CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12545, 12 April 1904, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

I 1 RAGGED SCHOOL UNION AND • SHAFTESBURY SOCIETY. .TO THE EDITOR. |||fl —In view of the celebration of the Dia- - A mond Jubilee this year, tho council of the ": Ragged School Union and Shaftesbury Society (formerly of Exeter Hall, and now of i 32. John-street, Theobald's . Road, London, ' v , • have 1,1 preparation a volume giving - the history of the work from the early be- ' gmnmgs in 1844. There must be many ' friends scattered over the Empire who were ft associated with the great Earl Shaftesbury , and other notable people in this beneficent ' : i work in the old days. Might I ask if there i are any such amongst your readers, and if ?! ! so whether they would bo good enough to : | send to me any reports, letters of interest, i!lustrations, newspaper cuttings, or other information bearing ,upon this work in the past ? All such communications will be valued, and will tend to complete the record i of this the earliest organised movement dealing with the condition of tho very poor i children of the congested centres "of the • . heart of the Empire.—l am, etc.. ; Jo H.N- Kirk, Secretary. 32. street, Theobald's Road, London. W.C. 1 THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE AND j MR. O'DONOGHUE'S CASE. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln the report submitted to the Teach' ei'i' Institute on Friday last it was stated > that in November last the Institute Committee went through the documents hearing: ' on my case, and offered me advice which I declined to follow. That I declined the advice offered is true, /tut that the ' committee went through all the documents has yet to be proved. The Institute Committee visited I tho education office, where some of the docu--1 ments were laid before it by the Board. •> What documents they were I do not know, i for I was not present, nor asked to be pre- ■ - sent. Since then,(however, the Board lias : acknowledged the extraordinary fact that it; i held my defence from the school committee at the time it forwarded a long attack upon, > me. Of such proceedings the Institute - Committee was, of couse, quite unaware . when it called at the education office, and no i doubt accepted such documents as were - proffered in good faith. But were all the i documents proffered, or only a few ? I ' have not yet-— is, in April, 1904—seen. . all the documents; and I think myself right' ' in questioning whether the Institute Commiti toe could have seen them all in November - last. Moreover, _ from important evidence I I have lately received, which I intend laying i fore the Institute Managing Committee, it ; will be seen that I was justified in declining 5 the advice offered.—l am, etc.,' i I). O'Dondghtte, B.A.

SINGLE TAX. TO THE EDITOR. ; > < Sir.—A certain Scotch M.P., in his speech to his constituents while combating Henry George's theories, stated lately that the land of Eriglandr-inoludiua London, Leeds, etc.— had fallen £800,000.000 during the past quarter of a century. If such be the case, and 1! have reason to believe it to be true, then Messrs. King and Fowlds have not a leg to stand on. Our Governor has lately hit the right nail on the head, when ho told the settlers in the Far North that soon the timber and gum industries would be thing* of the past, and they must look to the land and its products, and although he did not say. so in so many words, yet it seems to mo he l implied that we must adhere to the heritage left us by our forefathers, viz., the freehold, if we are to be a prosperous people. We had a paltry few hundred immigrants last year, while Canada had an influx of about 60,000, doubtless drawn thithor by the attractive advertisements which appear " in many of the papers of Great Britain. This is an example: " Prosperity awaits every willing worker in Canada: good crops, light: taxes, free schools, free (freehold) farms of 160 acres." If this colony is to become attractive to the British yeoman then tht> people here must insist on the re-establish: merit of the freehold 'in its integrity. If necessary. I am prepared to enlarge "on the ad\antages of freehold against 'leasehold from a national as well as individual point of view.—l am. etc., George Wiles. 'A East Tamaki. OUR TRAIN SERVICES. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,ln yesterday's issue attention is drawn to the visit of the Minister for Kailways, and you suggest several very necessary improvements in our train services. Beferring to the Auckland-Henderson portion of your article, I would suggest what seems to me an improvement, certainly on present conditions. Running as our trains do front the extreme end of Queen-street, via Newmarket, we cannot expect the service ever to become popular, even with more frequent trips. What is needed is a station at the junction of Upper Queen and Grey Streets, with a line up the gully between these street', a tunnel beneath Karangahape Road, running out between Cross and Canada Streets, thence along the gully through Archhill and Eden Terrace, down to the water-'; works, keeping this side, and join the presents line after it crosses the road at Morningside. The service should be a fast one, with several? stopping placesone at the end of the tunnel, one at the foot of Cobden-street, Newton Road, and so on The population along this route is already a large one and constantly increasing. With a quick penny section —similar to the electric trams— a very large and profitable passenger service ; would result. The present service, cannot expect to carry any. passengers for station* between Auckland and Morningside. The distance, as well as the time taken, is much too long. As it is many people leave tho train at Morningside, and take the tram, saving _ considerably in time and , money.! A station at the junction of the two tractsJj named would be suitable for all requirements, being in the heart of the city, while the whole line would vastly improve the variotuT 1 districts it would pass through.—l am, etc.. Progress. Auckland, April 7, 1904. CHURCH OF ROME, ' ' TO THE EDITOR. •.' ' Sir, —" Student" quotes as an authorityf " The secret instructions of the Jesuits." These are forgeries. It is inconceivable thtfc these assertions should be brought forth, merely to tickle the morbid pilates oi th* credulous. -May 1 suggest to V'Student" to; study reliable authorities and to bewar* ; of the consequences of allowing the mythd* poeic faculty to run riot?—l am, etc., S.S. Heleusville, March 6, 1904. ' '

PROTESTANT DEFENCE ASSOCIA* :' TION. TO THE EDITOR. S

Sir,—Your correspondents "Old Colo-; nist" and " Justilia" seem very incensed at the formation of the Protestant Defence Association. Through your courtesy the publio were informed what were the object# of the l society, and if your correspondents are really sincere in their desire for an equitable distribution of appointments, they ought to welcome the advent of the abovenamed society. For one of the objects of its _ existence was given as, "To maintain the actual and insist on thai practical recognition of the absolute equality of citizenship, independent of creed o* profession, and to claim the right of ail (other things being equal) to an equitable share rrf the distribution of appointments and privi leces, under patronage ot minister? of " State." All honourable citizens ought to strive for such a lair and equitable object.— I am, etc., S. L. P. Rihukr. M April 5, 1904. CODLIN MOTH. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Re letter in this morning's issue of the Herald, from "An Old Fruitgrower," in which lie regrets a serious revival of the codlin moth. Although J agree with him in the rest of his letter I am of opinion he has made - mistake about the moth, as so far cs I have observed it was about the same as last year's, but the crop of apples having . been> about one-sixth of what it was then more iu proportion were mothed. Anyway that if my experience.—l am, etc., J as. Slater. April 7, 1904. THE BIRTH-KATE. TO THE EDITOR Sir.—l wonder that it does not occur tit j Mr. Michael Fiurscheim that the ' irth-raie ' was all right when we had a great many less holdings in New Zealand than we have now. Is it not possible that the feai of the destruction of the freehold and the advent ' of the single tax causes people to pause in the production of children? The tendency of the age is to bring all men and women to the same hopeles" level. Children are not : favoured in our labour legislation. Preference is given to unionists, under the plea, »"j doubt, of equal opportunity to all. Whole- . sale confiscation ot property is daily threatened by our rulers. 1 Perpetual leases arc forced, i on out future farmers, and our hopes and as-" j pirations are daily becoming more and more > horvon —1 rim p.f.n Tnnvnfil ST ; **