PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22193, 9 September 1937, Page 9

PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE

TO THE EDITOE Of THE PRESS. Sir,—ln this farewell letter to my critic, Mr J. Hill, Claverley, I shall try to restore our subject matter to its original lines, from which Mr Hill has strayed far. In my first letter i wrote of the promises and penu.mances of the Government, of its volte face on many questions, of its failure to deal with matters it had promised to deal with, of its general lack of good faith towards the people to whom it had made promises, which, once it was secure in office, it had not even attempted to fulfil. I specified some of these flouted promises, and Mr Hill has not attempted to show that I was wrong. He tacitly admitted the broken promises, and if he is angry it is because I drew attention to them. Until he can show that I have misrepresented or made false charges against the Government, he had far better preserve a discreet silence. As regards the Labour scheme of national defence, I am glad it has found salvation or enlightenment at last; but it was perfectly fair of me to point out that this military scheme was sponsored by a Government some members of which before then resisted to the gaol doors similar schemes and did all they could to hamper and retard the measure of conscription which became necessary to ensure steady reinforcements for our soldiers fighting desperately in France. To-day these politicians who would not fight then are calling on our young men to undertake a duty they shirked themselves. If they were right then they are wrong to-day, or vice versa. Perhaps their vacillation is due to opportunism. In any case I am content to leave the matter with the final judges —the people.—Yours, etc., JOHN STRAIGHT. September 18, 1937. [This correspondence is now closed. —Ed., “The Press.”]