Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 148, 13 September 1927, Page 10

Citizens Say —

“AS YOU WERE” Sir, — I notice that at last evening’s meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council it was decided to remove the trees or pungas from the slopes of the crater where they have been planted. We are all apt to make mistakes and it sometimes takes courage to acknowledge them. I think the Mount Eden Borough Council is to be congratulated cordially for having taken the right course in admitting the error of planting this wonderful crater with trees and in rectifying its mistake by ordering their uprooting. All Aucklanders will agree with Mr. F. Morris that the crater should be left “severely alone” in future. NIKAU. WHAT OF THE HUIA? Sir, — I would like to express my keen appreciation of the excellent lecture delivered in Auckland last night by Mr. F. S. Falla, whose writings on New Zealand bird life, especially in the coastal areas, have been read with considerable interest from time to time. The fact that so many Aucklanders were tempted to leave their firesides last evening is sufficient proof that this subject is one of more than passing interest to New Zealanders in general. There is just one question, however, I would like to ask Auckland naturalists. Is there any possibility of the huia still being in existence? Has this bird been heard of in recent years -in mountain fastnesses, as, for instance, in the South Island? Also, what is being done for the protection of the kiwi? Perhaps Mr. Falla would tell us—this is an aspect he did not touch upon last night—whether there are sanctuaries devoted to the preservation of this bird. BIRD-LOVER. MOUNT ALBERT AFFAIRS Sir,— Wake up, fellow ratepayers. The time is opportune for you to ask the present council to resign. Let us Join the city by the shortest route possible, where we will get the benefit of having our affairs handled in a businesslike way. Our water department, alone, is an unwarrantable drag on our resources. It takes four men five weeks every year, to read the meters. Another man is engaged all the year round going over the same ground re-reading in answer to disputes. A clerk and at least one girl are occupied with the resultant clerical work. Under amalgamation s.ll meters would be discarded; every house would pay a , flat rate on a percentage basis along with the general rate and what a saving that would be. There are something like 800 stop meters in the borough at present, I am told, and the council is now having all these repaired, which will amount to a few hundred pounds in labour and material. RATEPAYER. Sir. — We are now getting a good deal of information in reference to the Mount Albert Borough affairs: and the letter which appeared in THE SUN of Saturday from Mr. W. D. Fulton was an eye-opener. It is quite evident now from the little information we have

(To the Editor.)

that the ratepayers have a right to know the truth in reference to the noconfidence motion passed on their engineer, and other matters. The first letter appearing in THE SUN in reference to the dismissal of men was never satisfactorily answered, and now the same thing happens with the engineer. I listened to Mr. Rhodes’s address in the Edendale cinema prior to the last election, and when he was asked a direct question as follows, “If elected would you be in favour of dismissing our present engineer?” After eulogising Mr. Cook and the good work he had done for the borough, the Mayor said: “I have personally remonstrated with Mr. Cook for working such long hours and burning the candle at both ends.” Now, Sir, X, with other ratepayers, want to know why this change? It was certainly on account of the efficient engineer that the loan was carried. —JUSTICE. DRINK IN THE KING COUNTRY Sir, I lived for many years in the King Country, and am thoroughly conversant with local conditions. There is a growing feeling among residents there that a referendum should be taken on the question of licence or no licence. Drink comes into the King Country area, and citizens realise that the King Country people should be placed on the same footing as the other residents of the Dominion. When the Treaty was signed forbidding alcoholic liquor from going into the area, the King Country wls a no-man’s-land. It was not anticipated that the present anomaly could—or would—ever exist. There is no reason why the electors (both Maori and European) should not be allowed a vote on the question. It seems incredible that the vast zone known as the King Country should be disfranchised, in so far as the question of liquor is concerned. The amount of drink that conies into the area* is an indication that the majority of the people living in the two electorates are, like the rest of New Zealanders, moderate drinkers It might be mentioned, that, tha.nks to an efficient police force, “drooping” in the King Country has been reduced to a minimum. HERBERT MULYIHILL. THE HARBOUR BRIDGE Sir, Mr. Carter still, inferentially, denies that international trade is based on barter. He wants to know what will happen if, assuming our exports and imports are running about even, “the ladies of New Zealand demand a further £2,500,000 worth of silk stockings and furs and the men a like amount in motor-cars.” The truth, which he misses, is that the demand for imported stockings and cars is created by, and dependent upon, the purchasing power supplied by our exports, and that being so, an even balance is, in the long run, assured, though, of course, there may be temporarily, a preponderance one way or the other. If New Zealand refused to export anything at all, the ladies would “demafid” foreign goods In vain. Mr. Carter’s letters abundantly show that he is quite unfamiliar with the economics of trade and that is the reason my theories, based on accepted axioms, appear “astounding” to him. All foreign trade

is transacted through the JJntrol * 3 ' they have the power to =° 01 : ports and imports. , .MO®'* i power to adjust their foreign „. rv: . I Hence imports (“visibltf- — f ti* ' | lie' J must, and dc. bet ■balance swings to » nc * <■* 1 banks exert a constant P" 1 —me yo » equilibrium. Does it"f -WP“ correspondent that if i- . jn # I ally” said that New Zeal-m i porting steel is “« n< I "f., a nd in out of the country, I porting our butter is 'trading i tiling? Ii .international i suited in two losses (f • e ) B • plied by Mr. Carter ln can*: not passing strange that -- tio i on at all? This J. be o f a ll s^' I absurdum of that silli®--I which I have just quoted- c o^ ' [-This correspondence 1® *** :jp —Ed., THE SUN.] _ NOTICES TO CO^ES**^: . The ** lu “Nature” (Swanson i j- _ „j n gL, Borough Council la * t! . on that the pungas P 1 "”!', Ed<® of the crater at M - " gyR, be removed. —Ld., • /