PETROL RESTRICTIONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 16, 13 February 1942, Page 4

PETROL RESTRICTIONS

Sir—ln your issue of February 1 under the heading of "'Petrol Re-* strictions" appears a letter by "E.P.S. Member" which is intend- ' cd, I take it, as an explanation to your previous correspondent "Not Picture Petrol" of how car owners get benzine to attend picture shows and containing some extraordinary statements. To begin with a large majority of farmers are so intensely loyal that thej r and tlicir wives and even the children work 70 hours a week help win the war. Fortunately ntW farmer around here works his wife and children 70 hours a week, and how will piling up farm produce that cannot be exported help to win the war?. To whom are they "so intensely loyal" anyway? Their bank balance or the mortgagee probably, and when they have worked themselves . into hospital cases they may be occupying beds needed for woundpd soldiers if an invasion occurs. We saw more of this sort of loyalty during the last slump when some of the farmers worked their children till they could not keep, awake at school, in some cases hiring the elder sons out to the neighbours. Of course we do see many •nases of practical loyalty in farm-, ers and business men who neglect their own financial interests to do unpaid work for the Home Guard am 1 , E.P.S. Where do the sporting farmers ;J| manage to buy these trucks on Avhictt ' ' they secure their 50 to 100 gallons of petrol per month? All the good trucks that are . not doing essential work (and some that were) have ? been impressed for the army, and our oil fuel, controllers and traffic inspectors can be depended to stop abuses of the kind mentioned. As to the "smack" at the 40-hour week. Henry Ford adopted this not because of outside pressure but because he got better results in both quantity and quality of goods produced. Incidentally the workers live longer and do not need so much hospital treatment The British Government had to Shorten the hours of' work for munition works etc. towards the end. of the last war because production was • falling off. Certainly fifth columnists should be quenched, particular- - gj ly the profiteers. As to the large cars at the picture theatres the probable reason for this is that farmers are allowed sufficient benzine to make four trips per month to Whakatane to get their stores etc. and some of them may stay in for the pictures. Farm ers, unless milking on shares, arc allowed no benzine. They evidently are not supposed to require stores, medical treatment etc. More inequality of/ sacrificl. : v Yours etc., HOME GUARDSMAN. , *-■■■' - : y '