IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 230, 28 September 1929, Page 8

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

I LAND TAXATION. AN "HYSTERICAL OUTCRY." (To the Editor.) During the debate on the Land and I, Tax Amendment Bill Mr. David Jones T"! that the question of how the bill was to affect production had never been consiS nor yet its effect on unemployment -n-' can hardly be correct. Anyway, the Su 3 should naturally result in increa ed L& because it will tend to compel the X i °?' holders to make full use of the land I l ' with some or all of it to others who S Thus in either case production will i ■ ' creased. It follows, therefore, that uiW,'"' ment will bo lessened. It is iff pSSt "tax the whole fanning community f 0 ki ° about a few subdivisions," as Mr Wnv » asserted. This is gross The great majority of working ffiSS escape the impost. Consequently I m VP V credit for having more sense thin to sunn"! the big squatters' hysterical outpry o f hi ruin to the farming community. Mr "Wiltson says he is anxious to see closer settlenw in New Zealand, but the taxation So? accomplishing it does not appear to him tn I a fair proposition. What would he do? P land at fancy prices, thus further benefit;; the landholders at the expense of the land/ as well as enhancing the prices of all surroumf ing land? Asked whether he was in f av 2 of taxing out or buying out, the late Lord Morley replied, 'Taxing out every time" jC if there is injustice in this method-which T ' do not admit, as the amount of land valim increment of which the workers have been robbed, to say nothing o f their loss of freedom has to be taken into consideration— it amount, to this, that a small section of the community has to suffer to some extent in order that th bulk of the population may be benefited and even those who have been hit will still sharp in the increased prosperity of the country To make some sacrifice gracefully demonstrates their patriotism; to make an unseemly ru'mnus as they are now doing shows their utter lack of patriotism, especially when they have for years escaped their fair share of taxation saving their pockets at the expense of all classes of workers, including the poorest of tli» poor. I am surprised at some of Mr. Rust worth's remarks. For instance, he said that the principle he was in the House to maintain was the levying of taxes "according to ability to pay." This is a Tory idea, and I had been under the impression that he was something of a Radical. How would that idea work out in the world of commerce—pay according to ability to pay? It is the height of absurdity Taxation should be levied "according to fits conferred." ELECTOR. BACHELOR FLATS. Your correspondent Mrs. R. Watson does not stick to the point. The question under discussion is the desirability or otherwise of the erection of bachelor flats m the heart of the city, to be occupied by members of either sex. The question was a straight-out one between the council and the promoters when Mrs. Watson wandered into the discussion with irrelevant information as to what is done in other kinds of flats in other countries. She mentions flats at Tooting with four bedrooms; what has this got to do with bachelor flats, and what does a bachelor want with four bedrooms ? Let us stick to the point—bachelor flats for both sexes in the heart'of the city. Will Mrs. Watson produco her credentials for her authority to speak on this question? What is her experience, which is the keynote of the whole question, (a) of the working conditions of the heart of the city from actual contact, not hearsay? Has she lived in the locality? v (b) Has she ever managed or controlled bachelor apartments ? If so was it under the present conditions of living? Has she lived, cleaned, washed, repaired and renewed and scrubbed in such establishments? (c) Has she met the "gilded youth" of our age who travels i with his gramophone, his "lady friend" and his taxi or motor ' car, who is very partial to "bachelor flats" if he can get a footing? I claim that Mrs. Watson, living at St. Helier's Bay, with commendable fantastic and philanthropic ideals, cannot have the same intimate knowledge of the question as humble "Landlady," whose very livelihood depends upon her die- | cretion, discrimination and experience. This is what counts. "Landlady" regrets that for business reasons she must remain anonymous, , but is perfectly willing to place herself and her information confidentially in the hands/of the editor of the "Star," and will prove her claim. Jazz parties in bachelor apartments are, unfortunately, not a stretch of distorted imagination, but actual fact, and if Mrs. Watson really knew anything about the matter she would be the first to recall some of her wild utterances. So far as "Landlady" is concerned this correspondence is now closed. THE LANDLADY WHO KNOWS. TAUPO RAILWAY.

Having just returned from a motor tour to Rotorua and through the Wairakei district, I have come to the conclusion that Sir Joseph Ward did the right thing when he stopped the progress of the Rotorua and Taupo railway. I have- consistently supported the Reform Goveminent right through the sixteen years of its existence, but I am ashamed to think they were led to support such a project as that railway. If they had spent the amount of money it has cost by employing a number of men seeking employment during the last two years in cutting off the dangerous bends in the main roads they would have earned the sincere thanks of the travelling public. I have travelled in various parts of the world, but I do not think I have passed through such an uninhabitable district. J«E»PISHING ON THE WHARVES. We read much about fishing in the gulf. but we do not hear much about fishing on the wharves. One time you could fish on the wharves with a bent nail, but the Harbour Board took from the public that privilege on account of a few scales being left ou the wharf boards. I happened to stroll around the Western wharf last Sunday for a httle fresh air. Fresh air! Why, it was impossible for me to stay there very'long for the stcncli of barrels of decaying fish heads. The contrast is striking. AUCKLAND CHEMIST, WORK IN THE COUNTRY, I noto with interest the account of a procession of unemployed going up Queen. Street and Karangahape Road, Are they » u really and genuinely looking for work? I v . wood-splitting work to !>e done. I have asK 11 no less than seven men who are walking t"£ streets here in Papakura looking for work, they won't take it on. 1 have asked them W i give me a price. Sly place is only two n»W from Papakura, and some say it is too I* out. I had the experience with a young of twenty-throe who was swagging it. I™o him in for two days and also gave him money> and I offered him "work, from picking up conta (a child's job) to splitting wood. He sa>" he preferred to travel the roads and- see "* country and get a meal, bed and a few shilling* wherever he could. Another young couple VW« a child, was offered fourteen'shillings per W for one month, and the man said fourteen shillings per day was no srood to him. Papakura, ' FRANCIS O'BKIE>'