PIPING AND DANCING DISPUTE

Southland Times, Issue 24002, 18 December 1939, Page 11

PIPING AND DANCING DISPUTE

To The Editor Sir, —In your issue of November 28 you publish by request from the Dominion Council of the Piping and Dancing Association two letters, one from the Highland and National Dancing Society of Southland to the council, asking why a permit to hold dancing competitions on July 1, 1938, was refused, and the other the council’s reply. The Highland and National Dancing Society would not have bothered to reply to this letter if it had been sent to our society as requested but when the council handed it to the Press so that the public should know the “facts,” it demanded a reply. Let us examine some of these “facts. The Dominion council with headquarters in Dunedin admits, and takes the responsibility for, instructing the Southland centre to refuse the permit. The reasons given for the refusal are as follows: “The association’s Dominion rules require that before any programme of piping or national stepdancing competitions is published,_ a copy must be sent to the association and a permit for them requested.” This refers to rule 50 which reads: “No society or person shall hold, take part in, compete in, judge or advertise any competition unless and until the holding of such competition is duly sanctioned by the association.” There is not one word in this rule to say programmes must be’sent. It says that permission must be asked for to hold the competition—a/ very different thing. The word “programme" does not appear in the rule. The letter goes on to say: You issued about June 16 last a programme of 16 national dances for the Victoria Hall on the afternoon and evening of July 1 without furnishing the programme to the association or applying for a permit Our Southland centre sent the Dominion council your programme and asked for instructions. We directed it to request your officers to apply for the permit and stated that if your society failed to do so by June 26 at the latest, you were to receive final notice that the application must be lodged not later than 4 p.m. on June 27. Failing compliance the centre was to insert newspaper advertisements warning dancers against taking part in the competitions.” Let us see how the local centre carried out these instructions, by quoting again from its own letter: "On June 21 Mr T. M. Rankin, president of our Southland centre, met Mr Alex Sutherland, your organizer, and requested him on behalf of his society to make urgent application for a permit so as to .put matters in order, as the centre wished to avoid any trouble with the society. Mr Sutherland said the society was holding a meeting on June 28. Mr Rankin replied that the centre was holding a meeting on June 24 and the application would have to be lodged in time for it.

“On June 22 Mr Rankin met Mr E. McK. Lyon, your secretary. In the course of a similar conversation Mr Rankin repeated that the centre was meeting on June 24. Mr Lyon stated that the society would meet on June 28. Mr Rankin replied: ‘We cannot wait till then; the application must be in time for our meeting on June 24.’”. •

But Mr Rankin did not tell the council that the meeting with these persons was quite accidental and that our society got nothing official from the centre until 3 pun. on June 27, and' he did not tell the council that both these gentlemen assured him that a permit would be applied for on the night of June 28. Nor did he explain why he insisted on the permit being applied for on June 24, instead* of acting on his council's instructions, which said June 26 and 27. "Messrs Sutherland and Lyon had no authority to apply for the permit until the society met, and the reason for the delay in making the application was that the society had not definitely decided whether it would apply for a permit or affiliate with the association. But on June 28 the following application was sent to the centre: “At a meeting of the executive committee of the Dancing Society held this evening, I was instructed to make application for a permit to hold competitions on July 1, 1938. Two copies of the programme are enclosed herewith, together with the necessary fee for the permit, 10/6.” The centre admits receiving the application and adds: “But this courteous and commendable application w s then too late, as your society was warned it would be.” But why was too late? Rule 52 reads: “Any society desiring to hold any competition shall make written application therefore to the centre or to the Dominion Council and shall also submit two copies of the full and exact particulars of the events and ffie prizes to be competed for, together with the names and addresses of the judges. The centre or the council, as the case may be, may, in its discretion, grant or refuse such application and shall notify the applicant in writing accordingly, giving full particulars in the ,event of a refusal. No centre shall refuse a permit without the previous consent of the council to that course.” There is nothing in this rule to say that permits have to be applied for at any date before competitions are held. Permits can be, and have been, issued to societies on the date the competitions were held. Some societies have been allowed to hold competitions year after year without a permit at all and no fuss has been .made about it, but in the case of our society the threats and interference of the association have been well-nigh unbearable. Moreover, the council did not

inform our society why our permit was refused, which the rule distinctly says it should have done. When six months afterwards we ask for this information, the council requests the Press to publish it to show what a naughty society we are. . We quite agree that it is right that a society should apply to the centre for a permit to hold competitions as the date selected by the society may clash with some other organization, but for the Piping and Dancing Association, which takes no financial risk, to demand that it shall have the final say about what items shall appear on the programme of a society that is providing all the prizes and money, is nothing short of impudence, and because our society would not allow the association to do so we have been victimized. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Let us see how this autocratic body conducts its own affairs. On March 7, 1939, you published an account of the annual meeting of the Southland Piping and Dancing Association, including the following sentences: “The chariman stated that the object of the centre was to create harmony between competition societies. The centre had not had any occasion to disqualify any competitor or official so far, and id not wish to do so. This is a most remarkable statement in the face of the following facts and correspondence. If there were no disqualifications, one wonders why the centre instructed sports societies not to allow dancers who had competed at Drummond to compete at their meetings and why Mr Rankin personally gave Miss Isobel Macdonald a clearance authorizing sports societies to take her 1 entry, signed by himself, and bearing the official stamp of the association, and why the following circular letters were sent to several competitors and officials who had attended the Drummond meeting: Invercargill, December 29, 1938.

Dear Sir,—l am instructed by the district executive of the Southland Centre of the Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand, pursuant to part IH, rule 115, of the rules and regulations of the association that it has been notified to the executive that you have been guilty of competing and assisting in the competitions at an unapproved meeting held at Drummond on December 26, 1938. This is to notify you that the district executive of this centre will hold a meeting at Everybody’s Hall (room No. 4) Tay street, Invercargill, at 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 2, 1939, to deal with the above matter, and you have the right given you by the rule to appear before the executive and offer a defence. JAS. E. THOMSON, Hon. Secretary. Invercargill, January 22, 1939. Dear Sir,—You are reminded that your attendance is desired at a meeting to be held in Everybody’s Hall, Tay street, on Thursday, January 26, at 7.30 p.m. J. E. THOMSON, Hon. Secretary. Invercargill, January 25, 1939. —■. Dear Sir, —You are reminded that you are invited to attend a meeting of the' above committee to be held in Everybody’s Hall, Tay street, at 8 o’clock on Thursday, February 2, 1939 (not January 26). T. M. RANKIN, President, per. JJE.T. . Invercargill, .’ \ January 30, 1939. Dear Sir,—The meeting of the Piping and Dancing Association (Southland Centre) called for Thursday, February 2, is cancelled. You will receive further notice in a few days. ■ T. M. RANKIN, President These circular letters all refer to the one matter and they all bear the official stamp of the association, but nothing further has been heard of the meeting. How do the holders of these letters stand? Here is another letter: Lumsden, January 25, 1939. Mr Taylor, Dear Sir,—With regard to your judging the piping at the Lumsden sports, I have to tell you that I have been informed by the Piping and Dancing Association that you cannot judge at the Lumsden sports. I am 1 sorry, but I must conform with the rules of the association. S. MENZIES, Hon. Secretary, Lumsden Caledonian Society. The following extracts from a letter sent to the association and its replies will be of interest to those who are following this correspondence. Invercargill, January 18, 1939. Mr J. M. Forbes, Secretary, Piping and Dancing Association, Southland branch. Dear Sir, —As a registered piper under your association I hereby demand in justice to myself and the several children who asked and expected me to play for them at the Caledonian Sports held on the Invercargill show grounds on January 15 an investigation into the reason why I was not allowed to play for the said dancers, also why Mr W. Milne was allowed to play • for one dancer only. From inquiries made by myself that day no one would take the responsibility of telling me why I could

not play for the children, but perhaps Mr Diack c6uld tell us as he was the person who informed me I would not be allowed to play and, when questioned, referred me to the secretary of the Piping and Dancing Association, who in turn referred me to the stewards of the dancing board. They in turn referred me to the president of the Caledonian Society, who in turn passed it back to the stewards for the day as they were in complete charge, representing the Piping and Dancing Association. Now, gentlemen, it seems to me there is something wrong when a position like this occurs and no one is prepared to take the responsibility for such hapPCnl, ’ g - L. TAYLOR. The replies to this letter are gems of the first water: Invercargill, January 21, 1939. Mr Taylor, Invercargill. Dear Sir, —Yours of January 18 to hand and‘l will place your letter before a meeting of the Southland Centre of the Piping and Dancing Association on Tuesday evening. However, the Southland Centre of the Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand had nothing whatever to do with the dancing events or, for that matter, with any other event at. the Invercargill Caledonian Society’s gathering and were not consulted in any way about dancing events. J. FORBES, Hon. Secretary, Southland Centre, Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand. Finally the confirmation of the centre: Invercargill, January 26, 1939. Mr Taylor, . Dear Sir, —Your letter of January 18 ■was placed before the committee of the Southland Centre of the Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand (Inc.) on Tuesday, January 25, and I was instructed to advise you that the Southland Centre had nothing whatever to do with the running of the dancing events at the Invercargill Caledonian Society’s gathering on; January 15. JOHN FORBES. Hon. Secretary. What an admission to come officially from the Piping and Dancing Association, which claims to be the controlling body of piping and dancing throughout the Dominion—the body that threatens disqualification to every, competitor and official/ who takes part in an unapproved meeting, the body which instructed sports societies not to receive entries, or allow anyone to compete or officiate at their meetings who had assisted the Drummond Society and which refused our society a permit because we dared to publish our programme without asking them if we could do so! The association officially admits that the Caledonian Society never consulted it in any way about dancing events and yet nothing happened to the society, its officials or competitors. Why this inconsistency on the part of the association? If anyone would say that there is some personal matter behind the pin-pricking methods of the Southland Centre and the Dominion Executive of the Piping and Dancing Association towards the Highland and National Dancing Society, quite a lot of people would not contradict it. We must apologize for using so much of your valuable space and we wish to thank you for allowing us to put these facts before the public. As far as we are concerned this correspondence is ended.—Yours, etc., HIGHLAND AND NATIONAL DANCING SOCIETY OF SOUTHLAND. J. Bell (hon. sec.). John J. McCrostie. ; December 14, 1939. To The Editor Sir, —On November 28 you published a letter signed by the Southland Centre o. the Piping and Dancing Association, G. Blackley, secretary. I should like to take exception to two sentences in that letter, as they may have led the public to believe that I had made statements that were not in accordance with facts. The first sentence reads:—“Mr Sutherland’s statement that the Georgetown Hall Committee and the Corinthian Football Club at Rugby Park were allowed to hold functions without a permit is also contrary to facts.” In order to prove that the Georgetown Hall Committee had no permit, I am enclosing a letter from the secretary for your inspection, and I would ask you to verify his statement. The next sentence reads as follows:— “The ridiculous statement that a child of eight years was runner-up this year for most points in the open class is another stretch of Mr Sutherland’s imagination." The Southland Times of May 29 reports the annual presentation of the Ingleside (Mr T. M. Rankin, president of the Southland Centre of the Piping and Dancing Association, presiding). Trophies won during the year were presented to the following: Most points in Highland dancing events, senior and open—Miss N. Marshall. Runner-up— Miss M. Thompson. The Southland Daily News reports the matter thus: In Highland dancing events—Miss N. Marshall, diploma, medal and silver teapot for champion dancer of Southland. Miss Marion Thompson, shoulder brooch for lunner-up. Where is the stretch of imagination? —Yours, etc., ALEX SUTHERLAND. December 14, 1939.

[Future letters in this correspondence from either side must be brief and to the point.—Editor, The Southland Times.] THE NEXT PEACE To The Editor Sir, —Under the heading “The Next Peace,” your correspondent “Yogi” takes me to task. He says, “It is so easy to be wise after events.” Quite true, but not so easy to be wise before events. I began to write down warn-

ings 10 years ago; long before that I had realised what was bound to happen if men like Ramsay MacDonald and Lord Robert Cecil were to be allowed to control the destinies of Britain. And, of course, there were hundreds ot influential Britons, men like Winston Churchill, who had warned their fellow countrymen time after time. ■ A writer of no small repute, Lilly by name, had prophesied what is now happening as early as 1918. Lilly died early in 1919. Almost the last words he wrote, late in 1918 or early in 1919, were solemn words of warning.. Yogi s method of attack is hardly to his credit. He merely writes. "It is so easy to be wise after events,” but he suggests an untruth, namely, that I was wise after events. Of this second statement he brings forward no proof whatever. . The madness of those who, during the Great War, went about saying, “This is a war to end war,” has its counterpart in the madness of those who, at the beginning of this yet greater war, are requiring of the British Government that it should, state what it will do when this war is won. It may well happen that this war will be Ipst,' for we are fighting not only against the Germans but against millions of our own pacifists and shirkers. Just now all our efforts should be concentrated on the winning of the war. We may lose the war, we may win the war, we may fight on to a stalemate; the terms of peace will naturally depend on the outcome of the war. The terms of the last peace were dictated partly by Britain; partly by France, partly by the United States, partly by Italy and other coun-; tries. Our allies and we fought and won the war; our allies and we dictated the terms of peace. The foolishness of those in England who repudiated the Treaty of Versailles is made evident by ,their claim to make a . peace to suit themselves as if they and they only had won the war. According to Henderson and other British Labour leaders, France, though she had lost millions of her sons and daughters in the struggle, was only to be allowed to claim what met with the approval of their own little clique. “Yogi” wants me briefly to “outline the form the next peace should take to satisfy all parties.” I can think of no terms of peace which would satisfy Germany and Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia, the Russians and the Poles, the Russians and the Finns. Why does not “Yogi” try to satisfy the claims of both the rabbits and the fanners, the locusts and the poor African peasantry? This war has been brought on by our pacifists and traitors. Unless our pacifists and traitors are crushed, war will follow war in quick succession. No man or woman should be allowed to vote in any country of the Empire unless he or she gives proof of loyalty. The terrible disloyalty of the young men of Oxford and Cambridge universities in recent years was a portent, a dreadful portent, of what awaits us, if we do not train up our young men and our young women to be faithful to that code of honour which their parents in the past, regarded as sacred.—Yours, etc., J. P. DAKIN. December 16, 1939.