CIVILITY IS CHEAP.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2770, 13 May 1916, Page 8

CIVILITY IS CHEAP.

Sir,—l notice in your issue of to-day that "Country Visitor" claims to have stated his facts iu a "straightforward manner." 1 venture to affirm that very, few will agree with him. To publish facts calculated to do other people harm, unaccompanied by the writer's name,,only suggests conduct which gentlemen, do not care even to discuss. Your ' correspondent has introduced quite a lot of irrelevant matter, with which I am not concerned. 1 am neither concerned with nor responsible for the conduct of.all or any Civil Servant. That amongst such a large body of men a lew arrogant, supercilious clowns should be in evidence is surely not a matter for surprise. Unfortunately, such persons ' can be met with everywhere, even amongst those who favour us occasionally from the backblocks. lam only concerned with the facts which induced me in.thejirst place to take notice of the communication of a nameless correspondent. I now repeat that "Country Visitor" did not approach the officer responsible for the uispatch of Tarauaki recruits, nor any of his subordinates. The gentleman denounced by .your correspondent as an "important official" was the self-same officer proved to be so "courteous and obliging." Such, briefly, are the true facts, which can be easily verified should one of vour representatives care to call at the right quarter for information. lam charitable enough to believe that vour correspondent thought Ift) was stating "true facts," but he did not know, hence his error. I think it is safe to assume that "Country Visitor" is not anvEnglishman, inasmuch as he implies that it is neces T sary to go abroad in order to acquire habits of courtesy and urbanity. Now, Sir, I, too, have travelled abroad, pos-. sibly when "Country Visitor" was vegetating in the wilds of remote Tarauaki, but I have yet to learn that the English gentleman is, as yonr correspondent implies, inferior to his supposed Eurenean prototype. Although not English 'myself, I was always under the impression that whilst the Englishman based his conduct on the higher attributes of. the genus homo, his European analogue frequently aspired to but little better thanSimian and effeminate convention. In conclusion, I must frankly confess'- of' feeling ashamed, of having been'drawn into a controversy with one who is either afraid or ashamed to append his name oven' to. a supposed statement of fact. , But I felt constrained to state the known[facts when gentlemen are assailed who are tacitly precluded from defending themselves through the columns of the Press.—l am, etc., ' J. M. CAMPBEM;."