SIR,-1 am sorry that Mr. Haig should regard what
I wrote as amusing or disgusting. He has read letters to the VSO office expressing appreciation; I have read letters expressing disquiet. 1 do not doubt his sincerity in viewing any criticism of VSO's new regime as constituting disloyalty, and I can see that, as a retired colonial administrator and newcomer to the HQ staff, he finds it hard to understand how former volunteers feel about changes in the adminis- tration and atmosphere.
I would ask him, in equal sincerity and devotion to what this movement should stand for, to believe that those of us who served in earlier years feel we were regarded as responsible partners, sharing the confidence of the direction. Now it would seem volunteers are permitted only to know what HQ thinks is good for them to know: and this did not apparently cover the departure of the chairman, founder and director, still less any of the deeper issues involved. Of course, it would have been easy to remain silent out of consideration to those still in the field. as well as to those about to begin their service. But it was better, I thought, to voice the anxieties of not a few volunteers, than to'quietly watch the 'takeover of VSO by the Establishment, with all that this has since meant.
M. M. ELLIOTT c/a 23 West Park Avenue, Kew Gardens, Surrey
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