What Our Readers Are Thinking

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 4, 27 June 1949, Page 4

What Our Readers Are Thinking

POWER CUTS Sir, —First of all I must offer, my congratulations to you for the excellent manner in which you have dealt with the power cuts nuisance. To have made someone sit up and take notice is a step in the right direction. However the report on the Council meeting needs some comment. The Mayor made a suggestion of a 10 per cent cut on all consumers. What an unfair method that would be. Mr “Burnail” would still be units ahead of all of the householders who have put themselves out to save power.

I have heard the Rotorua system is based on an average over months with percentage reduction. If so, that is not the system for us. Any system which favours those “Burnall” people shouldn’t be' for Whakatane. The one and only fair system is that operated by the South Taranaki Power Board. Incidentally their system has been adopted 'in other centres.

This system divides consumers into four classes:

(a) Lights only, domestic supply, (b) Electric hot? water. (c) Electric range. (d) ‘Hot water and electric range,

Each class is allocated so many units, when this quota is exceeded the consumer is cut off until he has saved the number of units he has used over his allowance, needless to say most people only have one disconnection. They have learned to save.

Now Sir, in this so-called democracy of ours we must surely have the right to use power when and how we like, providing no one else suffers. The above system is the only one enabling this to be done. Surely if people like to sit up to hear a ball by ball description of Test cricket or a running commentary on the Rugby, their pleasure should not be restricted by this irksome cut off. Provided they don’t cut other people down, isn’t it alright?

It is quite apparent that appeals to save power are futile; a trip round Whakatane on Sunday evening convinced me of that. The number of houses with five or six lights burning was astounding. There is only one way now, a fair quota system as outlined above. The average household will not be affected but the “Burnalls” , will get it where the chicken gets the axe. Well Mr'Editor, thank you for your space and in closing just one thought. The chaos in Whakatane in the event of a flood, fire, tornado or, an earthquake. Would the power be on soon enough? Yours etc., “QUOTA.” Sir, —We are not impressed .. . with the statements marshalled to justify the Borough Council’s efforts to obtain a larger allocation of electric power, for as pointed out previously (following a reported statement made by the Mayor) we evidently have sufficient power for all consumers if it is equitably allocated. Rationing schemes elsewhere may not have been an unqualified success, but in comparison who would claim that the circumstances existing in Whakatane are an unqualified success?

What an enormous amount of clerical and other work must have ■been necessary when rationing was introduced in Auckland! But consider the result thereof . . . from the savings effected the Board recently increased the individual ration, whereas previously they were just as desperately short of power as we are here. Unquestionably thg Auckland Board has had its problems, but their objective has been achieved without inflicting undue hardship upon the consumers. We reiterate, Sir, that if the Borr ough Council had got down to it two months ago (before the senior office assistant became ill) and instituted a rationing scheme we would have been in a much happier position than we are today. Each consumer would be receiving a fair share of the available power and the ‘pirates’ would perforce be economising too. Yours etc.,

’ONE WHO HAS CONSERVED.’

THE GOLD WAR Sir, —I heartily endorse Mr Bradshaw’s statement, “that a group of financiers are out to dominate the world.” It is a well known fact that the same “fraternity of big gain hunters” were responsible for war No. 1, the slump and War 2. The result of which is a financial and economically starved world and the accumulation of four thousand million dollars worth of solid gold buried in U.S.A. the price of which by a stroke of the pen has been doubled, for the purpose of lending it back to a starved world on the same old Shylock terms that spoiled the Egyptians. In the meantime the world’s populace bears the yoke

with Ox-like endurance. Why? Because it is governed by formula of “divide and rule” with the big stick of fear of the “Bogey Men” who are put on the world’s screen by Gain and Co. Years ago it wasp" Anarchism then Bolshevism. ism followed and now it’s Commun-/ ism, all of which means and mean munitions of war, which costs' more with each turn of the wheel. Does any sane person believe that the majority of folk the world over want war? Who then is responsible? Mr Bradshaw has answered the question correctly. The big “gain hxmters” have engineered the world’s politics into a yoke of oxen to haul the world’s production to their garners, or “drag the juggernaught of war” over a helpless humanity. Schact who should have been shot, has been released. He was -responsible with the connivance of certain interests in England for millions of British capital being invested in Krupps armament works, which closed British factories and shipbuilding yards and drew Britain’s defence teeth. Schact is a financial wizard. The Hon. Co. of Munitionmongers need him to dress their armament windows for the war they are working for and more millions of money. Bookies are pilloried for 1 gambling with money freely offered. Wharfies are ostracised for selling their labour in the dearest marwet. I have no time for exorbitant demands from any section of society, but let’s stop cavilion over the wages of those who do something and go for the guys who are out for gain with absolute indifference to the tribulation of the world of humanity they are exploiting. Forewarned and forearmed is quite alright but don’t repeat the old mistake of selling cheap and buying dear for the benefit of the world’s big gain hunters. Yours etc., HARRY SERGANT.