BRITAIN AND NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 321, 17 August 1945, Page 5

BRITAIN AND NEW ZEALAND

Sir,-J.M,’s letter and the manner of writing seem to indicate why these two "Homies" have fared so badly for the past six years. The right sort of attitude towards their adopted country would, I am sure, have had the right results. I

have a very good English friend, now resident in New Zealand since.1939. His first year here was spent largely in making odious comparisons between New Zealand and England and always to New Zealand’s detriment. He just didn’t seem to be able to help it. He found so much to deplore; our drunkenness and our craze for horse-racing and many other horrible colonial habits that he simply had to give tongue. I found it hard to be forbearing, but I knew that, given time, and being at heart a kind and tolerant person, he would grow out of it. It usually takes a year or two for the newcomer to realise that apart from superficial differences, people are much the same the world over. Most "Homies" go through this uncomfortable phase, but I’ve never heard of any of our English cousins taking six years adjust themselves, J.M.’s must be a gularly stubborn case of bigotry and intolerance. Anyone with intelligence can see that all New Zealanders can’t be wrong, and two English people alone be right. J.M. would probably fare the same if she went to Canada, or South Africa. I suggest that she read a little philosophy-say Havelock Ellis on the art of being "at home" in this world.

AURORA

1840 (Upper Hutt),