ITINERARY OF GENERAL FREYBERG

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 29 June 1943, Page 4

ITINERARY OF GENERAL FREYBERG

NELSONIANS will feel keenly disappointed that efforts to arrange for General Frey berg to visit us have proved unsuccessful. Along with that ought to go some misgiving that such an official omission could be made. Anticipation on Nelson’s part might have prevented it. The Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) evidently realised that an injustice had been done when he moved promptly to obtain an alteration but the General, like a good soldier, apparently decided that, once a plan of operation had been mapped out, he should adhere to it. After an itinerary has been framed and published it does not lend itself easily to change. Nelson should remember in the future that the time for making representations is beforehand, not afterwards. Perhaps requests not to be overlooked should not be necessary but experience over the years has shown only too clearly that they are. It was made plain by the General in Sunday night’s broadcast that his itinerary was drawn up by the Internal Affairs Department—doubtless in consultation with him. Nelson’s isolation from the South Island railway network is so well known as to be almost proverbial now, but, with air transport being used on the tour, it would have been easy to include Nelson and Blenheim, notwithstanding the hurried journey because of acute pressure on the General’s time. He is actually flying over this apparently officially unknown part of New Zealand on his way to and from the South. In the North there is no complete omission of places the size of Nelson. The regrettable inference is that, among departmental officials who arrange itineraries, there is a black-out of the South Island north of Christchurch. If that deduction is wrong the 65,000 people in this area would be glad to have their minds disabused of the impression. At any rate the itinerary-makers should be able to concede that, on the law of averages, Nelson is not due to be passed over in Dominion tours of distinguished persons for many years to come.