READERS' OPINIONS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19337, 29 May 1937, Page 15

READERS' OPINIONS

Letters to the Editor

Maori History Sir,—l was pleased to read PuhaTikotiko’s letter. It was very interesting. These people arc not forgotten by all. I, for one, am writing a book, “Land of Toi,” that I hope some day will see print. I have been three> years at work on it. I have visited. Mrs. More Kingi Pnraone Ratapu, and taken her photograph. She received mo most graciously, and showed me many photographs on her wall. Mokcna Kohero is not forgotten in my book. Is there not a monument at Rangitukia, “In memory of the Hon. Mokena Kohere, M.L.C., who died on March 4, 1894, aged 80.” He, during troublous times, showed magnanimity towards Victoria, exerted his influence to uphold order, and was a staunch churchman. —Yours, etc., MARY BLAIR. Flat v. Hill County Ratingsir,—l wonder if it is possible to clarify this question a little, or at least pour a little oil on the troubled waters. It would appear to me to be entirely a matter of valuations in the first place. Then the carrying capacity of the land and nearness to markets must he taken into consideration, as well as the many and various uses to which rich flat land may be put. If land on the banks of the Waipaoa River will carry seven sheep per acre, •it is obviously worth many times more than 1-i sheep in hill country 30 or 50 miles hack, where, instead of 15s per ton for transport you have to pay 60s, that is, when you can get the lorry to go in. Then the flats can be put to so many other uses, and change to butter, maize, linseed, or other profitable uses, which the hill country farmer cannot. With a good bitumen or metalled road to his gate, the farmer on the flats has advantages which many hill country farmers have not, and he should he willing to pay for them. The system of rating on the unimproved value is the best I know of. Rating on capital values is a tax on thrift and industry. I hope Mr. Semple will stick to his euns, and if l»echoo*es to give any relief I trust it will be-hy wav of Tebate on rates, for ratepayers 'living alongside a main highway to receive all the benefit of remission of rates and for which the back coimtry farmer pays in his benzine purchases would bc P altogether unfair. no more town v. country or flat v. hill “Bouncing the Ball” Sir, —The Hon. W. Nash, accompanied by a large and costly retinue, has been in Europe for months. He has attended numerous luncheons and dinners and made many speeches and he has visited Berlin and Moscow where he with the comrades who have brought the “liquidation” of their opponents to a fine art. But what has he accomplished for New Zealand? After months of running about Europe wc find Mr. Nash’s leader, Mr. Savage, arriving m London and after announcing New Zealand’s desire to sell more produce to Britain, asking “Arc von prepared to make, a deal?” or words to that effect. Had Mr.*Nash accomplished even a part of what he set out to do Mr. Savage would not have found it necessary to make that remark. I would suggest to vour readers that they contrast the accomplishment of the Canadian Government with those of the New Zealand Government. Mr. Dunning, the Canadian Minister of Finance, went to England where he remained for a few weeks, and concluded with Britain a splendid trade treaty which puts Canada on the box seat for vears to come. The Canadian statesmen talked ■ business sense, and not platitudes. The Canadian Minister did not go around his country talkincr about “bouncing the bail, in land, as did Mr. Savage. Thus when a Canadian Minister reached England he *ot what he wanted, because he played so well that the British people helped him to catch the hall when it bounced. In the case of Mr. Savage and Mr. bash, the hall has got punctured.—Yours, etc., the can g ZEALANDER. British Diplomacy Sir, —-From a reading of Mr. Todd’s addi’oß3 given in the Selvvn Hall as reported in your issue of Wednesday one gets an impression of utter despair about the possibility of preventing! war. The statement, "War is ahead of us. It is almost inevitable,” and subsequent statements regarding Britain’s duplicity in world affairs indicates that Mr. Toddls forebodings are inspired, because he finds that Britain, or rather British diplomacy, cannot be trusted to honour its pledges unless British commercial interests are affected. I agree with Mr. Todd as to the role played by the British Government in the cases quoted, viz., Manchuria and Abyssinia, not to mention a list of others, ‘hut I cannot agree with t,ho theory that war is inevitable on that score alone. All of us who have studied international affairs from an objective viewpoint have long realised bow little trust can be placed in the word of official British diplomacy. Not for nothing was our Mother Country given the name “Perfidious Albion” by statesmen of other lands. That fact, unpalatable as it may he to those who have believed as gospel the patriotic propaganda of platform orators and an inspired press, has to be faced if we are not to continue forever in a land of make believe; but the realisation, that the word, of the British'Government cannot he trusted—a bitter pill to our national jiride—should r\ot make us lapse into despair or apathy, for there are forces in Britain, and the Dominions, which can, and I bclicvo will, effectively counter anv move definitely to embroil us in war. These forces aro the masses of people who now realiso that war will bring them onlv povorty, sorrow and suffering. These masses—workers, students, fanners, small business people and intellectuals—are combining to opposo any war of aggression, whatever the pretext, which the British Government may embark on. It is on such mass movements as these, and not on the “honesty” of official British diplomacy that all sincere opponents of war will‘rely. For the benefit of those who would question the strength of such mass movement let me quote the fate of the sinister Hoare-Laval plan to divide up Abyssinia. Such a storm of protest was organised that not only was the plan dropped, hut Sir Samuel TToare .was forced to resign the Foreign Secretaryship.—Yours, etc.. PROLETARIAN. Motor Restrictions Sir.—On reading your report of the Borough Council meeting last week, I Burpriesd it tiw short-sighted deci-

Letters intended for publication should be brief and confined to subjects of general public interest. , The name and address of correspondents should be enclosed, not necessarily for publication, but as evidence of good faith.

sion of the council "to rigidly enforce tho regulations governing tho parking of motor vehiclos in Gladstone road." In analysing these ever-increasing and uccdless penalties against motorists generally, it must mako tho average person wonder where all this modern and stupid legislation is going to end. Hero, in Gisbornc, we havo one of the widest main thoroughfares of any city or town in tho Southern Hemisphere. Gladstone road could havo almost a double row of cars parked on each side and then leave ample space for moving traffic, without obstruction. With this volumo of parking, there would still be more available traffic space than in Willis street, Manners street, or Cuba street, Wellington, Queen street, Auckland, Colombo street, Chnstchurch, or Pitt and Castlereigh, street, Sydney; where the traffic, vehicular and pedestrian, is a hundred-fold greater than in Gladstone road. Yet wo have our local council enforcing parking restrictions in our wido main thoroughfare, more rigidly than in tho above-mentioned places. What difference docs it make'to the council, the town, the community, or the average citizen, whether a car is parked in Gladstone road, 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or 30 hours? Do the cars, as at present parked in this area, obstruct traffic? Are they a menace to the business people or residents who use this thoroughfare? Does the council realise that tho motor vehicle owner is the heaviest taxed individual in this Dominion? Does the council realise that these cars and their owners are instrumental in bringing to the town thousands of pounds annually? Still the motorist is ostracised, victimised, and frequently financially pulverised by the controlling bodies. Ho is subject to the arrogant officialdom of scores of individuals at almost every turn of the steering wheel. Every time the "financial screw" is put on, it is another squeeze to jamb down the lid on the unfortunate motor vehicle owner. I have met scores of motorists who have candidly admitted that they will not go near the town to do any business or shopping. They have adopted the method of obtaining the majority of their requirements by mail order from other cities and towns. The isolation of Gishorne is recognised by most intelligent people. Deprive the motorist of reasonable facilities to do business here, and it will not be long to see the result. Prevent cars from parking at all on Gladstone road and the isolation of the town will be complete, and "mail order" will bo tho custom of the future.

Gisborne, on first impressions, has a modem and progressive outlook, insofar as Gladstone road and its adjacent thoroughfares are concerned. But, what do we find when traversing around the residential areas? The streets and footpaths are a standing disgrace to a community a quarter the size. The pioneers responsible for the laying out of the town’s streets, etc., are deserving of every credit for their foresight and perspective of the town’s future renuirements, but it is certainly no credit to their successors for the deplorable lack of attention displayed in the upkeep and general conditions of the streets and footpaths in the borough. 'Gisborne is about the heaviest rated town in this Dominion, and why the ratepayers tolerate these antipuated conditions in this modem age is beyond comprehension. T own property in other towns, and the rates in some instances are SO per cent lower than here, and have all the modem utilities, domestic and public, such as gas, water, sewerage, electricity, and macadamised streets and footpaths. These factors arc sadly lacking in the greater part of urban and suburban localities in this town. Tf the councillors do not—or cannot, wake up from their lcthargv and smug complacency, then they should resign from the position they hold, and not be grit in the wheels of progress of t#is community.—Yours, etc., VISITING MOTORIST. Labour Party Activities Sir,—lt was my intention to take no further notice of "Sam Similes,” but I have been requested hv some of your readers to reply to his latest letter. "Sam” sets himself up as a defender of the local Labour Party’s inactivities and in doing so betrayed his lack of knowledge of the actual state of affairs. Regarding Mr. Barnard’s suggested visit, “Sam” stated: “If I were to call on the president of the Gisborne branch of the Labour Party I would get the necessary information.” I very much doubt it, for it is a well known fact that Mr. Coleman and the president are not in close harmony. The president, himself admitted some time ago that he had not seen Mr. Coleman for months. This clearly shows Mr. Coleman’s attitude as being independent of the local branch and its officers. In my first letter I stated that there has been several public receptions to Labour Cabinet Ministers. Not on one occasion has the president been called upon to speak on behalf of the party or the majority of electors in this district. When the president is ignored the whole narty is ignored. "Sam” sfates further: “As to the work of our local member, are his strenuous activities that culminated in the resumption of work- on the Gisborne.Napier railway being overlooked? Is the distribution in the district of wages totalling £4OOO weekly deemed a thing of no account?” Admittedly Mr. Coleman stressed the necessity of the railway in Parliament, 'but that was his job. The Government, and particularly the Minister of Public Works, will expect some credit, other public men and institutions have been tireless in putting forward the claims for this railway,. and therefore must be given recognition for their efforts, the Railway League, Chamber of Commerce, combined deputations of the borough councils of Gisborne, Wairoa and Napier, the Poverty Bay Herald, Mr. Lysnar, Mr. Lissant Clayton, and others. Certainly the distribution of £4OOO weekly as wagfls in the district is of some account, ijmt to attribute this solely to Mr. Coleman’s efforts is ludicrous. There is no denying Mr. Coleman’s strenuous activities. It is because most of these activities have been on behalf of those who are known to he opposed to Labour that there is great dissatisfaction amongst the electors, and it is just as well it should be known that there is likely to be a movement that will demand a change of Labour candidate for the next general election. What of the supposed intelligcnsia and stalwarts of the local Labour Party. Where are they? Why This suspicious silence? The public is judging and passing comments on the weakness of the Laboqr forces in Gisborne, if they cannot reply to the cross firo of a few words of criticism. What will tho. position be when the hid for power is made by the capitalistic forces? The position to-day is that Gisborne is lost to Labour politically. In the coming conflict fascism is sure to assert its powers as far as Gisborne is concerned.—Yours, etc. , GS.