LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13490, 17 May 1907, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE l BUILDINGS. c Sir, —In your valuable columns not long j ago appeared several articles dealing with c tho.necessity for new college buildings, but s so far the subject has not been discussed * from the standpoint of the students themselves. We beg to ask your aid, therefore, r in placing our case*.before the ; public of v Auckland. . t Only those who have actually attended r ! the College can imagine the wretched ac r * commbdation there supplied. Only six out * of a staff of 12 professors and lecturers are \ provided with private * rooms. There are a only six lecture-rooms, so that the necessary J number of lectures -can only be delivered "* through several of ■ the staff using the same * room. This Jack of accommodation results , in some classes being held at most awkward '<- hours, and has rendered it necessary to , press into service as a lecture-room even : the small room where the College Council , holds its meetings. j The English, classics/and mathematics r rooms are, moreover, too small. -In = the Saturday morning English lecture many , of. the students have to ; take their notes i with their notebooks on their knees, while ( 70 students are at'"present attending Latin 1 lectures in a room incapable of seating i more than 50 with any degree of comfort; < All the rooms are bitterly cold and draughty i in winter (that practically half the Col- 1 lege session); and only two of the six are i provided, with, fireplaces. ..', In addition to 1 this, the two lecture-rooms on the southern ] side of the building, together with the \ library and the man's common room under- >, neath. them, receive but little sunlight, and j become so dark in the afternoon that it .is i impossible to work in them for sometimes " an:, hour 'before sunset.- '" - ■"•■ •' *'•■-■- ° * : ; "'- ; ~ The situation of the' College on the top ; of. a steep slope is as disadvantageous a3 . possible. It has both, caused the founda- ; tions'to "subside unequally and given the , building a slow {motion "down -the slope. •. The first ..of these ,motions has progressed so far that, now it is : impossible to find a i level' table-in the whole College, while- the second periodically ■ destroys the insulation ' of all the tables in the physical laboratory. It will thus be evident even to those whose knowledge of, science is of the slightest that the accuracy attainable in scientific experiments= is constantly diminishing. While speaking of the disadvantages of the site, we may mention the great inconvenience which professors suffer from the proximity of the College to the railway line. It is often impossible to hear the lecturer's voice. while a passing train is within half-a- ■ mile of the College, or while shunting is going on in the railway yards.- " ' ."■-'. ' Absolutely no provision can be made in the precipitous College v grounds for the athletic side of university life. The necessity for such provision is universally admitted,'' so that -we need not enlarge on this subject, : merely noting that it seems as if nothing will be done in this direction until we find a. new site for the University. j We have ; indicated above the "more striking disadvantages of-the present buildings and, .making no mention of the numerous comparatively: ) trifling ones ■ inseparable from a wooden .■building 50 years' old, 'but we "venture to, state that, although we may call: them comparatively trifling, not one of . them would be tolerated in any other.public buildingjin the city. ' .'. ' ' Ten. years ago it was' argued with some show." of reason that the,buildings occupied by the College-were in every way fitted for the. College work. We havel shown above that? this.-assertion, now quite incorrect; Apart from all question of accommodation, however,. this .statement altogether overlooks the emotional side of humap nature, which;argues that the great institutions of a country should have "material; representation ill "edifices of some architectural pretensions; - Universities are accounted great institution's in England, Germany, and America;: cannot, therefore, the-University : claim to.-have buildings not only affording, adequate accommodation for instruction, ■ but also presenting to the eye a symbol: of ; the greatness, of-institution? . . - •■ ■ :: The. present buildings, . despite the -', fact . that -,they .have, been occupied by the Col- , lege for a period of 25 years, were never ;. regarded' as other than temporary premises, '■ and public opinion is almost entirely ,in favour of the claims of the -College to .the |. Metropolitan Grounds, as the only suitable site for ia ,University sufficiently near the | city. "'. f., *;« ■ . »' v .v. : ' ! As .it j Appears that a great many people haye a mistaken - idea as to the 'Teal ownership of the Metropolitan Grounds, we'give below a,,, brief -, summary .of the Acts ,of Parliament relating to it." : ■';-,.;■', ..." ] The' first Act of Parliament relating-.to - the Metropolitan Grounds and still standing | ' unrepealed;" is 5 the -Public^ Domains Act, I r 1881: ;■ By this Act the block was , declared to be Crown lands, and was to be* "man- ' aged, administered, , and dealt with" by ■ the Governor, in manner provided by this I ', Aot. Hence the control and management !. of Government House .Grounds and the ad- ; jacent paddock, while these form & public" • reserve,; remains with the Governor.' '■.'""'-, J' It is probably this : "faet which has given rise to the -prevalent idea that the" title to the Metropolitan'.Grounds is vested rin the „ Govern -personally; and that, - Were the land used, as, a site. for University buildings, the - Governor would be deprived of rights " actually inhering.in him. As a ; mattei- of ( fact, the..Governor has no interest whatever ;■ in-the ; - land, but; merely controls such mat- •■ ters'as.'the laying out' of the grounds, the , building of lodges, arid the leasing of parts ] of, the' property—duties ; which might be . thrown- upon ,*'• any official ":■ personage. . The -. land itself belongs to the Crown;:- • We.'may also point out that the ground lies •id:le> l nearly ,■ all, the. year, merely pro-viding-a.little grazing during, the rare and short visits of the vice-regal party to Auck- ;• lahd;' this grazing, could, of course, be very well ".'obtained' elsewhere without inconven- . ience. ' * - '" ' ' '.^ : :. ■ Apart from other statutes dealing with this block soeeifically the land is affected by' the Public Reserves Act. "1881.: which provides that , '.'no changes shall . be-made '■ in -the dedication .of any public reserve ; made or set. apart for the purpose of -~a. ' park or domain, except by sppcial Act of the General Assembly on that behalf." ■. The "block" 1 is d-eclared '.i<*. fall within the ' class of domains by several statutes, And is accordingly Within the operation of il\* ' section ■ quoted. ' Hence, to utilise the land j ' as it should be utilised. Parliament must j ' pass : a .-.special enabling Act.'. This, Act. ' though possibly requiring- the formal' con- j sent ,of the i'Governor, would.-'deprive;JETiSj 1 Excellency of no rights in-the land, as he I I now possesses none. It- „is i a matter for! 1 Parliament, and Parliament- alone.. > The 1 sterit.hat must be taken. is. the introduction j arid .pas"Sing of the' : Auckland University ; College 'Act, 1907. ' ; S.N. Zimak. v ' ' President Students' Association. ', ■ : .?■:■ -i ~-'..-•;;•;- ?:• W. G. AtniilDGE. . ■':■ Hom!<Bec«A.U.C.-: Students'; Association.,..

; THE METHODIST '* Sir,-r-it: was with groat interest' that I read the-; remarks .of your -correspondent] '• J.L. ; ," in your issue of the 11th :inst.,'deploring ,the fact that Vast,. census .return.*, show a" decrease of "no- fewer than 10,000 Wesleyau; Methodists in New Zealand fromi the numbers-of six years ago..' He then pro-! pounds 'the- question, What is the reason?' That is the very question that ministers of. all denominations are crying, But .do the ministers ; of .to-day- seek to find out the causeand remedy? To my mind " J.L." puts the. thing in a ■. nutshell when he says; "there has been far too much .teaching for doctrine and commandments of men."j Until the Church and ministers understand their true position and duty in regard to their fellow-rnen, - so long will the Church and ministers preach to empty pews. Take the modern orthodox Church of to-day, and what do ... we... find? Our. congregations are made. up chiefly of the wealthy .and well-to-do class. Are our vestries and deacons drawn from the ranks of the working class? Do we not find in almost every church, cliques and class distinctions? The Church's mission to-day is almost a failure' in regard to the working class. As your correspondent ;" J.L." pertinently points out, the. world is; crying, out for a more concrete example of the Christianity of Christ and a more practical and large-hearted evidence of the spirit of the lowly Nazarene. The world follows the. spirit of Mammon, simply. because the Church can offer them nothing better. When Paul the Apostle wrote to : the Church at Corinth that "he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, was the power of God unto salvation," it was a very different gospel.: to that which is preached to-day by our orthodox Churches. Men who have tafeen upon themselves, and use them for self-aggrandise-ment, high-sounding ; titles, '.-; and put on airs that " make the angels weep," are not the men- to whom the weary and heavy- j laden are looking. No one deplores more than I do the absence of ; the working class from ; the Church, but until the ministers and. clergy of " to-day.: recognise that pure religion and undefiled" is this: "To visit the'.widow and. fatherless in their affliction and . to' (keen themselves unspotted from the world," so long will the Church prove to 'be'" a travesty and 'failure and the working men of to-day will have none of it. r.c. , Mount Eden, J

THE WAITEMATA AND MANUKATJ CANAL. Sir, Your correspondent, Mr. J. C. Taylor, of Waterlea, > Mangere, is i greatly concerned that the Canal promotion Company should coolly, assume that the Whau route is the only practicable one for the proposed canal, and maintains .that his pet scheme, via the Tamaki and Otahuhu, is the best route. Now," the fact, is that the Canal Promotion Company instructed its surveyors arid" engineers to examine both routes, and select the better one, and they, without ;. any doubt or- hesitation,, selected the Whau route as the better, cheaper, and more easy .of ■* construction. - The •", Canal Promotion Company then, on this advice, put ud the money to have a thorough survey • made of this route, expending many hundreds of pounds ; sinking ;' shafts and ascertaining the quantities and the kind of materials to be shifted, in fact, have got: working plans and elaborate reports from surveyors- and engineers proving that the proposition is both practicable and sound, with no engineering ; difficulties whatever, and that it would in all probability pay the interest .-.on the cost of : construction from the date of. its completion. This is, so ; far, very good work done, and solely at "the. expense of the Canal Promotion Company. Now." will Mr. Taylor show' a like faith in his" own scheme, up the money, have his route via Otahuhu and the Tamaki surveyed and the strata examined; etc., the cost ascertained, by "capable; surveyors and engineers When Mr. Taylor and his friends have done j. this they can then appeal to the public to judge. which is the better route of' the two. , I will orily mention one reason why the "Whau route is the better, and that is that no shipmaster leaving the Auckland Wharf, and wishing to clear the Maaukau Heads, would want to sail away down by the Tamaki River and round by Otahuhu and Mangere, when the direct route- via the WhaU River leads him direct into deep water in the < Manukau—a ;• saving of about 16. miles in his journey. There are other and more potent reasons than this, which I need say nothing "about now. - Mr. Taylor says .that he can readily understand why Mr. Mennie should be prejudiced in favour of the Whau route. Can he; really! Seeing that I do not own a pennyworth of property either on the Wham route or at Otahuteu, I was under the impression that iii' advocating the =. route considered .the best bv skilled men who ought to, know, I was doing what was best for the good of the port, the city of Auckland, and the colony. Trusting . you can find space for this. ... . . j!- M - Mennie. May. 15.' '-" '"

THE "PHENOMENAL -INCREASE " OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC. Sir ''■•=-We now have to hand the Gazette report of bur railway traffic for the year 1906-7.. This is what it tells us: .' 7 The total gross revenue of all the lines North and South is said to havo increased £274,896, or 11.70 per cent, as compared with the previous year. _ ■ ' ■ I use the words "is said, ' because tne I •Public Works Department is now charged at full tariff rates , with the -, carriage ot every ton used in railway construction, or the carrying out of .public works, as also with the fares of all the men employed., The Post Office is also charged for carriage of the mails, and all the Departments are also charged : for the movement of their stores* and officials. All this ■'•' is treated as so much revenue, actually earned and paid into the Treasury; 7 therefore, with this very elastic item for the Department, to draw upon, it is very difficult to say what our railway revenue really, is. _ During the same period ,the working expenses increased £191,234, or 11.79 per, cent. We may make quite sure that, this amount is not overestimated. Towards < this Stated 'increase of revenue the North •' Island contributed £134,821, being an increase of 13.18 per cent, on the previous .year's revenue, while the working expenses' increased £81,285, or 11.71 per cent., the North Island, with 943 miles of railway,' -thus earning an •increased net revenue of £53,536. ■In the South Island the revenue increased £140,075, or 10.54. per cent., which is less than the North Island increase: by 2.64 ; per cent., although they had' 572 more miles to work upon. Their working expenses increased £109,'957, or 11.86 per cent., thus yielding only £30,118 of net increase. ' ■ Thus we see that the North Island, -with only 943 miles of railway, last year earned in increased net revenue £23,418 more than the South Island: did with,lsls miles. ■-■*■ i The cost of. earning . each £100 m ; the North Island decreased—please remember, decreased—l7s ?d, while in the. South Is : land it increased— increased--- 16s sd. . Now, as to tile traffic done. >,; The returns so far are-only published : for 7 the whole colony. These show that passenger traffic iccreaseed 8.7 per cent.;: stock traffic increased 37.82 per cent. goods traffic in-cretwed'B.27-per cent, : This is all. The mcrease in live stock was almost all in sheep. The total increase,, in. horned cattle f "wate, including "calves, only 13,720. ■ ._ This is the''enormous development, the "phenomenal results," that took place .last year, and with which our railway officials have not only confessed but have proved themselves incompetent :to deal. .' ..■.-■-. Imagine men who acknowledge their inability to deal with less than nine per cant, increase of traffic, extending over a' year, having charge of the; interwmmuriicatiions of a whole country. No wOnder they shirk a trial of the stage system. Three months of it would work them to death. T ;';.: Surely it is time we did something. I would again urge thai the North; Island Chambers of Commerce should ; unite .to 'secure a more, just and.sensible expenditure of our public moneys. , ... , May 9. ,- ; '";■?-,'"?■ ; "'' ~-.. Samuel Vaile.

MR. MILLAR AND LABOUR STATISTICS. , . ; . '.SiV,—i have been trying ineffectually to reconcile the figures :W given* in Mr. Millar's speech -last night with the Blue Book, but I cannot male© them agree. I dare say Mr. Millar' is right and the Blue Book wrong, or it-is v a mistake of' that -imp,- the P.P., ■::.,,„■;-.::. , £^.^-;*.v-.;i; ' ------ : ; '""'-i' : ■"■':'\'. : '"'''vVMrl•■''.',',The.; '.■■-, ■■.■■.'■: '-■■• ■-:- ..-v-j.Ki .'-..1 Millar's Blue - ■■-•'■ '■■•■'' Figures. Book.' No. of factories, 1893 ... .v. 4,109 2.459 J Do., 1905 ..... ...... .... 9,881 4,186 ! Increase : .". ... 5,772 1,727 Hands employed, 1905 70.403 49,805 Do., 1895 ... ... ... .» — 879 27 " Increase ... -..'.•'...-..: 40,5~24 22,117 II cannot make it,out,., and have nearly j I addled my brains in the attempt. Would, lyou'or some of your readers be good enough; to enlighten myself and others as ignorant. J -i ::;^-- v : ;.-■■ ">■:<:■;■■. A Gbes>*hobn. VICTORIA PARK. Sir,—ls it not : about time, our Council took some steps to prevent the public making a foot and bicycle track across "Victoria Park. . Some time ago notice boards .wore erected prohibiting pedestrians, etc., : and very rightly too,* using the green as a short cut ; but this is now totally,:ignored, and our beautiful park is abominably defaced by a beaten path from the destructor gates to Parker and Lamb's corner. Surely,; sir, after all the time and expense devoted to I making this enclosure the . pretty, spot :it is the": Councilshould insist upon the public keeping to the paths, which are in perfect order. Those using the walk across the green should- be heartily ashamed of. themselves, and the Council should make an example of a few, which would soon put, a stop to the disfigurement arid nuisance. ; -;'" PEOGBESS. BEHIND THE TIMES. . There cannot be the least doubt that I Mr. J. M. Reid's uncomplimentary remarks I about Auckland are quite true. ; The fact is i that Auckland is both dirty and ill-lighted. ! Why our City Council persists .in shutting jits eyes to. these facts is more than most j people can understand. Our streets are ; easily the worst "in New Zealand, while 'the gloom at night can always be felt. It | is a pity that the ratepayers .do not awake to the fact that streets and light are prime ; necessities., We can attend to our luxuries I later on. Our streets are in a particularly atrocious condition. The city engineer says l £120,000 are required to : put them in order. I am awaiting with interest the reply of the town clerk to my letter asking what sum has been allocated to roads and streets this year. "A city councillor tells me : that last year £7000 was allocated, and '"that only £4300 of this amount was expended.- A very casual observer can eee that our streets are being starved. I have no hesitation •in saying that after two years of our present Council the streets-of Auckland are not a very great credit to anyone connected with them, ;-;.,..,. ~;;..,, : P. A. Vaile. TO CORRESPONDENTS. KABANGAHAKK.—Not known. : , DON.—You have -not sent us your name. *