LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 124, 18 February 1908, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

HARBOUR BOARD ELECTION. Sir, —I am very sorry for Mr. Shipping Company.! Surely; sir,;ho has not only tried to bofog the issue, but himself arid your readers, also. Ho Bays I' am again . misleading. Now, I did not mislead-before, and Mr. Shipping did not show. anything misleading, and cortainly he did not provo his case. Again, he refers to the question of .watcf supply, cranes, storage, etc., and I am sure, sir, both you and your readers are tired-of these repetitions,' and it is paying a poor compliment to. your intelligence and mine to trot \thcm out again after the exposure alroadymade. ' Mr. Shipping says to his mind the Harbour Improvement rate should be paid by the goods. "To, his mind." Quito so—that is his trouble. Ho wants to pay nothing. _ As to tho stovedoring: in Auckland it is Is. 3d. per ton, and I know 'it : is done.in Wellington at lOd. Can anything further be said?-' "" ■' Tho Athenic, Mr. Shipping says, on a reont trip , paid the port charges totalling about £215 for twelve days,- equal to £18 per day. During that time,' under ordinary conditions,* sho-would discharge; some 4000 or 5000 tons iof cargo,' and take in. about 2000 tons, of cargo, and somo 5000 or 6000 bales of ; wool and 6000. or 7000 tons of coal. Do you think,' Mr. Editor, _ that £18 per day is unreasonable; for a. ship liko the Athenic to pay for the convenience she enjoys in .'Wellington harbour.lying' alongside tho wharf? Will Mri' Shipping Itell-. you .what she would /'have paid for/lying off Gisborno for two or three., days,! handling one-tenth or. loss, of the cargo handled. r here; ', ',' ' ' . ' I have the figures for 1905 before me, and I' -will; 1 .with ,; your permission, tell. you tho sums paid by the New . Zealand Shipping Company for that'year for this port, and tho work done: — -' - '; £ s_. d. Port charges and harbour fees 3163 5 2; Harbour, Improvement rate ~.. ,709 11 -.:1, Berthago rate ••• 908 15 1 ; . v : -' £4781 11 4For this the company had some 13 steamcrs, 0f'57,285 tons, which made 44 trips, and .occupicd a berth for 180 days, and handled 61,598 tons of-general cargo,' 84,232 bales of wool, hemp; etc.; and 26,426 tons of coal. They paid under £109 per trip, or about-£25 per day: ' The Shaw, Savill Company had 15 steamers, of a .register tonnage i making'4s : trips;.occupying,a berth. i»7 days, and for this they paid:— :1 . • ' • ■■■■■ ■ ... ■■ ' |; ! ; , ' £-.. •S. d.. Port •' charges, and harbour flees 3750 2 10 : Harhour: Improvement rate 673 1A o Berthage .. . ... 151( lp 3 ; ■ £5941 11. 6 For'this' : theyi' handle'd 71,527 tons of geriernl cargo, '75,224 bales of .wool, 'hemp,fete., - and 60,450 tons of coal. Docs any person, ■except a shipowner or' agenfr ■ contend .that. •these charges , are ; prohibitive. .It is about £20 per day per ship, or under £132 per, ilr.'Shipping-points' out that the-Board makes a profit: on the water supplied, to tho shipping and a profit .on the,X°°l What.has this to do with the argument? Mr Shipping says' the'' port charges and Harbourmaster s Department 'shows a profit of £22,626. "Why, sir, the. port. charges and Harbourmaster's , v fces /are :the rent, of the harbour;, and ..these' aro; all profit. . «ut, again',. .wha't s possible' bearing, has. this .on his ebntentions? ' ; • Mr. Shipping will probably, realise, when he : .thinks ovor. the matter, ; that hc; nas, per-haps,-spokenf top freely,of the positipn ox the ishipping companies'; and that both' lio _autl .them?will;:in course of, time',- realise thatthoy {may .have 'shown -their - hands; overmuch; : i ossibly they have disclosed a little more of : their''aiins and',, ambitions than , is good ; for their purpose—l am, etc., ~' ... ■ f■ JAS. M'LELLAN. J^FobrUalTf''3.7 i .«>t'i'-'V "A TYPE' AND- A, WARNING.". : ■ Sir—ln last Wednesday's issue, of .The Dominion appeared, an articlo beneath the above title. I'wish to talk about it without committing myself to defend ' anything, or Anybody, least. of : all.Boulter. -Boulter^s typo of Socialist says : tho Rrticl©, there aro many types. : A, criminal is a typo of' man—all men are not criminals.; l'oo ofton.,tho. : : battering; ram of .criticism -is crashed; against tho : opinions and. theories •of so-called; Socialiats by people; who fondly 'imagine,, that*, they..are. splintering .the .'bulwarks of .'Socialism; 'tis but imagination, arid : such-dissipation of'.force is dcplorablo enough./ • This -waste- of, good energy is •causcd byi the fact that.ninety per cent, of t-ho-planet's population do not (Understand the trub; nature-: of Socialism ; tliey : do not : recogui'so that' Socialism; has .to, do with tho industrial- organisation and outgrowing social ' inrrahgoment of.men;'that surface manifesta- . :t'ions^-:are'.reflections'..of- physical realities: ■that those who express arid proclaim them are -limited by .the, extent; of their outlook. ; If ia'- biologist. states that [ thero aro similarities and sequential, relations ' between all'or■ga'nisnis,' he'-states .-whaVhe sees as ho sees it. The fact that his.vision may be limited ■ 'does, ; not .alter the 1 whole .truth - which might 'be seen if- -.human .limitations were ; less. 'Wero. 1 inclined to rofnte ..the statement of tho '• biologist. F''.should "-dpri 'myselfi ' Such tactics adopted bj'. the.oppon- ' 'cuts .of .Socialism-.'Would-;result' in mutual im : ' proveiuent. , " v Tho tuudency. of • to-day is to tear, down every thing that is beautiful and rioblo." . This (Jpgma is an extract' from Wednesday's leader. '' Sir, l ean sco'no such toiuloricy; ,all worthy individuals to-day enHloav'oui'.to.consarvo the nobility of good, and nourish tho growth of peace. Besides noble is a polarised word, and. endows with its ' magnetism everything.to which it' 'attaches; also nobility in human conception changes with'timef- That which is useful'and power: ; ful is'-hoblei j Vb'iit.-'thd nobility of tlio sword has come to bp spoken of in tho past tensb, 'In conclusion, 1 sir, : ''Organic Mvolutidnj' : ' knows its work too well to need a warniiig.— I am etc.,' ' " •' ■ ■'■ I'. GLYNN. February 15, 1003. '.. ■ - , f "

THORNDON FIRE STATION. Sir,—ln your, report of-tho deliberations of" tho, City Council. ro J?ii;o Brigade, tho Mayor asked. Councillor Smith if lie knew any iiistanco.in which tho loss by lire was greater than it would liavo been had there boen a : now Tiro. station at Thorndon. Councillor Smith'replied that ho was not prepared to stato.a particular instance. Now, sir,, assuming .tho Alnyor. mount, a properly equipped' station Path prepared to say that therojiave, been such eases;. In December last a firo occurred in Drummpnd's Laho. Tho fireman \on duty at Thorndon 1 upon receiving tho call •• must' take time to, telephone tho. call on .to tho Central Station , and to an auxiliary fireman living in Murphy Street. . This\ on an average... takes, ono, to -two -minutes. Ho, then, proceeds with, hand reel'to the fire.' Tho. hand reel carries 800 ft. of hose, 2 hydrants, pump and othor gear arid were it not for"assistance rendered by the public.ho ;would novor. .pull . it up somo of the grades. At' tho above mentioned firo ho was mot about: half-way by tho auxiliary, but although both ,_wero trained men and worked as'expeditiously as possiblethey only succeeded in. running their lead and turning on water at tho same timo. as the other, lead was run out by tho Central Brigade on their arrival. Furthermore it is sometimes tho caso that only ,pno; man'is, available for running rool to fire.and getting out-tho load and ho is' so exhausted by'., pulling tho reel that he is' not in, a fit condition, especially his lungs, to go amony fire and smoke. • At : a Tiro in Solwyn.Terrace,'one. at 32 Hill,Street,-and ono in Tinakorr ltoad threo years ago, tho Central Brigade 'was at work practically as soon as Thqvndon, and in each instanco had the firo been reachcd by motor from Thorn:don the loss: would liavo been less. Tho present, quarteriTat,Pipitea Street are, actually falling to pieces and somo parts aro so decayed . it is quito easy to stick one's finger through the wood. Glass falls out of tho windows simply ;bccausc the sashes aro too rotten to hold it in. Whon tho Council last considered tho question of a now station,' they, decided that;, as tho Firo. Board wero .about to tako over the Brigade it was better let tho Board dccide upon a new station.

Now that tho Council has again assumed control it is only logical for them to commcncu at tho point whore they loft off and givo this end of tho city adequate appliances and a firo station that is not in hourly danger of collapsing into dust. —1 EX-FIREMAN. February 15. 'PREFERENTIAL TARIFF. Sir, —According to tho Press Association report tho Premier at tho Thames has just offered a somewhat crude and mixed explanation'over preferential trade. He holds that protection by Continental nations is reprehensible, and ho oxplains that their ancient policy is due to us colonists mainly buying in the Old Country. On tho other hand, although tho same Old Country admits our products freo ho is still unhappy, and while disclaiming tho presumption ,of criticising tho policy of England lie jeers at her free trade policy as "an old tradition," and he sighs for a measure of preferenco over our products, and -this while well aware that tho toiling masses m England recently emphatically-. declared that'they would submit to no tax upon their food. In presenco of this decision, why should he dohasa the colony by continuing to ask for such a tax ? Surely the industrial classes'of do enough for us in _so largely'paying for our defence. Usually tho Premier exalts the benefits conferred by his preference tariff, .but on this occasion he is .'silent'upon the point. Does this mean that lie begins at last to realise its ultra quixotic character since, in presence of tho combines •and "associations which now permeate all /branches of British manufacture, this tariff :only.assists to build up the fortunes of grasping .Carnegies, and can have no beneficial effect whatever upon tho volume of emFREEDOM. ! HON. CEO. FOWLDS V. GAMBLINC. ; Sir,—When, a Cabinet Minister makes a •public ; ,utteranco on the question of gambling nn:l condemns this land in a wholesale haphazard" way, .he cannot, reasonably): oxpcct tho people to accept, his statement unless .ho is prepared to. prove there is some foundation .for such remarks. Gambling, 'declared tho speaker, was the negation of reason and the enthrone- -, ; ment of anarchy, in Uie relations of humanity. The negation of reason was V- ■ idiocy, and tho devotees of gambling were idiotic. The gambling evil was' ... 'widespread in New Zealand. This is merely-a statement by-Mr. \Fowlds, hut if .true, then anarchy is widespread, and lidocy. is paramount in New Zealand. Fortu-, Inaitely' it is inaccurate, and shows that although Mr'. Fowlds may. administer a department for the public good, ho has no conception of the meaning of words.; ' Mr. Fowlds continues . Tho essence of gambling was the de- • sire'-''to get something for. nothing, tho , ; transference of property from ono indivi- ; '.dual to another on a basis of chance. • Buying cheap and selling* dear was not i ' gambling, but buying grain or other produco against a future delivery and sell- ' ing it beforo that time was gambling, 'piiro and'simple. ■■■'.'■• • -• Tho "basis of' chance" enters into almost every commercial 'transaction. Wero certainty assured none would go to the wall. But our Keenest, brainiest, and most successful men — 'barikers,. financiers and stockbrokers—are .idiots' and anarchists. At least Mr. Fowlds says so, because such'men reap a largo per- ■ 'centago of their gains through' an artificial ,and, perhaps; unjustified inflation'of tho markets, whereby they "get something for nothing." Such men are. the, pride of the fin- ; arioial fjworld, not because they,- aro "idiots, ' Jand'/anarchists," but because they havo , 'brains so acuto. that they can • seo. a week 'ahead of other men. .'. . ,

-Again, Mr. Fowlds makes comment: — "Tho'fact was that gambling was a can- ; ! ker responsible'for rnoro degradation, : -misery and crimo'than any other evil tlioy ■ , : had in their midst. ■This' is .hot generally- known, neither is it apparent. Tho writer, has recently travelled ;thr'ough a largo portion of New Zealand, both 'North and South, and ho cannot recall 0110 caso of degrading existence or the misery of .poverty. Never, in his experience of. fivo .continents, has! ho ,witnessed, such.general. prospe'rity.and happy conditions of life among a people; while 'oh the question-of crime tho statistics of tho Dominion'show-a lesser \a»d diminishing increase than former years. - Mr. iFowlds's remarks do not appear to be borne out by.facts; but it is possible that he may< 'have special means, of acquiring' information n'ot'.generally known.' How London would .hail such a carfkcr, such degradation, such misery or any other evil thatMvould produce ■happiness and prosperity 1 Now Mr. Fowlds comes to "barbarism." . v • ■The very worst form of gambling,, how- •>. \',oycr, was speculation in- land, values/. • Land was limited, differing in this respect .from corn, in which speculation : .might he defeated by tho introduction of - further ;stocks; Until they had dealt with this, gambling in land on dofinito : principles of reform, tho' community was not likely to bo' rid of gambling in oats, ;over..cards, : and. races.' In brief,' feam-' . bljng was a reversion to barbarism.' This is tho barbarism of' tho ■ single-taxer. ■Mr/ Fowlds cannot seo'that the man who holds ' collars and, ties ■ to sell is in tho samo position as the man who holds land! Both aro dependent oil tho people to' give them value, and: both aro valueless without tho people. ' Land is practically ■limitless, and tho unused'untilled portions of tho ,world suffice for 1 tho needs of five or six hunilred times tho now living. Tho , writer knows of lartd- equal to any in the Dominion purchasable for freehold at. 'from'los.. to 15s; per"acre/ payablo in 24 years. Such land will produce two crops 'per-.;annum,,', but tho people will not' buy. : Thero aro hardships, hardwork, and isolation ahead of the buyer, ;.but' assured/.wealth at a later stage. But if you hold .these lands .until peoplo come along and give it value, 'you'-.aro a- "barbarian" according to> Mr. IF.owlds. ■ '■'.., ' The whole preamble on this. question repeals a 'want of forothought and balance by ;Mr.-Fowlds, which is unusual in a Minister 'of tho Crown when' giving public utterance. In this city of Wellington gambling has been driven indoors, not lessoned. _ Pool, snooker, and' pin-pool are rampant . nightly,. and on 'Sunday there aro card schools where onomay play'all day. The gambler always risks or chances something, and 1 it is a misnomer for Mr/Fowlds to say "ho accepts something for nothing." ' Ho cannot gamble without something to his credit, and his gambling has been penalised, imperilled and degraded from- a perfectly impartial and equalised system of .odds on tho totalisator, to the baneful, grasping and treacherous bookmaker, who give? ilessr. ,The introduction of the bookmaker will, while . suppressing tho • amount of business 'dpno from becoming public, at the. same timo .turn .the meetings of the Dominion from ; a : quict'i orderly and well-regulated outing t-o a .bear - garden . synonymous with those 'of Australia., . : ' Truly, tho well-meaning legislation of this country is experimental,:.but it will bo different'a hundred years hence. This, at least, is comforting.—l am, etc., A. GEORGE. Wellington, February 14. V