AID TO BRITAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26617, 13 November 1947, Page 4

AID TO BRITAIN

Sir, —In reply to the letter in your column of November 8, signed "No Mug,” who says that it is time that England learned to stand on her own feet, might I suggest that if England had not been doing this for centuries past, New Zealand would probably not have been a British possession. No one doubts the excellent war record of New Zealand, and least of all the people of Britain, but don’t let us forget the tremendous sacrifices made by the British people. Fully to realise the true facts of the present economic crisis and food situation in England, one should live on English rations for not a matter of weeks, but of years, and then ask if all this talk about the food crisis is true. The answer would undoubtedly be *' Yes.”, as I have proved myself. ,If every person in New Zealand sent one food parcel each to the people of Britain the area of distribution would be approximately one borough of London. Surely these people deserve the little extra that these food parcels bring to them. “No Mug ” considers that this is the time to quit the “ red, white, and blue,” presumably with a clear conscience, and join up with the Stars and Stripes. Might I suggest that if the Battle of Britain, in which ”No Mug ” considers we more than paid our share in blood and cash, had been lost, it would have been a case of “ God help the Stars and Stripes.”—l am, etc. , Ex-serviceman.

Sir,—” No Mug ” sets down hard, commonsense facts. His letter makes refreshing reading after the mess of sentiment we have had from press, radio and platform. Our future is most certainly bound up with the U.S. The sooner that fact is recognised and acted upon the better will it be for us all. We owe such liberty as we have to-day to the outcome of the Coral Sea battle. That was our Trafalgar. By grace of the might of the U.S. we live to-day. Britain must certainly make the necessary effort within her own island to find her feet. So far she has shirked that effort during the post-war period. The British are extravagant from top to bottom. The upper classes are determined to continue along the path of pre-war luxury, while the workers are determined to snatch all they can from a pool that is mortgaged to creditors who have exercised a great degree of tolerance. The economic clouds were already on the horizon when the Royal party set out for South Africa. And now a Royal wedding is being staged with all the present and future expense that hangs to it. The Canadians are now free of all ration restrictions. It- is only right and proper that we should expect the same freedom. —I am. etc.. C. R. C.

Sir, —“ No Mug ” seems to think the whole campaign is a farce, and England is not really hungry, even if her diet is a bit monotonous and the fat shortage is a little inconvenient. I had the experience of spending a few months in England since the war, and although the average man may appear to be 100 per cent., he’s still hungry, and that’s what we have to relieve, and all the crying about the spilt milk of five or six years ago and what the British Governments were prepared to do about New Zealand and Australia in those dire days has absolutely no bearing on the fact that the man who manned the guns and took the brunt of the enemy’s onslaught is suffering from the aftermath of his seven years of hardships, and should stand unchallenged when he asks for such a trivial commodity as food from a country such as ours. If every fit person in New Zealand went on a soup and potato diet (such as we had in Stalag 383, Germany, during our four years as P.O.W.’s) about one week in six would do to give these people some extra meat, fat and butter. I can assure anyone interested that these ” light rations ” occasionally have no ill-effect, and to the over-fed they sometimes are quite beneficial. Why not send as much as possible where it is needed—i.e., England? —I am, etc.. Weary Willie.

Sir An ardent admirer of our Mother Country, I was cynically amused to find another of her fair-weather friends, “ No Mug,” indulging in the fashionable and scurrilous sport of reviling her. Surely one with the courage ot such obviously held convictions is not afraid to append his signature to his attack. I thought that even the meanest intelligence had grasped that Britain, like New Zealand, was fighting a battle for very existence in 1942. This was no war of imperialism with which Russia would assuredly have charged her had she not been similarly engaged. Let " No Mug ” go to America and remain there, if they wi' have him.--I am, e t c „ Red, White and Blue.