Letters

(Continued) many of our people here think that “money grows on trees”.

Accusations by Dr Davis of dic tatorial powers makes one think of Haiti; let Dr Davis think backwards a little when New Zealand’s adminis tration of these Islands was far more dictatorial than now. Economic de velopment has been encouraged, yet with falling prices of copra, refusals by New Zealand to take mandarins (although NZ originally encouraged the growing of such), etc., can only lead to the thought that there has been no encouragement.

Political control or influence does not appear in the Church. We have four denominations and I am sure that all would deny the allegations made. He is quick to add that there

is political influence in the Women’s Federation yet his own political organisation has created a “women’s group” for itself in direct opposition.

The government, as did the previous administration, has encouraged youth groups and women’s organisations for the betterment of the country not for political gain; maybe Dr Davis’s accusation applies to the previous administration as well; if it does then the influence of the previous adminis tration was very weak as no one from these groups supported NZ when self government was granted.

Accusations of deportations by him leave other readers with the impres sion that you only have to cough wrongly and “bye-bye”. To my know ledge recent deportations were of marihuana growers. Presumably Dr Davis’s American upbringing does not frown on this type of occupation.

If there is political control of the local news then why did it publish a series of articles just prior to the recent elections on Dr Davis and his career? If there was such control then

no such articles would have appeared.

His moans about the elections are also intriguing—he doesn’t say that two constituencies rejected his party outright. He mainly harps on about Rarotonga, which has the largest population, yet he overlooks other islands in the Group.

Generally speaking his article is devoted to trying to justify his return and is an open criticism of a country he has been absent from for many years. I am very disappointed in him as I had thought that he was ex tremely capable, but not the type to sink to the level of the article you have published.

A Cook Islands Resident

Rarotonga, Cook Islands. • The writer is a prominent Cook Islands resident, and we would prefer him to have published the letter under his own name. PIM doesnt encour age the use of a nom de plume in the letters column except in special cir cumstances.