LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 19 October 1907, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

v : ... • — WELLINGTON ARCHITECTURE. - Sir,—l road with great interest the artiol# byAn. Architect." in your to-day's issue. I : inn only a visitor here, but precisely, the same feeling of disgust at the almost uui-. vcrsaluso of a'covering of Portland cement and sand over exceedingly rough' brickwork has possessed mc. Like your , contributor, . I admire good brickwork onJv a littlo less than I do , good stone work. There seems to bo absolutely no scopo for a first-olas.s bricklayer ' hore. Any one who has seen really good , brickwork' will corroborate me in this. I have not . seen any yet at all. in Wellington. How , delightful to the appreciative eve is, say," an- : ' eliptical arch with all the joints .an equal . sine, and the . bricks all gauged..and well , and' truly laid. Another practice just as much to bp. depreciated as the stucco, one is what is.known .as tuck-pom ting." . This is only imitative of good brickwork. ' The rough joints are filled up. with stopping the same ; colour as the' bricks, and thon a real and true joint is planted on top of them. What • is. wanted is that the bricks should bo laid as neatly-and truly as thoy would appear to ha to .tho imitated and tuck-poii;ted job. Tuckpointing is an ephemeral thing, and requires continual renewing.: '.Genuine brickwork is almost as lasting as stone,. and alniost as. beautiful. —I am, etc., BUILDER. Wellington, October 17. , ? MR.; NORTH .DEFENDED. ■ .. , Sjr,—ln" an article dealing with , a remark.. able .address'delivered in Auckland' by tlia Rov. J. J.. North,'of Wellington,': you have deprecated his outspoken and Tiold statement. You say, if lie had used temperate language he could have made out a strong case. VHo • has made out a strong case; and a strong case because it is a true case. If the daily papers in this city were alive to their sense of duty, they would'not rest until something was done, in the direction of forcing these land-grabbing syndicates: out of existence.' ." That , there are gangs here who, buy up all, the land available fur the purpose of forcing up rents, is a well-known tact, aiid that the, children are''forced \to' play'on the' streets . is. another'fact, if your paper, .with, others ■ pointed in this city, wore' to speak out as'.,, Mr. North has done, without fesr or; favour . from anybody, such sharp 'words as he has used would not liccd to be used by a of the Gospel. The worst point I can.sec. in Mr. .North's speech is' that, he lias told the truth, and the money-making portion of Wei- , ; Imgton citizens will naturally feci, aggrieved to hear these triitiis blazoned'forth so that all. ■■ might hoar.' 'l'ho state of things which"prevails here is a disgrace to Wellington, And ' if we only knew ttiio was getting fat: out of these gangs and syndicates perhaps l we could understand why such a disgraceful state of ' affairs w'as'allowed'to'contihue.—l am,.etc.', ' : .. ; ■ •' CITIZEN. / Wellington, October 16, 1907. • [Our correspondent, liko the gentleman he. defends, has been led by the strength' of .his-' toolings into the indiscretion of supplement ing his facts with over-drawn conclusions. We notice, however, _ that lie docs not specifically endorso Mr. North's sweeping condemnation of Wellington as "one of the scandals • of the. universe." Both Mr. North and Citizen will find ready and wide endorsement of their attack on the high rents' prevailing in this city, but.they must look deeper than.the land syndicates( which may or may not be a contributing cpuse), for the real root of the - cvil.J .