Dél Keresztje, 1953 (3. évfolyam, 3-24. szám)

1953-02-15 / 3-4. szám

1953. FEBR. 15. DECLARATION OF MR. HOLT AT CANBERRA ON THE 24 JAN. 1953. "National Associations of migrants, are valuable and ne­cessary links in the chain of circumstances which assist "the migrants in their gradual adaptation to the new conditions. It's natural that the migrants want to preserve their traditions and that they remain attached to their native country. Put ourselves in their place. This is all the more true as regards migrants who came here because they have been driven out of their own country. These migrants hope for the liberation of their country and it is their right to expect THAT THEY WILL RETURN THERE ONE DAY, although we hope that they will stay with us even should their country be free again." GOLD COAST COMMENTS In colonial dependencies of differing maturity, it has been the British practice to form, as a first step towards self-gov­ernment, Consultative or Legis­lative Assemblies. Invariably, however, British control of such bodies was assured by having numbers to outweigh those not yet ripe to decide their own fate. On the whole, this was a reasonable arrange­ment: it enabled the King’s Government to be carried on and at the same time educated the representative minority. We feel that the same ar­rangement was put to test at the recent Citizenship Conven­tion in Canberra, but with re­sults far less satisfactory. We immigrants were probably the central subject of the Conven­tion. However, our case (if we have one) was argued not by our own selected spokesman, but by people the Government thought should represent us. In effect, immigrant speakers at the Convention were appointed just as they are appointed in West Africa Africa, Uganda or the Malay States, to speak for Her Majesty’s “backward peo­ple.” We have mo personal objec­tion to the gentlemen chosen to represent us. But we object to the pirnciple, both from our own and from the general Aus­tralian poitn of view. We may be “Backward” politically, and it might have been actually risky for the organizers of the Convention to admit as our spokesmen people selected by us an dus alone. But how are we to “grow politically” if we are denied the opportunity to use democratic processes ? There is noe use in denying that now, and for some time to come, we do have special problems, problems which affect us as im­migrants and which admit of solution through special chan­nels only, if at all. The more is this so as few of us have ac­cess to the ordinary channel— Parliament—through which to put forward our views and suggestions, let alone to air our grievances. In theminimum pe­riod of five years until an im­migrant gets the right to vote in an Australian election, he sorely needs some sort of rep­resentation in some sort of a panel concerned with his prob­lems. The Citizenship Conven­tion, for all its shortcomings, could have become such a pan­el. What a pity that it has been made into a mere sounding­­board of Government policy in­stead, with our “representa-tives” appointed from above. Small wonder that immi­grants as a whole feel, on top of the social, cultural and ec­­omic frustrations of the diffi­cult adjustment period, a feel­ing of political frustration. Great wonder that not more fall victim to subservise politi­cal extremes. Drifting as they do without even a semblance of anchor, they naturally magnify their real or imagined griev­ances, feel discrimination even where there is none and lose faith where faith is due. Help-Tn^themt^havr^mce^^ruly their own, even if those voices were discordant with the com­placent tone of a Citizenship Convention, would have meant safety valves invaluable to the very people who staged it. Mr. Holt is one of the few members of the present Govern­ment who knows that it is bet­ter to win over people than to silence them. Yet he, too, has chosen to follow a practice which may be statesmanlike on the Gold oCast but creates bad blood around Surry Hills. DEL KERESZTJE 7 Oldal MEGLEPETEST szerez magyarországi hozzátartozóinak, barátainak. VÁMMENTES IKKA CSOMAGGAL ! Csomagokat a címzett minden költség nélkül kapja kézhez.. Kérje árjegyzékünket! Z. P. CSETI BOX 5270 G.P.O. SYDNEY Befizetőhelyek: Victoria: OPTO 430 Bourke St., Melbourne. South Australaia: B. Batho, Box IG20M G.P.O. Adelaide. Kérjük a címre ügyelni, mert máshol nem működik meg­bízottunk! Weights, Measures and European Union A story is told of a veteran British parachutist whose chest, covered with decorations, caught the eye of Field Marshal Mont­gomery. “You must have jum­ped many times”, asked the Field Marshal; and the veter­an stammered: “No, Sir, I have never jumped. But I have been pushed over bl------ often.” The story is typically British. Brit­ons love courage, but, precisely because they love it, they are shy about showing their love On the other hand, this people that is so loath to be praised for its most eminent qualities suffers from the van­ity of fancying it possesses qualities which it actually lacks. The British are, for in­stance, convinced that they are a practical people — a quite delightful illusion on their part. It is only a few weeks ago that the British Pharmaceutical Society took the plunge (or was pushed — I don’t know) and de­cided to convert to the decimal system of weights and meas­ures. A century and a half lat­ter this system was contrived, and well over a century after it was all but universally adopted, the chemists of Great Britain 4 Válassza ki az önnek legmegfelelőbb dohányt a minőségi gyártmányokból. TiliUtfvfc gyártmányokért szavatol az elmúlt IOO Egyéni ízléséhez legjobban illő dohányt! Ez a kitűnő sorozat a cigarettá­­sok és pipások legváltozatosabb igényeit szolgálja ki! Az ÖN ízlését is teljes mértékben kie­légíti, ha a Misdorp sorozatból választ és­­ azt az előnyt is élvezi, hogy biztosan minő­séget váráról.

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