LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25085, 26 December 1944, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"World ol Plenty"

Sir, —I understand that groups of people in New Zealand hare been allowed to 6ee the film "World of Plenty." I would like to express a hope that this instructive and interesting film will be released for the benefit of the general public. H. M. Wild. Morrinsville. Milk Producers and Vendors.

Sir, —With reference to city milk, there are three town supply farms I know of, those of myself and two neighbours. We represent a capital investment of over £7OOO. The three farmlets produce an average of 20 gallons of milk each per day. We get 11 Jd per gallon from a vendor who collects all our milk. He gets Is OJd a gallon to deliver this milk. So he gets 5s a day more than we producers get between the three of us. It it, takes. Is o|d to deliver a gallon of milk (zoned) it should take 4s to produce it. We throe have decided to quit milking and work for wages. We will be better off. Milk Racket. Child Immigrants Sir, —I would suggest to "Missed" that he should remember the old saying, "Charity begins at home/' and look in our own land for a child to care for. While we can appreciate his efforts to give assistance to the British orphan children,' it must not be forgotten that there are hundreds of little ones here in New Zealand who need the loving care of father and mother. So, "Missed," why not take steps at once, for there could be no more appropriate time than Christmas, -to give some little child a chance to become Joved and cared for, even though it is only in a flat. I wonder if "Missed" ever had the good fortune to see the picture, "Blossoms in the Dust"? If it ever comes his way, it would be worth his while to see it. Mother. Radio Programmes Sir, —You have published letters from those who mourn the loss of the type of American .programmes recently broadcast by Station IZM. May I voice the heartfelt thanks of I know, as a result of conversations over a considerable period, are not few in number—who rejoice at having the old IZM type of programme restored. Many a time have I tried every available station for music, and finally switched off in desperation. Now I will be'able to depend on my old favourite, I realise that all types of taste should be catered for, and I suggest that the various stations should specialise more, e.g., one for serials and talks, another for music. There should be no nbed for two or three stations in the one town to broadcast news at the same time. A.B. Jr. Restoring Eroded Lands

Sir, —Tho recent articles ill the Hebald all point to the magnitude of the erosion disaster in Australia. Not one reference, as far as I can determine, is made to the importance of restoring humus to eroded soils. All the suggested treatments, from the highly pictorial "contour Cultivation" to simple treegrowing, may be helpful adjuncts, but the one thing established by competent authorities as a proved essential is left out.

Trees are valuable but they did not stop the "dust bowl" increase in America. They are excellent preservers of fertility but cannot restore it except over a very long period of time, when animal inhabitants combined with treo products do restore fertility. But our needs are immediate. So long as we continue to destroy organic manures by incinerator and sea sewage, the enormous immediate requirements of humus for denuded lands cannot be met. Stanley S. Hamilton. The Atlantic Charter

Sir, —The recent statement of President Roosevelt takes nothing from the Atlantic Charter that it ever possessed. That the famous document was never more than a collection of resounding phrases with no substance behind them was apparent from tho beginning. No two men. acting on their own initiative, and without warning to the world, could authoritatively promise to do what the Charter promised to do unless our boasted democracy had no existence. Let us remember that raw materials include land, which is the raw materia! of food. The ChaYtefr promises access, on equal torms, to the trade and raw materials of the wofld. It" made that promise to all, including our enemies. The time may* come when" privileged nations will .yield, up their privileges, when no nation "win claim for itself what it will not, aljow to it? neighbours, but in- democratic communities such things can be done, such sacrifices can be made, only by the men and women who form those communities.

The Charter was never a statement of policy; the two men who issued it had no authority to formulate a policy, [t was a sonorous statement of certain fine sentiments—that was all. Manurewa,, J. Johnstoni*