LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13614, 6 December 1907, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE PASSING rOW THE ,; KAURI.

: Sir,Thc.univousaLbelief ,is that the.kauri forest in New ; Zealand, will in ,'a few years bo a thing of the past.' Dr. Cockayne, the Government botanical expert, has jus}.;'added! his testimony to the same effect. "The time is not "far distant," he says, "when the kauri will cease to exist in its natural state, except lor a few isolated trees. Greedy utilitarianism will kill the kauri forests,' if .steps, arc not taken to stop it."- None can .lament the passing of .the. kauri—and, indeed, of the New Zealand bush generally as those who have seen its primeval glory in days of yore. The superb forests which spread themselves around the base of Mount. 1 Egmout, the splendid bush which filled tho. Manawatu Valley and mantled the slopes of the Tararua and many another fine, stretch of sylvan beauty, are but a memory to-day, the memory of a reality which,'like the lost White and Pink" Terraces, will never again, be seen in New Zealand. And the bitterest thought .in connection with the sad,fact is that much might have been dono to preserve tho bush were it not for the "greedy utilitarianism" which Dr. Cockayne deplores. As an old settler who has done his share in the destruction of the forest giants in past days (though always with keen regret), I fully admit that'much of the destruction of the 'native bush was inevitable and tinavoidable. Land for settlement demanded the destruction of the bush. But there were many tracts over which the axe and fire should never have passed, and never would have passed, but for the "greedy, utilitarianism" alluded to above. Many a lovely spot might have been set aside os ascenic reserve. Fine mountain ranges" now standing naked, arid stripped of their leafy clothing and scarred with unsightly slips, might, and should, have been made a sanctuary of. nature. They were required—(l) for natural scenery; (2), for climatic purposes, for rainfall (3\ for the preservation of the native fauna; and (4), for sources of water supply for the towns springing up at their base. It is, however,, too,lata to lament the dead, unless it may lead us. more highly to value the living, and to endeavour to conserve the. remnant of our forests so far as may be found practicable. '. ! _■ . There is another aspect of this question, to my mind, perhaps, not less deplorable than the destruction of forest beauty. That, 'is the reckless waste of timber which ,is talking place to-day. I say reckless waste, for I can regard in no other light the whole-, sale exportation of timber which is going on just now. Year by year the price of timber is rising, and yet we are sending away our invaluable resources a.'i if we could not get rid of them fast enough, or as if we could replace them year by year like a crop of grain. In 10 years' time, when the kauri is exhausted, where are we to get our timber supply? When the great timber companies now exploiting the totara in the interior have shipped away the bulk of these forests across the sea, where will wo get that timber so invaluable for earth works, for bridge-building, wharf piles, culverts ' fencing, etc.? The consumption of timber in this country, where wooden buildings are the rule, is enormous, and is every year increasing, and, owing to its perishable nature, it has all to bo replaced after a term of years, and how is.this to be done after, wo-have cut and exported it in mad haste to be rich? In a few years there will bo no milling timber left in New Zealand, and there is nosystematic tree-planting going on -to replace it, nor any attempt to conserve our supplies for future years. In a word, we are killing (should I not, rather say wo.have killed) the goose which lays the golden eggs. One of the colony's most valuanlo assets, is being ruthlessly wasted. In my belief there should not be a single plank of timber exported from Now Zealand to-day. Our forests Ido not, look,upon as a product; they are our capital, and when once gone can never be replaced. The passing of the kauri, the totara, the, rimu, tins matai, the puriri, means a permanent impoverishment .as much as the exhaustion of a coalfield, -worse', indeed, for a, new coalfield may lie discovered, but a now timber field never. : Sir,.l have penned the. above lines rather to re-, lievo my pent-iip feelings, than with the hope that it will have any effect in stopping the reckless waste which I deplore. "Greedy utilitarianism " I fear is master of tho situation, and will continue to fill its pockets to-day, and let "to-morrow take thoughtfor the things of itself;" let future generations look out for themselves. Our timber resources are strictly limited, and thoso limits arc narrowing rapidly day by day; it is certainly the duty, of the Government to devise measures for tho conservation, with the most rigid economy, of what is still left of those supplies which nature has so bountifully bestowed on New Zealand, but which she will not bestow a second time. We hear much in those days of protecting native industries, is there no way by which Parliament can protect the?remnant *>£ our timber? .'•.■ ->■■•• <;- ;• ff.J.B.

THE CHRISTCHURCH.. EXHIBITION. Sir,—According to -a telegram from Wellington, the balance-sheet of the Exhibition shows a deficit of £21,465. ■ Now, at the time of the close of tlfe Exhibition it was put all over the world that nearly 2,000,000 people paid for admission. lii the telegram it, is stated that '£44,322 was received for admission fees. Reckoning this at Is for all adults, it comes to 886,440 shillings, or people, which is very far from two million, not counting children. As a matter of fact, in the grand total of two million, every assistant was counted, every; relief guard of policemen, in fact, every person who entered the Exhibition—assistants sometimes fourtimes a day—so that is how the numbers were run up; also Maoris and all visiting bandsmen at the contest, the Besses o' the Barn Band, and many others, mostly on complimentary tickets, arid these were added on to the total every day, and then published. Ex Exhibition Official.

THE L.L.F. SOCIAL AT NORTHCOTE. Sir,— Mr. Lightband's (?) Jotter appearing in, the 1-Ikbai.d of the 27th ult., : criticising my utterances at » Liberal and Labour Federation social held at Northcote on;. the 14th ult., which is simplv a tissue of- distorted facts and an absolute misstatement of what really took plate, if Mr. L. was present, and heard the' speeches delivered, then he writes intentionally misleading; if not present, then through ignorance." ,- E. Galuckan. . TAXATION AND ROADS AND BRIDGES. Sir,—ln to-day's issue Mr. F. Lawry, M.P., speaking at Helensville, is reported to have said: With regard to the tariff remission the Government had tin-own away £360,000, which would have "been better spent on roads and bridges," implying that it is much better to tax the people on their food and clothing and spend it to increase the value of land held by the country; speculators and farmers. This is the 'worst kind of class legislation. It sets the towns against the country, causes the worker to pay higher rent in the- city, taxes him on the necessaries of life, increases his cost of living generally, just to benefit the landowners of the country. Thank goodness, the Liberal party as a whole do not; approve of such iniquitous, unjust legislation as advocated by Mr. Lawry.. If we are to havo pure polities we must not tax one class for' the -benefit of the other, and the new tariff is a step in the right direction. ''■ ■', 'F.'M..'KlNG i '.::. December 4, 1907. ' ; ' , : . .;.

WHEA'fGROWING AND LAND VALUES. .;■:. ■~■'•.; „: : - Sir, —Some years ago when in England I visited Lincolnshire, where* I was told I would see the best fields of wheat iii Eugland. The wheat was then in the ear, and it was about a month before harvest time. I- never before' saw such beautiful fields of wheat. Many were expected to yield over 40 bushels to the acre. Yet the farmers told me they were losing heavily by wheatgrowing, because when they leased their land their rent was fixed at from 40s to 50s per acre, the ruling price of. wheat at that time being from 40s to 45s per quarter (eight' bushels). The prico had since fallen to"-359" per quarter, and when they had paid their rent there was nothing left. When they heard I had been in Australia they were most anxious to know how—with drought, and the poor average yield, and labour about ■ three times as dear. as in England could make farming pay in Australia, sending our wheat to England and selling it for less than it cost the English farmers to produce ; but when I told them that we could buy wheat land on deferred payments for half their yearly rent they began to see where land , values came in. The same result in.wheat•growing would apply >". to Canada, .Tho; whole question depends on the relative* cost of land and -labour.- Where.land is cheap labour can be well paid, and yet leave a. profit; but. where land and labour'are both dear it cannot be. done. The greatest dread our settlers have -is "a slump" in landvalues. Thousands of them have bought, land here, not at its using-value, but at a prospective value. What are they to do? How are they \ to be protected Will » forcing up prices-locally by protective tariffs enable them : to meet the competition of countries where laud values are low? Can we maintain high land-values and yet hope: to compote, in the '.market with Australia, Canada,, and'the. Argentine? To do. so ho must either have cheaper labour,or-

cheaper land; tljero is no other way. l'. or c; ing up t ho-cost of living by ''protective': ; duties can never help ua. Will any of our farmers explain how we can. hope to compote with Australia in the London market while wo cannot compete with her in our own market '■ at > out present land-Value'sV,■'»>* Adam Kzttx. ' i Waiheke. '.- ' : ■■' . . QUO VADJMUS? : Sir—Will Dr. Giles, whose contributions aro always bo lucid and excellent, permit «ne to traverse his question: Quo Vadimusi -Especially- am I tempted .thereto by his postulate: " That one point of agreement; clearly is that evolution tends to the improvement of. faculty, and to the development of new and higher faculties; and that these faculties must .bo of' the psychical order, comprising spiritual and intellectual powers," But" does lie not Omit an Obstacle to that higher and intellectual power to .which. . apparently; present-day ~ discovery trends, by ignoring, the limitations -of that. Nature -which brought into being the shell that houses and nourishes the spiritual powers, thofinitudes of the lawgiver whose ordaintnent is: Combat, and the fittest shall survive? What precedent have we of a correspondinß accretion of corporeal ■ capacity to procreate strong healthy offsprin/f and keep step with the intellectual? Have- we not abundant evidence that genius is not hereditary, and- that scientists arid experimenters are an infinitesimal proportion of -the vast masses to whom labour-ameliorating devices mean not leisure to pursuo spiritual recreation, but pleasure and sport, and that popular literature is not Shakespero and Dickens, but trashy " Nat Gould" and deadly " Deadwood Dick?" To mo these questions are weighty,', and demand searching replies. ; ladmit that they do riot follow in proper sequence, and that they permit speculations I .which, though as household words to .the ' thinker, lead too far afield from the important point. What of Nature, corporeal Nature, procreation of stronj? healthy sons and .daughters? Will she infract or alter her laws? which, say; "Your hand is notdoing the labour 'I fashioned it to do;' I will emaciate it." "Your leg-tendons are not exercised to my liking, therefore I will remove .those curves you so deify on canvas and in sculpture, and substitute straight, fleshiest stalks." Will she accommodate her life-laws to Our- artificial mechanics?.. How, tlio quest-horizon widens 1 For _ the. day must bomo when coal, air, electricity, and water all impounded, bring investigation to an end, and there remains only the stagnating sight of an artificial world in motion, which man may not participate, in! And tho question Quo Vadimus ? will be - answered. ' .".',-:'.' : -

Thus far we have discovered that the lawwhich emaciates non-exercised organs is immutable, leading one to the inexorable con' elusion that man as wo know him. will cease to exist. .Thcro will bono further, end to attain: tho race will be extinct. Therefore to me, the supreme necessity of to-day is not' rapidity of production and transit and consequent exhaustion, but., a condition of living in which every.nerve and tendon as now provided by tore shall bo .exercised with vigour, and tho great aim of Statecraft lie the, encouragement of healthy offspring, and an apportionment of duties that all may—having due regard to natural laws obtain a sufficiency of food, raiment, and moderate content. For already the lovo of case and pleasure is inventing painless prevention of large families, and that socialism is not .in harmony,with i. the ."-simple.life" its peripatetic apostles amply exhibit in apparel and travel fare, and their raucous demand of an impossible "equality " will not' hasten their millennial era, one inch so long as they set not an' example. , Democracy: Aata hikoi (tread warily). Nature's law of self first, is strong. Therefore the question of Quo Vadimus is not quite premature, but- !,.v Will s your able contributor who never writes unless he hag a message and delivers it so suavely, (kindly set me right where I and my inferences ayo wrong? I ask for information, which a gentleman of his culture will- not refuse, me and other' seekers for a wider understandirig;' for; which I hereby thank, him in advance. -". ■ ■: - : ; '■•;■■; ■ . ...' •■'- ■':'■■ W. B. Te Kciti.' ;

) Sir, always read Dr. Giles 1 letters with porno pleasure, .chiefly because of the e.Voeed. ing accuracy of ; his English composition; Sometimes, as now, I dissent from -his matter. Ho has been reading the wrong books. The evolutionists, so called, wish to supplant and destroy the very notion> of. creation. To some of us they appear fatuous. Professor Lodge mad© a fool of himself when lately ho went to London to" lecture/to. the. studious;' ho said our ancestors were of the lower animals— was evolved- from'' the monkey tribe! Then the self-seeking young Campbell went straight from the lecture'to the Otty Temple, and told the. 3000 people there ; that the account in Genesis of Ado,ni and.'Ev© is' fal§ei .Yes, really, false was his very ivord. Enough, ..W. E. Sadleb. .

. • Sir,~The once comforting; word " Mesopotamia." lias,..iul these 'days, lost some of its virtue, and given place, uccordiug to Dr. Giles, to the blessed; word Evolution," " the only resource left," according to him, "to persons of a. scientific turn of mind to nrotige the destiny ,of the , human race," -JoreOycr, while ha places ! his unbounded faith in the "doctrine of evolution," he cursorily dismisses: the doetrjne .of revelation, as " eminently vague and unsatisfW; tory." Let us sea if revelation is such as" he remarked, and if that" blessed word .evolution "is a letter guido as. to the destiny of the human race, past, and-future.'v.Well,' how decide the question? Very!' easily indeed. For ' the past;six thousand years what has been the destiny of the human race,. the countless millions that trod this earth? What doe's/- the blessed word evolution answer? According to Dr. Giles, just this: "We were our own ancestors,"arid shall be our own descendants,'.' a theory which "fas-; einates the intellect and satisfies the feelings!" But nobody of common, sense will accept such an answer, as it is "eminently vague and unsatisfactory," -to quote Dr. Giles * regarding revelation. ■ On the other hand, whit does revelation.answer? ; thus: That the past destiny of the human race has been to bo born, to live and to die, fli&t, and' no other". "Remember, man, thou art but dust, and into dust thou must return," and into dust the race, so far, has returned. So much for the past of humanity, arid as to the future, about which Dr. Giles seems concerned, it is very likely that its destiny will bo -very; similar to that;of. the past, namely, to be bora, to live for a short time, and to disappear from this scene for"; ever and over. Now, can anybody of common sense doubt which of the two is the better guide' as to the destiny of the human race? I think riot.." .-..-" '■ , '

. Ihe principle of evolution is .right for the short distance it goes in its sohere, physical phenomena, but in the metaphysical it'is as useless as a pair of spectacles to a blind man. There"; are more things ill heaven and earth and in man than are dreamt of in' evolution, among which are the human soul the life, short or long, of the body, and the destiny of the human race, bo far accurately' described in revelation, which the evidence' of six thousand years y has.proved l to be ! neither vague nor.unsatisfactory, but strictly accurate as a guido to the destiny of the human race. ,- ■■■; > ■• Zozims. : CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. "Worker" calls; the" : attention; of the Health Department to a rubbish-tip in Newton Road and, to the mariner in which meat is carted about. •■' •'."'-■ ■ , "Anti-Sly Grog"; states that liquor is supplied ,111 some boardnighouses; and ho asks "what remedy is>here for such a contra- 1 vention of the law?",, : . : "Suburban Ratepayer'.' wants to know" on what principle of representation -Auckland City, which contributes just one-sixth of the rates ; in support of hospital and charitable aid, is apportioned over twice that amount of representation on the Board," ".

F.L., -'.■writing in reference to the storm' in Kent mentioned in a recent cable message mentions that on November .27, ; 1703, i and' on November 29, 1856, similar,' though more severe, storms were experienced in that part of England. :■• Ho thinks the agreement in dates remarkable. .-- , ; •.'■:'* ' u.