LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 142, 10 March 1908, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

> - MUSIC AND THE EDUCATION DEPART- / _ MENT. • Sir, —•As'.Tn'B Dominion has proved itself to useful as <tho advocate of all reasonable juggestions and criticisms, I venturo to make use of its columns to put to tho Education ■ Departments the following; query"Why is not music,a ■ subjcct. for, tho : junior civil sorvico examination? In tho C and D certificate and matriculation examinations, music is included in the list of subjects ; then why is it omitted in tho. junior ..civil 'service, ' which servos also as .the-first,.-examination for pupil teachers? :Asriculturel-f-a: subject usuallv confined to male candidates appears ' in tho junior civil service'syllabus; 'and "yet no encouragement is;' given to; female candi- - ■' dates by placing music- in. tho, subject .list. • Such a'state of affairs, I contend, should bo romcdied; or-music amoiig our State school children must sadly,decline—l am, 'etc., ' _ , " PRUDENTLY. ■ ■. . March 7. . ELECTION OF. SPEAKER, QUEENSLAND. Sir, —Not wishing for one moment to question tho correctness of your statement ro Mr: - John'Leahy's appointment to_ this position, , I 'wonkl liko. to know , when .tne' Hon. John Loahy became a supporter'of . Mr. Kidston s. At tho meeting of the Pliilp party held in Bns- '' hano after the lato elcctions_ Mr.' Leahy -was ' present as ono of Mr. Philp's supporters, -and irf classed in the.-/ Brisbane . all through''tho; late '"elections. as_a. Minr -- istorialist '(meaning ■ the"- Pliilp./Ministry). ■ ' Mr. ! Loahy: may be a supporter of Mr. Ivi'lstem's, but I havo my,,doubts.- The Brisbane "Courier" in predicting: the i'likely candidates-for the position of Spoaker, namo • ' Messrs. John Leahy, W. J. Ryott-Maughan, and Mr; Gcorgo Jackson. I;take it that tho Labour party nominated Mr. Ryott-Maughan, tho Kidston party Mr. Jackson, and tho Philp party Mr. Leahy. .The parties, at present in Queensland Parliament aro 22 Labour, 25 -Kidstonian, and 25. Plulpites,, including - Mr. John Leahy .as the Plulpites.—l am, etc., - W. DING March 6. UNSANITARY RESORTS. . ; ' Sir;—Lwould like tocalLyounattention to ■ a very, undesirable stato of affairs that exists ■;at' : times in' Customhouse Quay owiiig to-'.the -.., immediate. presence: of' one.; of thoso conv.enienoes which are intended for > tlio benefit of :.'•■ - the.;' public. (in .this . case a limited '." section. ■ j : ; ' - 'thereof), ' but'• which', may' prove to'-be': a '"veri- ■ table public.'mnsance. / It. is not often that one "has "grounds" of .complaints in-• reference V:-'; to 'the.'odoriferous' state of tlio air iii. the / ..-.-■ thoroughfares of Wellington, , as - ono • ■" v leavcs'the -Post Office .m- tho direction: of Willis Street 1 one's olfactory sense: is offended by a very ' 1 malodorous.- emanation . from an ■£ Resides :thisy :the,vvery/place .'•: and . its; publicity are so ,open/and -indelicate . . ."that'theso'alone are offensive enough to cause -' legitimate grounds for its abolition". ■ There ■ . is : another such place m Victoria Street; both ': of?them,.«;are .-contiguousOto'ihotels. iSuch places for : public, convenience should be. decently shrouded . and situated • a few yards -.'■.- away from, very 'frequented; .footpaths:, 1.-.hope the of /Nuisa'ncea-will "turn'.his: at- '.; : . tentiori to tho matter, 1 and take steps, to- .'; wards -j the:; closing, "of these : unsanitary resorts: —I am, etc., . SALTJBRITAS CIVITBI. -.• March 9. ■--•■' ■ •-• , / - ' INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION. Sir,—l havo been awaiting;with, interested r; ; : v ex'pectatii)h"':tlie. cqinmerits' of :your " ; i tho subject 'matter 'of 'a'' personal ' paragraph appearing last, weok, - wliorom it was stated . that .a Mr. Pryor had returned to /Welling-. . -,ton: after/ occupying "a;^^seat' as employoTs' re-. ?resentativo ; on; tho 'Arbitration Court.. May ask if this is'tho same gentleman who frequently.. acts:.as: capitalistic, organiser'and 'advocate" and was? so loud in.denouncing the dual positions held by Mr. Collins as concihator and : it' -be written, • . ''agitator!' :in the latter caso) for' labour ? -j.-■ ' I Would.' you be good enough to . explain the ' ; distinctive 1 tho culpability of these two; gentlemen—ono m acting as con- '• • ciliator and "agitator;" the other, alternating. bewocn a position calling for judicial .impar : , ~. tiality and •'acting as.-;"brganiser"'."and,/advo-cate to interested parties-'before the Court. ■Whilo no onewould have.the temerity to sug-'! ; / ' :gest.your ihdignatiori;in tho caso ! of Mr.(Col- > : hns was at all inflamed by tho interests,.you • , ropresont, to many of us unacquainted wi th' 'v .'tho Inebcssary.jand. 'fine . : ;distihctioris' 'between .-'■ '• the two'instancos'abbvo'quoted;'itwould'be most educational to know why you so ■long -spared Pryor' the castigation' so ' 'promptly, meted out to tho offending Labour reprosontative.—l(am, otc., ' ■ v..■ . ' 1 BENIGHTED. [Our- comments on, the conduct of Mr.- A. Collins, as "Bomghted" knows, woro based on ';. .-.Mr: -,Collins's. attitude ,iii connection with'_a given ;disputo. 1 ." If Mr. Pryor had acted in / \a'similar-manner wo should;have expressed ''ourselves with;<iqualfreedom. As to thogenc- ■ Tal principle of ■■■agitators" or "organisers" in- the pay of oithor party to a dispute hold.i ■ , ing' seats on tho Conciliation "Board or tho Arbitration Court,.wo'think few. sensiblo.peo- \ plo will regard -, it ■as - a desirablo stato of ;" : - things.] ■ • ..; .'•" ;

PROTECTION AND INDUSTRIES. ; Sir—Your issue' of the 2nd inst. • contains a,letter from ,Mr. C. P. -W. Longdill, ,of Tai/ hapo,' criticising -Mr.- O'llegan's advocacy, of ■frcetrado principles. Mr. Longdill makes a most -damaging; admission' fdr his own" case when 1 he"' concedesthat' the protectionist - position' is, unscientific,-if or, as Professor Huxley nays: "Science! is simply, Organised' conimohsonso applied to abstract and concrete issues.",lt is ovjdent that? if protective.,tariff taxes as'.a medium of, developing local.industries is' opposed .to. ordinary, common sense, ; then this method stands condemned as com-' mori-nonsense, ,'and is "economically! false and unferiahlo. v-It'. is, .'vther ,peculiar . that-MrJ. - Longdill' differs ' ; from? those 'high priests of Protection,; Messrs .: Jcs.' Chamberlain and SirWilliamlLyne. Both 'proposed;.te'confer the blessings of. a . "scientific ".-tariff" on the Mother Country and' Australia. Now," sir,; allow: me; to dispel, tlio, popular delusion ro the position' of; the. freetrader' in New Zea-, land towards native industries in the Domitiibn.' ; Aye aroma's desirous of establishing in-, dustrics on' a -sound' basis as' Mr. Longdill and his protectionist compeers, but wo insist that itho best 'method/to secure this-re-: suit: is to 'make raw materials cheap and ac-' "eessible . to , those industries,- and ..to:' secure; efficiency in manufactures -by a scientific 'and artistic/ technical training, as :in T Germany,and wo .-oppose the suicidal policyof-fettering trade- and commorco; with fool;taxes on production and exchange, and mulcting tho consumer ill' tho.'interests-of the "infant industries" 'that are herculean giants .with a .-luxuriant crop ; of-Dutidreary hirsute. It is a remarkable fact that the protectionist :view, is so myopic that they cannot seo the absurdity of. their :own contentions.: In highly protected Amorica they vapour- about .the danger «of a' flood of goods- from the pauper . labour protectionist countries of Europe, arid in tho'sahib, breath welcome the influx of this sanio pauper labour to produce •oheap; goods'in! their own country. Protec-; tion -in goods " and frcetrade, in- labour won't agree. The freetrader maintains that industry follows,a natural evolution'.' All- economic study -convinces tho .student that the • primary. industries are—first, the pastoral; ■ second, agricultural, and! extractive; and last tho manufactures. ; That'tho primary industries in Now Zealand are'more important to this Dominion, than a few hothouse.industries; that any attempt at Stato intorforenco 'with''-, theso,'prime industries by. subsidising tho.latter at the former's expense is ruinous and- inevitably leads direct t-o a stato of Socialist bureaucracy. If Mr. Longdill is prepared to deny that our prime products, which employ tho-bulk of,,our, labour aro not as important l as a few infant industries, then ho: must, also, contend that glass eyes, cork legs and false, teeth aro superior to the na- . tural: products. . • I' admit that it;is possible to foster indnstrirs liy the method that Mr. Longdill preBoribes. It is possiblo 'to' produce-,artificial ico at tho Equator and ,t-o grow .oranges at tho.- Poles,' but this oxpenmont would bo calamitous financially, for a tori of equato-

rial ico would bankrupt Lord Rothschild, and the purchnso prico of polar oranges would make ATohn D;- Rookofeller 'a . "broker. .Every apology for protection rests on the assumption--tnat'its-so-called benefits aro in the interests of the "poor working man. yet in the protectionist paradise, the United States, there aro 10,000,000 persons JiVing on the verge of starvation. According to Commissioner of Labour Statistics (Carrol D,. Fright) 29,000,000 of American workers —33 pen - cent, of tho population—aro unemployed for six months in' tho year. The is dominated'by gigantic trusts,: tho Custom. Houso tariff is tho mother of all the .trusts, testified Millionaire Havcmeycr, .of tho Sugar Trust. America .is subject to chronic industrial in which protection,plays' tho principal part. Tho tariff (says Congressman M'Call, in an article ill .tho "Centufy Review,") S has been ised, : ,and., vast fictitious'' issues of.-- stocks havo tc-ai'i. floated on the market, based not on tho actual vahw of tho plants, but upon what, 'is'termed tho "earning power" of tho trusts of which-the-protective tariff duties are; an important element, and a mortgago, or lien, is attached to nublic tax. ■ , .

It is difficult to couceivp of anything more unjust', than for the Government 1 power, for no public'purpose whatever, and in defiance of tlio,principle; of equality upon which' our vinstitutiwis are-based, to delegate to a few .men'tlio authority to oxact; from tho people , a tribute, small .. perhaps in tho' individual case, but ■ enormous in tho aggregate 'and .mass'.-'of; tho imposition..' .Jilr. Bl'Call , and Senator Beveridgo, of.- Indiana,, advocate tariff revision.', in.; conclusion, I ask,,, Mr. Loiigdill\tp consider these facte, and tlion dor. cido if .'it 1 is rational to commit the Domiltion to this scheme of nation-building.—l am, otc., ■'■'■ -' • '. ■■ , : ' . ■" • ' : RADICAL • Dunediu', March 5. 1 ■ - / ; the; Late premier.' - " But yesterda.v the word of Ca:sar ■: ' 'might havo/stood' against the world; '; " now lies ■ho there, and 'none' so ,poor ■ to do him roverepce." , Sir,—On arriving in lAVellington some weeks ago, in'coming-lip the, harbour, I anxiously lopkbd. for.vthe Seddon . monument, which >;I was told was m . a commanding .position and could'.bo; seen 'from tlio "harbour! 'No one here - will bo sii;'prised to learn tliit I. could, not'rsee: it,'.'and, what -.is ' more, ■ no -.one on. board '.that I spoke '.to about it seemed to. know anything. However; I had nofr b,e?p here long before I started out to. look, if'not for it,' for the grave. I was directed to tho cometery; which, .by the way,' is one of the most beautiful and picturesque sprats in the world. ~ After diligently : examining ._ inany mbniiments and reading the; superscriptions thereon/which-latter heave a sigh of /'regret ''.that', so . many ■'immaculat.es had been. for ever lost to the; world, I was almost giving it iipj'"when I saw'a: rough' qld' shed, and ' thinking'.ithat. someone' might* be; working, there -who could help me in my search, I approached it,' but found it loekc.l. As no one was 'about'. ,and - I saw a -'.dirty,, window,. I': thought :I -might vonture to- look through it. which I„did,-'.and with', some difficulty saw, what certainly appeared to. be, a partly-conr struoted."mausoleum, .on: which;,. had . been •placed'''a'- few 4 wreatlis: this I krip'w now to be' the 'grave of : tho late : Richard .' Seddon, neglected- and unfinished 1, I' may say _that I' only saw Mr. Seddon on two occasions; but never '• spoko; to him.'* •' Mrs.' Seddon orj any member of her'family I have never seen, I am . indeed, only a 'visitor,- so that the following, remarks will have; at- least the ■merit of'not being prejudiced in.any way. •'■j It seems'strange .to - ; me that the-authori-ties' should • have 'no - time -to attend to' this; after all;' only'small affair; when the Premier can ; find time to rush through the country proclaiming,' with quite sickening reiteration, his magnificent' surplus.. 'After fall, where! did this!:wondoVful surplus come from? -Did :Sir-Joseph Ward kick a stone over and find' beneath a lump of gold worth a million,- and: promptly put it in' the.; Treasury ?. : ; No .- this 'surplus comes out of ' the■'-.pockets' o^;.the : workers -of. this country.' ; What' : l mean by workers, is /hot 'only- pick and- shovel men,but'all ; people, men and' women, who do not live on": their-' capital,' or.• on 'the employees whom thgy employ in : Hhoir various businesses.' These 'workers, including railway men' and civil - servants, will number ninetenths, of the population.'"'l see from the officml returns for 1907 that the' money re-' ceived through the Customs •as reveniie amounttd ! .to £2,941,040, i land tax. £447,342, indßme tax -£277,867. ;We thus ; see that; the land, which':'produced for-' tho year' aggregating £18,095,137 —and, if 1 we -include the home, consumption,, it would 'increasei it >by more - than ' £s,ooo,ooo—this, land, of such almost' incalculable value, ■ only contributes to >the revenue the small sum of £447,342 and .'income tax only £277,867. Truly' the . capitalist is astride of: this country when .we see. that the working class contributes*"nearly, all tho revonuo.

Now,.4he late Mr. Setldon was a man that when :lie made a promiso intended' .to.-.carry, it: out. :Ho promised tho people lie would build .them State .cottages, that lie would smash that iniquitous thing the millers' ring, that he : would. control, tlie prico of meat and fish by establishing State shops in the diffe- v rent-.! centres. He . had already established the State, coal .mines, -and' commenced the cottages. 'In-order to break, up' the anillersV ring,he' went on that fatal-trip to 'Australia; and, after - a. triumphal -tour through : that country, v was. • returning with . (figuratively) the commercial ■ treaty with,^Australia ! iii .his pocket: (won :at i the awful, cost of liis dear life); -.whete he', was suddenly smitten, with deaths- .-Does anyone, suppose ,for an, instant that -if the hand that now lies for . ever still had'placed, on-the table of the House that celebrated treaty,it-would have met .with the contumely -and scorn that :,was .its' fate..so soon ,after , his death? . No, sir; lie would have'made .it ,'the.-law of the land, and all would how 1 -1 bo enjoying cheap flour and cheap, ; bread.-. . Though, the public voice is just liow, still, the .'grand old, " battler." for the people is; not .forgotten.. I .have been only a .few weeks • here in Wellington, yet in my walks abroad I hare been asked three times by.-different people if L could direct them to.,Seddon's grave. Richard Seddon is on throned in' tho "hearts of tho - people. The only thing, that I can hear disparaging] of,-him. is that he left - his -widow;, in • yery comfortable circumstances. I have - yet- to '.learn that what :is considered, a virtue in ,a private-citizen should be a crime in a. public one.-. It. was npver even. suggested that' he made any ; ,money .dishonestly, neither did he neglect duties, for it is admitted on all sides that, he worked himself to death.

r-Lot^,tho public men": boast, as they like about prosperity; there is. no. getting over, the 'fact', that: there is a seething mass of discontent at tho _high cost of living, - and it only ..needs a scarcity, of employment to . make it'burst; forth--;and its influence felt at the approaching elections, il' hope that in the coming. jvinter, when , the people aro sitting over their fires burning State -, coal,, they won't forget,their rugged, old chief, who is lying in his cold grave, who was no titled snob, but plain -Dick Seddon, the Demos of the people, who, if ho were talking to King Edward the Seventh,.would not for a moment fiesitate to break , off the conversation to go. and shako hands' with some old woman from tlio ' West , Coast, who,: perhaps,- knew him when he .was a digger. ....... V " This is the man whose grave his successors aro neglecting.—l am, etc., . MARK ANTONY. March 9.