PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22154, 28 September 1943, Page 4

PUBLIC OPINION

CURRENT VIEWPOINTS

USE OF TIME SIGNALS (To the Editor) Sir,—ln these days when one cannot buy watches or clocks, could there be any reason why the sirens should not sound longer blasts than they do at present? lam sure that workmen and others within a mile or two would appreciate the old time blast. Surely the danger of the Japanese hearing it must be past.—l am, etc., LITTLE DEAF. IMPORT RESTRICTIONS (To the Editor) Sir, —In view of the shortage of electrical goods, a letter from the British General Electric Company, read at a recent meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Electric Power Board, is of considerable interest. The supply of materials from England was easier, the letter said, and the ability of English manufacturers to supply materials exceeded the willingness of the New Zealand Government to grant sponsorship. Surprise was expressed at the meeting that, in view of the urgent need to build up stocks, electrical goods could not be imported. The secretary of the board said the Government was endeavouring to get materials through its own departments, and for that reason was “putting cogs in the wheel.” Here we have an illuminating sidelight on the operation of import restrictions. —I am, etc., C.W.B. BROADCAST RESTRICTIONS (To the Editor) Sir, —Broadcasting has again come under political fire. The latest ban, so the paper reports, is the Social Justice speaker, Mr Brian Dunningham. I will remind listeners that there has been a number of bans—the British-Israel session was banned three years ago, and the ban has never been lifted. The Man in the Street session was banned because the controller broke regulations, but that does not justify penalising the listening public from hearing a session which was well received. I think that most people agree, irrespective of political thought, that the air should be free, and I am satisfied that if the people were allowed to have a vote on the matter these sessions which have been banned would be reinstated. The ’istening public should have a greater say in the matter of broadcasting, when the fees are the highest in the world. The Government would do well to heed now, remembering the radio jamming in 1935.—1 am, etc., PROGRESS. “I SHALL PASS BUT ONCE” (To the Editor) Sir,—Seeing in the Times that “Anxious” has not had a definite reply to his query about the poem. “I shall pass but once,” I beg to inform “Anxious” that the author is Stephen Grellet and the quotation thus:—“l expect to pass through this world but once. . . Any good therefore I can do. or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for . . . I shall not pass this way again.”—l am, etc.. POET. [“The Book of Cheer,” published in New York, gives the author of the lines as A. B. Hegeman.—Editor, Waikato Times.] LAND TENURE QUESTIONS (To the Editor)

Sir, —Mr Douglas Seymour very pertinently calls for an official statement of the incidence of the Waikato Land Settlement Society’s tenure. As this jnformation will doubtless be forthcoming from an official source I will not burden your space with it here. But I would like to point out that while this so-called freehold could be imposed permanently upon a few settlers—the society settled only 10 men on this tenure—no one who knows what happened in this country in 1912 will believe for a moment that the system could be maintained were there 10,000 men so settled.

Mr Massey rode into power on the promise of freehold propery, supported by the leasehold tenants and the people who wanted to farm the farmers, and that would happen again with any large number of settlers so concerned. Something much more fundamental will have to be adopted before there will be a safe and sound freehold.—l am, etc., T. E. McMILLAN. Matamata.