LETTERS -TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17347, 19 December 1919, Page 11

LETTERS -TO THE EDITOR.

•■ - ! \ : PARKING CARS. j —The question of setting aside cer- ' tain areas in the city- for the purpose of 1 business people being permitted to. park ,} their automobiles during the business i hours seems to have been sorely neglected < by the members of the City Council dur- i j ing the past -years. The position is a becoming more acute daily, and still' the ■* council will not act in the matter. There \ !is not sufficient space, in the various i '■ garages in the city for the large number v of cars that require -accommodation, and 1 so far as securing any in the lower part t of the city, this is an impossibility. The ( time is now ripe ior r the motorists of this 1 city to demand at least a little considera- i tio'n from the council, and particularly so t in view of the great services which they 1 rendered during the epidemic and also in ; catering for the soldiers prior to their i leaving this country and again upon their i "return. . Motorist. i . i 1 YOUNG CITIZENS' LEAGUE. , Sir, —Your recent report of this league's < meeting at Birkenhead was very interest- < ing *and -welcome reading in our homes. ' Mr. E. C. Cut-ten's- address to the "boys i and parents was valuable as an arousing - and stimulating force for good. As one ] who is a continuous and earnest student 1 of the problems which are making men's ' hearts quake all the world over, and who sees some of the most serious portents that ' ever threatened" civilisation, I feel grate- • ful to Mr. Cutten and the daily press for I so well supporting the above league. It is going to be a good integrating force to counteract disintegrating forces that may tear into shreds the bonds of neighbourliness, goodwill, sympathy, and patriotism which have hitherto bound us together as a law-abiding community. The league is directly impressing the hearts and minds of young citizens, and indirectly their parents, with a love of honour, chivalry, goodwill, and patriotism, and is becoming one of the most beneficent agencies for family and national unity and welfare. F. G. Ewikgton. CLERK'S WAGES. Sir,—The other day I was reading in a Melbourne newspaper of a minimum for clerks in Australia of £3 10s and £4 ,a week for competent workers. Now here in Auckland, with the workers getting big increases in their wages and also bonuses, not a thing is done as regards the poor clerk, who has to appear at work neatly dressed and clean. Clerks' wages at the present time are at the pre-war rate and absolutely out of all proportion to the present cost of living. I . can honestly say that the wages ruling for competent clerks are on an average only slightly more than "a private soldier received on active service (cutting out the clothes and food with which a soldier is provided). So a soldier coming back is far worse off in a clerical job, than he was in the army. I find myself (a man with a family) not able to do any hard manual work since I came back from the war and the wages I receive as a clerk just about pay my living expenses, for the week. I suggest co-operation among.clerks to form an association and place their position before the * Government and make suggestions so as to better our conditions. Clerk. MATRICULATION EXAMINATION. Sir,— take this opportunity of drawing public attention to some features of the recent Matriculation examination. In the first place there appears to have been no proper arrangements for fixing the places the candidates were to occupy at the Town Hall, with the result that there 1 was a rush for seats, anyone taking the first seat available, while many were left without seats at all. Then there was an ' alteration made in the order in which cer--1 tain subjects were taken, and no notice given to candidates who were sitting for ! those subjects only, and who were not present when the alteration was announced. A more important matter is that papers were issued in which a mistake was made in one of the questions. I . refer to the first question on the algebra ' paper. There an equation was set which [ is no equation at all. This led to many candidates trying to solve an insoluble , proposition, and thereby wasting valuable time and preventing them doing them- ! selves justice in the other questions. The ' mathematical papers are, under the best circumstances a severe test for the ' students, and an added handicap . such as " this is an altogether unfair one. Parent. J THE IRISH QUESTION. > Sir, —I knew I had put my finger on i the crux of the whole question when I r said in my letter, " If J. J. O'B. and his i friends will let ' Ulster' sing ' self deteri> mination,' England would grant Home 5 Rule to Ireland to-morrow." Now, he i whines " the whole is greater than the i part," and that could not be. Just#so, r the whole British Empire is greater than s the little part Ireland, and we are not going to grant self-determination to the > part to the damage of whole If f the Irish Catholics desire Home Rule, be- > cause they think they can rule themselves better than the British Parliament can. r they can have it, but we certainly shall . not hand loyal Ulster over to them. Are 5 Ulster Protestants to be denied both the - right of Government by the British Parliament and also self-determination? If the r British Government were to hand Ulster t over to her ancient enemies it would never 1 be forgiven, neither in this world nor e the next. S. L. Rimmer. a — ' I DEFENCE OF NEW ZEALAND. Sir, —History reveals that at the end e of every great war, the public, surfeited with military precautions and measures, .- is inclined to go to extremes in regard to e abolishing defensive precautions. After i- the Peninsula War an Imperial soldier, when on sentry duty at Gibraltar, inscribed on the wall of his sentry post the following parody: — God and the soldier we alike adore, But only -when in -danger, not before. [" | The danger over both are alike requited, }" God ie forgotten and the soldier alighted. *" Since those days other wars have ,re- -- vealed the truth of the sentiments expressed in these lines. Surely we now '" realise, unless our perspective is clouded 4i by selfishness and forgetfulness, that it was only by a miracle we gained success l " in the recent war, that countless thousands of splendid men died owing to our j. unprepareclness, and the untold misery of the war was prolonged by years, owing * to our folly in times of peace. The It gallant dead, who formed a barrier, which resisted the crushing weight of L superior numbers alone, allowed the Empire to gain the necessary time required ' for the training of the millions of men p without military experience. The war is scarcely ended, the last men have yet to p return, yet what do we now find? The p class of person largely responsible for our lark of preparedness, was, during the war, the same class which, while professing conscientious objections to serving at the front, were loud in their criticism as to why the soldiers there were not doing more, or why a better state of prepared- '* ness had ' not existed. Grotesque and y ludicrous as it is, members of this same class have again adopted the attitude of y- opposing military necessities and en--5' deavours. Our Empire was found asleep, !' and only just managed to save itself in s- the last war. Its characteristic weak- -■ nfsses are known to its enemies, and will {' be taken advantage of should we relapse >: into our usual lethargic peace state. We J- are never likely to be attacked again, 5" except by a vast and powerful enemy or i. combination of enemies. To such as these h, the time will be well chosen, the blow D" will be sudden and decisive, and it will g l require every fit man to resist such ee enormous pressure. In the last war New 5. Zealand fought for freedom outside her own country, and we were consequently spared the sights and horrors of modern a warfare. It is to be hoped that this will ] e always be the case, but. it is obvious that m the next great war will not give the Do- ' minion months in which to train and organise her forces for defence, whether id outside or inside the Dominion. The ke question as to whether New Zealand, at the present time, is sufficiently defended, is not arguable. To any who would pretil tend that it is capable of putting up a strong defence, I would ask tie following \

questions .'—(1) What number of forts, ■,:' anti air-craft stations, and air-craft — bases would be required./ to protect the -*■ Dominion; from aerial naval and military Jt aggression;.., (2) supposing New 'Zealand la bad a strong Navy and Air * Force, is.it -. imagined that this could prevent a hostile J landing by a powerful enemy. It is ob- £'. vious that, had we twice' the number of -. inhabitants, and twice the wealth, neither JJ our Army or our Air Force could pre- « vent a hostile landing, and that a strong and efficient land force would ' alone pre- -r vent a terrible disaster. Such a force J would be useless, unless highly disciplined fd and efficient. This must surely be ob- 3 vious to the' meanest intelligence after the . lessons of the Great War. How much training, • therefore,, is necessary before this ' discipline and efficiency can be gained? This is the crux of the whole question. — and whether this training is inconvenient to employers, and whether our youth is brought tip in such a hot-house condition as to be unable to join together for De- .. fence without contamination, are both J minor- questions, for, if we were ever defeated, employers would suffer far more _ than inconvenience, while the whole population would be contaminated by the presence of an enemy in possession. Those experts best in a position to know state i that it takes a whole year's work to make * a satisfactory soldier and three years' con- f, stant effort to produce an efficient officer, g It is true that officers and soldiers were £' produced in a shorter space of time during * the Great War, but no one knows bet- r ter than these how many subjects -g they required knowledge of even when the $ Great War ended. Open warfare, which j always commences wars, requires far I greater tactical skill and ability than trench warfare with its sterotyped con- j ditions. No one could possibly contend, t who has any knowledge of the subject, that the present system can ever produce * the high standard of efficiency of either officer or soldier required in light of the enormous advance made and revealed in modern war during the last five years. Let us therefore/ face facts like men, and as a common-sense community decide that - (a) We ar e not yet adequately protected (b) that we must be protected both by sea, land and in the air; (c) that we mem- t bers of the general public give every • assistance to those in charge of the defence forces. Scurrilous condemnation of / religious and other bodies regarding im- " morality, bad language and other distor- 1 ted . u exaggerations of distorted minds. \ which are levelled against those who have c been responsible for saving the Empire, ' does not help to this end. Those who ] imagine that war has ended for ever, or { that those who have fought can undertake « the burden of fighting for the next 20 years, and those selfish employers who would place convenience before national security, are all fanatics, who, indirectly, are already responsible for huge loss of ' life and treasure, and will, if they have their way, repeat the performance until , the day arrives when the Empire is ulti- ! mately defeated. Sanity. ===== •