CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9424, 23 July 1889, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

RAILWAY charges. TO TIIK EDITOR. Sir, —In your issue of the 17 th instant appears the annual report of the committee Oi the Chamber of Commerce. In dealing with railway returns it says that the present exorbitant charges of an average of 3Jrd per ton per mile will preclude any bub those living near shipping porta from getting even the worth of tbeir produce. I think the rate named much below the mark. I will give a case in point. About two months ago a vessel belonging to Auckland, trading between Kuipara and Melbourne, shipped at Melbourne a parcel of 52 tons of salt, at a freight, to be delivered in Auckland, of 10s per ton. The master of this vessel was well acquainted with the railway charges on the Aucklnnd-Helensville line, having on many occasions paid freight on stores, &c. He knew that timber was carried for Is 3d per 100, equal to Os 3d per ton. He also knew that flour, bonedusb, and coal, if carriod in quantities of two tons and over was carried at 8s (id per ton and under, and naturally thought that his large paroel of salt should bo carried as cheaply as flour, coal, or manures. He loaded the railway trucks at Helensvillo with the ship's crew. Imagine his conster- • nation to find that he had to pay the railway £42 freight on his 52 tons of salt from Helensville to Auckland, and that he had to receive £26 for his freight. This same skipper is not likely to repeat the operation. Such is railway management on the Now Zealand lines. If large quantities of heavy goods were carried at even 3d per mile a considerable traffic might be created by vessels coming in ballast from Australian ports to load timber taking heavy goods such as salt and manure for ballast. Farmers near Auckland do not uso the railway for the carriage of their grain. Last season almost all the farmers round about Mangere, Papatootoe, and Tamaki carted their grain to market. Well may-Mr. Vaile say that the railways are worked in the interests of rings and certain classes without any regard to the interests of the whole community. The giving facilities to the country settlers for opening up the country is never thought of.—lam, etc., D. 11. McKenzik. OUR RAILWAYS : THE THREE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM. TO THE K TOR. Sir,-—I ask my fellow colonists to read and ponder over the following paragraph which appears in our Commissioners first report : —"The trade of the county being based chiefly on tho pastoral and agricultural industries, and in less degree on the mineral, timber, and manufacturing industries, is capable of a steady but. not a rapid expansion. Thero can, therefore., bo no great increase in the gross railway revenue of any one year over the preceding. Any improvement in the not revenue result will depend quite as much on economy of working as increase of business." Commercial and financial imbecility ! What on earth would they have us rely on, if not on our raw and manufactured products ? These are the three wise men to whom the Hon. E. Mitcholson thought to induce mo to commit my commercial and financial reputation. Such a course may suit him, but the leading strings are altogether too weak for me.l am, etc., Samuel Vaile. Auckland, 19th July, ISS9. THE LATE FATHER DAMIEN. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —In your issue of July 12th there appear several letters on the subject of the late Father Damien's self-sacrifice, which seems to have taken the world outside the Catholic Church by surprise, and the press botli at home and in the colonies seems to look upon his devotion and self-sacrifice as something more than human. Catholics are no doubt proud to see this tribute paid to the memory of one of their priests by the world at large, but they cannot help wondering how it is that no notice is taken of numberless other instances of self-abne-gation on the part of the clergy of the Church which occur in everyday life. No doubt Father Damien's work is one to be remembered by the world, and his memory ought to be ever kept irreen, arid serve as an example as to what a priest, ordained solely to the service of Cod, is ever ready and able to do by the help of the Divine grace which enables him to work out his vocation in the service of (rod by ministering to the wants of his fellow-creatures. The Rev. Mr. Smith's attempted argument that Father Damien's work has been done by him in spite of the teaching of his faith is one which shows the cloven foot indicative of the worst form of sectarian prejudice and want of charity. However, such men as the Rev. Smith are only worthy of contempt by all Christian and educated men, and I will not therefore take further notice of him. We Catholics do not complain of the extraordinary notice taken by the press of Father Darnien and his glorious work, but we wonder whether our friends outside the Church ever heard of similar heroism. St. Charles Borromeo, who made his palace a hospital for the plague stricken poor, selling all his plate and even that of his cathedral, and dying, from his indefatigable courage and devotion at 4G years of age (this was in 1581). Of John of Malta, who devoted all his money and begged for more in order to redeem slaves in Africa, and when his means were all exhausted, giving his own person in order to redeem one more. These, as well as many more, were examples of selfsacrifice which men, devoted to their faith and with a mission from God, were able to do, which men in our present day, who have vocations and are ordained, receive strength and guidance to carry out. 1 fear that the world will soon forget poor Father Damien, because his memory will be a reproach to it. Perhaps this is the reason such men as the Rev. Smith try to persuade themselves and their hearers that Father Damien is to be undervalued in his work of charity and self-abnegation.—l am, etc., Harold E. Avks. "Wanganui, July 16, 1889.

MR. LANIGAN AND THE HARBOUR BOARD. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—lf the resolution of the Harbour Board, as reported, is correct, it is somewhat puzzling. If the Harbour Board is willing to act upon the decision of the Supreme Court, why not appoint an arbitrator, and why wait for Mr. Lanigan to take legal proceedings? The only conclusion I can arrive at is that the Board is endeavouring to avoid moral and equitable responsibilities by legal quibbles, which is as discreditable in a public body as in a private individual. Mr. Lanigan has carried out his contract in a praiseworthy manner, and I believe ha« the sympathy of the whole community, and he has no right to be put to unnecessary delay, to say nothing of the mental worry and legal expenses involved. The action of the Board is unintelligible oxcept on the above assumption, and it would redound much more to the credit of the Board to avoid any further litigation.—lam, &c., Justice. P.S. —I wish to add that I am not, nor ever was, directly or indirectly, interested in Mr. Lanigan's affairs, and merely express an opinion held in common by many citizens who consider him an ill-used man.—J.

THE EDUCATION BOARD AND TEACHERS. TO TIIK kditok. Sik,—l fully endorse all Dr. Bakewoll says in his letter this morning, more particularly that part which refers to children having to learn things which are absolutely useless to them in after life. Re country schools : a case lately came under my notice where a female teacher was offered and accepted an appointment to an out-of-the-way country school, with a supposed average of about 12 pupils, at £4 per head per annum, and was then informed she would have to pay her own expenses going there. This she refused to do, and is in consequence ranked among the unemployed at present. Will such miserable pinching and screwing of the Board of Education save the taxpayer one cent ? No. What is saved in one way is spent in another, and fresh taxes already loom in the near future in this unfortunate ovorgoverned country.—l am, &c., July 20, 3889. Taxpayer. RE ARTIFICIAL MANURES. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —During the last few days I have observed items in your paper respecting the quality of fertilisers as supplied to farmers. I have had considerable experience in transactions between merchants and farmers, and would like to suggest that if the farmers want a guarantee they should aiau L/C rcq".'/'«d tn viva a euaran-

too of their produce, as I have seen from time to time remarks in the Press with regard to the quality, manner of packing, etc., of produce shipped from Auckland to Sydney and other markets, which tended to lower the values, and for which I do nob consider tho merchants could be held responsible, but the farmers who packed the goods, as it cannot be expected that the shippers would open every package passing through their hands.—l am, &c., UMPIRE. Auckland, 19th July, 1889.

THE HOME RULE AGITATION. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Allow metoenter ray protestagainot the introduction of the Irish Home Rule agitation into this colony. There are many reasons why we should keep separate from active participation iu the contest. In tho first place, we have quite enough to do to attend to our own political affairs, without becoming involved in troubles on the othor sido of the world. As soon as we have loarned to run our own country with some measure of prosperity and success, we may turn our philanthropic attention to other quarters. Another reason is. that we in New Zealand are not in as good a position for judging of the real facts of the case as those at and near the scene of trouble. Again, is it not an undeniable fact that the majority of the witnesses in the TimesParnell case have perjured themselves over and over again, and have admitted that they wore connected with one secret assassination society or another ? As far as I win judge, if tho Times has not substantiated its primary contention, it has conclusively proved many other ugly facts. The evidence given by the witnesses in this great case proves that there aro bands of Irishmen who have planned and executed dynamiting, and every other diabolical device ; and yet assert that they are taking " constitutional and legal" means of securing their object! No wonder if the Parnellitcs' counsel withdrew from the case after the eye-oponers extorted from the witnesses. Now, why should we be pestered on the subject by the paid delegates who are to arrive? Will they not arouse party feeling, and sot mot) against one another who are previously content to let old feuds rest in oblivion ? I think so. And there is no doubt in my mind that the question of Roman Catholicism has more to do with this agitation than many persons will admit. Again, there can be no question that there is a large number of men who are making a tidy living out of the dispute, and the challenge of the Melbourne Age as to the disposal of the Land League funds requires an explicit answer. There is not so much objection to the Irish delegates lecturing upon the subject of Ireland's wrongs, if the Home Rule party in this colony will only allow the same privilege to the delegates who are to arrive in behalf of t.he Primrose League. But will they do this ? It is very doubtful. At Orange, I think it was, a meeting of Loyalist* was recently held, and what was tho outcome? A freo light; and why? Because some of tho Irish Home Rule party went to the meeting with the express object of disturbing the meeting. But come nearer homo. A meeting was convened for Friday last of thoso in favour of excluding the Irish Home Rule conflict from this colony. Now, seeing that the Home Rulers had been allowed to hold their meetings in peace, was it not fair to allow the other side to hold its meeting without being interrupted by bigoted blatherskites ? But no : this is a different matter. We want to be free from disturbance in our meetings, you know ; but wo don't like to let you have the same privilege. Lot me say there are some Irishmen in Auckland I can really respect, but tho intolerance of others is sufficient to disgust anyone who is disposed to reason calmly on this great question, and drive him into violent opposition. There is no disguising the fact that the interjection, " Separation from England and extermination of the Protestants," expresses the true feeling and wish of a very great number of those who are losing as friends of the Irish " tenantry," etc. Now that some of these gentlemen have shown their true colours, it behoves all Protestants to stick to theirs also, and assist in securing fair play at the meetings to be hold protesting against tho agitation being introduced into this colony.—l am, etc.. Peach.

THE GREAT IRISH CAUSE. TO THK EDITOR. Sir, —Some years ago, in a literary contribution of mine to an Auckland paper, I had occasion to make use of the term " The Great First Cause." To my dismay, when it appeared in print, I found the intelligent typo had produced it as " The Groat Irish Cause." Curiously enough, the typo's rendering of the passage did not make absolute nonsense of the context, though it put an entirely different complexion upon tho meaning intended. 1 am beginning to think that, after all, that typo was right, and that the Irish cause is becoming, or has become, with many tho great first cause. But, dear Mr. Editor, I am a colonist, and, for the life of mo, 1 cannot see why we, out in Now Zealand, should go into a frenzy of excitement over getting- what is called Home Rule for Ireland. And I cannot help thinking that if our excitable population would only devote a little more enoisry to our own colonial affairs, it would be infinitely preferable to raising a sentimental howl over the affairs of a people who, however hardly they may have been treated in the past, are at present enjoying precisely the same rule, good or bad, whichever it may be, under which Britons in the United Kingdom are governed. I was talking the other day to an Irishman, a genuine Home Ruler, and in reply to his rather angry inquiry, if I did not. think Ireland ought to have Home Rule? I said, Certainly, my friend, I do, but I consider Scotland, Vales, and England should also have the same. The British House of Commons, wrongly styled an Imperial Parliament, is quite unable, and has been unable for years, to transact the merely local business of the four kingdoms, and tho conferring of some system of Homo Rule with local self-government on each of the four divisions of the United Kingdom must sooner or later eventuate, and not till that comes about shall we have a truly Imperial Parliament, in which will be assembled representatives from the whole Empire." " But," he said, " what has England, Scotland, and Wales got to do with it ? Let them look after themselves if they want it." To which I replied, " This is not what you appear to think solely and dis tinetly an Irish question ; it is an Imperial question, and as a question of great Imperial policy it will be finally settled, and tho settlement of it will not affect Ireland only but all parts of the United Kingdom to their equal advantage." But, sir, what 1 want to point out is this: That we in New Zealand are a plaguey sight worse governed than are the Irish in Ireland. 1 wonder what the Irish would think if they found, in addition to all their real and imaginary woes, that the Government under which they live insisted upon the bulk of the taxation paid by them as by us, namely, through Customs duties? Ami what would they think of the Premier of England if he should reply as the Premier of New Zealand did last session, when asked if it was not possible to so arrange the incidence of taxation as to cause New Zealand wealthy absentees who are sucking the life blood out of the colony, to pay somothing to the national revenuo, even if it was not in proportion to the wealth they draw from lis, and who replied " he had yet to have defined to him what an absentee landowner meant." The exodus from this country is proportionately as great as the exodus from Ireland. Evictions almost as heartless take place in this country as they do in Ireland. Landlords in thiscoutdry take precisely the same advantage of their conservative rights and privileges as they do there and olsevvhere. A mechanic out of work, through no fault of his own, feels just as keen indignation and misery, when he sees the bed taken from under his wife and children, and all his little belongings sent to auction, though he lives in Auckland, as does the peasant in any part of Ireland. What I wonder at, is, that we can allow all these things to take place under our noses without uttering a murmur, but when certain enthusiastic gentlemen come 16,000 miles to tell us tho same thing is being done where they come from, then we get excited. The columns of the papers are taken up with reports of the enthusiastic meetings they have held, the large sums of money they have collected, and the glory that surrounds their unselfish patriotism. I do not really believe that any civilised country on this earth, certainly no English-speaking country, is worse governed at the present moment than is this one ; if it were not so we should have people flocking to us instead of leaving. Nearly the whole taxation of the country !

is ground out of the hard earnings of the industrial classes, who are now brought down to the lowest depths of poverty. Those that are able to leave the country do so ; those that remain are longing for the opportunity to clear out of it, and I must say I think there would be just as much wisdom in New Zealand sending choson delegates to lecture throughout the United Kingdom on the woes of this miserably governed country andcollect money todefray expenses here of candidates holding diamotrically opposite views to the class at present in power, as it is for delegates from the old country to come here to dilate on the woes of Ireland and collect money to redress tho grievances of that portion of the Empire. —lam, etc., Anti-Humbuo. P.S. —It will be observed that I carefully omit to mention tho Fenian share in the present Irish Home Rule movement. This I do deliberately, as we are assured by all tho Home Rule leaders that there is not the very faintest suspicion of disloyalty about the agitation. Had there boon disloyalty at the bottom of it I, for one, could quite understand what the true moaning of it implied ; but we are assured that the deep race animosity thai for many centuries existed between the Irish Celts and the Irish Saxons is now entirely obliterated and a thing of the past, and is now turned into pure love and affection. This colonials and many Englishmen firmly believe, therefore I accept it as gospel. Cant quently the only object these gentlemen can have who are visiting the colonies in the cause of Ireland is to expose a state of social inequality and injustice which exists there, but which also exists in this country, in my opinion, in a far worse degree.

BOYCOTTING. TO TIIK EDITOR. Sir, Just a few lines in answer to " E.W.," in your Tuesday's issue, where she gives her advice gratis to the women of Auckland against countenancing the Irish delegates—Mr. Dillon, etc.—and draws on hor imagination for such a pathetic pioture as that of the boycotted farmer losing his bright young wife and babe by thoso barbarous Home Rulers. Now it seems to me that "E.W.'s" letter is all one-sided, as she has not said a word about the cause ot such an extreme remedy being needed as boycotting ; and before tho women of Auckland make up their minds on the question, they will most likely ask for a littlo more information, which "E.W." will be pleased to give. For instance : —Rack rente, absentee landlordism, evictions, agents, and blackjacks, and all the other horrors which have caused tho population of Ireland to dwindlo down from eight to five millions in a few short years. But it would be worso than useloss to reason with anyone who could use the language " E. W." has used to Mr. O'Brien, because ho did not wish to wear prison clothes. —I am, etc., July ISth, 1889. Irishwoman,

THE IRISH DELEGATES. TO TlfK EDITOR. Sir, —I have read the report of tho meeting held on Friday in regard to the Irish delegates. lam Irish by birth, and have as much love for my country and have shown as much sympathy, not in words, but in doeds, towards relief to tho widows and orphans and the starving poor, as the man who comes on a platform, and only subscribes "gas" when called upon. I have never known any agitator do any good for Ireland, and 1 have lived in the centre of it for 25 years, and in New Zealand some 12. But since Mr. Parnoll has taken from a starving poor some £40,000 to clear his estates I then come to the conclusion "self." Sir, can you or some of your readers inform me what this man Dillon is collecting money for ? Has ho an estate also in debt, or is he collecting money from us to carry on unlawful crimes ? In this I hope he will be disappointed, and if Ireland were as grateful to England jus tho New Zealanders are for the markets opon to us for our produce, and pay more attention to their real interests, and not let agitators get fat on them, it would bo bettor for it. Air. Dillon may come here, and ho will find the people of New Zealand are law-abiding. Let the delegates come, and before one pound of money is given them, bind them to account for it. I will not advert to tho past. Let them come and go, but let them go without our money. There are many deserving calls on us here if we have anything to spare.—l am, &c., Atiiloxe.