THE ALIEN QUESTION.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5500, 15 June 1917, Page 2

THE ALIEN QUESTION.

To the Editor

Iu the News last week I noticed a letter under tho above heading. Now, it is quite evident.it was written for one purpose, that of "getting back” on Mr Morisou because he had tho eourago to tell out plainly what eueryouo (oxeopt the drainage boards) are talking about. It is a crying shame that these men, who no doubt bought land at a low figure, are using every legitimate means within their reach to make these lauds worth £3O to £4O per acre. And who is to pay for it all Our children’s children. It matters not who does the work, or at what cost. If the price is too low, they simply ask for more—and get it every time. Would our boys get it? Summum Bonum admits they "make good money;” and he might have added they don’t make it out of me, so that s all his trouble.

Again, “better occupations have opened up for our men.” How many sons has Summum Bonum got fighting for their very lives, and for our very existence, for 5s a day and a big hope of a desolate aud lonely grave iu au alien state, or worse, returned to New Zealand with shattered minds or limbs, compelled to work to pay in'erest, otc , ou drainage works, the money for which was paid out with a free hand to alieus. Again, "the men who pay the bills are quite satisfied.” Why tell au untruth? Surely Summum Bonum knows they are not satisfied? Tho ouly men who are, judging by my inquiries, are the drainage board members and their associates.

As for Mr Morisou,. ther e is no man in Te Aroha who kuows the farmers’ mind on these matters better than he does—more pewer to him; it is a pity that so often business men consider too much their own trousers pockets. The farmers, of whom I am one, in and around Te Aroha, kuow Mr Moiison for what he is, and are quite willing to back him as a fearless, straight, outspoken, honorable man.

Shakespeare said, “The evil that men do lives after them”; and I believe the wrong that is being done today will live long after Summum Bonum aud tho drainage boards are forgotten. But the x memory of a good man lives in : —"Not what seems fair, but what is true ; not what we dream, but good we do. These are the thiugs that shine like gem", like stars iu fortune’s diadem.”—l am, etc., f Farmer