AFTER THE ELECTION

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26529, 18 September 1951, Page 5

AFTER THE ELECTION

Sir, —Now that the election is over and the battle-flags are furled, I would like to express my appreciation of the unity shown in the political aspirations of the Maori people. It will, I believe, prove to their benefit eventually. The same unity and singleness of purpose stood the Maori Battalion in good stead, “for God, for King and for country,” and ultimately along with other units of the 2nd N.Z.E.F., carried them successfully through some of the most lurid theatres of war of unforgettable memory.—Yours, etc., DONALD McLEOD. September 17, 1951.

Sir, —All the King’s men will no! alter the final figures revealed by the ballot-box so that Mr Walter Nash’s interpretation of the result is irrefutable. But Mr Nash must celebrate his remarkable feat of salesmanship with ice-cold champagne. In spite of our extravagant educational facilities 45 per cent, of the electors would not differentiate between their imperative duty as democrats to uphold the law and their loyalty to a party and its policy by placing first things first in their choice. It was a hard choice, but duty is a stern taskmaster. Again, this underscores an old salesman’s view that too many citizens have been so softened mentally by continuous “hand-outs’’ that they cannot think for themselves. They, and we, are shackled to a cosy seat on the State production line and, bamboozled by its propaganda and taxes, have become docile slaves.—Yours, etc., J.M. September 17, 1951.