Readers Write

Northern Advocate, 21 October 1938, Page 6

Readers Write

It is often said, and the silence with which the statement is received seems to suggest its endorsement, that people

take no interest in afCOMMUNITY fairs that do not afEFFORT. feet themselves financially. That is not sc, as may be gathered when one reflects on the variety of enterprises 'of all kinds which depend on voluntary effort in Whangarei alone.

I was astonished to learn of the number of ways in which people are kept busy in connection with local politics, charitable and social institutions, church organisations, etc. It is true that many workers are engaged in more than one organisation, but, despite that fact, there must be greater public participation in community effort than the average man thinks, which is all to the good of the Dominion as a whole. —“GRATEFUL.”

The elections are over now, and surely it is time some definite start was made towards raising contribu-

tions for the TEPID SWIMMING Centennial celeBATH. brations in Whangarei. Apparently suitable memorials are to be built as part of the scheme. Is there any definite suggestion yet as to the form that Whangarei’s memorial is to take?

Some time ago I remember reading that the president of the Wh'angarei Amateur Swimming Club spoke of the urgent needs of a tepid swimming bath in the town. This, surely, would be a suitable memorial.

As was pointed out, a suitable site could be found in the vicinity of the Avenues near the gasworks, from which waste heat could be employed to heat the water. It is possible, too, that fresh water could be pumped from the creek that feeds Cafler’s Park

swimming pool. It appears to me that the service of a tepid baths to the community justifies serious thought being given to the matter. It now remains for someone to take the lead in this admirable project.—“A.J.C."

In my opinion, the trouble which is occurring in Palestine is of tremendous importance to the British Empire, which counts BRITAIN AND so large a number of PALESTINE. Moslems among its

subjects. The Moslems of Palestine are determined to drive the Jews from the country. And Britain is in the curious dilemma of being committed to both Jew and Arab. Since 1917, the Jews of the world, particularly the persecuted Jews of Europe, have regarded Palestine as the “promised land.” Unfortunately, it is also the “promised land” of the Arabs. They claim that it was promised to them as the price of their revolt against Turkey during the Great War. Jews have poured into Palestine since 1917. The Jewish population has risen from 60,000 to 400,000. But during the same period, the Arab population has increased from 550,000 to 900,000. Arabs have made fortunes by the sale of land at fantastic prices to Jewish settlers, and a backward impoverished country has become a prosperous, modern, industrialised State. But the Arabs, inspired by Italian and German propagandists, have refused to admit these facts. They demand 100 per cent, independence idf Palestine, and an i Arab Government as autonomius as the government of the Saudi Arabians, the Iraki, and the Syrians, and the elimination, by persuasion or terror, of the Jewish settlers. They are afraid that if Jewish immigration continues, they will lose their identity as an Arab people. Britain’s problem is to pacify the Arabs without breaking faith with the Jews, This is a real problem when it is remembered that one-half of the world’s 200 million Moslems are in the Brit-* ish Empire.—“WATCHER.” !

In replying to my letter re German colonial question, Mr Panton uses well-worn anti-German propaganda for facts, and in identiGERMAN fying himself with his COLONIES ■ English friends’ sentiments he uses senseless insults instead of argument. The problem under discussion is: Is it just to return Germany’s colonies, which were taken from her contrary to all promises made during the war, and in the armistice agreement, and is it wise to do so with an idea to restore the commercial equilibrium of the world?

Germany has acquired all her colonies, not by conquest, but by treaty or purchase, which can hardly be said of I the British colonial possessions. Germany is being accused of aggressiveness, yet she is only asking for the territory in Europe which, for genealogical reasons, should form a unit, and whose people have expressed the wish to belong to Germany, and for the return of the colonies which she built up from her 'own resources. Mr Panton does not wish to see these colonies returned, thereby advocating that conquest (the colonies were taken by “force majeure”) should be sanctioned. What logic! Mr Chamberlain has said on various occasions that British-German co-operation was essential for the peace of the world, which co-operation I have been advocating all along, and I feel certain that a way will be found to satisfy German colonial aspirations to lay a good foundation for future co-operation.— D. BLUMHARDT.