A Sane Observation

Manawatu Times, Volume 68, Issue 215, 10 September 1943, Page 4

A Sane Observation

(To the Editor.) - Sir, —One of the sanest observation* ever made in Parliament, was made by Mrs. Poison when she said (in effect) that the numbers of people who were receiving Social Security was nothing to be proud about. I could write an article four yard* wide and three yards long on this self same subject. The Minister of Health, with rat-like ferocity, endeavoured to cross question Mrs. Poison as though she was on trial for murdering a dead Chinaman. I was proud of the way she stuck to her guns. Without prejudice 1 enn say Parliament will bo the poorer for her absence. Never mind, Parliament’s loss will be Poison’s gain! Mrs. Poison realises that it is better to erect a fence at the top of a cliff than maintain an ambulance at tho bottom. The real meaning of wealth is well-being. Therefore, health, both physical and moral, is fundamentally necessary in & model ! community. Preventive medicine is i almost unknown in this country, tiick- : ness is an economic loss of the geratsst : importance. It is a loss to the sick and 1 a tax on the well. Prevention is better than cure. As a Socialist, I hold firmly to the , vjjpw that economic reform without moral reform is worse than useless. If working men with high wages and short hours can find nothing better to do than spend both in hotels, then the second stage is worse than the first. This infamous Government talks too much about morale and too little about morality. They talk about the records they have put up. Yes; but two Tocorda about which they are silent are increased drinking and increased gambling. They are morally dead, mentally bankrupt and politically bankrupt. Another record they have put up is in regard to juvenile crime. Now, the real basis of juvenile crime is to be found in the homes of the people. The facts are, 1 ns I see them, that this unmoral Govern ment has corrupted the pareuts and it is now showing itself in the lives of tho i children. Give me an educated, sober i democracy and juvenile crime will take care of itself. Any keen observer can ' see for himself that our people are rapidly deteriorating. All that wc can i exj>ect from this Government is a na- » tion of drunkards and gamblers. It even prides itself upon the revenue (!) 1 it derives from taxing evil. A Govcrn- \ ment that; cannot balance ita budget \ without taxing evil—and thereby en- . couraging it—is morally dead and : politically bankrupt. I tremble to * think what the harvest will be. In the | interests of morality and health (o’je affects the other) the sooner this • Government is removed the better. I 1 believe that it is dominated by Brewers, Bookmakers and Bouncers. I am sick of the phi&seology of i Fraser and the strathospheric plati- - tudinarianism of Nash. One more word, ■ and I am finished: The Extension of the Life of Parliament: This had nothing whatever to do with the war, but was . done at the instigation of the brewers. » “For the duration and one year after--1 wards.” What would that meanf It 1 would mean that the brewers had l “skipped” an election at & cost, say, i of £BO,OOO which, of course, would be - a nice little present for the Govern- ; mentis friends. Further comment s would be dangerous.—l am, etc., SOCIALIST. > Palmerston North, 9/9/43. ;