CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8422, 25 November 1890, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

W. S. ALLEN'S CANDIDATURE. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —With referenco to Mr. S. Y. Cox'fj, letter in your issue of yesterday, I would like to confirm what he says, and to add that when Mr. Allen was hero he told me of the action of his friends at Cheadlo during his absence, and assured mo he had sent two cablegrams declining their urgent roquesb for him to stand again for Newcastle, and that notwithstanding this they had persisted in going to the poll. No other result under such circumstances could be expected than that he should be dofeated ? Ho further strongly expressed his regret at the mistaken kindness of his friends, becauso hi feared it would give an unfavourable impression, in case of his desiring to enter New Zealand politics. It would bo well, also, to state that in England tho candidate's consent to being nominated is nob required, as ib is hero in Now Zealand, so that the whole thing was done not only without Mr. Allen's consent, but in face of his refusal to give it, Mr. Allen was returned continuously for Newcastle for '21 years without a single defeat.— am, <fcc., Thomas Buddek.

BAPTISM. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—As represented by Mrs. Aldis my argument stands thus : —" Baptism was the rite by which persons were admitted to the early Christian community. Sprinkling is the rite by which we admit to our community. Therefore sprinkling is baptism." But this syllogism, Mrs. Aldis knows, is hers; not mine; and I am not envious ot her possession. The question under discussion was simply, Is the Lexicon the proper court of appeal for tho New Testament usage of bapiizo ? In support of the negative I showed that tho famous "Greek-English Lexicon compiled by Henry George Liddell, M.A., and Robert Scott, D.D." had, in pursuance of tho plan adopted by early versions of the New Testamont, done nothing more with Hellenic applications of the term than just to present ib in its native form. I asked Mrs. Aldis 011 what principle this procedure could be accounted for ; but she has retired from the controversy initiated by herself, and the question remains unanswered. My "opinion" on tho subject of baptism is certainly not opposed to " the unanimous verdict of learned men." On tho contrary, it is shared by a mass of competent biblical scholarship, to ignore the existence of which is fanatical and absurd. Mrs. Aldis, however, has set me a tiood example, which I now complacently follow, in thanking you for the space afforded ni£. —I am, &c., A. Cakkiok.

REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES,

TO THE EDITOR.

Sat, —Id your issuo of Kith October appeared a letter signed by me, referring to 11 modification of Hiiro's plan for the representation of minorities, drawn up by me and meant to serve as a basis for the adoption of that system in Now Zealand. To me there appears an urgent necessity for a measure of that kind, because it is a fact that manhood suffrage places the electoral power of the colony in the hands of the masses, and it is equally certain that the aims and objects of this majority, which has the the command of the ballot box, are widely different from the opinions and wants of the minority, representing the capital, the intelligence, and the responsibility of the colony. But so long as majorities alono are represented, all the interests called into existence by capital, all the knowledge acquired by intelligence, and all the weight? of responsibility which devolves upon permanent interests, remain- unrecognised and undefended for want of representation. In populous countries, where the many needs of the State call into requisition the special capacities of each class in the community, responsibility is pretty evenly distributed, but here, where the battle of life fought by the colony is nothing but a struggle to keep our heads above water, and maintain the public credit, it is obvious that the burden of tho contest-must rest upon that portion of the people which is attached to the soil by the ties of property, of occupation, and of family ; in short, upon the real colonists, as distinguished from the labour classes, which to a great extent are nomado in habits, only recognising as their home tho country where wages are the highest and work is easiest. Upon this minority then depends tho chief part of tho industry and trade of New Zealand, the life of her society intellectual and material; by it also ,is sustained the credit of tho colony abroad, and whatever remains of her character for common sense and prudence. That so important a part of tho population should be to a great extent unrepresented is calamitous for the country, and unjust to those who thus suffer disfranchisement. It ought, therefore, to be the aim of all who have tho good of New Zealand at heart, to take what means they can to restore to tho minority the political rights of which they are now unfortunately deprived. But this can only bo effected by some such device as that of Mr. Hare, an idea of which I will now endeavour to lay before your readers in abstract, only premising that my suggestions are open to all sorts of modifications, being rather meant as a basis for the discussion of tho whole subject than as a plan ready made for adoption as it stands. By the first section the colony is divided info two electorates, formed by the North and Middle Islands of New Zealand, and their dependencies. The second provides for the existence of two Houses of Parliament, both of which to bo elective, the i duration of the House of Representatives to be four years, that of the Legislative Council to bo ten' years. The third fixes the numbers of the two chambers, at 30 for tho Upper, and (30 for the Lower House. The fourth defines the conditions of eligibility for the membership of either House, viz., that candidates shall be of tho male gender, and shall be electors of the electorate for which they stand. Number five fixes the payment of members, those of tho Upper House to receive £f>o for each session attended by them, members of the House of Representatives in like manner to be entitled to the sum of ,€IOO. By section six the finance of the colony to be subject to the joint control of the two Houses. Number seven gives to every elector tho right to vote for as many members of both Houses as shall bo returned by the electorate to which he or she may belong. The eighth defines the qualifications of electors who, being of the age of twenty-one years, may represent either sex, must be able to read and write, and must have resided twelve months in tho registration district in which they claim. The ninth section provides that no person can be registered as an elector who is Mipported by public charity, who within three years from tho date of his claim for registration has served a sentence for (a) robbery with violence, (b) breaking ami entering, (c) burglary, (d) highway robbery, (c) assault upon a girl of tender years, (J) bestiality, (;/) perjury, (h) forgery, (<) personation at elections, (j) fraudulent bankruptcy, (/.•) broach of trust, (/) embezzlement, (m) infraction of gaming laws, (?/.) public prostitution, (o)habitual drunkenness ; and upon a conviction for any of the above-named offences the name of the convicted person to be struck off the electoral roll by the election officer. By number ten no elector to be registered in more than one registration district, but may vote in other districts instead of his own, by procuring a certificate from I,he election ollicer, and being duly identified. Under the eleventh a returning ollicer is appointed for each electorate, whose duty it shall bo to publish the date of elections, the time of closing for registration of claims, etc. ; also to determine, according to section li, the members returned, and publicly declare the same. One agent of each candidate may be present during enumeration of votes. Twelve provides for each electorate being divided into thirty registration dis- j tricts, which shall also be voting districts, j to each of which shall bo appointed an j election officer, whose duty it shall be to register, to object to and remove from the ' roll all names requiring such treatment, to make arrangements for carrying out elections in his district, to preside at the chief polling place, and to transmit tho returns to the Returning Ollieer. Thirteen constitutes a chief polling place for each electorate, at which the Returning Officer shall preside. Fourteen explains mode of enumeration by which is ascertained tho j names of those to whom a sufficient num- ! ber of votes has been given, such number I being that of tho whole of the votes re- I corded at any election divided by the num- j ber of members to be returned, the enume- I ration to be made by adding the super- ■

fluous votes of him who has receive 10 largest number, to the votes of him .[ lO has roceived the second largest number votes, the superfluous votes of the second o the list, to those of the third, and so on, until it shall .< be necessary to apply the votes given to tho candidates lowest on the poll, who have no chanco of election, to those of the candidate next in number to the last member elected, beginning at tho lowest number on the poll and going upwards until the whole number of votes cast shall have been exhausted, and the necessary number of members chosen.

The remaining sections of tho scheme being taken up with tho subjects of registration, compilation, and revision of electoral rolls, &c., matters which are not special to Hare's system, need not to bo introduced hero.

The great feature in that plan of representation is that 110 vote is lost, consequently, that the views of every interest in tho State have the chance of boing represented, and as the principle is most fully attained when largo areas are selected for its operation, a double advantage is thereby attained, viz., that of embracing nil opinions and putting an end to the political huckstering of small localities, and so discouraging the ambition of unsuitable candidates.—l am, &c., James Kilo our. Parncll, November 4, 1890.

OUR RAILWAYS: THE STAGE SYSTEM. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,"lb is not possible for you or your readers to be so thoroughly weary of the railway problem as I am, and it is only the vast public importance of the subject that induces 1110 to ask you to be good enough to afford me space for reply to your leaders of the lltli find 14th instant. The proposed system will be found fully described on page 5 of paper 5 of tho pamphlet mentioned. 1 take it that this must have escaped your notice, for in speaking of the four first stages starting from a largo centre 1 say I place these " cm ■near cm may he seven miles apart," and after describing the whole system add the following :—" Memorandum. —I do not propose to fix the stages arbitrarily at the distances mentioned, but at the best collecting and distributing points nearest to them." After the first four stages, tho other stages might be any lengthfrom 7 up to 50 milesaccording to the density of the location of the population. It is Hear that in laying down this system some latitude must be allowed, otherwise many stations would not only have to be rebuilt, but must also bo placed in most inconvenient positions. For instance, in going south from Auckland the first stage station would be Penrose. It is a junction station, and clearly the proper site for the termination of a stage, but ib is only six miles out, to carry the stage a mile further on would land ib nowhere. The next stage would be Manurewa, also an admirable distributing point, it is however 15 miles out, and thus this stage would be nine miles instead of seven. My general idea, is to cover the first 28 or 30 miles by four stages, placed as nearly as possible at equal distances apart. This is necessary for financial reasons, otherwise I do not think it the best arrangement. My proposal is not only to utterly ignore the existence of the mile, but also equidistant spaces of every kind, as, in my opinion, in order to secure permanently good financial and social results, railway rating must be based on the location of population, and if this principle is admitted it is manifest that the idea of space must be abandoned. The necessity for so regulating rates is proved by the present system of giving; special rates from large towns to large towns. In regard to what you term a third rate of charge, it merely amounts to this : I propose to print passenger tickets in two colours, say white and pink, the latter to be the colour for crossing a stage or ticket station. These tickets would only be available for passing from a station immediately preceding a ticket station to the station immediately after it ; as, for instance, from Hunua, past Drury, to Runciman, or from To Rapa, past Franklin Junction, to Rukuhia.

The express object of this is to avoid "the unappeasable heart-burnings and jealosies in the small townships." That this arrangement was necessary is proved by the fact that it has been adopted in Hungary. It is in full force there, and we do not hear of heart-burnings. 1 have taken good care of the finance. There is no fear of that. In passing, I may perhaps be permitted to say that I claim 110 greater antiquity for my system than the end of 1882. Certain it is that none of us here had then heard of Dr. Engle and his zone system. I do not know when he first put forward his idea, but if he did so without having seen mine, it is a remarkable testimony to the accuracy with which I have gauged the position, for it shows this, that two men totally unknown to each other, and operating from opposite ends of the world, have arrived at nearly the same solution of the difficulties that beset the railway problem. I need not trouble your readers with the question of differential rates, but may remark that what a merchant has a right to do with his goods is a very different thing from what a Government has the right to do with the railways—the highways of the country. The merchant's goods are his own, and the transaction is between himself and the individual customer; the railways belong to the whole people, and therefore everybody has a right to be treated alike.

The statement that my system is a " complex and confusing scheme," is a newcharge. .Mr. Commissioner Han nay gave unwilling testimony to its •'■simplicity. In answer to questson 541. he said, " When I commenced in New Zealand our tariff was a very simple one—very nearly as simple as Mr. He's."

The two systems compare thus :—On the Auckland section of railways alone there are required for single and return passengers 34,590 different kinds of tickets. In

addition to this there are the local rates, I do not know how many.

What I mean by different kind of tickets is this : On those now used, the name of the stations of arrival and departure are printed, and this necessitates 34,590 printings. If the same plan were pursued with the-new system, there would be only 512 different printings. But Ido not advocate this plan : my proposal is to collect tickets at each stage station, and in that case we should only require four printings—Gd and ■Id white, and Gd and 4 1 pink. At present there are 129,733 ordinary goods rates. Then there are probably more than as many more, special, loco I, and differentia! rates. I have very little doubt that on 1 he Auckland section alone there are from 'ifiO.OOi) to 390,000 goods rates. Under the new system there would be but 1024.

There are now 978 different rates for parcels and small lots. Under the new.system only 04. Recapitulation :

uI,D SYSTKM. Different passenger tickets ... 34,500 Ditto goods rates ... ... 12!),735 Ditto parcels and small lots 978 H\V SYSTKM. Different passenger tickets, 4or 512 Ditto goods rates ... 1,024 Ditto parcels and small lots (it The present tariff of rates and charges covers 70 pages of foolscap. The now tariff could easily bo printed in from four to six pages. It appears to me that there is considerable simplification, and not complication, here. I have hitherto hesitated to put forward these figures, for fear that I should be accused of exaggeration, but as they are now called for I give them, and am prepared to stand by my statement. The relief to the community by the adoption of the new system would be simply incalculable. If, sir, a system which reduces the various kinds of passenger tickets from 34,590 to four only can be called complicated, I fear I must give it up, for really there appears to be nothing left to simplify.

1 have no doubt, whatever that, vndcr the. new sy.tfem, (he present railway traffic could be carried on with yreater comfort awl satisfaction to the. people for test than half the present expenditure. Has not too much been asked of me Is it possible for any man to lay down an entirely new system of railway administration in such a way that ordinary people could master it in three or four hours' or even three or four days', study ? I have never advocated the cause of the " poor man " as against the rich man, but have advocated equal rights for all, and I have fought the battle of the small pro-

luccra, because I believe they are the real >ackbone of any, country. It is manifest ,hab ten families, each owning 200 sheep, nusb bo of greatly more value to the •ountry than one family owning 2000. As I intend at once to take steps to prove Kb I am more than justified in using the lat_ ua , r0 I have towards the railway oUic,} s> x need say nothing on that subject *. rO . I" delusion, let mc again say that if anyone produce a simpler plan of railway adumbration than mine, it shall have my -. art y support. In the meantime mine i4jy f ar the simplest before the world. —lam,^ Ci) Samuel Vaile. Auckland, 1-di November, 1890.

PARNlijj's CRIME. TO T1., ; KDiTOIt.

Sir, Permit me », 0 state emphatically that 1, the undersign*! Ignotus—your correspondent. for years u.derthat pseudonym —who subscribed the \ vo articles headed Excursus, Whither lifting," which appeared in your columns the lltli and 25th of the last month, «d not pen the apologetic letter re ParneH's> r ime, inserted in to-day's Herald. The ,w»tcr probably adopted this mm dt plume in ignorance that another party had appropriated t and still retains it.—J. am, &c., Igxotus (the oriynal).

MR. FOX AND THE WESLEYA\ t S. ! TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —My dear old friend Arthur S. iox is so curiously built that he seems to be a a perennial state of fright. He could no even let the churchwardens of St. Paul's sell their dolls in peace, but pointed out in alarm that the show was held on St. Swithin's eve. Then the report that I Jr. Maunsell had been seen sitting on an Orange platform so terrified dear old Arthur that he nob only sounded the tocsin of alarm through the press, but as a counteracting influence set up a brass cross which utterly routed the enemy. Mr. Fox has just heard that John Wesley is dead, and that he has departed this life without founding a church. The Wesleyan ministers have lately been engaged with district meeting business, and they are busy calculating how much tho jubilee collection will amount to, and how many children are likely to be on the funds next year, and whether all tho probationers have kept their engagement, or if it is necessary to administer discipline in any case, and a variety of other matters pertaining to "our Zion." So they have not time for Arthur at present. If lie had read carefully even the book he refers to it would have answered his question. If he borrows Stevens' " History of Methodism," ho will find the reason, and his soul will be at rest.—l ain, &c., Christian. THE FREE LIBRARY. TO TllK EDITOR. Sir, —" Entre Nous" must be one of the " highly-paid " officials in the City Council's employ. Anyone who could write such a nice little letter on behalf of the assistants at the Library, and plead so innocently that they should not be overworked, but in the same sentence refer to them as " highly paid," is surely missing his avocation"; he should have been a professor of logic. Verily, the assistants are being wounded in the house of their (apparent) friends, for is it not plain that if they are highly paid a little more work would only be fair ? Now, although "Civis" and " Student" wish in the public interest that the ridiculous regulation which closes the Library between five and seven p.m. were annulled, they do not want the assistants to be overworked ; that is a piece of unwarrantable presumption on the part of "Entre Nous." And as for the assistants being highly paid, I state what I believe 99 out of every 100 will endorse when I affirm that the assistants are not highly, not even well, paid for their services. The library staff is really the lowest paid department in the Council's employ. The librarian himself gets some £100 per year, with house, firing, and gas; while the assistants get some £10 a year each. As pointed out over and over again, the three library attendants could easily subdivide the daily routine so that each should not be overworked. Under the former hours—nine a.m. to ten p.m. — there was no difficulty on this point; why should there be with the hours ten to ten ? To assert, as does " Entre Nous," that if the Library were open between the hours of five and seven p.m., "it is very certain the visitors would leave between those hours to get their evening meal," is simply nonsense. Experience proves otherwise. As a pretty regular visitor between five and seven when those hours were in force, I can truthfully affirm that there was always a considerable number present during the two hours mentioned ; 30 or 40, on an average, at any one moment. We do not all require two hours for our evening meal ; neither do we all dine at the same hour. " Entre Nous " says ho does not know if "Student" is a ratepayer. What has that got to do with the question ? The institution has been munificently endowed l by private money, and it is proudly termed a Free Public Library ; but it will never be as popular as it might be made unless it is opened to the people between the convenient hours of five and seven p.m.— am, &c., Cms.

THE MOSAIC CODE. TO THE KDITOK.

Sir, —Now that we are on the eve of an election, and law-making is the chief subject. of conversation, I might be excused, perhaps, for encroaching on your valuable space in order to draw the attention of electors and their representatives to a few of those laws expressly ordered for the development and general well-being of a portion of the human race, viz., the Jews. If these laws (I refer to the .Mosaic code) are of purely human origin they should command our respect and careful examination, but if divine they demand our obedience. Strange that we, as Christians, have adopted some of these laws and passed others by as beneath our notice, for instance, the law "Thou shult not steal," is binding to day, and weekly read in our churches, but the land laws, social laws, laws for the prevention and cure of disease, laws as to diet, careful examination of meat, cleanliness, &c., we ignore — for instance, anyone who will take the trouble to read Leviticus xxv.; Jeremiah xii., 15; Nehemiah v., 1 to 5; Numbers xxvii, 8 to 11; etc., will be struck with the extraordinary wisdom displayed in the land laws. Hero wo have individual ownership and inalienable possession, it is to the man and his heirs for ever that the land is granted, every family had a "right" under these laws to land sufficient for a living at least, and it could not be taken from them ; but if mortgaged or leased for a time, it would, like the needle to the North Pole, go back in the Jubilee year to the original grantee ; for while a man could sell all other property, his land and rural dwelling were exempted and could not be sold. It belonged to his family and heirs, and if at death of owner a male heir could not be found it fell to the nearest female relative, no matter how distant. Hero was " land nationalisation" indeed, but how different to the modern idea ; for under the Divine ideal the land was only truly "nationalised" when each individual' (not. the Government,) held his or her portion as an inalienable possession. Let politicians t.ako care how they treat the natural instinct in man to obtain a home of his own, which he can hand down to his children, for I believe if this instinct is ignored iSlew Zealanders will become vagabonds and he country go to the dogs. _ Again, under Mosaic laws there was, 1 believe, no land tax, the tax in the country being on the produce of the land or as we should call it, an income tax. The Mosaic code has also laws re leprosy and the prevention and cure of disease of a very stringent character, which our legislators might, do well to ponder. Again, 'the rite of circumcision, which was commanded under Divine rule, although held by the mass to-day as merely a religious ccrcmony and consequently ignored by Christians in these enlightened times, is yet stated by some conscientious members of the medical profession to be of infinite value, preventing evils of a most serious nature anions our boys ; but we, wiser than our fathers, ignore this also, and in trailing with contempt these very antiquated notions show our superiority, even though the " notions " be divine.—l am, etc., \\ g

AUCKLAND HOLIDAY-MAKERS. TO THE KDITOR. bin,—-As the Christmas holidays are fast approaching 1 would crave vour permission to call public attention through the medium Oi your popular journal to the mischievous and most annoying conduct that your Auckland holiday-makers indulge in when-

ever they visit tlfe neWMiourh^ seem to think tha, they lave ,°f e ; to roam at their'own "wayward fane; lead?," ienorin , ev <* wilfully fruit trees pluS fenc es, ripe or unripe, cittiyg down tr > ruit lire to scrub am fern, and mat?®' Kefc ting thoroughfares c our private Sl? Ublic hesitating even to pass dose uS' D ° l very windows. On 9th NovemW Ur a party of scoolboys assembled at^j lo Clencoe Picmcj-rounds. On »i,„ c , "w day a neighbur made the d? Uowia ß that a fine lenon tree had been of all its fnit ! an act of , PP e d for which i, excuse can be fouift 1 * young fruit wing barely the ze of ' „ h , 6 nuts, and conequently utterly use W \ al ' the same day, number of rata block', th °" had been cu and left in the sun to preparatory o splitting for firewood'u another settlr, were rolled down &by deep gully, n act which caused inl" 1 annoyance, b say nothing of th« 1 l 9 that will hae to be expended in r,^? ur them up ngun. We can understand h 8 getting into mischief (we don't foruet, were once ban ourselves), but whr.r. . ® the teachers or those in whose carp. £ boys were? Our complaint, however • not confined to the school-boy eleme ' " apparently expectable people, old " , young, of bth sexes, are in the habiUr visiting this.-alley on public holidays an i behaving tkrnselvos in a manner't! would gain for a countryman in Auckla 1 a term of imprisonment. Some time a ° a man, fo taking a flower in Altfk Park, was sentenced to fourteen rl"' hard laboir '. Yet Aucklanderg can corf here and seal out 1 fruit (by which we r cipally get our living), or, if the fruit';" not ripe, >luck it, and pelt one another with it. Ve who, by dint of, hard work iist manag! to make both ends meet.sure'v Oserve mee consideration at the hands of 01 brother ot the town. In the counts we pride curselves upon our hospitals but when mr hospitality is rewarded bv such conduit as we complain of abov visitor? mutt not be surprised if we cloour does against to em, and call in the aid of the lav tc pro leer, us against their denr f dations—l am, etc. A Suffer Hendeson Valley Nov. 20, 18C«0. ,