CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9255, 8 January 1889, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE DEPUTATION ON THE CD. ACT. ,TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Will you allow me a few words of comment on the articles in which you have referred to the deputation which waited upon the Governor last Thursday, in reference to the refusal of His Excellency's Ministry to accede to the request of the Council of the city of Auckland to revoke a certain proclamation. The writer of the former of those articles, while declaring that he does not mean to discuss the principal question, proceeds in a manner which, if he were a woman, you would denounce as hysterical, to make a series of assertions about it. These need no comment further than the remark that they are mere assertions of an irresponsible writer without a particle of evidence to support them—assertions, too, which, as far as they relate to the general efficiency of similar legislation, have been abundantly discredited in the Imperial Parliament and elsewhere. In regard to one of his statements of a local characternamely, that the present City Council totally misrepresents the feelings of the city on the subject, I need only say, that if it bo true, it is very strange. Of the present City Council a considerable number are nqw members elected since the question became a prominent one before the constituents ; and since the agitation began, some three years ago, several members of the Council who are most warmly in favour of licensing vice have gone out one by one, and their seats in the Council Chamber know them no more. It is strange, too, that at a time when, after repeated and long enquiry, the system of regulated vice has been rejected from the United Kingdom by the Imperial Parliament without a division, when it has been abolished in India, and when the Imperial authorities have put a stop to it tn all the Crown colonies, the constitutional government of thie colony, the head of which is well-known to disapprove of the Act, should force the representative of the Imperial power among us to take a position \vhicb. those who commission him have absolutely repudiated. As was pointed out to Ylis Excellency by Sir W.. Fox, the partic-alar detail which was brought before hig notice by the deputation, namely, the re /vocation of the proclamation of Auckland as a district subject to the Act, is a matt er for the executive and not for the legialat «re. The third clause of the Act says :—" This Act shall extend and apply to such • districts as the Governor shall . . . declare to be subject to the provisions hereof. . And it shall be lawful for the Governor at any time to revoke any such proclamation, and thereupon this Act shall cease to apply to the district named therein u/jless re-pro-claimed. " Five years ago ther equest of the City Council to have the proclamation issued was granted without he .sitation ; now with a Prime Minister oppog- ad to the Act, why is the voice of the Council, speaking in an opposite sense, not liste ;ned to ? What surreptitious influence, wh?,t veiled prophet has been acting behind the scenes?—l am, efc c-> W. Steadman Alois.

HAMILTON BAND AND HAMILTON SPOR7i?S. TO THE ».Dia'OE. Sib,—My attention ' oa s been drawn to a paragraph in the coun try news of your issue of the Ist inst., in wh'ich your correspondent states:—"Two of the Volunteer Band, because the Claud elands syndicate took part in getting up the Boxing Day athletic sports at Claudelar rds instead of on Sydney Square, refused to. play with the rest of the band at the race meeting on Saturday Their places are to be filled by those less influenced by lor;al jealousies." As a volunteer, and one 'well acquained with the dispute amongst f jc-me of the bandsmen, I give this statement an unqualified denial. It is a private matter, and will be settled amongst the? r officers and themselves. The local jealousy is shown to be very strong in the mind of your correspondent, as witness ™ s^ n S Partisanship he evinced for the taaudelaiwls sports, whilst totally ignoring the annual sports on Sydney Square, which have nov been held there for 25 years. * our "oirespondent did not tell your readers that th»e Claudelands committee depended principally upon the sale of privileges, gate money, and entries, to pay their prizes, whilab on Sydney Square the whole of the prizes and expenses were paid by voluntary subscription, raised in a few days, there being no charge for admission. The attendance on the Square was at least three times as numerous, as at Claudelands.—l &m, &c, '„.,., „ Volunteer. Hamilton, East, January 4, 1889.

THE WOOL MARKET. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln this day's paper we see that at the sth series of London wool sales, December 1, buying was very brisk, and greasy wool, merino, went up to Id per lb dearer than on the previous, or 4th series; scoured wool was also Id oer lb do.

do. In fact, from the Ist series to the 6th do., wool has risen every time. In Australia, Canterbury, and Otago, prices of wool, as in London, have constantly risen during the lasts tvro months. Friday's papers show that "at the Dunedin last wool sales there was an advance of Id to \? u pe l lb- " Th ® Australasian states that sheep-breeding was being abandoned to a very large extent in the United States; the number of sheep kept has decreased in the last two years to the extent of 5,000,000." This means larger imports needed by the Americans; besides, thair population now reaches nearly "70,000,000. It is an undeniable fact that the staple production, wool, has steadily and constantly risen, and continues to do so, within the last twelve months. Now, in the face of all this, can it be believed thab Auckland alono shows a market rather lower than last year's. Why? The wool is much the same, in fact of rather a better quality. But competition there is none; buyers are too few, and get along amicably together ; of course, such ie their interest. In this connection, why does not each wooiseller's name appear as formerly with his produce ? Farmers will never succeed in their business, nor get fair play till they form themselves into a Trades -Union. Taken singly, as now, in all their dealings, they are simply victimised. They are lL*e lambs driven to the slaughter.—lam, etc., "United We Stand."