LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25180, 18 April 1945, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The President's Quotation Sir, —A decorated soldier Jast Christmas asked President Roosevelt to write something in his book of quotations. The President complied witn a smile and penned these lines from Longfellow's "Psalm of Life": In the world's broad field of battle, in the bivouac of life Be not like dumb-driven catti«, be a hero in the strife! Act. act in the living present, heart within and God o'erheaa. J.C.M. Prison Life Sir, —The facetious comments of your correspondent P. J. Smith are regretted by those men and women (including members of the medical and legal professions) who desire to see our obsolete penal system replaced by one progressive and reformative. If P. J. Smith will re-read the concluding Herald article he will see that grave defects are laid bare. Your correspondent aspires to be a permanent boarder at Mount Eden prison. I would warn hirn against such a rash step. Arthur O'Halloran. The Tobacco Shortage Sir, —It is with a very real sense of exasperation that I write deploring the selfish and unreasonable attitude of the bulk of tobacco users. I have been rather surprised that a concerted protest has not been made by us longsuffering storekeepers who, in addition to their many other trials, have to stand up to genteel blackmail, open threats, abuse, insults and little sympathy because of lack of stocks of tobacco and inability to make 21b satisfy a 101b demand. Last Friday a female client rang me up and baldly stated, "Tobacco, cigarettes," to which I replied, "None, none." Following this I was soundly rated for not persistently taking the offensive against my supplier, who I am sure is heartily sick of the situation. Then followed in a threatening tone, "You'd better get tobacco by Saturday, or else —" Not trusting myself to speech, I hung up the receiver. Harassed Storekeeper. The Polish Question Sir,—Pear-Admiral Lawson asks why the old Polish estates are in the eastern provinces if the area never belonged to Poland. The answer is simple enough. It is historically Polish, not Russian territory as Mr Monk alleges. Briefly, the south-eastern portion, or Galicia, was Polish when Poland first entered European history. The north-eastern area was originally part of the great Duchy of Lithuania. Threatened hv the Teutonic Knights this part united with Poland in 1386 —a union cemented by the marriage of a Polish queen, and I finally sealed at Lublin in 1569. In ! 1667, at Andreszon, the frontiers were! settled'by agreement with Russia as J running from the middle of the Dwina ; River in the north, west of Smolensk ! and Kiev along the Dneiper to the mid-; Ukraine and then west to the Dneister. ! Thus they remained until the First j Partition. j At Riga in 1920 a victorious Poland, took a boundary west of a line suggested by Russia, leaving 1,500.000 Poles in the Soviet. That was the position in 1939. There were then 5,200,000 Poles in the eastern provinces, 4,500.000 TJkranians and 1,000,000 White Rutheninns. It is true that the Ukrnnians, who are Byzantine Catholics, desire autonomy, but that is not to say that they regard Soviet citizenship as an alternative. Since 1920 over 3,000.000 acres have been parcelled out from the big estates and Sir John Russell has paid tribute to the fairness of the resettlement to all racial groups. Finally, I remind Mr Monk that the head of the

London Poles, M. Arciozewski, known as the "Saint of Polish Socialists," is little calculated to favour big land-

holders. Similarly, as he arrived in London direct from the Polish underground army u 1944 and bearing the_ Polish Victoria Cross, he is as little likely to be out of touch with-the people of his country* A. R. Gabcoign®.