CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11853, 3 January 1902, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE HOSPITAL,

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— your issue of the 30th inst. there .is a letter signed E. . O. Budd, who appears to think that Dr. Inglis is leaving the employ of the Hospital Board without any recognition from that body for the duties he has faithfully carried out. The facts are; that while Dr. Adams was off duty the Board procured tho services of a medical man at a salary of: £6 6s; per week i to take his place. The Board, recognising the extra labour done by Dr." Inglis, . increased his salary -by .* 305.~ On the receipt of his resignation,-! which the Board:accepted,-'.-'a.'testimonial with a letter of thanks was sent ; to him.:which he-ac-cepted with thanks. ' Dr. Inglis is leaving the Board's employ with the very best' of feelings on both sides. Mr." Budd signs' himself" Chaplain." As .there /are "i every sect in the hospital, which sect or denomination does he belong to,'- or. does he represent or is he chaplain to the whole?—l am, etc., ; J. Jamies ok, T . , Ex-Member of the Board. : December 31, 1901. - -;;. -;, ST. MATTHEW'S STONE CHURCH, i ■■■-"._.-.-,: v TO THJS EDITOIt. - ' Sir,—l must;. add . ray. mite :of gladness at seeing from your. columns that "all things are now ready " for the building of this long-preparod-for structure. Let not the present generation,■■ however, overlook the fact that, but- for the persistence : even to •'stubbornness" of the late Edward King, there might have been no : fund wherewith to: build a stone church/; Mr. King was an "Auckland mer- ; chant and <• I was his colleague both in the Synod and ;in the Provincial* Council. .' Oi.t of the 35 members of the latter-named body 40 years ago, - there are. : I think, i only, alas, ■ four left—Messrs. Brookfield, Daldy, Gordon and myself.'- Mr. King died in 1666. He was a prominent, and liberal ■ member and office-bearer;.' of St. Matthew's parish. He successfully resisted a movement -among the congregation to use tho > stone.?' church fund for the erection "ofi the present, wooden: structure, now about to bo superseded f by: a ■:> magnificent fane. .And for - that I: consider: he is entitled to ''''the; lasting grati-" tude of the present generation of parishioners.—l am, etc., R. O. Stewaht. THE MOST VALUABLE VIOLINS. ■ TO THE EDITOR. . Sir,—ln the Herald Supplement of;, December 28 I notice a short paragraph to the effect that Lady Halle's S.tradivarlus. violin is worth £2000. Although yielding to no one in veneration of the excellence of Cremona violins, I. do not like :to see an erroneous statement of this kind pass "unchallenged.'-; I have listened to the instrument-- in question played upon by Madame Norman Nernda (now Lady. Halle) probably a,dozen times, and I rather think (though I;am not quite, certain) that I heard Herr Ernst play on it. If I remember rightly it passed/from Ernst' to a celebrated' dealer in old violins, ; David Laurie, of Glasgow (a splendid judge and a man of well-known business -integrity),- who sold it to Madame Neruda: for £450. f; This would be. about 35' or 40 years ago.': , : | Its market value at the ■ present time might be £900 or oven £1000, but not more. It has a. magnificent tone, and is, 1.-; believe, in good preservation. Probably the most; valuable Cremona violin owned: by a profhal player is one (a "Strati.") presented by a few: of his admirers to Dr. Joachim, : some years ago, and which cost £1200. Of course there are violins in the hands or collectors and connoisseurs which are almost priceless— such, for instance as the ''Dolphin" and "Messiah" ("Messie") Strads., . Paganini's" "Joseph" (Guarnerius), but these are; practically unpurchasable. : In the lifetime of the great master. Antonius r.Stradivarius, ?it is said, he was satisfied ; to sell .his violins at £5 each. am, etc.,: J. H. Da vies, j Late Exchange and Mart, Auckland. ■< ; Pukekohe West, December 51, 1901.

our government; ADMINISTRAtion. TO'THE IJDI.TOR. ;j : Sir,At this distance in locality and. time it is difficult to estimate the relative values of the doings in the Old Country in the times of Charles I. and the doings in New'ZeaV land now. '■.•-, But the . mail could scarcely be said to exaggerate who maintained that many of the nets of. our. present administrators are more criminal than the acts that cost Charles Stuart bis head. .'■■-'.'.■ >,'. :'"■-: „ : As British people,-not only ,in New "Zealand, but everywhere, we feel ourselves, to be so absolutely secure every way that there is ho need for caution. Did not our fathers thoroughly and for ever, break with the Pope several centuries ago? then what need'is there . for : our taking any notice of those not outspoken honest Roman Catholics, but others who bring about confusion? Have we not as British people 'beaten our enemies,^ and do we not now rule the waves? What need then have we to be careful? We shall surely come out right. '. Are we not in full possession of the liberties won for* us step .by step, in years gone by, by those whose names we bear? No one will ever take them from us. And so we 'comfortably lie down to rest. - - ■. The individual who would cast ah "I: told you so" reflection on the unfortunate! men who find themselves ruthlessly thrown out of employment, and so made/sad,! in what should be a happy- Christmas time, is lacking manly sympathy. . But we may sympathise to the full, and yet be permitted to point out that the. cruelty, for it amounts to that, comes from these who .have* continually claimed to be the true, if not the only, friends of the " working man." ;// ,1 - Talk about class ' distinctions! I, an old English Liberal, will defy anyone to produce a case where a member of the British aristocracy, in . the .: administration of his es- ' tates, added materially" to ; his own personal expenses, raised the salaries unduly of his upper- servants, -and-then sent the labourers empty away. Surely, all eyes; ought to ; be open now. :■;' The men who have committed this gross wrong have boon continually, worrying that part of our population whose enterprise in so many ways keeps the wheels moving, all the time shielding ; their ' own ■• Departments from the irksome laws, fireball the time claiming , that they were aiding the worker. : When it, suits their purpose they treat those whom they have lured into false hopes as if they had no rights, no feelings no home responsibilities—to paraphrase the Southern slaveholder's claim"no rights that a Government official need respect.",,' We want fresh officials.—l am,; etc., ■ * V JOUX PI'ESS. '

"A' LYING SPIRIT." ;.' '....; TO TILE EDITOR. ■■' Sir,—Living as I do in rural . solitude, it is seldom I have the pleasure of seeing the ; Herald on the day of issue; but looking over to-day's I was struck by the fact that the writer under the above heading was exceptionally accurate in diagnosis of his own complaint. I ask, Why is it that men usually i truthful and respected will persist ;in distorting facte in such a way as to leave an impression on the minds of the, otherwise tin-, informed which is, to quote Mr. Aickin's own words, "a perversion of the truth?''; Mr. Aickin i complains' that only 16 millions out of a debt of 48 ; millions has been spent .on railways. : Now, why did he; only look at part of page 413 of the official Year Book? When he \ compiled his figures he :; took out three items from, one table; but instead of taking the total'' cost- of our railways from the foot of the table, namely, £17,168,036, he misquotes the amount at £16,000,000— only £1,168,000 out for a start. If he had referred to page 411, he could have "found that the total expenditure on our railways is over, 18 millions, mailing him two millions out. Secondly, he neglects to inform your readers that the total amount of loan moneys paid into public works; account is;'.: only £30,854,187, supplemented by revenue to the amount of £3,665,976. A total of 34 millions was expended up to 31st of March, from which I eliminate £1,825,000. We then have £32,174,000 to represent tho £31,000,000 (borrowed), expended as. follows: Immigration, £2,147,719; railways, £17,163.026; roads," £5,563,949; land purchase, £1.964,970; goldfields, £686,353; telegraph extension, £906,158; lighthouses,, harbour works -and' defences, £965,613; contingent v defence,' £549,960.. Mr. Aickin glibly tolls you that, given railways, the, rest will, adjust it-self. ,iT ; should' like to see him placed as many settlers were before the present Government took office, and as many 'still are, namely, climbing over muddy tracks and i through" filthy > galleys, and he would join them in blessing the administrators of the Roads Department for their efforts to give access to railways otherwise useless. Ho says that much that was charged to loans ; should - have; been : paid out of revenue, but does not mention the fact that £2,705,000; has been paid into the pubbo works fund out of suplus: revenue during the last ten years or that £7,160,000 Was expended, ~ mostly, by " previous Governments, for deficiencies in revenue and - expenses - in raising loans. -; Further, :ho ■ omits to - state that out of £10,000,000 'borrowed by, the Go- i vernment during the last 10 years, over £7,000,000 ;is paying its own way, and giving a profit ol over £50,000 a year. Neither does ho mention: that the net amount of revenue absorbed by ■■ public ■ debt charges six ; years ago : was 38.96 per cent., while to-day it is only 29.83, . and the rate per head of population: 1895, £2 10s 3d; 1901, £2'ss^6d. ; > -■■:■:;':'; ■-■< I am pleased to ;/ see that he ; admits himself antiquated,' and I hope he may, live long enough to realise that many of his ideas are too old for adoption. I do not wish tc pretend i that every action of the J present; Administration i■is - above ' reproach— . is ;■ '"';■-■ .t ;

human nature; bat I do.'.contend'that comparison is favourable to them. And surely when enlightened men take upon themselves " to impart light and instruction to others, they: should bo above blind prejudice,—l l am., etc. ' - „. '_ , . Cecil H. OlWKi'uD. '" Makarau, December 30, 1901. THE EIGHTH CONTINGENT ' ' ' TO TOE EDITOB.' Sir,—Who is responsible fo;- the riding tests a/s exhibited here the other day?!happened to be passing when I saw trials. Surely : " the officer or officers; in charge have never-'-been .through the riding school. I heard' some very just and- stringent remarks, anything but complimentary, made", by an oh* ' Lancer standing near.* No doubt that manv will be : discarded they come under the riding-master's whip >in Wellington—Majo.Luleman, for instance, an old 12th Lancer and 21st Hussar; one who would put them: through if any could. Again, why have these ' men not been tested is the shooting here, in- ■ stead of going to this expense of sendintr them down :to Wellington?, i where, again many will, no doubt, be dismissed, and claim' their expenses back to the recruiting centre— another .expense to tho colony. • ' To face the Boew, a man to do justice to his comrades and country should have at: " least these two important qualifications, and' however brave and = willing ; our boys may b«: in spirit without these they are useless, "and are only in the way of .their more compe-t ■ tent comrades, and might even cause disaster. Our enemies are splendid shots a,ndexcellent! horsemen (which we know to our sorrow), and* can take their horses over more than a' two-foot-six hurdle.l am., etc., An Old Imperial Tkoopek. ""'.'■: • —————————— '—- ■,■•'..;..'.■■:..-:■;:■;';■; } ,Ss£!s THE ANGLICAN CHURCH. TO THE . EDITOR. Sir, Your ■ correspondent, "Anti-Ritual* 1 ist," wants to know if the Church of Eng-, land or its affiliated branches can be properly -V' 4 called Protestant." Why not? The Church! of England ;" protests" against what it con-! siders errors as practised by the Church of Rome. Your correspondent" has been- taught! that "England commenced its existence as! a separate church during the Saxon period.";' - This is 'not the generally accepted versionof the introduction sof i Christianity to Brifain. Christianity was established in Britain long before the Anglo-Saxon Church, which commenced in A.D. 596, under Augustine,, who was sent by, Gregory. -A-British church existed long before St. Augustine's mission.There is no doubt that St. Paul preached" v Christianity in Britain, and on the shores of Mount's Bay is ;a church dedicated to St. Paul, and tradition points out tho place: ; where St. Paul landed. Jerome says: "St.. Paul preached tho Gospel to the. western parts.'' TheodoretJ Bishop of Cyprus,;' states that " the Apostles persuaded even tho Britons, to receive the laws of "the Crucified Lord." British bishops attended various councils in various parts of the world lone, before A.D. 596. ,In the year AD. 314. at the Council of Aries, in Prance, three Bri- ' tish bishops were present, viz., Eborius of York, Restutus of London,; and'" Adelphiusof Lincoln. -The first British bishop is supposed to be Aristobulus, whom St. Paul salutes in his Epistle to the Romans, Tho S idea that Rome established the ■- Christian Church and that the English ■ Church came out of it is incorrect. >: The facts are: Christianity had an existence in Britain before St. ' Augustine's mission. ..The, British Church - became subject to: Rome. -In A.D. V 1534' , "Papal supremacy-was annulled in England;" then again the . original British Church, after a period of getting on for 1000 years, was free to manage its - own affairs.lam. etc. A. M. ZoBO. ■Auckland, January 1, 1902. - ' ■ '':"¥"'■' ■'■'■'"•■' ' ■--■■-• „•' -'•- ■' ■ ■■■"-''-" ' ■'■..';■'■;" ]■..:,:-k(ffa:lMg^ HOW NORTHERN SETTLERS ARE TREATED. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, Under, this heading . anpeared an ■article in the Auckland Weekly News of ; December 12 by "A Disgusted Northerner," which call* for some further remarks re the state of roads in the county as they appear to an "Inlander," who, of necessity, has to use them 'winter and summer. Many is the ' i time Inlander" has been stuck in the mud. '] and then asked himself, who is to blame? seeing thero is a county council, also a, Go- j vevmnent road engineer's office—fully equip- 1 ped, both of:them, so far as office work is concerned. If these bodies are not sufficient, and A.D.N." implies they are not,' surely the, taxpayers are the ones to blame. And why? Because they are: contented to ex- - periment with the two systems named of trying to make bricks without, straw, or rather, roads* without money. , In this connection take the Horoke-Okaihau Road, the present mail route. In this riding how many ratepayers arc there* I doubt if sufficient ■ ' „ to pay,the member's expenses for attending the County Council's meetings alone, not to mention expenses incurred in going to view the . only road in this riding, and finding out what; is wanted. Or take the Taheko-Ra-wene, and call it the main rood. . How much ■'of-the ratepayers' money is spent on it, notwithstanding the county chairman has to travel -• part of it True, both: these roads . L "- I have Government grants spent on them, and'' this is -where "A Disgusted Northerner", , ' makes a mistake in saying appeals to Par-' 1 lament have been. made but with no avail, ' unless he means so far: as a new road is concerned, starting from Kohukohu. f But these grants and rates could be fas- better and mope effectively laid out by.those who personally have to use them most. This is tho answer to why the ratepayers tie to bit. mo . 'for-the; present state of the roads throughout the county. Instead of the two expensive bodies named ; having to be maintained, why not do the work with local road boards, " ing one competent engineer to lay off and pass the different boards' work! Then, not only -ourselves would be able to roach Auckland, either by west or east, but others who are too wise to settle in the roadless North, might be induced to come amongst us, and see for themselves what can be produced', and if so minded, could return on the good roads, ' which in our wisdom were formed and maintained.— am, etc., Inlander. . ' J