IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 139, 14 June 1929, Page 6

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

SOUTH ISLAND MAIN LINE. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ATTJTUDg. (To the Editor.) If one had set oneself the task of ej]deav. ouring to see how many fallacies it would be possible to cram into a third of a column of newspaper one could scarcely have succeeded better than your correspondent J. Higlop on the above subject. The ability of Sir Joseph Ward as exhibited in the past is not in question, but surely it does not follow, as your correspondent rather naively assumes, that the Prime Minister's judgment is infallible upon the Wharanui-Parnassus, or for that matter any other, specific issue, especially one of so highly technical a character, Nor can the view be seriously sustained that because there exist to-day certain railways that do not pay therefore the construction of further railways thqt appear to have no reasonable prospect of pay. ing is justified. The Fay-Raven Commission of 1924, it is true, advocated the filling of the gap in question incidentally to a report on railway administration. The decision was arrived at purely on general grounds without full investigation of the project in the light of local conditions, and indeed the commission was not called upon to examine in detail ques* tions of railway construction policy, . Mr. Hislop apparently does not know that a full examination of the project in the light of local conditions was subsequently made by two highly-qualified expert officers of the Railway Department, Messrs. Casey and Fay, junior. Their report appears as an appendix to the 1920 Railways Statement and it roundly condemns the whole project on economic grounds, even when its feeder value to the main system is taken into account. This report has never been seriously called into question except in respect of the most minor details, and one challenges Mr. Hisiop, who apparently claims to know more about the matter than either of these railway experts, or for that matter than the executive of the Chamber of Commerce, to show in what respects the report is misleading. It may, of course, be true that the indirect benefits of the completion of the South Island Main Trunk line warrant its completion, and the probable saving of time as compared with existing schedules for mails and passengers between Auckland and South Island towns is not disputed. The onus ig ? however, clearly on those who are opposed to the findings of the local railway experts to show that such indirect benefits' are worth more to the community as a whole than the very real danger of the imposition of a, burden of at the very least £150,000 annually upon the Consolidated Fund. The writer is in an exceptional position to gauge the feeling of the general body of members pf the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and cap assure Mr, Hisiop that the views of the majority of the members of the Chamber of Commerce and the views of Mr. Hisiop are diametrically opposed. This matter has been fully examined by a committee of the Chamber of Commerce in the light of all the data available in official Departmental reports, and, further, the chamber is not actuated by any political prejudices whatsoever, but is solely desirous of reducing rather than increasing the burden of taxation under which New Zealand is at present groaning. Even the South Island is not wholehearted for the railway, and the "Otago Daily Times" has described the Prime Minister's attitude on the subject as "distinctly amusing." E. P. NEALE.

FARES FOR CHILDREN. ] I read with interest Mr. Allum's remarks re cheap travelling for children on the trams, No doubt he intends to make up the deficit oi| the school buses, as the fares on the Mount Roskill School bus have risen from sixpence for ten rides to one and six for ten rides. Is it , ' fair to expect parents to pay fourpence a day return for, school children for this short diptance, when they can ride from Royal Oak to town on -a one-and-sixpenny ticket, and from Remuera and Mount Albert to town on a one-and-tlireepenny ticket? Let me state that the children were not told of the increase in fares until two days before, and no new tickets were available. The fares were increased in this unjust fashion after it had been stated publicly that a number of children were to be moved from Bi'ixton Road School to Mount Roskill School. As the distance from Landscape Road to Mount Roskill School is only about two sections on any other route, and this is where the majority of the children come from, why should we be penalised by making it a five-section ride? Surely we people pay enough on the Dominion Road. feeder bus to cover any slight loss on a school bus which makes two trips a day, A PAEENT. EVOLUTION IN SCHOOLS. Mr. N. Burton admits that evolution is not Darwinism. But he does not seem to realise that it is only towards Darwinism thatujo Churches have an antipathy, and that it is this misapprehension that 'is responsible for all the trouble. Mr. Burton is mistaken_ in saying that J. McCabe is against Christianity., He merely objects to the teaching of the Churches. Mr. Burton says that McCabe is an atheist. It is certainly true that he l'idi* cules the idea of the Churches' bloodthirsty God, but so dp all sensible folk. To talk of _ evolution necessitates the idea of a Creator, ■ ■ If it is developing towards a final goal it stands to reason that it had a beginning, or it would be "revolving," not evolution, Ofl page twenty-five of his latest work, to which I have already referred, Mr, McCabe says: "Naturally there are difficulties about evolution; myriads of difficulties. There are so many difficulties that some scientific men urgo us to confine ourselves to facts and leave it to a later generation to speculate about causes and effects." He says, he is ready "to abandon a theory when a fact turns up which is incon* sistent with" a theory. Darwin himself ad- _ mitted a Creator. Sir A. Keith, in his latest_ book ("Concerning Man's Origin") states, paSP 42: "Creation has been, is now and ever be a condition of human existence." If Darwin- - ism is given up and a Creator not denied, the whole religious difficulty resolves itself _ into a foolish misconception based on a literal interpretation of the words of the Authorised _ Version of the Scripture. Mr. Burton can t liavdly consider this a sufficient reason for withholding from our schools the fascinating truths of Nature, interpreted as the method employed by the Creator. E. S. DUKES. • THE HARBOUR BRIDGE. Mr. Alison says the Harbour Bridge | 8 premature and that the ratepavers will nave to foot the bill. But Mr. Alison does not state that the bridge might open up all idle lauds at the back of the Shore and nw® what are now stagnant areas into profitaM® holdings. As far as the cost is concerned, * , think if the Government would allow prennuW bonds to be issued such a scheme would for the cost of the bridge and be of benefit *® bond holders, for sooner or later they receiv® a return for the bonds tliey hold and the schew' is in no way like an art union. I think money > invested in this way would be more profitable than what is staked on racehorses, which, one* , lost, is gone forever. ■■ i FLORENCE WORTHINGTO>\;