“A SHAMEFUL CONFESSION.”

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 49, 9 December 1925, Page 13

“A SHAMEFUL CONFESSION.”

To the Editor. j Sir . , . - Your paragraph headed “A Shameful Confession’ ’ in the current issue 'of v th«lStSf| Tablet' seems to assume that Arthur Pon- :V*>: sonby (not Sir Arthur) is admitting and condoning the crimes of a government;- of \ which he was a member. ■ ' This is entirely untrue. Ponsonby is a Pacifist and was Under-Secretary for Foreign ty-; Affairs in the Labor Government of Ramsay Macdonald. He had nothing to do with the conduct of the war, which, I believe,, T j he consistently opposed. You mistake • his irony for cynicsm and thereby do an injustice "1 both to him as a sincere, if misguided, pacifist, and to the patriotic supporters of th® S war. ' His letter is not a “confession” but a thrust at his political opponents who conducted the war. As well might one quote from an attack on the present New Zealand ||||i Government by Mr. Holland and call it a W “Shameful Confession” by Mr. Coates. . ’,J| I am, etc., . £|||| Valentine Spalding, v Christchurch, November 28. [Few will deny the truth of the revelations, , ; ~||| and there can hardly be any question as to 'l|| their shamefulness.— N.Z. Tablet.'] .s||| ’ ■ •y|||