LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25289, 24 August 1945, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Atomic Bomb Sir, —The Rev. C. B. Jordan is straining at the gnat. Has he ever heard of the wounds inflicted by the bayonet? Sir A. Conan Doyle thus describes bayonet warfare: "Necessity knows no law. I have seen soldiers die, and no wounds in modern warfare are so ghastly and so sickening to the senses as those caused by bayonet warfare. General Sherman understated when he commented: 'War is Hell.' " Complete annihilation by the atomic bomb is (comparatively speaking) more humane. HKRIIKRT MULYIHTT.L. Discipline lot the Young Sir, —Prevention is better than cure. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the hooliganism that so marred the victory celebrations here and elsewhere will lead to effective action bv all responsible for the training of youth. The real causes of the outburst are to be found in (11 the decline of home life during the past half-century or more, and (2) the swin ' of the educational pendulum from that undue "repression," once deemed necessarv to keep the exuberances of youth within due bounds, to the cultivation of "self-expression." Every orChardist knows that neglect to prune his trees results in a deterioration in the quality of the product. Selfexpression, left to its own devices, inevitably develops into that selfishness which is the basic cause of wars, national and social. Hence the great need of the day is for parental responsibility to be accepted as a solemn obligation and for children in the homes and in the schools to be trained to exercise that self Control which precludes any possibility of self-expression degenerating into licence. Nkstor. Influence ol the Classics Sir, —In Greek architecture and sculpture the Greek standard was, for many centuries, accepted as the standard of perfection and rightly so; but changing conditions have enabled the world to outgrow the admitted perfections of these Greek arts. Close adherence to those standards did, however, hold back progress in the practice of both, and so we have had many examples during our own time of sculpture and architecture perfect in the academic sense, yet lacking the vitalising quality of belonging t< the present age and experience. Your correspondent. Mr Robert Neil, says: "The great ideals of the ancient, Greco-Roman world, indissolublv linked with the primitive record of Christianity, are preserved for us in letters of gold, in language which escapes all change." May not this very quality of rigid finality, this escaping all change be in fact as great a disservice to morals and religion as was the misplaced homage to the perfections of classic architecturo'and sculpture? Aesthetic truth needs changing forms to comply with changing circumstances, and the great ideals of this ago need not necessarily be expressed in language which escapes all change. Richard 0. Gross. Fijian Cargo Workers Sir, —As a controversy seems to be developing over the respective speeds of Fijians and New Zealanders in handling cargo, this note, made while voyaging on a small copra-loading steamer in Fiji some years ago,'may be of interest. The vessel carried her own loaders, in number not more than six. Here is the note:—* "The sacks of copra lay piled up ; ready on the beach to he shouldered by the Fijian workmen and carried to 1 where the water was deep enough to float the barges, which, when full, were ! towed out by motor-launch to where ! the steamer lay awaiting the cargo. 1 These copra lumpers were not of picked ' physiquq, but they would dash bubbling with glee at a pile of copra, shoulder ' the heavy sacks and carry them down to the boats as if the whole thing were "■ game. Twenty or thirty tons was the average quantity awaiting us in each < little buy, an amount which took an ; hour or more to transfer from shore ; to hatches. Then there was a spell of j an hour or more while the steamer s nosed her way to the next stopping < place." 1

Tlint was not writ ton with the object of oenvying the inferior effort of our workers, but simply as a description of the physical strength and cheerful willingness of tha Fijian. Nanov Walker.