CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11950, 26 April 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE HIGHER CRITICISM.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —The Rev. Gray Dixon's letter in your issue to-day will satisfy neither the advanced critic nor the simple believer in Bible revelation. Starting at the position he accepts now the critics have advanced till such men as Professor A. 15. Bruce deny the historical veracity of the Lord's passion in Getliseniane and his resurrection. Canon Cbeyene denies the veracity of the betrayal by Judas, and says be was an unhistorical character. Dr. Lyman Abbott repudiates the atonement. Others, again, deny Christ's supernatural birth. And these men are all in our orthodox churches. Tom Pain, in his "Age of Reason," goes no further in his denial of the Bible than do the present-day higher critics. Truly, our Lord said: "If ye believe not Moses' writings, how shall ye believe My words?" After all the pains the Rev. Gray Dixon has taken to show us a myth is not a myth, it is very significant to read the honest exclamation c.f his brother minister, the Rev. Hugh Kelly, also in today's issue. "Has it come to this, that truth is n fiction and morality a myth?" lie uses the word myth in a very different way from Mr. Dixon, and the public, if they hear a minister say certain statements in the Bible are myths, will be likely to put Mr. Kelly's meaning into the words. am, etc., April 21, 1902. S. L. r. llimmki:.

THE BALLOT ACCORDING TO MR. SEDDON. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Wlion replying to the president of tin. Chamber of Oommerco re Kawhia land, the Premier quoted the largo number (1474) of applicants lot (he 47 sections as proof that the lease in perpetuity was popular. The Department of Land* flourishes the same figures when replying to tho Farmers' Union. Those who know anything of land settlement and the ballot system know well that.there are a great ninny applicants who have no intention whatever of becoming permanent settlers. The Premier himself knew it well. In his place, in the House on .Inly 23 last (see Hansard No. 7, page 511), Mr. Hoddon. said: "This clause is to meet, cases where we have bought it, ami it is in tin- disposal of it a. question as to whether the Land Board should give preference to married couples, who, all othei things being equal, are the best settlors. At present, the ballot being flooded with dummies', they do not get it, and when we see applications for so many sections it is quite misleading. The chances are wo might divide the total number by 10, and then arrive at tho real number of bona-fide applications." Mr. Tanner; " And this, after seven years of legislation, and after so much boasting about stopping dummyism !" Mr. tScddon : "I say the present system of the ballot is nothing more nor less than a system of dummyism." Comment on the figures quoted would be superfluous after such a delivery In replying to those who remonstrated with the manner of the disposal of tho Kawhia land, the Government avoids the real point at

issue. How. can we judge whether the least in perpetuity or the optional lease would have found most favour with selectors when, in contravention of the Land Act, tho selectors had no choice of tenurethe land was not open to them under the lease with option of purchase.—l • am, etc., M. M. Kirkbkide. P.S.—ln tho same debate as that quoted above, the member for Waikato, Mr. Lang, paid: Reference has boon made during the debate to the ballot system. I look upon that as neither more nor less than gambling. It has been said that a poor man cannot get land under any other system ; but under this system the poor man does not necessarily get tho land. It is often taken tip by speculators, and if a bona-fide settler wants it he has to pay a largo amount by way of premium for the land. Many settlers have gone month after month, I might almost say year after year, without being able in many cases to get land, and when they do get it the probability is that they pay more for the land than they would have done if it had been put up to auction in the first place."

MR. WITHEFORD AND THE HARBOUR BOARD. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— am an old acquaintance of both Mr. Brigham and Mr. Witheford, but, I am not in a position to say which of the courses proposed, that by the Harbour Board or that by Mr. Witheford, is the wiser. But this I do say, that the scant courtesy and the bullying tactics adopted by tho chairman and other members to crush a man, who has the courage of bis opinions, shocks my sense of justice. Granted that the course adopted by Mr. Witheford was slightly irregular, have not more irregular things been done by some of the very men who are now trying to sit upon him, and does not tho importance of the issues warrant the delay for which Mr. Witheford pleads? I think" it does, and I hope your forcible pen may help him in this struggle for carefulness in the expenditure of public funds.— am, etc., J. M. McLachl/An. Auckland, April 23, 1902. POSTAGE RATIOS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I see that Sir Joseph Ward is once again trying to get Australia to accept our letters with one penny postage, and there is some talk of tho post office affixing the extra penny stamp. Now, I have no doubt but that this would have been done but for the extra, work it would give the postal officials, but why not mark a sufficient number of the twopenny stamps with A across them, to bo used exclusively for postage to the Commonwealth and sell them at one penny each V This would simply mean the small cost of printing, and wo should all welcome the cheaper rates. — 1 am, etc., H. Hood. Loftus Villa, Norman-street, Mount Ros. kill, April 22, 1902. PALMERSTON NORTH AND THE SEDDON TESTIMONIAL. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —A few days ago there appeared in your columns a wire from this place stating that the committee appointed for the carrying out of the Seddon testimonial had closed their labours, and that 1661 persons had signed it, and £13 7s 6d was the amount collected for the money part ot it. Assuming that all those who signed the testimonial subscribed to this sum, and if I am correct in my figures, it works out to ljd per head. One cannot help contrasting the noble conduct of tho Auckland old age pensioners with that of the North Palmcrstonian admirers of Mr. Seddon, subscribing af their penury the sum of, I think, nearly £70 for the purchase of souvenirs for Mr. Seddon and his relations. And, also, how _ admirable the dexterity and fine delicacy of feeling displayed by Mr. John King, deputy-registrar of old ago pensions for Auckland, and those who acted with him in extracting this Is per head from these poor, thankful old souls, without wounding their susceptibilities or causing them to feel tho dependency and humiliation of their position; and how proud Mr. Seddon must feel in the knowledge of the fact that he has such faithful henchmen in his service as those who constituted this committee.

Quite true the money subscribed was Government money, or our money if you like, but still there is an element of pathos in the movement to those who strive to look below the surface of things, though there was, undoubtedly, a good deal of bathos mixed up with the presentation of tho testimonials and tho addresses which Mr. Seddon and others delivered on the occasion.— 1 am, etc., W. R. York. April 22, 1902.

"THE MILLENNIUM IN NEW ZEALAND." TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Any now arrival in New Zealand after reading the speeches of Messrs. Seddon, Ward, McGowan, and other Government supporters, could hardly fail to come to the conclusion that without doubt wo in New Zealand are- blest with the millennium, that such a state of prosperity and happiness exists here as never existed in any part of the world, and that this blessed state of things has l>een brought about solely and entirely by the present Government. They make no allowance for the grand little country which we inhabit ; the magnificent climate—taking New Zealand all through, from Stewart Island to the North Cape. 1 fool sure there is none better ill the world, and anyone must be hard indeed to please if the climate of no part of New Zealand suits him. No allowance either for the beautiful scenery, the abundance of water: fertile soil, good for grass, produce of every kind, and fruit. No allowance for the gold, coal, and other minerals, nor for the magnificent forests of splendid timber; none even for the gum, nor the unequalled health resorts; not even for the hardy, industrious, pushing people. The Seddon Government takes credit for all the prosperity and happiness. However, it cannot 1k» denied that the legislators of New Zealand are a. happy family. There arc 72 of them receiving a salary of £300 per annum each, which amounts to nearly £22,000

per annum, and 42 Upper House members at £200 each, £8400, total £30,000. > Then there is the Governor's salary, the salaries of ministers, their private secretaries, and all the officials, including inspectors, etc., so that, according to the population (700,000). there cannot bo a more expensively governed country in the world. Mr. Sodden and his Government are all against combines, but recently they combined, and raised all their own salaries. I would like to ask Mr. Seddon if this is not a combine with a. vengeance. The question is: Are these legislators worth all this expense, or arc they even worth their food as legislators? I think most unbiased people will come to the conclusion that they are not worth the money, seeing they have done very little but talk and abuse each other during last session, and that Now Zealand would have been better without the most of the recent legislation. It is time this matter was taken in hand : reform is absolutely necessary; onethird tho number of legislators should be able to govern this small .Population, and at one-fourth the expense.— am, etc., Qr/ocuNQT/K Jeoebis Stabit,

IMPERIAL FISCAL FINANCE. TO THE EDITOR.

J Sir,— Seddon lately, winding) up with one of those thoughtless perorations that so fetch the crowd, remarked "that it would be his pleasing duty to bring before the notice of the English Government the necessity for remitting those taxe- which are at present imposed upon our colonial produce." What items in tne tariff did the Premier refer to, for at the date of his speech ' the new duty on wheat and flour had not | even been cabled out. England takes from this colony wool, frozen meat, oats, butter, cheese, hides, gum, etc., etc. With the exception of the very small import duty that has within the last four days been placed on wheat and flour, does England tax a single item of produce that we send her? As for the small corn tax, I should say, judging from the local price of bread, that our margin of spare wheat must be so small that the new imposition on that cereal will not affect Now Zealand in any shape.—l am, etc., Sphinx. THE FARMER AND PROTECTION. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Your correspondent E. B. Oliver, is evidently a trades unionist and a protectionist, although professing to be a free trader; at least that is the only conclusion I can come to from reading his letter. There is no duly now to prevent him importing his Chinese eggs and Argentine mutton, and he might fill up his ship with butter, and welcome. The farmers would not have the slightest objection to allow our Legislature to admit flour duty free, provided all other protective duties are removed. E. B. Oliver is disingenuous in trying to make your readers believe that bread and meat are higher hero than they ought to be, on account of protection, Even in Nottingham he would not have been able to purchase flour for less than our average for the past three years. It would not cost Nottingham bakers so much to make the flour into bread, as the wages of their employees are not fixed by either Conciliation Board or Arbitration Court. He must also be aware that with the advent of the refrigerator there is no cheap l>eef in Queensland now, neither can we get legs of mutton here for sixpence, as formerly. Depend upon it, the farmer has nothing to fear from any competition with imported produce. We have already proved that in the greatest market in the world—the New Zealand farmers can hold their own. And this brings me to another correspondent in the same issue (the Bth hist.), " Old Farmer." He considers the remedy would be in increasing our export of manufactured products instead of sending away so much raw material. The £150,000 is exported by our town manufacturers, and the £12,500,000 by our country settlers, who now pay a high protective duty on clothing and boots without getting any benefit in return, whilst they have been selling their produce to the townspeople at a very low price. As 1 showed in your issue of August 27, 1901, the price of flour in Auckland was, in August. 1893 £7 10s, and in August, 1900 and 7901. £7'lss. This shows that it could not have been the high price paid for tho necessaries of life which has prevented the manufacture of goods for export, and from the present outlook it is hardly to be expected that farm produce will be as low for the next few years as it has been for the past three years, and it is just as certain that the country settlors would not allow of a bonus being paid to the manufacturers for every suit and each pair of boots exported. The country settlers are no longer going to pay double for their boots and clothing, and they are determined to get | all these protective tariffs abolished. They still object to all trusts, and are satisfied the legalised close labour trust is after all much worse than the flourmillors' trust. Co-opera-tion will kill the latter, but it is only with the full strength of our New Zealand Settlers' Union that we can hope to abolish the protective tariff and its attendant evils.—l am, etc., A Farmer's Boy. Auckland, April 14, 1902.

THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE. TO TOE EDITOR. Sir,— read the Rev. Gray Dixon's letter in your issue of the 21st inst. with the interest which must always be created by efforts towards a clear and correct understand ing of the most vital problem for man. I did not see. however, that lie ha/1 answered " Mr. ZoroV point, that the doctrine of the Fall disappears with the unauthenticity of the early books of Genesis, and that the doctrine of the Atonement necessarily follows. The Rev. Gray Dixon has obviously surrendered the Bible's claim to inspiration on the ground of its accordance with fact, and bases it on the value of its moral teaching. The claim would have been more tellilly in the days of Moses than it is now. when the more civilised portions of mankind have outgrown slavery and polygamy, and the belief that a man's sins can be atoned for by another's sufferings. If moral beauty is to constitute a claim for inspiration, then have the best minds in all ages had it. The Rev. Gray Dixon's letter is interesting as showing how far he has got, and his'truly ecclesiastical willingness to denounce everybody who is ahead of him on the same journey.— am, etc., Hermit.