PRESS OUTCRY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 June 1939, Page 6

PRESS OUTCRY

OVER LOSS OF THETIS QUESTION OF FIXING RESPONSIBILITY DEMANDS BY NEWSPAPERS. FUND OPENED BY LORD MAYOR OF LONDON. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. (Received This Day, 12.55 p.m.) LONDON. June 4. The Lord Mayor of London is opening a fund for the families of the Thetis victims. The “Daily Mail” urges an early answer as to who is blameworthy for the disaster and asks where were Earl Sttfnhope (First Lord of the Admiralty) and Mr G. Shakespeare (Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty) while the nation waited with bated breath. It demands the appointment of a competent Minister to supply information in such emergencies, i The “Daily Herald” insists on the public being informed as to the facts of the disaster and demands, if the Admiralty inquiry is private, that members of Parliament must be supplied with a report in order to debate it. The “News-Chronicle” demands authoritative information and says: “In the course of statements, Mr Woodward, secretary to Cammell Laird, explains that the Admiralty was the sole source of news and gave available information direct to the Press. He .added that no one person or party was in actual charge of the rescue work, which was done co-operatively by everyone on the sea. No time was lost in getting ‘camels’ to the Thetis.” The “Daily Telegraph” deprecates the seeking of personal scapegoats, but criticises official reticence to the Press and insists that nothing must be hushed up and nobody shielded. REGRET & SYMPATHY NEW ZEALAND MESSAGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND This Day. The following message' has been sent by the Governor-General (Viscount Galway) to the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (Sir Thomas Inskip) in connection with the loss of the submarine Thetis: —“The Government and people of New Zealand have learned with the deepest regret of the disaster that befel the Thetis and the tragic loss of valueable lives. To the relatives of those unable to be rescued they send heartfelt sympathy.” RESCUE HAMPERED. EVERY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCE (Received This Day, i 1.55 p.m.) LONDON, This Day. ‘■(The Times” points out that every adverse circumstance hampered the rescue work and adds that the criticisms are mainly supported by technica knowledge though there was certainly a dearth of information.