LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24712, 1 November 1945, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

1. Letters sent- to the Editor for printing must be written in ink on one side ot the paper only and writers must-send in their names and addresses in full, whether they wish these to be printed or not 2. Writers must say clearly whethei or not their letters are being or -have been sent to other papers. a. The Editor cannot return or Keep any letter which tor any reason- is unsuitable tor printing, nor can he acknowledge unsuitable letters, although this will be done where it seems to be needful, or enter into any correspondence about letters sent in. 4 Letters must not be of more than 15U words in length. Robbie.—Thank you. Have sent your letter to the correspondent. Brown Jack.—Thank you. Will communicate with the correspondent. ■ DELIVERY OF BREAD AND MEAT J Sir,—Do the butchers and bakers think that housewives are going to put up indefinitely with the "fetch and carry" system of bread and meat? Now that the war is over it is up to the trades mentioned to deliver the goads. It is no use blaming the Governn..nt on this occasion, because it is a sheer put-over on the part of the butchers and bakers. The present system suit's them admirably. It is a big saving in overhead expenses. Let a competitor or two start delivering bread and meat, and see then how housewives will react. It is high time women started a housewives protest league and got things done.— Yours, etc., FOOTSLOG. October 29, 1945. ' " "Owing to the fact that there have been no vehicles available to the baking trade, or for that matter any trade, coupled with the extreme tyre shortage, deliveries of bread cannot practicably be altered till such time as the position clarities," said Mr G. R. Burrowes, secretary of the Master Bakers' Association, commenting on ithis letter. "The public, however, can rest assured that everything possible is being done by the bakers to meet the wishes of the public as soon as possible." "There are many butchers who deliver now," said the president of the Canterbury. Master Butchers' Association (Mr G. W. Sim) who added.that under the price-fixing system there was an allowance of Id per lb which butchers could charge for delivery. "There should not be any difficulty in getting some butcher to -deliver meat to-day," he said, "and if the complainant will supply her. name and address I will undertake to find a butcher to supply her." NEW BRIGHTON DRAINAGE Sir,—Mr Livingstone at a recent meeting of the board commented that "Increase" must be a small ratepayer. The average value of New Brighton properties is some £SOO. Mr Living-. stone'states to 1939 £495 was collected from the ratepayers; and now we are rated for a further £SOO. The. member for the district said the council .spent £3OO for plans, and it should be noted that the council by' minute of June 28, 1937, instructed the board to prepare fuller plans, etc. Mr Livingstone says the board has'no kn'owledge of plans. The ratepayers want to know what £495 was spent on, what the further £SOO is for, and what became of the plans Mr Walter says the council. spent £3OO for. Mr Wallis said the ratepayers are enthusiastic. Ratepayers are not enthusiastic about high costs. —Yours, etc., INCREASE. October 30, 1945. TAXATION AND SOCIALISATION Sir, —I see that many countries, such as the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, etc., have announced considerable decreases in taxation in order to help production, leaving little New Zealand behind! Is this through indifference on our part, or incompetence? I think neither. The real reason is that our bureaucratic Governmental set-up demands the extraction of every available penny from the pockets of the people, so.that disbursements may bs made available for socialistic experiments. The proposed acquisition of the Bank of New Zealand is in conformity with that aim. in other words, politics overrules common sense. There may be another rerson for the retention of extreme taxation; and that is to secure socialisation through that medium. Our fate lies in the result of the coming election next year, so I advise New Zealanders to seize their opportunity.— Yours, etc., COMMON SENSE. October 30, 1945. HOME FOR CHILDRENSir.—l am a mother with two young children. I ought to go to hospital for an operation that would take some months. Why \ does not St. Saviour's Guild establish a home (preferably in the country) where I can leave my children without woory? I believe it has about £50,000 capital fund's laid by. My children are shy and would be over-awed by a crowd in a big institution, but a little home of six or 10 would be ideal. Why cater only for children from unhappy homes, when we tired and sick, but otherwise happy, mothers, urgently need some help. There must be hundreds .of Anglican mothers, like myself, to whom such a home would be a godsend. Hoping the guild will consider my idea.—Yours, etc., TIRED MOTHER. October 26, 1945. [When this letter was referred to St. Saviour's Guild it was stated that, while the establishment, of country homes had not yet been considered, provision had been made to meet such cases of need as outlined in the letter. It was suggested that the writer should discuss the position with an officer of the guild.] '" ANDES CROSSING OF THE TASMAN Sir, —In Parliament'last Tuesday Mr Fraser said he was surprised that the Andes took so long to cross the Tasman. To any seaman who has worked for English shipping companies this fact comes as no surprise. I was on an English ship on V-J Day arid deceived neither overtime, a holiday, nor anything extra—only a speech from Lord Lunther telling us what a lot of heroes we were. English ships are known to have, nearly the worst .conditions afloat; but it is not generally recognised, that the companies control these conditions. Some companies are worse than others, but if no overtime was paid on V-J Day none would be paid on an annual holiday. The best way .to avoid dqing this is, of course, to berth on the next day.—Yours, etc., .MERCHANT SEAMAN. October 26. 1945. ; [An officer of the Waterside Employers' Association stated that such matters would be qovered by the articles of the ship tn question, which would be governed by Board of Trade regulations." Without all particulars it would be impossible to express an opinion on the case.] " DEMOCRACY AT WORK " Sir.—The fact, recently stated, that Britain's • war expenditure is now in peace, hardly any less than during war. shows that- the propping up and installing of reactionary regimes in the four quarters of the globe is a costly affair. The liberated peoples are apparently resisting in a most ungrateful fashion the application of "democracy." The display, of bayonets was sufficient to make the Belgians accept it; \ih£ Greeks had to be beaten up a little before they saw the light; and. no doubt, with the assistance of our Japanese allies, the unarmed rabble in Java and the misguided natives of Indo-China, who have the effrontery to want to rule themselves, will soon be shown the ioys of democracy. If .further Dersuasion is necessary, the atomic bomb would give these ignorant people a taste of that wonderful thing "democracy at work."—Yours, etc., „ / J. DENNEHY. Haast. October 26. 1945.