LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18335, 27 February 1923, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SMOKING IN,TRAMS.; Sir, Your correspondent, ''A* Woman,'' 'is mistaken about no smoking ; compartments on the ; London tubes. ; . I - left London less than one year ago, and' there are smoking compartments on all trains and trams. . ; ; - A- Hojiie. Sir, —The 'tram cars belonged to a * company when the privilege of smoking r was granted in one compartment; Now these trams belong to the people of Auckland, and it is time the privilege was taken away. I have always thought little of a man who went on smoking in. a smoking compartment ■ when he was aware . that women and men who were 'r not smoking had been forced into a smoking car, after paying their fare. What is a smoker then doinjj but suffocating unwilling straphangers, be they men or women. A man should not smoke when he may be making himself obnoxious to his fellow passengers. George L. Thomson. 13, Bmrwood Crescent, Remuera. Sir,l have followed the correspondence relative to above, but I. consider that " Smoker's " letter has been rather uuduly criticised. Certainly most people will agree that to a non-smoker the smell of nicotine is objectionable, but is strike' the only annoying ' odour to be met with, i in a tramcar? What of the overpowering, sickening perfumes with which so many women almost saturate themselves, and what of the use of powder Could not the indulgence' of these, alas, be termed a nuisance? Perhaps "Hopeful" would have no objetcion to extending the right to vote on the question of 1 smoking to include that of polluting public conveyances with scent. The smell from tobacco smoke is i: always much "of a' muchness, and it matters little how many brands are in use at the same moment in the same limited space, but when a similar space is filled 1 with the -- odours of perhaps dozens , of varieties of perfumes the blending is rather overpowering. My experience of. tramcars is that the use of perfumes by passengers is far {more objectionable .than , the indulgence .. of smokers, and I am hopeful that more smoking* compartments will be made available, so that I, with others, may have good old nicotine in preference to perfumery. : Nicotiana. ri<; Sir,—Your correspondent, "Smoker," has drawn attention to a' very common practice, that of women . sitting in the smoking compartment when other seats are available. The only conclusion that one can come to is that ..the need i non-smoking compartment no longer exists. It would simplify matters,' therefore, if > smoking was permitted ; in both compart- ■ ments. One often wonders whether, our tramway manager ever takes a tram ride' at odd hours to see if the service meets requirement. I would suggest that he. arrive at Pitt Street section some Sunday evening about 8.45 with the intention of going to Ponsonby, or Grey Lynn. He, would quickly, see the neea for several specials. No" doubt the top of Symonds Street would teach the same « lesson. ; Another place for him to visit on any evening about 6 to 6.45 is the Three Lamps, where quite a lot of unnecessary > time is lost by specials returning to the being held up by regular cars. There is also another matter that requires attention, viz., children remaining seated while adults stand. I frequently see mothers allowing a child to remain seated while another woman is hanging to ■ a strap..Such a state of affairs is bad for the child, and shows a lack of good manners and breeding on the X part of ; the parent. •>.;.! think that , in most things our tramway, system compares favourably ' with most others, but a few small improvements might easily be made and ,; would make for greater comfort. ' : . Civis. MARRIED VoMEN TEACHERS. • ; —Seeing ' that such a large sum is spent - on education Our watchword should be " efficiency." I am sure ail will agree it is manifestly impossible : for a', woman to attend to her home and 1 to do her work ■ properly 1 at iichool. My. experience has been that many of the married women teachers - possess families ■ and " endeavour to look after them an well ; as carry out their teaching duties. Evidently one must suffer. ; Men : are not allowed to engage .in any; occupation other than teaching without the express sanction of the board. ! Why ' should' women be ' treated more favourably? - I s think • the question is of sufficient importance to warrant its being taken up and thoroughly investigated by the Teachers' Institute. > < Justice. Sir,—There seems to be some misapprehension , in the ". discussion of the question of married lady teachers. There is no over-supply of teachers; -on the contrary there is a severe shortage—that is if we are "to have , modern staffing conditions. Most other • English-speaking countries consider that .about • 30., children are all a teacher can do justice to. Our Minister for Education has-"many times expressed the hope chat he oaa reduce Our classes to 40 children, per teacher, and is working to that end. This year an adult teafcher has been substituted for a pupil teacher in some schools. . This has relieved the under-staffing to the extent that classes of 60 to 80 are fewer than formerly. ■ But we lit ill have over : 1000 uncertificated, untrained teachers in . our . country schools?. In. the town schools there are efcill over 500 pilpil teachers, who -. cannot • be replaced until the number of certificated teachers: is greater. • Under the best conditions it must be ; some years before staffing conditions . are such that . the children will be getting "a fair deal." Until : all positions; are filled \by : qualified trained teachers,... and - all pupil teachers have been replaced by; adult certificated teachers, we must ' (for - the' sake • of the children) elcome , the married lady teachers. When the New Zealand schools are properly staffed on modern linos, then we can with justice raise the question again, , - R.H. ' Sir.—Ther«i has been ■ considerable discussion of late .. in connection ; with a number of ex-Training College students who are at present unplaced, i and the opportunity "hJas been taken ,by ; some people to mpke uncalled-for remarks about married ' ■ women' in the service -' ' I say' uncalled-for because, had .these , persons looked/ carefully into the matter, they would never have made them. The number of ■ married .women teaching . constitutes ; a very small ■ percentage, : and; of these the majority are deserving ' cases, where the . husband - is incapacitated, and' the ; ; wife: is the breadwinner , or perhaps the husband is in.'.. business, ' frequently farming, and struggling hard to make a living; In these, cases I , think it is .the duty of the State to see that the women have employment. ' : Exception was taken by J? one correspondent to ;-. both i husband and wife teaching in the same. school. I contend that you cannot find more than half a dozen instances of 7 this . in - the Auckland district, ; and ; even they. bear examination. A young teacher marries, his wife has 'little to do in ' some ' backcountry settlement, and finding life ; mono-; tonous, thinks that by assisting her husband in the school, she will overcome J this somewhat, and at the same. time, durintr the early years , of their married life, will supplement the wages of her husband, not with ' the idea of amassing a fortune, but of ; assuring comfort a ; few years i. hence ■"Newly-married couples, especially teachers with ; their " huge " salaries, find life* a hard. struggle, : , and . I have nothing but. admiration for the wife who will turn out 1 to assist, and I * do not-agree with your.. correspondent{ who i broadly hinted■ that they should : be " sporty '' end retire. . Another thing, too, should be con-' sidered. The majority, if not all, of these women have proved themselves capable teachers, and why should they be quietly pushed ..■• aside to . make 1 ' room for a few young girls—most of whom will be - married themselves within the i next t three years—who are just starting their , careers ? The whole trouble lies in the number of uncertificated teachers in ? the ' service. They have ' very little claim to the position, many of - them : having been years in their , present . positions without ; making any effort' to better themselves. . Why should they hold down good - positions while certificated . married teachers, , whose cases I are deserving ones, are , pushed aside.. Mux Assistant. , . . ' § Jg

THE RIGHT TO AFFIRM. Vv ' Sir,—A correspondent cannot make out how I stated "Gladstone fought for v the right to affirm." This Liberal, although a high churchman, was undoubtedly a champion of religious toleration. Many authorities state that his y speech on the £ Affirmation Bill made while Bradlough V was refused entry into the House was his mightiest utterance. ' Indeed, while his own party was split on the question f he stuck to his guns. A glance at his .. speeches will convince the correspondent. I did not say Gladstone was the only man to fight for this principle, nor did I in any way belittle part played by other men. John Lee. HEAVY VEHICLES. . ' Sir,— report of the discussion at the Engineers' Conference on road maintenance and construction in % Thursday's Herald was most interesting. There were details of concrete surfaces, weight of vehicles, running costs, etc., but no word regarding the design of present-day motor-lorries (road destroyers would be : a more appropriate name). Mr. A. 7. Paterson, assistant engineer, Wellington, was quite correct when he said the harm done to roads by heavy 1 traffic was due to jolting, but he should have added jolting ' with 8 or 10 tons' weight practically all on one axle or two points -of contact with the road surface. All motor-lorrie3 should have four axles, which would give eight points of contact, and do away ■with all the heavy jolting. An eight-wheeled bus has proved a great success in America. . Why not an eight-wheeled motor-lorry, which would carry heavier loads and. wear the road less. Mac Adam. "SINGULAR AND PLURAL." Sir, Your paragrapher has added a gem to his collection by his quotation from the " Literary Supplement" of the V Times on the occasional • effect ( of the ; plural, and I only regret you . were not able to reproduce the. whole essay. Lovelaoe, we may be sure, will look up from his deep grave with approval of the use made of his exquisite language in his exquisite sentiment. ' Times A change, / ana language changes with them, and in our day the press has much "to do with that change. . If it be in his department, would your judicious paragrapher cast an : advisory glance on some other of your ■ columns. To-day- it is reported that .a - thief being conveyed by train to, prison escaped. It• is described as a " bold Did for liberty;" your / paragrapher would have written '* for licence," and so we run : a risk of so changing out speech that gradually we come to look upon " licence'' and "liberty" as synonymous terms. Similarly I have seen in the newspapers, from time to time, statements of a boy's or a man's 44 lapse," when he has stolen some money or other valuable portable , : property, the correct description of his act being a • The eighth commandment would read poorly if it ran, " Thou . .Shalt not commit a lapse;" but in a few years it may so be that we - must amend the Ten Commandments to bring them into line with modern speech. I believe a late Minister for Education commanded , that the pupils 'in the public schools should read extracts from the v daily press, ; and to that end a selection . therefrom should be printed and supplied to schools--1 Truly times change, and our language 1 changes with them. - ; J. H. Upton. I '■ AGRICULTURAL TRAINING. ; ; .; Sir,—Considering ; ; the... . vast amount of capital, invested :in agricultural and pastoral pursuits in . the Auck- ' land Province, 'and also ', ; taking ' into consideration r' -that the prosperity of Auckland City depends almost ; 1 entirely -on the success ■' of ,- the farmer, it is astounding that > no. agricultural; college exists in our province where the farmer-to-be can be scientifically trained. ,' r A .• year's course at • an up-to-date college j would have saved many farmers thousands 1 of. pounds, and : many a broken-hearted - ? man to-day ' would be -to-do ■ if he 1 could have had scientific and : practical r training. If youi wish your son to become e a doctor, lawyer, engineer, : etc.. you send . 1 him to a college to learn the theory and r practice of his profession, ■ and he is not k permitted "co follow his ; profession until 3 . he is reasonably proficient. To-day if you- *• wish your son to become a farmer, he; is ' sent out .to. a farm, where, '. when "not' j. cutting ; wood or cleaning a; cowshed, he ; I- learns where the udder .. of a ' cow is. 1 Maybe ho learns to-walk - around a pad- . ' dock with a plough—which is not the art *' of ploughing. ' Few farmers to-day have the -.time to teach their employees. ' The ' result in ?most cases, . after a year or so !' at •: . wood-cutting, etc., is that the farm is ' ; • bought, 'stocked, and the. bailiffs are' walk- v > ing in at the front door i before your son®: > ffets out at the back.. What else can be > expected? Most would-be ' farmers know« » as much about farming 'as ; a doctor's > - chauffeur knows about surgery, . and have;-V ; no chance to learn. Nothing Auckland il. l could do would;bring 'in ' such a • rich' ' harvest as the establishment of- an up-to-i date agricultural • and pastoral college- - • Auckland has - the population - and ' the ; i wealth to : support * such a college, l and ; hundreds of acres of land eminently ssitsd i for the purpose right, at her back door.' 1 ! 1 ; r \ • " . .. Billie Mao. .: • i \ -—-———. ' ' THE PRICE OF FRUIT. ; Sir,l have read with interest the vari- . • ous . letters in your columns re the pricesS? : of local fruit, and the conditions under T< whioh this fruit is marketed,. I think it is ' ' patent to every disinterested •' person that > the growers are not getting a fair return ' for their labour. .It must, be * heart-break* M . ing to' find; 'after weary ' months 'of hard 'c ' - work, that their . fruit -1 is : not. realising J enough' to pay for the cases and the extra . ' labour which has ito be engaged 'to get: i the produce to the market. • No wonder; ' they are disgusted. - When they see fruit *;. 5 selling in the shops at prices which repre- ' 1 sent,".-in some instances, 300 per - cent. 1 more than they < received, they naturally % come ; to the conclusion that the retailers are making tinge profits, out' of >■ this fruit. ' I can assure the growers that that is not so.' j ; ; There is too much opposition .in the retail ,f ' trade to allow, much profit. When . the 1 retailer reckons up his overhead charges rent, lighting, paper bags,wages, etc. !> and takes into consideration the amount ' of unsaleable and decayed fruit that very ' often costs money to, have V removed, his'.; profits are very smalL 'Have the growers ever considered what the ; actual; charges ; are for selling fruit at auction. ' Suppose ;; ' 3000 cases ~ of mixed fruit were sent in, '; I such as plums, peaches, tomatoes, i apples, ; pears, etc., ' and ; the V; buyer ) averaged fe3s;w; I per case/: which j is about this season's v ' average,' the lot would realise £450. Com- - t mission on' this rat' 7£ per cent., £33 > 15s, > which is quite fair; * but with the ; twoi pence per •• case . receiving ; " and ; delivery; t , charges which , amounts ;to .- another £25,';' - [ the : unfortnate" grower is actually-paying ; [- over 13 per cent; to * have his fruit dis- . ' ! posed 0f.,, This, in my .opinion, is "an , excessive V charge.v There is a splendid ? . opportunity here for an up-to-date,-' pro- . gressive co-operative association, composed 1 'of growers only,''but -it mast be run on; : thorough business lines., No doubt recent'; } experiences with co-operative concerns . have not been' such as to instil much con- , fidence in the minds of the average grower, i' but nevertheless, this is the only solution. ' . of ~. the : present very unsatisfactory ; state ' of affairs, and the sooner those interested ; ' realise it "; the better < for all concerned. Take as ail example what has been-.done i in America in the Way .of .co-operation. • Some years ' ago the' . fruitgrowers i there : ' were in tho same unfortunate" position .as ; 1 the New Zealand / growers, but how is it ; ~ to-day? Every,, grower is f assured of a ' payable price, no matter What quantity of : ; ' fruit comes. on the market. It is never glutted, owing to the. thorough system - 1 of distribution which * obtains there. 1 Surely what can be done in America can be done in > New . Zealand. - Pocket . your pride, growers, arid if necessary send to .. America for an experienced: man who : will ' show you how it can be done. ; .. .... '.CO'-OPEBATO,' "