Citizens Say

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1010, 28 June 1930, Page 8

Citizens Say

(To the Editor.)

THE BIG TEST •In common, doubtless, with hundreds of your readers, I was vastly amused at Minhinnick’s “pre-view” of the Test match at Eden Park, with the ground one black mass of spectators and the seven players who had managed to struggle on to the field indicated by arrows. But, sir, many a true word is said in jest (and particularly in a cartoonist’s jest) and I shall be very interested to see if Minhinnick’s prediction comes true. I feel sure that it will, unless the authorities take heed and change the venue to the Stadium. I P.D.Q. GERMAN NAMES A pat on the back goes*from me to your correspondent “Esteban” for his reference to the remit to the New Zealand conference of the R.S.A., that, a number of geographical features in the i Dominion, bearing German names. | should be re-christened. Such a “foot- | hng ’ suggestion reminds one of the proposal in the dark days of war that Wagner, Schubert and other distin- | guished German composers should he banned from all musical programmes throughout the British Empire for all time. Even without that “for all time” tag. the proposal was ludicrous and met with the scorn it so rightly deserved, rhe remit is on a par with it and can only be described as baldercfr sh. HENRY O’MAORI. COAL PRICES May I quote from your report of Mr. Holdsworth’s address dealing with the Auckland Electric-Power Board’s attempts to keep up supplies? “We are experiencing difficulty in obtaining sufficient quantities of the right class of coal for which this station is designed to operate, and since we allowed our contracts to lapse, on the closing down of the station, we

find ourselves placed in the position ol having to pay 10s a ton for slack coal, as against 7s lid at the mine.” This announcement, sir, carries with it a sinister implication. Are we to infer that coal vendors are deliberately taking advantage of the present situation and, to speak plainly, profiteering? It is the duty of either Mr. Holdsworth or the coal companies to make a clear statement of the position. WONDERING. “The price of slack was raised to 10s a ton in November of 1927 but, owin'- to a contract with the Auckland - 1 cm er Board, which did not expire until ‘VK 11, x 1929 » J t ,^ e old price of 7s 6d was still charged,” said Mr. W. D. Holgate representing the Waikato mines, when the letter* was referred to him. He explained that chain stokers had been brought into use in many factories at that time, enabling results equal to that of steam coal riL^%vff CUred w . ith J=lack. At the same umt the companies had reduced the prices of house, kitchen and steam coal by amounts ranging from Is to 3s a ton , publl< v ■with a view to bringing the values of the various grades more inro line. He considered that the Power ' ac tually v ®ry lucky in being Jl ‘ . “ °? ce Ol> th “ supplies oi sia» k a\ailable as few- other mines would be able to supply the daily 600 tons required. The mine owners had offered hnd \ s t T I - slack which hatj been stored outside for h?h in their carbonisation plant, anrl also face coal at the old price of 17s 6d a ton. "Far ;TN ar “ a '-G.aUv doil g v..,.. r : tf * the board, although we iui.ply'7r? J m ff rr t a e pun7 r o f f U rece b nt momiiT concluded Mr. Holgate. —Ed , The Sun.' BANKING PROFITS It is amusing to road some of the comments on the Bank of Now Z«aIrsLho r nc t' sh t et Most of lhc writ- , rusb mto print on the subject merely air their ignorance. The Communist adopts the attitude that busi7 s ! s a form of legalised robbery and his warped mind, filled with cl.-css hatred eagerly fastens on the suggis tion that someone is exploiting him hke to n ? ny Cltl ? ens - who would not like to be- associated with Communism. (Continued in next column.)

are far too ready t/» suggest that pro--1 tits in business necessarily mean that ; someone lias been exploited. The • business man lias no friends: if hie business doesn’t show profits, that U | evidence of mismanagement. If fc does, ». is a profiteer. Admittedly we are passing through difficult times i and the community is suffering, not because the Bank of New Zealand, the i A.M.P. Society and other institutions I are making profits, but because they • and businesses generally are not j making sufficient profits. It is only ! out of profit that there can be accuj mulation: viz., the surplus of producI tion over consumption. If there is no ' accumulation there is no capital for [ development and no adequate provision for employment for the coming ; generation. So far as the Bank of Xew Zealand ; s concerned, while tho [ dividend on the paid capital is hh- ; eral, the earnings, on capital amd rei serves employed are by no means exi cessive. In any case, half its profits j go to the public in the form of taxation, rates, etc., and dividends for the shares held by the State. The heavy charges on its earnings restrict >t s ability to meet the demands of the trading community for increased credit. In the same way excessive taxation and charges that art heaped on business • nterprises are the chief factors in carding their expansionMoreover, iState and municipal enterprises involving the employment of j vast amounts of capital that are ex- ; empt from the obligation of earning j anything toward the cost of public ; administration, are contributors to the present depression. The services they render are inefficient and expensive. ! They produce no surplus and the ! burden of earning revenue to meet the ! insatiable demands of governing ; authorities is thrown chiefly on pri" vately-controlled capital invested ; companies. Your correspondent. Mr* j Simmons, and others of a like kidney have more cause than they wot of to 1 thank their stars that some concern* arc making a profit in th£ community or there would soon be no jobs fo* anybody outside the public service i the farming industrv. F.S. NOTICE TO CORRESPONDED r : “Inkwell.”—A person aged 19 can b* sued for debt, but the creditor must prove that the goods supplied were necessary goods and were require* by the infant or minor in his particular station of life. The law is strong!? in favour of the minor.—Ed., ! Sun.