ROAD WORKERS DISMISSED

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23002, 23 April 1940, Page 7

ROAD WORKERS DISMISSED

MINISTER TO DIVULGE REASONS “The two men at the Haast Pass road camp were dismissed for good and sufficient reasons, which will be divulged publicly in a few days,” said the Minister lor Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) yesterday. "I have been subjected to unjust criticism for the dismissal of these two men,” said Mr Semple. “It has been stated that the men. were sacked because they dared to express a political opinion differing from my own. I want to tell my critics that such a statement is untrue and absurd. “Every man in this country is entitled to hold any political opinion he likes, no matter how much it may differ from that of any other person. He has that right as a citizen of a free country. He has the right to hold them and to express them, and that is a principle that I have fought for all my life. I would be the last to dismiss a man for a reason of that sort.” As Minister for Public Works, he was responsible for the conduct of those men, and for the progress made on the jobs under his jurisdiction. In other words, he was answerable to the public for the money expended. That was where his duty lay. He was not answerable to a handful of anonymous scribes, who would descend to any depth to discredit a man who was doing his duty to the public.