Your views: Readers' letters

Run-down cemetery

Several years ago I called in to the Maxwell Cemetery to pay respects to an old uncle.

There had been a recent burial, so the cemetery was still being used.

What a shocking state I found it in. Wonky gate, unkempt hedge, broken-down fence and mowing not good.

I called in to the district council offices on my way home and asked for something to be done and to be contacted. I did not receive contact and hoped the work had been done.

Recently, I called again and there was no change. Who is responsible for the upkeep? Don't the Maxwell people pay rates to someone?

Come on locals, get on someone's back for a bit of action.The dead deserve better.

MARGARET GILES
Rongotea

Logic at last

Logic has been out and about in Whanganui over the last day or two, at least according to the Chronicle today (May 10).

First off, Chester Borrows has been found not guilty of the terrible crime he was accused of. One has to feel sympathy for the police, though. Had they pushed the protesters (aka agitators) back, they would have been accused of oppression, being government lackeys and obstruction of a legal protest.

I believe that the two women concerned were pushed into the path of the car by a man behind them, thus giving the police no time to intervene. It also appears that the dildo has become the weapon of choice of certain members of New Zealand society at protest gatherings.

In second place is the Horizons Regional Council, which has decided that we are never going to beat the river, raising stopbanks is not a feasible solution and that minimising the effect of flooding is the way to go. Raising or removing homes in the flood-threatened area is the only logical solution. Who is to pay is, of course, the question on everyone's lips.

To complete the trifecta, David Bennett (Opinion) warns against ploughing ahead with frantic haste before some large issues concerning the "dreamed of" ferry service to Motueka have been addressed. Much has been written about this venture, but there are huge hurdles to be overcome, not the least of which is emergency housing for dotterils. I see Steve Baron has stated that the service would break even after one year, whereas other, more nautically/business-minded people suggest three years is more realistic.

Enough for one letter; cup of tea and on to something else!(Edited)

D PARTNER
Eastown

Letters v email

I do agree with Kate Stewart's thoughts on letter writing. I often wonder how today's generation of technology wizards, texting and emailing about their lives, will remember their past (even if it is in a cloud somewhere).

Recently I revisited part of my own past. On leaving all our family and dear friends in the UK in 1973 to come to New Zealand and beautiful friendly Whanganui in particular, I had asked my mother if she would keep the letters I intended writing (and did write) on a weekly basis. I was sure my first impressions of our new country would change as time went by, which was the case.

Eventually, I received them all in an old shoe bag I had made when at school. Wow! What a trip down memory lane it has been re-reading them and remembering how this country was at that time and what it is like now: who was in power, what we did in our everyday lives, the people we met and made friends with, all the new experiences we had etc.

Writing and receiving a letter are very different from using a computer, which to me is a cold, rather impersonal way of communicating.

Despite the horrendous cost of postage, I really hope people will still correspond by letter, as I know family and friends love the personal touch.

FIONA DONNE
Aramoho

No rebellion

In response to John Robinson's insistence (letters, May 2) that New Zealand's land wars were a "rebellion" by Maori, I would suggest this is prejudicial and wrong, that it applies a derogatory appellation to what was defence against aggression.

As such, to term it a rebellion serves only to justify the actions of the aggressor, in the first instance, by the reaction to it, in the second.

The rest of his opinion is a nonsense jumble of fact and fiction.

Because:

�"Kingi" of Waitara was on his own land, not others'.

�Te Wherowhero had been much consulted by governors George Grey and Thomas Gore Browne on matters concerning Maori.

�Governor Gore Browne in 1857 concluded that the desire for a separate nationality was basic to the Maori King movement.

�As land grabs increased in number and severity, Te Wherowhero was forced into a position of opposition to government policy.

�Tamati Waka Nene was Ngapuhi; he did not represent Taranaki Iwi in anything.

Conclusion: John Robinson has difficulty accepting our recorded history and continues to write his own.

H NORTON
Kaitoke

God and the law

Paul Brooks (editorial, May 10) seems to imagine that prosecution for heresy is a likelihood in our country. He must be living in a different New Zealand from the rest of us, I think.

It is far more likely in this age of atheism that believing in God and declaring faith in Him will draw criticism, ridicule or attack.

The majority still believe in a deity, but most would have no idea what the Bible says God is like, and no interest in finding out. Now, it is fashionable for everyone to "do what is right in his own eyes" and please themselves (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 21:25; Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 21:2).

This is a typical state for human beings who do not believe in or trust the Supreme Lawgiver to whom they are answerable. Does God need protection? No. Do we need laws that balance our desire for freedom with our need to behave respectfully and responsibly? Yes.

MANDY DONNE-LEE
Aramoho