PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21038, 14 February 1940, Page 9

PUBLIC OPINION

As expressed by correspondents whose letters are welcome, but for whose views we have no responsibility. Correspondents are requested to write in ink. It is essential that anonymous writers enclose their proper names as a guarantee of good iaith. Unless thi3 rule is complied with, their letters will not appear. “RACIAL SUICIDE” (To the Editor) Sir, —There are many things in New* Zealand which are fashionable. Sport is ever in the fashion. Being in debt is very fashionable. Hospitals are fashionable. Infant and maternity fatalities are also fashionable. Bad health and bad foods are in the fashion. If these things and other things not mentioned are not fashionable, then why is it that we have such a glut of them? In Australia in recent years 37,000 mothers have died from the effects of childbirth; 34 per cent of the little children in cots will never leave their cots alive. Such is the state of things in Australia today. In other words, we are suffering from a virile attack of racial suicide. The above details apply, more or less, to New Zealand. If an epidemic of smallpox should break out here, or typhoid fever, or any other disease like plague, we should call loudly for aid to control and obliterate the disease. Because we permit an evil to persist and eat its way into the very lifeblood of the nation, secretly and non-observantly, we allow these things to go on without protest. We fail to see that there is a greater enemy than even Hitler in our midst which is gaining a great victory with loss of much life, and we refuse to note the warnings of those who are aware of these things. —I am, etc., DIAGNOSIS. Hamilton, February 13. PRESERVATION OF HEALTH (To the Editor) Sir, —I for one heartily endorse the remarks of “One Who Knows” regarding health. Prevention is better than cure. It is a good and necessary thing for one’s health not to transgress the laws of Nature. But there is also a spiritual cause for these devils, diseases and epidemics and one spiritual cause is to provide for them before they happen. Fancy providing for something that belongs to th£ devil! All good things come from God, whom we must trust and thank for our every need. If we put away a nest-egg for some future illness or operation, say £3OO or so, we tell God exactly what to do, and you will find in every case that it takes exactly that amount to clear expenses when your self-created illness comes. I know a good many will disagree with me in this, but they have not advanced very much spiritually. For my part, this is God’s Own Country, and there will be no epidemics. At the same time I would mention here that we should not fly in the face of God in ordinary everyday events—for instance, in opening the drains in the main street. The council should provide disinfectants. This is important for the nosy little children’s health. Let us all thank God for the peace we are enjoying at this awful time for other countries. New Zealand is at the present time leading the world in good.—l am, etc., T. E. MAGNER. Hamilton, February 13. MINORITIES IN INDIA (To the Editor)

Sir, —The cable news last Thursday about the problem of minorities in India tells us that with so many different kinds of races and religions in India the problem of minorities is not so easy to settle as Mr Gandhi suggests. It is a pity Britain does not understand India and Gandhi, who is the heart and voice of India. It is a pity Britain does not settle the demand of India for self-govern-ment and obtain her full co-opera-tion, which would mean millions of Indians’ support in the war. Let me say the truth of the problem of minorities’ defence and the Princes, is created by the British Government to safeguard her imperial control over India. For the sake of argument, say. Gandhi does not represent the whole of India, or the whole of National Congress. Then it ‘is a fact that Mr M. A. Jinna does not represent the Muslim League and the whole Muslim population of India. Then why not take a free vote of the whole of India, and form her own constitution by the members who would be elected by the whole population? This is a true democracy. Members should be elected in territorial groups instead of religious, class and interest groups. What are minorities in India? fndia is a land of nations and tribes, peopled by a large number of ethnic groups in every stage of development, from the aboriginal to the highly cultured groups speaking diverse languages, professing diverse religions. It is not a sovereign State. It is politically a minority, an immense numerical majority ruled by a microscopic numerical minority. Under these conditions, what is the problem of minority in India?

What is it that particularly agitates a national minority? A minority is discontented because it does not enjoy the right to use its native language. Imperialism is a hindrance to the development of the Indian languages and The political weight is in favour of English. In this respect the whole of India is in the position of a minority. Its languages. although permitted to be used, suffer from the general reaction of imperialism. A minority is discontented because it does not possess its own schools. There are more English universities and schools than Indian ones. Here also the whole of India is a minority. While it has schools of its own, they are limited under conditions of imperialism. A minority is discontented because it does not enjoy liberty of conscience and liberty of movements. In this respect the whole of India is a minority. Hindus and Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, all alike are denied many civil liberties. Press Acts, Arms Acts, Defence Acts, all deny freedom of speech and thought to the Indians. Under these conditions what is the problem of minority in India? The word minority means anything from a “religious group” to a “class” or “interest.” The whole of India is governed by a minority.—l am. etc.,

K. P. PATEL. Ilorotiu, February 13.