LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15770, 19 November 1914, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

WINDY WELLINGTON. Sir,—l read -with interest Mr. Frank Morton's seasonable remarks in your Saturday's Supplement on dusty, windy and on the neglect of the local authorities there to mitigate the nuisance. Of course, in the genial climate of Auckland the wind never exceeds the force of a zephyr, but these gentle zephyrs have for some time past succeeded in raising a great deal of unpleasant, unwholesome dust—a nuisance which our local authorities also make no effort to cope with. Citizen. THE BELGIAN COLLECTION. Sir,—Will you permit me, through your columns, to express the sincere thanks of the Auckland Civic League executive to al! those who gave their services in assisting to make the Belgian Fund street collection so marked a success. The executive realises that without the valuable co-onera-tion of members and friends of the league its efforts would have been of little avail. The league also desires to heartily thank the citizens of Auckland fur their generous response in money, flowers, and other gifts. Mona AIACKAT, Hon. Sec. Auckland Civic League. 'XMAS PRESENTS FOR BELGIANS. Sir,—l would like to .>ug<est to your readers that, instead of giving present's to fi tends ind relations this coming 'Xmas season, that they should instead devote the sum they usually spend in that way to the help of the Belgians. lam sure there are many who would like to help in this way and it is right that we should all deny ourselves the pleasure of giving and receiving presents for such a deserving cause. It would also be a practical lesson on loving our neighbour to the children in the various homes where this plan is carried out. A Farmer's Wife. GERMAN ATROCITY. Sir,—The town of Paignton, near Torquay, is known to many Devonian readers of the Herald. The enclosed appeared in a late issue of a well-known newspaper, the Western Times :—" Paignton : Mother Becket, the rev. mother of the Sacred Heart Community of Nuns, who lately vacated Goodrington, near Paignton, has met a tragically pathetic end. She was staying at a convent of the Order in Tournai when the Germans arrived. Hearing firing in the street, she went to the window to close it. She was immediately shot in the arm, and died after lingering for two days. The bullet, which passed through her arm, lodged in the breast of a sister standing beside her, killing her instantly." Tnos. A. Gubb. NAVAL POLICY. Sir,— Sir Joseph Ward at Winton and elsewhere has advocated, instead of a local navy, contributions to the Imperial navy, giving as bis reason the greater expense of the former course. Put in plain language, this means that Sir Joseph, Ward advocates out sponging on the British taxpayer for our defence rather than paying for it ourselves. This may be the policy for Sir Joseph Ward and his following, but I much misjudge New Zealanders if they also are willing to "loaf" on the British taxpayer. To glory in the wealth of these islands, to call it " God's Own Country," and then to endeavour to add most of the cost of defending it by sea to the already heavy burden of the taxpayer in Great Britain is too utterly contemptible. Alax Dale. November 17.l 7 .

THE COST OF THE DREADNOUGHT.

Sir, —In Mr. Myers's address on Monday! evening in St. Benedict's Hall he claimed ' that for loyalty to the Mother Country the Liberal Party of New Zealand had a record to be proud of, and among the instances which proved this he placed the gift of the Dreadnought. Now, Sir Joseph Ward, the present Leader of the Liberal Party, has stated frequently that while he, ! in the name of New Zealand", presented' the. Imperial Government with a Dread-! nought, he had taker? particular care that! it should be paid for by the moneved i classes. I have also observed that "the : rank and file of the Liberal Party, both ! in Parliament and out, assert most posi-1 lively that the Reform Party is supported by the moneyed classes. It is the I party with motor-cars is frequently the cry. If all these statements are correct and I take it they must be, for the Liberal j Party never attempts to deceive— ; thes* Liberals, with all their vaunted loyalty, are loyal at the expense of the Reformers. G. A. BrnxE. November 17. OUR ENEMIES. Sir,—Your contributor, " Tohunga," has very correctly stated the position in his latest article, entitled Culture and Belgium.'" when he writes :— " Think of a German host in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, as in Belgium? Think of it in New Zealand, here in Auckland ! And remember that if these German hosts can do it they will batter their way to England and to us—and that the Germans in our midst would help them do it. Only uhen we grasp the fact that those whom we have known as friendly and lawabiding sojourners in our British lands would unhesitatingly bring this unspeakable invasion upon us if they could, can ever realise how the average German mind has been perverted and corrupted by German culture." We do not wish for any of the European war outrages to be reenacted here and our only real safety seems to lie in our comfortably interning all of German and Austrian nationality amongst us, whether naturalised or not, where they can work no mischief until peace is restored. Common - Sense. Wellington, November 16.. WHEAT FROM ABROAD. Sir,—Referring to Press Association telegram from Wellington, published in Tuesday's Herald, two points at once occur to me: (1) What grade or grades of wheat are the Government buying from Canada? Some grades from that source are about the costliest known, but, of course, a judicious blend might be selected and somewhat reduce the price. Has this been done? (2) Why is Indian wheat "unsuitable" for New Zealand? It is popular with the British miller, especially in the north of England, where the people insist on having the best loaf that can be made—and they get it. I have been engaged in the wheat trade at Home many years, and am familiar with the world's varieties. Further, with regard to Indian wheat, I was employed by one of the pioneer firms in importing same, first from Calcutta, then Bombay, and lastly Karachi; and the port of Hull has been one of its largest consumers long, long years, to complete the quota for its enormous milling output. I take it the process of dealing with Indian wheat is not understood out here, otherwise would such a statement have been made? J. H. Skinner, Late of Hull, Commercial Travellers' Club, Auckland. November 17, 1914. ___________________ EMPLOYMENT OF GERMANS. Sir,—Reading your many able articles on the wax and the treachery of our socalled friends the Germans, who live amongst us, I did not think it possible that any man, or firm, employing them arid calling themselves Englishmen, would still employ Germans to the exclusion of their British workers. Yet such is the fact, which can be vouched for on pood authority. 1 know of a firm which employs three Germans while allowing their British workers to go elsewhere. That is bad enough, but when the said Germans visit the local hotel and come back primed with the only class of courage they possess, and openly boast that it is time the English was wiped out, then all I can say is I have nothing but contempt for the men who employ them, and the men who listen to their insults. A BIUTISHEE.