"CANT, HYPOCRISY, AND HUMBUG"

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22632, 25 July 1935, Page 12

"CANT, HYPOCRISY, AND HUMBUG"

TO TUE ; EDITOR SIR— It is with deep regret and shame that I see. in your issue of July 2d, that the City Council has finally decided to desecrate the Queen's Garden by making that reserve a site for soapbox oratory. The Returned Soldiers' Association, on behalf of its comrades, and I am sure also of the majority of Duuedin's citizens, made a strong protest against such a proceeding, but this appeal was disregarded and the matter decided by a majority ot 01 As one who v has frequently listened at Hyde Park and elsewhere, I can only regret that a place sacred to our fallen soldiers should be defiled by the ranting* of these advocates of tins so-called freedom of speech. The Queens Gardenb, since our beautiful memorial was erected there, have been regarded by every rightminded citizen as sacred to our talien delld, and are, as Mr Calvert rightly says, a place of memories, sad memories indeed, to many of us, but always a sacred ana peaceful place in a beautiful setting, and one of which we are justly proud. Are the sacrifices made during the Great War the sacrifices to which that memorial and its gardens are dedicated, to be set aside by the vapourings of councillors to whom a "gentlemen's agreement" and feelings of decency may convey no meaning at all' Our Mayor, whom from his past career one would expect to sympathise with the finer ideals of life, takes refuge behind the remark that "speech is not sufficiently unholy to profane holy ground. It all depends on the speech, and we may be quite sure that a large proportion ot the so-called speeches will be unpatriotic and smacking strongly of Communism, or * Surely the plea of the Returned Soldiers'Association and its comrades should be considered first of all, and Dunedin should not be allowed to be disgraced amongst her sister cities by such a flagrant breach of decency! Could one imagine soapbox oratory and open-air shouting taking place on or around the Oenotapii in London? ' In no country does one see or hoar public speaking near a war memorial, and if. as Councillor Begg says, there are 891 acres of reserve in ..and around Dunedin available for free speech, surely two acres could be kept sacred to those who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War, thereby making the nvorld safe for those who now describe the finer ideals as "Cant, Hypocrisy, and Humbug."—l am, etc.. Queen's Gardens. to the editob Sir,—The representatives of the Returned Soldiers' Association and Cr Allen are to be commended for their attitude towards the City Council when the latter body approved of the Queen's Gardens being used for public speaking. It ; is to be regretted that such words as ' cant, hypocrisy, and humbug " should have been used by Cr Batchelor in referring to the views of the Returned Soldiers' Association in the matter. When one recalls the dignified manner in which the Mayor placed a wreath on the memorial last Anzac Dav and when within three months time we find him stating that " the Re-

turned Soldiers' Association had .overemphasised the aspect of the memorial as a tomb"... and voting for the Queen's Gardens to be used as a local Hyde Park —then one can see to which body—the Returned Soldiers' Association or the City Council—the words "cant, hypocrisy, and humbug" more aptly apply.—l am, etc., IstPERIALIST.