CHAIN LETTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23166, 12 October 1938, Page 16

CHAIN LETTER

ATTACK ON CATHOLICS CIRCULATION DEPLORED MB. HAMILTON'S COMMENT NO KNOWLEDGE OF ORIGIN A definite and emphatic.denial that the National Party had anything to do with the publication or circulation of a "chain letter" attacking the Catholic Church in New Zealand was made from Timaru yesterday by the Leader of tho Opposition, the Hon. A. Hamilton. "When this letter first appeared, said Mr. Hamilton, "I found it necessary to issue a statement defining the attitude of the National Party toward religious practices. I made it as clear as I possibly could that we stood for full religious tolerance in all walks of life. Since then there have been further insinuations that the National Party is responsible for this malicious document. I wish to give that suggestion the most emphatic denial of which [ am capable. "The National Party has no knowledge whatsoever concerning the origin of this particular letter, nor would it be a party to its circulation. We regard it as a despicable attempt to stir up sectarian Btrife and there is no room for that in New Zealand. We stand for personal ( freedom for the people of the Dominion and without religious freej dom there can be no personal freedom.

BROADCAST BY RADIO

MR. SCRIMGEOUR'S ACTION STRIKING COMMENT MADE HON. W. PERRY'S LETTER The "chain letter" attacking the Catholic Church was the subject of reference by the Controller of Commercial Broadcasting Mr. C. G. Scrimgeour, in a broadcast address over the commercial stations on Sunday night. Any connection with the letter on the part of the National Party has been denied by the Leader of the the Hon. A. Hamilton, but in addition the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., of Wellington, has addressed the following open letter to Mr. Scrimgeour:— , Dear Mr. Scrimgeour",—Last night I heard you read over the air the notorious chain letter attacking the Catholic Church which

has ~been in circulation for some

;ime past and a copy of which lies before me. As a Catholic I appreciate your condemnation of the vile effusion which is thoroughly offensive to < all who profess the same faith as I do. No doubt this letter has reached thousands of people, including Catholics. But thousands of people,

including Catholics, have ?never seen it/Why, then, did you read it last night, thus giving it a wider circulation than ever before and sending it into, numberless homes hitherto uncontaminated by it? The letter is headed thus: "This is a chain letter. Please copy three times and pass on." How many times, metaphorically speaking, did you copy it and pass it on lost night? The authors must indeed have been delighted to find in you such a convenient and inexpensive means of disseminating their deplorable sectarian propaganda. I do not believe that you read the letter for the purpose of assisting its authors. I believe you read it' with the object of discrediting the National Party. The letter exhorts the people to return the National Party to power, thereby conveying at least the implication that the National Party had some cognisance of it. If, in reading it, you did not intend to discredit the National Party, why did you not tell your listeners that the letter has been publicly disclaimed and condemned by the Hon. Adam Hamilton, the leader of that party P Or did you deliberately omit to tell**

your listeners this so that the im-' plication I have mentioned would be conveyed to your Catholic listeners who had not read either the letter'or the disclaimers?

Please let me assure you that this letter is not being written at the instigation of the* National Party or any member of it. Nor does any member of that party know that I am writing it. 1 am sending it to the press to-day for publication, and at the same time am sending you a copy 60 that you will hare an opportunity of immediate reply.—Yours faithfully, W. Pbbby.

' "VILE DOCUMENT" ASSURANCE ACCEPTED MR. SCRIMGEOUR'S REPLY "The chain letter I referred to on Sunday night is in my opinion one of the most scurrilous document® I have ever read," said the Controller of Commercial Broadcasting, Mr. C. G. Scrimgeour, in reply to the Hon. W. Perry s open letter. "Obviously it was deliberately designed by its originator to Btir up that bitterness of sectarianism which we had all hoped had been banished from this Dominion. "The accusation that members of any particular denomination received consideration above others in the Government service is entirely wrong. I stated on Sunday night that, as the head of a State department having employed well over 280 different individuals, I had never once inquired of those persons their faith or creed,- nor had I ever been directed to make such an inquiry. All people in this service— t and I believe m every other State been selected on their merits in actual work and not upon their religious beliefs. "The document itsplf was typical of many others which have been circulated recently, and I can sav without hesitation that New Zealand politics will be of a much higher standard if the general public refuse to.take any notice of such rubbish. "The only reason that I made mention of this letter on Sunday night last ivas that to my own knowledge hundreds of people had read it. and some were inclined to believe that there might be some truth,, in it. Surely no one can possibly object to the ompnasis I placed upon the objectionable nature of the document.

"In reply to Mr. Perry's question asking why IxHd not mention tnnt the Hon. Mr. Hamilton had denied his association with tho circulation of the chain letter, I can only say that I was not aware that ho had mado guch a denial —and that being so, I presume that thore are thousanus'of other people who were also not aware of the denial. That Mr. Hamilton should disclaim the document is only to be expected, for surely no right-thinking citizen would ever allow his name to bo associated with stich a vile thing. "I accept the assurance of Mr. Perry that his letter was not written at the instigation of the National Party, and I ask him to accept my assurance that my reference to the matter was in no way inspired bv any political party, but arose only out of a common desire with him that the public should be warned against being influenced by such propaganda." r;.