VISITORS AND OURSELVES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 257, 26 May 1944, Page 5

VISITORS AND OURSELVES

»ir,----Now that your personal attacks on me appear to have died down, I think that I ought to reply to same. First of all, I wish to say that my letter of March 27 was written in no vindictive spirit, but purely as ordinary honest criticism. In my journeys throughout the whole of New Zealand I have found everyone most anxious to point out to me the charms of. the. places I have visited, and I have been made welcome in every home. I think that if you had had the foresight to advise listeners that the feature "Brains Trust" had not been withdrawn. and of the great difficulty you had experienced in getting recordings from_ Britain, . everyone would have understood the position better. I might point out that I have travelled widely throughout the Empire on important matters and have had the opportunity of free discussion with many prominent personages in the countries visited, but never in all my travels have I had such insulting -treat‘ment from anyone as I have had from you, Sir. Quite recently I was speaking to a New Zealander who frequently criticises the BBC programmes by letter, and this person informed me that the replies received were always most courteous and asking for further criticisms. What a contrast to your attitude! As regards the broadcasting of the proceedings of the House of Representatives, I hope that both you and your correspondent "Bow-Wow" — listened-in to the broadcast of the "Brains Trust" from London on May 6 on the idea of broadcasting the proceedings of the House of Commons and heard the different opinions on this subject. You would have heard that Members of Parliament would be strongly opposed to such a course, Unfortunately, one of the speakers in the debate was wrong when he stated that he was under the impression that the broadcast of ‘the proceedings from the House of Representatives was made on a sepatate wave-length than that used ordinarily. Might I point out to your correspondent "Bow-Wow" that. the House of Representatives is made up of two parties, the Government and the Opposition, and I made no reference to either party when I mentioned the "brawlings" which take place when debates are going on. In conclusion, I would like to point out that your description of myself as a "sneer- ing" Englishman is far from actual fact, and is probably as misleading as to label as "smirking" to those New Zealanders

who like to see fair play.-

BRITISH

VISITOR

(Havelock North).

{Our cofrespondent seems to have -three complaints against us.. (1) He says, first, that if we had made it more widely known that the "Brains Trust’? would reappear, the whole incident might have been avoided. We are tempted to suggest in reply that it is like telling a man with whom you have just been fighting that. you would never have hit him if you had known that he was the wrong man and would hit back. (2) He adds that he complained of the brawling of the whole House and not of the Government members only. We are tempted to ask him in reply to that if he thinks it less offensive to be rude to 80 men than to 45; (3) He says finally that’ he has seen much of the Empire and "its prominent personages" and has never before been so insulted. We are tempted to retaliate with a tu quoque-to say that no one since The Listener was first established has ever sent it such an unfortunate letter. Those are the things he still tempts us to say. In fact we say none of them. accept his assurance that he had no . wish to be offensive to anybody, and ask him to accept our assurance that our p was just as rsonal, We did not think it pleasant to : ta him. We did think it necessary.Ed.