The Northern Advocate “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1943. TANEKAHA LAND FOR SERVICEMEN.

Northern Advocate, 1 October 1943, Page 2

The Northern Advocate “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1943. TANEKAHA LAND FOR SERVICEMEN.

THE Whangarei Returned Servicemen’s Association made.an important decision yesterday, when it decided to accept an offer made by Mr. J. Earnshaw, of Tanekaha, to give two properties comprising’ 893 acres for the rehabilitation of returned servicemen. One property, of 485 acres, is freehold, and is valued at over £6OOO, against which, there is a mortgage of £3500, which leaves an equity of more than £2500. The other property, of 408 acres, is a Crown leasehold, which, it is stated, will make .good run-offs .for properties which may he acquired at some future date.

Mr. EarnshawV generous offer is one which may be expected to inspire similar generosity on the part of other landowners, and thus help to assist the rehabilitation of returned servicemen.' •

The Whangarei R.S.A., in securing the land, intends to keep it intact until all servicemen have returned from active service, and thus give men from the district a chance to obtain ownership which would be denied them if the land were taken by the Rehabilitation Board at the present time, when only a comparatively small number of men have returned. The hope of the association is that eventually the gift made by Mr. Earnshaw will be of benefit to many of the men now overseas in addition to those who have been already demobilised. Several members of ‘ the association expressed the wish that there would not be a repetition of the mistake which occurred after the last war, when many men who served right up to the day of the armistice felt that those who had been demobilised earlier had been given the “plums” in the matter of farms. This hope will be widely echoed.

The R.S.A. hopes that any increase in values which may accrue through the retention of the properties in the meantime will become available for the betterment of soldiers in distress. The Whangarei R.S.A. is to be commended for the practical interest it is manifesting in the welfare of returned servicemen.

VOICES ACROSS THE SEA.

THE airgraph has helped to speed up communications between men serving overseas and their families at home. Soon a more intimate method of keeping in touch will be in operation. Sir James Grigg, the British War Minister, announced while he was in Algeria that thousands of people waiting for news of men in the First and Eighth Armies would soon be hearing the voices of sons and husbands. An economical form of gramophone record has been evolved that will take a message of 170 words. It can be posted as a letter is posted and will occupy little more space. As “The Times,” when referring editorially to this matter pointed out, the human voice carries with it the authentic, the unmistakable stamp and proof of individual identity. The style may be the man, and internal evidence may play an important part in determining the authorship of dubious documents, but they carry nothing like the weight of evidence implicit in the voice. Radio listeners to the war news are familiar with: “Here is the news, and it is so-and-so reading*it.” This is a formula supposed to be proof against forgery and the cunning of enemies, for even if he possessed the gift of mimicry, it is doubtful whether an announcer could continue to deceive during the whole of a news bulletin. Indeed, it is a paradox that the more closely a voice is impersonated the more unmistakable is the voice of the mimic inscribing its own clear signature of malicious or good-natured artistry.

There will be agreement with “The Times” when it says that the records should provide, by reason of their fluency, or lack of it, endearing memories of personal characteristics. Just as there are those whose thoughts and powers of expression are paralysed by the effort of putting them down on paper, so there are others, masterful enough where the written word is concerned, who, when called upon to make the shortest and simplest observation in public, are tongue-tied.

The making of the records will certainly be a congenial task; but it may not be altogether simple. As messages from “the boys overseas” not infrequently show, the record can in itself indulge a twinge of stage-fright. Then there is the limit to the number of the words that can be spoken. Human beings, as shorthand writers know, can speak an appalling lot of nonsense in a minute. Fortunately the censorship requires messages to be written out beforehand, otherwise men might find that they had exceeded (heir quota before they had properly started. However, recorded messages will be treasured not,! for their form but for the sound of beloved voices.