LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 173, 15 April 1908, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

SUPERANNUATION AND A REGULATION. ; Sir, —Officers in tlio Post and Telegraph Department had a bombshell, whose magnitude has just developed,' dropped upon them early this month. Cabinet saw it to bolster lip their superanmiati«n ' scheme, and as numerous officer's wers. using their privilege of making the election to join on tho last day, Juno 30, thought to hurry,.matters by revoking Regulation' <3 made under tho Post and ..Telegraph Classification Act of 1890, whereby officers receiving a higher salary tian £100 who joined the service after September 13, 1590, had to pay 5 per cent, of their salaries te the Public Trustee. By revoking this regulation officers aro now.forced by tho' provisions of tho Civil Service Insurance Act, -ISO 3, to take out a policy or as an alternative join the Superannuation Fund. As most ofneers Trill not go to the trouble to do the former they are practically forced ' to join the Superannuation Fund from April 1, and that fund is' benefited .by three 'extra monthly payments. Apart from the merits of : superannuation this savours, very much of coercion, and such was never anticipated by tho Superannuation Act, for under it each officer was allowed six months to make.his choieo. The Covcrnmont is acting with the law on its side, but in the spirit Of the Super-, annuation Act the. action is a distinct breach of faith.—l am, etc., I ... .... - DQNE. April 14. • MR. MASSEY. - # Sir,—Now. that -the Leader of the Opposition is, in Wellington, 1 would respectfully urge that he address the electors of the Empire City. Surely we arc as worthy of notice by our most able statesmen as some obscure corner of the But they seem to think noti as'their most important 'speeches are made in unimportant places. ;I hope to s ?\Mr. Massey remedy , this,: state, of things, and thus carry the war into tho enemy's camp. , ~ . .Though cordially agreeing with' the main planks -in; Mr. Massoyls. platform,' I .am .inclined to think that he is hardly emphatic enough, in combating the Socialistic doings of our present Administration. A general denunciation of Socialism is no good unless wb attack tho most glaring instances of that permcior.3 doctrine in detail. For instance, the Arbitration Act, Advances to 'Settler's andu orkers. Acts, State coal* State carriage of lime, etc., and last hut not least our system, of protection. Another thing I would like a little clearer is Mr. Mnssey's desire to give overy occupier of land the freehold of, his holding, how this can ba.done without intorfering with the present owners'- rights.-1 fail to see, and-that would be a gross injustice, to force a man to sell his own property when' ho would prefer to lease it. But.theso things could be best explained in a public address, trust Mr. Maissey will bo able to spare-the. time to fnvonr 113 with one of hi 3 stirring orations.—l am,'otc.; . ' ; freeholder^ - ,April 13. ; - / >. , . THE COST OF LIVING. Sir,—ln your issue .of. the. lOth-ihst., under the above heading, appeared a letter from a correspondent signing .himself.'. Arthur Pick-' ard,..m. which lie.-' denounces'' in,, the mostscathing terms the; majority! of .'the boardinghouses—private, mostly.-. Allow; me' to say' something, on behalf:'of, these - .unfortunate people. / ; -- J ■ Your correspondent /says, Board ranges from £1. upwards." On the, contrary,; it' ranges from 16s. upwards. H« further says,' "They pay a.-fair.-tariff." Lot. us! see-how tho figures, work out. Take a "person paying ,£1 per week.-. < It, works oUf,at 'a.', fraction over 2s. lOd. per day. Sow. t-hreo meals at ; 6cL. 6d.,: bod. Is., wnich leaves per: diem for fuel, light, wear and tear "of furniture, linen, etc., and last, but not leastj' labour. f ' Again, y»ur correspondent"evidently"pre-f 1 fers to,live, privately, and, of course, wants a .decent I 'lioase: :;.' Well,-;a''.'decent house,' suitable fbr boarders/cannot-be procured ;'under, £2 10s. per weekj : and .'tho person- wh'6 : takes fin, , say,. ten boarders;! unlike'r the" hotel-' keeper, cannot afford to- buy vegetables,, fruit, etc., wholesale, so has to pay ah'enhanced price , to- tho .retailer. - In any case,* , what sort • of a'' meal does a person expect' to get , for 6d., with everything at famine/' prices now, not to speak of the winter. I • am afraid: Cyoiir correspondent; ; like, hundreds of others in this town, never go'es into, figures in. connection with this matter,: and, feels.- something -after, this fashion: ""The .cost, of. living may, go lip or down, but my board '(at £1 per week) .goes on for over." I am perfectly■ 'assured of this:, if the,single men of this city 'would only pay a' fair tariff they would- bo better fed, and better housed; but, I suppose 1 it's human. nature to got all you can for as little as you can; : Iu conclusion, allow me to say that I certainly' agree with your correspondent's'remarks re ! the dirtiness of a' great number of those places, the same being quite inexcusable.— I am, etc;; 7:' LIVE AND LET LIVE. April 13. - - , ■ . THE ZOO. ,: MUNICIPAL 'EXTRAVAGANCE. ' : SUGGESTED. \ Sir, —The announcement that ' the" Council aro m favour of an extended "Zoo" is absolutely sickening to the average .ratepayer,aiii is the outcome of an agitation made .by... a few peculiar- enthusiasts who beliovp tl at:a. collection of . smellful animals 1 ' isa , . municipal adjunct I. to '.bs proud of -T- arid thoy v . agitate,: agitate,' .and agitata through the : means; of an indulgent Press, and deputationiso the Council, which has been drugged by so much Press matter 'on the subject that' they-are dead to the ml issue. AVhat tfood- on c'srtii docs it do a child to a, tetherou, elephant, or a snarling hjena prowling lip and: dcurn'j, four-foot cago? Is.it' in the least degree elevating, is.it going to make them better' citissns of- a country luckily, bereft of wild animals? Is the '"Zoo" : .going, to lift our city albng\in the least, degree,and will it not add considerably to the rates? The lion costs £2 a week alone .to fped.'lyot the proposition afoot is to., have .quite a number of meat-eating brutes.whoni.nobody, cares a hang' about,, and which' is going to despoil ■ a , fine plantation of:■' 'trees—if 1 . the. "too'zoos" get their way. Far bettor would: 'it-bo to expend the money, in trying to alleviate tho dust nuisance, in paving the paths fuli width, in completing the formation, of such central city streets as Woolcomtie Street and Boulcott Street, or do. a littlo more wocd-blocUing—something, at any rate, that would make for'city improvement. The Rev. •Mr. Bates's effort to convince everybody that animate—ferocious animals—are what the community yearns for .is pathetic} but this prosperous littlo town should remonibcr that Sydney, with its half-million people, could not make a "do" out of hor "Zoo;" Anyhow. visiting circuses supply all the "zoo" any reasonable person wauts.—-Yours, etc., April 10. ANTI-ZOO. THE OLYMPIC GAMES. Sir, —It was with surprise and regret that I read in your report of tho_ meeting of tho' Wellington Centre of the N.Z.A.A.A. that Mr. J- H- Pollock's motion, regarding the sending of Messrs: Kerr and Murray to represent the Dominion at the Olympic games in London in July, had been negatived. Thi6 action of tho Centre is greatly to be deplored, if only on account of tho wholehearted manner in which tho southern centres have risen to the occasion. In Otago, subscription listc have been issued to the various clubs, and the Centre is busying itself generally in the good ,cause, while in Oiristcnurch it has been decided to oidl a public moating to devise w«.vk and menus of raising the necossarj funds. With these examples before us, end in view 1 of the fact that. Kerr is .a local.. representative, surely Wellington, tho. leading xthletic centre of tho Dominion, is not going to'shirk her share'of the: burden and stand idly aside while the mon are sent entirely by ' outsiders! With what mixed feelings would we watch their doings,-and how shainefac'cdly should we join in tho general elation, should they be successful, though certainly if they failed there would

be tho sorry consolation that, anyhow, if does not matter to us —it cost us nothing I I understand that it is on tho question of the method of raising the funds required that the motion was defeated at tho Centre's meeting, tho delegates being extremely averse to giving the sanction -of tho • Centre to anything in the way of a public subscription on account of the wholesale manner in which tho , public pocket has been tapped recently for various causes. Of course, as a general thing, this solicitude for the publio pocket is greatly to'bo-'commended, but it would be better appreciated. wore tho publio to bo r.llowed to decide whether it objects or not. In this case I am sure it would not object, and I would respectfully suggest that some hardworking enthusiast—Mr. "J. ff. Pollock, for example—should approach one of our leading-citizens interested ill'such mattors—Dr. Newman _ being the gentleman who, 11 fills tho bill " —with the object of arranging a publie .meeting "to properly vcntiUte the matter.—l am,'etc., 1 ; ' AMATEUR SPORT. : April 11. ; .. ■■ ■ • .