Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 22, 17 February 1948, 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. CALENDAR REFORM Sir, —The proposed reformed calendar will obliterate the creation week, and introduce a roving Sunday. Will this affect religion? Dare we summarily dismiss the question as being of “no moral value?” Days of worship concern religion, not the State. The national introduction of the reformed calendar would have the affect of robbing many of the day they respect. This would infringe one of the- “four freedoms.” There is no “artificial dogma” ' about conscience, it is an inalienable right and must be jealously guarded. If “First Fundamental” would follow his own ,dogma “Do . unto others,” he would be among the first to guard the liberty of his neighbour to worship according to his own conscience.

Supposing it were of “no moral value” to observe any particular day, and that Tuesday was as good as Sunday? This could not alter the fact that as long as a minority remains to plead for the declining cause of Sunday sacredness it’* is fundamental to Christian liberty that their rights be respected. No civil authority is under obligation to enforce religious requirements, even if they be veiled in the form of a reformed calendar. How-, ever there is grave danger that_our Government may'set a precedent in this issue that will be a blot on the records of liberty: The civil Government transcends its rightful sphere when it interferes in a matter of religion. The imposition remains the same irrespective of whether that religion be true or false. No sane person would contend that the keeping of the Lord’s Day is other than, a matter of religion, and as the guardian of our liberties the. State is under moral obligation to use its influence against an incursion that would be as reprehensible to God as the casting of the Hebrew worthies into the fiery furnace by the King of Babylon. Because it is international in scope it will provide us little comfort for our Government to sit back until the reformed calendar becomes an actuality and then plan the blame on the other fellow. This is a moral issue, and lovers of freedom must awake or lament when it is too late. Yours etc., FUNDAMENTALS FIRST.

SOCIALISM NOT THE CURE

Sir, —Since Oliver Cromwell and Charles II we, the British nation, have been handed over to the Jewish money lender, and are now being reduced to the position of a defeated nation, through the exploitation and administration of, our national economy, depriving the people of their rights to the abundance that Nature would so lavishly bestow upon us. Truly the mills of the Gods (of . Wall Street) grind slowly but surely. They have fetched us to the cross roads, and today we have to make a decision as to whether we (the body politic) shall' control production, distribution and exchange for the benefit "of the nation, or the benefit of the exploiters, who tell us we must “export’ or die. The Empire has all it requires, within its limits, why should its resources be side-tracked from the British consumer? ’ • Here in New r Zealand, we (the common, people) have watched the tightening grip of Democratic Socialism. Since 1920 (and before) all party Governments have obeyed the super Government that has controlled them from Wall Street, through the Bank of England and our Reserve Bank. In the light of present-day Socialism we have to look for cause and effect; depressions cause discontent, Socialism creeps in, and will eventually hand us over to Communism, and the New York Zionist controlling the Communist, would do as he did with the Russian people in 1917. To win out for freedom we must fight for the production, distribution and exchange of a free nation, not for a military police State under the Hierachy of New York or its pawns. We have swallowed two “Aids” from New York, the third, the Marshall Plan, if accepted, will be another peg our coffin. So when the people refuse any more “Aids,” plus the restrictions on our internal economy, we will rise to our feet, and declare to the world, the heritage, and economic right of nations to their production, distribution and exchange. Yours etc.j W. BRADSHAW.