LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14391, 9 June 1910, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE HON. DR. FINDLAY ' AND OUR ■-y FRUIT INDUSTRY. .'■,''.:- v " Sir,— time ago the; Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) suggested - the employmerit *■ at vegetable-growing and market-gar-; ;■ dening of fall ■ the available prison labour in I I the Dominion. -At once„the market gardeners rose in protest, pointing out the unfairness j of the '. whole of the State-supported criminal, j labour entering ': into "competition 'i with'their A one particular calling, especially when, even under existing conditions," only a precarious f living was being earned. The apparent in- \ justice of the scheme seems to have impressed the Prime Minister, at any rate he made no attempt ■ to carry it out. Now We have Dr. Findlay outlining a still more ; objectionable scheme.■•,;-The former one,-;at >'■ ■■: any ,; rate, ';- would, ■£ to a?certain 1 ; extent, have \\ > been in ■■:. competition with'} Chinese ■;." labour.: : Dr. s Findlay's is to employ prison labour- in growing fruit in all suitable localities,, especi-} ' ally in the North Auckland district, and;thus] enter into competition with the . 15,000 or • ; 20,000 small ssettlers■:who? earn ; a, living by , fruit-arrowing. It' does not, seem to ; strike "| ; Dr. * Findlay that by ; thus thrusting the whole of the .State-supported prison labour,.drawn from every industrial class, into competition with one ; industrial; class onlyone, ;;;, more-; over, for /whoso surplus products no eetab- - ; lished outside .markets.exist is the ' case with wool, timber, grain v gum, .butter, etc,— % . . grave injustice* would be inflicted on.a:class; of smalls settlers ill i able to. bear -it. "Why,; not arrange so v that all g criminal labour ;■ should be diverted into the study and pursuit of law? --Probably the members of this profession, to which ';■ Dr. Findlay himself - belongs, .would not ;regards such, a , scheme as'; • either; just .or desirable: Yet-such'a pro- v ; •: position ; would not be one whit more unjust to the legal profession than the proposal which Dr.; Findlay now-contemplates thrusting upon the unfortunate fruitgrowers of the Dominion. ■ Wm. Joh^s. ; Parnell. ~ - , , ;,;.,' ■ — * - GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND ' " • GROUNDS. , Sir,— epistolary labours of the partisans of the University are really astonishing. One; has visions of professors j and I students burning the midnight oil (or gas), driving the fountain pen with feverish haste, ? and doggedly turning. over*the pages of books of ; reference, to discover '} the acreage" of every s university domain in _ the world. No wonder that so much writing is required. They f have ,!; set \ themselves f an f impossible i task—to'; prove that black is white, that wrong is not wrong, but right. ,'-":<. Government House ; is _ the only house " in Auckland • to *. which * a 'i history e belongs. - It ' was built before most of those who -are •wrangling about it came upon this world's 'stage:' r : It was; solidly ; built, and ©yen now is far sounder at the core than our boasted ;Liberal ;" and Hghtrfingered f Government. v It cannot last for ever,,but when it decays the;' i; only building! to; arise upon that sit© must be another GovernmenttHouse. It is, right that our Governors should live amongst us,' as well as .with Wellington, or Southern' ; 'folk; in fact, " it s : they wish to take* that [ intimate part in the life of the people to' which tney are entitled,;they" cannot afford i ; to; neglect the ':■ largest ',' city in * New. Zealand J and the most. progressive "i district. Wellington may for. ever be the seat of Government; no sensible person wishes to deprive; her of' that distinction, 'but Auckland is the i metropolis* of the Dominion. A vice-regal residence is not a luxury here, but a- neces-; sity. It is also necessary. that it shbulfl stay where, it is now, in the old grounds,, with I the Metropolitan;paddock still kept opens as ; : a playground i for the Grammar School , boys. 1 This is still bounded On- onesicj©:by the old barracks' wall and I hope ho inconoclfiet will

ver pull th&t- down as ccace to take i* way to Wellington. <",-'<■;: ' There has" been seme vague ' mention <*£* ■. ■'-".. ■.;?;; ,ow Government House, , if, lite go3<S mil- . . ', Iren, we give up :, the .old: one. d; But: Auck-.•..;•' /-''',, iind need not flatter'herself that if'"she fool- /■ shly.parts-with what.-she■hasi'nQwishe Willi. .-"' ."'.'.'■ asily obtain- another*; ; f Sir .Joseph,/ Ward, in. ~ n ■•; incautious moment, : has . told- lis that wo,, re not to have anything.'of. the kind. . The lOvernoricanscomeSby ta?ainy».-and|perbapß iave a decent bed given-him-' at'the Club, of _„, , a any other house kind enough to take the ~• trahger in. Why should he want to live in, Auckland? he never did apend much time here, a month in the year altogether, or yen less. Such statements can only be reeived in mournful silence.'/ It is not polite 0 contradict the<Prime<Minister^; -. - •', '. , i Professor ; Segar asks reproachfully what las Auckland done for the University in the 7, years of its sojourn here. Why should it \ lo anything fcrr'fchehurselmg ; of the Government ? ; ' But some "of ■ < bur people ;- ; who _ are . -... lead and'gone" have instituted scholarships;! : :; nany of those who are living send , their sona md daughters; to the higher 'education and >ay fees for it, while the whole of us, high md low, rich and poor, scrap© up what we an in the shape of taxes, r imposts, dues,-etc,; o provide the professor's emoluments. _■ But vhat has the University been doing for itself ill these 27 years? * Has it ever tried to proride itself with a site by legitimate means? rhe average tradesman or mechanic has had nor foresight. Nature has been so.kind to Auckland that me might find 20.ideal sites for a.university , . :ollege within 20 minutes of i town. There sir not one suitable ;; site ;in : the■; middle of ; ■ he ■ town. • The suburbs are -filling up fast;:.... itill, however, there are pleasant meadows,, >r beautiful green .hills',*', waiting to ; be :rowned T ; with-stately buildings. There ia me district in particular, 'if I may suggest, i site. It is ! believed .-that in a very few rears Orakei will be offered for building iites. I venture to say that 25 to 50 acres ..- m the brow of the hill, with that unrivalled Drospect of ; the: blue gulf and its islands, or. Auckland «and, its suburbs, of the whole country,'to the Manukau and Waitakerei, to the Miranda and the ranges of Coiromandel and . the Thames, is at site! worth waiting , for, even though ;it ' should entail «a-.few. years r longer>'in' the " old wooden .building "in. . Eden ' Crescent. ;. That 'is"not such a; bad; place after all,, and, »so;.-far :as I. know, it has never • injured >the j quality of '.the degrees ■: * <:'. ::;: ■;■ won there,. nor. lessened our respect for the; genuine " higher .education.'' '-;' »,...-,, In conclusion, I must beg the kind indul- " ' gence of the editor,* and 1 express the hope ' • that a united, Auckland will m oppose, by svery-^means?/ ►its. power»-.this attempted theft of their rights^and privileges. , .Govern- ~ ment; House Vis not . the ; Government's r to '. give, or to. take away. "This* is proved' by the' fact that ah 1 Act of Parliament" is' required to deal,, with it. But. for this it would have gone long, ago,. where the Government'is, removing' all-it'can ' lay,.. hands. ~. on, where our port and harbour and climate would go, if they could - be, conveniently, ■'. packed, and loaded on'lorries, and if Auck- ,- land wore so weak-brained'and weak-kneed ;„, as to allow it. • Spectator. REPLY TO MINISTERIAL STATE-, ' < .- MENTS. ', . . " - ~ Sir,—" will take'an early opportunity of ... compiling': 1 a detail reply'to Sir. Joseph Ward's statements. .In the'.. meantime, let me point f out that the Prime Minister's statements are mainly.assertions, unsupported - -"' by' any jeyiderice-whatever.:'. He has adopted ; ,■,'.. George Fowlds's and :> Roderick McKenzie's ■• plan, ; and , produced .a r responsible officer of . the, Grown to say that the.charge for carrying 4,515,645 - tons in ; the ■ North; Island ■ was £2,152,872, while,the charge for carrying 9,783,461 tons, or more- than double the tonnage in the North, was only £2,830,672? Surely;'without putting. pencil to E paper,- the veriest dunce,in" our district schools' ought to be.able to see that , the charge for the ' transportation of a ton of goods; in the . South Island is on.lv about half what it is * in' the North: v This is certainly "Mr. R. W. ' Mo Willy's. statement.'" " ' ' V ' As to my melhod.of calculating the average '' ' rate, some ;Of';yoUr readers ..will recollect u.'VX.'". Mri" Price Williams, one:of_the leading rail- l < way statisticians of,. the world, who was hero ■'■■. many years, ago., • .1 had a long interview' with him.. He was good enough" to ,compare •■*• his calculation-sheets of the average British ; ' railway fare mine. There, wasless, than"•••; ;• '.'-[. one-sixteenth 'of a penny.between us, and we ■ had lxjth adopted precisely the same method!; .'..' . of workings Hie same, plan is .also, adopted" oh ithe; American'railways, and, so far as ..I '.. know, in. every other English-speaking coun-, ■■';■::•■: try ;.• indeed, there can, be ho. other.plan. :' | .'..•.; ;:•■' , , -„ „ Samuel Vaue.'.'';•;; .; MOUNT ALBERT ROiffi BOARD - ';/ ; ';^-y";,::'r.MSTJRiOT..,.;' v '; '";'' '' ir ". " ■ Sir, —In • your issue of the. 23rd ulfe. - appeared a letter by Mr. Shackelford re the Mount Albert, Road Board, district. , I-,._-: endorse his views and sentiments,, for there' '. is hot' a district 1 within 20 miles' of Auckland that .requires so .much attention .and .•,.'*.-'.■ improvement, as ,'Mount •; Albert For instance, several so-called roads are impass- ; .': ' ible /for^generaHtramc"and 1 :)tC ; disgrace';:to! :• ') ■ '« civilisation. i: The '" present Board,' have no i ; . method s or.■ system ,in'• dealing with-..such.-i; :; ';■: Their, .attention' is ' eentred. on : . : their .net, ; main road. .When requested to effect .. improyements, on dangeroug !. . name, of roads the ratepayers . are ; requested) ;-. to subscribe the cost, in addition to thei . rates., Again,;for want of proper " supervi-i sion, a 100 per cent, is systematically-lost -•• and squandered. Therefore, under existing, circumstances any change must be for-the better; for instance, the ward system, hav- - ing three members'.-in', each' ..ward, pledged ; ; v to enforce this rule, that.all rates,collected : ~v.; be uspent in : their; respective wards. . Then , ;; We height, .expect ,to see., the. long-desired. >;•-.'■:; improvement./ : "' ."> ?•:-- iS. ''. : - " i Sir,—l would like. to call Use, attention,,'': * of the ratepayers of Mount "Albert to the' T, - ' petition which is being signed in : favour of • - a borough. Perhaps they do not know that when 1000 have signed the."borough\can" be formed, in spite of the • remaining 5000, and . it will be useless to protest.when"the thing ■ is ■ done; Steps should be taken; at oncd by < : V those. who object to a borough. Mount Albert. ■ : ;" :' ;... Ratepateb: ..: . ... A- ; CONTRAST.- ':"^-•--;'.■ - ;., - Sir, —According. to a cablegram; published! •■••' ' . . in Saturday's \ issue, the ; Prussian-:Gbvecn- lui, '■:-[■?. ment propose to increase, the Kaiser's civil. list/of £785,965 by: £200,000, owing to" the' cost of living involving higher salaries to ': court' -officia-ls; : ahd"'the ■ increased cost of the ' • •• upkeep of royal theatres, and.the establish- • : meats of the royal princes.'' rAccordiug tot; ~-' statistical inquiries made in $25 of the larger... German towns on the feeding of school chil- . dren, it appears that last summer no'fewer ' than 36,000, and last winter 22,000, children; came" to school "without; baving 'partaken of?' - ' food of any kind. Far greater—lo-percenh'•■*•! < ~ higherwas the. number .Of :- those . who. had; >':' no milk, while, the others had" been;fed 1 on .;,.';" ..very, poor ; substitutes. ,'•:'; Ift winter ' 180,000 * '• -. f children) and ' i [summer 113,0'00ha3 not ''"■"- ' a warm meal, but had only a snack, of little] : " •: nutritive value, while 22,000 were found txs\ have no supper to eat. 'Three reasons^"are} ■--'■>, given for this deplorable Estate of 'affairs.^. ' :viz.;' poverty of the parents, 1 employment of !' the mothers outside the homo,. and ignor-; ance, the latter.being particularly^evidenced' .V by the cases where they are quite unaware' of the insufficiency of,the food substitutes. '•'. Statistics; show that over; a quarter of air . million married women are in employment,^: - which means that they have; no time to pre-> pare, a.,warm meal,.for their children. 'Hap-{ .' : pily, there is a vigorous socialist sense grow-' ing;and making itself; felt, patricularly in; Germany, which has ever ■* been one 'of < the' most autocratically-governed - States ' ia Europe. Such a farcical■•! and • ghastly - com ', dition of things as now obtains cannot las# long. ■•. /,■;. '' .. ' ; T.P. ' i ii