BLACK RECORD.

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 115, 5 September 1941, Page 4

BLACK RECORD.

Sir-In answer to " Audax II." and J. L. Johnson, I do not claim patriotism or heroism. I am merely a lover of peace and of leisure. The Germans have proved themselves barbarous without Sir Robert’s help. But both "Audax" (I. and II.) and J. L. Johnson appear to wish to create the same atmosphere after this war as we had after the last, which led to rearmament of Germany and made this war possible. Preventing rearming will not cause war, as a nation without arms cannot fight, and notifying German workers to abandon munition factories before bombing them after the war, will not cause deaths of workers. This does not mean starving Germanv. as there are plenty of goods for all.

PAUL

NICKLINSON

(Hunua),

Sir-Encore de l’audace. Audaxes plentiful but weak on the wing. Anyhow, they are not making much of a job of flying with their pen feathers. "Audax II." says it is very easy to answer the arguments of Black Record. Actually, there are no arguments. Merely a record of facts, well and truly proven. His first 20 lines result in Sir Robert being accused of drawing an absurd conclusion from a theory he never made. The next 16, where not definitely answered in advance in the preface of the book, refer to matters not even hinted at in the record. Liddell Hart’s idea that the Nazis will fight harder because of Black Record is bunkum. Both Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden have left nothing in doubt about the character of the next treaty. Why waste good ink trying to blacken Black Record? The little brochure is safe behind the "aes triplex" of chapter and verse, as it was intended to be. The author would hardly be likely to put anything out that could be pulled to pieces by the Fourth Form at St. Percy’s. John Johnson’s quip about my name amounting to an impenetrable disguise is the one bright spot in his otherwise disappointing and very angry letter. The British Empire is engaged in a modern crusade, If the Germans win, there will not be a holy place left in the world, not even in the mind of a school child. It is also claimed that the struggle is a working-man’s war, and as a consequence the efficient working of the huge family of Smiths is one of the factors ensuring that there will always be an England. Nevertheless although Smith is thus a name to be proud of, it cannot compare in selectivity with illustrious monikers such as Cholmondelev, Montmorency, or Jack Johnson.

E. A. W.

SMITH

(Christchurch),