THE ELECTION

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26512, 29 August 1951, Page 9

THE ELECTION

have heard election addresses by members of the National waf ty » re *? r j l inf 3 their handling of the waterfront dispute. I think that with a commendable strength of purpose ana courage they have acquitted themcreditably. However, that battle has been won. May I suggest that the same sterling qualities be now used for the settlement of young men on the land. Many experienced ha , ve expressed the opinion that there is enough land for all, and I .agree. Has the National Party the courage to take possession of the thousands of acres that are going back, in the hands of farmers who are only farmers in the worst sense of the word. Some of these “farmers” are saboteurs of the country's production potential.—Yours, etc., , S. A. UREN. Cheviot, August 26, 1951. Sir,—Electioneering follows the old game of battledore and shuttlecock, or the pot versus the kettle. The result is a certain frankness and honesty about political dishonesty. Both parties make will-o-the-wisp promises of freedom from fear and want based °n the help of the voteless 18-year-olds, while one party casts longing eyes on the 20-year-olds, also voteless. A more seeming than real party split may be noted. One party says, "Where America goes, we go.” The other, “Where Britain stands, we stand.” ft needed a second world war to show Britain the difference it makes to be able, or not, to buy in your own country. This difference forced Britain to hitch her wagon to the stars and stripes. With both parties so military-minded, relief from our high standard of living and our low standard of life is not possible.— Yours, etc., ANDREW KYDD.

August 28, 1951. Sir,—As reported in to-day's issue of "The Press” the National candidate for St. Hilda, Mr J. G. Barnes, is suddenly concerned about housing in Kaitangata. He stated that there were no State houses at Kaitangata, “in spite of the Labour Government’s promises to help the workers." The truth is that not one application for a State house has been lodged by any Kaitangata resident, despite an invitation by the Labour Government when it proposed building State houses at Kaitangata years ago. No canny southerner was prepared to pay 29s (old rate, of course. 39s now) for a twobedroomed State house when he could rent a three-bedroomed cottage from 7s 6d a week, especially as the men who work the mine, as distinct from the men bf the National Party Government, who have bought the mine, know that the Kaitangata coal mine is practically worked out—Yours, etc., F. J. SMYTHE.

August 28, 1951. Sir,—l have been an interested if an amused reader of the many letters appearing in your columns telling the world that a vote for Labour is a vote for Communism. Apparently these misguided, though trusting, individuals fondly imagine that Communism and all it stands for will just fade away if the National Partv is returned to power. Even Mr Holland knows better than to imagine that. Thirty years ago militant unionists were known as “Red Feds.” The name has simply been changed over the years; now we are “Communists.” After listening in to Mr Osborne’s meeting last night I am surprised to learn that the National Party also employs “thugs and hooligans” to disturb meetings. Why nothing in “The Press”?—Yours, etc., TOM BRYCE. August 28. 1951.

Sir,—l am amazed that the lie that the Labour Party is somehow allied to the Communist Party is still maintained by some, of your correspondents and the Nationalist Party candidates. Not one candidate has come out with the flat statement that this is so, and one Nationalist candidate when asked point blank said he wasn’t going to have words put into his mouth. This, after an hour's endeavour to put the idea into his audience’s head that a vote for Labour was a vote for Communism. They prate of having the courage to crush incipient Communism on the waterfront. but have not the courage to make direct accusations for fear they will have to prove their accusations legally in a court of law. If they really believed what they say and had proof they failed in their duty by not putting the traitors behind bars. They couldn't. —Yours, etc.. A. F. PALMER. Waimate. August 28, 1951.

Sir,—Someone once said, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” For months Messrs Holland and Sullivan used the radio and press to condemn those wreckers who dared to ask a little more from those who were making so much more. They also used every means available to prevent those wreckers from being heard. Even you were not permitted to print the watersiders' case. This drove the wreckers underground and many regrettable things were said and done; but the New Zealand spirit, which carried so many of these wreckers through North Africa, Crete, Italy and other campaigns, is not easily suppressed with a big stick. Now the tables have turned, and Messrs Holland and Sullivan should not complain if they cannot make themselves heard when they ask for a much bigger stick.—Yours, etc.; August 28, 1951.

Sir, —If it were not so nauseating, it would be vastly amusing to hear men of the tough fibre of the former watersiders resorting to the sickly sentimentality of this catch-cry, “baby-starver.” Had it not been for the wise implementation of the emerSency regulations, the strikers would ave had no qualms about starving the whole of New Zealand into submission to their demands. And not New Zealand only: Mr Barnes is still lamenting the fact that he could not persuade the London dockers to declare our food-shins “black”—this at a time when the British people were on a meat ration of 8d a week. What did he care if the men, women, and children of Britain starved?—Yours,

etc,, GET WISE TO THEM. August 28. 1951.

Sir,—l was a single man during the clump, one of those men that E. Parlane says were regimented into camps. I left the farm, where I was getting three meals a day and a bed but no money, to be carried on by dad and the younger boys. From then on, 1 can honestly say, I enjoyed every minute of the slump. I had a good look round both islands and was never without a job. On arriving at a strange town I would first hunt out the labour bureaux for jobs of any description. Failing •there. I would then go along to the unemployment bureau, which was generally at the council office, and run by some of the leading citizens of the town: and, believe me, these men were giving up many hours of their time to serve in this capacity. I have worked on all the unemployment schemes and was never without decent clothes.—Yours, etc., BRITISH BORN. August 28, 1951.