IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 112, 14 May 1929, Page 6

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

THE TRANSPORT BOARD. MR. ALLUM'S POSITION. (To the Editor.) The decision of the council to defer the matter of Mr. Album's resignation from the Transport Board until the next meeting is undoubtedly a wise one. Mr. Allum's ability as a man of business is well known, and his valuable services to the community should not bo lightly discarded at the very time when -they are 'most needed—in the carrying out of the projects initiated by him as chairman of the Transport Board. The main causes which contributed to Mr. Allum's defeat at the recent council. elections were: (1) The statements circulated to the effect that Mr. Alium . sought the power to raise loans without the sanction of the ratepayers. (2) The refusal of the board to provide a service equal to that provided previously by a private company which ran at a loss on the Avondale run. No. 1 was effectively disposed of by Mr. Allum at Mr. Lundon's meeting a week ago. No. 2 is obviously a splendid reason why Mr. Allum should remain on the board, and his refusal to continue a time-table which was run at a loss by a private company paying lower wages, etc., is surely a plain business matter with but one solution. The transport system has seen turbulent times, but now that the worst is over and the system is paying its way surely we can ill afford to lose the services of Mr. Allum, whose business acumen and technical knowledge has made success possible. CIVIS. ANOTHER VIEW. The suggestion that, in spite of his defeat at the municipal polls, "Mr. Allum should still retain his seat on the Transport. Board is regarded with apprehension by all supporters of democratic government. Mr. Allum's public career has not been a happy one. It will still be remembered that, as chairman of the Tramways Committee, he failed to inspire the coin-' fidenee necessary to carry the tramways extensions loan proposed by the last council. The projected extensions were badly needed, but the citizens had not sufficient confidence in Mr. Allum and his colleagues to vote the funds necessary for their execution. This was the first vote of no-confidence to which Mr. Allum was subjected, and it is a significant fact that it-concerned the very service that it is now suggested he should help to administer. This vote was strikingly confirmed at the municipal elections when Mi - . Allum was evicted from his seat on the council. Because of their dissatisfaction with Mr. Allum's administration of the tramways the public unhesitatingly rejected him as their representative. Naturally as a consequence the citizens looked for Mr. Allum's resignation of his position as the council's nominee on the Transport Board. This resignation was forthcoming in due course; to have withheld it would have been to jeopardise the success of the transport loan that was to be decided immediately. If the council rejects Mr. Allum's resignation it will mean that they are disregarding the people's mandate and that the transport loan has been secured bv false pretence. FAIR PLAY. ONLY THE BEST FOR NEW ZEALAND. , Your correspondent who signs himself "Irish New Zealander" yet writes in the tone con-, sistent with the Englishman has it that I would put a fence round New Zealand. I never suggested this. I wrote what was tantamount to a statement that undesirables should be excluded. Then the innuendo that I know not local history, and the statement that Canterbury, Wellington, etc., etc., are distinctly settlements of English origin—to this I say that he is wrong. Every town of note in the Dominion has as its most notable citizens and leaders sons of Scotland and Ireland, anckthe gate is always open for more of that kind. "Irish (?) New Zealander" makes the consistent, typical and egotistical assertion that the Englishman provides most of the wealth and character of Britain.* Now can you imagine an Irishman saying that? However, to disprove this I quote exactly what happened to a relative of mine, who is resident in Aberdeen. He is in business in a big way, and, having to go to London in connection with his business, his friends were dubious as to how he would make himself understood. He went, and upon his return was asked: "Did ye hae ony trouble in makin' yersel' understood, Mac?" "No," says he, ".for I only had to do wi' the heads." " KOMATI. [We must add that in a covering letter our correspondent assures us that this old joke really "happened" to an uncle of his.— Ed.] CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS. As one of "the mob," out of curiosity and to get an insight of how the City Council carried out its functions, I decided to pay a visit to the public gallery last Thursday night. To my surprise things were different altogether from what I expected. A question of great importance was put to the Mayor by Mr. Lundon, asking if the order papers could be supplied to the members prior to the meeting. The Mayor said it could not be done. I have it from good authority that the London County Council, which is nearly nine times the size of the Auckland City Council, supplies each member with an order paper two days before each meeting. In that case members have time to read, digest and get prepared to voice their opinion on the various items as they come along. Another thing I expected to see was the various committees elected at this —the first—meeting of the 'new council, but they had already been chosen. W. T. DANIELS. EVOLUTION IN SCHOOLS. After attending the "Evolution in Schools" meetiug in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening I feel compelled to say a few words about the manner in which this subject was dealt with. In the first place, the subject was advertised to be "Evolution in Schools." The first speaker in a discourse of about three-quarters of an hour touched about once on the subject advertised, most of the time being taken up with a religious address damning the vile theory as one of the devil's own, not the effect the theory would have if taught in the schools. Generally when a person goes in for public speaking he or she attains at least a rudimentary knowledge of the subject to be spoken of. In this case, the speaker impressed on his audience how degrading a belief evolution was, as it teaches that man ascended from an ape. Any person who has taken the trouble to read a scientific work on evolution, such as Haeckel's "Evolution of Man," knows that neither Haeckel nor any other scientist makes any such statement. The theory of evolution is, among other things, that man has ascended from a lower order of being than he is to-day, not that man has ascended from an ape. The next speaker, Dr. Pettit, chose the subject of "Evolution and Scieeice," and put up a most convincing argument (to anyone who knows nothing at all about science or evolution). This was nothing but a pure and simple tirade against scientists and their works. Instead of the audience hanging on the words of the speaker as it would have done had the speech been of any instructive merit, both the speaker and audience joined in the general mirth at the ideas expounded by science. I think myself that there is no need to teach evolution in our primary schools, as the subject is rather too heavy for young children. Time enough to think about this when the sixth standard has been passed and the child bee-ins to think for itself, DISGUSTED.