MR BIRTLES AND THE FARMERS’ UNION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22755, 16 December 1935, Page 9

MR BIRTLES AND THE FARMERS’ UNION

TO THE EDITOR Sib, —Several letters have recently appeared in your columns signed by Mr J>. B. Birtles. It is not often that I reply to correspondence of this kind, but the letter in your issue of to-day’s date contains a statement about the Farm Accounting Association which is so entirely 'devoid of fact that I feel it is incumbent upon me to give it a denial. I think, Sir, that before accepting for publication a letter containing a statement calculated to do harm to an organisation of standing, you should endeavour to find out if there are any grounds for the statement, particularly when it is received from such a source. We may seek to undo the damage done, but unfortunately baseless damaging statements of the kind made by Mr Birtles have a habit of sticking and We have no real recourse. A canard goes on its way and is oft repeated by folk who do not know >ts source and the damage is done. Mr Birtles is obviously a disappointed, unsuccessful man with a grievance. Many a young man would have given much to have had the capital and opportunities which Mr J. B. Birtles hod. One would like to ask him several question. For instance: Why he purchased a sheep run during a boom period against the advice of those who knew him best? Whether he has occupied any position of responsibility on any organisation calculated to be of assistance to his fellowmen?. As a rule advice is listened to from those who have earned the respect of their fellows. So long as human nature is what it is, so long will there be honest differences of opinion, but surely one’s views can be ventilated without resorting to abuse. —I am, etc., December 13. A. C. Cameron.

TO THE EDITOR. Sib, —The remarks of Mr J. B. Birtles concerning Farmers’ Union matters in Friday morning’s paper might cause concern if they were true and emanated from a matured mind. Farming, in the minds of many, is quite a simple matter, and no doubt Mr Birtles thought likewise, and if he was unsuccessful in farming pursuits he has my sincere sympathy. Probably he feels somewhat soured by life, and in this state of mind has to vent his spleen upon somebody, and on this occasion he has chosen the Farmers’ Union. The recent growth of the insurance business and the results of its other activities are all on record, and speak for themselves. Therefore, there is no need of my entering into a newspaper controversy with Mr Birtles. I trust, however, that Mr Birtles will not let any misfortune of his so warp hie judgment as to lead him to imagine that people with different viewpoints from his own are all wrong.—l am, etc., Dunedin, December 14. Fair Deal.