IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 64, 17 March 1930, Page 6

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

AN ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL"/ NEW CHURCH NOT NECESSARY, r J (To the Editor.) Everyone will heartily endorse your tribute to Archbishop Averill in your leader in the issue of March 10, but probably many willii'. agree with me in thinking that the construction of a cathedral on the site adjoining St. Mary's would be unwarranted and an extravagance. The backblocks are crying out for clergy and churches, and any money that could be raised would be much better spent in that direction. The stipends of the clergy also need raising. Further, the proposed site, is too far from the centre of the city. The obvious course is to make St. Matthew's the, cathedral. This church is a stately building' of permanent material, and could be beautified, e.g., by filling the principal windows with stained glass, and made fully worthy of being the cathedral. The present church accommodation in Auckland is more than ample, the churches being usually far from full, and this is not a time to erect, at great expense, a new catheflral for Auckland. R.B.G. " * THE SPIRIT OF SCOUTING. One signing himself "Scouter' in recent correspondence concerning military training:/ speaks with such lack of understanding of the * ideas and ideals of the Scout brotherhood that one is tempted to think that his association with the movement is somewhat remote. The fact that the organisation is a brotherhood is surely sufficient reply to the absurd suggestion that boys should be conscripted to our ranks. When our chief (Lord Baden Powell) conceived the idea of this greatest of world games for boys over 21 years ago, those for whom it was designed flocked to his ranks , from all corners of the globe. The whole, 1 secret of the success of the movement lies in its freedom and its self-discipline by means of that intangible something—Scout spirit. Make scouting compulsory, and you lose at ■- once the romance, the spirit of adventure— "the essence and spirit of scouting." Perhaps "Scouter" might cogitate over the old adage, "You may take a horse to water . . ." or tha Scout saying, "Softlee, softlee, catchee monkey." L. S. ABBOTT, S.M. Leys Institute Group, .... CRUELTY TO CATS More than one case has lately caught "my attention in which cats or small kittens have been carried from their homes, where they were not wanted, and left in gardens, or, as in one case, on a window sill of some . business premises in the city. These kittens I allude to were very thin, and starved looking, and' their chances of being picked up and taken to good homes were negligible, and from inquiries there is no doubt they were just dumped there by someone too selfish (he himself \fould say too tender-hearted) to mercifully destroy them. I am glad to say that some young people who worked amply fed these poor little unwanteds,' and gave them milk. The cruelty inspector saw them later, and, as v they were very miserable, he painlessly disposed of them. As the Prevention of Cruelty; Society is so ready always to attend to complaints of cruelty, and do such a of good in much, more important cases, I think all lovers of the dumb animal should give a subscription (even if only a small one) at least once a year, remembering that "the merciful i shall obtain mercy." K. M. WILDING. HOSPITAL LEVY AND PETROL TAX. The eVer-increasing burden of rates and • taxes ~is oppressive to the public as a whole, but more particularly to that progressive type of person who is attempting to secure a home of his own, but is handicapped in doing so by the ever-increasing system _of rating. The hospital levy is a case in point. 1 ' No humane person would oppose this levy, as it is an essential part of the public service, but to my mind it could be much more, equitably apportioned if the expenses incurred through motor accidents could be met by an additional tax on benzine. Ratepayers and local bodies could then be relieved of the addi-. tional expense incurred through motor accidents, which are increasing daily as the result of the construction of concrete and similar classes of speed roads which the ratepayer, in good faith, has already paid for. I understand that the percentage of motor accident cases in our hospitals is very high, and as this increase in hospital upkeep is the direct result of the quite recent change from horse to motor transport it would, to my mind, be quite a fair adjustment to charge this additional expense to the benzine tax, or, better still, to increase the tax to meet the hospital requirements. An additional tax of one halfpenny per gallon on benzine used for motor traffic would produce sufficient revenue to cover the greater part of hospital levies throughout New Zealand, and it would, at the same time, relieve ratepayers and local bodies of an additional burden which recent transport changes have compelled them to shoulder. ALEX. H. WILIvIE. BURNS' POEMS. Let me briefly reply to Mr. H. T. Henderson. It was only to the poem, "Epistle to a Young Friend" to which I felt I had heard another Sermon on the Mount. Be the poem, "Man Was Made to Mourn," surely most of us who have been familiar with the preface know it was only in a satirical mood that Burns wrote the poem. Rationalists are fond of quoting Christ's sayings if there is a doubt of their real meaning, but Shakespeare knew what lie was talking about when lie said, "It is the spirit which enriches the body." _ So ill that sense we- must take Christ's meaning: Those who have much will be given more, and * those with little will lose that, not in a. material sense. BETTY KING. UNEMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTION. With all due courtesy to Mr. A. E. Robinson, increased production is the one and only remedy for unemployment in this Dominion. . New Zealand is a primary production country pure and simple, with large areas of unoccupied Crown land, and in plain English it is the duty of the State to prove the potential value of the said unoccupied land. The Reform party made no efl'ort to do so, but the United party, I am hoping, will. If it had not been for the post-war land inflation —caused mostly by incompetent Reform legislation —rural land would still be regarded as gilt-edged security, and as a matter of fact rural land is, or should be, the main gilt-edged security. If the Reformers had thought less in terms of unnecessary, non-productive works, anu more in terms of increased Crown land settlement, unemployment would be negligible in New Zealand to-day. This is the solution of our economic problems in a nutshell: Importations and borrowing (both national and local body) should be cut down to a minimum, and production increased to a maximum. C. SCOTT. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "DISAPPOINTED," Main Road, St. Helier's, writes complaining of poor pressure of water when he uses his garden hose. Inquiries show that no complaints have been made to the waterworks department that there is poor pressure at St. Helier's, ana £ the cause of "Disappointed's" trouble may be something due to a defect in his pip e system. PRECISION.—Rather a matter for direct com* munication with the company.