RETURNED TROOPERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1915, Page 8

RETURNED TROOPERS.

HAS THERE BEEN COWARDICE? A DISCUSSION IN PARLIAMENT. A PAINTUL SCENE. (By Telegraph.—Special to Daily; News.) Wellington,'task Night. A charge 'brought aginst some of the invalided soldiers who returned to New Zealand by the transport Tahiti, was mentioned in the House o£ Representatives to-night by Mr. J. T. 11. Hornsby (Wairarapa). "On Saturday last the Tahiti arrived here with something over 400 men aboard," said Mr. Hornsby. "Among those men were some who had been through the fire and had come 'back wounded and broken. We were delighted to do those men honor, but I understand that on that ship there were & large number of men—they say the number runs into hundreds—who have never seen the firing line, and who have never gone 'beyond Egypt. Ido not want ta say a word reflecting upon any man who wears the King's uniform, but I do want ■to say that I feel sorry to think that men who have fought and bled in battle should only get the same encouragement from the people of this country as the men who liave never smelt powder, except at reviews. Is it fair? Is it decent? These men have come back for various reasons, but all sorts of things are being said, and I want the Minister to realise Members: "What things?" Mr. Bfornsby: "All sorts of dreadful thing are being said about men who have come back and have not gone beyond Egypt. They are accused, some of cowardice. (Dissent). That is a dreadful charge." Mr. Massey: "You should not sa-y that." Members: "It is not true." Mr. Hornsby: "I am only saying what is being said. If it is not true it should bo denied from the highest places in the land. It should be denied by the Minister. I let the Minister know that I was going to bring up the matter tonight. It is a dreadful thing that some of these young men should have to rest under this imputation, Let us remove this imputation, if it can be removed, at once. Some of these men are being accused of not having done the right thing. The fact remains that a large number of j men who have come back, for one I reason or another, have never got past Egypt; they have never been in the firing line." Mr. Massey: "They are sick men from the hospitals." Mr. Hornsby: "I don't know the reasons, but it is not fair or decent to give these men the same reception as men whose bodies have been broken in the service of their'country. If there is a good reason for these men having come back I want the country to know it. Ido not want them to be regarded, perhaps, as men who had not pluck enough to go into the fight. I ask the Minister to clear the whole matter up." "I am extremely sorry that the honorable member for Wairarapa should have brought up this matter in the House," said the Minister for Defence. ''l have not deemed it my duty to draw any distinction between the men who have been wounded at the front and the men who have come back sick. lam not going to discriminate between these men, and I am not going to allow any man to hint even that any of these men are cowards." Mr. Hornsby: "I did wot hint that." Members: "Yes, you did." Mr. Allen: "The honorable member has brought up the matter publicly in the House of Representatives, and has said that these men are accused of cowardice. Every newspaper in the country will have it in the morning." Sir. Nosworthy (Ashburton)- "And Hornsby did it." Mr. Hornsby appealed to the Speaker for the withdrawal of this interjection. The Speaker said he had not heard the remark, but would ask members to refrain from interruptions. Mr. Allen: 'T want.to repudiate, in the strongest terms, the suggestion, wherever it comes from, that any single man has come back on the Tahiti, "or any other ship, accused of cowardice, I have never heard a whisper of the ivord cowardice until in the House this evening. I have been told, and Ido know, that some of the men who came back on tlie Tahiti have never been to the front, because they were sick in hospital. I was teld originally that it was a considerable number, but later information reduced the number. I shall have the returns in a day or two, and until the return is will ask the public to suspend any talk at all. Some of Hie men 011 the Tahiti have come back sick, some of them are lying in their beds still suffering from pneumonia, some of them are suffering from tuberculosis disease, contracted probably in the desert. To suggest that these men are cowards is revolting." Mr. Hornsby: "Who has suggested it?" Mr. Allan: "Somebody lias suggested it. The honorable member has brought it up in Parliament. As far as my information goes these men are cursing their luck at having failed to get to t!ie front. I do not believe that one of our New Zealand soldiers has turned his back upon the enemy at any stage. I hope that these idle rumors will be buried, and will not be brought into the light again." Mr. Payne (Grey Lynn): "Should not tliey be cleared up?" Mr. Allen: ''There was nothing to clear up. These men are hospital case-;. It was found that the hospitals in Egypt were crowded, and the authoritie-i decided to send these men home. Many of them have recovered and they are anxious to get to the front; I hope to give them the opportunity." Tn conclusion, the Defence Mini.4c>' said that he would not have eared for the task of discriminating between the sick and the wounded 011 the Tahiti, and he did not believe that the soldiers at the front would want anything of the sort to he done.

Mr. Hornby protested that ho had been misrepresented. "I want this down," he said, "The Minister has more than hinted; he has indeed, accused me of bringing a charge of cowardice." A member: 'He is quite Mr. Ilomsby: "Who is that? You dare to say that tq me outside this House!" ~ ; : The Speaker: "Order!" Mr. Hornsby: "He is a man who interjects something for which lie deserves punishment. The Minister has sug l gested that I personally accused some of these men of being cowards. That is absolutely contrary to fact. What I did say was that these statements were being made in the streets, and that members of the Defence office were making statements themselves. The Minister has deliberately misrepresented me when he says that I accused any man of being afraid. I simply gave him an opportunity to clear the matter up. It is not cleared up yet."