BAN ON AXIS RADIO

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 124, 28 May 1942, Page 6

BAN ON AXIS RADIO

Little comment is required on the stand taken by your correspondent. "E.W.F." whose whole viewpoint obviously narrows down to his dogmatic assertion —"Free, open debate is the greatest right we have and one to be defended at all costs before all else." Unbiased, logical reasoning must query the statement "at all costs, before alt else," especially in wartime, when there is so much "else" to be considered. Surely, when the nation is fighting for freedom against ruthless would-be oppressors who would not respect our ideals, it is not the time to sit tightly in the saddle of bias on a pet hobby-horse of blind and slavish devotion to an ideal and ride roughshod over all barriers of really pertinent questions. Listening to foreign broadcasts is illegal only in Axis countries. Here, there has merely been advice against avid listening and spreading rumours. Therefore, the only bone of contention seems to be this advice, which is surely unimpeachable, based as it is on a deep psychological understanding of human nature, and cautioning, as it does, against aiding and abetting the enemies' obvious attempt to foment suspicion and distrust in our ranks. TOLERANCE AND COMMONSENSE.