POINTS OF VIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 260, 2 November 1935, Page 18

POINTS OF VIEW.

;. THE ONLOOKER'S CASE. !, SINGLE MEN IN CAMP. "Will you permit mo to state the case of the married man in a relief camp as a rejoinder to the letter you publish over the signature of "Jinks"? The single men, as a matter of actual fact, ' are, and always have been, better off financially than the bulk of the married ' men, for if they receive less income their expenditure is also much lower. In the county council camps the food bill is high if it reaches the amount of 10/ par man, hence the single man in one of these camps usually has 17/6 at least for himself, and no married man who is doing his duty to his wife and family can afford that amount to spend upon himself every week after he has paid his food bill. Let your single man attack the task of sending enough home every week to provide food, clothing and. shelter for a wife and family, together with the various insurances and whatnot necessary for their protection, and he would find that 12/ a day, less'tax, is not a fraction too much. Further, any single man who is supporting his parents is treated as a married man, hence the "sob stuff" anent sending money home is hardly apposite. There are two in this camp who are in that position. I would also point out that a scheme administered as No. 5 is, always has abounded in anomalies and always will. Personally, I could' never understand why, under the old regime, a married man with no children received as mush as a married man with one child, while a man with two children received an increase of 2/6, and a man with three children received an increase of 12/0. However, this did not constitute a reason for writing to the Press suggesting a decrease for the man with three children, and I would suggest to "Jinks" that if he considers ho has a case to fight, by all means fight it; but leave the married men alone, as they have enough to do without rebutting the complaints of single men in their attempts to improve their own position at the expense of the married man's wife and family. As for the argument concerning the country's defence in case of war, I think it will hardly need pointing out that the burden will again fall more heavily upon the married man than upon anyone else, and a married man in a relief camp lias no more incentive to light than has a single one, in so far as material possessions are concerned. A PUPIIi OP EXPERIENCE.

IMMIGRATION. In reply to "New Zealand Scotch" may I say that it is a little too late to bring the right type of immigrant out now. Why wasn't that thought of in the first place? I cannot see that even if thousands of capable tradesmen were brought out how they are, going to get work here. New Zealand men cannot get work at their trades. I have known lots who have been apprenticed after leaving school and worked for a number of years on small wages, and where are they now? Oh the dole. New Zealand has gradually gone back since the start of immigration and to. bring more out would mean higher rents and so on. The immigrant either cannot afford to buy butter at the present prices or is determined not to do so. I have seen many of them in grocery stores buying margarine. So if that type keep coming out it is no wonder New Zealand does not go ahead. The moneyed people are the ones who will not take this sort of adventure. I don't think the riglft type will ever venture here. It is best to let sleeping dogs lie. How can you expect the people of this country to welcome people who are really taking the bread out of our mouths by taking the work away from our men ? I have heard many'visitors from other parts say New Zealanders are too humble and I honestly think we • are; yet according to "New Zealand Scotch" ire should be more humble and welcome them. IRISH.

'SUNDAY EVENING PROGRAMMES. In view of the reported statements of Mr. T.. McNab, .Mayor of Mount Eden, and Councillor Beale, that Sunday concerts, in. the city are a disgrace, we ; desire to state very definitely that this does not apply to the Sunday programme of lectures and moving pictures presented by this association in the Strand Theatre for the past few months. The conduct of our audiences has been excellent and members of the City Council who pay occasional visits of inspection have expressed themselves as favourably impressed by the orderly nature of the proceedings. A number of organisations present Sunday entertainments and it is reasonable to request that the charges should be substantiated or withdrawn. The City Council is to "be"'congratulated upon its action in catering, for the many thousands of citizens who desire some form of relaxation on Sunday evenings, and it would be interesting to know what section of the' -Municipal Corporations Act is •assumed by the deputy-May or of Mount Eden to impose on councils any obligations to override all■', other interests, in 'the. community. A. ROBINSON, Secretary, Rationalist Association and Sunday Freedom League.

EMPIRE TRADE. ,\l.Very clearly. "Britain First" is the complete patriot: he scorns to be put out of his stride by anything so trivial as a few inconvenient facts. And so, in the manner peculiar to his kind, he disposes of them to his own obvious satisfaction ; this is done partly by ignoring and partly by attempting to smother them under a barrage of patriotic irrelevancies; but never by coming to grips with them. Your correspondent with charming naivete states: "In my letter I carefully avoided all mention of retaliation and repercussions"; exactly. Like religion, patriotism cloaks many things; and possibly this fact influenced Dr. Johnson when he gave his famous and scathing definition of patriotism. To-: day in Abyssinia Mussolini's highly organised and equipped national bashergangs operate in the name of patriotism, and, of course, civilisation. Any dereliction of patriotic duty on the part of the writer will, I feel sure, be amply compensated -for by "Britain First": he seems endowed with enough for two —or more. I notice he concludes his letter with a call for "unswerving and unselfish loyalty of citizens in distant parts of the Empire," etc.; Great stuff; and no doubt said citizens will be duly impressed. I'll leave him. up in his patriotic cloudland. • , NEW ZEALAND FIRST. I