PUBLIC INTEREST AROUSED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 70, 16 December 1937, Page 8

PUBLIC INTEREST AROUSED

Freedom Association QUICK RESPONSE IN AUCKLAND Support For Movement Dominion Special Service. Auckland, December 15. Public reaction to the establishment of the Auckland Provincial Freedom Association hae been prompt and spontaneous. The new organisation has come into being with the object of arousing public attention to the urgent necessity of maintaining the principles of true democracy and of resisting encroachment by the State on the liberty of individuals, and Professor Algie, who has accepted the post of organiser, received tangible proof to-day of the manner in which the movement is likely to be supported. Although the first announcement of the new political development was only made this morning, two mail deliveries during the day were sufficient to bring ' Professor Algie a? voluminous pile of correspondence from persons in and around the citywhose interest was apparently awakened by the association’s manifesto. In addition, numeous telegrams were received by Professor Algie from the southern centres expressing lively interest in the association’s proposals and congratulating him on the step he has taken. “When I decided to take the position which was offered to me,” Professor Algie said, “I was fully conscious of the difficulties which lie ahead. However, one day’s mail has been sufficient to strengthen my conviction that the work in which I am to assist will represent a genuine form of community service. The letters and telegrams which I have received all strike one dominant note—thankfulness that something is being planned for the preservation of individual freedom.” Professor Algie said that his most gratifying experience of the day had been a telephone conversation with a woman, apparently elderly, who would not disclose her name. She had told him that she was living on a small private income, that up to the present she had viewed the future with misgiving, but that once the freedom association i was in active operation she intended to contribute to its funds as much as her means would justify. “I am more satisfied than ever that the work which we are undertaking is well worth while,” Professor Algie said. “There are numerous ways in which our association will be able to help those who are determined to stand up for their rights as individuals, and I am sure that we can look to the future with hope and confidence.”