misrepresentation of the position.