CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12203, 24 February 1903, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

CARDINAL MORAN AND SAMOA. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—The last contribution of your correspondent "Observer" still leaves "me in doubt as to whether he is writing seriously or not. .Assuming the former to bo the case, I think he misunderstands my position. He will re- | collect that, in his first letter, he character* i ised Cardinal Moran's utterances as " the absurdest bunkum imaginable." He stigmatised Mataafa as an "upstart;" he denounced the followers of that chief as " ruffians;" he charged Malietoa Tanu with being a liar; and he cast the imputation of corruption against King Oscar of Sweden. In my letter I gave my reasons for dissenting from _ some of these assertions, and as to Cardinal Moran's charges, I expressed the belief that he had based them upon what he considered to be reliable information ; that though the findings of a Royal Commission, if appointed, might not support these charges to the full, yet the results of such an inquiry would be startling enough to cause those who are agitating for the appointment of a commission to regret the action they have taken. That opinion I still hold, upon what appear to me to be good and sufficient grounds, but the manifest object of my letter was not to justify Cardinal Moran (ho is perfectly competent to look after himself), but to show that Mataafa and his party were unjustly aspersed. It puzzles me to see how I have thus rendered myself liable to be required to prove that the Anglo-American forces in Samoa, with their native allies, committed atrocities worse than those of which the Turks arc said to have been guilty in Armenia. It appears to me to be a curious non sequitur, and I give it up. Yet this is what " Observer" rather arrogantly commands mo to do. Who is " Observer" that I should meekly and submissively obey his imperious mandate '! Apart from this, however, I may remark that, so far I have seen only the shortest cablegraphic summary of Cardinal Moran's speech at Waverley. It is very possible that the brief cablegram does not fairly represent what the Cardinal said. I should require to peruse the full context of his speech before being able to tell what would actually be required of me if I became the Cardinal's champion. Supposing I proceeded to give details and particulars, as ordered by " Observer," with the names of my informants, what would happen ? Precisely what has happened in the Cardinal's case already. He named Tanu as his authority for the statement that a white teacher counselled the destruction of the Roman Catholic churches, and " Observer" immediately retorts, "Tanu is a liar !" Poor Tanu ! Tanu, "Observer" will recollect, has been brought up by the missionaries with the utmost care. He was a theological student, and his highest ambition was to become a native pastor under the London Missionary Society. He was the candidate whose, claims to tho throne of Samoa were supported by the guns of the British and American warships. And, now, flouted and discredited, he is denounced as a liar ! Poor Tanu ! Sic transit gloria munch' ! In answer to "Observer's" question as to why I have not made the world ring with stories of those Samoan horrors which Cardinal Moran is alleged to have described as worse than the outrages in Armenia, I may inform him that if he refers to the files of your journal of four years ago he will find my opinion of what had taken place in Samoa plainly and freely expressed. In a pamphlet entitled " The Cry of Mataafa for His People," published by me later in the same year, he will find embodied some of tho results of my own personal investigations in Samoa. Copies of this pamphlet have been pretty widely distributed in various parts of the world and will also be found among the archives of the Foreign Offices in London and Berlin, and the Department of State in Washington. It is rather doubtful whether the Royal Commission asked for will be appointed. Portion of Samoa being now German territory and the vest American, there would bo some rathor serious legal difficulties to overcome before such a Commission could enter upon its work. Again, many of the most important witnesses are now scattered in various parts of tho world. Should such a tribunal be organised and carry out'a thorough investigation, • it is possible that Cardinal Moran would modify some of his expressions; but I think the report of the Commission would be very unpalatable reading for thoso who have assailed the prelate. —I am, etc., Wir. CoorEK.

Mil. HOUSTON AND THE FARMERS'

UNION. TO .THE EDITOB.

Sir, —In your paper I have seen a letter from. Mr. Houston, M.H.R., that in fairness to the farmers of the North requires an answer. Mr. Houston complains that the Farmers' Union treated him with want of courtesy and fairness at the last election, and I m.ust conclude he refers to the method of procedure at the Farmers' Union ballot. Now, the only mistake made was in putting the standing member's name on the list to bo balloted for, as the object of the ballot was to nominate one member to contest the seat, and all other candidates had to retire, so, on the faco of it, the standing member's name being on the list was a blunder. As the result of the election showed, the farmers as a whole felt in no way bound by the ballot of the union once the result had been attained of deciding which would-be member was to contest the seat. I trust that this explanation of the reason of the Farmers' Union ballot will do away with the charge of discourtesy. Now, when Mr. Houston says he will do nothing at the "dictation" of the union, he is well within his rights, but when ho declines to do anything at the " request" of the union he is putting an obstacle, in the advance of the electorate's weal that T can but think he has hardly considered. If, again, it pleases Mr. Houston to regard the Farmers' Union as a spook of (Tie National Ass., I can only be sorry that he has allowed himself to be led away by an ancient joke. But the Farmers' Union exists, and our present member exists, and if this present feeling of hostility is allowed to continue it may be a serious check to the progress of the North. I have answered Mr. Houston's latter because many who do not know him will regard it as a deliberate attempt tocrush politically for., the time being a union that is still in its infancy, but a union that the far-seeing politician, if he has his country's good at heart, would foster, not scoff at.—l am, etc., J. 0. Johnson, Secretary Farmers' Union.

Hikurangi

THE ONEHUNGA LOAN, TO THE EDITOR.

■ Sir, Owing to the advent of the electric tramways into Onehunga, tho Borough Council has boon compelled to make certain alterations and improvements to our streets, in order to make them uniform with the levels of the tramlines. This work is now being carried out by Mr, Metcalfe, C.E., and will cost when completed about £2000. As the Council have not this amount to their credit they must borrow it. The ' question is: Where can the ' Council obtain the money at the lowest rate of interest and on the most favourable terms to the ratepayers ? Not, mark you, can the Council borrow £2000, but where can they borrow it. Well, sir, the Council can obtain this loan in two places. Firstly, they can get it from the Government under the Loans to Local Bodies Act, repayable, principal and interest, at 3£ per cent, in 41 years; or secondly, they can get an overdraft from the bank at 6 per cent., but which does not pay back the principal. To obtain the loan from the Government the ratepayers must sanction a special rate of Id in the £ as security. A poll of ratepayers will therefore be taken on Wednesday, March 4, to sanction the security and not merely to sanction the loan. I wish to emphasise this, fact, because the Council have power, and will obtain the £2000 without the sanction of the ratepayers. What the Council ask the ratepayers to do on March 4 is to give them power, by sanctioning a special rate, to borrow £2000 in the cheapest market. It is all very well for, owners of tumble-down, empty shanties to advise us against this step, but we, who deal with facts and not fiction, know that if we do not vote for tho security we shall have to pay for the loan, and through the nose at that. If ratepa}-ers think (hat by defeating the poll they can prevent the Council from obtaining the I 'loan, they are greatly mistaken, because when the work is done the law will compel us to pay for it. Now. sir, I wish, briefly to place the two issues before our ratepayers, and I feel sure that their intelligence and goodwill for the borough of Onehunga will lead them to sanction the security by an overwhelming majority. Onehunga receives from the Government a yearly subsidy of about £180. If we sanction the special rate as security for a loan of £2000, it means that the Government will advance us that amount in a lump sum, and allow us to pay it back again at tho rate of £70 per annum. In other words, we get the £2000 for nothing, and for the next 41 years our subsidy from the Government would be £110 a year, instead of £180. If we do not sanction the special rate the Council cannot go to the Government for the loan, therefore they will have to get an overdraft from the bank, for which we shall have to way 6 per cent, interest. This 6 per cent, will be for tho use- of the loan, but not to pay it back "again. For. the repayment' of the loan the' Council will be compelled to raise the genera] rate to at' least 2s in the £ for tho next fire years. •

Now, ratepayers of Onelmnga, the issue is plainly before you. As the Council have incurred a liability of £2000, they are bound to meet it. The question is, Shall wo sanction a special rate and so enable them to borrow in the cheapest market, or shall we pay a general rate of 2s in the £?— am, etc. ' J. Lakixg. THE PREMIER AND THE EXPRESS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—The detention of yesterday's express train for the convenience of the.Premier ami the inconvenience of several hundred o:I tne public has excited general indignation, to say nothing of the disorganisation of the service on the whole line, and the not improbable risk of lifo. Had the station master allowed the train to start at the advertised time he would have simply done his duty, and the chances are that in a short timo he would have received an Irish promotion, by being removed to a less important station at a lower salary. The incident brings to my mind a circumstance when a Governor of the colony sent a servant in livery to the office of tho Rose Casey to inquire what the fare would bo for His Excellency and his wife, and at what time the steamer would leave. Captain Casey replied: "Tell His Excellency that the fare will be the same as for the humblest of Her Majesty's subjects: that the Rose Casey will leave at ten o'clock sharp, and will wait for nobody."l am, etc., James T i'.TT. CRIMINAL CHILDREN AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In your issue of the 17th hist, it. is reported that at the Police Court twe girls were convicted of theft and sent to the Mount Albert Industrial School. It may not be generally known that the children belonging to this institution are allowed to attend the nearest State school and bo classmates with others of a very different class and antecedents. It is to ue expected that tho two girls mentioned will also be sent. Would the members of the Board of Education like their children to mix with such objectionable characters '! Some of my children attend the same school, and 1 so strongly object to it that I am thinking of withdrawing them, and I know others who intend doing the same, and these very children are among the brightest and most capable attending there— pleasure to their teachers and calculated to reflect credit and honour on their instructors. So it comes about that tho whole school suffers from the beforementioned cause. Another point to which I would draw the attention of the Board of Education is that it is not fair or just to the master that his salary, under such circumstances, siiould be regulated on tho basis of attendance; it ought to be a certain and fixed sum, as no matter how personally popular and capable he and his staff may beand they are all thatthey cannot make headway under .such disadvantages, even in tho face of a fast increasing population. I see that certain alterations are being made to the industrial home here. I hope these will include a uroper training school, with classes for every department of domestic life, including the ordinary education, so that when tho children go out to service they will bo already trained, and not have to be taught how to do everything. Under any circumstances these children for some years should be kept by themselves and not be allowed to contaminate others.— am, etc., A Disgusted Parent.

DECREASE IN THE BIRTH RATE. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —Perhaps I am rather late in the field as regards a letter signed "'Another Maorilander" in your Saturday's issue. I trust you inserted that most precious effusion to let people see how far this selfish, loathsome poison of birth-prevention can emasculate a human being. Here is a man wants our political economists to discuss a question that is long since threshed out as far as we can go at present. I suppose Malthus stands with him for the redeemer of mankind, seeing he is proud of what bids fair to bo our national disgrace. "Propagation of white slaves," says he, forsooth ! And our land only in its infancy and waiting for a population. Indeed our/"white slave" children know only too little of the wholesome bondage of life: that 'bondage which teaches law, and obedience, and order in a truly healthy community. The emancipated woman has simply carried out, even more thoroughly than many cautious and .sensible men dreaded long since, her sex abandonment; and it is such poor creatures as Another Maorilander " who applaud her. Poor creature, indeed! On his own showing, he was a child with but milk and water in his veins, and now even the milk has gone —and he whines out the wish that he had never been born. Let us trust he leaves no child to carry on such stock; drones in what should bo a busy hive. I can but close with the hope that the woman of the future will be once more "clothed and in her right mind," as her ancestors wore before her, casting aside the moral blight that has come upon her in these our days, which we seem so proud of.— am, etc., T.O. Hamilton. February 16.

POLITICAL MORALITY. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —When the Right Honorable Win. Pitt was offered £100,UUU by the merchants of London in order to place him beyond the accidents of politics he waved it aside with disdain. "No consideration upon earth," he said, "shall over induce me to accept it." When the Right Honorable Richard Seddon found it was currently reportd in England that a purse of sovereigns was being collected for him in New Zealand he waved it aside with equal disdain. But the likeness between the two right honorable gentlemen ends there. William Pitt kept his word. The Right Honorable Richard Seddon takes tho purse. That contemptuous rejection of the bounty of his fellow-colonists may have been wrongly imputed to Mr. Seddon. But if so, why was the English public allowed to credit Mr. Seddon so long with such disinterested discourtesy? The result of the whole proceeding has been to make our Premier, in whom we show such a national pride, a jest and a laughing-stock to no inconsiderable section of the English press. This could not hurt the Premier, and might not hurt anyone else. But, unfortunately, it leaves an uneasy sense that many statements imputed to Ministers without contradiction may be equally without foundation. That splendid surplus that annually recurs in the reported utterances of the Premier may be nothing more than fiction, which many people believe it to be. When wo find that the lowest price that our New Zealand three per cent, stock was quoted at in the year 1897 was 99£, and that the. new loan is expected to issue at we feel that someone must surely have misreported the Premier as saying that the credit of the colony never stood higher than to-day. When just before the last general election Ministerial parties toured the colony and lavishly promised grants for roads and bridges and high schools and other sundries, amounting to over £100,000. the whole proceeding was so obviously of the nature of an election bribe that we do not suppose anybody seriously anticipated the fulfilment of the bulk of those promises. Those who did expect such a remote possibility may comfort themselves perhaps by praying for a general election every year; but they may at the same time assure themselves that the annual shortness of cash that marks the close of the financial year will effectively prevent tho redemntion of mere electoral pledges. Lastly, the Premier has been charged with purposing to attack the rights of labour by saying that he intends to place obstacles in the way of a man getting employment unless he joins some particular union or organisation to be approved by the Government. Now, we know the Premier is not a very wise —ho showed that in England, and he has shown it herebut we cherished the hope that he might atone for his ignorance of political economy by common sense and common justice. It is this hope that convinces us that he must have been misrepresented. But if ho has been misreported in these matters — if as Minister for "Labour he does intend to work injury to his fellow colonists, if our credit as a colony is lower than it has often been before, if that boasted surplus is only a figment of the imagination—then the Premier must lose his reputation for common sense and veracity. According to English papers our credit does not stand very high, and as we watch Victoria, our rival in extravagance, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, we have an unploasant vision of ourselves, too, repenting with a bitter sorrow of.the prodigality of our Seddonian Government. Happily that Government will then bo no more.—l am, etc., S.

THE PENNY POSTAGE. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,— universal penny postage regulations of New Zealand may have been nailed with delight by those whom the s-ystem was intended to benefit, and people residing in less favoured countries might be inclined to be jealous of the excellent institution of your paternal administrators, but a good deal of the shine is rubbed off this admiration when on the delivory side one has to pay an extrr. 3d for every pennyworth of New Zealand postage. However pleasant it may be to hear from one's friends, I candidly confess that I-1 am beginning to find that 3d extra postage for every letter received is no inducement to encourage private correspondence, and when the taxed letter contains nothing but an appeal from some schoolboy philatelist, or, worse still, some of these unwelcome 'documents known as "Sweet William"— ;really, is it not heaping insult on injury? Very, likely few people are aware of this inconvenience to which they submit their cor-

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSBSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSi " respondents here, and it would perhaps be fair if their attention could be drawn to this through the columns of the press. International postal arrangements cannot be altered by any Government— Imperial or colonial—without the concurrence of the Powers interested in the Convention of Geneva, which regulates these questions, and, from what I have read in a foreign paper, your penny postage cannot become really universal before the New Zealand Government have fulfilled the proper formalities of diplomatic etiquette in a question of this kind.—l am, etc.. J.H.D.B.

Tahiti, February 7, 1903.

MISSING LETTERS. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir.—May I encroach on you. valuable space to draw the attention of the public to a very serious matter regarding the Post Office Department. I refer to the largo number of letters containing money and valuables which have lately gone astray in process of transmission. There have been in my own case and in the family with which I am connected, no less than four letters which never reached their destination; three of which contained money to the value of fill. What makes the matter all the more serious is the fact that registration is apparently no protection, as one of the above-mentioned letters was registered. There must, be some gross negligence, to put it mildly, and there should certainly be very stringent inquiries made. Only last week, when one of the. post office employees was convicted of the theft of £5 from a letter, the judge, with mistaken leniency, admitted him to probation instead of making an example of him. which would act as a deterrent to others.—l am, etc..

Pro Bono Publico

OUR TIMBER TRADE. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—Mr. Seddcn, in. his Auckland speech, refers to the rapid cutting of our kauri timber for trade purposes 'ami considers tho bushes should be preserved. If Mr. Seddoti will pass a law preventing gunuliggers from starting destructive fires, and protect settler* from loss, the timber might be preserved. especially the young trees. As it is at present, if it is not cut down and turned into money it will he burned and so destroyed. The destruction, by fire is very great, "the young growth sharing the fate of the marketable- trees. What redress lias a settler! The destroyer owns nothing except a vote, and that belongs to Dick.—-1 am, etc., _______ Sufferer. POST OFFICE MANAGEMENT. TO THE EDITOR. . Sir,—While not wishing to detract. on« iota of praise duo to tho late chief postmaster for his conscientious labours, your correspondent, "Trader," is entirely in errc in stating that tho late Mr. Biss attended' the office no matter what hour of the day or night to expedite tho delivery of the 'Frisco mail. Mr. Biss never attended tlia office after the usual office hour. five p m., no matter what English mail came in. Tim mailroom staffs (two) are alone summoned at whatever horn at night the mail steamer is signalled, and they, under the watchful eyes of the two supervisors, are mainly responsible to the public for the quick sorting and delivery of letters, etc. The mail or sortingroom is tho one centre around which the whole post office revolves, and every praise is due to the supervisors and their clerks for the efficient service they render a very unthankful and unthinking public. The whole service will no doubt be as efficiently and carefully carried out under the surveillance of Mr. Wilkins as it was undo .• the late Mr. Biss. Tho statement made by your correspondent,-" ro the mails arriving at seven a.m., and not delivered until live p.m., is both absurd and devoid of truth. However, it is Into that when a Sydney boat arrive- on Sunday with nn Kntjlish mail, this mail is not sorted until Monday morning, although no such delay is allowed in Wellington, where mails are sorted directly tTiey arrive no matter what day of the week. This is a matter that concerns the commercial public and "Trader," but they pass this real grievance by to cavil at small matters, with no possiblo foundation for complaint.— am, etc., Commerce,

POST OFFICE AND ALL MAILS. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —In your issue of the 17th inst. you publish a letter over the signature ".1.G.K." re the San Francisco mail. Allow mo to add my experience of the vviij in which all letters are detained at Auckland Post Office. Having to travel from South Taranaki on business, I obtained a draft from one of the banks and asked the manage, to be sure and forward his copy by that day's mail, as I would have to again loavo Auckland by the halfpast two p.in by one of the coastal boats. Arrived at Auckland at a quarter to ten a.m., I called at the post office for the letter which I had ported the previous afternoon.v • It was" then half-past ton a.m. The clerk Informed me that the mails would not bo delivered until half-past twelve, or perhaps a little later. Called at a quarter to one, and after waiting some ten minutes, received my letter, which had been in Auckland three hours, went to the bank and presented my draft, and was informed the mail from the South had not yet been delivered, and wo\>ld not be until near two p.m. Consequence. * stop in Auckland for two whole days. Let me state another case. Arrived at Howick by mail' 'bus at eleven, and on business wrote a letter addressed to Auckland, and posted it at half-past one the same day. Next morning called at the, office- for the expected reply, but was told upon inquiry that my letter had only been sent on that morning, and that T could not got an answer until npxt day at half-past eleven a.m. So that it took 45 hours to get an "answer from Auckland, which I* only 13 miles distant by road, the nos.resfc railway .station being five miles _ (Ellerslie), and there are two other post offices between - Howick and Ellerslie. Should you make complaint at any of the Southern offices you are told. " Well, we are not so bad as Auckland,"" which is paying themselves a very poor compliment.— I am, etc., Traveller. February 18.

DO FARMERS PAY THE BULK Of

THE LAND TAX. TO THE EDITOB. Sir.ln your leader of a few days ago, on the _ Premier's speech at Levin, you ha,v« copied erroneous figures from the official Year Book, and in the last few lines mak» e misleading inference. In writing of the value of taxable land yon say it last year totalled £154,000,000. This in altogether wrong. That figure is the total f value of all land and improvements, taxable and non-taxable. The total unimproved value last year was £95,000,000, hut this " ineludes all land whether owned by private * ' individuals, by Crown, by natives, by local authorities, education boards, school com' missioners, churches, corporations, companies . or societies of all kinds, and whether subject to or exempt from taxation." .■■■■.-'-! In 1892 tho total unimproved value wat £76.000,000, of which only £45.000,000 wan liable to taxation. Presuming that the ratie of taxable to non-taxable land is still the same, then the present value of taxable land is only £56.000,000. not £154,000.000, and : ;i £12,000,000, being the extent to which Premier Seddon says it is under valued, reprc- ',' sents over 20 per cent, of the whole, not ___,_ 8 per cent, as you state. .■/] 1 believe Mr. Seddon is well within the / '■'• mark in his statement. I know of a vacant section within two miles of the post office, which to-day stands in the valuation roll at >, £5. and which has recently changed hands at £20, and another standing at £23 is on the list of an Auckland land agent for sale at £90. I am therefore compelled to conclude that Mr. Seddon is a good deal below the marl* when he says the under-valuation is £12,000,000. In your last sentence but one you say " two-thirds of this" (meaning the extra taxa- *"' \ tion). will fall upon the counties and a third on the boroughs." By this inferring I presume that two-thirds of the land tax is, and will be, paid by farmers, and only one-third ~. ■'-;; by townspeople. To see how the land valno of this colony is held we must turn to Parliamentary Papers, 820 and B2oa. 1891. These are the. latest figures' issued in this form. From them we find that the unimproved value of the land of tho colony in 1891 was £76,000,000, of which £18,000,000 was in boroughs and £58,000,000 in counties. Under the head of U counties are included all places not formed into boroughs, such as the residential suburbs of the four large cities, with an unimproved value of £6,000,000. 35 town districts, and nearly 500 townships, villages, arid • small centres, including such places as Dargaville, Aratapu, Otahuhu, Wailii, Paeroa, To Aroha, Pukekohe. Hxmtly, Cororoandel. Denniston, Eltham. Eketahuna, Reefton, Warkworth, etc. . '"•■ Tho following therefore is approximately the way the .land■■; of the colony is held:— Boroughs, £18,000,000; residential suburbs of four cities, £6,000,000; town districts, townships, villages, etc.. £4,000,000; 37,899 owners of from five to 2000 acres of country land, ! mostly farmers, bona fide, £19,000,000; 1036 large areas mostly held by private and company land speculators, absolutely unused, or -' -. only very partially used, £19,000,000: Go- '" vernment and native country lands, £10,000,000: total. £76,000,000. The total unimproved value last year was £95,000.000. but the ratio between town and country remains practically the same. Therefore honsfide farmers instead of paying two-thirds of the land tax as inferred by you, actually pay only one nuarter of it. Farmers are largo owners of land area, but not of land value. One acre in the best part of Queen-street pavs as much as a small county of to™""* laud.-I am, etc., Land VaW% " ■'. ■.-.' ■■■'.:-.. . : ' ■■'■'-' ■■-'..:;'■'.'>V'W .'■'-..■:■■■'■ '. : '..-'-''