LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14209, 4 November 1909, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE DUST NUISANCE. Sir,— long-suffering public who reside along the Manukau Road, or those who are obliged to travel by the trams, aro now freely giving vent to their feelings regarding the dust nuisance. I certainly , don t agree with the letter of "Resident and Ratepayer," published in Saturday's issue, in which ho states that the whole blame is attributable to tho Tram : Company. I am decidedly of opinion that the blame should be laid at tho doors of the local Road Boards and boroughs concerned. During every winter the Manukau Road! is a sea of mud. In fact, it. is impossible to board a tram without getting up to one ankles in tho slush. This filth is allowed to float on the road: until kind Providence sends along some fine weather and a livelybreeze, -when it is removed at no doubt wry little expense to the local bodies, but at an enormous loss to tho property-owners, the residents, and business people who are located within reach of this ; fiend. £ Accharge this nuisance to the Tramways Company is to me an absurdity. Why, the trams actually take the traffic off tho roads, and to my mind a four-horse waggon, heavily, laden, travelling, continually between Onehmiga and Auckland, contributes more to this nuisance by the wear and tear on the road than all the trams put together. The plain remedy is, to remove the mud in the winter time, and with the horse and steam-power appliances that ate now -in vogue, surely it is not beyond the means of these wealthy suburbs to accompish this. But there is too much, of the " Rip Van Winkle," coupled with a desire to save the pockets of a limited number of large property-owners, about our , local bodies. I believe it would pay the districts responsible to have the road' between JNewmarket and Onehunga laid down in asphalt, and then, by the co-operation of the I ramways Company with their sprinkler .-.it would be a pleasure to take a ride-along what would then; be a dust ess road, and enjoy a view of these beautiful suburbs. tujuy. a PROGRESSIVE.

TO LANDLESS NEW ZEALANDERS.

Sir.— Government intend to make large grants of money to companies, or associations of me* without cap *al, £< enable them to acquire land. This measure is called the Land Settlement *«*»£&*£ Now, sir, I wish to urge every colonial to use his influence to get the operations of this new Act extended in the direction ot allowing City Councils and boroughs to acquire, outside their boundaries, blocks of land for the purpose of cutting up into small holdings, to be sold to landless men on easy terms. These holdings ' could vary.,-from three acres upwards, and could be worked, by men in their broken time as poultry, pig,, dairy, or fruit farms. The Government would find the money .to buy this ~. land. There is not a lino in our Muncipal Councils Act which allows land to be purchased for small farms, yet in England public bodies are allowed to buy land and cut it up into small .blacks for landless workers. The English Government provides the money, which is paid back. In other words, we want every public body in New Zealand to act as land aeents, or trustees for the Goverment. It this is done hundreds of men will be t with their wives working on unoccupied - lands near our towns. S. Peabson. Wellington. .V

PRINCE ITO.< Sir,—ln your issue ' of yesterday you quoted Mr. Stead's remarks in reference to that illustrious man Prince Ito, which reads as though he thought that the Japanese did not need Christianity. Dr. Timothy Richard, an eminent Baptist missionary m China, was invited to Corea in 1908, where large meetings were held for three days in the American Y.M.C.A. Hall, where there gathered largo audiences, who were addressed by Prince Ito and many leading Japanese statesmen. Prince Ito gave a banquet at his residence, at which he made a- remarkable speech. Mr. Richard says that the substance of this was that by command of his Emperor he had visited the West a number of times, in order to discover the secret of its prosperity, and had come to this con- ' clusion—that while he rejoiced in the material prosperity of every nation yet material prosperity could not last long without moral backbone, and a strong backbone could not be : got without religious sanction behind it. From this they could see that he was in full sympathy with the Y.M.C.A., and with all Christian work. From this day forth he i hoped they would all consider.him as one of their co-workers." Mr. Richard was asked to reply in the name of all, and said I j that, although Prince Ito had not yet joined the Church, ho had done much for Christianity in Japan ; he had secured religious liberty in the , Constitution. Mr. Richard spoke of him as one of the most enlightened statesmen of the modern world. ■, : Joseph Weblet. : , EMPIRE VETERANS. - . -Captain. Cholmondeley Smith .is undoubtedly an enthusiast upon the idea of the enrolment of Imperial and Dominion veterans as a corps of what he would designate "King's Body Guards," but I am of opinion that he overshoots the mark when he speaks of bearskin hats, etc., and of necessity the full dress uniform of a Guardsman. Most of the veterans could not afford such adornment, and from whom could they expect assistance in that direction? They, further do not desire so much war paint, and many would not appear to advantage in it. That a uniform is desirable, " Cela va sans dire. The nondescript attire now worn on parades does not add to the dignity - of those who have fought the Empire's battles. The public, I feel sure,- like to see the old heroes on • the occasions of any military displays or ceremonials, and tbo formation of a corps of able-bodied, uniformed -veterans would be distinctly popular, and they would form, in case of need, a useful reserve force for defence purposes. Further (but tell it not in Gath), many of the veterans seem to have forgotten their company drill, and this causes confusion and ridicule when on parade. A rehearsal or s two would soon recall the old accuracy- of move- ,i ment they had been drilled to. The Empire Veterans' Association ought to take up the idea of Captain Smith (under modified conditions) with enthusiasm. A great number of the members of the association would support the movement. \ One of Them. .

CAPTAIN SMITH AND HIS GUARDS. Sir.— was said of old that a fool should be answered according to his folly. Well, sir. I supposo I must answer the meaningless and somewhat misleading statement that appears in the letter of Captain Smith in your columns of the 26th inst., if only for the sake of placing the matter fairly, before all who may be . interested. But pleas© allow mo to say first - that I certainly do not think ( your valuable space' should be occupied, or I"< might ; say wasted, on _ a matter- not' of v the slightest public interest, and I promise you that I will not again trouble, you ancnt the ridiculous and impracticable ideas f> of the said redoubtable captain.. But I would here ask when. and where the said C. Smith served, in the various capacities ho claims to have fulfilled. I have carefully examined Gudgeon's work, 1 ' The Defenders of New Zealand," and have failed to find his name therein. Ho certainly has no medal or any other decoration as a memento of his past services. Now, with regard ,to V his misstatements, I here give you an extract from the minutes as read at our last general committee meeting, held at the Drill Hall on the 20th inst., and signed by the chairman, Major Broun. " Captain 0. Smith read a. paper to the committee on uniforms for the use of ; the members of > the E.V.A. Association, and was told if ho would give to the secretary a copy of it, the committee, at its next meeting, would consider it." The hon. secretary called the coramitteo's attention to the correspondence that had appeared 1 in' your columns re the matter here referred to, and the committee unanimously . passed a motion endorsing his action. Major Morrowwas present at the mooting, but he did not inform tho committee that he had any papers or correspondence with or from Captain Smith. In fact, his nonsensical ideas were simply ignored and laughed at. If Major Morrow did write to him ; as he says, well I can only say that I think Major Morrow was, m homely language, pulling his leg. Captain Smith is looked upon by those who know him as a very harmless sort of. character. His gentle sneer at mysolf is not worth further notice. I can we'll afford to treat such at their true value. Verb. sap. , L. L. Lew, " . Hon. sec. Empire Veterans' Association. Late non-com. W.V.C., and N.Z. War Medallist of 1872. r

THEGSOPHY. We have received a number of letters on the subject of tbeosophy, but as they for the most part go ; over ground already covered by writers whose communications have appeared in print, we are unable to find space for them.—Ed.