Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 836, 3 December 1929, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

MOUNT ALBERT AFFAIRS Sir, — As a ratepayer I attended Mr. Munns’s meeting at Mount Albert at which he made, to my way of thinking, an unwarrantable attack on Mr. Rhodes, Mayor of Mount Albert, because the Mayor had sent a telegram to Parliament asking for the postponement of the Auckland Transport Bill. Mr. Munns, however, did not tell those attending the meeting that the action of Mr. Rhodes followed a unanimous vote of the Mount Albert Borough Council which supported his attitude. If Mr. Munns had been lobbying foi the Bill for weeks it is surprising that he was satisfied to fight for the measure in its weakened form. The Mount Albert citizens are well informed as to the position, and have every confidence in Mr. Rhodes and the council. RATEPAYER. TRAMS TO AVONDALE Sir, I read in your paper that a deputation waited on the Transport Board recently regarding the expediting of the trams to Avondale. Were the members of that deputation regular patrons of the service offering, or do they own their own motor-cars? Will they make use of the transport facilities provided, whatever they are, or may be? If they are recent purchasers of shop property near the intended tram terminus at Avondale, are they prepared to pay betterment values toward an undertaking which the Transport Board’s customers (not motor-car owners) would vote against if the franchise were extended to its passengers, instead of, as at present, to ratepayers only? The creed of the ratepayers appears to be the betterment of the value of property, leaving the actual passengers to “earry the baby” of higher fares, without having the right to secure the mode of transport they desire. BUS-ITE. MORE BETTING Sir, — I should like to make a protest against even the consideration of any application for a totalisator licence for motor-cycle racing. Horse racing is bad enough with £25,000 a 'day being spent on it. With wages at their present standard, it is plain that many are forced to husband their every penny. The gambling spirit may be present and powerful in a man otherwise careful and considerate of his family. That

is the sort of man who must be protected from himself, both for his own good and that of his wife and children. There has been much said about the evils of gambling, but, to my mind, the evil lies in its undoubted power to iead the working man into spending more than he can afford in the nebulous but evergreen hope of getting something for nothing. Betting must be checked as far as possible. Fines for bookmakers are all very well, but they are laughable if other fields for gambling are opened up. I suppose it will be dogracing soon. The natural result will be a human race—-to the Charitable Aid Board. COMMON-SENSE. BROADSIDING ARRANGEMENTS Sir,—I was among those who were thrilled at the exhibition of broadsiding at the Western Springs Stadium on Saturday evening. But that is as far as my’ interest was allowed to go. The arrangement of loud-speakers around the ground was so inadequate that, with the strong wind blowing, it was almost impossible to pick up a word that passed into the microphone. I suggest that if the broadcasting, as well as the broadsiding, is to be a success, the loud-speakers should be arranged generously around the arena Instead of in cabinet form in the centre of the ground, so that the sound would come from behind the people and over their heads. Such an alteration would. I think, make for more satisfied patrons. IN-THE-DARK. WHO HAS THE MONEY? Sir,— The New Zealand Welfare League’s statement of figures in The Sun is indeed interesting, and would suggest that there is a modern tendency for wealth to be more evenly spread throughout the community. While this is true to a certain extent, the factor that it does not pay to have all the eggs in one basket is another, and many wise people now spread their assets over a diverse number of institutions for the sake of safety Professor L. T. Hobhouse says:—-“ln-herited wealth is the main determining factor in the social and economic order of our time.” Our own investigations of the subject have convinced us that the inequalities in the distribution of wealth and income axe ex-

cessive and unjust. In a publication called “The Distribution of Capital in England and Wales,” page 73, the following interesting table is published:— Range. A veraga £ Number. Holding. £ Under 100 .. .. 13,500,000 100-500 gross .. 2,099,700 500-1.000 net .. 1,026,200 <J7 1,000-5,000 .. .. 791,500 5,000-25,000 .. .. 236,900 IrJJ* 25,000-100,000 .. 41,150 5M 100,000-500,000 .. 7,100 201,W* Over 500,000 .... 537 *>24*,^All over 500,000 17,702,000 6,y The above table, which is composed by a reliable authority, will preclua the assumption of the Welfare Leaguthat the distribution of wealth is w*oer than generally supposed. Clay states that in 1912, one-mnet of those who had incomes in Lngiari and Wales received one-third of * * national income, and actually owne more than two-thirds of the proper y that was in private hands (Transactions of Manchester Statistical Society 1925, pages 62 and 64). On the ot hand, Mr. Runciman has recenuy pointed out that there has, during last few years, been an immense ■ crease of the saving habit, and t over 15,000,000 separate persons own property worth £777,000,000 in aggregate. This is some approach i the Liberal slogan, “Every worker * capitalist, and every capitalist worker.” If shareholders would o. >. form themselves into associations, an take steps to see that the emplcj-ee-of the concerns in which they j 1 placed their investments received more moral and ethical reward their labour production, a lot of " so-called “labour unrest” would d appear. AUCKLAND TELEGRAPH ECONOMIC COMMITTEE.

LOWER PRICES ANTIDOTE

I was pleased to notice on >? farming page on Saturday the 1 of cheery optimism in which 3® writer greeted the lower prices wool. It seems evident that £ en< L lowered prices have to be faC , throughout the whole of the , wor and New Zealand must share "his ten dency. But I agree that the tie antidote for this is not pessimism anticipation of disaster, but rat * renewed enthusiasm for productio which after all Is the only way to u ance the market. It can be done, an it is being done. Economy among people themselves is perhaps greatest of all influences in our in®■ * tenancy of prosperity, and until people learn the lessons of tuf * which certain sections of the c 0 munity are daily trying to teach the we will not be able to take full tage of the increased production^