Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1946 Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 97, 10 July 1946, Page 4

Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1946

Dear Sir,

Letters to the Editor must be clearly written .on one side of the paper only and where a nom-de-plume is used the name of the writer must be included for reference purposes. The Editor reserves the right to amend or withhold any letter or letters.

PROBLEMS OF MAORIDOM

Sir, —May I, too, avail myself of your columns to point out to "Public Opinion" that I, having appreciated the contents of his letter, find, that there have been several omissions, which, had they been noted for the public's perusal, would not so defame the Maori or tend to mislead the intelligentia of the European race. Mention was not made of the increased effort of the Maori youth today to improve his present standard of living. Now, as never before, we realise our responsibilities to you and to ourselves. In the colleges and universities, the educational proficiency of the Maori youth is a credit to the country, and the outcome of this is that we see an influx into the ranks of those worthy citizen who help to keep New Zealand socially and morally the finest Dominion in the world. As to the illegal traffic of liquor by the Maori, the offence is committed by a very few, and thanks to the efficiency of our Police Department, the majority of the offenders have been checked. In conclusion, Sir, I could quote numerous laws which our Legislators in their wisdom have decreed and which are constantly and wilully flouted by our Pakeha brethren. We, the Maori youth, do not claim to be perfect. Yours etc., T. G. FRASER.

Sir,—Many of us, like your correspondent "Public Opinion" are gravely concerned about the moral deterioration of both Maori and Pakeha people.

The remedy, however, is not as easy as he suggests, The law will not permit liquor to be sold to Maoris for consumption off licensed premises, and many Maoris keenly resent this distinction which is made in the law between Maori and Pakeha. The law also defines a Maori as an aboriginal native of New Zealand, or a person of mixed blood between a half-caste and such aboriginal. Those with less than half native blood are classified as European, although to the observer many of them would appear as Maoris.

Probably those persons allegedly seen by "Public Opinion" in possession of liquor off licensed premises, though appearing as Maoris, are really classified as Europeans. No case can be sustained against a person of mixed blood for being in possession of liquor off licensed premises, unless it can be proved that he is a Maori as defined by law. The onus of doing this rests upon the police, and it is a very difficult task.

I have had many years of association with the Maori people, whom I sincerely respect, but I should not be prepared to say, from observation alone, whether a person of mixed blood should be classified as Maori or Pakeha.

To suggest that the police "connive in the breach of the law" is a very

serious accusation, and if made, should be supported by definite evidence, or otherwise the insinuation may be damaging and grossly unfair to those men who protect, on occasion, our persons and property. Yours in the interest of justice, A. F. ATTWOOD.

Sir, —May I also trespass on your valuable space to reply to Public Opinion, whose letter in respect to the above question appeared in a recent issue of the Beacon. A perusal of his letter leads one to believe that the whole source of the trouble emanates from a deterioration in the general conduct and behaviour of some of the younger members of the Maori race. I must admit, that there is much to be desired in this direction, but it is totally unjust to saddle the Maori communities with the whole of the blame. Public Opinon writes from the viewpoint of a ocal resident of many years standing, and what he has observed, he tates, has caused him much pain.

""rom my observation of both Pakeha and Maori, I find that each is »nly human, and carries with him his share of human weaknesses, which, to my mind, will remain till he end of time in spite of laws and regulations. May I draw Public Opinion's attention to the following observations under the heading of Broken Glass: Firstly, at the public -eserve at the Heads it is certainly lot uncommon to find remnants of broken beer bottles, after midnight motor parties; and secondly, to find broken glassware scattered around, the parking area and on the beach. I submit that these are definitely not Maori parties. It_ was because these dangerous conditions were going from bad to worse that I brought

the matter before the notice of the Harbour Board requesting that it nstall a receptable for the safe de-

positing of broken bottles. lam (leased to say that this has been arried out by the Board. Now, I am lot a joy-killer—like all 'old buffers' have had my spin—and I have no omplaints regarding the holding of hese midnight parties. No doubt he young folk derive much pleasure nd enjoyment from them, but they hould refrain from breaking their . )ottles and scattering them around he parking area and on the beach. Public Opinion suggested that the Chamber of Commerce should take this matter up. I feel quite certain that Mr Warren, our President, would gladly give him a hearty welome to one of our meetings where

ie could ventilate his opinions, and pen for discussion, the easy remedy

vhich he mentions in his article. (This remedy, I might say, appears

iuite easy in theory, but in actua

>ractice, it may not be so easy). My humble advice to Public Opinion is to adopt a more friendly attitude, and to,discard all biased evidence. He invites one to walk down some of our back streets where a glance in backyard may reveal a Maori car >r truck loading up with cases of beer; to my mind, it is unnecessary "0 walk around back streets to see this type of thing; the same breach of the regulations can be seen in

mr main streets, in motor csrs and it all big balls held in the town. These, I may add, are not Maori tars. I would respectfully ask Pubic Opinion (who hides himself be-

lind a nom-de-plume evidently acking in faith and courage to face ip to his biased point of view) to .ndeavour to blend mercy' with a ittle tolerance and justice, and be a wee bit more generous when airing his views on the Maori people. If he is as keen and anxious as he

tries to make out to better the situation, then again may I advise him to refrain from enlarging on their weaknesses, and be a little helpful by adopting a Christian attitude. With regard to our Police officers, I have no doubt that they are doing their best under circumstances difficult, and totally unknown to Public Opinion. Yours etc., J. CREEKE. RUGBY, ITS DECLINE Sir, —Will you permit me once, again to trespass uon your valuable space to address this letter to the administrators of the good old game of Rugby. The culminating point- in a season • —noted for its incidence of rough play, the consequent large number f injuries, some of them, serious, nd the apparent lack of protection fforded to the men in control of he games, the referees—was reachd last Saturday at the local Donain.

The following incidents if allowed o go on unchecked will assuredly esult in the complete disintegration cf the game: hence the title of this article. .. - . /' At the outset permit me to "assure you that the writer has no allegiance to any particular team or district, but is merely a Rugby lover, laving had a long period of association with the game. In the junior match, Paroa v Ruatoki on No. 2 ground, the referee's c.ecision of a try to Paroa was hotly contested by two members of the cpposite side, to such an extent that the referee quite rightly ordered one cf them off the field. The whole team took exception to this and vere on the point of walking off vhen wiser counsel prevailed and hey carried on with the game. However on resumption of play the man >rdered off commenced once again o play and on being detected by he referee was again ordered off. His language on walking off the field was absolutely disgusting-and vas only excelled by that of the ouch line umpire on the far side cf the field, a supporter of the team, who in no uncertain terms kept inciting the team to do' everything

short of murder to both their opponents and the referee. This man

was subsequently relieved of the position of umpire and' later on in he next match Ruatoki v Wairaka

eniors was ordered off for rough play and in the writer's opinion hould be warned off for life. In the other junior match on No. ground, Poroporo v United, the

ame was hard and willing but withal clean, and I consider was apably handled by the referee. lowever when the final whistle

lew the referee was instantly sur

-ounded by irate supporters of one )f the teams and the degrading spec-

acle was witnessed of this official Deing definitely assaulted by them, lis glasses were knocked off, he .Was kicked and generally jostled by hese men, one of them, the ringeader, is allegedly a member of the controlling body, the Whakatane Rugby Union. Now Sir, to the players and others who seem,overburdened with so much fighting spirit ny suggestion is for them to get belind Harry Warren in his attempt o revive the old Boxing Association. They will surely find plenty of scope here to get rid of their surplus energy. ,

And may I ask through you, what stand do the Referees' Association intend to take in this matter? It is incumbent upon them to protect heir own members.

Also will the Whakatane Rugby Union drop into kid glove method f handling—as hitherto—such conentious issues. Will its members by frmness and by strict conformity to heir own rules, and by liberal exercise of the powers contained therein, deal with these cases without fear or prejudice? I hope so. Do not lose sight of the fact Mr President and members, that no referees mean no football and surely your wn members should set the example. There would appear to be definite evidence of a low darkening cloud vershadowing the Rugby world of Whakatane and threatening the welfare and the very existence itself of the grand old game. Our Union's and its associate bodies' solution to the problems as set out above will be awaited with avid interest by all with "PUBLIC OPINION."

I LABOUR'S PROGRAMME Sir, —In view of the admitted inflationary condition which prevails in this country and official statements that we must increase production in order to balance goods with the volume of money, nothing could be more amazing tji^ri. the Government's proposal to spend £200,000,000 on Public WorW the

inevitable result of which must be to enormously increase the inflation and at the same time deprive industry of the necessary labour which s urgently required by every branch. We. will all agree that cerain public works such as Electrical power stations have to be proeeded with but to embark on a lavsh and prodigal policy of public pending at a time when, in order 0 check inflation and enable indusry to secure the necessary labour o expand production, public spendng should be heavily reduced makes one think that there must be a hidden design in socialist madness. All this expenditure must ultimately be ecovered from taxation. The greater the expenditure the greater the taxation and the quicker the accomplishment of socialisation by axing private equities out .of exist3nce.

Bernard Shaw dealing with taxa- . ion as a method of confiscation writes: "The more taxation the better for the nation. You may safely confiscate income deprived from )roperty provided you can safely edistribute it. But you cannot tax •- o extinction at a single mortal blow. You have to consider most carefuly how far and how fast you can go ; without crashing. Governments must; mmediately expend the incomes which they confiscate. This is the .Socialist cannon of. taxation." Shaw hould have a fair knowledge of the technique of Socialism. * Yours etc., JOHN CITIZEN.

FLIGHT TO THE MOON Sir, —I gained an impression when •eading the Leader in last Friday's ssue of the Beacon that you have ather a strong distrust of the opinon of a man whose work has given lim more than an insight to the uture influence of science. Major }e Seversky is a man who knows vhat he is* talking about and is not he only one who has made such a statement. Through his close association with science, its history," its effect on the contemporary ages and riost of all, its trends, "he realises and can predict the form of future "developments. The great mistake in thinking of the future is to regard" my thing as impossible. History mould teach us this, if nothing else. I might perhaps point out-that the actors you mention are not overtepped. Atomic energy is here to

tay and only needs developing and 3ontrolling. To overcome gravity Would simply be to travel far enough

way from the earth until one is beond its gravitational pull. Then we .would become a minor unit of the olar system and the coincidence of ur orbit with that of another planet ould mean reaching our destination —under no further thrust from the )ropulsion unit.

That raises another point. Pure ets and propellors are out of the luestion as they are only useful in he atmosphere. One depends on the ir for an explosive mixture and the )ther for direct pull. The rocket, being self-contained does not require the atmosphere to push its way ilong. If anything the drag reduces the efficiency of it. The rocket operates on what is sometimes termed the prinicple of "the coefficients of forces." For illustration, imagine a sphere containing air under pressure. On account of its shape, pressure is equal on all points and the force in each direction is cancelled by a force in the opposite direction. If a hole were made in the side the air would naturally rush. out, deavng nothing to cancel the pressure n the side opposite thenole, residtng in a movement that way. So it is with the, rocket— the atmosphere prevents'slightly the free exit of the expanding gases and a corresponding loss of power is experienced. Yours etc., Igflif • : : v^: opMiis!iv : .'