LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13487, 14 May 1907, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .

OUR MUSICAL SOCIETIES, Sir, —I have read with much interest the different letters concerning our musical societies, and have come to the conclusion that there must be a number of " musicians" in hiding, and if they would only come to light we should : be able to form a musical society par excellence. .The advent of : the Exhibition Orchestra seems to have given a small section of the musical community the impression that ; the band is here to show our local,-societies the way to do things. Well, supposing they do so, only silly people I would make comparisons between an amateur; and a professional band. The playing of this professional orchestra should prove of immense value to our local : instrumentalists, and: I feel sure the majority of them will appreciate the visit. The comparisons made in the different letters concerning our local conductors is certainly bad form, and will serve no good purpose. It is so, easy to _ lay the blame of the, non-success of a society on the conductor, when, as ; a matter ;■'. of fact, the !;society may never have been a real suc- | and financially—under any conductors. It is Tecognised amongst musicians that the complaints about conductors usually come from the weak; performing members of a f society, and should there be a large number of such members, the conductor's "lot is not a happy one." Good performing members are more selfreliant, and make the:conductor's work a \ pleasure. The fact of having been connect- j ed with a society for 20 years does not J necessarily entitle the holders to retain their ; seat. A ■• leading conductor, visiting this city some time' ago, told me he was once appointed to select voices in Melbourne for important chorus work, and out of the large number of applicants that applied he found it a safe rule to reject all candidates who came along with an oratorio under their arm, and who had been singing in a choral society for over 10 years. The successful candidates were mostly, those who could j sing a good song, read a, little at sight, but i possessed a fine fresh voice. The result j proved a magnificent chorus.; I think if j our Choral Society insist on retaining only I good voices they will attract other good '< voices, and a new enthusiasm will spring I up in the society which;will tend to make I it at least a musical success. . ,::;;. -' ■ , ' "' - ": Samuel Adams. ... . ;. —• .; ''■': ■ ' -'■-'" I Sir,—lt is a pity that in discussions such as that now filling your columns ' partisanship should lead writers into making statements both misleading and in bad taste. Such was the reference in ''Another Musician's" letter to '-The Mill in the Black ; Forest," which, says the writer, "the Orchestral Union, played ad nauseam." The Orchestral Union played in, the nineties, i when even London audiences _ had not given ; up groaning at the classical items; yet the i very earliest programmes of this little orI chestra were inspiring and educative. As i ! a matter of fact, with the exception of I " The . Tannhauser Overture " and ; " The | Siegfried Idyll," the present Orchestral''' SoI ciety has not played one work which was j not set: in rehearsal ; by the Orchestral Union. - Indeed, the first ■ programme ; the ! Exhibition Orchestra gave in Auckland read | very much as if it might have been comj piled for the Orchestral Union even in i those distant days when Mr.'.Chas. Hemus was leading. ; The Peer Gynt "suite,- for j instance, 60 vociferously and; deservedly ap- [ plauded the other night, was first heard by | I Auoklauders in those remote dark ages I j j speak of. The Orchestral Society appears I to me to merit all the applause-it , is re-' ceiving. For an amateur society _ in a town so small as Auckland it is surprisingly up to date, both in its ambitions and in its rendering of many fine items. But appreciation of the work of ■ this society does not I necessarily bring absolute forgetfulness of I the efforts, tho devotion to musical ideals, * and the success of the committee ". of that | earlier Auckland orchestra. The Orchestral Union is: now of the past. ' Some of its members are filling second, places in the ranks of the new society some have dropped out of musical circles : altogether; : many have joined! the great majority. It is usual in such cases to say only that we know which is good. ■ Yet the reminder here is not to : the point. Programmes drawn up by a committee of musicians such as were Messrs. Towsey, Hemus, Sam. Jackson, and the late Messrs. Innes, Windsor, and Mackenzie do not call for charity— for truth. I appeal to. the audiences of those days to consider whether the inference made in "Another : Musician's " : letter—that the programmes of the 'i Orchestral Union ! were drawn, up to pander to popular taste ~—comes under ; either head. -, ,-•" - - -, . ■■■ ■ i „ ; One of the Audience. , Sir,—lf "Another Subscriber" would kindly : state the ; following particulars regarding a few remarks in his letter re Herr Wielaert he will greatly oblige many musicians in this community:(l) What are the names of ■ the finest professional v bands he has been soloist ; of for; so many years in England and the Continent (from -i Glasgow to St. Petersburg?) ;; (2) What high-class theatrical combinations has he been conductor and musical director of before and after coming to the colonies? Thanking you in anticipation. ; English. May 15- ■> ■ LABOUR UNIONS IN AMERICA. Sir,— a lover of justice, I wish to contradict the accusation made against the leaders of the Western Federation: of Miners—Haywood,, Moyer, and Pefctibone. It is .the last of "a series of conspiracies of the Mine Owners' Association (a bran oh of the Standard Oil Company), to destroy the Western Federation of Miners. The Mine Owners' Association have for several years engaged Pinkorton; detectives, thugs, and gunmen to do deeds of violence in .times of strike, generally in order to accuse the union men of the Western Federation of Miners. In Tclluride several mine bosses were killed, in Cripple Creek a mine was destroyed, a train .wreck was attempted, and the Independence Depot was blown •up. About 50 miners were arrested, a fewwere brought to trial, but : the prosecution failed. On© of the prosecution witnesses broke down, and admitted that- he was a detective hired by the Mine Owners'- Association to do the deed that had been charged to the Western Federation of Miners.' The murderer ' of ex-Governor Stennenberg confessed that he thought their plot against the Western Federation- of Miners would fail. Hoping you will insert this in your valuable paper : for the sake of.->;..■•;-:."',;■" Truth and Justice. WATER POLICE. ' ' Sir,-I can support all Mr. C. : C. Dacre eays on this subject, and I think the i Harbour Board and other public bodies should bring pressure on the Government to give us some protection. We have now been something near a generation without police protection in this harbour, and there has grown up a generation of thieves, besides an army of thieves from outside, that have practically taken charge of all the property afloat and within easy distance of the foreshore. There is no check on thieving, provided that a person can buy, borrow, or steal a boat. There are many boys in Auckland who are allowed to practise petty thieving and are not . checked by their parents. This practice grows and develops evil brain cells, until they ; do not know that they are doing wrong. They are creatures ; of ; environment. ; In the absence of water police they have never had anything to fear; and have never had any practical experience, to show them that they are not getting an honest living when they are stealing. "Fear" and "love" are important forces in forming the character of human beings, and in this case of the absence ot water police protection the fear ~.~is developedin the minds of the people who are being robbed. There is always a continual dread that any property they own on the water will be taken from them, and , thia ; feeling is intensified by the fact that if they are known to have made ; any complaint they will be singled out by some of the " Tang" as future victims. Now, sir, I hold that we should respect and pity any person who was born a thief, or a liar, and do all we can to cure him, but in this case the Government are responsible for cultivating and rearing an army of thieves. With police protection "fear" would be . developed in the minds of the thieves instead of in the minds of those who are being robbed by day and night. It was only a few days ago that a fisherman asked me if he was justified in i putting poison on food in his boat, as he had lost a full week s provisions owing to putting it aboard overnight. This question I leave unanswered, as I do not know myself what ought to be done. It is certain that sails, ropes, blocks, anchors,* chains, warps, .lead or iron> ballast, or anything worth money, is not safe in this harbour, and if rt-e do not do our duty and put down evil practices the whole community will be infected; by this moral depravity, that nothing short of a war with some foreign Power will enable us. to get rid of by : killing off the surplus evil human machines, thereby to some extent clearing the mental : atmosphere.; My prayer is, " God forgive the , Ministry, for they know not what they are doing by not giving this harbour police protection." :.'■: :•;-:• ■:•*.•■:■- .;:'-.;:;';•'; •:■,;-:.; '*'*•:-;,■;';- A. Sanfobd.,''

THE WAIKATO - MANUKAU AND MANUKATJ-WAITEMATA CANALS. Sir,—Both in. your report re the deputation, which waited _ upon the .Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister for : Marine which represented the Wh»u Canal Promoters* Com-; pany, the ; Auckland Harbour Board, and the- Auckland Chamber of ■< Commerce—and, also in your able leader commenting thereon in Thursday's .issue',' it is coolly, assumed that the Whau route is the only one'that has to he considered in ; the ; desirable object of uniting the I waters : of the I Manukau and WaitemataHarbours by a navigable canal. The more feasible and far less costly route j via, Otahuhu and the Tamaki River is not even mentioned, as though it were not: worth a;. thought or deserving of the least inquiry by the Harbour Board and Government engineers, before it was decided which of the two routes , is the best. That Mr. Mennie, : as one of the chief promoters of the Whau route, should assume ; such- a prejudiced conclusion, I .can readily understand ;"■'.; but 'when representatives of I the Harbour Board and the Chamber of j Commerce and both our daily papers never mention the desirability of , inquiring ; fully I into the claims of both routes before adopt- j ing either of them, I think they are very i remiss in their duty in thus neglecting to j obtain the probably cheapest and best route ' for this proposed canal. Surely it is their ; business in- the interests of commerce and ! shipping to inquire most fully into the : advantages of both routes before such a ' costly venture is undertaken; otherwise it is difficult to understand what;such- public bodies are created for. In your leader you refer to the Wnau Canal, when you " hope that a Bill for this purpose will be put forward by the Government during the coming session," entirely ignoring the better claims of the Tamaki route, ' which I have so often during the last 15; years or so * advocated in your valuable journal _: based not only upon the measurements and levels which I had taken myself, '". but upon the \ estimates of , Government engineers, as , presented to Parliament some "20 years ago, and I gave ; a copy of these figures and estimates to the Harbour Board when I was invited to per- ' sonally explain my scheme of utilising locks for the canal, at a conference; which I attended between the Chamber: of Commerce and the Harbour Board, held in the Board's rooms, many years ago, as against the level canal scheme, advocated by >the,then..Whau Canal promoters' engineers, Messrs. Boylan and Pycroft. And although every Government engineer, and all others, ; have advocated a level canal scheme, ■ yet my ; lock system has been adopted by the present engineer of the Whau scheme. - I therefore assert the right to have the claims of the Tamaki route considered, as when the whole facts have been gone into, I am just as confident that it will have " as much superior claims to adoption, as compared with the Whau route, as my scheme of locks for the canal had, over the level canal proposed by eminent, engineers. In 1887 the ; Government engineer (the late Mr. Blair) estimated the cost of a canal via the Tamaki route, at much less ' than one-third of the cost via the Whau. "■■'. And when wo consider that the solid land to be cut through via the Whau is a mile and three-quarters in length, and the maximum height 120 ft above low ; water, while the solid land to be cut through ; at Otahuhu is less than .three-quarters of a mile, to unite the Manukau with the Tamaki River, and the maxi- ; mum height of land only 43ft above low water, anyone can see the cause of the vast difference in cost, and the distinct claim the latter scheme has for. full consideration. I ; may say, incidentally, that up to now ■} I have been the only one to advocate a lock on the Manukau-Waikato ']■ Canal (at least 3.6 years ago). )I have always proposed that this should be placed at .the entrance, to the Waiuku channel, near tho Needles, so as. to maintain full tide height continuously ■; in what is at present a mere sludge channel at low tide. I have written \ so often regarding these claims, in. order I to try and rouse the local bodies on - the Tamaki route ; (including the Onehunga Borough Council) to take some interest in this question, which is so vital to their progress, that I have almost begun to despair of their being impressionable. ' But I have noticed the reports of the Otahuhu Pro-; ■- gressive ' League, which appears to : be ; a new live organisation, and I would respectfully urge that they convene a united meeting of the above local bodies and prominent citizens in their districts to consider this question, which I shall be glad to attend, and give all" the information I have gleaned! on it during a long course of years. ','" ■ , J. E. Tatloe.HUNTLY COAL MINERS' AWARD. ■ Sir,—The fixing of a new scale of wages for the hands employed in the collieries in j the above district brings to mind a letter of 1 mine which appeared in your columns on April 1, 1903, dealing with the award which had just been made. Then the directors of the company, with the chairman (Mr. E. W. j Alison) at their head, made: a valiant and successful fight, and I think you will agree with me that a few extracts from Mr. Alison's speech, which I quoted then; will even now bear repetition.' " Mr. Alison, addressI ing the Court, said the miners had no just cause of complaint, as,, according ;to: their, own witnesses, they could make 10s per? day in the hardest part of the mine." : He stated I .that,' as the result of the industrial agreeI ment, which camo into force' in January, 1900, the cost of mining the coal was increased by Is 3d per ton, which necessitated a rise of Is per ton in the price of coal, the balance decreasing the; company's profits. He also handed in a statement showing I the daily average earnings, of tho 10 best pairs of miners <. in Ralph's mine, and the six best pairs in the Kimihia, this being j about one-third of the miners engaged in ! the . respective mines. From these statej ments it will be seen that the averages for ! Ralph's are lis lOd per day; and for Kimihia j 13s per day (less 9d per day for powder and ■ lighting). Mr. Alison also quoted the evii dence of a miner who had been in. the mine j for 14- months. Ho had previously been a ! farm hand, and, as he said, " 1 wanted a I cheque to pay for a piece of land to farm ! on." He had gone, through various stages j of trucking at 8s per day, ? and at the time of giving his evidence had developed into a I full-blown miner in the Kimihia mine,) where I the average wages were lis 6d, per day, and this, too, under the old agreement of 1900. Then we find that the judge, in giving the [ award of the Court, said: "That the company had been only able to declare a dividend of 7-£ cent, on its paid-up capital of £72,000. They had written off £494 for machinery, but could write nothing off for depreciation of the mine." (Caused by the removal of 70,267 tons of coal for the year.) The demands of the union were refused. There must have been some sort of .agreement since, of which I know nothing, but I just now wish to show what can be done under* the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act uunder its present constitution. The foregoing shows how the directors successfully resisted the demands of their employees, bringing evidence to satisfy the Court why they should not be acceded to. Lately the miners, taking advantage of the extraordinary flood; which covered the railway line between Huntly and Pokeno, and the subsequent shortage of coal trucks, which must be temporary, or the Minister for Railways should be shunted, ; have cited their employers, demanding higher wages and better times generally. This time, instead of resisting the demands as formerly, they agree to give increased wages, and eimply ask the Court to ratify the agreement,': so as to give it the force of an''award of the Court. ; To pay the increased' wages, they did as most employers who have to pay more under an Arbitration Court award— they passed it on to the consumers, by increasing the prioe of coal Is per ton, and the consumer, or the' public, has -no appeal. This is the second instance which, has come under my notice where the employers and I employees agreed,' the agreement being ratified by the Conciliation Board. I allude to the seventh, case ; reported under the Act, where 25 employees .cited 17; employers for increased wages, which they got. Result, higher wages for employees, greater remuneration for employers, and the people in the ! province have had to pay much higher prices ! for painting and paporhanging ever Bince. i Contrast the coal miners' with the Gisborne ! slaughtermen's award. '■.:-. Coal miners with, i as a rule, constant clean "work, as although i the coal is black it i 9 not dirty. The slaughtermen's work is most unpleasant, and cannot last more ; than six months in the year. We will just take those cases where the daily wages are given: —Miners: Miners, 10s per shift; labourers, :8s per day. Slaughtermen: Fat-house hands, 7s 6d per day; floor hands, 7s 6d per day preserving works hands, 7s 6d per day; general labourers, 7s per day. In the miners' award the labourer gets 8s per day constant work. Slaughtermen's award the labourer gets 7s per day for six months. | And why? < Because the mine owner can pass it on, but the slaughtermen's finished product must be conveyed to London in special chambers, ; and at great expense, and when it arrives there it must compete with meat from North and South America, so that no fancy: prices can % be paid for the manipulation, of it, or any other farm : produce. K And ; this applies J. to every industry where, the employer cannot passthe increased cost on to the consumers, he must either fight or cease work. Is it any wonder the Empire and Tariff Reform League;want the-Arbitration:Act repealed," as ' also the protective duties? Without the latter the Arbitration Act would have been a greater failure than it is now. ' S. Cochrane Mackt., i Devonport, May 8. ■ ':■:-:--■ -

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE PROCESSIONS. ? Sir,—-I notice with very great regret that ', a recrudescence of that dreadful thing, the University College procession, is threatened. The students of tho college held such a show a > couple of years '■• ago, and although they got through on that occasion without being maltreated by the infuriated populace, aa they "Were onco before, it was a paltry show beggarly account of empty caricatures,; thinly scattered to make up a show. k What benefit the students wrought or thought they wrought for the good fame of the college— they V advanced our cause or gained a friend for us, I really cannot ascertain. If one asks: any of them, he shirks the question or begins _to bluster about precedent of other institutions a few just a fewsizes larger than ours. I -venture to write you in the hope that at least you will make this protest public, for I think that the object which is claimed to 1 justify the tawdry procession, the advertisement of the college, is accomplished: at I too great an expense dignity of the institution. Now, this dignity is a very slender thing just at present, and -it is - not j to be nurtured on such asses' milk cs clown j ! processions through Queen-street We've j j got to convince the roan-in-the-3troet tt>at we deserve a college; by j what .we do in : the j lists of, learning, not by. showing what conj summate idiots we can make of ourselves. Anybody can play the fool. Why shouldn't ' the Parnell Football Club get up a pTOcesI sion to interest likely footballers to settle ) in Parnell. .They'd be as likely to get men , as we support and golden ■■ coin; for our inS stitution in that way! And if that be not ! the object, there's no need for further axi gument. University students should not ; make public fools of themselves for nought. i The man-in-the-street is inclined to think I the University of questionable use anyhow, j and wo have to convince him it is beyond j question useful. He's got the idea tnat I ' we are a sort of exaggerated schoolboy j badly. in need of spanking, and if we parade j ; as circus clowns it will confirm him in the (opinion. Ho does not know, and does not ! care, that wo celebrate only once a year. I It is not as if we could put on an impros- ' sive show like Sydney University's, which, j after :all, is only tolerated .because of its j | size and its sporadically genuine wit, ex- j j pressed regardless of expense and public ! opinion. . We cannot afford to sacrifice, the small regard of the ordinary man so recklessly; { wo need, and that desperately, to 'interest the public, for wo want a new building, better equipment, and more ground. But is it likely the students will .induce the | publio to sanction such : an expense when I the former demonstrate: themselves, to bo i no better than so many clowns, ; none ; the | better or wiser for the education the country already spends thousands to give them? Is it bethinkable that, for instance, Grammar School, King's College, the Technical School could advance their - interests ..; by making such an exhibition of themselves in the public streets? Then, how shall the University College he honoured. in 'such public tomfoolery? I do not deny the students the right to make any display, they choose within their own hired doors, but it is another thing to do it publicly. -In the one case you have. a selected audience whicn understands; '>'■< in the other, you have a mixed assemblage, which docsnLt and can't: understand -why students want to be foolish once at least in a year.' Student. '■ GRAPE-GROWING. Sir,—-In your issue of May 6 you reprint a letter from the Sydney papers, which you, say -; invites ' attention from those interested in grape-growing here. - Were it printed only in Australia it would not need comment, but, .as it, is > placed before" a large circle of readers at this side in your valuable : paper, ! many» may ■: accept r its statements. I would say that a great ; deal 'of the recent agitation for tho importation of grapes comes primarily from a few large growers on the other side, who are looking out for a new market.: The tone adopted is a little imnatient, and what we ; should call fostering an industry is styled " coddling," and our Government is twitted with being " paternal," but when your readers are in"formed that '.' nearly 100 acres have been, planted with cuttings from vineyards literally rotten with disease, and nothing; done to prevent it," I would now ; point out to I the writer, and to the same readers, that: our Government, whether paternal or not, has taken every pains to secure! stocks which are abovoNall suspicion, and that such have |been supplied by thousands to : growers .■either free "or at a nominal cost. ; Further ,than ;; that, ■■■; many growers • know i : that - its officials have given most painstaking service in visits to country places whore , their ad-; ,vice and help have been valuable. Amongst other statements, which may be misleading, grapes are said 'to be from 2s 6d to 5s ; per pound; whilst wo Y all know that: good large .hothouse ' grapes sold in tho auction last : wcek' brought from 9d' to 13 Id, ; whilst I March s prices, when the bulk of the crop came in, were much lower. *;; Outdoor grapes are ■ now being extensively and ] successfully cultivated, and are averaging at the auction not more than 3d per pound to the' grower. ,Again, we are;told that "the;glasshouse; , owners miay -; almost ;be 'counted'-en the fingers of one hand." My comment is that during last year 100 new glasshouses were built in: various parts :.i of ;:these; islands.■ Grapes are lower-priced' this year than last, and will get cheaper still as the Government promote the industry, ; and as colonists , find out what our country can produce. A Geapb-oboweb, THE GOVERNMENT ' AND SUR-■ * VEYORS. Sir, —I was much interested in the Hon. * 'Mr. Millar's statement as to tho dearth of surveyors, but wish some of his hearers had . shown sufficient curiosity to ask him; the cause of it. This is well known ;to the profession, but mot to the general public, and arises simply '} from the; fact % that • the Government offer about the same wages to an authorised surveyor, who ; has to supply . all his own expensive equipment,; as they do to an ordinary bricklayer; or carpenter. There are more surveyors now than there ever was before, and here in Auckland there are probably a ':' dozen V men of ;•'. great experience and ability, who are prepared to carry out all the surveys the Government can give '; them at ordinary schedule rates, which would result in a saving of time and money. Any excuse for keeping native or• Crown lands locked upon the plea of- a lack of surveyors can deceive -only those [who know nothing about it. , Abnet. ;;; THE LAND QUESTION. Sir, Seeing so much in your valuable paper respecting " freehold tenure of land," which is evidently the popular form with; the public, I would like to know on what ground our Government withheld it in the present Act from those who have taken up small grazing runs, while it grants the right to other, lessees. The Act was passed first of all to settle people on the land, and to provide cheap money. This purpose is fulfilled when the tenant has settled on the land, and would ;be more surgjy accomplished if, assuming he is .: successful, he were allowed to make it freehold. : ! Would it not be an advantage /to the Government as well if the settler were allowed to pay off the .■ purchase money or capital value, and then the Government could use this money (without borrowing further capital), to purchase more land, and so promote settlement! of the : country, which is what ,we all want. I hope Mr. Massey' will continue to agitate till this anomaly is rectified in the Land for Settlement Act. ; > ."/■-.' ■! " ',-/■;■: >'■: LSQTTIBEB;:;: ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.-" . Windsor."—No. ' . .'." '-'.