Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 11, 14 August 1946, Page 4

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 abridge, amend or withhold any letter or letters.

BOXING Sir, —I desire to make an appeal to the men of this district through the correspondence columns of your newspaper. Boys from inside and outside the district will compete at an Amateur Boxing Tournament to be held in the Winter Show Building next Thursday evening. On behalf of the new Association I make an earnest appeal to all lovers of clean sport for their support. Yours etc., H. WARREN. GUN CLUB AFFAIRS Sir,—Well, well, well Mr Editor* what a tirade of abuse coming from • such an honourable gentleman as Mr Jackson. I’m awfully sorry if I have offended him in some way or other. I did not expect to explode an atomic bomb but would it be possible that our honourable gentleman had something to do with the peculiar goings on of the club. Whilst T do not want to become personal in ' my correspondence I wish to draw Mr Jackson’s attention to the fact that he has got entirely away from the points at issue and the questions asked; but one point in Mr Jackson’s tirade is mighty .hard to understand and that is; he apparently does not believe in nom-de-plumes being used in public correspondence, but is apparently a believer in the secrecy x of a public club’s activities. (

I would also point out to Mr Jackson that rumours can sometimes be very truthful but tend to hide the truth from the general public. I had intended to sign my name to this letter but the terrific atomic explosion in the ‘Beacon’ of August 2nd. blew my name clean off Bikini and I doubt if I will recognise it when I do find it again. Now Sir, it appears that neither the club’s committee or executive, which they claim to have, are prepared to answer the questions I have asked through your valuable paper, so I am bound to believe that which I have reason to believe, owing to the absence of satisfactory answers. Yours etc., A CLUB MEMBER.

BRITAIN MUST EXPORT OR DIE Sir, —We are now told that “Britain must export or die.” We seem to have heard these words before—- “ Germany must export or die.” On the 3rd August a cablegram from London stated that the latest returns of the Ministry of Labour show increases in wages, inflation of prices and that output is declining in almost all industries. History has a habit of repeating itself. When in 1929 the trade of the major nations fell from index 100 to index 50 it is interesting to note what happened. Gradually the trade of certain countries crept back to index 85 and 90 whereas Germany’s never passed index 51 and louder and louder grew Germany’s cry, “Germany must export or die.”

All that prevented Germany’s revival of her trade was the state control of exports and imports by Hitler.' It was the same with Italy under Mussolini’s socialist planning. In both countries the standard of living had by 1938 fallen by 50 per cent. Both Hitler and Mussolini were faced with the alternative of abandoning state control or taking their markets by force...

And now it is Britain who cries, “Britain must export v or die.” The answer is clear to all who can think for the example of Russia as disclosed by the Maloney Report (as well as that of Germany and Italy) shows that controls are the most effective method of preventing expansion of production and the history of all times proves that production of the things the people need cannot be secured by any means other than free and competitive • markets in which prices provide the indicators which production, and consumption follow. Churchill was correct when he stated that unless controls were abandoned Britain' would' not be able to support more .than twothirds of her present population. . Yours etc.; ( j y CITIZEN.