PUBLIC OPINION

Taranaki Daily News, 25 September 1940, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION

READY-TO-HELP.

VIEWS ON CURRENT TOPICS MR. DIXON'S OUTBURST

(To the Editor.) Sir,— After reading the outburst' of Mr. E. Dixon, Hawera, about the lack of response to the Lortdon relief fund I came to the conclusion that the protest was as untimely as it was unwarranted. Taranaki has responded remarkably well to all the appeals that have been made, and there are many reasons for believing that future appeals will receive all the support that is expected of them. The public has in at least two instances far exceeded the expectations of collectors. I refer to the Rugby gala day held at Hawera where the final effort was more than £60 in excess of the most optimistic hopes, and the remarkable results achieved by the New Plydouth pierrots. Taranaki is giving as well as most districts in the Dominion. Mr. Dixon, of course, visualises newspaper offices being over-run with people who wish to cast away pound notes with the abandon with which one throws confetti on the blushing bride. There are thousands of people who are willing to give but who are not in the position to do so. It is poor patriotism which permits a man to head the list of donations, while his butcher, baker and grocer go begging for their cash. Circumstances over which the Taranaki Patriotic Council and the local patriotic committees have no control have undoubtedly done much to retard donations. We were told that there were to be two patriotic funds, the national fund and the provincial funds. Then there appeared the Spitfire fund, and this was hardly under way before the London relief fund was launched. In the meantime talk of raising £1,000,000 crept into the Press. Muddlement by the National Patriotic Council and Governmental heads at Wellington has led to such confusion that not only the public does not know where it stands, but also the Taranaki Patriotic Council is not au fait with the correct position. We were told that the provincial councils would expend their own funds, but it looks as if Taranaki is being committed for large amounts by the national council without so much as "by your leave." It is these facts which have caused the public to halt and wonder, and not, as Mr. Dixon would have us believe, the

luke-warm patriotism of the people. Had Mr. Dixon refrained from condemning the public and made constructive suggestions how best to entice the public into freer giving he would have been on sounder ground. For instance, the public (as Mr. F. L. Frost, M.P., put it the other day) "likes a little flutter." Would it not be better to organise functions and stunts which would permit the public to have a little fun while they give? The success of the Plunket Day appeal at Hawera illustrates how a well organised effort can reap a rich reward at very little cost. Members of local bodies have far too much to do in their various capacities without taking on the organisation of patriotic appeals, and I suggest that the younger businessmen of Hawera and other towns should follow the example set at New Plymouth and organise on the lines of the pierrots. Let a carnival spirit reign while the coppers roll in. Yes, Mr. Dixon. the coppers_for it is the coppers that make the bobs, and the bobs that make the quids you want the public to hurl about. A final suggestion. Could not the Mayor of Hawera induce one or two of the men who assisted to conduct the Rugby gala day to organise a live body of men who are not tied up with civic and local body duties, to undertake the organising of money-raising efforts? I am, etc.,

Hawera, September 24.