LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2613, 9 November 1915, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

OFFENSIVE CORRESPONDENTS. Sir,—No doubt in such times as thest a certain amount of latitude should bt allowed for the expression of opinions and sentiments winch may not always fully accord with that- virility and consequent modesty which invariably chari acterise the average Englishman. Perhaps there is no valid objection to oui young men at tho front or in English hospitals sending details of their own exploits to their sweethearts and their families, but when 'they decry the "other fellow" you will surely admit that the limit of charity has been exceeded, and comment has become excusable. Perhaps you may not be wholly surprised to learn that many of the extracts from soldiers' letters which have appeared in your columns, as weil as in those of your several contemporaries, have caused no inconsiderable wrangling at a time when unanimity and good fellowship aro so essential to the cause of recruiting. Tho courage and initiative of the New Zealander have been given duo publicity in the English and colonial Press, but surely that should not imply that tho English soldier is the helpless automatum your correspondents say ho is. One New Zealander, writing from an English hospital to his parents in 'Wellington makes complaints that only English uniforms aro available in that institution, and is much exercised in his mind as to the dire possibility of being mistaken for an "English Tommy." We could well overlook this ypung jusn's lack of modesty, but it is rather disappointing that your evening contemporary should publish such obviously insensate dnvol. _ For my part, although there is not a single drop of English blood in my veins, I should feel that a- cubit were added to my stature if I were mistaken for an English soldier. In your issue of November 3 a certain Lieutenant M'Comish (Anglice, Thompson) is reported to have said, amongst other things, "that Eitchener'6 men are helpless without their officers." This gallant lieutenant claims that the Englishman from New Zealand has all the qualifications essential to a soldier, while, the Englishman from England is but an animated machine, inept and unintelligent. • I would recommend this statement to oiu- locai Philosophical society for discussion at their next meeting, provided they accept Lieutenant Al'Cornish's premises. On examination it will be found that tli" majority of those who have already volunteered in the Dominion are English born, while it is safe to affirm that ninety per centum of the young men who have not volunteered are New Zealandors. We take tho courage and resourcefulness of the New Zealanders as ■a matter of course, but not because they have been born in New Zealand, but becauss they are the progeny of Englishmen. Let New Zealanders rest assured that the English Press will not fail to «ivG due publicity to their services to the Jiimpirc. With characteristic modesty, which is invariably the companion of true manliness, the Englishman is over ready to blow the other trumpet, but never his own. Were your correspondents to copy the Englishman more, and the Yankee less, they would bo less likely to have occasion to widen the circumference of their hat-bands. In conclusion, I fervently and devoutly, thank .Heaven that the English soldier is what ho is, and what I know him to be, and not what some of your correspondents say lie is.—l am, etc VINDEX. |Wo are not aware that any attempt has been made to belittle the splendid achievements of ihe soldiers put.in the field by tho Mother Country. On the contrary, the' great, - majority of such communications as we have seen afford evidence of the greatest admiration on tho part of our own troops for tho valour and courage of the men from Britain. There aro exceptions, no doubt, hut it would be unfair to judge the attitude or the conduct of any largo force of men by that of any 'limited section. | A LIBEL ON NEW ZEALAND. Sir, —Will you kindly give ■ me a small space in your valuable paper .for a few remarks oil a subject on which I feel very sore. In your issue of November 2 a certain Mr. L. A. Edwards, at the Central Hall of Commerce, is reported t'o have used the following words: "He did not believe that a man in New Zealand had denied himself a single pipo of tobacco or a sing' seat at the pictures because of tho war." Now, Mr. Editor, who is this "Penny Book of Knowledge" who sees fit to libel every man in New Zealand? As he includes every man, he, of course, includes himself, and it seems to mo that ho is trying to measure other people's corn by hig, bushel. Now, Mr. Editor, I shall only speak for myself in this case, and leave the "other fellow" severely, alone. For over two years I was laid up with neuritis, and last May, as soon as I was equal to it (or rather sooner), I got work. All the money I had in the world then was one solitary halfpenny. My job lasted nearly a month, and although I often worked iu agonies >f pain, and I sadly needed every penny f could get, I gave quite two-tshirds of my earnings to patriotic purposes, and [ have continued to do so ever since. Then I put' tho foliowing advertisein The Dominion, which cost mo lalf-a-oroivn: ' 'Strong, abie, elderly nan desires employment, to liberate i'oung man for tho front; motor, lift, garden, general useful; good all-round, ,VJH,y. nian > thirty years', references, will give £1 a week of wages to patri- i itic funds." To that I received no 1 'espouse! But I would like to remind ( «r. L. A. Edwards that the advertise- i nent and the offer still hold good. When the Willochra came back with ler first lot of wounded, after provides myself with the barest necessaries, had two half-crowns left. Going town to the wharf, 1 spent one of them n cigarettes, and I distributed them irnong the "boys" at the Town Hall, >ut in getting through the crowd at he door someone very kindly picked my locket, and took my other half-crown. ' -cry encouraging, was it not? I may ; ay, for. the edification of Mr. Edwards, that I amuse myself in my spare iimo making crutches for the wounded ;t the front, and I hope to send away ifty by the next transport or the llosiital Ship; and I venture to hope that dr. Edwards is engaged in some simiar occupaion. Neither the "pictures" or any other place of amusement has benefited to the extent of a single enny by me since the war began, and nng before that. ! I would remind Mr. Edwards that j lany hundreds of our newspapers are cut Home every week. AVhat, then, ''jll they think of us when they read us jeremiad? I say,it will create a ery bad and false impression. There 3an old saying: "If you keep on hrowmg mud some of it is pretty sure o stick." If things are as'b'ad as lr. Edwards describes them, where ave all these tens of thousands of ounds, in cash and kind, come from luil; have been subscribed to the dif>rent patriotic funds? Let me tell Jr. that there are a few thers who like to indulge in similar tall talk." Mv advice to them is: ;ad tho poster and "Go and Enlist Toa J'- .I am too old to go to the 'ont (I am 05). otherwise I should ave been there long ago; hut there re many ways of helping the causfc 'ithout going to tho front, and my mseienoc is clear, that I have done i.v duty to tho best of my ability, and i.v advice to Mr. Edwards and others . his ilk, is—"Go and do thou likeise. ' There i S) in my opinion, too much

J talk about the "coward" and the "shirker." The Government will take care of them. I think they arc in very safe hands. This is certainly not a time to indulge in abuse and slander, hut rather let us follow the prayer in the Litanv, "From envy and hatred and 0 malice, and all uncharitableness, good 0 Lord deliver us."—l am, etc., S LOYAL devonian. CAMES OF CHANCE AND PUBLIC DUTY. Sir,—lt is most regrettable that our Government sliould invour gaming in any phase or at any time, hut that"the present hour should be chosen by the 3 Hon. CI. W. Russell for originating the t scheme of a Dominion art union makes - ono wonder if the solemn, purifying les- - sons of this most fearful of all" wars is 3 to bo lost to an agonised nation. The f protoxt of encouraging a love of Art 1 will be credited as it deserves. What 1 will be fostered is a love of games of - chance. The excitement of getting 3 something good for very little outlay r rouses a latent feeling common, but ) mischievous, to humanity, and one which in an incredibly short time makes j peoplo restless and discontented with 7 earning their living in the good old i way in which wo were all intended, > viz., healthy brain and body developing - work. Now, sir, many parents in Now Zeat land are trying hard to bring up their ■ children to he an asset to the commun- ■ ity, and I a.sk if this Gaming Acts - Amendment is brought into force, i will that good homo influence he fur- ; thered and sustained by a Government i that promotes games of chance,' which i anyone has only to look round to see are • always lowering in their effect? As to ■ helping the wounded soldiers—a noble i object by ignoble means—is it not a fine i opportunity to appeal to the higher sido of humanity, instead of dragging a most worthy cause through tho mud of selfish desire? Also, how humiliating'to knowthat our brave wounded will read that it is apparently impossible to afford them the succour they have so dearly earned without catering to the shallow greed of the multitude, who ought to need no demand for help for their defenders. May this action of the hon. member rouao a torrent of decisive protest.—l am, etc.. , PARENT. Hawera. •