LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23585, 12 March 1942, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LABOUR FOR FARMS Sir,— in your paper we read how farmers can get labour from the military camps. Never do we see how farmers can get labour from nonessential industries. When the Japanese arrive every man called out by farmers will return to the Army and fight. Every man who loses one or two months’ Army training is less efficient, less able to defend himself. The unit to which that man belongs is less efficient, less able to fight the Japanese successfully. Let every employer who asks for the release of a' soldier realise that he is the potential murderer of that boy, through preventing him from learning to defend himself. Let him also realise that by impairing the efficiency of the unit to which that boy belongs, he is assisting the enemy and endangering his home, his wife, and daughters to this rape and violence of the merciless Japanese.—Yours, etc., DAVID. March 11, 1942. EFFECT OF AIR RAIDS Sir,—The report of the proceedings at last evening's meeting of the Christchurch Fire Board and particularly the remarks of Mr K. W. Robinson are very timely and should be given wide publicity. I am a building organiser under the E.P.S., and at all meetings and lectures I have attended and at any demontrations I have witnessed everything has been based on the assumption of having to deal with the small 21b or 41b incendiary bombs, and equipment has been suggested accordingly. Now, it must be apparent that to use this type of equipment on the larger type of incendiary bomb, weighing from 130 to 2001b would be quite useless, and its attempted use would needlessly increase civilian casualties, while serving no useful purpose. Some civilian casualties are almost inevitable in a raid of any magnitude, and most of us are ready and willing to take the risks attendant upon the jobs allotted to us, but it is at least open to question whether the best interests of the community as a whole would be served by bringing many hundreds of men and women into the metropolitan area during the progress of a raid unless they are adequately equipped to perform some useful purpose. It would appear to me that, in view of the latest information available on the type of bombs being used by the Japanese, a drastic overhaul of the methods at present proposed to be used 'in combating damage resulting from an air raid is urgently required. —Yours, etc., ~■ FIRE GUARD. March 11, 1942. WINDFALL APPLES * Sir,—l suggest that hundreds of women write to the Minister for Marketing (the Hori. J. G. Barclay), the Minister for Health (the Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer), and the local members, regarding the deplorable waste of fruit. Only by such persistence will those responsible be moved to action. It is apparent that many women feel strongly on the matter. Therefore, write strongly and at once.—Yours, etc., L. BISHOP. March 11, 1942. Sir—The official sanction of the waste of the windfall apple crop smacks so much of what stands condemned in other countries, that our own people are astounded—after all the pretentious talk ox politicians—that New Zealand is going (or has it already gone?) the same way. Considering that we were taxed to the tjme of approximately half a million to meet the fruit marketing loss of the previous season, some recompense could surely be made in the way of cheaper or more plentiful fruit for the present season. We have quite enough to do in facing the odds of war without being needlessly irritated by officialdom run amuck, and worshipping an inanimate rusty regulation of 1940, rather than being concerned with the economic feeding of the people in a time strcss.-Y.urs, c RIDDEK Halswell, March 10, 1942. DEFENCE OF NEW ZEALAND Sir,—The fall of Singapore adds another chapter to a succession of unbelievable military failures on our part. How do we stand in New Zealand? We in the Home Guard drill and wonder. Hes,e we are, ready and willing to put every ounce of strength into resisting an invader. For months we have been training and now, when invasion may be near, we have not the vestige of tools to stop the enemy. Public opinion and patience are being strained to the uttermost by the authorities’ failure to take us into their confidence over the question ox weapons. There be no question of causing panic in-confiding in us; for the breed that has stood the test in England runs true here. But, in view of near and tragic events, there is danger in a few withholding from the many the information they are. entitled to have.—Yours, etc., GUARDSMAN. February 17, 1942. [Commenting on this letter, the Minister for Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) says: “Every effort has been made and is being made by our representatives abroad and by local manufacture to provide the arms and equipment necessary for the defence of the country. As weapons and equipment are received, every endeavour is made to issue a proportion to the Home Guard, and courses of instruction in the use of these weapons are being held so that as the arms become available the necessary personnel will have been trained to use them.’’] EXPULSION OF TEACHERS Sir,—The point missed in “E.A.D.’s” letter is that Mrs Mason was definitely referring to teachers in their influence upon their pupils and not to Home Guards or E.P.S. workers. Conscientious objector teachers, whose genuineness has been attested by their appeals having been granted by the Appeal Boards, are to all intents and purposes dismissed from their teaching positions willy-nilly, simply because they “wish to use their young manhood to prevent such a fate coming to their pupils as might occur under the war system.” Your correspondent must surely grant that the conscientious teacher is a valuable asset to the teaching profession, especially when his aspirations fulfil the requirements outlined by Mrs Mason.—Yours, etc.. PATERFAMILIAS. March 11, 1942. [E. M. Mackie may, if desired, briefly reply; otherwise, this correspondence is closed.—Ed., "The Press.”] THE BAYONET Sir. —Outside the new Post Office in Hereford street there is a sentry armed with a bayoneted rifle. Tom Wintringham, in his “New Ways of War,” deals conclusively and authoritatively with the “bayonet myth.” Would it not be more to the point as a protective measure; and would it not better serve as evidence of official recognition that this war is not as other wars; and would it not more effectively emphasise the reality and nature of modern war to the passing New Zealand citizen, if this Post Office sentry were to discard his bayonet and arm himself with a tommy-gun and a handful of grenades?— Yours, etc., Wm. L. ROBERTSON.