CORRESPONDENCE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 3 December 1914, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE

Mil. MASSEY'S MEETING

(To the Editor.) Sir, —The frankly brutal words of "Dairy Farmer," contained in his letter published in this day's Star, are provocative cf a very bitter feeling be- . tween farmer and worker in the dis-' trict through which the Star circulates, and all who. have read or heard Dean Power's words will now see how amply j justified he was in complaining of Mr. i Massey's attempt to revive a bitterness that should have been allowed to die out. That the Dean was not singular in dreading the consequences of Mr. Massey's ill-timed words, as asserted by "Truth," will be .seen from the following quotation from the Elcham Argus, which I ask you to insert. JUSTICE. [Our correspondent makeo a very tinusual request in asking us to publish the opinion of a party paper, for it introduces a new element into the matter, and obviously we might be asked to re-publish all sorts of opinions. However, in the special circumstances of the case we give the extract enclosed.] (Extract.) | There was a good deal of sound common-sense in the Prime Minister's Hawera spsach, but there were also some matters that, for the sake of the general interests of. the Dominion, had been much better left unsaid. In response to a harmless interjection v. ith no specific application, Mr. Massey illnaturedly retorted, "The farmers did the frightening last year, and would do it again if they had occasion to." Now, why on earth should Mr Massey have made this uncalled-for reference to the strike episode of hist year? Did he intentionally .strike a note intended to create discord? We thought he was a broader-minded man. It is not right to thus endeavour to create class differences. In holding out a threat of this nature ha was setting the farmer's man against the farmer. The farmer's man "belongs to the laboring classes, and when Mr. Massey implies that he has the farmers ready at his beck and call to "frighten" Labor, then lie is stirring up the fiercest passions of Labor, and creating ill-feeling where there should be harmony. The Prime Minister may hare imagined th.it he was pleasing and complimenting the farmers by thus boasting how he could' frighten Labor with them, but -;ureJy the farmers cf New Zealand are not entirely at the-beck and coll of a political leader, to be used as strike-breakers whenever required. Our opinion is that no farmer in New Zealand wishes to see a repetition of the strike episodes •of last year. But if Mr. Massey is going to hold up the farmers of New Zealand as though they were a bludgeon with which he can at any moment he chooses knock Labor on the head, then hs is going to create the most deplorable state of affairs imaginable. Our belief is that the farmers would wish to let the dead bury the dead, and turn down the strike episode as a page that has been read, with a hope that it may not be opene'V. again. We are sure that there is no intelligent farmer in the Dominion who would stand upon a public platform and say to Labor "We frightened yon lnst year, and we will do it again." Mr. Massey may have been angry when he gave utterance to his indiscreet remarks at Hawera, but there was no occasion for ange" at the moment. We ■should .«?>v that his. .filly boast h.°.s cost bis candidate every Labor vote in the Patea electorate. To the Editor. Sir, —"Labor's Best Friend" apologises for the Premier by suggesting that his threat that the farmer would again frighten the worker was not part of his prepared speech, but merely a quick and unpremeditated'retort, but if "L.8.F." would only read the paper carefully he would find that Mr Massey is using exactly the same words right through the Dominion. He is out on a mission to set the farmer against the working man, in the boDe of riding into office on a wave of class hatred- a« he rode last time on a tide of religious hate. That he is meeting with some success is evidenced by "Dairy Farmer's" violent and aggressive shriek in Wednesday's Star. BLESSED ARE THE PEACE MAKERS. To the Editor. Sir, —I am still waiting for "Truth." Will he not unmask, or shall we have to amend the words of the "Queen of Corinth" and exclaim: "Oh, Truth, thou art a mighty (coward)"? P. J. POWER. To the Editor. Sir, —I can hardly accept the assurance of "Hawera Roman Catholic," that he is not a "religious hypocrite"; for ths reason that the norn de plume he uses to support his "hysterical effusions is shamefully dessicated. N<*. practical Catholic, with any respect for his pastor, would allow his political ardour to expose such semi-Catholic dispositions in the columns of the press. "H.R.C." firstly defames his parish priest, and then defames the church— | his mother. A circular (to be distributed at the Catholic Church door next Sunday morning) o n behalf of the Dominion Council of the New Zealand Catholic Federation, and of which Council Mr D. L. Popplewell (of Dunedin) is the president, and Dean Power, vice-president, gives the lie direct to an aspersion cast upon the Dean's character, and upon the honor of the Catholic Church in New Zealand in general. "H.R.C."—if he is not deliberately telling an untruth—must be a man of dangerously morbid imagination. He is greatly surprised at my asserting "that the Catholic people are non-political"; but I have gone to the trouble of seeking the Dean's confirmation to the statement, in order to allay any misapprehension "H.R.C." may have regarding its validity. Here is a quotation from a letter sent me by the Dean: "In reply to yours of the 2nd, I beg to say that neither myself, nor the Church, has taken sides in party politics during my term in New Zealand. The writer of the letter (you have sent me) if he is a Catholic, is defammg his pastor, as well as his church. You will see by the enclosed ( circular from the Catholic Federation, that its members are asked 'to vote and work for the candidate, no matter of what political party, etc.' I am the vice-president of the Dominion Council, -and I was the strongest advocate of the words underlined above. As I have always said on the eve cf elections, and as I will—please Godsay on Sunday next: 'The church is .wider than any political party, and it would be a -sad day for her if she ever allied herself to any political party.' 'Hawera Roman Catholic' has a strong claim to our pity and our prayers. This would be better than taking him to the Supreme Court."

In conclusion, "H.R.C." asks: Does the Dean possess some occult power denied to us "lesser mortals, which enabled him to see in the centre of the hall, "a compact body of young farmers," etc., from the position the Dean occupied, seeing that the centre of the hall could not be seen from that position? Well. yes. he does! owing to the fact that the Dean, being neutrally

disposed and of an impartial mind re- j garding politics, was watching with \ both eyes, whereas "H.R.C," who is presumably blinded with prejudice and I bias, was only looking at the disturb- ; auce with one eve. { "R.C." J

A letter from "Fair Play" is declined for the reason that it opens up entirely new matter, calculated to widen the discussion. —Ed. Star.