Readers Write

Northern Advocate, 30 November 1939, Page 4

Readers Write

[Readers are invited to send letters for publication in this Column. A letter should be written in ink on one side of the paper, and must hear the name of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith j

"Fairplay" talks about the loans of other Governments for which we have to pay. May I ask what would New Zealand be like today if there had

RESULTS OF STATE CONTROL.

been no loans? The only mistake made was that provision was not made for a small sinking fund that in time would have paid off these loans. Not only the generation which borrowed, but those who came after to enjoy the roads, etc., made by these loans, should all help to repay them. It might hit the farmers hard to find the £2,000,000 under the presentday rule, but if the Government was to say, “As the farmer has to take overseas prices for his produce, we must see that he can buy what he wants at the price at which we can land it from overseas,” what would happen? There is not a thing in which the Government has taken a hand that has not cost more money and given more trouble than if it had been left to private people. Instances in support of this are to be found in regard to onions, lemons, sugar restrictions, Public Works expenditure and State house building costs. In every case it would have been better for everybody if private enterprise had been allowed to operate without interference. —“WHY ? ”

Acting against the advice of other lemon growers in Whangarei, I sent a consignment of eleven cases of choice lemons clean

and well-col-oured —to the Internal Marketing Division, Auckland. In return, I have now received a cheque for £1 10/4. Out of thise I have to pay labour for cultivating, spraying, artificial manure, (boxes and cartage. This return shows a considerable debit.

LEMON GROWER'S COMPLAINT.

Previous to the Government taking control of the lemons gi'own in this country, growers, in the majority of seasons, got a fair return for their labour, and the public got their fruit at a reasonable price. Now, the growers show a loss, and the public pay more.

It seems' a great pity that lemon growers have no alternative but to cut their trees down, as is being done to my knowledge in numerous cases. I /notice in the Press that lemons are being imported into this country, no less than 1000 cases having arrived recently. What will the public have to pay for this line? I have grown lemons for the past forty years, and found them a profitable line at 5/ net per bushel case, thereby giving the public fruit at a reasonable price, instead of 1/6 to 2/ per dozen.

In New Zealand, fruit can be grown so easily that there is no reason why publish should not get -it at fair figure. I have always found that there is a good demand and x’eady sale at the right price, profitable to both the grower and the public. In the absence of our export trade this year, owing to the war, it will be “pity help the growers” if the sale of apples and pears comes under the same sale conditions as the lemon crop.

We growers in Whangarei were not consulted or had a vote in the matter of the lemon deal, although our orchards are registered and we pay an orchard tax.—H. HUTCHINSON.

I should be grateful if you would allow me through the “Northern Advocate,” to advise the public of Whangarei and

WHANGAREI PATRIOTIC APPEAL

district of the effort which

is being made to collect funds and materials for the provision, of comforts, amenities and equipment for His Majesty's New Zealand Forces in New Zealand and overseas.

Young New Zealanders have been accepted for service in the Dominion’s Special Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. The initial stages in the transformation from civilian into soldier, airman or sailox - , may not be the most arduous phase of active service life, but the fact remains that from the moment a man enters either of the services to take up arms for his country he has a legitimate call on the gratitude of his fellow citizens.

It is not a call that the soldier, sailor, or airman himself is likely to put forward. The call for funds and materials is a move in the direction of a community effort to prove to the nucleus of New Zealand’s war-time services that the sacrifices made by its members are sensibly appreciated. /

I know that there are countless men and women who are anxious to make some practical contribution in war work. Can I now be afforded the opportunity to commend this effort to them? Some citizens still harbour the thought that all the funds collected will go to, or be appropriated by, the Government. Such, of course, is a false belief. The Government cannot touch the funds, which will be administered and disbursed by the people of the province through the Auckland Provincial Patriotic Council, an incorporated body with a common seal, whose members are the mayors and chairmen of the principal local authorities in the Auckland Province. Surely nothing could be clearer than that.

Each province has complete autonomy in that regard, and it. not the State, is the trustee or custodian of the funds. It is well that the impression that the moneys are “going to the Government” should be eradicated. If ever an organisation called for the spirit of team work it is the patriotic organisation which has been set up. A public patriotic subscription list has been opened at the Town Hall, Whangarei, and this will bo a feature of the direct appeal for funds which the Whangarei and District Committee are making to the public. The money is for the benefit of YOUR OWN forces. Help the boys who are helping you—WILLIAM JONES, Mayor of Whangarei, chairman, Whangarei District Patriotic Committee. Town Hall, Whangarei.