Fatal Flaw

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 466, 28 May 1948, Page 9

Fatal Flaw

TATION 4YA’s discussion-panel ‘in the Let’s Have It Out series, dealing with the subject "Should New Zealand do more to prevent the export of brains?" was, for me, highly unsatisfactory. It was a good panel of speakers, all had something fluent to say, and the discussion went along with apparent ease-but the fatal flaw was the fact that, although this programme began around nine-thirty, it was five minutes to ten by my clock before the group reached the point,of actually getting to grips with the question, Certainly they surveyed every possible prospect, went up and down every side-alley, and made quite a number of abortive attempts to start out along the highway; but it is cbviously impossible to arrive at a destination on time if you waste so many precious minutes in preparation for the journey. One speaker tried several times to get the discussion back to the point, but the chairman preferred to keep the matter general instead of particular, and an attempt at controversial discussion was unfortunately nipped in the bud. After hearing this discussion, I have a great deal more information on certain aspects of this question-I know why New Zealanders leave home, why they sometimes do come back, why they sometimes don’t, and so on-but upon the problem of whether New Zealand should do anything about bringing its exported brains home, and how this is to be accomplished (which ought logically to have been part of the question), I really haven’t any ideas that I didn’t have before I listened to this discussiongroup.