LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24825, 23 February 1944, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Late-comcrs at the Theatre Sir,—As a citizen of Auckland was ashamed of the disgraceful 1 exhibition by late-comers to His Majesty's Theatre oil Saturday night. I was sitting in the back stalls and for the first 20 minutes heard scarcely a word of "Peirdre" because of the not-so-muffled discussions and noises from the street entrance.

Surely it is a matter of common decency to arrive in time for a stage performance, and if late either to wait for an interval or to make one's entrance as unobtrusively as possible, but these people, in spite of repeated "shushing," apparently felt no scruples about the disturbance they were creating. It says much for the actors that they managed to rise above the interruptions and give a very creditable performance. Aucklandeu. American Slang

Sir, —Your correspondents who rise in support of American slang entirely miss the function of slang in a language. Such slang as quoted by "\V. Shakespeare" is indigenous, and arises naturally from a need or desire of the ordinary people to express themselves simply and expressively. It is good speech in the making. Where it fills no more than a passing need it tends to disappear; where its value is greater it is gradually accepted into the language. But imported American slang does not fall into this category, for it is either born of some local need in America or, as in most cases, is not a natural development, but a commercial excrescence on language, born of professional entertainers' need of presenting their product in a new and startling way Much American slang is, therefore, simply advertising device. It is foreign even to the American idiom, and to us can be nothing more, than one of those silly fads that afflict even the most civilised communities at times. The remark of "Good New Zealander" as to whether we prefer American slang or Japanese is beside the point. But if ho wants his principle taken seriously, would he state whether he prefers Ger*man music, or. say, Abyssinian?

Gordon Ingham The Church and Youth Sir, —The only really satisfactory long-range polic is to see that children are given the opportunity of being built .at an early age into the fabric of the Church. And that for the reason that not only do the Churches increasingly provide cultural and recreational facilities for voting people, but they also provide that alone which will make young people prefer the morally healthy life to the morally unhealthy—the sanctions of religion. Nothing is easier than to tell young people what is right and good. Nothing is more difficult than to make them want to do right rather than wrong without the help which religion alone provides. The Christian religion has within it that which can win children over to the right way of life, which alone can make them "love the highest when they see it," which can make them take the necessary prohibitions and taboos of society, which law can only impose and secular fthics can only advise, and voluntarily and willingly apply them to themselves. lii other words, religion alone provides an adequate motive for right living—it is the only answer (except the threat of gaol) to the question "Why should I?" —and it alone provides that dynamic which makes all the difference between a moral code imposed from without and one accepted and embraced by the child because he knows and feels that this is the way God intends that life shall be lived, (JIKV.) It. R. L. [SHERWOOD. Managing the Meat Ration Sir, — Before the grumblers start their complaints about our meat allowance 1 should like to relate how English people are managing. 1 returned from England six mouths ago, after spending three war years there. 1 started my married life when the meat ration was Is lOd weekly. My husband was on service allowance of just double that amount. Then it was easy, but when the ration went down to Is 2d each that w;ts another thing. In our village the butcher was only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and no fish was available unless we took a bus to a market town 20 miles away. For part of the time offals were included in that ration of Is 2d and we did not always have cheese as an alternative dish as it was rationed, and bacon as well. Cooked meats were obtainable by points, as were tinned meats.

It was marvellous how we managed on that ration. Thursday-Friday we tried to manage on offals and put all the meat into a week-end joint which in the following week appeared in various forms. Very few English people are grumbling about it. They have learned to manage. In fact, the housewives are very proud when they concoct a new dish out of practically nothing. I was pleased to do my bit and found it fun thinking up new ideas and feeling quite "cocky" about it when they were appreciated. Since coming back here I realise that quite a few New Zealnrulers do not, realise there is a war on. I feel ashamed of them when .1 compare them with the English people, and I trust that we here will think of them, too, with their difficulties and realise how lucky we are. Satisfied With Is 2d.