LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25211, 25 May 1945, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

An Appreciation Sir, —Now that most of our boys who were prisoners of war are safe in England, may I he permitted through your column to express ' appreciation and thanks on behalf of all of those next-of-kin who have received advice and help, smilingly given always, from the Indies in charge of the Prisoner-of-War Inquiry Office, Swanson Street. I have visited them for advice at intervals during the past three and more years and feel that they have made many a heart lighter with their courtesy and cheerfulness to all inquirers N. Forster. Ineligible Veterans Sir, —1 also was pleased to read your sub-leader on this subject, besides the letters from correspondents. My _ son could not attend the prize-giving ceremony at Mount Albert Grammar School as he had been sent to camp on December 1, 1941. He also is now a flyingofficer and has done one tour of duty in the Pacific. Surely with four years' service to bis credit he could be allowed fo attend the university in 1946. These young lads who were sent into camp at 18 are particularly unfortunate in that they are four years behind their mates who happened to take a science course. Also Forgotten. Interest-Iree Money Sir, —I think the chairman of the Waitemata County Council is to he congratulated on once again taking the platform for the Waitemata ratepayers in his repeated request for an interestfree loan to repair the damage to our roads caused by heavy military traffic. Surely he will be successful this time, ill view of the fact that the actingMinister of Mines has supported .the interest-free loan for the miners' hall at Rotowaro. By his excuse he has accused himself of pandering to sectional interest. He does not give a valid reason for the loan. One may well ask if the expenditure on a hall at this moment is warranted. The country needs money to carry on the war. Apparently the miners pleasure for leisure has priority. Again, the materials used in the construction of the hn 11 would have served a far more useful purpose in the construction of houses. J. T. Bkck. Sewage Schemes Sir, —In reviewing this subject the Mayor, Mr Allum. states that the onlyalternative to the Brown's Island | scheme which had come to his notice was the proposal for a sewage outfall on the west coast. May 1 remind the Mayor that for some two years following the publication, in the New Zkaland Hkrald of February 5, 1936, of Messrs Hart and Borrie's report on the Brown's Island I scheme, there were many letters of protest against the scheme, with alternative proposals for a "back to the land" scheme of sewage disposal. The undersigned proposed in 19116-37 a triple scheme of storage lake —water weed sewage farm —and humus factory. The proposal was partly inspired by the lecture on humus manufacture given by Sir Albert Howard at the Royal Society | of Arts, lx>!idon, in 1935, but more par- ' ticularly by the outspoken and farsighted views expressed by the chairman at this lecture, the late Professor H. Armstrong. He said the most feasible way of recovering the mineral salts in sewage was by impounding the sewage in a lake arid growing water weeds therein to extract the minerals, thus providing excellent raw material, for making humus. Thomas A. F. Stone, 8.E., A.M.1.M.8. Waiheke Island Control Sir, —City Council control means rating on capital values. A Waiheke County Council would have unimproved rating, under which you pay no more on a nice house than on a vacant section. The Ostend Road Board area has had unimproved rating for 25 years, i.e., less than 16s per year on a section valued at £SO unimproved; has roads the envy of allcomers; foreman's house, etc.: good truck; and over £6OO in the bank. The Minister six years ago offered us a Waiheke County Council, which the place was not ready for. Now it is ready the same Minister has changed his mind. We are to go into the City Council. Why? Has pressure from powerful groups anything to do with it? At the first Surfdale meeting (February 23, over 250) the vote for a Waiheke County Council was overwhelming. At the second Surfdale meet- , ing (April 21, over 400), in spite of Mr Heenan's written promise that all , should be able to air their views, no debate or address was permitted other than his. Fie spoke for two and a-ha!f hours to an elderly audience, whom he had already kept waiting an hour. Fair pla.v is bonny play. As the essentials of this thine are being more fully grasped, an overwhelm- I ing demand is growing that we be left ( to manage ourselves, through our own ! appointors to a Waiheke County Conn- \ oil. Noel Henry. i Onetangi, i