Pioneer

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I A Sentence of Deportation. I ADVISORY COMMITTEE OVERRIDE CENTRAL TRIBUNAL. I eOUNCILLOR DOLLAN, OF GLASGOW, ARRESTED AND HANDED OVER. H,S STATEMENT ATTHE COURT MARTIAL. T)Iale ??' ?'??s that so completely indi- oOaf t?R ? ?s of civil liberty, and the overriding of Statutot-y authol'lnes by omcial advisory com- ?ittp ?"ocating to themselves statutory i?lowets ? ?ev ? ? never been vested with, as that of Con?'r! P. J- -Doll,an of G l asgow,, who is at ? Dollan, of Glasgow, who is at Preset in H?a' milton Barracks, awaiting the de- ?ion t i 9 of Iis court-martial, which was held on th, 9?il-d "?' Councillor Dollan was granted ponJrr'J°na! Exemption by the Central Tribunal, LoD']? ??b' e condition being the under taking of ?rk °n^ the condition being tlie undertaking of Rational importance. No other condi- tiojj Tas Iposed, but the Committee on Work of ya0^a^ Importance—a purely advisory body, st?p"' ?? and imposed a condition of deporta- Councillor Dollan being informed that he ? a?ecept t.he work out?;tde a ra d ius of 50 iia. i les the work outside a radius of 50 miles fr0rn as8°w—his home. Councillor Dollan is la.'vistIg he validity of this condition in the tl^o v (iCoVj'ts, but before the hearing had been held t decide t,,I,e; legality he was arrested and halided ovor." In his statement to the court- ?ar?i ? himself clearly sets out his points, Slid ?c cannot do better than reproduce it ver- Wi • He said — nr?? Lana'rkshire Appeal Tribunal and the Cen- r?ll TflDnal have both decided already that I am. *s termed a genuine conscientious ob- ject?? "? ??? have exempted me from com b atant &er' ane ave exempted me from comatant ?" rv?'.absolutely. I take it therefore that my conScientious objection to warfare is proved tLIld 'do not need to ? argued here. The Cen- b?? 'al T??? bunat a Iso exempted me from non-com- atallt ce "-although in reality there is no s?ch ?''??e a.s men in the Non-Combatant Corps 0 b) 11 9 (?,, d -to ). 'III ?l ?'e ? to perform military drill and duties 'U!? ""?ary orders and control—provided I took Ip work of national importance. BeJieving t?he e i? set-vice for the common good I accepted ,eC1Slon ? ?c Central 'J'ribunal anti was en- ^av,Unr,S to comply with it when I was noti- ?d} '?'? body known as the Committee on Work of \-? ?Po'-tance, which has no statutory a'lthor ail« ?? ?"?'?lv an advisory committee, that ■ ii?IV "'1  ? ?'?'k. however essentia l it ??'To/-r ht hf?'? ? ?Rti<- welfare, would be con- sirred < r n K °?al importance unless it was f lK?H:orn<erl f ? forn!e,t ? 11 ,ta^ of not less than 50 miles ? ?)'i M?i'?.? '? ''?'' '??' h:mw .is locaterl.. This ? n.???i ? to me from Gl asgow was i Thi^ m °l,usal to deport me from Glasgow was I Hot partf the decision of the Centml Tribunal ( therefore has no legal sanction. It has not been implied with and its legality is now being (; Higii C-oui-t of Just* ce on my I nsted ? ? ??? Court of Justice on my belivi r ?i?? deportations of citizens during the the war lias been effected hitherto un- t?)' i ? ??? ??? has been eSected hitherto un- de? ???' ?? conferred on the Government by the bp'f ? ? the Realm Acts and Regulations, and i?t g ?ews to me and others that the Government a'sI-tind(?t- the Military Service Acts of 4t"ct)"'Pel citizens to take up certain duties ■ a-,l Place fifty miles distant from ,.en' 1 0 1 )th??' homes. Of course, the Government has Wn l'Vn ?0 such authority under the Military .i Sel~r-f'' c-ls or ? ? has it refuses to give the Son, f? authority. The irony of the posi- ti0?1 ? is ,)i ni^ trated by the fact that the Govern- ^en+ ii xas advertised a Defence of Realm Act re- °ri toi'bidding men in certain trades to ac- f4'?'. Pt ci "P Ioynielit i at places more than ten miles ^^tant from their homes unless special permis- ?om ?"??ccl from the Ministry of Munitions. Apnat. ??? Government is more anxious that 1 shniif i remove 50 miles from Glasgow than that 1 shoul t!take up work of national importance. ?thet-w ? I would have been allowed to take up one or °[ er of the five tasks of national impor- tance ?4?' of the Rve tas ks of national impor- ai>ce '?. ?? I offered to undertake in accord- A  the decision of the Central Tribunal. isio I ) ave endeavoured to carry out that de- loll?pfl was in communication with the Cen- toaj ril|Ulla' at the date of my arrest I main- t?ll tll"t was wrong and illegal. In- 4a(e2 ed ,the Central Tribunal has not vet replied to ? ? '? letfp? oifering to take up wor k of St *etter offering to take up work of 11 tic,,ill' at five places in or near ^laso0 ?'?ch fact has not been denied for my ?ten?t' ? I?espit? all my efforts to comply ?ith ti ?n su? deCIsIOn of the Central Tribunal I have ¡\.th åJ,l?sted and handed over to the MilitaW ?th-?'?? as ? absentee, not because I did not ??''ry J, conditions laid down in my certi- ?a,tp ''x. ,'1'lPt i °u bv the Central Tribunal, but hecast t'XI¡lptioll ÏJy th,e Central,Tribuna, hut "-li,i ,,t .C"?gnlse an unsigne-cl edict of tlthOl'ft]on *,lled ,hy .t hody which has no legal cltlt'l to). ? ? ??"? ?"ch an edict, let alone to ?01'? J1 at ?' It is somewhat inconsistent that th?r?? ??"???? which protested against the dp?rn.????? of workmen from Belgium by ??. G(?-rn "? Government, should itself arrest ]3ritil"IIII who I)rotest a(rainst deporta- %itish '"?n'len w h o protest against deporta- ?on h?,?. of inv  handed ovci- to h I'll ???? ? ?? ???S Iianded over to the ?itar'v???'??He? is yet to be decided upon ? thp"?.?o?"'t of Justiciary, and until that pourtr,.}? ?? decision I ought to be at liberty. ^heii eonte^tion was submitted to the ?litarv ??teaTion was submitted to the ?bey renl'\ ?????s here at Hamilton Barracks ?en ?.?. hey could not uphold it as I had the Civil "??y committed" to their charge by -the ciiv;l ti liori, ie?s but when the latter were "(Iqueste tos an instruction for my libera- decision of the High Court of ?Usticc tlie?thsf ?? ? was not by any direct com- ?itiTKSin of ???? I was in military custody, ? view of thi? on. b etNveeii the *n view of tlij^ ?°n^ct opmion between the < (lV 1 1 'ld be inter- eating to learn w i It wou e 1I ,e,r- ??ting to iearn hose property I am and why I It is quite trnt ? parade as nr(j „ as r charged that I did not go de "el' but I deny time an or der "to?. Pai'ade was a "lawful com- th '-?*'? Authorities have no vJ I i .,s vett ? ??ue commands to me until n cierinito^rove<^ that I am liable to ?.litary service '??F???? that I am liable to lab: il,ty not ? Such ?bUity rS will not b!°Ted my ??on; and at al'Y rate will not. be decided finally until mv X ?al h?a" s h??r?n '???? by the High Court of 'ThS oit0re' ?? alleged liability ?,?'uitary ?se??'? ? issti!! unsettled at law -I V- (1) That I am a. civilian and not a soldier (2) That being a civilian it is unlawful to com- pel me to submit to military orders (3) That such orders being unlawful in my case are not binding; (4) That being a civilian the military authori- ties have no jurisdiction over me; and (5) That consequently this court-martial has no legal authority either to try oiL-, sentence me. Final-lf, and in view of the foregoing reasons, I request that the charge be departed from and that. I be liberated until a. decision on my appeal ha,s been given by the High Court of Justiciary.

A Victim of War. THE MURDBR OF JOHN EVANS, CARDIFF. Still another name has to be added to the growing list, of those who have lost their lives in the crusade against militarism. We have sor- rowfully to record the death on May 27th, at his home in Strathcairn-street, Cardiff, of John Evans, a young clerk of 24, formerly in the em- ploy of a well-known local firm. Evans did not belong to any political or kindred organisation, but was a member of Tredegarville Baptist Church, and was privately studying for the ministry. Almost from his cradle he was a true Christian, simple and unassuming to a. degree, but absolutely rock-like in his faith and deter- mination. His early ambition had been to be- come a missionary at the Cong8, a choice of locale which proved his indifference to personal dangers. When war broke out lie resolved to be guided, as ever, by his conception of what Christ would do in the circumstances. The result was that in the spring of 1916, John Evans appealed to the Cardiff Local Tribunal for total exelllption from military service on conscientious grounds. He was offered non-combatant work, which proves that the Tribunal were convinceo of his sincerity, but failed to meet the full require- ments of the case. Evans could accept no form of military service, though lie was prepared to do civil work of national importance. He ap- pealed against the decision, but it was upheld by the Glamorgan County Tribunal, and as a consequence he received a notice to report for service with the colours at the recruiting office on June 5th, 1916. He went down to explain his position, out was detained and sent up under esfyrt to Cathays Barracks. Here he was court- uia/rti»!led on June 25th and sentenced to 112 days' ha.(I labour. During the imprisonment— at Carder Cbol-c-he was offered and accepted the Home Ottice Scneme, yet he Was cÙthpdled to serve his sentence through till September. His health first became affected by the prison, diet, which he could not assimilate. But the prison doctor passed him as fit for navvying, and a few hours before his patiently longing mother ex- pected to see him leave, he was hurriedly and without notice removed to Newhaven (Home Office) Camp. Road-making under the conditions prevailing up to Christmas, before the new huts were ready, and when the accollllIlodation was limited to tents without heating apparatus, was hardly likely to suit a man emaciated from pri- son life. John Evans gradually declined, but not a word of complaint reached his home, which he was still not allowed to visit. After six months at Newhaven, where the official doctor declared him free from organic disease, lie was sent to Wakefield Centre, the medical officer of which certified him to be in an advanced stage of con- sumption. On Easter Monday of this year the mother heard indirectly and for the first time of his serious condition, and application to the Home Office resulted in permission being given to bring the dying lad home. Before leaving the Camp he was given an official discharge by the agent. The poor mother had vain hopes of a- cure by tender care and home treatment, but the strong and sturdy son who had left home on June 5th, 1916, "never having had a day's ill- ness," as she said, breathed his last on Whit- Sunday of 1917. He died in the flower of his youth, feeling to the end no bitterness or re- proach, conscious only that he had done his duty and served his only Master. Those who are left behind may be pardoned for a less saint-like at- titude towards certain authorities—the men who have maladministered the Military Service Acts, and those who under the pretence of furnishing work of national importance, have imposed in- jurious and penalising conditions of labour. John Evans gave his life willingly for his faith. He believed that war was wrong and that Christ would have taken no part in it, and that it was his duty to follow his Master no matter what the consequences. The minister who had known him all his life and who performed the last sad rites, called him a very brave and noble soul. The superintendent of the Sunday School he had always attended, was moved to say, "I did not agree with John's views, but I am bound to say that lie was as much a victim of the war as any soldier who has fallen in the trenches." L.T.

National Service Lost in Gaol. The scheme for an Industrial Parliament in the Building Trades has been receiving a good deal of attentipn in the press of late. It is therefore, of particular interest to note that Mr. Malcolm Sparks, the originator of the idea, is at the present moment in prison, owing to his conscientious abjection to Military Service. At the time of his arrest he was engaged on a, memorandum on the subject of Industrial Par- liaments, which he was preparing at the request of a Government Reconstruction Committee. But this and similar work was not regarded by the Tribunals as work of na-tional importance, i bitita, i ,? as woi, k of I], (doubtless an unintentional slight oh the work of the Government Reconstruction Committee!) | and the memorandum was never complete d. Mr, F. M. Pollard, of York, in a letter to the Mi,iiettestci.- Guardian," wrote: Everyone I knows, that for industry and therefore for civiii-I sation the prospect is difficult if not menacing; here is a man ready to give himself to. the work, keen, competent, with practical experience and no little persuasive power, aNd he is forbidden to do it and sent to gaol! Comment, as Mr. Pollard says, is superflubus.

I The Leeds Conference. HOW THE BOURGEOiSE PRESS HOWLED. BY B. A. LANGDON DAVIES. Freedom is not produced by military and naval battles any more than wealth is produced by prizefights. The illusion that they are is sedulously fostered by those who derive amuse- ment or profit from battles or prizefights and pathetically believed by those who fight in. them. The freedom of mankind is now being fought for by the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Dele- gates at Petrograd and by similar bodies, strong gates a?t, Pe-ti-ogra d an d by sl iii..?,?e dele,),ates who or weak, in all the countries. The delegates who met at Leeds were the vanguard of our army of liberation. It is not difficult to criticize the conference; the system of delegation was not perfect; it was considerably nearer to perfec- tion than the system adopted for the House of Commons or the Labour Party Conference, but it is susceptible of improvement. The reply to critics on this point is that they were quite at liberty to make it even better than it was by encouraging their own organisations to send de- legates. The proceedings of the conference were also not above criticism. It was too much of a demonstration; there were too many speeches made to convince us of things on which we were all agreed; the rank and file were harangued rather than consulted; the arrangements for the Provisional Committee dissatisfied many of the delegates; no criticisms might be brought. Nevertheless the Conference was, as a culmina- tion to the series of meetings held to greet the Russian Revolution, a tremendous success, and it may prove to be the inauguration of a new era. Whether it will or> not depends on the Pro- i visional Committee. Certain things are re- quired: the qualities of boldness, rapidity and concentration; an organisation which can 00 formed at once without the infinite waste of precious time; money and energy in the build- ing of complicated machinery; and then a clear plan of what they mean to demand of the Gov- ernment on behalf of the rank and file of La- bour, a plan including the public renunciation of Imperialistic aims in the war, a clear statement of the terms of peace, and the immediate re- storation of the constitutional liberties of the people; finally a well thought out policy inter- national, industrial and social for the future well-being of the people. Cnle-s the Provisional Committee evojlves these thing- it will not be a success and Britain will not yet have begun to play' her part in saving Wesiei ,t i\iiisatron jiam the impending ruin. For it is no less than ruin with which we are faced. The War Gov- ernments of Europe are with horrible speed en- slaving their own and slaying each others' peoples. Meanwhile the minds of men and women are poisoned by censored news, by sup- pression of the truth and suggestions of false- hood, and they are inarticulate save under tne impulse of panic or passion. Here in Britain our news and opinions are settled for us by the Government and then a Propaganda Depart- ment of the same Government publishes in neutral countries pamphlets and papers in order that the world at large may know the spontane- ous emotions and aspirations of the British peo- ple. And these productions are not allowed to be circulated here lest we should happen to ques- tion the truth of their interpretation. Every- where at home and abroad the poison is being pumped into an ignorant and, up to now, apathetic public. Only this week the Govern- ment has sent to America to expound the mis- mission of the Allies in the war, Lord North- cliffe, the arch-deoeiver of the people, the father of modern journalism. And now we hear that Mr. Henderson is to be followed to Petrograd by no less a person than Mrs. Pankhurst. It only remains to send Mr. Horatio Bottomley as en- voy extraordinary to Rome in order that Italy and the Vatican may also be encouraged by a representative of all that is best in the British Democracy! We should laugh if we were not near to weeping. How amid all this welter of folly and falsehood shall the revolution come? One thing at least may give the Provisional Committee heart for its struggle. There are several journals almost unknown to ninety-five per cent. of the public which yet represent the bourgeoisie that is at present dominating the State. Ever since the Leeds Conference these jour- nals have been pouring forth abuse of the Pro- visional Committee and all its works, together with panic-stricken warnings to the Government. The "Daily Telegraph," for example, says that it is the duty of the Government "to see that no more of these Conventions take place on any pretext whatsoever." It abuses with the ut- most virulence Mr. Ramsay Macdonald and his associates nand declares that It is Govern- ments which enter upon war; it is Governments which should end them." This last admission is unexpected from those who have told us so often than this is a, People's War; but, if it be a true statement may we be allowed to beg the Government to attempt the second half of its function? The "Morning Post," after a no less abusive column concludes one of several leading articles on the subject by saying that The Govern- ment have been warned many times; they could lave nipped this movement in the bud. They can still stop it If they act with resolution and int.eJligence. But, if they follow their pre- scent policy of blindness and concession they will prod uce a situation which cannot be saved. In France, too, Monsieur Ribot declares that if the French Socialists are allowed to discuss peace with the .German Socialists, then the French Catholics will be able to claim, the same right. Section will follow section and what then, he pathetically asks" .will become of the Government ? The Govcrument will suffer the due penalty for having made itself the master instead of the servant of the People—that is what happens, or should happen, good M. Ribot, to all tyrants. And that is what we look to the Provisional Committee to bring upon our own tyrants. But the mincls of some may be made anxious by the question Ts the new council constitu- I tional? The answer is that of course it is not. Nor is the domination of the War Cabinet con- stitutional, or legislation by Orders in Council, or the imprisonment of British citizens without trial. It is those who were at the helm of the State who have wrecked the constitution. The question to be answered is what we are to have in its place; and it is not a servile House of Commons or a clique of bureaucrats or the offi- cials of party and industrial organisations who can answer it for us. In the last resort it is the People which is sovereign. It is difficult enough to know the will of the People, but at least it cannot be learnt by stifling its expression. Since the usual channels by which it finds expression are silenced, it must seek new channels. And the channels are being found; in Petrograd, in Paris, in Vienna, in Leeds and, for all we know, in Berlin the voice of the People is heard. Mr. Lloyd George rose, we are told, at three o'clock the other morning to listen for the explosion of the great mine which blew thousands of the working men of Germany into fragments. The Kaiser listens, no doubt, with eager anticipa- tion for the news of the drowning and crushing of men and women. The rulers of the Peoples of Christendom rejoice when these things come to their ears. But is there not another sound which they are beginning to hear? From Russia first, from Britain and Austria, from France and Germany, from the Peoples of the world is rising the murmur of outraged humanity de- manding the right to speak, to think and to live.

Teachers' Salaries. I GLAMORGAN ASSOCIATION'S PRESIDENT ON SOLUTION. The annual meeting of the Glamorgan Teachers' Association was held at Cardiff on Saturday. The President @Vlr. James Price, Merthyr) in his address said Britain never had an army more worthy of its best traditions. And the bulk of thjfe army (as their fathers and mothers before them) passed through our primary schools. Dealing with the progress of education, he said We must have men in the Councils of the Nation who have a profound belief in Education before much progress can be made. As teachers we are delighted witk the appointment of one of our great educationists—Mr. Fisher—-as Presi- dent of the Board of Education. This war has already done an immense amount of good in bringing commonsense methods into our national administration It iwas painfully evident in Mr. Fisher's speech in submitting his supplement:.Va- grant of four million pounds that his ardour was considerably damped by the very exigencies of the circumstances and the conditions over which he had no control." As teachers they na- turally welcomed the supplementary grants (he went on) but from their bitter* experiences in the past, they could not be over jubilant until they found how. far the benevolent intentions of a friendly minister were realised in the distribu- tion of the money which Mr..Fisher intended should stimulate L.E.A/s to enact liberal scales of salaries. It became imperative that action should be taken at once to ensure that a just proportion of the new grant should be ear- marked for teachers' salaries; otherwise the teachers would be "done" again by the nig- gardly policy of the reactionary administrator, who was very much abroad to-day. However, the teachers would not again be soothed with the syrup of fine phrases and superficial plaudits as to the nobility of their profession and the glory of their high calling; this must be translated into terms of hard cash. He was also confident the salary problem would soon be solved by the very exigencies of the law of Supply and Demand —evidenced by the huge falling-off in the num- ber of entrants into the profession. Regarding the pressing problems of Welsh education, Mr. Price said that while in favour of the principle of a National Council for Education in Wales they- were not over enthusiastic in its favour until they knew its constitution and the method of election. He should like to see some of the enthusiasm of a coterie of Welsh Nationalists who were always devoting their energies to the perfecting of the machinery of Welsh Education, transferring a portion of this enthusiasm in fa- vour of the child and the teacher-the two es- sentials, after all, in the Educational system. Finally he urged them to be prepared to face the pressing problems which were forced on them, and in spite of all disappointments and misgivings not to falter in their endeavours TO shape the destinies of the children entrusted to their care, to make them citizens worthy of their great heritage.

RHEUMATISM- KIDNEY TROUBLE. Rheumatism is due to uric acid crystals in the joints tfnd muscles, the result of excessive uric acid in the system that the kidneys failed to remove as nature intended, and this acid is to a great extent the cause of backache, lum- bago, sciatica, gout, urinary trouble, stone, gravel and dropsy. The success of Estora Tablets for the treat- ment of rheumatism and other forms of kidney trouble is due to the fact that they restore the kidney sto healthy action, and thereby remove the cause of the trouble, and have cured num- berless cases after the failure of other remedies, which accounts for them superseding out-of-date medicines that are sold at a price beyond all but the wealthy. Women frequently suffer from ills, aches, and pains under the impression that they are victims of ailments common to their sex, but more often than not it is due to the kidneys, and in such cases Estora Tablets will set them right! The test is at least worth making, as woman's happi- ness and success in life depends on her health. Estora Tablets fully warrant their deswiption —an honest remedy at an honest price, 1/3 per box of 40 tablets, or six for 6/9. All Chemists or, postage free, from Estora Co., 132, Charing Cross Road, London, W.C. Bargoed and Aberbargoed Agent-W. PARRY WILLIAMS, M.P.S.

G. B.S. and Gonscisntous Objectors. SHAVIAN PROTEST AGAINST CONTINUOUS SENTENCES. "CANNOT WE SHOOT THEM OUT OF HAND." The following letter, so typically Shavian in its. common-sense, appeared in Tuesday's chester GuaA-dian C.O.s and Perpetual Hard Labour. Sir,-The announcement that a sentence of two years' hard labour has been passed upon Mr. Clifford Allen raises the question whether the press and public, in accepting the news with- out protest or comment, are acting advisedly, or only in that ignorance of public routine of which we have had so many staggering examples during the war. In point of severity imprisonment with hard labour is the most severe form of incarceration practised in England. A sentence of two years of it is regarded as reaching the limit of endur- ance only when the offence is of such a nature as to provoke the court to do its worst is it resorted to. Eighteen months is a very severe sentence, and even a year indicates a pretty, em- phatic opinion that the prisoner is a pronounced rogue and ruffiian. When terms of imprison- ment exceeding two years are called for the prisoner is sent to penal servitude. The differ- ence is that a prisoner at the end of two years' hard labour is in a state of exhaustion which could not be prolonged without endangering his life, whereas penal servitude has to be so order- ed that men can endure ten or even twenty years of it without physical collapse. It must therefore be clearly understood that a prisoner can be killed by sentencing him to hard labour for a continuing offencend renew- ing his sentences as they expire. Thus Mr. Clif- ford Allen, having already served a severe term of hard labour, on the expiration of which he ts immediately sentenced to two years' further hard labour, and will presumably be sentenced to two more if he survives it, and so on for the rest of his life, is virtually under sentence of death by exhaustion, starvation, and close con- finement. Is this the intention of the Government, the military authorities;, and the nation? If so, there is nothing more to be said. It may be so; for it is a matter of daily experience that many people who are taking advantage of their age and sex to do not only less public work than Mr.. Clifford^ Allpn iD(f Mi;. Stephen 3jI(>b})oy^e cfid long before the war piiu JlllJ" p'óII..¡8ure on them, but no public work at all, think that such a dlmth is too good for a conscientious objector, and do not hesitate to say as much. But are these vicarious zealots in the majority? May not the absence of protest be merely the ignor- ance of the respectable man who knows nothing, of prisons and criminal law and has no idea that Mr. Allen is being treated with a new and quite abnormal frightfulness ? One other point. Why are the scruples and personal rights of the objectors treated with pedantic respect when they operate to the dis- advantage of the objector, and overridden by force when they have the contrary effect? J\>1r Stephen Hobhouse is sharing Mr. Clifford Allen's fate because he refuses to submit to a medical examination. Why was he not examined by force ? Objectors refusing to put on uniform have been forcibly clad. Women refusing their dinners have been forcibly fed. Your columns have just reported the case of an invalid recruit who was stripped naked for an hour and a half and forcibly prevented from sitting near the fire. He is now dead. Yet when Mr. Hobhouse objects his wishes and his person are regarded as sacred, and the authorities, deplorimg his obstinacy, consign him to hard labour for life. Mr. Hobhouse, as a man with a proved and un- mistakable vocation for the Samaritan life, is just the sort of person who might very well have some decisions taken out of his own hands to avoid the scandal of his rnartydom but the mili- tary authorities have suddenly set up a oon- sciene concerning him which they had better have deferred until his case was disposed of. Anyhow, here are two gentlemen in a fair way to be killed because the public has no know- ledge and the authorities no sense. If we wish to kill them, cannot we shoot them out of hand and have done with it, Dublin fashion ?-Yours,, etc., G. BERNARD SHAW. The letter prompted a leaderette in the same issue from which we cut the following sentences: "Partly through careless drafting, mainly through the incompetence of the tribunals— rough-and-ready bodies, but little adapted to the difficult task of dealing with questions of con- science,—the result of the Acts is that the half- and-half objector gets off, and the more deeply a man feels, the more fully and truly he is the conscientious objector whom the Act meant to liberate, the more certainly he suffers. The cruel feature of his treatment is the repeated prosecution. Men like, Mr. Clifford Allen and Mr. Stephen Hobhouse are so placed that they are bound by their own convictions to repeat their offence each time their term of punishment is over, if indeed, the term of two years' hard labour is one which they can survive.. To what gain? The example deters no one, for if an un- scrupulous man wishes to use the loophole of the Act to escape service in the field it is precisely to him that the administration of the Act offers a chance. It is the man who is convinced through < and through, the man whom the Act was meant to protect, who suffers, and who as the Act is now being administered must suffer again and again. The daily flood of IwiHian misery is such that it is not wonder if a portion of the public has become apathetic. But there remain, we are sure, many who will respond to Mr. Shaw's ap- peal, and will join with him in cfemanding that a. limit should be set to prosecutions which we should all know how to denounce if these were the work of an alien Government.

Wr HELP THOSE WHO HELP YOUR PAPER!