LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18456, 20 July 1923, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

■i»- i— n ■■ ; « ~ 'STREET DANGERS. : { J ~ ;Sir,Why does'- the City: Coxincil peR mit so orach of the street to .M ialietf up' by : tho tramway % excavations? Xi ii a positive .-■ danger to drivers of, vehicles. ? When the tram company had this work: it was confined to a;• mush smafller areaI believe in economy, and am well awarfl, it cheapens cost, but human " lite is sacred, > and;' there are enough accidents: %vithodi adding unnecessary risks. -\ ■ Safety Fixwt, TAXATION OF MOTOR-TRUCKS. Sir,—The proposed new -law 'as set out by Mr. Wood, re taxing motor-trucks' in the Papakura Town •; Board ; area, ap- . .;• pears to me to be a most unfair one. I. quite agree with him (hat those who • spoil the roads should pay for them. But why tax the trucks and not the cars? On the main South Road, with its Ann . foundation,,! contend that the fast-travel-ling touring car does more toward making ruts aud pot-holes than does the slow'-, moving truck. Then, .why not be fair and tax ; the cars; as ell as the trucks? l, Many touring caxs are as . heavy as the light trucks. ■■• To tax the trucks unjustly is retarding progress and adding still further burdens to those on the land who will have to pay this tax by increased cartage rates. • Mere Ratepayer. •■ . ANTS. ... Sir,—As-my house is afflicted with a plague which! am told is not uncommon in and about this city, being a newcomer I turn "in despair to you for help. "Go to the ant," advises Solomon, but I have not thought it necessary, not being a sluggard, so the ant has come to me, and 1 am learning, perforce, how great is the industry and persistence of those apparently, harmless creatures. ; ' ' .'..•'„'

They spoil my honey, sugar, jam, They make mo say a naughty They can't be caught, they can't bo fought. - 1 ~ My every effort comes to nought. ; ; If driven out, they soon come back. They make my very blankets black; I catch them crawling, o'er my face-:— . What can be done in such a case? If any of your readers can -and will answer this question, I am sure; they will earn the gratitude of many besides yours truly, }'■■ Borax. ; i ■ A YOUTHFUL CHOIR. ■ Sir,-—At : concerts given . recently, by our musical societies ' I was struck by. the absence of young singers. " Why is this ? Are the girls and boys- of our city not so fond of singing as are their parents, or are they not welcomed by the existing choirs ? It seems to me that there 153 room for. a choral society, composed entirely of young people, the said society fe+o.' attend to the social as well as the : .Inusical side. To young people it is very uninteresting to go one night a. week for months, or longer, sing hard for an hour or so, be glared at by a neighbour whose " reserved " seat you have inadvertently < taken, wonder who that young man is iln ; the basis or that nice girl in the sopranos, go home, repeating the same till you tire and leave. In forming such a society, this should bear.' essential rule: The maximum age at -Joining be 30 years, ladies to produce•?.. copies ,of birth certificate; at 40 '>, years members become eligible, and are' auto-" I matically .drafted into the Choral Society, or the v Royal Male Cho?.r. should 1 ensure/perpetual youth in the society. "•; ■\-^:/::■';■' :'■ ;■-')■' ~'.,'.'■•' ■}■■; .■;.":?,'■: ; Eortt..;. -. ■•-:; . 1 " MAGIC. , .;Sir, —I am sorry Mr..Lush missed tho ' point of Green's remarks. . I chose Green to state the ' case , for the reason that I consider his ; version of the substitution of the Communion for the Mass as . the sanest'statement: our. historical literature contains on the subject, I still hope Mr. Lush. will 'see:? more iii?-. it : than a■: matter > of the'varieties of the 'tjdverb. As to the word "magic," I ohds l ? that word as it i polite synonym ' rather vij^gar; :work '-"'■ : "hocus-pocus," r ' a' word used : djir-. tug the fierce times after the Reformation 'to express the ] hatred and contempt felt for the trickery and absurd claimsj mad« under - the "authority ; of 'the sacred 'words; ■ ''hoc est. corpus Christi; ' the sound of the two phrased-whenjirreverently jittered being not '■> vjery unlike. "Hocus-pocus" has, however, come to signify any low, liicsn: trickery, hence my use of -a less 'offensive, synonym. a There " has" £ always; been a difference between the supposed) intelligence of the pulpit and : the pew. • !.• Sometimes,; however, the ; pew \ is;.right. It is on record that when the greatest 'of ail Teachers came among us; it was not the philosophers, itho ;; priests, and / the.;-,. I learned, but the, common :people ' who recognised 1 the■ afflatus, and "heard ; -{Him ■:■'. gladly." ' ' 3. 31. Upton.

FARMING AND NORMAL PRICES. Sir,—The production, sale, arid distri-,:,•/'. '//;■ bution of all things that comej.directly ;, ;.•>;,■ from the soil is a weighty / and complex ,;.;.;;.. .; problem, • and it is - utter nonsense to ta1k......... of the farmers under existing' conditions being' able to -break the circle,: for, after ' alb what ; has the man on: 1 the land' to ■•■:- do with prices either in regard to the; : cost of his requirements or the remuneration he receives dor. his labour, to say nothing at ' all about capital invested. "He is a mere pawn in the game, for -everything is well, cut' and dried beforehand., If the wages of farm labourers rise, and the cost of materials, the farmer cannot possibly do without soars* almost beyond , his reach, : he , cannot pass the increase on / ■; to the consumer, for he is bound; "hand ■- ; and foot by ' the law of supply and demand. . '•■!'.•; Every /other; trade -and calling; has some. form of organisation to back up; its /demands, for higher wages, shorter j hours, arid: improved conditions of work the' farmer has non-8. If he finds his income inadequate he cannot go to the -, Arbitration Court and cite the consumer as r '"a? party to an industrial dispute, and ■■ ask for a living wago' and 44-hour week, v arid" many other /privileges: that; are de- /; v nied only to the toiler on the land. Were ~;■ ,? such ' a '■■• procedure possible, ; the/soap-box , orator and his/ satellites would have something real 'to!' talk about. How would plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers, - ; etc., etc., like to have their put , under the hammer,i to be knocked ; /■ to /the• highest bidder, and ■• ■ find' very , often that the net return did not rep-re- - , eeut a penny per how. Under tfafl „ system- obtaining, it is glaringly eyi dent that, if the farmer cannot live in ordi- : narv comfort as the result of bis ; toil, it is no concern of the general public, They ' demand, and/ generally / manage to..' / gjt, very cheap/: farm producer. The • , whole thing is ' iniquitous • k jn principle and manifestly unjust in practice, and consequently the land /as a '•! means of livelihood is drifting more and! more into' disfavour. Every ; year sees young men ' and women, the very type of people to . make a success on the soil, forsaking the cowyard and the field for the city or the town, and who.' will blame them? They see clearly that they have little or nothing to say, in- the disposal of .i the fruits of their hard -labour/- and that their lot will be-as was that, of their parents before them—one of drudgery and discomfort./ They have been to/the city / :// and noted the difference— hours,;.;// , ideal conditions'of work,/every;/ conveni- , once that; human ingenuity can devise; and r they have' contrasted it with their • •;/// own dull life on/the farm. -They have seen that if they remain and till the soil -it is "assuredly for: the benefit of others, : and not for themselves. If the farmer were reaping golden harvest wo- are ;-..:. so frequently: led to/ believe, /why the 1 latter-day ; drift to the / towns? -i 1 Keensighted men in Australia,; recognising the • ; inevitable disaster /that must? come Sooner' / .-■ .. or later to a country possessing no rural; ;■>/,;.; <■ population, loi'idly clamouring for land settlement, "but/'all,, their agitation _is useless; the steady flow of population to the cities/is as -irresistible as the incoming : tide. Sydney , has over 900,000 inhabitants, out of , : a total ; ; population of . two 'arid a-half millions for. the whole of ,' New South. Wales.. ; The' foregoing,, I •'. --.- submit, are facts beyond refutation, and / , / no to -prove' ' tbat, v far from ; the farmer , being able to cut prices, -he has absolutely nothing to do with pticm at a...