LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33230, 21 May 1973, Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(11 Letters to tie considered for this column must not exceed 150 words They should be on only one side of the paper; preferably typewrit ten otherwise clearly written in ink: and ample margins and space between lines should be left for con venience in sub editing I2> a legible signature and full address—not a PO box number — are required whether these are to be nrinted or not i3> The correspondent must sav whether the letter has been or is to be submitted elsewhere <4» The editor cannot return or keep any letter not accepted for printing; nor does he undertake to acknowledge or enter into correspondence concerning tetters, although an acknowledgment will be made where this seems to be necessarv or helpful <s> As a general rule correspondence on news Items in other publications or carried on radio and television, is net acceptable

Legalised Thieving.—You do not have to subscribe. Perhaps you might arrange an exchange of tickets with a friend. A. B. Cedarian — Subject discussed recently. The price of food Sir, —“Gemini” is right, C.A.R.P. has shown its political bias by its post-election silence. However, moves are under way to reactivate the consumers’ organisation in Christchurch and I suggest that “Gemini" and others should watch the public notices in future weeks for further information concerning this. I hope this proposed organisation won’t be dominated bv those at one end of the political spectrum. Inflation will be cured only if ordinary voters start really thinking about this and other social problems. The present Government’s decentralisation policies don’t go nearly far enough. There are, in this country, plenty of rural basins surrounded by hills. If we could begin a new era of better planning, building houses onlv on the hillsides, reserving flat land for market gardens, and persuade some factories to move out of the cities, we could shorten communication lines and reduce prices, not only of food but also of sections.—Yours, etc., MARK D. SADLER. May 18. 1973. Sir, —C. G. Marshall’s discourse is a self portrait of a person all mixed-up and shrouded by uninformed and misconstrued notions. His inclination is towards picking. This time the pecks are directed at the cooks and stewards and, for good measure, the Federation of Labour and the Labour Government. He absolves manufacturers, employers, and fellow travellers from any responsibility for the inflationary trend. Was the cooks and stewards’ award negotiated in conciliation? Is their working week based on 40 hours, and five days, or 168 hours and seven days? Is the week on and week off an innovation introduced since the Labour administration took office?— Yours, etc., D. NICOL. May 19, 1973.

Sir, —Those correspondents roundly berating the Labour Government for the record increases in food prices over the past six months should direct their displeasure to where it really belongs; for it is not the Government which raises food prices, but the greed-inspired monopolies ; which, in desperately indecent haste, are raising prices as | high as possible before price | controls are effected. The •empty boasts of Messrs Marshall and Muldoon to have i controlled inflation are designed to delude the elecitorate; the National Party never controlled prices, nor jever intended to, in their 12 years in office, let alone six ; months as any working-class housewife knows. Their only remedy for inflation is to freeze wages. The mandatory belief of the National Party ! and its supporters in the anti-working-class fallacy that wage rises are the sole cause of inflation betrays their lack of even a rudimentary understanding of economics.— Yours, etc., M.C.H. May 19. 1973. Ingredients of margarine Sir, —I would be much • obliged if someone could en-

lighten me on the exact ingredients which are contained in the various qualities and brands of margarine on the market, and also what substance (if any) would be added to butter to make it more spreadable. I have discovered that any product containing soya bean in any form does not agree with my constitution. Consequently, I am hesitant and apprehensive about sampling anything in the way of additives or substitutes where butter is concerned.—Yours, etc., MYSTERY MARGARINE.

May 11, 1973. [Dr L. F. Jepson, Medical Officer of Health, replies: “Polyunsaturated margarines contain vitamins A and D—vegetable oils and antioxidants. Some brands do give the type of oil used on the label, and one is made with safflower. The availability of various brands is increasing. Butter may be made softer by fractionating the fat before churning or by the addition of water.”] Kilmarnock Street crossing Sir, — I would be very interested to know if there are any plans to install traffic barriers at the Kilmarnock Street railway crossing. When my car collided with a railcar there late one afternoon recently I was not aware of the lights or bells but I am sure 1 would have seen a barrier across the road. A number of people have since remarked that they have had difficulty seeing the lights when the sun is low in the afternoon. Three roads and a railway line at one intersection are a lot for a driver to watch and the lights are quite a distance apart in a large open area. It needs only unusual driving conditions or a moment’s inattention to produce accidents there, as I found out the hard way. — Yours, etc., MRS H. E. BULL.

April 2, 1973. [Mr L. G. Crawford, Assistant General Manager of Railways (engineering and development), replies: “The department shares the correspondent’s concern. However, it will be appreciated that an order of priority on a national basis must be established for the installation or upgrading of safety devices at level crossings. The formula used in the past to determine national priority is at present under review with statistics being re-analysed and basic criteria reevaluated. When the revised formula is fixed and national crossing priorities are reassessed it will be possible to consider upgrading the Kilmarnock Street crossing.”] Breakdown trucks Sir, —What right has a breakdown truck have to exceed the legal speed limit? Does a breakdown truck have a right to stop on a corner although there are already four other breakdown trucks there? Who says which company takes the damaged car away and how is this company called? Why does the Ministry of Transport allow five breakdown trucks to block the intersection when only two cars are involved? Surely one truck per car is enough—and these could be parked a little distance away until such time as the cars are actually being shifted. How do all these companies hear of these accidents and even turn up before the Ministry of Transport? These questions arise from an accident on the comer of Selwyn Street and Moorhouse Avenue tonight.—Yours, etc., IRATE MOTORIST.

May 13, 1973. [The superintendent of the road transport division of the Ministry of Transport in Christchurch (Mr A. Goldsmith) replies: “The driver of a breakdown vehicle is required to comply with speed limits. Unless the vehicle is being used to recover an immobilised vehicle, the driver is required to comply with all regulations governing the use of motor vehicles including those related to parking. The traffic officer attending an accident should remove any breakdown vehicle causing an obstruction to other traffic other than those engaged in the actual recovery of vehicles. The owner or driver of any

vehicle involved in such mishap may, if he is capable of doing so, nominate the company he wishes to remove the vehicle. In the event of such persons being incapable of doing so because of injury, or for any other reason, any traffic officer present would make a request to his communications room for a breakdown vehicle to be allocated on a roster system operated by arrangement with the companies engaged in this work. Breakdown companies have various means of obtaining information of the location of an accident and on many occasions arrive at the scene of an accident in force before the traffic officer.”] N.Z.B.C. news coverage Sir,—This constant repetition from 0600 by the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation of news from the 8.8. C. and news about Britain is driving me un the wall. There are many able and astute people in the N.Z.B.C. who could give us an identity as a nation of people, like the Australians living in the South Pacific. There is plenty happemng here, right now, to make the news more in touch with reality, and which interests us, as New Zealanders. The date is 1973 not 1886.— Yours, etc.. R. T. DANSEY. Westport. May 11. 1973. [The public relations manager of the N.Z.B.C. (Mr R. E. Coury) replies: “It is hard to understand what Mr Dansey means by constant repetition, as during the breakfast session we broadcast the 8.8. C. world news only twice—at 6 a.m. and 8 а. ‘News About Britain’ is broadcast only twice—at б. a.m. and 7.09 a.m. This, of course, is only on the national programme. There is a significant demand from listeners for the 8.8. C. bulletins, including both world news and news about Britain. It is agreed that the N.Z.B.C. gives a comprehensive news service, but the 8.8. C., with its immense resources, has sources of news additional to those of the N.Z.8.C., and there are frequently news items or parts of them that are broadcast by the 8.8. C. before they are available through other agencies. This naturally increases the comprehensiveness of N.Z.B.C. news bulletins.”] National anthem and flag Sir,—M. O’Neill needs to be reminded that the word “anthem” has a mainly religious connotation, and whether his friends “dig” it or not it is accepted as such by the majority of people in a nominally Christian nation. Besides this fact, with only a handful of protectors from outside interference, a little Divine assistance might not come amiss if a crunch ever comes. So by all means let us stick to “God Defend New Zealand” and have done with it. On secular “anthems” it can hardly be asserted that the present Russian one is musically more inspiring than the Czarist hymn which preceded it. Myself, I dislike the “Marseillaise,” though admittedly it is stirring, as claimed by its admirers—for the simple reason that it was the revolutionary song of a mob of thugs whose only object in marching on Paris was to murder and loot. Not, one would think, an inspiring example to a great nation.—Yours, etc., CARACTACUS. May 18, 1973. Educational foreign aid Sir, —Mr J. L. Hunt’s suggestion that educational aid might be best given in overseas countries by New Zealand has my wholehearted support. School syllabuses and courses at tertiary institutions are offered to suit the socio-economic needs of New Zealand. It is hoped that the end-of-the-year review of overseas educational aid will consider the benefits or otherwise of offering admissions into undergraduate courses (when available in recipient country), technical institutions, secretarial colleges and ;

secondary schools especially. New Zealand can offer places, on scholarships, to a limited number of postgraduates when facilities may be inadequate or unavailable in the recipient country.— Yours, etc., UNIVERSITY STUDENT. May 18, 1973. Rail-ferry dispute Sir, —Recently I travelled north on one of the Cook Strait ferries. Talking to one of the “cooks and stewards” union I found out that their take-home pay is s2oo—yes, two hundred dollars—after one week’s work, and one week of holiday. They work 26 weeks of the year for about $BOOO. This is $2OO clear for one week of dishing out cups of tea (heavy labour?) and leaning on a broom. It is more than I get in a month and I work for every cent of it.—Yours, etc., UP THE UNIONS. May 16, 1973. Murder of girl tourist Sir, —The murder by Zambian troops of a young Canadian tourist and the wounding of others, clearly indicates the nature of the ruler of the one-party State of Zambia. Mr Kaunda’s worst atrocity was the massacre a few years ago, by his armed police, of 800 Africans belonging to the Lumpa Sect, which included throwing the wounded alive into their huts which were then set alight. This fate was also meted out to women and children, those women who were pregnant were ripped open with pangas and then thrown on to the flames alive along with their unborn children. The crime of the Lumpa, a refusal to donate to Kaunda’s party funds. Since this of course, Kaunda has harboured hundreds of terrorists in camps partly financed by the World Council of Churches. These terrorists enter Rhodesia where they have murdered fanners and their families, one of whom was an old man aged 72.—Yours, etc., A.R.M. May 18, 1973. Teaching the humanities Sir, —While one could no doubt debate rhe relative merits of “The Brothers Karamazov” and “What’s Up Doc?” as works of art, M. Edwards does raise an interesting point regarding the teaching of the humanities. Virtually all young people pass through high schools now, and a large number go on to university. What indications are there that their appreciation of films, books, music, etc., of quality is being developed? The spectacular American film and the dairy paper-back seem as popular as ever. I have been told that most of the time previously spent on the humanities is now spent on social issues like drugs and sex. If this is so, the departments concerned are depriving our youth of their spiritual education and losing a wonderful opportunity to raise the cultural level of our nation.—Yours, etc.,

F. L. LAWSON May 18, 1973.

Sir, —M. Edwards’s indictment of humanities departments based on the duration of certain films’ seasons at local cinemas is hasty and unwarranted. First, he seems to find fault with the artistic sensibility of those who have been going to “What’s Up Doc?” for the last six months. He suggests that “The Brothers Karamazov” lasted only a week because people are not well enough educated to appreciate it. It is surely a matter of opinion that one film is more worth-while than the other. And while it is true that many “superficial” films have very long seasons, is it really a matter of education? Most people prefer light, relaxing entertainment to the heavier philosophical stuff at the cinema. And one should not underestimate the power of the lavish advertising behind many films, especially American. M. Edwards seems to want everyone to go to

what he considers good for them. Is there a vacancy for him as film censor?—Yours, etc., M.T. May 18, 1973. Late delivery of mail Sir, —The letter in “The Press’’ dated May 18 from ‘Worn-out Postie” amused me. I joined the Post Office recently as a postman and was staggered by the generally slipshod and unsatisfactory way work is carried out. There are a number of women there who are allowed to stay on the same runs for literally years and who, if they are changed to another run, will stay away. This form of blackmail is tolerated by the supervisors who condone such antics and even go so far as to favour these people. Is it any wonder that the public complain about mail deliveries?—Yours, etc., STIRRER. May 18, 1973. The Hunters Hills Sir, —Mr Insull, in his article in “The Press” this morning on “Mount Te Huruhuru and the Hunters Hills,” omitted the most important clue to the origin of the name—which, incidentally, is “The Hunters Hills,” not “Hunters Hills.” I refer to the fact that an Acheron manuscript map of 1849-51 shows the name before there were any European settlers or wallabies in the area. Charles Torlesse referred in his journal on March 12, 1849, to Huruhuru as the old hunter. My guess is that the name is, with Pigeon Bay, Mount Pleasant, and Caroline Bay, among the oldest European names in Canterbury, and probably dates from the 1838-42 period when shorebased whalers were active up and down the South Canterburbury coast. —Yours, etc., PETER MALING. May 19, 1973. Cambodia Sir, —After both houses of Congress in the United States expressed their disgust with unprovoked bombing of Cambodia by withdrawing finance you defend Thieu and Lon Nol in Saturday’s leading article. “The Press” has reported the Cambodian nature of resistance against the corrupt Lon Nol regime. Never have Chinese guerrillas been reported in Cambodia or Vietnam. You appeal for a “neutralist” Government in Saigon. Surely this word does not apply to the American-supplied Thieu regime and its shadow in Phnom Penh? When will you recognise that what you call “communism” (an emotive word) is a movement for independence and self-reliance of Indo-Chinese peasants against the decaying feudal and American-dependent regimes oppressing peasants with the help of 852 s and billions of our taxes. Why not give these courageous fighters a chance?—Yours, etc., CAMBODIA FOR THE CAMBODIANS. May 20, 1973. The university buildings Sir, —With reservations, I agree with a rather bitter “Ex Student.” Nietzsche and Einstein were tossing off tired comments on their intellectual inferiors, i.e. the majority of humans, including even us New Zealanders. “A little learning is a dangerous thing,” but only the littlelearned are in danger. As for the visible fabric of the university, in 1880 there was no money for aesthetics, and my old Boys’ High School came out of the same drawer as the Sunnyside asylum, the Normal School, and Mount Eden gaol. Why this nostalgia for the old and ugly? Montreal Street will become a hurrying traffic highway; a line of buildings will act as ! windbreak for the museum precinct. The last century was an era of peasanthood with few glimmers of nationhood, and the least ambitious parts of Godley’s plans have taken the place of the original 1 dream. “Where there is no vision the people perish.”—I Yours, etc., ARCHIE TECTON. May 17, 1973.