LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16041, 6 April 1914, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

Sir, —Important municipal undertakings are either in progress or in contemplation, and these, when completed, will involve an increased indebtedness to the oity of something approximating £SCO,OC'O There is every reason,, therefore, why the electors and ratepayers should take the keenest interest in municipal affairs, and learn at first hand, from those who must have the administration of these affairs, what their views are.

The two candidates for the city mayoralty will sp*ak in the Early Settlers' Hall on Monday night, under the auspices of our association. I therefore hope to see a record attendance of inerr>bers, and that they will also secure the attendance of friends who are ratepayers.—l am, etc., For the Dunedin Municipal Association, Donald Reid. Jun., President.

April 4

THE FEEDING OF PIGS.

Sib,- 1 -! should like to ask one or more of the farming class 'whether, when they have a litter of pigs, they would kindly try an experiment in comparative feeding, on the following lines: Wlien the pigs are separated from their mother, divide the litter into three separate styes, with, say, two or more in each stye; Let one lot be fed on bakers' bread, or ordinary bakers' flour, with skim milk or water, etc., and another stye with wheatmeal bread, or whole wheatmeal, with skim milk, , etc., each stye to have the same weight or measurement per pig j and the third stye to be fed on ordinary kitchen refuse. Once a week a note should be made of the condition of each stye, and at the end of four more weeks the result should be sent for publication in your paper. I believe the result would be interesting, educational, and, perhaps, astonishing, to those who do not know the difference in the nourishing qualities between wheatmeal bread and the white, starchy bakers' bread. —I am, etc., ' ■ . ■

J. R. K.

THE PUBLIC SWIMMING BATHS.

Sib, —As Sunday morning is the only time a great majority of the young men of this city are able to enjoy the privilege of using these bathe, I think it w hardly a fair thing that nine o'clock is fixed as the closing time on this day. Could not the baths be kept open till noon? I understand that the caretaker has an assistant eo, I take it, the question of a holiday for the caretaker need not be considered. I hope the council will see its way clear to act on this suggestion.-—I am, etc., Dunedin, April 3. . Swimmbb

POLITICAL CANNIBALS. Sib, —The controversy on the political situation reveals the fact that in Ducedin there are three working class parties. The objective of the three parties is no longer a, cause for division. Indeed, so great is the unanimity of thought among the workers that .we find essentially the same planks in the epective platforms. What is more important still, the three partiee are agreed that there is nothing in common between them and the Ward and Massey parties. Having agreed on the things they want and the enemies they have been created to fight, one would think they would agree to be three regimente in one army, confronting the common foe, instead of being political cannibals trying to swallow each other up. There seems a grave* danger that if they do not swallow each other up, they will forget the objects of their existence, and help their opponents rather than permit a victory .in the name of any one regiment. The thrilling victories won by the Social Democratic Party in all contests that have taken plice since its inauguration, have' been won mainly because no other sections .of Labour interfered in the contest. A <bi#, section of the community voted with Labour on these occasions, because of the failure of the Mas'sev Government to administer the law in an impartial manner. That law-abiding section of the community viewed with horror and dread the spectacle of a Government looking on with approval while the Police Force, whoso duty is to uphold law and order, were a.'ding a body of etrike-breakers at Waihi forcibly to take possession' of the miner's hall there. There is only one legal way whan a property dispute occurs in which the claimant can get possession of his property, and that is by proving his title through tl'e law courts. But instead of the Massey Government insisting that this should be done, it allowed its police to aid and abet the notion that used force. The grim irony of ti;e situation is better understood when it is remembered that the so-called Red Fede, who were"' denounced as violators of law, i'sued by legal means for the recovery of the hail, and not only got the hall back again, but were awarded £50 damages. Even in Dunedin during the late strike, an incident occurred which reminds one of the days of " Bioody" Jeffries, who acted as prosecutor and judge. We witnessed the spectacle of a , magistrate who issued the warrant for the arrest of the . Strike Committee actually trying the case himself. One could fill your paper with acts of oppression, violations of law and order, and ekes biassed administration of our laws by those responsible for the government of this country that would not be thought possible in a community such as ours. Perhaps the blackest act of the Massey Government was giving legal sanction to bogus workers' unions, such , as that formed in the Union Steam Company's, office in Dunedin, or those formed by Mr Pryor and other employers' agents in Wellington and elsewhere. Such organisations reflect employers' opinions only, and deny the right of collective bargaining between workers and employers, and the therefore coercive, servile, and slavish institutions, wKere the officials are merely human phonographs shouting out the glad tiding that have been yelled into their dark and diemal interiors by their capitalistic masters. The " Well Feds" have declared the political battle o£ the future is between themselves and the "Red Feds," meaning the Social Democrats. So far the "Red Feds" have triumphed because the candidates thoy selected stood against oppression, for unbiassed administration of our laws, for an amendment of the Arbitration Act to enable genuine organisations of workers to give free expression to their requirements and to epeak alone on behalf of Labour in conferences and before the Arbitration Court. The pleasing feature of the success of the " Red Feds " is the proof that the electors are no longer frightened with the Socialistic bogey of anti-religion, eta Only the division of Labour into many parties will prevent a repetition of these great triumphs and the freeing of the country from Masseyism.—l am, etc., _■ J. Fi. MacManus.

MR W. D. MASON'S MOSQUITO. g IEj David Harum said "a reasonable amount of fleas wae good for a-dog," and even a mosquito may be of service to your versatile, if somewhat bombastic correspondent, Mr W. D. Mason, of Middlemarch. Just to remind him that he is only Mr W. D. Mason after all. Mr Mason is after bigger game, but the bigger game ie impervioue to his toy pistol, and ae the mosquito wae rather troublesome Mr Mason evidently deemed it wisest to attempt £o ignore it. The questions put remain unanswered, and your readers will not fail to have noted that Mr Maeon , refuses to justify his contention that an hereditary titled'baronet, who believes in freehold, and "turned down" the late Mr A. R. Barclay because he was a Socialist, is a fit and proper leader for a party that is out to nationalise the land and everything elso therein, to abolish rank and title, and bring in a Socialistic form of Government. Nobody who knows the ABC of politics expected Mr Mason to face questions of this sort. He simply dare not. And so he showed that eide of his public character which I pointed out in my last. He dodged the questions by calling the questioner a mosquito. I, therefore, Sir, claim judgment by default. Let it be distinctly understood that I maike no attack upon Sir Joseph Ward. lam merely proving him to be an individualistic freeholder who cannot lead a party in the ways of Socialism. I am, etc., Liberal, Not Socialist.