CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11878, 1 February 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

CORRESPONDENCE.

LOSSES OF VOLUNTEERS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —As a volunteer who'suffered severely by the fire at the plague - hospital, Auckland, during tho recent Duke of York festivities, 1 feel compelled, on behalf of self and others, to protest against the scandalous treatment meted out to the volunteers who lost either part or the whole of their belongings by the Defence . Department (i.e., that all-pervading uncrowned King Richard). A few particulars re the ■. Kitchener-like organisation of ; that notoriously-conducted camp may be of ; interest. ' There were some seven companies of mounted infantry in camp, with an acting-major in charge. The Mangonui Mounted Infantry (dismounted) were the first in i camp, having i landed in Auckland on Saturday at nearly midnight by the Clansman. Their ; kit consisted of one uniform, . with V changes.'• of civilian; clothes. A number of the men had broughti the whole of their . private luggage, anticipating dismissal after 'the review on Wednesday. There was absolutely no chance of leaving it in town, as they wore immediately fallen in and marched to camp, the baggage, including ; all private belongings, j following. ■ I mention this, as I have heard people suggest that private baggage should not have been in camp. Then as to the camp itself. • There were no • - regular, sentinels posted, 110 " lights, out," no inspection of " quarters" by so-called officers, no applying for leave on regular . pass; absolutely 110 restriction in coming or going. The buildings -.and tents where _ the men slept and smoked were littered with straw; old bayonets stuck into sacks of chaff were utilised as candlesticks. Of course as the candles burnt down the sockets got heated, 1 allowing . the candle to drop through into the straw. There is no doubt that the ; fire 1 originated in that way. And now I . read that some of those same budding, .promising young officers, _ of whom j some have not yet mastered the intricacies of the goose-step, who should have, instead of nightly sampling the multitudinous brands of whisky, been attending to the discipline and internal . economy of ; the camp, and at least taken the ordinary, military precautions against fire, robbery, etc. (there were, several cases of robbery, Mr. Editor) are greatly incensed at not being chosen for service in South Africa. One warlike officer" who has since (through the influence of an ever-useful M.P. _at £300 per year) been appointed to a position in the Eighth Contingent, made ' himself conspicuous at the fire by ordering his company to charge the crowd of civilians wrth fixed bayonets.:. His men being raw recruits and well primed, did charge. Fortunately, Captain Reid arrived on the field and saved the day. The same officer was afterwards heard openly boasting of this as a brilliant feat of arms and of which ho was proud. Now, Mr. Editor, we were not promised 7s 6d per day, like our Southern comrades, but don't you think, dear sir, wo aro entitled to fair play ? We lost our time, we starved, wo waded knee-deep in mud, wo tramped and inarched daily, we were refused leave of absence from the camp to go into town to buy clothes after tho fire. In fair play are we not entitled to be refunded for the loss of our personal kits ? (individual losses run from £1 to £30), seeing that if the ordinary military routine had prevailed there would have been no fire. I should like, dear sir, to enlist your sympathies on our behalf, and hope an abler pen than mine will take the matter up. _ "I. might mention that the Mangonui Mounted Rifles wepo not the only ; sufferers, the Northern Wairoa Mounted Rifies being also heavy losers.— : am, etc.. Kia-Ora. Mangonui. January 22, ; 1902. , , .

DOLLAR-DEEP PATRIOTISM. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— the world will smilo now that an object for the colony's patriotism has been frankly shown by a mutton-minded member. Mr. Witheford, M.H.R., has publicly admitted this fact by his suggestion that the Eighth Contingent shall not cross the ocean unless England.gives a quid pro quo in the shape of an order for cold carcases. Though, at present, New Zealand has neither the service nor the necessary cool storage at the port for the seat of war, Mr. Seddon has stated, with all the force of his elegant rhetoric, that he intends to make the Home authorities, and, minus the adored " Bobs," the War Office, sit. up. But is the Army Supply Department to blame over the drift of these contracts? Does not dead meat demand cold storage? and is it not a fact that the Capetown freezing facility is in the hands of a ring, powerful enough to forco the Home Government to purchase in the markets that best will suit" their syndicate, notwithstanding ,the thunders of our high priest and his acolyte? Our leading political bosses talk very glibly about the Old Country creating tariffs that will, give a preference to the produce of her colonies. It sounds so well in a speech, and reads quite right and proper. Unfortunately, there is a physical side to the question, which at present may bo left for further argument, and a financial corner that may well be debated upon. The world, exclusive of India and the colonies, owes to the Motherland no less a sum than £1,800,000,000 sterling, for which its population has to pay in meat or in malt a value equal to some £64,000,000 per annum. To remit in specie would be impossible, and not even England's ironclads could. compel, what she would bavo a perfect right to demand, "gold." How can we then hope that the old lady will favour her impecunious relations to the detriment of her other debtors.— am, etc., Sphinx.

GOVERNMENT CO-OPERATIVE i WORKS. . TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —It is just four months ago since you published my last letter on " Unions," but even in that time our Government has inflicted another serious injury on. the farming community by increasing the wages of roadmen from 7s to 8s per day, whilst no farmer can afford more than ss. This increased rata of wages was ordered from Wellington " on account of the prosperous state of the colony," and yet our wool clip was hardly worth the expense cf shearing, and the price of mutton is also much lower than it has been. When the men .were lately discharged from the Main Trunk railway co-operative , extension works, it was suggested, that I should assist the league by getting the'farmers to assist in bringing pressure to bear on the Government to press on with the work. This I flatly refused to do, as I considered this so-called co-operative labour" the vilest fraud ever perpetrated on the people; of the colony, and ■ especially, upon : the farming community, as the Government is competing with the'farmers in the labour market. One can :■ understand Government relief: works, which are just as old as tho colony, the men by the ships Duchess of Argyle and Jane'Gilford being employed at 2s 6d each' per day, "to build the Albert barracks wall. But these men did not come here to work for tho Government, but to go out and subdue tho wilderness, and make homes for themselves and their children, which they did.-. And so at various periods in the history of the colony we have had our relief works in times of depression. But it was only when the one-man-one-vote became law that the relief works were changed into cooperative works, and the co-operative labourer, six months in the colony,' had as much say on election day as anyone of the aforesaid" passengers. I have known fine young men employed on farms chucking up farming and going on tho co-operative works, where they were sure to make high wages out of their contracts, as the said contracts were valued by the bosses at a price that would enable parties of duffers to make fair wages. I have shown that co-operation, according to Mr. Seddon, has artificially increased the rate of wages, which the farmers have had to pay," and prevented settlement on the land; the co-operatives, unlike tho Argyle and .Gifford. settlers, preferring Government employment and high wages to the hard work and long hours on farms, even if they could call the farms their own.—l am, etc., A Farmer's Boy. Auckland, January 21, 1902. * THE MUSEUM. TO the editor. Sir, —Permit me, a stranger to your beautiful city, to ask, is it the custom here to close your public buildings during the long holiday weeks. Having heard so much about tho Maori carvings in the Museum I was anxious to see them on my way through Auckland, and, to mv astonishment, found it closed for the annual cleaning. Surely, sir, this might bo managed at some other time than this, when,. I suppose, there are more strangers passing through your town than at any other season of tho year. That" at least is what common sense peoplo would think.l am, etc., Common Sense. .