REGRET EXPRESSED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20234, 19 February 1934, Page 3

REGRET EXPRESSED.

Omissions From Waitangi Invitation List. MR FORBES EXPLAINS. Per Press Association. ROTORUA, February 19. In commenting upon the recent protest voiced by the chairman of the Empire Press Union, Mr H. Horton, regarding the failure of the Government to extend an invitation to the editors of New Zealand newspapers to attend the Waitangi celebrations, the Prime Minister, Mr Forbes, in an interview, said that, owing to the lack of accommodation, invitations had to be restricted to members of Parliament, members of the Legislative -Council and persons directly connected with the Waitangi Trust Board. There were a number of other people who, for various reasons, considered they should have been given invitations, but this had been quite impossible under the conditions at Waitangi. He had had complaints from several other quarters in addition to that made by Mr Horton, and the same circumstances applied to each case. Mr Forbes said that he regretted that the editors of newspapers felt that they had cause to feel aggrieved at the fact that they had not received invitations, but the Government had been compelled to curtail severely the invitation list. It was inevitable qnder the circumstances that a large number of people, who possiblv considered they should have been invited, had been omitted. Unfortunately it appeared, in holding a function of that nature, it was impossible to avoid offending someone- He could only say in conclusion that “ we will not be holding another one.”