CLEARING THE AIR

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 303, 16 September 1921, Page 8

CLEARING THE AIR

SPRINGBOKS AND MAORIS STATEMENT BY AUTHOR OF ' CABLEGRAM The repudiation by the manager of the Springboks, Mr. Bennett, of tho cablegram sent to South Africa reflecting on tho .conduct of the Maori team which met tho visitors at Napier, was referred to Mr. IV. T. Parata, manager and organiser of the Native team, in conversation with a DOMINION reporter yesterday. “After reading Mr. Bennett’s explanation,” remarked Mr. Parata, “I am perfectly satisfied that this unfortunate cablegram was not inspired by the Springboks or any official connected with them. 1 have seen Mr. Bennett about the matter, and he assures me that there was nothing whatever that his team took exception to with regard to the Maori team. “On the contrary quite the reverse of ill-feeling exists between the Maoris and tho Springboks. As a matter of fact my smaH son 'Buster’ has been the South Africans' ma°cot in more than one game, and a telegram is now on its way to Auckland asking him to fill the same role in Saturday’s test. . . You can regard the incident as closed so far as we are concerned."

THE AUTHOR OF THE CABLEGRAM

MR. BLACKETT’S EXPLANATION. Tho much-discussed cablegram was dispatched by Mr. C. AV. E. Blackett, who is travelling with the Springboks on behalf of certain South African newspapers. Yesterday he made tho following statement to TRb' DOMINION, traversing the attitude adopted by the manager of the Springboks:— "I was astonished on taking up your paper this morning to notice that Mr. 11. G. Bennett, the manager of the South African team, had, in the course of conversation with a representative of your paper, thought fit eo abjectly to apologise on my behalf for a message sent by me to the South African papers which 1 represent with regard to the Maori match at Napier. I"What I do regret, apart from the unfortunate manner in which the message was disclosed nt this end. is the 111111!lated and abridged form in which it was published in certain papers. For reasons best known to themselves, the persons who surreptitiously obtained and disseminated the cablegram, published only those passages which could be construed as an attack on the Maoris. One glaring instance was the fact that the words, ’They merely threw their weight about regardless of the niceties of the game,' were shorn from their context, which read: 'lt would he unfair to suggest that the Maoris played a foul or unnecessarily rough game.’ Similarly, there appears to have been n delibeiate omi«sion of the statement in the message to the effect that the Maoris belied their reputation that they were unable to play an uphill game by continuing their hard, hustling tactics to the finish. Obviously, therefore, your statement that tho message was quoted in full was incorrect. "I was equally surprised to read Uiat Mr. Bennett had received cabled advices that the newspapers which T represent had refrained from publishing the message. On that point I hone to give you definite information before leaving New Zealand.”