New Zealand-born

(4) It is difficult to understand how our government has suddenly become an illegal regime. Mr Smith's government is a legally elected one—elected by the people of this country both black and white (the African can have a vote) long before independence was declared. How can a declaration of independence make it an illegal regime? It is still the constitutionally elected government of the country!

I am New Zealand-born, having lived in Africa for the past 30 years. I have a brother and a sister living in New Zealand. One of my brothers was on the N.Z. Wool Board prior to his death. My other brother is at present visiting this country to find out things for himself. He plans to return to N.Z. in the new year. It is because of this New Zealand background that I am interested in New Zealand hearing the truth about this country. I do not feel that Mr Todd presents things in their true perspective.

To understand Mr Todd it is necessary to know a little of his past history. Nobody needs to be told that Mr Todd was once a Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia. This is made public constantly. No one is allowed to forget it. Mr Todd is apt to imply that he was rejected by the people of this country because he was too liberal. This is not correct. The fact is that decisions were not referred to his cabinet and were made by Mr Todd without reference to his cabinet, who naturally resented this state of affairs, as did the electorate when it became clear what was happening.

It became dangerously near a dictatorship. At a party congress Mr Todd was replaced as leader of the party by Sir Edgar Whitehead, who returned from a post he held in Washington to take on the Prime Ministership. Mr Todd formed another party, which he called the Progressive Party. At a general election neither Mr Todd nor any member of his party was returned to parliament. He has never forgiven the electorate for their rejection of him. He liked his taste of power and he wished to retain it.

Like a small boy who cannot attract attention by behaving circumspectly, he decided that it was better to behave badly and receive attention than to receive no attention at all. His rejection has rankled. His bitterest attacks are always aimed at the white electorate of this country. Perhaps he reports things as he sees them, but it is certainly not as I see them and I feel that another side should be presented to you.

(5) As regards press censorship. It must he obvious to most people in all parts of the world that there is press censorship in some shape or Form in most countries. I cannot believe that you do not have it at all in N.Z. It is certainly operating in Britain today. Not only is press censorship there but the British government controls the BBC. We have had ample proof of this. We have also noticed that reports concerning Rhodesia are often slanted and inaccurate. It is Hitler's theory all over again. "the greater the lie, the greater the chance of it being be lieved".

The British government established a relay station at Francistown so that we could listen to the news which they were so sure was sadly missed by Rhodesians. In fact, after the first burst of curiosity, no one wanted to listen to it. It was so inaccurate as regards our own affairs that it became impossible to believe any of it. We. very quickly realised what they were trying to do to us—pump propaganda into us—and we resented it. Rhodesians are a freedom-loving people and they felt their freedom was being interfered with. We do not resent the press censorship, as we understand the reason for it. Propaganda to uneducated people who have no means of assessing it can be a very harmful thing. It was necessary to take what steps we could to prevent it. Zambia also broadcast their poison directed at our people. A large new broadcasting station was built with British money and incitement to murder, arson etc. was directed at our African population. Very little was achieved.

Mr. Todd's remarks about Africans being suppress, repressed and oppressed are very wide of the mark. I can only tell you a few things from personal experience

We have many African friends. One family who live near us have 10 children. The wife is a trained nurse, a master farmer and she does a great deal of work amongst her own people helping to teach them how to raise their living standards. This, she says, is due to me. She says that I work so hard for her people with women's clubs etc. that I made her feel she must do something for them too. She runs women's clubs and is teaching them Red Cross work.

The eldest son left school nearly two years ago and through a wrong postal address failed to gain admission to a teacher training college. She mentioned this to me and I set about finding him a job, which, I thought, with his background, should be in agriculture. I managed to find him a job in the Department of Agriculture, Co-operatives and Loans Branch at the same starting salary as a European school leaver would earn. He writes to me advising me of his progress. He is very happy in his job and is well thought of by the department.

We have another friend who is a school inspector and who earns the same salary as would a European in the same job. No doubt there are many, but this one I know.

I have a woman friend who is employed by a municipality to look after the Africans in their area and to promote club work etc. She earns a very good salary, drives her own car and generally enjoys life.

The African orderly at a clinic about nine miles from us teaches women in his area Red Cross work—first aid, home nursing, hygiene and mother and child care. I am his class secretary and do the organising for him, arrange examiners and exams and the presentation of badges and certificates to successful candidates. There is tremendous amount of this work going on in this country. I am only talking about one very small section of it. A very great deal of it is done with voluntary European workers. The number of African Women's Clubs is growing daily and the amount of volutary work being done would astound anyone sufficiently interested to come and find out.

These are just a few instances to give an idea of what we are trying to do ... not quite the picture Mr Todd painted for you, I think.

I would also like to tell you a little about Farm Schools. There are many of these in this country. These schools arc often built and run at the expense of the farmer for the children of his employees. My husband runs one of these here on our farm. These schools are subject to government inspection and can sometimes obtain a small grant from the Department of Education to meet portion of the teacher's wages.

I trust this will all be of interest to some of the students belonging to your body and that they will be sufficiently interested to feel that they would like to know more about this country, which is such a tremendously interesting one and which is striving so hard to take its rightful place in the world.