Paddy Webb
There were key figures in New Zealand society which helped fuel the desire to resist in New Zealand one was Paddy Webb an Irish socialist that supported miners and others workers and demanded that the government have an immediate repeal of compulsory military training. Paddy Webb suffered more than many of his fellow socialist and labour leaders as a result of the introduction of conscription.
When the war began, Webb publicly detailed that New Zealand should repel the Prussian onslaught on Flanders and Belgium but intensely opposed any proposal of convincing men to fight. He opposed the national register of manpower accumulated by the government in 1915 as the first step in preparation for military conscription. When conscription was introduced he demanded its instant repeal, but he was stopped short of advocating mass resistance by the Military Service Act.
In late November 1916 miners at Blackball on the West Coast participated in the first strike against conscription and sought repeal of the military service act as well as a pay rise. Miner and watersiders began a go slow against conscription in January 1917. When the miners’ leaders were arrested in april, all west coast miners went on strike.
Webb admired the miners' fight against conscription as a battle for ‘democratic freedom’. He was arrested and charged with ‘seditious utterance’, and he served three months in prison. The strike ended at the end of April when Minister of Defence James Allen agreed no charges would be laid against those responsible for starting the go-slow or strikes.
Webb was constantly bullied by opponents o the west coast, including both local newspapers, who urged him to volunteer for service. Webb was called up for military service in October 1917 and declined a non-combatant role, Webb was court martialed and sentenced to two years' hard labour. His parliamentary seat was declared vacant in April 1918, and it was won in a by-election by another Labour member, Harry Holland. Webb spent two years tree planting on the Kaingaroa Plains, and he was deprived of his civil rights for 10 years.
There were key figures in New Zealand society which helped fuel the desire to resist in New Zealand one was Paddy Webb an Irish socialist that supported miners and others workers and demanded that the government have an immediate repeal of compulsory military training. Paddy Webb suffered more than many of his fellow socialist and labour leaders as a result of the introduction of conscription.
When the war began, Webb publicly detailed that New Zealand should repel the Prussian onslaught on Flanders and Belgium but intensely opposed any proposal of convincing men to fight. He opposed the national register of manpower accumulated by the government in 1915 as the first step in preparation for military conscription. When conscription was introduced he demanded its instant repeal, but he was stopped short of advocating mass resistance by the Military Service Act.
In late November 1916 miners at Blackball on the West Coast participated in the first strike against conscription and sought repeal of the military service act as well as a pay rise. Miner and watersiders began a go slow against conscription in January 1917. When the miners’ leaders were arrested in April, all west coast miners went on strike.
Webb admired the miners' fight against conscription as a battle for ‘democratic freedom’. He was arrested and charged with ‘seditious utterance’, and he served three months in prison. The strike ended at the end of April when Minister of Defence James Allen agreed no charges would be laid against those responsible for starting the go-slow or strikes.
Webb was constantly bullied by opponents o the west coast, including both local newspapers, who urged him to volunteer for service. Webb was called up for military service in October 1917 and declined a non-combatant role, Webb was court martialled and sentenced to two years' hard labour. His parliamentary seat was declared vacant in April 1918, and it was won in a by-election by another Labour member, Harry Holland. Webb spent two years tree planting on the Kaingaroa Plains, and he was deprived of his civil rights for 10 years.
When the war began, Webb publicly detailed that New Zealand should repel the Prussian onslaught on Flanders and Belgium but intensely opposed any proposal of convincing men to fight. He opposed the national register of manpower accumulated by the government in 1915 as the first step in preparation for military conscription. When conscription was introduced he demanded its instant repeal, but he was stopped short of advocating mass resistance by the Military Service Act.
In late November 1916 miners at Blackball on the West Coast participated in the first strike against conscription and sought repeal of the military service act as well as a pay rise. Miner and watersiders began a go slow against conscription in January 1917. When the miners’ leaders were arrested in april, all west coast miners went on strike.
Webb admired the miners' fight against conscription as a battle for ‘democratic freedom’. He was arrested and charged with ‘seditious utterance’, and he served three months in prison. The strike ended at the end of April when Minister of Defence James Allen agreed no charges would be laid against those responsible for starting the go-slow or strikes.
Webb was constantly bullied by opponents o the west coast, including both local newspapers, who urged him to volunteer for service. Webb was called up for military service in October 1917 and declined a non-combatant role, Webb was court martialed and sentenced to two years' hard labour. His parliamentary seat was declared vacant in April 1918, and it was won in a by-election by another Labour member, Harry Holland. Webb spent two years tree planting on the Kaingaroa Plains, and he was deprived of his civil rights for 10 years.
There were key figures in New Zealand society which helped fuel the desire to resist in New Zealand one was Paddy Webb an Irish socialist that supported miners and others workers and demanded that the government have an immediate repeal of compulsory military training. Paddy Webb suffered more than many of his fellow socialist and labour leaders as a result of the introduction of conscription.
When the war began, Webb publicly detailed that New Zealand should repel the Prussian onslaught on Flanders and Belgium but intensely opposed any proposal of convincing men to fight. He opposed the national register of manpower accumulated by the government in 1915 as the first step in preparation for military conscription. When conscription was introduced he demanded its instant repeal, but he was stopped short of advocating mass resistance by the Military Service Act.
In late November 1916 miners at Blackball on the West Coast participated in the first strike against conscription and sought repeal of the military service act as well as a pay rise. Miner and watersiders began a go slow against conscription in January 1917. When the miners’ leaders were arrested in April, all west coast miners went on strike.
Webb admired the miners' fight against conscription as a battle for ‘democratic freedom’. He was arrested and charged with ‘seditious utterance’, and he served three months in prison. The strike ended at the end of April when Minister of Defence James Allen agreed no charges would be laid against those responsible for starting the go-slow or strikes.
Webb was constantly bullied by opponents o the west coast, including both local newspapers, who urged him to volunteer for service. Webb was called up for military service in October 1917 and declined a non-combatant role, Webb was court martialled and sentenced to two years' hard labour. His parliamentary seat was declared vacant in April 1918, and it was won in a by-election by another Labour member, Harry Holland. Webb spent two years tree planting on the Kaingaroa Plains, and he was deprived of his civil rights for 10 years.