R.S.A., POLITICS, AND APPOINTMENTS.

Evening Star, Issue 22271, 24 February 1936, Page 10

R.S.A., POLITICS, AND APPOINTMENTS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Mr MacManus appears to he in high glee over the rebuttal by our City Council of the charges mentioned by “ Sniper ” in his last letter. This grave matter is, to my mind, far from being satisfactorily cleared up. Much was made of the charge of jobbery, and this aspect of the allegations was certainly denied by Cr Begg, but is it not quite possible that Cr Begg may have been ignorant of the intentions of the Labour section ? As Mr MacManus mentions, he is not by any means an endorsed supporter of the Labour policy, and would not have the inside information complained of. The charges gave definite instances of favouritism to prominent Labour supporters, to the*disadvantage of more expert, though evidently less distinguished camp followers. Until this and other charges are satisfactorily disposed of, Mr MacManus must excuse me for seeing no analogy to a “dummy raid” in the union’s effort; nor any resemblance to a hot resistance, except by the flareboys. The R.S.A. should follow the example set by this recalcitrant union, and send along a reminder that it, too, has on its books the names of some quite handy men, ex-soldiers, with proud records of service, wounded maybe, but quite immune from old gun sickness and still able to carry on. 1 notice that His Worship the Mayor, in splitting the proverbial hair over the Anzac Day protest, solves an easy conscience by discovering that the evening is not part of the day. That may apply in a religion opposed to Christianity, but I have always understood that the Labour Party professedly stood by the New Testament. His AVorship could not have been impressed by the wisdom of one of his advisors, Mr Breen, who contended a few editions ago that “ time is a function of the mind.” I have no doubt that, as time passes, the mind reacts to the impressions of current events, and that others, like “ Sniper,” who are receiying rather rude shocks from the activities of our Labour Council, are adjusting their views accordingly. The only bright spot of late from the ex-soldiers’ point of view is the consideration shown to an ox-digger by a neighbouring borough. One regrets the circumstances that caused Mr Edgar’s retirement, yet I am sure that he will agree that the ex-soldier is truly desprvmg of the appreciation shown.’ This is a fine example to our city fathers, and I hope sincerely that the prominence given to the event will not be lost upon them, and that His AVorship will not split the man up into his various parts in order to eliminate his chief qualification.—l am, etc., Digger. February 22.