ABATTOIRS AND FREEZING WORKS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19667, 10 July 1929, Page 17

ABATTOIRS AND FREEZING WORKS.

1 , SO TBS XDXTOS 0» THZ PBX-SS. t sir,—"We note that the City Council 1 last evening decided to 6eek power to compel the slaughter at the abattoirs of 3 all stock sold for consumption in the s City. The public may be misled by this 3 into believing that the killing of such 1 stock at the freezing works is the cause * of some financial loss to the City. Such , a belief would be contrary to the faets, • as the fee imposed on stock killed at - the freezing works is more than the > charge levied on butchers killing at the ■ abattoirs. We may illustrate this by taking the killing of 1000 sheep and lambs as an I example. If, in the first case, half of these were killed at the freezing works '. and half at the abattoirs, the City's . gross revenue after paying inspection fees would be £36 10s. If, in the second case, all the stock -were killed at the abattoirs, the gross revenue would be only £23, or £l3 10s per 1000 less. In order to obtain the same total revenue from those sheep, if freezing companies were prevented from handling any of them, the Council would have to increase the present fee oi 6d per head (including inspection fees) to over 9d per head. The increase would be even greater in the case of beef, though not so great for calves and pigs, which are relatively few iu number. Should the proposed reduction in fees eventuate the disparity will still exist, but will not be so great. The facts are as follows: (1) The City gains and will gain financially by every carcase that !is killed at the freezing works. (2) Many butchers enjoy from the » freezing works services which I they could not obtain if they 'killed at the abattoirs. ; (3) The public gains both from the ' ! increased revenue to the City ! and from the better services ob- J | tainable from many butchers. [ (4) The control and inspection in i the interests of public health is , just as complete at the freezing 1 works as it is at the abattoirs, j i These facts are put forward baldly, : ; as we think they are so obvious that; > | they require no explanation, but if it is ( i desired that they 6honld be further ; substantiated we suggest that a public j "enquiry should be held*—Yours, etc., j H. S. E. TUBNEB. | Xew Zealand Manager. I The N.Z. Refrigerating Co.. Ltd, July 9th, 1929.

" ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN ] FRONT." 1 '.-3 TH» Eairca C 7 TSS -»»S3- I Sir, —Complaint is often made that i returned soldiers will not talk about J the war. A bowdlerized description, i therefore an incomplete and untrue 1 one. is demanded- from hin as a form ) of entertainment comparable to the j thrill of ghost stories. He sometimes gives it with his tongue in his cheek . and bitterness in his heart. Remarque j has now given a truer account, aad many people do not seem to like it! j We ar/told that the book i 3 unsuit- j able for people under twenty. That j may- be so V I have rot rei'l it). It has merely been quoted to me. I j served with the Imperial Forces, whose numbers were so great that we were unable to be granted the bountiful rewards given, quite properly, to returned Dominion troops. Further, in common with a number of others, I turned, not of necessity, to a very poorly remunerated occupation as affording an opportunity to continue to do my bit in the attempt to ensure that the sacrifices of the war should not be wasted. Therefore I am not in a position to spend six shillings lightly. Under twenty! Had I the pen of a Eemarqne I could tell —although perhaps you would not care to publish them —stories of young folk under twenty in the war in such circumstances that death from gangrene would have been a happy and quick release. Their plight was no fault of their own. It was brought about by the blindness, self-satisfaction, and laziness in thought of their elders as citizens, by their elders' mock-modesty, and confusion of innocence with ignorance. We of the war generation paid the price—a price that cannot be named. We therefore claim to speak with authority when we do speak, and we say to our elders and to all civilians, "Less noise! Talk a very great deal less, and think and work a great deal more. Learn from every available source, however startling, what war really is. Think upon its causes—ignorance, of thought, national selfishness, laziness of citizens, things which allow their loaders to drift into international crises, and to justify them by Jingoistic cries. Think of the penalty paid by youth." We are told that if there is another World War, which God forbid, it will centre round the Pacific. It behoves New Zealand, in common with other civilised countries, to strain every nerve to make impossible the conditions which make for war, not here and there by small societies, but by the whole political and commercial attitude of the country, or some young people who will be under twenty will learn worse things than have yet been told "on the Western Front."

"All th* world over, nursing their ecare, Sit the old fighting-men broke in the warsSit tho old fighting-men, ar.rly and grim. Mocking the lilt of the conqueror's hymn. Many civilians are still lustily singing that hymn. When they are quiet, when they are ready to listen, returned soldiers will talk of the war, bnt it will be shocking.—Tours, etc., DURHAM LIGHT INFANTBT. July 9th, 1929. TO THIS WHTOB OF THX ntSM. Sir, —Apparently Mr Archer.has aot learnt the difference between defence and defiance, judging by his tirade against war, in hia reference to the book, "All Quiet on the Western Front," No one in his sane senses wants to see another war snch as we have emerged from successfully, but do not let us adopt ostrich tactics in respect of its lessons. No one can deny that we are not destined for perfect peace in this life, and that the glory of power is for ever uppermost in the hearts of some nations. Hence it is decidedly unwise to go on with indiscriminate disarmament. I would like to remind Mr Archer of the experience of many soldiers during the war. Their trenches were shelled, killing and maiming many, and their own guns were silent, the artillery being under instruction not to fire until the enemy attacked. Lack of ammunition was the reason for this state of affairs, and while soldiers were being subjected to this treatment, munition workers were striking for higher wages. Had Britain been prepared for common defence prior to this last war, it is safe to say that it would never have lasted anywhere near the length of time it did. Time and time again we were robbed of victory due to lack of munitions. Is Mr Archer in favour of this state of affairs! It is our duty not to besmirch the glorious heritage those soldiers who have fallen have handed on to ns at such a price.—Yours, etc., SPKEYDON. July 9th, 1929.