The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1913. ANTI-MILITARISM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 221, 6 February 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1913. ANTI-MILITARISM.

' m ' n,lt :i( 'ill sm-c Unit tlm Press Associat ion is justified in giving ( ( uite -o lime!) prominence :IIS it does to piotcsts of certain sections of tlie Labor Party against iln- Defence Act. JTor instance, on Tuesday we had a telegram, couched in somewhat hysterical terms, stating that [lie Canterbury General Laborers' I'nion had passed a resolution resenting the Act generally in its application. and urging upon citizens to do all in their power to lessen the birthlate until the Defence Act is repealed. This ridiculous suggestion, of course, will not bear serious consideration for one moment, and we might just as well call upon the militant party to adopt the Spartan method of drownin<* all the, girl babies in the nearest available river, in order that we may rear a nation of moii. The ultimate result of this would, of course, be disastrous to the race, but the proposition is quite as sane and quite as seasonable as that which the Laborers' Union has put forward. J!ut

we do not fur one moment imagine tliiit the irresponsible protests put forward by small gatherings of agitators of this class represent for one moment the voice of Labor. The working-man of New Zealand is nothing if not law-abiding and patriotic. lie is not a slave to either custom or sycophancy, and with I'ia wide political privileges lie is armed with a weapon lor bis own defence that is infinitely superior to any absurd and wicked suggestion to interfere with the processes of nature. If lie does not want the Defence iei, he has his remedy, for we shall have a general election next year, when the vote of Bill Smith will count for just as much as that of Lord Algernon Vere de Fitz-Vcro. The [matter, by the way, is purely a social one, and not in any sense a political one. The Defence Act, when it was passed, had the approval of all sides of the House, and it is not fair to cast tlie onus of its administration upon Mr. Massev and his colleagues, who, in this respect, are simply doing their duty and doing it well, by their country and its laws. AVe do not expect the Laboi leaders to mince their words when they are protesting against the wrongs from which they believe their class is suffering. and from which their class often is suffering. It is- very natural thai they should speak as they feel, and, within certain limits, very right and proper. But the limits should be observed, and there is no shadow of a doubt that the last emanation from a section of the party is a disgraceful and vicious attack against home life and the race in general. Even the militant suffragettes at Home could hardly have devised a more objectionable form of protest against a supposed grievance. Emanating where it does, it is a small matter, of course, but it is one of those small matters that make up the attitude by which the Labor Party will be judged, and we would have thai attitude so high, so scrupulously lawabiding, courteous and fair, that its members would set an example of conduct to all their rivals.