TRULY DIRTY

Evening Star, Issue 23702, 9 October 1940, Page 6

TRULY DIRTY

CIRCULAR TO BALLOTED MEN AT LEAST ONE COPY IN DUNEDIN FIFTH COLUMN AT ITS WORST At least one of the seditious circulars which were distributed amongst Canterbury men named in the ballot for the Territorial Forces has reached Dunedin, hut inquiries reveal that it appears to be an isolated instance, and no general circulation has been made. The recipient’s name, with his Dunedin address, appeared amongst the Canterbury names and was not included in the Otago list, which accounts for his receiving the notice where all other men have so far been ignored. There is nothing to regret in being ignored either, for the document is a singularly unworthy one, and comes as a blow between the eyes to those of us who like to stress New Zealand’s loyalty to the Empire and its democratic mode of life. It is a wordy document containing, in cyclostyled form, nearly 900 words on one side of a sheet of foolscap. The very nature of the message, which starts off in a friendly fashion. “ Dear fellow citizen,” precludes any possibility of its reproduction, for not only is it an insistent appeal to balloted men to refuse to don a uniform, but it is also a dirty attack on our democratic life and on the British Empire. The only point in its favour, if indeed it is a point, is that it is well written, and some thought appears to have been given the best way to drive the foul message home. Otherwise it is a staggering revelation of the typo of “ fifth columnist ” we apparently have hiding • in some dark corners _in this country of ours. The detection and prosecution of those responsible for the paper will surely ho urgently desired by all who happen to read it. The organisation must be extensive. Copies were apparently delivered at homes in Christchurch, while others were .posted in that city and in other parts of the province. The copy brought Into this office was postmarked. “ Timaru, 1 a.m. October 7.” Other than

that there is no indication of the publishers of one of the most unpleasant circulars ever distributed in the Dominion.