THE FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS
Sir.-Your editorial, "The Faithful Followers," seems extremely childish to be written in a progressive country like New Zealand. Mention is made of "the behaviour of men who give their loyalty to a foreign country." The writer means, of course, the Communists. Communism, however, is international in its scope, and is not necessarily the prerogative of any particular country. Then it is stated that such people are embarrassing to "true patriots." What is a true patriot? Many soldiers who fought in the last war were Communists, or held left views. What is more, they fought to exterminate Fascism, which by no means has been eradicated. A person is not ¢disloyal because he criticises the acts of the leaders in any country. They do this in Russia and in Ching by that wonderful method of self-criticism. It would be fair to say that over half the people of England support the Labour Party, and recently there has been severe criticism of the Government for its policy in various places. Are the Labour Party’ disloyal? Have they not been opponents of colonialism in Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus and Suez? No, Mr Editor, the story of the British Empire and its building is not a pretty one, and the time has arrived for the advent of left-wing~ governments; and the more of your so-called "followers," the better. Finally, why you should accuse Russia of being evil is hard to
understand. Russia has always been in the forefront of all the moves to bring about peace, and she has openly championed many good causes. It is a pity that New Zealanders with their two million population do not listen to the voice of 1000 million people to the north, who are all Communists, and whose way of life is to live at peace with their neighbours, Let the West look to itself, and learn how to live from the Socialist countries.
P. J.
ALLEY
(Christchurch).
, (Russia is a large country in which = iving a great many e-good, » an of indifferent virtue, like the rest of us. To accuse it of being evil would be as silly as to see perfection all its works. But we did not say that Russia was evil.--Ed.)
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 928, 24 May 1957, Page 11
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369THE FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 928, 24 May 1957, Page 11
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