WEBB WELCOMED.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1919, Page 5

WEBB WELCOMED.

REGARDS* HIMSELF AS A HERO. AN EXTRAORDINARY SPEECH. Mr. P. 0. Webb, some time a member of Parliament, then a eonscientius objector to military service, and then an larn&te Of Kaungaroa prison as an offender Under the Military Service Act, and how at liberty, was given a welcome by a crowded audience at the Paramount Theatre, Wellington, on Sunday Sight. The meeting had been, arranged by the Labor' Party as a compliment to Mr. Webb. Mr. H. Holland, M.'P., presided. The following resolution was sub. mitted to the meeting: "That this meeting of Wellington citizens Welcomes Mr. V■ C. Webb and hie fellow religious and Socialist conscientious obpectors back to civil life, expresses its appreciation of and admiration for the brave and courageous stand they took In following the dictates of their reason and conscience against the tyranny of militarism in tho face of popular prejudice and ignorance, fend all the tortures of political and military spite and perseaution to which they were subjected. Thi9 meeting condemns the savage and brutal treatment to which the New Zealand conscientious ob> jeetors were subjected both in this country and Europe; protests against the cowardly and vindictive action of (tn obsolete, unrepresentative Parliament in depriving men who have al> ready Served their sentences of theit civil* rights for ten years; and pledges Itself ,to Work unceasingly for the restoration of those full civil rights to all conscientious objectors, and demands that they be restored immedi' atelv' 1

Mr. Semple spoke immediately before Mr. Webb was called upon, and he ♦poke with rather more than his Usual lire and energy. lie bespoke with great vehemence n welcome for Mr. Webb, and Mr. Holland called on (he audience to rise and give cheers lor Sir. Webb The audience stood and cheered.

Mr. Webb, after expressing gratification for his welcome back to "so-called civilisation," said that if he had hra w-e to live over again he would do exactly as he had done. He went on to speak about prisons and prison life, and his condemnation of the "brutalising" system was Sweeping. He made one or l\t'o serious accusations against the administration of Kaingaroa Prison. He said that men had to work hard there tor ten hours a day on insufficient food, and had to live in the severest clitaate with old worn-out bedding, no fires, and under harsh restrictions. His picture of the life made it appear that the conscientious objectors must have had an unpleasant sojourn there. ' His accusation against the administration ivas that an attempt was made to deceive the visiting Magistrate. He declared that prisoners were compelled to do dishonest things in gaol, and he instanced the dealing of chaff for the prison from another Department as one of these things. He expressed his extreme disgust with "Mr. Thomas M Wilford," Minister of Justice at the time that he was in prison, because that gentleman had disregarded some of Ills appeals for inquiries. At the end of it all, Mr. Webb said lie had met better men at Kaingaroa than he had met in Parliament. (Loud applause.) Last of all he spoke of his own case. He said that m> had been •accused of bi-ing "a shirker" and had been denied the name of "patriot." "If being n patriot moans to stand for what Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward itand for," he said, "I hope never to be a patriot." He accused the National Government of having introduced conscription without a mandate from the people, and so claimed the right to disregard the laws of that Government. He made a general appeal to the returned soldiers to support Labor at the coining elections. He said that he iiad always thought that the best end to the war would have been a draw, which Would have demonstrated to the Powers of the world the absurdity of resorting to arms. He had told Sir James Allen that he would resign his scat in Parliament, the Tunnelling Corps as a private, and work in that corps to entrench Paris and France to make the result a draw. Sir James Allen said there would tie no need to resign. But soon conscription came, and then there was such a rush for the Tunnelling Corps that he was not needed. He would not go when conscription was the law. Had he known what he knew now about the war nothing would have got him to offer to go into it, in the Tunnelling Corps or any other corps. He had been told that this war was fought on behalf of the pinall nations, but he knew now that this was a lie. He mentioned the case of Ireland, and said the Irish were a small nation oppressed. He declared in conclusion that he would like to meet Mr. Massey, Sir James Allen, Sir Joseph AVard and the rest on the platform in Wellington, not before waterside workers and miners, but before the returned soldiers of New Zealand. (Applause.) The resolution Was put to the audience as people were moving to the doors. It was carried unanimously on a show of hands, and cheers were given for Mr. Webb.—Dominion.