LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18708, 14 May 1924, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SOLDIERS' FARMS. - Bii\—A great many soldier sutlers »r« wondering what has become of $ the ' v { t Dominion Evaluation Board. '<1* am on© j of a number ? who .• were visited about four . months ago. by the district revaluation ! committee. That committee led' us to' ; *.' believe that their report would be tent in .to the Dominion Board and we would . bo advised of tho result in about 'fi a month s time. Up to' the present, hows v ever, not one of us has ■ heard anything [•}'. further. This is most unsatisfactory to thesei of .5 8 . who are waiting to know ; whether it » going to be worth while t° scratch through another winter or let the rabbits have a win. L for one, do nort. intend to wait much langar. & TWELVE BAR.

LIFE-SAVING EQUIPMENT. Sir,~-I hav© before me a copy cf the Marino Department's regulations governing V lO life-saving equipment to ba carned by launches ,up to 40ft. in length wte i? i- hiro *° passengers within harbour limits. These regula-teftor,llfe-saving gear onlv up to cne-rthird of tao total number of" pas, V he °f s ? of a vessel trading in river limits, an( , la the case of a. vessel trading in extended river limits up to tmn it ° the , total number of passengers. It seems hard to understand why all passengers carried , on oil launches should not be provided for in event of accident. Are we to wait until it becomes necessary to • ask the Government to appoint a commission to inquire into vented' Lfo whlch miht been pre. vente(,? H. 1 iron tow,

THE S.P.O.A. Sir,—-As one of those present, at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty' to Animals, may X say :in reply to the chairman's states ment that he believes in vivisection— that it is debatable, to say the least, if any advance in the art of healing, as a result of the practice of vivisection, can justify the suffering, caused by vivisection. .Medical and scientific opinion can be quoted to show that it is not justified. It is well to be ; ; oft our guard, to check attempts to legalise vivisection in New Zealand. Another remark by Dr. Beattie was to the effect that,a balance ,<«, nature is kept by the carnivora, which - kills off animals - that/ otherwise might overrun a country. Perhaps some of your readers may have lived in India or in some other placo where . the 4 . natives are forbidden by their - religion to slaughter their . cattle— could - tell us if in such V countries it is found necessary to 'have • killed as food for. carnivorous white men, ?or in some other way prevent the animals overrunning the , land. . . Meidbeb 038" S.P.C.A. - MAORI. DOGS. " _ Sir.— reply to an inquiry as to the Maoris possessing dogs prior to y; the advent of the pakeha in New Zealand I will quote from Dr. Thomson's Story ' of New -Zealand," published by John Murray, in 1859. "Dogs and rats are enumerated among the indigenous mammalia of New Zealand, although neither are bo. r It is true Cook found dogs and rats there in 1769. Both these animais were brought to the country by ths New Zelanders, and curiously enough,' both -are now nearly extinct. The" large Norway rat imported ' into the colony byr the Anglo-Saxon settlers, has 1 destroyed- the native ,? rat, and the . nauva dogs, formerly kept and propagated foi? food, have all , been eaten vor destroyed, no care haying -been taken by the • New Zealanders, after the ' introduction of pigs,, to preserve the ; race of dogs. V: • Observant travellers may still «occasion-; •- ally?' see on. tho banks of • La';r Taupo' a few curs, crosses between .-Maori'"'; and English t dogs, with • bushy tails, - • foxy* \.y-' coloured hair, pricked-up ears, and having a howl in place of a bark, the only remnant of the breed of dogs brought, by • the natives to New Zealand. That' . the true native dog was introduced into ■ New Zealand is proved by J - traditions, by the : Maori term for dog being a" trua •Jfolynefiian word, and from the calcined bones of men, moas, 'ariddogs"; having : been found by Mr. llantell on 'a. sand- - flat, near i Tar'anaki, one of <he earliest}, i--spots upon ' which the 1 New / Zealanders (Maoris) - located : themselves.": i v i: ; ;• .. - :i-,; C. :J. W» . BABTOX. • r .

:; Sir,—ln ''Monday's Herald,» W.B.M, ' asks whether Maoris really had dogs ba- ; j fore the advent of Europeans. ; He i;will find references to ; this subject in tha: Transactions :of the N.Z. Institute, vol. I' V ■' 10, p. 135 ; vol. 24, p. '640, and' vol 25, B 495.- In Captain Cook's "Voyages ot iscovery," . published in , Everyman's! Library, on ; page ; 52, is the .following:---"Dogs with ; srfiall pointed ears, and • very •ugly;'.. were • the only tame " animals seen ; here." Cook, Banks and 4' Solander saw i ; ; i? them at : a Maori * village about •' two ' - leagues ito - the ; north •of -the Gable ( End Foreland. This '-was* during his first voy« J ' age in 1769. ;; •/ ■ ' ? •' r y > P.H.B. *V-\ ( .V. . V* ;>/!. / INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. , ; "•' Sir, The conception outlined ;by you? correspondent, John Thomas, in - you? : * i issue of 12th :mst.; that the advance - j civilisation is attributable; directly or in- " ' directly to the Christian religion is an exceedingly widespread superstition. The - reasons for this are twofold; the reitera- ' tion ' c |i of the assumption' V from : fifty generations /of pulpits; - and the prevailing i ignorance of the authentic bis-* ~ tories of Christian countries.> That the Christian churches, who are the official interpreters of the religion, j have ' shown - bitter enmity :to the advancement •'•'of knowledge is an historical fact that can be abundantly evidenced. .. Certain sections have, in our generation, by »methods: of repudiation and compromise, harmonised their dogmas with the findings of - science, > bust this must not blind us to the in- ' fluence .of the greater number of the sects who ; still produce their Bibles to . refute ; • scientific 'assertions. -1 .No one, I supposedwill deny that the elementary ethical pre- i w cepts scattered through the Gospels have had some regenerating effect, out that they have ' been the sole ; factor , promote ? " ing a" slightly higher moral standard to-' day than that prevailing among the ancient pagan Greeks is untenable.; - Not only - were all these ethical principles , \ taught in ' pre-Christian times, but many more that could well havo found a place in the Bible, such as, for instance, the discountenancing of slavery,. the denouncement of war, and the inculcation . of religious . toleration, - which are found among the edicts -of King Osaka (263226 8.C.) "Because Europe progressed after the dark ages , while the rest of the world stagnated is modern. civilisation , to be placed to the credit, of_tho. Christian religion. As naturally might any; one of the ancient civilisations ,be credited to the popular superstition of the country' then in the van of progress." A.E.C.