LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18396, 11 May 1923, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PRICE OF BEEF.

Sir.As the Meat Producers' Board is carrying on a beef-eating campaign, ..--l think it would not be amiss to bring before the general public certain matters relating to the question. A considerable proportion of the beef offered to the public by the butchers to-dav is cow or " hatrack*" beef. This is sold by the farmer for what is equal to 13s to 19s per 1001b- : (equals l£d to 2±d per lb.}. the - butchers retail steak at 9d per lb., and their average retail price for ail beef is about sd. Their excuse is that they sell , cheap mutton, but the dairy farmer has | no keen interest in the mutton trade. The London quotations for primest beef is ; oid per lb. Bobt. Ditxtielp, Junk. Secretary, Horotui-Horsham Downs Branch of N.Z.F.U. NORTH SHORE WATER SUPPLY. : Sir.—As time passes the necessity for a j larger and purer water supply for the | North Auckland suburbs than at present . ! obtains becomes more and more impera- J tive. ■ From an intimate acquaintance j with the country I am sure that several : good catchment "areas could be secured | about the Wade and Dairy Flat (Pukeatua), where a very large body of water could be impounded free from contamination. A storage reservoir constructed on ! the highest country (section 251 a on j country map), between Deep Creek and j Milford, would provide for gravitation ip : the various North Shore centres. This 1 spot (trig beacon, No. 11), is specially'adapted for the purpose, and should be. at I once reserved for water supply in view) of future requirements. Obsxbvxr. AUCKLAND MENTAL HOSPITAL. Sir, —I am acting for charge-attendant Mr. D. McPherson who has been recently » suspended by 'the Inspector General of J Hospitals. You recently published a j statement that three attendants had been j dismissed, and a senior offirer suspended I by - reason of an alleged assault on -a J patient. ' You also stated that there had j been a long and careful inquiry. This ■. my client absolutely denies. From your « published 'report, it would appear that my , client's suspension was on account of this , alleged assault. This again is untrue. On j May 2, 11923, my client received a letter suspending him on the ground that " while a charge-attendant at The Auckland Mental Hospital, on March 22, 1923, he did make in the day book a false, mis- j leading and hurtful entry with reference to a patient —— to wit. that the raid j —— was wet or dirty, while knowing that the .said ■ was neither wet nor dirty." My client still says that on the day in question ——, was wet or dirty. The alleged assault (if any) luok pl-ice on March 5, .1923, and my" client's suspension in no way relates to this alleged assault. For your information, lam enclosing with this letter a copy of the official intimation suspending my client, which will corroborate my client's statement. Your report, therefore, that my client was dismissed for alleged assault is especially unfortunate as the whole matter is sub judice, my client having demanded an inquiry. I would ask you to publish this letter at the first, available opportunity. .J.F. W. Dickson. Sir, —You have given publicity to certain dismissals in the Auckland Mental Hospital, and you state that after a full inquiry, certain attendants were dismissed for an assault on a patient. In your subleader, you said that a public . inquiry should be held into the whole matter. We are ' the three attendants involved, and j as we were unjustly dismissed, we el- ; come a public inquiry. We were dis- j missed without any inquiry being held; we had no charge made against us; and i we were not confronted by one witness. When we asked for an explanation from | Dr. Hay, we were told by Dr. Beattie " not to argue the point." Two of us were not actually in the ward at the time of the alleged assault (even Dr. Beattie will be bound to concede to or' admit this) and yet we- were dismissed j for something we knew nothing about and. i which admittedly happened (if it hap- j pened at all) while we were not pre- i sent! As we are not apparently on the permanent staff, we cannot obtain an in- j quiry under the Public Service Act. As you have given the matter publicity, and, in any case, we demand a public inquiry, and failing a public inquiry we intend petitioning Parliament. We ask your assistance in obtaining justice for us against an. arbitrary and unfair dismissal. We ask for this letter to be i "blished in fairness to' ourselves, and also on behalf of the patients in whose interest it , will be to have a full public inquiry. * • - Wat. E. " Wheado.v. ■' E. Black. . ; ;.' /W. P. astox. "% EXPLORING THE MIND. Sir,—lt seems to me that the article in ' last Saturday's supplement to the Herald on the above topic, was of far greater importance than many people realise. The science of the mind is the latest and the most wonderful of all the sciences, even though we are only justacross the threshold of it. One of the most immediate and important results of I a careful and steady investigation of this ! science is the effective banishment of i many of our most common and foolish ! superstitious and morbid fears. Explor- j ing the , mind, however, needs quite as j much caution as exploring any other mys- j tenons and uncharted country.* Explorers ! . often lose their way. and there are many j j pockets and pitfalls in psychology. It I j is the best and safest studied with logic, j I I think. That was indeed a sane and I helpful point that we have '"no need to j I drag in the spirits"' to, account for unI usual mental phenomena. Do any of J the leading psychologists of the day be- j > lieve in spiritualism ? Some of them be- j lieve in a soul, and a life hereafter; but; ! that is a different thing. Some of the j | great and fascinating problems that psy- j I chology is tackling, are innate ideas and j j where "we really get them; ancestral sug- j | gestion and its effect, upon our idiosyn- j crasies; and the wider problem of mental j i heredity, or the passing on of thought j I clots, or percept masses, to ■ our I descendants. The wonderful thing about j this study is that we always c?rrv about j our apparatus with us. On a journey we i can send the mind back to review work jwe have left behind; or project it forward to make plans for our arrival at our | destination. Marvellous experiments and i exercises can be carried out whenever we desire them. In all this nsost altering j ! work, however. baste and faddisrn must be j {avoided; otherwise seme of the evils of! ! extreme spiritualism would be experi- j enced. J- C. FrssEix. j Vicarage., Waiuku, May 9. 1923. } _— _ j COMPANY TAXATION. j Sir, —I have to thank Mr. Upton for ! j dealing so gently with me and for Setting '■ jme down so easily. It is quite unnecci- , • sarv for me to state that I am not a finan- ' i cial expert. I only try to put the farmer's 'viewpoint before your readers. I have I tried to find out the amount? lent on mort. . ; gage bv various individuals and companies, i ! bat can only get estimates, and I Relieve i that approximately 35 millions of the 1.60 ': millions*borrowed by farmers on mortgage 'h borrowed from companies or corporaI tions of one kind or another. I have net '. overlooked the fact the corporations, sue* ; as the Auckland Savings Bank, do not pay j company taxation, bat I would remind : Mr. Upton that the Savings BanK and the I Either corporciioas be mentions, existed bei fore the war. The point we 8W trying j to make » that, -owing to the heavy in- '■■ crrne tax at present imposed oa large \ companies, one of the principal sourr« I from which we drew our supplies of JBort- \ cage loans has been dried tip. If Mr. ! Upton will excuse me for using --. «>sp*|sfat vulrar but homely simile. 1 would ; suggest to him that our mortgage cow, • before the war. hid fcrar sound teat* an*? ; cave a go:.d and adequate KjppJy '-'. nulsc ! from each one. Now, unfortunately for us. owing to the action of the Governj ment one teat- has gone dry- I presume ' Mr". Upton. like his friend Mr. Mastey, I believes that the cure for all our fIU » i -'production. and more production," U Ifc* do*- then rarely he shod i help " - ( > 1 cure the teat that "has gone dry. or. better still, help as is* prornrc anot n «>w Fiuxk CoLstcsMoniasTiile, May 8, 1923. ;