IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23052, 21 June 1940, Page 14

IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir,—Will you please in this column let me express my earnest hope that we will offer our warmest welcome to as many children from England aa can be sent to us. Our present offer sounds very inadequate, and if this is all the accommodation so far available; it is because the needs of the position have not been realised. New Zealanders would gladly welcome and affectidnately' care for immensely greater numbers. Speed is of first importance. Let us send the invitation, and I am sure the move would have efficient support throughout all New Zealand. , , . . , . That England cannot be defeated is true if we are worthy of our fortunate birth, and now put everything we . have and are into the fight for decency and life. I wonder are our men, and we, too, gathering and producing cverv available bit of metal. Are we improvising arms factories,", bmlduig concrete forts, really working hard for defence. We all look much too com- ; ortable and leisurely; very many of us ; are wanting to work.—Yours, etc., R. HURSTHOUSE. June 20, 1940. VO TUB EDITOR 07 THE PRESS Sir —After this war is won and it is:asked what Zealapd did, we can reply, “We sent thousands of our men and boys; they fought like true Britishers and New Zealanders. We are most awfully proud of our boys. What did the women do? . “We took a refugee child each and cared tenderly, for it till the end of the war. Many of us adopted one or more, and we filled all the beds in the boarding schools, hostels, and colleges, and helped the Government to finance this big effort; Look at the fine children in bur schools, thousands of them came out in 1940 during that dreadful war. It was a big thing foipthe women to • do, but hot as great a thing as what our boys did. They fought for us.” , If we women of New Zealand can say that after this war is all over, what ,a big thing it will mean to us! Let us not be too little and mean to do our bit.—Yours, etc., GO TO IT: DO IT. June 20, 1940.