PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20831, 15 June 1939, Page 9

PUBLIC OPINION

As expressed by correspondents, whose letters are welcome, but for whose views we have no responsibility. Correspondents are requested f*» write in ink. It is essential that anonymous writers enclose their proper names as a guarantee of good faith. Unless this rule is complied with, their letters will not appear.

COST OF LIVING (To the Editor) Sir, —Mr J. Moody’s letter of June 10 is rather interesting. Can he tell your readers when and for, how long, butt erf at was sixpence a pound? As for the farmers and their Tin l izzies, it is Mr Henry Ford who has made a lady out of Lizzie, not the guaranteed price. There is little difference in the price of a car to-day to what the cost was ten years ago. Are the farmers the only people who have these expensive cars? And has this Government given the farmers any inducement to save? They are even taxed on the milk they use in their own households. It is quite obvious that Mr Moody is not a man with a family, or he would know that boys’ pants have gone up considerably more than sixpence, without mentioning their other necessities. The old people may be better off under the Labour Government, but ii. is quite obvious that the longer Labour is in power the more it will have dependant on the old age pension. The Tories might not have cared whether Mr Moody lived or died, but I have always been treated right, and I have worked for wages all my life, and managed to rear eight of a family. Mr Moody says we cannot trust the Tories, but the time may not be far distant when he will be pleased to remember them.—l am, etc., NOT A FARMER. Huntly, June 13. THIS FREEDOM (To the Editor) Sir,—Your correspondent ’’Gird Up” deserves well of the reading public for his timely exposure of Professor Mgie’s tactics in attacking the present Government. As he aptly points out, the powers which the present Government is using were delegated to the executive by Parliament when the opponents of the present Government had a majority in the House. Where was Professor Algie and his pleas for freedom then? One might also remind your readers that in 1932 the old Nationalist Government took powers to declare a "slate of emergency” and thereby suspend most of the constitutional rights of a British citizen, if necessary. Where was Professor Algie then ? Also, sir, by a clause tagged on to the end of a Finance Act, the Nationalist Government took power to dismiss any school teacher or civil servant —without the right of appeal—who made any utterance in criticism of a Cabinet Minister likely to bring the then Government into disrepute. Where was Professor Algie and his defence of freedom then? The answer to these questions is to be found in the words of the present Prime Minister himself who, during Iho last general election . campaign, said, "Up at the Auckland University College getting a smaller salary then than he is getting now.” Professor Algie should drop the role of the impartial jurist and come out in his true colours as the hired advocate. Those of us who still believe in individual freedom and who did protest in the past when Professor Algie was curiously silent would have more respect for him. —I am, etc., FED UP. Hamilton, June 12. boys in prison (To the Editor)

Sir, —Two boys, one of 17, one ol 18, have recently been sentenced in two New Zealand* courts to short sentences in prison, and this is a step so reactionary that we trust you will allow us to protest. “Some magistrates,” says an experienced writer, “think the experience of prison will be so unpleasant as to deter effectively the boy who has suffered from offending again, and others who hear of it from following in his footsteps. In practice, it does not seem to work out like that”—as those understand who know the careers of many of our older criminals, sent to prison in their teens. Indeed, the Lord Chief Justice of England has remarked that “there are few surer ways of manufacturing criminals than by sending boys to prison.” Why? Here are some of the reasons: — (1) Hoys sent to prison cannot be so wholly segregated from the adults there that they will never meet or be seen by them, with the result not only that evil can readily be taught (instead of the “good” intended by the magistrate), but that in after life the boy may. be followed up by criminals. (-2) In a short sentence no other real training is possible. (3) On the other hand, by the shortest of sentences a brand is inflicted that will last for life and cannot be deleted. (4) The lad is likely to come out either with a grievous loss of selfrespect and hope for the future, or else with far more resentment at what he feels to have been over-punishment for life than penitence. (5) In addition, where prison is thus inflicted there is always the risk that some of our young “bloods” will think it fun to behave so as to risk it. Instead, then, we would advocate good stiff probationary supervision for such boy offenders, increased vigilance in detection on the part of our police, and much more carefulness on the part of the car-owning public.—We are, etc., N.Z. HOWARD LEAGUE FOR PENAL REFORM. Auckland, June 12.

WHERE DOES BLAME REST? (To the Editor) Sir,—Recently we have read of "outbursts” by Herr Hitler; he has been toasting the policy of Britain relative to colonies, etc. The Fuehrer has called, us a nation of thieves and points to the many patches of red on tho map. That the dictator in Germany applies his authority in a different manner to that of the English goes without saying-; we do things more or less gently, but with much the same results. It would be interesting to know to what length the restrictions on private liberty the policy of our Government has reached and whether the same policy has reacted finality. Mr Lloyd George and M. Clemenceau are responsible for the rise of Adolf Hitler. The crisis last September was due to the policy of Stanley Baldwin, who admitted that ho did not tell the British public the true state of affairs in Europe and the unpreparedness of British defences, etc. An election was duo and Mr Baldwin stated that if the people had known, they, the National Party, would have lost the election. 'l'liis is an indictment of party j politics with a vengeance. And how did we collect our possessions? Is there no! much truth and justice in the attitude of Herr Hitler at this juncture? We can learn many lessons from the conditions in Germany to-day, especially regarding the younger generation and environments. We are concentrating on defence measures in this Dominion. The reply to the appeal is not satisfactory. Who is the enemy? Are the people waking up to the fact that martial enterprise is the trade of a select few who reap many benefits from the lack of confidence among nations? Perchance Adolf and Benito are more in the right than the socalled democratic politicians. Who knows! —I am, etc., SAX COBERG GOTHA. Hamilton, June 14. FISH PRICES COMPARED (To the Editor) Sir, —As one who for years has earned a living as a flsh-curer, I feel justified in correcting the impression that M. Collin’s letter would convey. M. 'Collins has stumbled blindly on to something his letter shows he knows nothing about. For example, let us take one whole fresh schnapper and prepare it to be sold as fillets. Firstly the : bead, fins and wings arc cut off, then the fish is cut so as to take the backbone off, and finally the fillet is skinned. Does M. Collins know how much the retailer discards in the head, fins, wings, backbone and skin? Presuming it is expertly cut, it would be about 53 per cent. Sometimes it is possible to get a little more if the schnapper are very l'at. Now let us take smoked schnapper. The only part discarded is the head. It is unnecessary' to go into detail as to the rest of the procedure, except to say that to prepare a batch of smoked schnapper properly it is a nine to twelve-hour job according to weather conditions. However, there are intermediate spells which allow one to get other work done. So taking everything into consideration, it will be seen that though more time and labour are spent on smoked schnapper, there is not the waste, hence the difference in prfees. Furthermore, according to the Hamilton and Frankton Fish Dealers’ Association, the following are the present prices: Fillets minus skin, Is 2d per lb; with wing, fins and skin, lid per lb; with wings and skin, Is per lb. Oh what a bargain hunter I I would say regarding stale smoked fish, that the majority of the local firms have their own smoke houses, ensuring always a fresh supply. No merchants here keep supplies so large that they have to use stale fish —I am, etc., FISH CURER. Hamilton, June 13. DOCUMENTARY FILM MOVEMENT (To the Editor) Sir, —'By way of an explanation, a documentary film is a production which rellects accuracy peculiar to documental proof acceptable by any court of law. Consequently then, the documentary film has stepped in where the conventional motion pictures feared to tread. , For instance, a documentary film called "Crisis” recorded in detail what happened in Czechoslovakia before it was seized by Germany. "Crisis” opened in New York last March and continued for a period of seven weeks. It has also been booked in other large cities such as Boston, 'Chicago, Detroit, etc.

At first the documentary film depended very largely for its success and circulation upon audiences from progressive organisations, educational groups and industrial unions. "Crisis,” however, and other documentary films such as ‘‘The Plow that Broke the Plains,” ‘‘The River and Nanook of the North,” which portrays the daily struggle of the Eskimos for food and shelter, are now assured a circulation comparable to that of a Hollywood love film. Although not altogether documentary productions, such films as ‘‘All Quiet on the Western Front” and "Idiot’s Delight,” which reflects a diotator playing at soldiers—the soldiers happen to be human beings—are prohibited from reaching the eyes and thus sinking into the minds of many millions of people. 1 refer in particular to Russia, Germany and Italy. The documentary film, which depicts the truth in its stern reality, has come to stay. For this reason, factual material which reflects the absolute is dramatised in terms of human beings and human interests.— 1 am, etc., HARRY WOODRUFFE. Auckland, June 13.