To the Editor of the New Zealand Herald.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 898, 29 September 1866, Page 5

To the Editor of the New Zealand Herald.

Sin,—l do not consider that you ha tnVon M»p moat effectual mode of dissipating error (if error exists) in regard to the statements of pauperism in < this city, by attempting to ignore or mistato facts, . . It was proved before the Synod that the Government fixpenditnro for the poor amounted annually to more than £6000 - that this expenditure did not include the suburbs; th&t it did not apply to it much, larger class of'suftering 1 destitute at.preseut l supported by private liberality, the families of respectable artizans and Impoverished tradesmen who have been ruined by an inflated and unsound, mode of business. Now, sir, if you. will give yourself a little consider- . ation you will agree that, the l amount of population, this is .ail alarming" index of a'iifctiai :and Wile-spread pauperism,, for this sum of £f>ooo only affords the barest possible amount £>r the smtain(n«?nt of life to eai-h individual. It is not maintenance, it is simply the fractional application of a mean to that end, leaving the recipients in a state of comparative starvation. _As a mmister of the gospel, I have nothing i'j do with the political questions involved in this su'oiect. jSIy duties necessarily throw Tne into associati'jn with the poor, and these duties demand my sv xnpathies and exertions in their behalf; and just so'long as I am a witness to existing destitution and. misery unprovided for by G-overnmant, and n>.exp'ablo' D f re _ moval from private sources, just so l-,>ng will £ agitato the question and strive to guidt) public action in the direction of its removal.

I shall be very glad and very thankful to Arid I hays been mistaken. iD the opinions I have hitherto hold respecting th« pauperism of this city,, but I muat have something! uiora substantial.to shike. my ■fonvictions than tha leading arti-le Of a. public journal whoso expediency may be theoretically -*nd politic illy juaiiSed. but whose statements cannot be practically accepted,—l have, &c, E. N. Bkee. (jOur correspondent's notions on these matters are known to be peculiar, and we can .scarcely feet sUrnrU°d at finding him now mi-istatlng the actual con-? dttion of our operative classes, as " impoverished." when we remember having heard him publicly state that " tha Auckland community was socially, commereully, and politically, rotten," v x n we feel surprised that the alleged '« irripbvartslime,nt'' should be ascribed to the effects of •' an, inflated., and unsound.mode of business." Mr. Bree alsomisstates the amount of 'Government expenditure for the poor. We refer him aid our readers to t'. lQ remarks of hii liordship Bishop Selwyn, as reported in the Nw Zeal.vxd Hekald of Tuesday last, by which, it will be seen that the amount so tapendsd isf 20.0 per inonth, VTe havo no doubt that Mr, Bree sees far mora of apparent distress and destitution than any other man in. Auckland, and fprthis very reason that, known as the champion of the. cry of destitution which has been recently raided, all those who livq, and they are many, by playing upon the sympathies of kind-hearted bnt easy going persons, flock to him for assistance. The statement that the business of this city has been carried on inan unsound und inflated manner is, as pur readers need not be told, founded on error. The present commercial soundness, of Auckland business itfeh, in a period throughout these colonies of unusual coair morcial depression, and the fact that not more, than one per cent, of the pppiilafcion of the province is Suifertng from distress, is a suflljienfc answer to/ anysuch charge. Wb recommend to the notice of our/, correspondent the words of a respected clergy ma ifi'l spoken at the late meeting, of the Synod, who ■ : iu&been long enough in the province to tapw something of what he tajiks aliput:— *■ It was the besjs,'' Yfa said, " even for the idle and thriftless, if they could bedriven to work." In this we quite agree; but: donot, we say, render bad worse by adding to idleness, and uuthrift the further demoralisationof pauperism; —.Ei>. K^H,]