CORRESPONDENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 18075, 17 April 1919, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

Writers of letter® te the Editor licularly asked to say eo if they are sending their communication also to other newspapers. Letters che/uld be written in ink, on one Eide of the paper only, and they must be accompanied by the writer's name for the Editor’® information. THE NO-LICENSE DISTRICTS. TO THC F.DJTOB, Sty,—Should continuance win the present licensing poll, will all no-license districts revert to license, or will they remain as at present and get another chance at tho coming l general election to vote their own districta wet?—l am, etc,, A.T. (Our correspondent’s questions arc dealt with ia our editorial columns.—Ed. “L.T.”’) SEPARATION ALLOWANCES. * TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— Through your columns I wish to draw attention to a matter which seems to mo most unfair. I refer to tho separation allowance of a soldior’s wife being Btoppod as soon as her husband returns to Now Zealand. Suroly sho needs it until his discharge, when we presumo ho is able to earn a large enough wage to support them both. But. until his discharge what is sho to livo on? Most married men had tp break up their homes when they enlisted. Personally, I have been, of necessity, a wago earner during my husband's absence, but now that he is returning that work has to bo given up. It was only when I began estimating expenses without the usual monthly cheque with which to inept them that I realised how many others there must bo who are in need of that guinea a week ovon more during the soldier’s twenty-eight days’ privilege leave than they were while he was away and they were earning somathin g. I do not think the Defend? Department can have given tho matter a second thought or they would seo tho unfairnoss I oomplain of. Trusting that some abler pen will take tbs matter up.—l am; otc., RIGHT THE WRONG. MR WILLIAMS AND THE PATRIOTIC FUND. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Mr Williams claims to bo a victim from shell shock, and his actions in this matter scorn to confirm that claim. A man so nerve-chattered is hardly capable of sound 1 judgment, and a renly to accusations mane by him, especially when lie is a disappointed applicant for a grant from tho fund, is usually mere waste of time. In his latest effort, however, Mr Williams shif's his ground somewhat bv absolving tho executive from blame and concentrating his attack on tho secretary. We should bo failing in our duty to a valued officer if wo did not give to Mr Williams’s accusa'ions an absolute end emphat'c denial. Our exnerience in dealing with thousands of cases shows that tho secretary is a most ablo officer, courteous under conditions which ate olten most trying, and is ore to whom no labour is too heavy in tho interests of tlioso on whoso behalf tho fund exists. ... That wa are not aione in this opinion is proved by (lie following letter from the Returned. Soldier 5 ’ Association; — _ , “ Tho Chairman, Canterbury Patriotic Fund, Christchurch. “ Dear Sir, —My association beg. to convey to members of your society our gr~ eful appreciation for (ho assistance that has at all times boon given to returned sejd ; ers, and also your secretary, Mr W. A. Smith, for tho most able manner iu which he has carried out tho duties of his office. He has shown great Tact and judgment whilst being interviewed bv many men, and at all times lias given assistance to tho association. It wav therefore very gratifying to note that onlv recently Mr Smith's services have received, to our mind, a, very juct toward.—Yours faithfully, “ C. W. GREEN, “.Secretary, Returned Soldiers’ Association.” —We are, etc., ' 11. HOLLAND. Chairman; CYRUS J. R. WILLIAMS, Vice-Chairman; H. B.‘SORENSEN, Chairman Applications Committee; ALEX. BOYLE, Chairman Agricultural Committee; F. W HOBBS, Chairman Trades and Professions Committee; E. NORDON, Chairman Adequacy Committee : HY. R. SMITH, Honorary Treasurer. PROHIBITION AND THE WOMEN’S VOTEi TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Ones more I ask your leave for a word that must be said An effort 6eoms being raado to impart an element of sex.friction into the prohibition situation. I believe I represent the whole iveight of womcn’3 opinion in the country in repudiating any such unwarrantable construction on oithor. Blind guesses as to women’s failure at the prohibition pell we can afford to ignore, but outside suggestions that the impending defeat of prohibition is in any true sense a men’s victory we wariniy repudiate. Now, in tho hour, as it seems, of temporary defeat, is the time of all others to record our sense of what we owe to our men, the men who ore making New Zealand g-rcat in ihe tooth of every power of strife and evil let iooso in these latter days, thj men who will not rest til! they have placed New Zealand in the van of the re-born nations. Take even our own city, far as it is behind Dunedin and Auckland in voting strength. We have with •us the Bishop of Christchurch, and, among his clergy, some of the most devoted brotherly and spiritual-minded of workers. We havo with us the solid phalanx of the Froe Churches, and some of the finest minds in tho Roman Catholic Church li'avo not been expressed vainly here. We have tho Mayor with us heart and soul. We have the solid weight of tho medical profession with us. We have the heart and brain of the Christchurch Labour Party with us. We have the weight of that enlightened business element for which the Efficiency Board has spoken, men who already descry tho new relations of confidence and co-operation between Capital and Labour, which shall be achieved the sooner once thi3 supreme troubler of all industries is removed. We have with us the manly consciousness of the true athlete, a 3 voiced by M'r Wilding. We havo with us, in fact, tho men of goodwill and foresight in all ranks. When we remember that these proportions are largely held in tho other centres, and that tho ActingPremier has given us his voice as first citizen, .we have reason to lead our Easter thanksgivings with “Thank God for the men of Now Zealand.” And wo have reason for thanksgiving that no oversea vote can take away. With tho far-away boys who have stood under fierco temptation, we have otill, as I write, a moral victory of 17,000. New Zealand stood firm: it is the wet canteens of England and all they imply that nave lost us tho fight, not tho shell-shocked, broken men who were wounded in tho house of their friends. It is not of their defection wo mu3t think now, r.or of (ho mass of human protoplasm at home that in overy country is blindly moved by appetite, interest, or the vaguest catohcry anywhere. The result in Europe is not a reflection of the man’s vote in our country: it is the sick vote, tho mad vote, cradled in wav and in war’s own contributing conditions. Like Anficus, we do but touch the ground to spring from it with renewed hope and strength. Tho Paschal mystery of sacrifice is with us to-day as in all days theno fiv-> years past. The Paschal mystery of resurrection is vivid and near. Never dawned an Easter greater witn hope for the healing and peace of the nations, for tho emanoipaticn of tho souls and bodies of men. It is impossible to *ow dissension between the men and women who move together to these great ends. Again we say, “ Thank God for the men of New Zealand and the magnificent fight they Lava fought this year.”—l am, etc., JESSIE MACKAY.