WAR TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 60, 11 March 1915, Page 7

WAR TOPICS.

'VIEWS OF CORRESPONDENTS. ' war mnms. "Contributor" writes: —"A week has elapsed since I asked through your columns the amount received by the Base Hospital Fund from the proceeds of a ■ demonstration held at Takapuna Tacecourse on February 20. Silence has been observed by those intimately concerned. 1 maintain that before any body or committee is allowed to gather, money from the public lor charitable and philanthropic purposes 'the sanction of the authorities should be first had, and advertised."

MR. LLOYD GEORGE ON THE LIQUOR PROBLEM.

J. D. Jory write?: "H.J." in "the "Star" gives as a reason why no Finance Minister would he likely to favour the prohibition of liquor in England, the statement that the Government derives fifty million pounds annually from the traffic, hut "H.J." does not tell us 'how much it costs the Government to look after, and try to regulate the traffic: nor does he tell us who it is that really pays this large sum, nor does he say how much has to Ibe spent at the bars of England by these who purchase and consume drink, in order'that this large sum may reach tile coffer and exchequer. No doubt Mr. Lloyd George knew what he was talking about when he said, "Drink was doing more damage than all the German submarines." Seeing, therefore, that it is costing England so many millions weekly to deal with the German enemy, surely it would be a good bargain to get rid of the liquor enemy, even at the loss of fifty million pounds per year. What ahout Russia?"

GIFTS FOB OUR SOLDIERS. .' Evelyn Clifton Firth writes: "The members of the Soldiers' Gift Club have been confused by a recently-printed I notice from Wellington, stating that parcels intended as gifts for the Expeditionary Force now in Egypt must be addressed to oflicers, and marked ' Soldiers' Gift Club,' and this may be posted under one cover. This alteration has not solved the postal difficulty, and the club is in communication i*itli the Post-master-General about the matter. Until this is definitely settled the addresses supplied to members must be adhered to, and sample post only must be used. Directly any satisfactory arrangement is made, it will be advertised. The Post-master-General i s doing every thing to help us in this matter, and hag communi--cated with London and Egypt. It is not of interest to Auckland only, for branches of the Soldiers' Gift Club have been opened at Ardmore, Waikato, Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui, and Stratford are fallowing suit, and -we hope to sec North Auckland take up its own men." MEETING THE WAR COST. "LXXX." writes:—"The cry will be: ' Tax my mother, sister, brother, but for suke do not tax me!' At present the man who has little property beyond a corkscrew and a tobacco pouch contributes possibly more towards the revenue than the individual who owns Queen Street property"" For war purposes without sayiiig that the i. human who-'has the more to lose should bo taxed in proportion. Judging by the' . present price of .butcher's'meat someone, i presumably the farmer, must be coining money, owing to ■the exigence of war. Tax the self-propelled vehicles, a delight- : ful luxury for those who recline therein, ' but a blatant, noxious, dangerous nuis- . nnce to the pedestrian -who takes the i dust of it. The wowser, in his- own , imagination, is a worthy citizen who up- , holds the dignity of the State by his virtuous example of abstinence "from articles that might prove deleterious to his health; but in Tegard to helping to meet the war cost, he is a rank failure, and should he got at through the sugar, . tea, coffee and cocoa lie may consume or a property tax might exact a contribution. ! An export duty on all farm produce , when the local prices shall have reached . certain stipulated figures might be worth [ the consideration of our sapient legislators. The movies, thanks to war picj turcs, are now more crowded than ever. j Why not an extra license fee in proportion to average takings! Tlie absentee, also, is a proposition worthy of the re- ' venue hunter's attention. It is unfair ' that baccy and beer should he further ] penalised to protect the other man's wealth.""

G. McKnight writes: —"There is quite a disturbance, vide Saturday's "Star," as to the allocation of the necessary war tax. The public once more gets a review of a long procession of impecunious, if not destitute, persons, industries, corporations, etc. The poverty-stricken tote has visions of a heart-breaking visit to the Charitable Aid Board if its ten per cent is further encroached upon, the proprietors of numerous picture shows and other amusements see themselves going round with the hat at a time when coin is very scarce. The big primary producers, hot the small farmers, with their large stocks of foodstuffs, now at record prices, have dreams of a regiment Of bailiffs commandeering their motor-care arid such other necessaries without which life to them will .be a dreary nightmare. The beer tax, too, that floats the ship of State, must not be increased; or the said ship will find itself stranded on the 6andy shoal of desolation. There is however, that never-failing source of s revenuc, the patient, long-suffering, horse, the people. This loud outcry from tire very much interested persons'is simply the desire, to save their pockets at the expense of tire other fellow. The present Government will, no doubt, take the line of least resistance, and follow the old absurd and, unsound system of taxing those least able to 'bear it. The Finance Minister will be looking around for some means to placate the influence of jested interests which are now applying their pressure to save themselves, and the collective interests will be, as usual, sacrificed. It is well known, or ought to be, i that the taxation of any industry (employment) or means by which taxation can be passed on to the bulk of the consumers, the workers, especially in a time -of trade depression, has always proved a dismal failure and only accentuates the position. To reduce the purchasing power of the people" only increases unemployment, which Causes further unemployment infiditum. This with-the financial aftermath which will

be upon us in full force before the end of the war, puts' all crude and unsound methods of raising revenue quite out of court if New Zealand is to escape, to some extent, the greatest financial depression the world' has ever -known. ; I •would, therefore, suggest a rise of the graduated land tax, and a tax on luxuries—a large sum will he required—as opposed to loans even with 36 years' sinking funds'or the placing of any further burdens on the public, which will "only react in a way that..will be detrimental to the national welfare"

, BE WHO SOOR|S f SHOUtD^AX. "Cynicus" writes:—"Mr. Massey is reported to have arrangement, with the shipping companies "I brought back three of these vessels in ballast at very considerable cost to the country, but by so doing effected a great saving of time to the producers, who were naturally anxious to get their meat away.' Awfully nice for the producers, but how about the taxpayer who hays no financial interest in products in the farm?-

AMERICA'S ATTITUDE. "W.D." writes: "I heartily endorse every word of your leading article in •/esterday's (March 4th) 'Star,' under the heading of 'The Two Xotes.' The 'Yanks' .are out after the.dollar for themselves and nothing else. I do hope the British Government will not reduce one ounce of the pressure at present being put upon the brutal Germans. I do not "suppose there is much chance of this happening, biit I think it would be a wise move on the part of our Government and the other overseas units of the Empire if they were to urge Sir Eward Grey to stand firm, and ion no account to relax the vigour of the British blockade. I think the Allies have the Germans in a hole just now, and the quickest way.-to end the war will be to starve them into submission." -..

THE COST OF LIVING. "Plain Bill" writes:—"The cost of living is-becoming a very serious matter to the workers in this Dominion. Can you tell us what the Government have done or are doing for us in this crisis? Let Mr. Massey take a pattern from the Xew SoutlTWales Government, who ar e trying the experiment of making the wages go further by establishing a market authority in Sydney, having complete control of the whole of the food supplies of that city. They are also establishing State-owned bakeries, and reckon that if they can sell bread at a penny per loaf below the present it will mean a saving to the ; people of. £1>'250.000 a year! The. worker hasj responded magnificently"'' to the appeal! of the 'Press in New Zealand for recruits to fight for the Empire. It is up to I that same Press'to do their little bit for the worker by bringing pressure to War upon the food rings that are exploiting us at the present time." "Marianne Jones" writes:—"Will -you kindly publish the following extract from an English paper, da{ed7Januarj' 24th, received to-day:—The average price of British wheat for the week ending January 16th, as given by th e "London Gazette," was 48/9 per quarter.. This present-week it has reached 33/ at Guilford and St.-Ives. Wheat -at .**2/ means flour atHf>7: "flour at 40/ meani* id as the selling price,ofthe loaf. Therefore" we need not wonder* that thje quartern_loafnow_costs 7*d. In Margate it is already Bd, and many of pur East London makers predict that it will goon be lid.'.-In Russia, bread, beef, and butter have Jeen substantially reduced. . A Russian living in Xew Zealand; lately remarked. If this is God's own country the sooner hie, takes it back the better.' and there are I many who marvel at tin* title under present conditions."

•ANOTHER IRISH BRIGADE. "Justitia-' "writes weeks A»o 1" wrote in your columns, calling attention to the formation of an Irish Brigade in Ireland in order to proceed to the seat t-- n i a « * lla - v - e - owto chrohicle'anotHer Tii-h Brigade, which has been completed 4>nd sanctioned by the War Office, at Aewcastlejon-Tj-ne. It comprises four battalions 0f..1,350 men each, 0r,250. ifl excess of the usual quota. The brigade -via be under the command of BrigadierGeneral Collins, while Colonels Byrne, Hackett and Hussey Walsh will have command of the first, second and third battalions respectively, and it is expected that Colonel Esmonde—a 'relative-'of- Sir Tlioa. Edmonde. M.P.—will be .appointed to-the command, of the fourth battalion. The Organisers of the brigade have asked the War Office to send the Tyneside Irish Brigade to Ireland to complete its preparation for the front. Owing to insufficient accommodation in Ireland, this may unfortunately be impjracticalile. It is Worthy of record that "Mr. Cowan, of Newcostlc-on-Tyne, the -son of : the famous "Joe" Cowan, has borne' the expense, running into tens of thousands of pounds, of organising the brigade. The brigade stands to-day as.a separate and distinct Irish unit in the armies:of the Allies. In another part- or" the Empire, in South Africa, the hewTyforincd Irish Regiment left Pretoria oh Tuesday, December 8, on active service, destination, of course,' unknown. Pre-' paratory to entraining the regiment Jwas paraded in front of the railway station; when its hon. colonel, Mrs. Louis Botha, presented the regiment with its' regimental coJoure. The flag,-of green silkj bear's the arms of the -Union of South Africa, end oh it arc inscribed the words "Erin-go-Bragh." Mrs. Botha, in presenting the flag to Colonel Brennan, said they had assembled to give the sneh of the Irish Regiment a beartv send-off. She thanked them for their share in guarding Pretoria. She appreciated the privilege of'having her name associated with the regiment. General Botha, through ' stress' of duty,'was unavoidably absent. His Excellency the Governor and Lady .Buxton inspected the regiment before its departure. Lord MacDonneH, speaking fn- the* House of' Lords on- January 8 of this year.-said.: "Since the passage of the Home Rule Rill 115,000 Irishmen had joined thecolours from England, Scotland and Wales. If to that number were added the number of men. who had "joined from Ireland itself, they, would find 1 , .thai Ireland's contribution, exceeded 206;0OO men. Considering the peculiarities of Ireland in the matter of the ages of the population, as cOmpafetf'Svith the rest of the Kingdom, it would be found that Ireland had done more, than her share. If the same, percentage had ..been contributed; by England, Scotland .and Ireland, there would be an army of over 2,000,000 men." -Sir Edward Carsoh\ speaking at- Maralin, County Down, on January 7 this year, stated that Ulster had sent 17,000 men to the front. Now, if the IISjOOO Irishmen, vide Lord MacDonneH, from Great Britain be added to Ulster's quota of 17.000, we have a , total of 132,000, and if this latter total be deducted from the grand total of 200,000, again quoting Lord MacDonneH, i Nationalist Ireland's contribution to the fighting forces amounts to 68,000. The significance of :4the latter figures will be appreciated*'when - atteiitidn is -directedto- what Lord-MacDonneH above"refers to as "the peculiarities of Ireland in the, matter of the ages of the population "as compared withjthe .rest of the Kingdom." What are they?- The--total emigration | ifrprn Ireland in -1913-was 30,887;--OH this number 90 in every 100 were between 1 the ages-of 15 and 35 years of age,, the' period from, which soldiers are fashioned. This drain upon the youth and manhood i Of the" country has now happily j but since -the forties up to two years ago it has been constant and appalling.. While Great Britain has', increased its' population, pftraaWy •doubling it, since the forties, Ireland's has increased by one-half. Lord MacDonneH is right in saying that Ireland "had done more than her share'" when we estimate hex attenuated -riMßrata.