LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 565, 21 July 1909, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

CITY COUNCIL AND CAB COMPANY. Sir,—l iwvo Toad with great interest your leading arfciolo on tho abovo topic, ill which you cleaily point out tho issues. You say tbo council arc asking tho Government to dolay tho issue of the Ordor-in-Council so that tho city will bo ablo to forco tho hauds of.tho company and get a higher price than the company now offers for fcho privilcgo. You rightly brush asido tho sido issue of tho supplying of Molroso with gas. This being-so, is not tho position thus: Firstly, tho company ban oroctod valuablo plant at Miramar, and proposes to, re move its works out of the city. Secondly, tbo Borough of Miramar wautß gas and has complotcd all negotiations with tho oompany. Thirdly, the Citj; of Wellington is at tho present time very inadequately supplied with gas, because tho demand lias exceeded tho supply. Fourthly, the only thing Accessary at tho present time to enable those objects to bo earned out is tho consent of the City Council to tho company connecting its now workß with tho city proper by a main through the Borough of Molroeo. All tho company require to do is to lay down its main through streets of tho old Borough of Melroso in a continuous line.

Formerly tho corporation had vested in it tho right, of control of tho surface of tho streets and the duty of maintaining them, and ,tho fee simple remained in the Crown. Nowadays, by Section 153 of tho Municipal Corporations Act, 1908, tlio fee simple is in the corporation 1 , .but, howovcr, th<» various sub-sections of this'section, and in particu-lar-'Sub-section 4, define the corporation's ■powors with regard to streets. In no place is tho power given to tho corporation to derive -revenue for . the use .of tno, streets. Is not .this what the corporation, is now endeavouring to do, and in so doing is preventing a neighbouring borough.(Miramar) from getting the service which tho (f as Company nas contracted 1 to' supply? Surely this is eminently an occasion for the Government to say that sufficient delay has taken place, and for it to impartially weigh the contentions of two neighbouring boroughs and the company. The corporation has not been able. to produco any, precedent for .thoposifcion that it can •derive, revenue for any such use of its streets, as tho Gas; Company, now ask'for. . . ■The statute under - which the Order-in-Counoil.is sought was passed in 1907,- nearly ■two' years -ago, during . which. time the City Corporation has hadample time to carry on negotiations with the company . wi.th a view to purchase.' It, is 'well known that, the City Council had an offer of sale from tho company which they pigeon-holed for months, and . yet' when the company's' directors' l'patience. was exhausted they applied to the Brimo Minister not to issue the Order-in-Council in order that .thej; might negotiate. In the meantimo the city, goes'short of gas,' |.and the company's plant,., worth £50,000, is lying idle, and the-reclamation • .works.; at Miramar. are it a standstill. , ..' .

In your report you state that a councillor (who ought to know better) said tlio company asked tlic City Council £23 for shares that were quoted at £17. The great'bulk of the shareholders do . not want to sell, an* 1 , would not sell at the ''quoted prios of £17." TSe reason why the'market price of the shares were, quoted low was'that in a period of financial stringency the company had' doubled.its stare capital at a premium of £5, sod'.hadvin addition called up. the. £5 paid shares to £10, and that'the Crty 'Council had been attacking the'company with' threats ;of litigation over, the right to .supply Melrose. What the shareholders thought of...the-value of their property is shown'by the. fact that they, took up tho whole issue.—r am, etc., , C. PRENDERGAST KNIGHT.

, joly 20; .. ... AN APPEAL TO CARPENTERS AND ■ . : JOINERS. . accordance with my promise, I now appeal-to the above trade, through, the columns of the press, which h : ave> been-gener-ously placed at my disposals For some months past, as you aro already aware, the building trade has been very depressed, which, in consequence, has thrown a- large number of A our trade upqn.tho, streets looking for work, which "just now cannot be found. The /number at the present-time. out ; of employment is about 17.0 in. Wellington alone,,,many of whom have been out of work so long that they have become destitute. Many have been relieved by the funds of the union, and we have done oui utmost'for them. I have .had .wives ff.ith their children come, to mo asking for help. Brothers, at this , juncture, I-havobeen, successful in' getting oertain works promised by the :Mayor (Dr. Newman), if funds can be supplied, which-means that £1100 .worth of work' can be gone on with- at onco. .This will, employ, a large\iumber of'the unemployed in our trado for" some time. I therefore ask all. to support .a trade collection which: will take place on Saturday, next, the 24th inst.,. in all shops and pn jobs, when I hope a handsome donation will be handed over to. the Mayor, so that these contemplated works can bo started at once, whichwill also employ othor trades in the building line. It is .proposed'to build-dressing sheds and baths, etc., at Kelbnrne and Diippa* Street recreation grounds. I also , hope the various clubs playing upon those grounds will kindly give to this donation. He that .giveth quickly giveth twice. Collection sheets can be had at 1 the Trades Hall; all moneys collected to be .paid to me at the Trades' Hall between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, the. 24th. or Monday, the 26th.,, between the sahie, hours, which will bo. ac. knowledged through the press.—l am, etc.,,

J. T. STOBART,, Secretary Amalgamated Society Carpenters v and Joinors.

OUR PUSILLANIMOUS EDUCATION BOARD. Sir,—l read with much concern the articles of your representative in last Wednesday's issue regarding the appointment of the staff;, of the' new school at , Petone. I do not propose to traverse the ground so clearly set forth in the article in question;' I am not surprised at the lapse of the. Petone " Chroniole" from tho paths of tho best New Zealand journalism; nor am I surprised at. the appointments which; the Petone West School Committee, in its'united wisdom, has made. - But! l am deeply concerned to read of the action' of 'onr; Education Board in submitting names of four applicants to' committees for them to exercise their tender mercies on. . I 'thought that the experiences, of tho; Education Board in the earlier part of/this year had pwed conclusively '..iiiai the only way in which teachere could depend on their applications -'teiiig' treated,' with justice 1 was for the Education Board to: exercise' the 1 power which the Education Act so clearly gives it, and, send one name only, to the committee. Is it' not a fact that this is tho procedure that the Education. Board has adopted of late? But now it appears that the board sends on four names.'; Is it not a pertinent inquiry"to ssb whether our Education Board intends ' to adopt' ' this method for all schools, -or if this reversion to the bad old method has occurred in the case of the Petone School Committee? And, if so, why has Petone been selected'for this doubtful compliment at the hands .of- our wobbling Education Board ?—I am, etc., CONSISTENCY. July 9. ' ; , NO-LICENSE, Sir, —I have read "Teetotaller's" letter of the 10th inst:, and I assume it is the emanation of a licensed victualler, pure and simple, and with your permission, I will put the following terse questions to my friend. ' If No-Licegso will increase drinking, why .should tho trade and its attachments worry? But thoy know too well 'it will do otherwise. Tho public-houso business is a hazardous trade, working uudcr a permit and police surveillailco, and tho liconsees know at any minuto thoy would., for misconduct, lose their licenses. The trade have promised ' all sorts of reforms at tho eleventh hour, for cvila which they have repeatedly stated never existed, establishing a fact that thoy hnvo misconducted themsolves. Tho public havo recognised this, and havo arisen to grapple with a trade that is a menace .to. society, eating out the core of the British raco,. ana oii'fiondoring crimo and misery. _• , The liquor trade is in tho hands of a few, tenet) n monopoly i the.r acquire property at ,Tataa,'- bos the-liogbm t» wll

liquor with its goodwill at once puts a fictitioun value upon it, to the detriment of tmrrounding property. If the licenao is.cancollod, it only destroys the fictitious value,, nrid tho owner is still in possession of his property at its market value, mines ..tho goodwill and license to sell liquor; and I think the two last-named items aro tho ones that aro bo Boroly troubling the trade, and not sly grog-selling. Why should it, if it increases drinking? - It is admitted No-Liccnso will not prevent sly grog-selling, as thoso interested will do everything iii their power to thwart it, and hold it up to ridiculo,' but No-Licenso will minimiso drinking, similar to what tho fear of gnol does crime; and if sly grog-selling were put on tho criminal code with 'confiscation of property, it would s'oon bo eradicated. If 46 millions of shrewd Americans havo ventured prohibition, is there any necessity for tho small minority in little Now Zealand. with barely one million of,a population, of which the majority have voted No-Liceriso, waxing warm about tho evils, of sly grogsollihg? i Why, it is,laughable.. Our judges havo repeatedly stated that drink was at tho bottom of the majority of tho eases that came beforo tho Court. Can tho liquor trade state a single instance where they havo dono anything towards the uplifting of their victims? If they can, then I have misjudged them.—l am, etc;,/

GENUINE TEETOTALLER. Auckland, July 19, 1909. ' ' ,

HUTT RIVER BOARD. !■ Sir,—One. or two facts about tho "delightful indefiniteness" of the operations of this local body may be of interest to the ratepayers of tho Hutt River . District at tho present juncture. For instance, tho board, in order to get in the necessary number of statutory meetings—l6—from April, 1908, to present date had to call its members together no fewer' than 23 times, peven out of tho sixteen meetings havinc lapsed for tho want of a quorum. As the board is required to moot onco a month 'only, -iyid three members form a quorum, the moribund condition of this erstwhile active and progressive institution is apparent. I exempt from any charge of-inattention the solicitor and engineer, whose atteiidince at the-meetings has been most exemplary, ' and' marked contrast 'to that-.of some, of -the - elective- members of tho board, -t- The engineer, however, receives a foe of *£3 3s. for attending each mooting, plus i "expenses," presumably train faroand something for his tea, and the question might--wciy be asked: Is this expense necessary? The last balance-sheet is not yet available, but the audited accounts for 19071908 indicato' that whereas ,the revenue of the board'that-yedr was £1420, the sum of £853 7s. Id only.was spent on protective works, £>ud • engineering expenses, and surveys'accounted for another £163 16s. 6d. The cost ' of engineering and supervision poems to be : , disproportionate, and the question naturally' arises:'ls it-wise to mainta'm as \ a separate entity,. with the consequent" paraphernalia of : office, board room, engineer, and- a solicitor in: attendance ;at every mooting, a local body whoso total yearly income is -less than £1500, when tho Borough CounciL with an efficient staff, is available to do the work at a great saving of expense, and-a consequent reduction of . rates? Obviously the answer •is to • merge' the River Board in the Borough Council,'. and I hope to see: the present Mayor—who ia also tho solicitor to the River Board —moving in this direction before long. As to Mr. Orton Stevens's charge against-me of discourtesy, I am afraid that, judging l from this gentleman's performances at the River Board meetings—when he attends them—ho can bo''regarded as an authority as'to what'is courteous or otherwise.—l am, ctc:,

'"v;; V A ':- W. H - RUSSELL, Lower Hutt, July 19. . ' , A FUNERAL TRAMCAR. Sir;— Your space is valuable.' We liavo the tramway running past the gates of the Karori Ccmetei7. Could not a funeral car be run, at a given hotir or hours, to enable those w;ho widi to pay the last tribute to the dead' at the graveside to ido .60, 1 not--wittoanding'theVrainffaHl mxnirat; this season of tho : year. Moreover, for business men time.is a factor in' the consideration. : As thero need not. be many stopping-placcc, this: would reduoe thi . journey , to . a minimum. Soo ltookwood Cemetery, Sydney.—! am, etc., . : WELLINGTON. July 20. COMPtJLSORY MILITARY TR Al NINC. military fever is passing over or becoming overshadowed Dy tne unemployed trouble. The defeated Minister has left our shores; and wo are told that he will take up another racket on his.return. Then ho harm will ebme of lectures on Captain Cook's adventures in the early days. It seems, . sir, as if both old maids ana bachelors must have, some hobby to take up their attention, .but when it is proposed to distract peaceful youths from their productive callings and forcing them to drms in times of peace, • and, when there are no grounds' for oven a \Var; scare, then wo parents have a right to a voice in the matter of how our children aro to bo reared.. The 'idea tliat preparing for war is tho best way to get peace is a wild delusion, and, history proves it; It is by galvanising the military spirit : into ' people that we ihake them in their seorot hearts eager for the (fray and anxious to soo hostilities'commenced. Mr. M'Nab is all at sea in talking about the locality about where such men as Bums and Johnson livo being plaoes of peace, and it is astonishing to find suoh nonsense pass uncontradicted. - Ho is, also clean off the lines in his talk' about the Australian Labour party only assisting measures that are a benefit to the tvorkors, and Mr. G. H. R«id boing a Tory. The fact ie that tho Australian Labour party are the biggest political enemies of Labour in Australasia, They aro just as hopelessly befogged as any of tho other parties are/ and they are found supporting-such exploded fallacies as : protection. The fact that they worked hand in hand with Mr. Doakin and ■ his! party shows what milky-watery humbugs they must. be. and as to Mr.Reid he has more in one .finger than 1 all - the others havfc in their entire bodies. Only last week, he attacked land monopoly as no bogus Labourite had the oourage to do. When I heard of Mr. M'Nab's defeat, I was sorry, but after hearing him on compulsorymilitary training I was. not only "not sorry, but I was not surprised at tho action of the.electors—l am, eto., ■ __ A WORKING- DEMOCRAT. . •Hastings,. July 18. , A DEFENCE. Sir,—After blanking you for tho generous allowance of space, I beg to call attention to an error in my last (perhaps mine).- I in-, tended to say that the Paflkment-ary trip to Auckland cost twelve thousand, not twelve hundred pounds of the taxpayers' money. You. say in your footnote that I have not a very high, opinion of. politicians. Woll, sir," it .is true, but I donH; think , that I Btaiid alone in tihia respect.' Wflron -one sees the i enormous amount of distress that exists not only ia Wellington, but throughout New Zealand, and knows that this unfortunate state of things was deliberately brought about by the men-we pay to safeguard our interests, is it any, wonder that my confidence should be slightly shaken, if not shattered P When one sees, that noble-hearted, soul, the Rev. Mother Mary Joseph, daily tramping , the streets, rain, hail, or shine, in search of aid for tho needy; or pays,a visit to the 1 Salvation Army Rescue Homes, and-sees for oneself.that tiio resources of that deserving institution are totally inadequate to,'cope 'with the demands mado on it, and io think that all this could have been avoided bad tho silent 44 refused to allow their Eelf.-advortising chief to adjourn the session, during his pleasure. And again, sir, if you had seen, as I did, that same chief screened in a town cab and neard tho shouts that followed him down the wharf, I. don't think that even j;ou: would blame mo for not having a very high opinion of politicians.—l am, "etc., ' ;J. BOWIE. ' July, 14.