LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17242, 19 August 1919, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

'__•—— ; COAL MINING. 1 I Sir,ln a letter in the Hekald of August « ! 14, headed the " Coal Crisis," " Free- j dom" declares that the industry is at , the mercy of highly paid monopolists, i 1 lhere is no monopoly in mining except ) that of the owners. Any man, after two '■ years] experience, is entitled to go on the 1 coal if there is a vacancy, providing he pays the 5s to join the union. " Freedom" also takes exception to unions which are formed to protect the miners against the greater combines of the owners and not to victimise the con- 1 sumers who, if they wished, could by ! means of an organised boycott force the < price of coal down. Miners are em- ' ployed in the most hazardous employ- ' | ment in New Zealand. They take risks ' which " Freedom" might not find al- 1 together to his liking. i Huntly. William Wesley. ' i 1 WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT. i Sir, — Senex" has cast a slur on the ' young womanhood of our country. Who • could seriously attribute the small majority of votes, recorded by resident New Zealanders in favour of prohibition, to the ' " rounding up" of irresponsible " flappers." . Give the young women of New Zealand : their due : together with their cousins scattered through the Empire, they rank ' first among the women of the world, in . aptitude, perseverance, and intelligence. They have laboured unceasingly, not only ' in their homes, but also in avenues calling ' for the powers of endurance expected of the stronger sex. keeping the mill going, awaiting the boys' return. By all means give them a chance to prove their worth. Let tbem compete with the men of ability, who. in their eagerness to see the country progress, expect us to risk our lives by ' completing within three days a railway ' journev of 400 miles. ' Te Aroha. Edwin T. Gash. J I WAR'S AFTERMATH. i —The evidence given at the inquest - on the returned soldier found dead on Mount Eden makes wry sad reading. I think that the stricken father had good ' cause to be dissatisfied with the treat- , ment of his son. If, as the medical witness stated, the patient was just at little ! " nervy," and sane enough to go over to the Narrow Neck Homo unattended, I ' 'think they might have handed him oyer to his old father, who had been waiting ■ , so patiently day after day to take him ' home to his expectant relatives. This is ( another of the consequential effects of the i war started by the Kaiser and his crowd. , And yet there are plenty of men in this , city ready to say: " Let us forget the ' pas.(, and give the hand of friendship to ' our late foes."' It makes one's heart j bleed 'to read the remark of the unfor- . tunate soldier when committed to Avon- , dale : " This is a dreadful place for me , to be in after having been to the war." ( Poor fellow ! Requiescat in pace. , Sympathetic. .. ' i A MINER'S VIEW OF DISPUTE. Sir, —I have read with interest the coal ' mine owners' concessions offered to the ' miners' representatives, and think if the rank and file in the various mines right throughout New Zealand do not take a vote on them, and accept them, they are very foolish indeed. It is a well-known fact that the workers in any country cannot get any further ahead' of themselves industrially than what they are politically. Any industry that only recognises its own importance regardless of others is looking for trouble. That is what strikes me is happening throughout the world to-day. Certain sections of workers are putting forth almost Socialistic demands at a time when the Government they voted for is not the reflection of the industrial situation. "Until such time as the industrial and political situations are reflected in one another, I think the workers in any one industry are worse than mad to run their heads up against a stonewall. We see what is happening in England. The workers voted for a certain regime, or economic basis of society, then kicked against it industrially, with the result that chaos and confusion reigned supreme on all sides. Even the Labour leaders recognised this, and appealed to the rank and file to view things more sanely for ihe future. The same thing could be said with profit in New Zealand to-day. Labour should adopt an attitude of sweet reasonableness, otherwise it will bring down upon itself the ill-will of those industries, that suffer stoppage and unemployment. I think again the miners would be foolish not to accept the mine owners' concessions. I do not want anyone to think I am pleading for one side more than another, only that I view the whole business according to how the political and industrial situations present themselves, and it is in the best interests of Labour that it should not get a set-back in the momentous times we now live in. A Miner. Pukemiro, August 16. ' MORATORIUM ACT. Sir, —In the Herald of the 15th instant a point is raised of the utmost importance affedting the interests of every country and city settler in the Dominion. The usefulness of the Moratorium Act is unquestioned as a steadier of finance during the war, enabling the Government to float enormous war loans and to control the gold reserves of the Dominion. The Government will have to rely on the resources of the Dominion for further loans for some years to come to repatriate and pension the soldiers, to carry out large public works, to enable increased settlement, to produce the maximum of produce, to meet the heavy taxation necessary for interest and sinking fund of national debt, besides carrying on a progressive policy. The present high cost of living, wages, and continual labour strife do not tend towards stability. One of the authorities consulted stated the sum involved would run into some hundreds of thousands of pounds. Allow me to state the sum involved will run into many millions, as the average period of a mortgage does not exceed five years. The Act has been in force just that period, so that practically every mortgage registered and unregistered is due and payable. It is very obvious the sudden guillotining of the Act would produce increased rates of interest and probably a financial crisis. This the Government must avert under all circumstances. The present Moratorium Act is one of vital importance to keep alive and maintain the stability of the Dominion. Rates of interest must be fixed low, or how can the farmer, manufacturer and merchant carry on a progressive policy to meet -taxation ? It must be remembered the surplus wealth of the Dominion has been absorbed by war loans. These securities have been largely advanced on • by the banks and large .money-lending institutions. I have lately tried to raise several laroe sums for clients offering good securities and have failed. No large sums axe available. Many thousands of fanners purchased land at high prices just before the war. Since paying the nominal deposits they have had to erect buildings and fences, thus using up their capital to improve, the capitalists' security. In many cases the attraction of purchase at high prices was that a balance was left for five years at 5 per cent. The war conditions brought about dear and inferior labour and put material, stock, manures, j and seeds quite beyond the means of the struggling farmer, who has also experienced the wettest weather conditions in the history of the Dominion. The results of all this have been inadequate top-dressing of high lands owing to costs and the loss of tens of thousands of acres of grass on low-lying lands that will take years to •■ repair. The Government must 'differentiate between actual money lent on mortgage and sales made at high prices carrying profitable mortgages. ""The latter can be ascertained -by a comparison of the ' Government valuations with the sales ef- ■ fected and now registered as mortgages. > These property sale mortgages should j i maintain a full renewal of three or five - years as originally fixed so that fanners mav recuperate under fairer conC ditions, and the rate should ..not 1 I be more than 5 per cent, interest r I unless the vendor or holder of WXXf I gage can show good reason for an 'increase. A special clause in the Act

should provide that the Courts of Law or some other judicial authority be set up to adjust rates of interest- an d ..period of mortgage. The followirg- slidm" scale of dates after August 31, 1919, is suggested tor money lent on morteaires -—Mortgages due 1914 payable in 6 months; mortgages due 1915. payable in IB -■month' • mortgages due 1916. pavable in 2 years; mortgages due 1917, pavab'.e in 2J, vears • mortgages due 1918-19, payable in 3 years; mortgages due 1920, payable in "3 'years. Rates of interest of original mortgage to be maintained. G. B. Osmond. Auckland, August 16. 1919. DEVONPORT REFUSE. Sir,—Re the above., if "A..;.]■'." had taken the trouble to make a few inquiries he would have found that a practicable destructor for small boroughs has vet to be invented, also that the ex-Mavr.r did not discover the present manipulator or? his visit Home, but that the attention of the council was first drawn to it by Mr Bush, city engineer, who fulV recognised the difficulty of dealing .with' refuse in small boroughs all over the world. 'Owing to the war a companv winch was beitr" formed to utilise the' product as a base for fertilising purposes had to he abandoned, but may ye!, bo resuscitated hence the necessity for depositing it. on the Lake Road, which it is helping to form. One man with a. horse and cart, removes all the refuse from the machine and covers it with earth from the hHi banks on the side of the road, and every endeavour is being made to prevent an'v nuisanc*. Would it be too much to 'ask "A.J.F." to suggest to the council a mnrp satisfactory method of dealing with the refuse, or would he mind brindnr- the matter before the HeaJtb Department. V.". THE TRAINING CAMPS. ' Sir,—The gentlemen constituting the Council of the Churches have doubtless devoted so much time, to the studv of theology that they had none left for'history. Otherwise they might have laid to heart the lesson reiterated and enforced throughout the ages that if -von wish to maintain peace you must he widvfor war this is also the text from which Marshal Hoch, Earl Haig and all the authorities at Home and abroad are. preaching at''-the present time. Peace for some Years- is vitally necessary to the nation. The new. born League of Nations is a very frail infant and may not live Ling. Suppose it is unable to ensure peace? .\re Unpeople of New Zealand willing to sit down in idleness and take the chances? How many thousands of lives, how manv millions of money, have been wasted during the last four years because the English Government declined to make.preparations hefore hand? These wise men think it. would be very wrong "to encourage a spirit of militarism." I think a spirit of any kind would be better than no spirit at all. But their main objection to the training of the youth of the nation in the way most likely to make them useful seems to be that the said vouth are so steeped in vice that they cannot trust their own sons among them. Is virtue that must be kept in a glass case to prevent it from turning to vice worth keening' One of the life objects of a.minister is supposed to be teaching young people to" be good. If the young peonle are almost universally bad. what about Their teachers: g. • REPATRIATED PRISONERS. Sir,—Now tnat most of our soldiers have returned to the welcome which was their due, may I be permitted ltd"' draw public attention to another small body of men who have been entirely ignored. They are not soldiers, but theirs was..-the hardest lot of all. I refer to the 12 New Zealanders who spent four years and more in Ruhleben camp. Any repetition of the story of the hardships suffered bv them is unnecessary, for the history of those four years is public property. The question uppermost in my mind is : What steps has the New Zealand Government taken to secure for those men some- measure of .compensation for the losses they sustained through the action of the' German Government? Of their number One or two, I believe, had private means, the others were not so fortunate. . Their four years in Germany spelt for them financial ruin. Let me cite my own case, which is typical of all the others-, I .spying in a British ship Which at the Outbreak of war was in German waters. We were engaged in peaceful commerce, furthering British interests and-enterprise. Our ship was seized and ' the' crew interned. From (that date, according to a decision arrived at in the House of Lords, our wages ceased, meaning 'that riot ohlv were we under punishment at the hands of the Germans, but that our own' British Government added to the distress of mind of men placed as we were, the knowledge that each day we spent behind barbed wires was just a slice right, .qut of "our lives. We were jnst to grin arid bear it, and come home weak irrHrodv and penniless, and take up the threads of good citizenship where they had been, so Vud'elv wrested from us. If this is lh«* true meaning of patriotism it appears to me (to be a very one-sided proposition indeed. Upon my arrival in England' I "conMunicated with the Foreign Office, and was politely informed that I had no grounds on which to claim against the German Government as " the right to intern civilians was one exercised by all the belligerent Powers." However, as Germany (so we are told) is responsible for. the war, I fail to see how the argument,-ap-plies. The aggressor escapes scot free and the victim is punished. What is the solution ? It seems to me that, in ' the announcement regarding the handing ,of enemy property to the Public Trustee, a way out of the difficulty can be found. Why not reimburse those men by granting them a soldier's pay arid" privileges. If enemy property is to be . confiscated, - r to what better use could it 'be put than* to compensate those who have suffered in like manner at the hands of the Germans Ex-RuHLEBENrrE; "CYMRU AM BYTH." Sir, —It will interest " Cymro," the writer of the letter in the Herald under i the above heading, to know that "when I the eminent Congregational minister, Dr. J. D. Jones, of Bournemouth, was on a visit to New Zealand as a delegate from the "Home" Church a private reception was given to welcome him, consisting • 'of a few Auckland Welshmen—and on that occasion it was proposed to form a Welsh society which would have -for its object { the fostering of the social, intellectual, I and the musical instincts for-which Wales is renowned. Unfortunately,, the war broke out shortly after, -and,- Tike' many other good projects, it had-to be-shelved. There are several capable and patriotic Welshmen in Auckland and the Ticinifv who, if they made a move, could form a society that would benefit)' the Welsh community and remove much of the prejudice existing among many ;of the nonWelsh population as to the charm of the Welsh language and its literature At a reception given to Professor Owen, of the Auckland University, by-his compatriots there were Welsh vocalists and public speakers present. It is therefore evident that there -would not be much difficulty in forming a successful Welsh society that. would do justice to ".gallant little Wales"' and keep up the Welsh characteristic's expressed in some of the Eisteddfod mottoes, such as "Mor o Gan iw Gymru i gid*.' (The whole of Wales is a sea of song).' " Hen wlad y menig gwynion" (The land of the white glove), the latter derived from the frequency of His Majesty's judges at the Welsh assizes, being, presented with a pair of white gloves;' •Wales was Wales before England "was born,'-' and, further, Wales is not dead yet. any more than Lloyd George, a fact, of which T was reminded by an attendant at this : Auckland Public Library when looking TO?.'* "Life of Lloyd George" (four, least have been written), which (tell « «*£» . .. Oath') is not to be found in -our A,»y ; .--• Librarv, because, as the attendant solemnly" declared, "Lloyd"" 1? . -not .. dead vet!" Ergo—the - formation •«. >•- « Welsh -Society is absolutely •neceswrr-ui the city of Auckland. ' **•!■ •«• ;