FARMERS AND THE GOVERNMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23951, 28 October 1939, Page 9

FARMERS AND THE GOVERNMENT

TO THE EDITOR Sir, —Mr J. Donald-Curtis, in his letter to you of the 21st inst, is deliberately trying to cloud the issue. He says that if my comparison between Hitler and our present Government were permissible, it would hardly be necessary for thousands to enlist to fight this menace on the other side of the world and preserve the same conditions here. I maintain that there is not the slightest difference between dictatorship by a caucus and the dictatorship of a single individual. Both Hitler and our present Government attained power by the same methodpropaganda. Hitler capitalised the miseries of the German people which followed the inflation of the currency in Germany, and the present Government capitalised the grievances of the people of New Zealand which followed the last financial depression. Both promised to remedy those grievances, and their promises in each case were made with a callous disregard of whether they could be fulfilled or not. Both Hitler and our present Government made their appeal in the name of freedom and liberty. Both since they attained power have steadily filched the liberties cf the people. Hitler of late has done these things with impudent effrontery. Our Government veils its actions behind distortion of the outward forms of legality and Pecksniffian hypocrisy. It, too,

rules by fear as it dares but, daring little, it rules by favour that it may rule at all. Mr Curtis states that he cannot remember a single case where any Government has kept its promises to the letter. Can Mr Curtis or any of his Socialist friends explain why the Government went back on its promises to the B stations? Was it because of the Prime Minister’s pre-election promise to “ Scrim ” ? Can the Socialists explain why "Scrim” was appointed to his present job without anplications being called for the position? Can they explain why the commercial stations have been made a lucrative source of income for Socialist members of Parliament and their wares? For the last two evenings the citizens of this country have been listening to Mr Nash bleating over the air about the wool commandeer, and his meetings with the representatives of the farming community in that connection. When does the Government propose to give the latter the right to reply? The Government airs its views on the air for 10 minutes every evening What opportunity does it give the Opposition to answer this propaganda? It is quite apparent that in certain respects our Government has carefully studied and applied Hitler’s methods as outlined in “ Mein Kampf.” -ts squander policy and its Social Security Act have been copied from the United States of America and its creed from Stalin. While giving lip service to Britain, some members of the present Government still remain faithful to Stalin and communism. Readers of your paper will remember how Mr Jordan held up our country to ridicule at Geneva. His " jolly old friend ” and “ jolly old pal” on that occasion was Litvinov, since a victim of the dempcratic methods of that great apostle of liberty, Stalin. But very recently we have had an excellent illustration of where the Government’s sympathies lie. We have been told that the Government has been importing skilled tradesmen from London. These gentry have been carefully selected, according to report, by the High Commissioner. One of our fellow citizens who has just returned from England, related to a gathering of local citizens an incident showing the true quality of these people. The boat on which our fellow citizen and the imported gentry travelled to New Zealand left England about three days before war was declared. As a precaution, the captain and chief officer of the ship decided to camouflage the ship with paint. All the passengers, with the exception of the 14 imports, gave a hand with the work. The noble artisans were not only loud in their professions of Communism, but had stacks of Communistic literature aboard. Some of this their fellow passengers managed to seize and to dump overboard. Import restrictions! On badly wanted goods, yes; on Communism, No! New Zealanders go overseas to fight while the imported Communist is free to carry out his dastardly work here. Mr Curtis says that the country’s doom is sealed from within only if its citizens cease to believe in it, and help it and the party it has placed at its head to guide the affairs of the State. No citizen can help a party which is returned to office on a policy which is afterwards proved to be a false pretence. Under the guise of preventing the disturbance of trade the Government pushed forward the general election by a month. In their election speeches, the Government candidates assured the electors that all was well. Less than a month later, just when the elections would have been held in ordinary times, the policy of import restrictions was announced. The Prime Minister says, “You have nothing to fear.” If the ruin of a business which has taken years of hard work to establish is nothing, then he is probably right! The present Government has kept the people of this country in ignorance regarding the financial situation. Under the guise of issuing money against the country’s power to produce, it is proceeding to inflate the currency. I wonder just how big an issue the production of the pro-Stalinists of Hillside would sustain? There is only one end to inflation —ruin and misery. Decent New Zealanders are patient and long suffering. Their patience is exhausted. They have no other cheek to turn. Let the Russian-dyed Socialists and their lick-spittle chorus take a warning while there is yet time. They need not accept my word. Ask Mr Nash! He knows that over their heads retribution hangs by a hair. —I am, etc., Arator. Dunedin, October 27.