Letters to the Editor

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34132, 20 April 1976, Page 16

Letters to the Editor

(1) Letters submitted for printing in this column must not exceed 150 words. They should be written in ink or preferably typed on one side of the paper. Ample space must be left in the margins and between lines for subediting marks. <’2) Letters written over pen names or initials will not ordinarily be considered for publication. A legible signature and full postal address —not a P.O. Box number—are essential. (3) The correspondent must say whether the letter has been or is to be submitted elsewhere. The Editor does not undertake to acknowledge, hold, return or enter into correspondence on any letter not accepted for publication. R.V.S.—Too personal. Compensation for accidents Sir, — One is glad to read that Adrian Hayter, one of the most distinguished of living New Zealanders, has not been gaoled “as threatened” for trying to force amendments to the Accident Compensation Legislation. The amendments that he advocates seem to me thoroughly reasonable and desirable and it is to be hoped that the present Government will seriously consider drafting appropriate amendments. Indeed, in the absence of an intelligent opposition party, he has done the country a great service by drawing at-

tention to the fact that both of the main parties threaten to destroy the welfare state by extending welfare beyond reasonable limits. Labour nearly wrecked the country’s finances by spending a billion dollars a year more than it got from taxes, and the National Government’s scheme for a pension worth 80 per cent of the average wage will make the situation even worse. — Yours, etc., MARK D. SADLER. April 19, 1976. Trial of Peter Hain Sir, — I wish to draw your attention to an error in “The Press” of April 14. Your report of developments associated with the trial of Peter Hain contains an erroneous reference to “a mini-cab driver, George Davis, who was imprisoned for digging up the pitch and causing the third cricket test between Australia and England at Headingley, Leeds, last August to be abandoned.” George Davis was, in fact, convicted of armed robbery, wrongly so in the opinion of many people. It was exasperation among some of his sympathisers that led to the destructive act at Leeds, with which he was personally in no position to become connected. — Yours, etc., D. R. MIDGLEY. April 17, 1976.