TO THE EDITOR

Opotiki News, Volume IX, Issue 954, 26 November 1946, Page 1

TO THE EDITOR

FACTS? Sir,—A mighty lot is being said these days about so-called facts, but do we get the facts from aspirants to political honour. The answer is no. Opening the Labour campaign Mr. Fraser drew attention to the type of misrepresentation that the National Party would endeavour to put across. In the next breath the Prime Minister started the ball rolling. He has not yet done the decent thing by apologising to 'Syd. Holland for stating that the latter classed Social Security as “applied lunacy”. Oh no! It would not do to tell the people that he had mentioned only part of Mi’. Holland’s .remarks and that the missing words put a different interpretation altogether on the point raised. Then we have another gem where Mr. Holland is said to have declared he would not operate Social Security. The Labour misrepresenters stop at a comma and deliberately refrain from, mentioning the remainder of a sentence. Electors can only draw their own conclusions at such tactics. A Labour pamphlet was issued recently in which certain New Zealand food prices were compared with U.K., Canadian, Australian and S.A. prices for same. Of course care was taken not to mention the weight of the N.Z. loaf or the fact that a subsidy is paid on N.Z. flour to keep the price down to a fictitious price level. Nor was it mentioned that the price Qf butter is deliberately kept below the overseas price and below what would be expected under the guaranteed price. Only one item, milk, is not subsidised.. Sugar in particular carries a huge subsidy. Only a section of the people in N.Z. pay tho prices quoted some paying up to Bd. for a loaf. Mention could also

be made of another item not listed, coal. Although the people are “better off” then ever we cannot [Jay the cost of production directly but subsidise it and delude ourselves into believing we are getting cheap coal. Why not be honest and pay the real price and cut out the taxation used to blind the purchaser! LIGHT. IF I WERE A COMMUNIST Sir,—Under the above title the President of Harding College, U.S. A., recently expressed himself. If I were a powerful Communist trying to destroy freedom and paralyse prosperity, 1 would concentrate on three aims which ultimately will reduce any. country to serfdom. First: I would foment strikes and create just as much industrial confusion and uncertainty as possible. Second: I would scatter biassed propaganda misrepresenting business men and destroying faith in business, I would try to prove Private Enterprise a failure. Third: I would boost all wasteful appropriation bills in parliament and teach people to expect something for nothing from Government —this to weaken the' nation’s financial structure. These three activities carried on persistently and long enough will wreck any democracy—and government. Is there not wisdom in the utterance and is there not some similarity with what is happening in New Zealand to-day, WALK WARILY.