CORRESPONDENCE CONDENSED

Evening Star, Issue 16515, 29 August 1917, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE CONDENSED

" Sat Sapient!" suggests that a very usefol waV in which to employ Class C2 men would be to dissolve our present Parliament and substitute therefor one composed' of the more learned among the C2 men. The country would certainly lose nothing, and the introduction of new blood Into our Lower House might result in substantial gain. "Second Division" thinks that plainclothes constables,, when demanding an enrolment certificate, should be instructed to produce their warrants. f "Axe To The Root," referring to "Wake lip's" letter on social purity, agrees that the axe must be struck at the root of the tree. The evil is growing, and should be dealt with vigorously. The origin of the trouble is in our social and industrial conditions. Poverty causae the death of millions of babies and the downfall of thousands of women. "I have seen human beings asleep on the benches in London huddled together in the cold—men, women, and children—not even knowing each other; and this, too within ihe shadow of the cathedral. I have seen » woman picked up in the street having* died of starvation." The Church is partly responsible. For centuries it*'has wasted its energies on dreams of another world instead of working to better the conditions on this planet on which we live and of which we are sure. It is poverty that threatens, the worker, and it is poverty that in nine cases out of ten is responsible for a woman's downfall. These are questions that the Church must face and settle, and thus dispose of the accusation that she has failed in her mission.

Neil Sutherland recalls an episode which occurred in Dunedin some years ago, when a Dunedin trader sold his bread at |d less than the ruling price, though there was much opposition to this action from other retailers. Our correspondent thinks that a business man knowing all the ramifications of the bread trade might be taken into the counsels of the Government to help in getting £heap bread for the people. A. Picard says that any student of sociology knows that low wages and sweating conditions often drive women to take the downward path. This applies particularly to the older, countries. Still, there are other causes, one being love of dress. " Some women are very cruel to each other, and never seem happy unless they are sneering at each other's clothes. If a soldier's wife, sister, or mother happens to be looking a bit shabby, and the heels of their boots are worn out a bit to port and starboard, owing to altered conditions caused by the war and the absence of the bread-wianer at the front, these women who go the pace in the dress line make it v*y uncomfortable for their less fortunate 3isters, and actually look down on them. This is a cruel fact. It is about time this woman's war was called in, and a dress censor appointed for the duration of the great war.""