LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17428, 25 March 1920, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

t —:. . " ..,...«»■ _/_ ; ; ■_ , > _ ! ■•'';'"■ THE HOUSING PROBLEM. Sir^—l notice .that my statement re "'houses kept' empty for sale " ,is denied by 'a < lahd agent.?: j This agent evidently does not wander far from Queen Street. 1 I know of five instances within a-quarter of a mile from where I was living. These I places*-are for sale only, and one I* know of,has' been. empty for over three months.j I have been told of several others in other ; .districts. v " ■'-'•_:' "..Ejected." j;S Sir,—The sub-leader on this subject in i | the Herald of March 22, was very oppor- 1 time.' A great many what might be called speculative ; buildings are being erected in brick and - concrete .in Auckland .and | suburbs, which might be postponed until conditions improve as the market is i skimmed of labour at higher rates for snoh i r works, and r j house-building- greatly de- i jiayed. More energy on both the part of the' municipality and Government is re|quired. Has the question of using part of the gaol reserve in Khyber Pass,, beI tween Boston Road and Mountain Road, ■even been considered? This land is only I used J for rough grazing, and would make i an excellent position even if the frontage ' to Khyber Pass was reserved for future shops. This might well be "considered by j the local Labour "Department and municipality. T.G. !

RAILWAY REFRESHMENT? ROOMS. Sir,—When there.is so much talk about profiteering I think-a little inquiry might be made into the charges: made at the railway refreshment rooms. I was recently " charged one. shilling at one of these for a small bottle of lemonade, and told f that if I brought the bottle back I would have sixpence returned. I have kept the; bottle, and am going to return it. I asked the price in a shop in Auckland. Sixpence for' the bottle of lemonade and twopence back if bottle returned. Then one is charged fourpence for "a email corned beef sandwich «and fourpence for a cup of tea at these refreshment rooms. The Department has a monopoly, but that is no reason why they should not give fair value for the money. TUAVELiEK.

MONUMENTS.

j Sir,— large number of memorial i monuments are being erected in different towns. I would, like to call attention to I the monument erected at Otahuhu after | the Maori War in memory of Colonel Nixon and officers and men who fell during that war. I think that this is one- of " the handsomest ■ monuments T have seen. It is graceful and looks much better than many of the more modern ones, and I would suggest that something similar to this be erected in many cases. I would like also to call attention to the monument tt» the officers and men of the Maori War erected in Toakau cemetery. This is an extremely plain one made of bluestone, and the question micM be taken up as to whether this might not be renewed. 'Interested.

LIGHT RAILWAYS. Sir,~l have noticed lately that in several districts light railways are being advocated. __ These should be of great utility, but I think it will be a mistake if a different gauge from the standard (3ft 6in), be adopted, owing partly to.the expense of re-handling goods. at tie junctions, and also to the difficulty of altering. it afterwards, i have had some experience «of lines constructed under the District Railways Acts which required that -the plana should be approved by tho Government engineers before the railways were commenced, and such approval was not given unless the proposed railway was to be as substantial as the trunk lines of the period"; a the expense swamping the companies before they could .complete their full length and await tie development of traffic. I think, therefore, that what is wanted is an Act that will allow local bodies, companies, or individuals to construct any quality of railway they like, provided "the gauge be the standard, and ■: tie maximum gradient be. defined. When the railway is constructed, then the Government should safeguard,-the public by limiting the speed according to the style of railway. Rails, sleepers, ballast, and many other items could be Very much less than on trunk lines, and yet be strong enough to carry trucks and small engines, and all parts could be gradually improved, without 'disproportionate expense, as the traffic increased. Papakura, March 22. ; P. Holt?: THE LAW'S DELAYS. . Sir,— appears to me it is high time that the existing method of. dealing witbj the disposal of civil. business at the Supreme Court at Auckland was radically altered. A large number of actions have only just recently been tried, or' have been fixed to be. tried during this and next month, which were squeezed out of the November sittings last year. There are even more glaring examples of delay. I am acting in an .appeal to the Supreme Court from a magistrate's decision delivered last November,- and in the ordinary course the appeal should have been heard in February of this year, or during this month; but I have not yet been able to obtain a fixture for it. Fixtures have now been made for other actions, etc., right up until April 29 next, and as the May civil sittings commences on May 10 next the chances of this'appeal being dealt with before that date, or even before the end of May, are exceedingly remote. This means that more than five or six months, and Perhaps longer, will elapse before this decision of the Lower Court? can be challenged in tie Supreme Court. The members of the profession have a vague idea the Anckland r *Law Society has been moving in the direction of remedying the existing state of affairs; but it has* had a long enough opportunity of effecting an improvement; and, if it cannot accomplish this much-overdue reform speedily, it should tell the public, and the people of Auckland should then unite to put matters right. If an additional Judge or two for New Zealand is necessary to speed up the disposal of Court work (there should be one Judge constantly sitting in this city), the Government should not hesitate to go to this expenditure. In the meantime the delays and inconveniences occurring are costing the general public considerably more than the combined salaries of .three or four extra judges. This is a matter of vital importance to the people of the Auckland province, and it is time that the press, and such institutions as the Chamber of Commerce, etc., took the matter np, and saw it through. * Soijcttob. »