Hair Splitting

Mr. Curtin got down to the subject. While not very clear to follow, he seemed to be saying that we were not conscious of the danger of war page 2 when we opposed conscription last year, but that we had been told in the first paragraph of the Manifesto that we were conscious of it. This was too much for him to cope with. He felt that we had either changed our minds during that period (or perhaps we hadn't—or something) but he was in general support with the idea of the Manifesto while objecting to specific (did he mean pacific?) points in it.

"It's mostly bosh and twaddle," opined Mr. H. Connor. Again, he was not so clear on just what was bosh and twaddle, though he might have been referring to the world situation or to something he disagreed with which had been said before. He felt that we were in the same situation as in the early 1920s

The two previous speakers had been caught in Mr. Cook's gum, opined Mr. Goddard. There had been too much "crawfishing round the question." he remarked, and he suggested that the meeting get down to putting the motion.