MILITARY OBJECTORS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1919, Page 6

MILITARY OBJECTORS.

DEPENDED BY HOLLAND, M.P., (From Our Own Correspondent) Wellington, June 2. In the course of a speech in Wellington last night Mr H. E. Holland, M.P., made many charges against the Government and the military authorities with reference to the treatment of conscientious objectors. Mr Holland stated that he intended to press for a public inquiry into some of the cases lie mentioned.

The fourteen objectors who were sent away with one 'oi the reinforcements received a large share of Mr Holland's attention. The Labor member admitted that the majority of these men eventually accepted service in the army mostly with the ambulance. Ho stated that two iof them continued to refuse service after their arrival in England and in I'rance, jand quoted from letters and statements in support of his contention that they had been treated with "great brutality." According to the Labor member's statement, one of the objectors, after refusing to wear the uniform or to bear arms at all stages of his journey, reached a point in France not far behind the firing line. He was ordered to proceed to the firing line. He refuted and sat on the ground. Four soldiers were then directed to take him forward. They tied a cord round his "body under the arms and dragged him. He refund to walk and was dragged along the duckboards, in shell-shattered country, until his clothes were torn and his bade was abraised. Eventually his guard dumped him in a shell-hole filled with water. Mr Holland stated that the man was considerably damaged and required hospital treatment for some weeks. Another man, it was stated, was subjected to "field punishment, No. 1," for three days in succession in France. He was tied by the hands and the feet to a post in the open air in a winter month, and kept there from morning to noon and then tied again after lunch until the evening. Mr Holland told his tale to a fairly large audience in the Socialist Hall, and it was noticeable that his audience thinned as he proceeded. Wellington socialists did not appear to be united in sympathy for the objectors to military service.