“CRABBING” OLD ENGLAND

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8362, 24 February 1913, Page 11

“CRABBING” OLD ENGLAND

(To tho Editor “N.Z. Times.”) Sir, —The slavish deference of the squatters’ organ to the utterance of any man who happens to be dubbed a lord was ludicrously displayed in its issue of the 21st instant. In a recent speech Lord Bmmot, referring to the Mother Country, said, “Tho habit of dubbing her Old England tended to arouse disrespect among her daughter nations.” By a blunder in the cable or elsewhere the squatters’ organ thus reported it: “The habit of crabbing Old England,” etc. Needless to say, tho words “ ‘crabbing’ Old England” have no meaning whatever, and if the words had been .printed without any note, the public would have seen that some error had crept in. But in accordance with the custom of drawing attention by headlines to tho most significant portion of a message, the squatters’ organ headed the report, “Crabbing Old England,” as if it were either a capital joke that the squatters’ organ thoroughly, appreciated, or an oracular utterance of deep political significance, ‘that colonials would do well to ponder over and take to heart. Poor squatters’ organ I —l am, etc., TORY.