LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15892, 11 October 1913, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE MEDICAL SCHOOL. Sir. —Your correspondent (Dr Hunter), ii; support of his active antagonism against tho local Medical School, has gone to great [jains to make clear the' following points in his letter which appears, to-day, and there is not the shadow of a doubt that if Dr Hunter can "make good" on these points (as I believe he canj tie local school is doomed. Tho points are;— 1. That tho Charitable Aid Board does not work well with the University Council because, some yeans ago,, they did not agreo upon an appointment to the Maternity Home. 2. That owing to his (Dr Hunter's) abnormal interest in football, it is possible for anyone who can -play that game to obtain a scholarship at Middlesex. 3. That ho (Dr Hunter) is an accepted authority-on Home medical training, and as such has actcd as guide, philosopher and friend to a "great many of New Zealand students going Home." 4. That owing to his spccial knowledge he (Dr Hunter) unassumingly credits himself with " having deflected tho medical stream from Edinburgh to London. (Liquidation at : Edinburgh is now inevitable.)

Criticism of Dr Hunter's letter is not very diffioult—two words would describe it, but these words are not permissible.—l am, etc., St, Kilda, October 9 Soun Grapes.

THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS. Silt,—l was at the women's Hible-in-schools rally in Burns Hall last night, and considered all tho addresses very good. _ As Miss Stewart (Mayoress) said, truly it 'is especially a question for mothers because of tho influence Bible-instruction would have upon their children. Miss Pugh said that with one hand wo send out the Bible to the heathen, and -with tho other hand we have kept it from our children, and that those who visited as she had done would know that tho children of the dominion were in great da,tiger of losing their priceless heritage of knowledge of the Gospel. She said further that in tho back-blocks and on stations tho ignoranco of the children was appalling. One can assure Miss Pugh she is making a mistake, for I know fol certain that the family altar is raised in many homes and that there are many a praying ! "hr ard mother to be found in tho backblocks. It would bo a pity if a child had to wait until it went to school beforo it learnt anything about religion. The homo should be the first _ place for teaching this, and in many eases it is.—l am, etc., Mother.

GENERAL LABOURERS' WAGES. Sir, —Allow mo to state, for tho information of Mr MacManus, and of the City Council, that it has always been the practice on the West Coast to pay iabourflre as much as 2s per day more than elsewhere owing to the wet weather and to the extra cost of living. The writer himself was paid 10s per- day when labouring 23 years ago, at ;a timo when wages in Dunedin were only Bs, while. 18 years ago as much as' 14<s a day was offered to carpenters. That was before federation, or arbitration, or before Mr MaoManus came on tho scene to arrango what pay labourers should get.—l am, etc., Worker.

THE PRICE OF MILK. Sir,—A few friends and myself have been watching your paper- to see when tbe dairymen intend bringing the price of milk down to the summer rates for this year. In previous seasons the price was reduced earlier than this, and wo are wondering why the reduction is so late this year. I am informed that milk is plentiful, and tho recent rcd-uetions in tho price of butter tend to confirm this. Milk is such a necessity in a family, and we all look forward to getting more for our monev -in summer time.—l am, etc., "Housewife.

" LANGSIDE." Sib,—Our friend Mr Why to takes a great deal for granted. There is an infectious enthusiasm. But there is also an enthusiasm which by its lack of baJance and judgment makes oven the beet of causes ridiculous. Mr Whyte may have many interesting memories of Langside, and of daisies gathered in its park. But does he not let theso personal associations play havoc with his historic sense ? Surely even in 1567 Scottish Protestantism—scarcely yet Presby-, terian—had-enough inherent vitality to sur-' vive, whatever the is6ue of a skirmish outside of the village which is now tho second city of the British Empire, In any case why should we in New Zealand perpetuate a name which hardly conveys a scrap of meaning -to 5 per oent, of us ? lona was tho cradlo of Scottish Christianity, though surely Mr Whyte does not think the Celtic Christianity was Presbyterian either in doctrine or in discipline. There is some justification for the name lona—but Langsiae! Surely Mr Whyte is not an illustration of the old slander that Scots have no humour. 16 it possible that the brethren who congratulated him_ upon his Sunday performance were poking fun at him?. The very suggestion of such a possibility should make him ca' canny and weigh his words.

Is it not a great deal to aseume that tho Assembly will saddle the church with his scheme ? Many of us think that our church has far too many irons in the fire already. Surely the wis© policy would be to consolidate and carry some of them to a successful issue beforo further one of such magnitude. Wo certainly cannot expect the rank and file of our members to provide the daughters of a few of tho very wealthiest of our people _ with an education such as they cannot give their -own daughters. If there is to bo such a school the money mu6t come from the class' for whose benefit it is intended, as on the whole has been tho case with lona.

Where is that class to be found in anv number in the South Island ? We have good schools, which most of us find quite adequate to all our needs religiously and in every other respect. Has the churptj* any right or call to .select one of these {tnci say : " This and this alone is to be our 'Young Lidies' College'"? Surely Mr Whyte is not so innocent as not to be aware that the offer he brought before the Presbytery on Tuesday, so far from moaning any sacrifice, was a very shrewd business proposition, likely to benefit the donors quite as much as the recipients, to say. the very least. If we are to have a " Young" Ladies' College" we ought to stai't with our hands absolutely free and untrammelled. I havo no personal interest in this matter. My only anxiety is that wo ehouM not be rushed into another costly scheme before we know what we are in for. I must t/dd, however, that I and many other loyal Pivsbyterians would be greatly relieved if the advocacy of our schemes and our general policy were strictly confined to men who always keep the right side of the boundaryIwe between the sublime and the rid'culous. —I am, etc., Presbyterian Elder. THE INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION BILL. SIK, In your articio in this morning's Daily limes headed "Inflated Rhetoric" you state that " the critics of the Government measure for tho amendment of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act rarely condtscend to 'quote chapter and verse in support of the sweeping condemnation which they pass upon the Bill, and that the few exceptions who have sought to justify their criticism of;the proposals have resorted largely to misrepresentation in order to build up their case." In the Daily Times of September 24 you published an interview I lin.d with a member of your staff, when I gave several instances which were in themselves sufficient to condemn the Bill, but you offered 110 comment or justification of tho action of the Government in inserting the clauses I mentioned. It is true I did not quote chapter and verse, but if my statementswere incorrect you would quickly have taken me to task As a matter of fact, not one of those statements could be challenged.

I charged tho Government with denying the benefits of the Arbitration Act to "certain workers (clauses 3 and 97), and at tho same time providing in the Bill that if those self-same workers attempt to get improved conditions by using tho only other weapon they pobsess—Viz., "ceasing work," —they will bo liable to a penalty of £10 each (clause 142). You convoniently ignored those charges at the time, bat nearly three weeks later you make the statement that " the few who havo sought to justify their criticism' of the proposals have resorted to misrepresentation in order to build up their case." Where is this misrepresentation ? In my interview I dealt with two other matters—viz., clause 22, which will have tho effect of breaking into email sections a number of our largo nnd strong unions, and clause 4-3, which provides that the assessors of a union on a Council of Conciliation must be, or have been, actually and bona fide engaged or employed "in the locality" in the industry in respect of which the dispute has arisen. In dealing with this letter, if yon consider it worth while doing so, you might show wherein I have misrepresented the position.—l am, etc., Duncdin, October 9. R, Brken.

1 WOMEN'S FRANCHISE. ! Sir,—Two letters in to-day' 6 issue of the Daily Times bring before us yet another instance of woman's misunderstanding, showing clearly their' inability to view tho circumstances attached to women's voting privileges. We were told by the Daily Times only a few months took that the latest petition in support of women's franchise, when - presented to tho Imperial Parliament, received grave consideration from those highest in authority in the nation. Such hoary and wise heads viewed the .woman's question with grave concern, and when they reflected that the granting of the franchise to tho women of England would give voting power to some '"six million won en," they thought it indeed a gravo matter, as it no doubt is, especially as members of many families vote differently on different issues, and domestic discord is created. That it would cause much domestic friction in England is certain. The voting privileges have caused discord in homes in the colonics where families are of divided opinions, so what would it be in six i-tillion households in England? That woman is maii's .equal is surely acknowledged throughout the world; but Nature fits woman for one sphere of work, and, man for another. A woman's lifo is in most cases a very responsible one, with its household government, mid the upbringing of a healthy and honest family, for it is said "that the hand that rocks the cradle is tho hand that rules the world." Some of our fathers to-day hold that tho women of tho present time are not what the women of past generations were, wlin had no voting privileges—generations' which did tho hardest part of tho work for the present generation. Yet the women of the present day have an idea that they must have equal powers with men in making laws and enforcing them. This is quite nonsensical. A woman would quickly acknowledge herself quite unfit to build a 'house, or breakstones, etc. Ths cares of n household render her unable to attend to miblic affairs. I think the intervention of colonial women in the nffairs of the United Kingdom is not called for,-I am, ctc., I.S.