LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28130, 20 November 1956, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

1 Letters sent to the Editor for printing must be written in ink on one side oi the paper only, and writers must send in their names and addresses in full, whether they wish these to be printed or not. 2. Writers must say clearly whether or not their letters are being or have been sent to other papers. 3. The Editor cannot return or keep any letter which for any reason is unsuitable for printing, nor can he acknowledge unsuitable letters, although this will be done where it seems to be needful, or enter into any correspondence 4. Letters must not be of more than 150 words in length.

James Allen.—Your earlier letter has been referred to the Catchment Board for comment. Did Not Vote.—Surely it would have been a wise precaution to check your name before the roll closed. Sideline.—Many will draw the same conclusion; hut public discussion would be invidious. Write to the candidate himself

Ratepayer (Cheviot). —No local authority members can “re-elect themselves.” If you are dissatisfied, you should join those of like mind to nominate someone else.

EGYPT

Sir, —Affairs in the Middle East appear to be getting more rather than less complicated, and one sees little prospect of anything stable being arrived at in the future. There seems only one solution. The Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal area should be taken over-by the United Nations and finally internationalised, the United Nations being provided with “teeth” to administer it and keep it thus. Every civilised county (does this include Egypt?) has laws enabling its government to take over land required for public welfare, and few quibble about it. Why should not the United Nations be empowered to do the same for the good of mankind? —Yours, etc., R. E. BARKER. November 18, 1956.

Sir, —Is it a crime to suggest the Welfare State? Unable to answer questions relative to Egypt. Mr Anderson conveniently skips off to Hungary. Some people are so reactionary that they can see no way out of world problems except bloodshed.

“The wisdom of this world is the foolishness of God.” (First Epistle to the Corinthians 3,9). Such reactionary views as those of Mr Anderson and his friends are just fragmenting the British Commonwealth. This is the era of the Welfare State!— Yours, etc., • RALPH S. WHEELER. Timaru, November 19, 1956.

Sir,—The breadth of vision exhibited by Mr Ralph Wheeler, who has rare political and military insight, is, by necessity, unappreciated by those less gifted. Those uninformed correspondents who disparage communism forget that New Zealand’s relatively wellshaped high standard of living is an expression of communist principles. Those wishing to abolish communism will rapidly succeed if they first abolish the dog-eat-dog private capitalist economy which gave it birth. This same capitalism is the major cause of the misfortunes of Hungary and the Anglo-French aggression in Egypt.— ■ Yours, etc., JOHN BURBRIDGE. November 19, 1956.

Sir. —Only a madman kills the hen that lays the golden eggs. The blocking of the Suez Canal is an adventurer’s, blackmailer’s madness. The canal is for all intents and purposes an international waterway, not an essential factor in Egyptian economy, and should be internationalised. This is one world. No nation is an island today; all are interdependent. Instead of using the scarce resources for constructive development, Nasser squanders them on arms and armies. Russia's offer to help build the dam was intentional propaganda bluff. The dam would take 20 to 30 years to build, anyhow. What until then? The arms the Soviets supplied were probably intended to ensure Egypt’s independence the Hungarian way—Communist version of peace through strength. Peaceful co-operation of the Arab States with democratic, progressive Israel would be wiser for the area than hatred and strife.—Yours, etc., NO MORE WAR PREPARATIONS. November 18, 1956.