Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 171, 10 October 1927, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

BATHING FACILITIES AT PONSONBY Sir,— Permit me a space in your paper to air a grievance. For the past six years the bathing facilities at Shelly Beach, Ponsonby, have been sadly neglected. On Sunday afternoons at full tide we are denied a swim in the open sea on account of the absence of a dressing shed. I would suggest that the council supply a long-felt need by rectifying this omission. It could make a nominal charge for the use of the bathing shed which would then serve a two-fold purpose by bringing revenue to the council and by offering a necessary convenience to the bathing fraternity of Ponsonby. There are two things lacking in the present council—vision and foresight. I trust this letter will be the means of doing some good. F. HARROWELL. Ponsonby. ANOTHER QUESTIONNAIRE Sir, — Having read Mr. Campbell’s letter and the article by “Look-Out Man” in Saturday's issue of THE SUN, I would also like to put some questions to the Mayor of Mount Albert. When confronted with a letter from “Argus,” stating that over 100 men were dismissed, he replied that there were only 30. Did not the Mayor blame Mr. Cooke for their dismissal? Did not the late engineer on his oath deny the implication made by the Mayor? Did not Mr. Cooke say on oath that the discharging of the men was done by the Mayor and a committee of the Council? Who is telling the truth? Will the Mayor make a comparison of the estimates provided two years prior to Mr. Cooke’s appointment, and those for the two years of Mr. Cpoke’s appointment? Did not the Mayor claim that the Mount Albert Borough was employing more men than all the other boroughs? Should not the Mayor have resented the blame of the incorrect minutes and placed it upon the right person, thereby upholding the dignity of his office? Are all the other officers of this borough thoroughly capable and competent of performing the duties they are paid for? There is plenty of scope in Mount Albert to relieve this distress of unemployment, as Mr. Campbell has pointed out. Will this stony-hearted council do so? ARGUS. ROADS V RAILWAYS Sir. — Evidently the Government has made up its mind to throttle motor truffle wherever it comes into conflict with railways, and we find that it is backed up b>- a conference of railway servants which assembled in a small Southern town, and dropped such a bomb-shell that all the merchants of New Zealand are panic-stricken. No doubt deputations will be waiting on the Prime Minister from all parts of the Dominion to prevent it from being brought into effect. They actually passed a resolution to the effect that the’' would refrain from having any business relations with any Arm who patronised motors in preference to railways (I wonder how many of them ever dealt off a merchant in their lives ) The Prime Minister is continually harping about the good roads being used to compete against the railways. Certainly they are and why not? Who is r.aymg for the good roads if the heavv traffic is not? It is better for the lavpayers of New Zealand to lose five shillings by the railways and save 10s

by the motors, than to save the five shillings’ loss by the railways, and in the end lose as much again through lack of facilities and business control. Once a monopoly is given to any section it is to the detriment of the rest, as has been demonstrated over and over again. Just as an example of how the railways get things done, I will give two examples out of many which have come under my own personal notice, one of them as recently as this week. A manufacturing f.rm had to repair a piece of machinery for a mill which ha.d broken down, with the result that its hands were all idle till the repairs could be completed. The firm had men working during tlieir dinnerhour as well as overtime iri the morning to get the machinery away by rail in the afternoon. A carrier was engaged and at the works waiting for an hour before the work was completed. It was put on his wagon s.nd he hurried off to the rail, where he was stopped by a uniformed official and told to bring it back the next day because he was a few minutes after 4.30, the time for receiving goods. The same thing is often done. Case No. 2, which happened this week: An Auckland firm sent a small load of cases t aid machinery to the rail, which happened to be a milking plant destined fer Hamilton. The carrier was about four minutes’ late, and was turned back. He went to a private firm of carriers who were in the act of loading three lorries for Hamilton. The load was transferred and reached Hamilton late the same night. These are things that happen very often in Auckland, not in America, and they speak for themselves. GOOD SERVICE. JOURNALISTIC PIRACY Sir, As a regular contributor to THE SUN, I would like to join in your protest against the journal .stic piracy practised by several newspapers in New Zealand. It came as a very rude shock to me that articles I had written for your paper and which your company had duly paid for should be stolen, in a most blatant manner and published by other newspapers, without ever the courtesy of acknowledgement. Such action seems to me to beplaying it very lown-dowr . Surely, if commercial firms adopted similar practices, they would end in the Police Court. CLAUDE ALLAN (“Jack High.*’) IS EVOLUTION UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED? Sir,— “A.E.C.,” in Saturday’s SUN, makes many dogmatic assertions without offering proofs. It is on record that Darwin visited a South Sea Island twice in the course of his investigations, 25 years between the visits. First visit—cannibalistic state of the people second visit—peaceful, human-right - respecting state of the people; cause of the change—contact with Christian teaching brought by missionary enterprise. I wouid ask ‘A.E.C.” how man:,' years it would take missionaries labouring with a tribe of, say, gorilla*, to secure like results. 'Where are the bridges over that gap—ape to man? A moment’s thought about the working out of this so-far-unproved philosophical hypothesis known as evolution shows that its action could never produce “species.” but only infinite!/ vaned “individuals.” Further, scientific conclusions are ever in a state of flux, the accepted belief of to-day gtving Place to a fresh one to-morrow. °. nl y thus does science keep progresNation does not claim to kee;p

progressive; it was given by God once for all. I submit that in the end, whenever that may be, scientiic resciutt will have caused the discarding «f many mere philosophical hypotheses (evolution among them), and will pro« to the hilt the actuality of every Biblical statement which to-day the scientist challenges. If science and the Bible agreed to-day, then eithto* the Bible would be false or the end c( things has come. The very divergence of the two is to be expected. As regards there not “being fi* more than 20 years a single authority on the subject in the world who la* any doubt about the truth of evolution,” such a statement is rash, because it must break down if even one n*** is quoted, and hundreds could be. * quote Professor William Bateson, distinguished English physicist, wi* in 1322 stated in public:—“lt is impossible for scientists longer to agi*J with Darwin’s theory of the origin* the species. No explanation whatev* has been offered to account for® ' fact that, after 40 years NO DENCE HAS BEEN DISCOVERS*® verify his genesis of species- *** there are many, many more emimwj scientists who firmly hold and opw-J state that evolution is still Mg"™ ai. 1 ever, a great guess The smp« dous gaps are still unbridged, Ajj while that is so, I find nothing ta tg the place of revelation, and no illogical in a straight-out belief in Blble ’ w. H. RICHARD&OK* FILM STAR QUEST This enterprising competition*^** you have inaugurated, deserves attention by the public. It J* & public’s votes that New *oct—send a girl to represent ua in and that means the world. After watching carefully tn - of the ten most charming , ctr cg6 week I could see only one do among them. like to *** For my part I should the most intellectual typ« - tatpresentative. The studios care of the paint pot, etc. pa btf how Auckland’s picture-go will use its brains next wee*. OLD NEW ZEALaNPB^ UNEMPLOYMENT Sir,— . con** I notice that a Mount A * J at 0 cillor is reported to have® peal to the Mount Albert ,( Council to organise ” j WHO'* helping the unempio. ve(l - coatlike to know if this ’s the ciiior who, as a “*•*£s a ’•STS missal Committee, helpea borijjjr or more employees OI «•■■■ council, and thus co® 8 ", to the already long 3ist ; ployed.