THE WORLD’S REFORMERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20958, 22 February 1930, Page 11

THE WORLD’S REFORMERS.

TO THE EDITOR. I a public-spirited’ citizen, I have always endeavoured to take a practical interest in any movement for the betterment of my fellow-men. I confess ■that I am not built of the stuff of’which reformers are made, but I do feel that. ', given a good lead, I would try very hard j to Tie helpful. The difficulty. hais always been to. know whose lead to follow,! For some time 1 past I have been feeling very elated.- Th.ere is. a correspondent to your paperV whose letters made a : tremendous . impression --upon ijine. Not only has •he convinced ' lie of .spniething which 1 had never auspected.ihamely. that newspapers do not Sways ppeak the truth, but. he knows how to settle r (a) the Government ; (b) Samoaj; (c) unemployment; (d) relK gion; 'in (Short, everything that- is at present being muddled. > 'Every morning I anxiously awaited-the arrival of-the Daily Times to see if there was. a fresh inspiration and I was seldom disappointed. In*, deed, I had arrived at themomentous con* elusion that the time . war. ripe for me to communicate with Mr. Neilson with a view to offering him my support, material as well as moral; when a very, unfortunate thing happened. I confess., that my’ interest in Mr Neilson’s correspondence has twice, made me forget to fill the coal bucket, and once to go to the.’offico without brushing my boots, but; if you can do’ something really big, what do little things, like that mattey? Unhappily it is to tilings like that,' and not to religion in Russia; that my wife attaches most .importance. When I excused myself bsCtellmg her how clever Mr Neilson' was, -she, wag not • disposed to '.listen. When my mind is really made? up, however, I can be pretty, determined, so I got out the clippings of those epoch-making IptLera (and a very respectable bundle tnej are) - , and. compelled-her to listen to his'opinions on a variety of subjects. There was an unkind footnote of yours which I did not read. ■ I thought you ; were very unfair.; Well; after she.listened for-a while, fine gave) -what in anybody - else I should call a snort.” Then she summed up the whole matter very J briefly, although it a lot of words to say it She says Mr Neilspn does pot want reform—he wants self-advertisbme-nt. - She used a word I cannot ■ say I admire; she calledhim a “ skite?’ In the torrent of words which she -used, I also• heard “gullible fool, which I hope she did not intend to 08 applicable to-me. When I asked k.er how she arrived at that conclusion,. she said it was her “ woman's. intuition. - She has an intuition now that the coal bucket will claim my interest and Mr Neilson’s: correspondence. As usual she is ritrht.I am, etc., . , ■ ; - John Henry.