NATIONAL REGISTRATION

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2582, 2 October 1915, Page 12

NATIONAL REGISTRATION

, Sir, —I must l congratulate you on your efforts in endeavouring to put military organisation on a • satisfactory basis in this country, and more especially on your sub-leader in Saturday's issue in regard to the form' of quostion an.the paper proposed to bo issued' by the Government iii connection with national registration. : ; As-you state, tho idea of. issuing a question similar to t-lio ono.printed in your article is much,to be preferred, for in that case the married man with a family can readily answer ','i r os". to tho question as to whether ho will volunteer when needed. Jn tho case of tho quostion proposed to be issued by tho Government, the man with ..responsibilities hero cannot with fairness to hits wife and children.voluntu3r his. dsmcsa-(Mi m'ssimt, and t»* fw obvious reawga mJI M lika .1% fill»his

paper to state that lie has 110 intention of offering his services. ■ Therefore, it seems to me that the questions as proposed to- be issued by tho Government apj not fair. There is many a married man with young children whoso i earl is willing, but who, in fairness to Ins family, camiot offer his services to his country. In these days of fhe high cosc of living, it would not bo fair lor a. mar. with a wife and,, say, four yourig children dependent on -him to volunteer,, for tlio simple, reason that if he„icft l;iie wliolo of his pay behind (that is 6s. per day) it would' not be sufficient to maintain them, nnd, further, if lio was unfortunate enough to lose his jife tie pension which the Government has provided would only keepVtliem .in very straitened circumstances. At present when there are so many young fellows without any responsibilities .Testing on their shoulders who have-not offered their services; I do riot ' think it is a fair question to ask the man with a family to answer the question "If not, why not?" in regard to volunteering. The time may yet come when it will bo necessary for all of us to do our part, and then I think you will find that the married man with a family will be willing and anxious to' do his share, but that time is not yet. Your form, of question would, enable the Government to have a complete register and at tho same time, ' by. classifying, enable tho married man to answer the questions with fairness to himself and also-protect him from being called upon while theio pere single'fellows available. As. regards assisting with the producing industries of .'this country, I think that only married men or rejects should be called on for this service... Trusting, tho Government will adopt your suggestion with regard to the form of question to bo placed 'before the men of military age iirthis Dominion,—! am, etc;;' : , ; C.J.P.

WAR TAXATION. , ~ Sir,—ln your- Saturday's _ issue you answered "Inquirer's" questions re the proposed now incomo tax. From your explanation I; gather that if. a person has.,£sooo' invested in a da;iry-fa,nn- as mentioned by ''Inquirer"; he would liave to pay an annual'income tax of-£1 13s. id.lf a person has a similar amount invested in d sheep-farm his '; income tax . would be doubled; Viz.; £365. Bd. Five, thousand pounds' invested in a big .'.company;! -wpuld bo, liable to; an - income tax'of^£4oj'tho.companies being taxed ..on the'. highest spate.;.' ,Now,' sir,-.' I do' liot :!think;. any of us', object to pay our fair proportion of this 'War, tax,. j)ut' to . charge one man £40. and .anotheV £1 13s. 4d!; wlaen they- .both possess' the'; same amouiit if wealth is iir.ything. biit' equalisiiig' the burdens,: and certainly does not indicate that Sir 7 Joseph"' Ward' is" the '. .'wizard of finance or. the champion' of'> fair-play that his' friends . .would 1 have :us believe. .—I am, etc.j • FAIR PLAY. Mastertori, September 28.'

ON THE TRAIN. - ... Sir', —On! itio, train. from. Palmerston to the Otaki races on Tuesday morning one heard:;tho 'following: "I.say, Bill, show-.us ,tho>paper.l'? . '"One, minute, 'l'om ! I'm. reading the^'great ; drive by the Allies on th.6 sWesteriv'froht. Real good readingV"!"\"Oh,: never 'mind that.' J. want to see if tlio acceptances for , today's meeting' is -'in'Vthe paper." .. At a station further, down-. ' Can you sell no a ■paper?" "No; : -but.'if you wantvto soq the. headings of war news I can lot you havo a loot at it." "Oh, never niiiul. I wanted to get the report of .Monday's, meeting at Otaki." • Had "the recruiting officer been ■ at Otaki on Monday and Tuesday, and suitable ' drafting-pens running - to' the station fixed up, Trentham could have bad a full complement by now for all unfilled regiments.—l am, etc., . • CONSCRIPTION. x

; PRICE OF BUTTER. Sir,—lt is quite evident from the dis-i cussion in tho Houso that the politicians do not understand tho position as to tho price 7 of butter.:' For instancy, Mr. Fletcher stated that it was the factories•: who. ntised the' price, not tho merchants.This is -quite wrong. When the retail'price of -butter in Wellington is. Is. 6d. per lb. the factory gets Is. 3d. : That is to "say, tlio merchant takes Id.', for commission, etc., and tho storekeeper takes 2d., making the retail price Is. Gd. . The main difficulty is that there are too many middlemen. In practically every other town in the North Island except Wellington the factories 'sell'-direct to the: storekeepers, and when butter is retailing at Is. ;6d.' the . factory, nets Is; ,4d.- ' In Wellington tlie ! merchants s are deteritnined to'-.como into the business between the storekeeper and the factory, and this costs the consumer another penny. When the retail pried of butter was Is.. 3d.' the factories selling-di-rect to the stores were netting Is. 3d., and were satisfied with this price, bui the factories supplying Wellington through the merchants were only receiving net ls. : 2d., and were, of course, dissatisfied. : When the .price advanced a penny in Wellington naturally other towns similarly advanced. The free-on-board price for export to-day is Is. 3ld. pbr'lb. It costs a. farthing to put tW butter on board for freezing charges and extra' weight allowance for shrinkage, thus leaving net to the factory Is. 3Jd. The factories supply, ing the stores direct net Is. 4d. locally, hence tho public are quite justified ,in expecting, the reduction of Id. locally. Mr.. Massey made the statement that the head of the Dairy' Division, ; Mr. Cuddio, held the opinion that the high ;prico locally was justified.' 7 es J. it is justified as long as the public will sit down quietly and-pay threepence per pound to middlemen for handling tho butter. What is wanted, is that, storekeepers should deal direct with- factories—l am, etc., FACTORY DIRECTOR.

RECRUITING. Sir,— I Tho exigencies of the moment demand our attention. The call has' come. Thoso of us who are able must respond, and all with a due senso of duty will do 1 so readily,. More men are ivanled, and many, like myself, who liave delayed enlisting until; the call became urgent are now prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to assist our comrades in arms. This is no time for recriminations, but for effort ind energy in impressing oil all the duty demanded of them., 'fe Zealand "has responded nobly. She ?ias done more than was expected of her, -but far less than she' is capablo of. Lot oacli man remember his heritage, the fact that his comrades are fighting l'or him, tho righteousness of our cause,, and if on of these,, and in the absence; of home ties, lio is content to shelter by his own fireside, he forfeits the respccfc and honour associated with the name "Britisher." Wo all enjoy the freedom assured to us by our flag. Let us evidence our gratitude to the Motherland by our. readiness to respond to the callAand take tip arniß side by sido with our kinsmen overseas, who'ate shedding their blood in the cause of justice, right, and truth. Our duty is a sacrod ono, and lies clearly before us, and.that being so we must strain oVery sinew to assist to .the utmost limits of our,power.—l rtpu.etc. '• V ■ KEMUIT;