“Tongans And Europeans”—An Implication

Unwarranted

Letter to the Editor.

Sir, —In your issue of September “One of the Whites” manifests his re sentment against certain statements appearing in the concert programme of the Tongan College Choir which re cently visited Australia.

The letter-press of that programme was supplied by the Rev. A. H. Wood, M.A.b.D., Principal of the College, and appeared under his name. It was my task to arrange the form of the souvenir programme and, as I read your correspondent’s letter, I felt I must have slipped in some way to allow such an implication to appear; I therefore turned up the programme and found

that the context put an entirely dif ferent light on the matter.

Certainly the words appear—“ The task of Christian education is still the responsibility of the Methodist Church”; but immediately before that sentence is another which reads as follows: ‘The contrast between Tonga before 1926 and a few years afterwards was startling; in fact, there has been a tendency to see too much in that sudden change and to overlook the need for building up sound religion and morality.” It is obvious that Mr. Wood was not referring to “educational facilities,” as your correspondent

suggests, but to the building up of sound religion and morality on a Christian basis.

I am sure that “One of the Whites” had no desire to be unfair, but it is unfortunate that he wrote so heatedly before he had read coolly the whole paragraph.

In regard to the implication con tained in the sentence, “Tongans have not only to learn more of the deep truths by which a nation lives, but also to be guarded from the unwhole some influence of unscrupulous whites,” surely your correspondent must have an over-sensitive mind to read such an implication into a simple straight forward statement. Mr. Wood is not suggesting that all the whites are un scrupulous or that any large propor tion of them are. I suppose if will be freely admitted that there are some whose influence is unwholesome. Per sonally I should be richer by several pounds if all the whites in Tonga had repaid their debts, but I am not suggesting that a failure to repay loans is characteristic of the white popula tion there. I sometimes go to the theatre and see a notice on the stair way “Beware of pickpockets,” but I have never felt it necessary to write in indignation to the papers and to resent the possible implication that I was one of those against whom others had to be warned.

Mr. Wood may desire to reply him self, but Tonga is far distant and I write on behalf of the Society which is said to have published “vague and un deserved slanders,”

I assure your correspondent that nothing could be further from our desire; for our charter demands that we should be the friends of all and the enemies of none.

I am, etc.,

John W. Burton

General Secretary, Methodist Missionary Society of Aus tralasia.

Sydney, 26/9/33.