LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16342, 23 September 1916, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

"ANZAO" STREET. Sir,—ln a local in Thursday's Herald, I notice that some of our Takapuna streets are to be re-named. Nearly all the new names are the names of very gallant gentlemen who laid down their lives at Gallipoli for Kini: and country, and so far well. But surely the name "Anzac" is far too sacred for street nomenclature. If that kind of thing is not checked wo shall be having "Anzac" streets all over the Dominion, which would be rather too awful. Trusting that others may see this thing as I do, and will back me up. Takattjna. LOSS OF THE S.S. TONGAWRO. Sir.—l was much surprised to learn from Friday's Herald that the finding of the Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Tongariro should 'have resulted in such a mild sentence, not nearly drastic enough in face of the sort of go-as-you-please action of the responsible officers. The steamer was going direct to Wellington, and so there was no excuse for not setting a course well out to sea, so as to make quite sure of passing the Bull Rock outside at least four miles. Steamers not one-fourth the tonnage of the Tongariro deem it safest to pass three miles at least outside the rock. lam an old ship officer and have sailed with manv .captains to and from many ports of the world, but never have I s-?en such glaring evidences of carelessness in those responsible for tho interests under their charge, first the lives of those on board, and then the interests of the owners and the underwriters.- E. Williams. Auckland, September 22, 1916. BEACH ROAD WIDENING. Sir,—ln connection with the destruci tion of the old landmarks in Beach Road, the question presents itself: Is the bend in the road so dangerous as alleged? Will the Tramways Company find it necessary to relay the rails there'? If not, all that wit! be, done is to wider, the read on the inward side, and perhaps the footpath also—already wide enough for the few pedestrians who uw it—and this could have been done without sacrificing the picturesque landmarks so Ion? a feature of the locality. I advise the public to keen an eye on what is after all accompl'shed here, as, unless I am mistaken, it will prove hut another instance of the necessity of an active civic league to safeguard the few remaining landmarks possessed by the city. F. H. Morton. | SOLDIERS AND HONOURS. I Sir,—l notice in the Herald of the 1 19 th inst. that tho Mount Eden Borough . Council are making a distinction between men going to the front under the Compulsion Act and those who volunteer, naming them the "sents" and the "went*." Take tho men' mobilised in fixed defences who have been for two years and still are doing duty. How are they to fare , when they get into camp and at the front? Are they going to be labelled j "sents" and shirkers all through the campaign, when they have done duty for the whole period of the war in New i Zealand ? At the outbreak of war they i were mobilised in fixed defences, and j until recently havo been unable to volunteer for the front. It would be well if the members of the council put themselves in the same position as these men, ! who will now be going to the front. Would they like the word "sent" attached to their names? A Sympathiser. CITY MILK SUPPLY. i Sir,—l should like to make the follow ing suggestion, which should put a stop to the pernicious practice of separating a largo proportion of milk and then mixing the separated milk with fresh milk and selling it as pure milk containing sufficient butter-fat to satisfy the Government standard. Let the standard of milk supplied be .2 below the average of the standard of the milk supplied to the butter and cheese factories in the sur- , rounding district. For this purpose each factory would have to submit to the Government inspector each month the average test of the mil!; supplied. These returns are always made up, so it would not entail any extra work. If, during that month, any milk supplied to the towns comes below that average, less .2, the vendor should be prosecuted. Unless something similar to this is done we can never depend upon our milk supply not having been tampered with. I F. Barnard Bbown. THE FISH TAX.

Sir,— Auckland City derives rovenm from a tax on fish, why not give tin Thames Borough Council the same powei to tax and trade, bo that the Thomei Borough Council 'can buy a small trawler and tax the fish caught and de livered at Thames by tho Aucklanc trawlers belonging to Stanford, Limited so that the Borough Council can under sell Sanford in all the inland towns be tween Thames and Wellington ? Why noi start a municipal milk, cheese and buttoi factory on the Thames Flats and put i tax of, 6d per cwt on all milk, butter cheese, potatoes, etc., produced or landec in the district ? If the taxation proposec i by tho City Council is a fair and just tax on fish, the same arguments will apply to wheat, flour, potatoes, am general merchandise. If the State wen to tax the amount of business done by th< New Zealand Insurance Company at onlj 1 per cent., it would pay much of the ex penses of the State Department and practically destroy the value of the New Zea land Insurance shares on the market. /I lino of 750 shares in Sanford, Limited worth at least 50s a share before tin council passed the by-law to tax fish 10i a ton, has since been sold for 20s i share, tho price paid some years ago wher the business was in its infancy. This i: a small matter, but it shows how the wind blows. Some persons have lost pari of their wealth and now have less cash tc subscribe to the war loan than if the Citj Council had never got the power from Parliament to tax fish. As the State oi municipalities start businesses in competition with private enterprise, the " pur- | chasing power of great numbers ol l people will be cut off, and all the time less openings for employment will he available. The Auckland and Thames Councils can easily destroy all my life's savings and deprive me of purchasing power in mv old age by taxation. The only safe channel for the investment of money to provide citizens with purchasing power in their old age will be tne national debts of tho world if this confiscation by taxation is applied to all kinds of products. When thj> City Council starts a small brewery to make beer for the people, would councillors advocato a tax of 10s a barrel on beer produced by private enterprise under the guUe of "inspection fees," which, unlike fish inspection at the boats, is much needed at | the breweries? The State in this Dominion has started coal mining and many I other things in opposition to private enterprise, but, so far as I know, the competition has been near the' margin of fairness to private enterprise. They did not attempt to charge 10s a ton on coal handled by private firms, although inspection as to quality of coal—or stone— often necessary. It remains for the Auckland City Council to adopt a system of taxing opponents of business. If the system is just and fair, then treat all trades alike. If the council wants to adopt this pernicious and unequal principle of taxation, why does it single out fish from all other foodstuffs? Why not make it illegal for private firms to deal in foodstuffs at all ? We get our products from a neglected sea, and I fail to understand why the fish trade, above all others, should be tackled first in this unfair manner, which is nothing short of confiscation without compensation. A. SiNFORD.