Letter From Rhodesia Confiscated At Border

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 22

Letter From Rhodesia Confiscated At Border

A letter from church sources in Rhodesia with an enclosed document addressed to the New Zealand National Council of Churches, had been confiscated on the border, said the Rev. D. M. Taylor, general secretary to the council. Mr Taylor said he would not name the border, or the sender. There were Smith supporters in New Zealand who might see such a report and send it to Rhodesia, with the result that a closer watch would be kept on certain persons.

Knowledge of the confiscation came in a second letter from the sender, who also sent a second copy of the document, Mr Taylor said. The document was the reprint of a statement by the Rhodesian Minister of Educa-

tion to Parliament on April 20, together with comments from a church leader. The letter revealed that 90 per cent of the administration of African education in Rhodesia was in the hands of churches and other voluntary organisations, and showed why the Church in Rhodesia was so concerned, Mr Taylor said. "I am quite concerned at signs that the determined propaganda of the ‘Rhodesian Government’ has been having some effect in New Zealand," the writer said. “We depend very much on the prayers and support of our Christian friends in other parts of the world, and hope that you will help to keep public opinion alive to the position of the African people of Rhodesia."