LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15769, 18 November 1914, Page 10

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

MT. ALBERT GIRLS' COLLECTION.

' Sir,-— report re the Mount- Albert collection for thg Belgian fund reads that the children, of Standard VI. gave their carfares to the fund. It should have read the "girls,'' not "children," as the boys did not give their fares. I was the collector, and went through the Mount Albert school with, of course, the kind permission of the headmaster. Will you kindly give the honour to whom it is due, and make the correction ? Blanche Grant. HOBSON BAY. Sir,l think I am correct in stating that at the present moment there is lying at fixed deposit money to convert the drain running from Hobson Bay to Orakei into a water-tight embankment. Under the existing condition of things some tune will elapse before Hobson Bay will be converted into a park. At the present moment there is urgent need for every ablebodied man in Auckland to obtain em-" ployment, and I would suggest that this available money be now made use of and that Hobson Bay be converted into a saltwater lake having sluice gates provided, so that the water could be changed, say, twice per month- The fact that the depth of water would be slightly, under 4ft would insure this becoming one of the most popular resorts for children, and would provide much needed employment at the present time. May I commend this suggestion to His Worship the Mayor, the chairman of the Harbour Board, and your good self? E. Howajid.

PAPAKURA TRAIN SERVICE. Sir,—From Monday to Friday, those who have their business in Auckland and live between Papakura and Papatoetoe find it very tiring when they leave off at five o'clock and take over two hours before home is reached. The journey was long enough under the last time-table, but, now it is far longer. If it could be arranged to run the 5.22 Auckland to Papatoetoe train on to Papakura it would suit far better, enabling us to finish the journey at about 6.30 p.m., which would be considered a very reasonable hour to get home by. On Saturday afternoon the train leaving Auckland at 12.48 enables us to have our dinner not before 2.45 Could it not be arranged to have a quicker and_ non-shunting train to leave a little earlier, or else have the same 12.48 train, but not allowing it to become a poods train until the suburban passengers have finished their journey at Papakura? After one gets home on Saturday, has dinner, and then perhaps changes clothes, there is practically no time left for the halfholiday's pleasure. Daily.

holiday 3 pleasure. Daily. 1 I THE CROWN MINES. ] When the New Zealand Crown'' Mines Company was last reconstructed, I ! look iip my shares with the distinct under- i' standing that a comprehensive scheme of ■ , development would be undertaken, em- i' bracing several points in the mine where : ' the prospects of meeting with payable ore ] are most promising. For some reason c , —which has never been explained to ; the local shareholdersthe London Board ; of Directors abandoned the original j ' scheme, and developments are now con-1 ] fined to driving on the Welcome Reef ' from a winze below No. 5 level. Here, ■. owing to the fact that a pumping and: ' winding plant must be kept in full swing,;' the costs and charges are exceptionally : heavy, and they will soon eat up all the , callable capital. The administrative ex- : , pens? is now just as high as would have been the case had the original development ' policy been pursued. Then there was always the off-chance of meeting with payable ore at either one or other of the' . places intended to be exploited. Now all the eggs are in one basket, and, while the , expenditure is out of all proportion to ! the work performed, the outlook is any- ] thing but promising. Shareholder. ; • A SUGGESTION FOR THE BELGIAN : FUND. ! Sir, —Under the alluring caption of " The Gambler's Opportunity,'" a corres- 1 . pondent, in your issue of 12th inst-., offers the committee of the Auckland Racing Club a suggestion that a handsome , proportion of the profits of totalisator investments should be devoted to the Belgian relief funds. The suggestion seems a good cm© for future adoption. Surely do true " patron of ; sport" would begrudge a modest percent- . age of his infrequent, elusive, "divy" to ; so worthy an object. If all racing com- | mittees and all investors, were to forego, j cay. 24 per cent, each at the Christmastide 1 meetings throughout the Dominion quite ; a lot of money would be raised for tho Belgians. I venture to offer another suggestion. which would undoubtedly be 1 popular. If the Government can be in- I duced to authorise a monster sweep on the j forthcoming Auckland Cup. say half the , proceeds to go to the Belgian relief fund j and half to prizes, as arranged by a. repre- j smitative honorary committee, the thing : would appeal to both. " gamblers " and 1 " patrons of sport." lam confident a ! scheme of this kind is, under the unusual circumstances, legitimate, reasonable, and : practicable, and would result in a very ' substantial alleviation of Belgian distress. J. S. Browne. Hinuera, Nov. 14, 1914. MR. FOWLDS AND THE BOER WAR. Sir, —.Mr. Fowlds, in his reply to " Nemesis " and "R. Richmond," whose remarkable ability he sneers at, half admits and half denies the facts of his tele- | gram to Campbell Bannerman, then tho 1 leader of the Pro-Boer party and the ' Little En glanders, the futility of whose policy we all see now, for it is clear that they would have constituted the Boers a formidable enemy to .England in the present crisis, and an ally of Germany in her attempt to get possession of South Africa, instead of being loyal subjects of England, as most of them are in spite of Mr. Fowlds. As a talker Mr. Fowlds may be very clever at convincing some j people of his cleverness, when it conies t.o getting votes, but as a politician his past history is not convincing. Ho has always been in favour of the policy of the Little Englanders, who look very small to us now. He has been in communication with Pro-Boers in a Pro-Boer style. He endorsed Mr. Asquith's ruinous policy, the folly ot which is obvious now, and the calamitous results of which have been staved off only by the strenuous though belated efforts, of stronger minds and abler men in the opposite direction. Mr. Asquith's blind followers were incapable 1 of seeing the German menafce, and quite unready for its development. Lord rial- ' dan© designated our lamented military I genius, Lord Roberts, an alarmist. ' Through the neglect of his forewarnmgs,' mainly persisted in by Mr. Fowld's fav- j ourite party, wo were prevented from having adequate numbers to meet the j brutal force engineered by Prussian 1 truculence, and appalling loss iE British j lives has resulted, through our brave little

army having to fight against enormous odds, whereas if the warnings given by Lord Roberts had been attended to a powerful British force, would have been ready at the commencement of the war, and' this would have shortened it considerably. K. Richmond.

THE EMPIRE'S NEED FOR MEN.

Sir,—Whilst riding in a tramcar I overheard a conversation between two able-bodied young men, who were just the type, physically, to make real good soldiers, but 1 am sorry to say not morally. They both remarked that they were out of work and had been for some time. Henry said lie would have enlisted but 4s per day was no good to him ; he could get 8s per day here and a good bed and tucker. The other said he didn't see the point of being made a target for the Germans; it was worth a pound a day at least. No doubt there are amongst us several such men, who consider a few shillings per day of far more value than the welfare of our Empire. Therefore could it not be put before them that the time has come to consider our nation's honour and safety, regardless of wages or gain. What will the wages be if the Germane are victorious? How will they regard our unions and labour laws? Is not this glorious little country, worthy of the greatest sacrifice

[we can make ? Must we stop to consider I ■wages when the Empire is calling for | help? And what greater sacrifice can a Britisher make than to go to the front, regardless of wages, ready to do or die at his country's call ? What better wage could a Britisher receive than the everlasting, undying gratitude of his fellowcountrymen "for doing his best in offering himself at this awful crisis to fight for the continuanco of the glorious freedom we enjoy in this peaceful, happy little country which we look upon as '"God's own?" What would it be called under Gentian rule Let every man who ie a man know that the Empire that keeps and has kept him needs his utmost efforts to keep her now. So let us be men and draw the sword and fight for the glorious wage of freedom regardless of sacrifice. What are a few shillings in comparison to the sacrifice of the gallant Belgians. Loyalist.