CORRESPONDENCE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20174, 28 February 1931, Page 19

CORRESPONDENCE.

Correspondents who do not comply with our rules set out in the last column ol our their r ie«erg W '" excuse us lxom noticing ST. DAVID'S DAY. TO THE EDITOR OP THE PEEBS. Sir,- —To-morrow (Sunday), being! St. David's Day, the minds of the Welsh people now domiciled in Newv Zealand will recall many of the home i beauties and incidents that took place i in their native land. During my stay i in Wales last year, an old identity i of my native village composed the following lines in memory of my visit, j being greatly impressed with my ability I to speak my/ native tongue after an ; absence of so many years. I believe that if you would print them■ they would revive pleasant memories in the minds of many Welsh folk in Canterbury.—Yours;" etc. T>„ L. DAVIES. February 28th, 1931. I Enclosure.] "MY NATIVE LAND."' Arouse with true devotion And let your minds expand i Let feeling give expression The Toast is Native Land . Cambria, delightful Cambria The Soil that gave mo birth 1 « Those rural rocks oi Gwalia My Home, my Joy, my Mirth. Chorus— My Native Land, Though far away from thee ■ Thy hills and dales, my lovely Wale* Are ever dear to we. Rude, rugged, and roman.tlc Land of everlasting hills Where echo sounds terrific Midst her cataracts of rills Mountains of ancient glory Adorned with lovely vales Creation in its beauty My Home, my dearest Wales. Chorus—My native land, etc. My soul delights to wander On wines of thought divine To viow with love and wonder Those native hills of mine. Absorbed in thought, enchanted, Lost in the view sublime ■ X see the Hand exalted, That made this home of mine., . * Chorus—My native land, etc.

POST AND TELEGRAPH CHARGES TO TUB EDITOR OP THE PRESS Sir. —All sections of the community are being asked <to make sacrifices, and it is right that ail sections, should; but some are fteing compelled. The new postal and telegraphic rates just .announced will call lor sacrifice and economy. The only ones who will be •hit by the increases will be tho§e who cannot pass them on, and the unfortunate P. and T. employees, whose services can be dispensed when the business falls ol!.: A sacrifice ,of a different kind will no doubt also be made by 'all, jbpt -it will be in the direction of, as far as'possible, doing without services which they have grown to use freely 1 and-, perhaps extravagantly. 'ln this attention nos _ now i been forced to' lines along which it will Jbe ; discovered very substantial econpmies j can be effected, . and, these will no ! dou|)t, continue even for a long time after reductions again come-''. along.' | The Department is to Be thanked! for i focusing, attention on avenues where the economy axe may applied, ► bnt it is more than likely that the* rank and 1 * file of the service will not thank . the business head which conceived such drastio increases. \ ; Only -iponojpojists . increase charges ln times of falling prices, and it is fortunate that to a large number, there .will be. jescape jay, rigid economy, much as it hugta to - reatrict 'the use .of a very fin© public service.—Yours^ WYVNOtfT * | February 27th, 1031. ; < '' ' * 1 TO THE EDITOR. ISlf TEB '***o*. L Sir,—The Postmaster-Geaeml sieeros to be out to kill the goose <whleh haji "jteidthe golden eggs so long. One of-'the! only two Departments that are paying; under Government ( control is iO- be ' penalised to help to-boost up the others.l | What it wjll mean to the general public and business ppbple, a iked, to help in cutting'expenses,/passes my comprehension, , v { Business people make a big point ife, i'their .order departments to postage. ; Instead o£ helping ' them it ha? added j enormously to their, various'.' troubles (Unemployment and reduction of wages/' etc.),- r ,* f,lj Th, parcel postage is out of all rest-, son. Hardly anyone will be* sending < goods through th&t source "who"can use < the motor and railway services. in ( the/country disttict»-4t am have to go to their local post office for

HUBERT CARTER RECITAL. <\ ! f EARTHQUAKE BELIEF. ~ Next Saturday; March" "-Jth, atj* the Radiant Hall, 'Mr Hhbert Carter, New Zealand's poptilar, vocalist) assisted by Messrs Ernest EnipSOn -at* solo pianist} and Mr Beck && J solo- 'cellist, will give. a vfrlecTvtilcftl' recital.- The recital is the. bntcome Qt> an offer< by -Mr Hubert Carter 'to |jlng for the Mayor 1 # fisirthquake Belief Fund,, and the idea baa.growp;io 3U<sh an extent that the concert ; will be given under jtbe patronage of the Mayor', , the Hattn'onld Society, tjiei Jjiedertftfelj iiie Male; Choir, the Orchestral Society, tie Eroica Olnb> wd the Aeolian Club. numbers will be chosen from Old English songs, tpgfcther' witb ti group by wod-i drn EngWh''^cdapohefc< Th®s operatic group, will,consist :of the Upmanee from* "La Gioeonda" the prize' song from- "Der Wteiatewinffers," Lfl Reye from- "Manon/', "Your Tiny Hand -ii Frozen," from> f "La Bohamei" and "On With, the Motley" from "I Pfcgliacci." Many of th® uongi cliOsen will be heard in C&riatchurchfor the first time. Miss Lillian, Harper -will accompanist, The box plan is now open,and tickets' may bo obtained from .members of any of the various- societies- mentioned above, .There no taa^ ST. JOtiN AMBULANCE. acknowledgment of gifts. The following' gifts to- the St. John Anabulara|b Association are , acknowledged,:—Mrs Jfclmston, 57 Francis avenue, baby 'clothes; Anonymous, baby clothes; Girls* Presbyterian Qfphptfage, handkerchiefsJ Hollander,and Co., children's dresses; Anonymous, l two bolts crepe; Mrs f G?ay, 1& PaparOft j dresseS; Receiving ffaitfe, .dresses; An." onymou*;; old clothing,' mUb Soatt,' "pil-low-slips and Rosebery fehildren's clothes and toys;,Miss*Taylor and boy*s ■trousers* Union D&ncihg Club,* £3 JSaj Mts "J.W.fS., Afitibnrfon Nnraing Division, two parcels hospital dress-.' ings one .parcel of Nothing; -Jf* Fapps, Philip street, surgical dressings; Ambulance Nursing Division, shoots; Boyds Brothers -and Kirk, packing cases- \ » i * $ * i* if 1

j all parcels, so can just as easily to ] l the railway station ,#pd say® killings i that way.—Tours, etc., '] COUNTBY BESIDENT. i February 27th,' 1931. : •' v.y;. \ TO TZt£ ZDITO& OJT TBB F&EBS. " ' i Sir,—! Last week the Government of New Zealand decided to reduce wages ten per cent, to conform with the reduced cost (!) of living. No"w they have added no less than 125 per ■ cent, to postal charges, which will work out at about one per cent, added cost to every business in the Dominion, which must be passed on, and so add to the cost of living. Surely actions like the above are worthy of a word called "inconsistency." , . .. The best advice in Australia's troubles in my opinion were the words' of Sir Joseph Carruthers, and I will repeat them. Sir Joseph stated: "It is" not possible to tax people into prosperity." A very logical quotation which, coming from one of Australia's best statesmen, is worth taking notice of.—Yours, etc., COBNSTALK. February 27th, 1931. ,

WHEAT AND FLOUR. TO THJS BDITOB O* THIS PR ESS Sir, —In your issue of the 25th inst. '' Consumer,'' after giving figures showing duty, freight, and charges amounting to £l2 Is 2d on imported flour, leaves it to your readers to consider if the wheat industry in New Zealand is N worth while. 1 . These figures would make some people +£ • v hat th ®y are paying''double for their bread on account of the protection the wheat-grower has, but I understand that the present cost of flour per ' loaf is 4d, whereas if .wheat was reduced i to half the preaent price it would mean i a reduction of 2d on a loaf. ' ''Consumer" seems to throw all the I C ?i ? n the wheat-grower, forgetting ! all those between producer and consumer. But since he is so- ' good at ' giving figures of costs, why not giv6 the lot? He has forgotten that he asks fpr his bread to be delivered daily in quantities as small. as quarter loaves, and that the man on,the round has to de: -liver hundreds before b&! has earned His wages and expenses. Then the bread is usually "bookedi",for which there'are extra costs, to pay for the bad debts and bookkeeping,'whereas if "Consumer", did as many of the farmers do, bake their own once a week, it would reduce these costs. What is more, the farmpr to-day is getting,,s* 3d to 5s 9d for. milling wheat, or ,at least some have sold forward at these prices, though the buyers are asking them in some cfttps to take less than the contract prices... But taking 5s 6d as the average, the, grower gets Id per lb for wheat after paying threshing costss so this cannot be con* sidered expensive food. ' , Now. why any person from Christchurch should complain about the pried of wheat X cannot understand, for everyone must know that is' quite a lot of. money coming into Chmtchurch for the wheat sent' to 'the North Island, whereas if you kill the industry it will mean' buying from outside. And in; what way are we going, to And employ*, ment for the t now' employed in manufacturing implements which are* used'in the growing Of wheat, and also the railway, mill, and farm hands! . 1 Then it, must hbt .be forgotten,' that > wheat in *Jiew ■ Zealand was." below world's parity three years ago, and it is hard to say what we would have t? pay if we had to rely' on Australia, which at times has droughts. Besides Australia pots a rather heavydttty on our-better,and bars potatoes altogether, even if her people 2© short and,tthei r prices go beyond *2O per tan, wjiileours rot for ttte wani Ofo Uttle eash we l have hejre; slead of paying It a*ay to other «su. tries, even if by so Joing iee obtain our bread at it halfpenny per lb cheaper.—Yours, etc., , '• v ANOTHER CQNfsTTMEB. { , 'V

THE FARMER AND T»B UNEMPLOYED. j *0 TMf KIUtOR 0* TO JOttW I of ploynwnt Board. So tar, a» Mr Coatea so tersely puts it,.the Board tinkering with tbo problea fend lias n&l a* jet 6votvpd a Mf**? noraio Bcbemg. I reaMi»s tfce ftWoulpef,,and so this problem ftanMft be cured' or even alteyiatod it short notice. ,J y direction;' tad *btftdt«%M p fof r&JK Id&able'' benefit- 'to needs- at tbrt time ol .«±©m WV&ft, po.il lo farmers in thfir respective «liatrkts to haye shelter fonce3,orerffe<f, ,Xh»io musi bo hundreds-m the C*iti rburv diatrifb to Whom sacb fence* would be of great benefit , ; Plantation Board.itt&fcsfc plewmi^wad.' inland apart t*W" •^ lug,. shows the priMrti^lwity bate, a& it* obi«cWv6 l .p^Wwmefj wu^wfs&'wfts endi* m*t by. wtmatr mtWprti**; #monht which would be reoeiitedjii atwtonanof' mtvm«nt. At present taw range! 'c thifraiiti' 3018?* b be employ nient «t a raaeonftble rat* a* !wafce. f. OiWtwW; th«' «»tilt *Hb«* exitably be ai«*r«. and more unewilnr'sehente," if fina6<», i« wovfcrntherit ooiijala&iiiit fn the firtt ]j.acf by'-rfttvi'dinjg the tifeoeMaW funds,-ta-tkinwg t a liett' ovfr tbo iimWi_rj ghtfl, allowing the occupying'- farmer at any titae topaj off tbeoriginal cost 01 im-provement-With interdrt 'added at i> lo* rate,. This would bo defcidefflyW- tbo, advantage of the-/whole comilianftir} who are ttfovidinjf jEuflfte that -under tho present mtitfiftf- 'f&J&ktjtttc. expended on uoproductrpfc And iU .bany. cases unneewsatt; or at least 'unyemn* rtcr'dtivS wort etc.,,, , v February 37th, 19$1. . t <t ■"('•[ 4v { i■ Vt v.- -. 11 k_ 1 ' Sirj—lyaotiefe in this isatto of, your paper tha* tl.e North Ganterbnry ''exectitiTo "of the New Zealand F&rmets' tTnlou 'hfia decided to &s6 tha Goveiimitnt to icimpoao the di tie? oh imported etOck food Aa an I'sampJc <*C batflfteed 'grefcd I think/thiii -would bo hard' heai;; Wheat-growiug is_ reLeuinß higher tariff'protection than any other industry in the-eooatry at the prese-st and now the wheat-grower wants to wax fai at the expense of the impoverished dairy-farmer and poultry-farmer, He seonu ttf forget 'that flcution for hw { be shall be a benefit to tliO ftonmutitv, it was intMded :tha(T'hi! beeonto a paratite. . ; ' I am- Btrttggilrtg to Jna&e -|iaro f -Ife i»g srom ponltrj, and * few <ovs>na V 1 /* fY.'i.'/

.^ st y ear slijdjng £cale 'of 1 '&%} JoWltty bul, ana £1 per -ton duty on br&n and pollard would/htfve inereaßed itA £3O- - ~ I would Jfte to Ta ß k t is it fair that a primary producer o& a small holding of a few apres should be taxed to the extent of over £IOO per annum*for the benefit of a chosen few?— Yours; etc., , BE MORE REASONABLE. February 26th, 1931. FISHER STABILISATION SCHEME. TO THIS EDITOR OTT THE PKSSS. , ' . kir, —lt is' gratifying to find The Pbess supporting a proposal' for an investigation of the Irving Fisher money stabilisation plan so strongly urged by our now defunct Board of Trade in its annual report for "1919, As the comment in your journal . last Thursday followed on a resolution adopted by the Nelson provincial executive of the Farmers' Union after listening to an address on the Fisher plan by me, I would bo grateful if you can spare me spaco to clear, up oiie or two points. Few copies of Professor Fisher's books seem to .have reached New Zealand, and it is a' great',pity that what is really a very pimple plan in principle should 'be so little understood. " ; It is a to.tal mistake to think that, we cannot independently take up this plan with mucli prospect of success. The whole point about the plait" is that it is the one practicable scheme that gives promise pf immediate relief.-. It is an equally great mistake to think' that we need some elaborate central banking scheme to benefit from tie Fisner plan. We can operate it <juite ( well' without elaborate machinery, i AdvocatSs of central banking seem; to be unaware that* central blinking pretty has proved^very different from central banking 'theory. Those who prefer fact to fancy will not'build much oa such.institutions. ; 1 Our pound to.-dtvy .is a dishonest, pound that robs us by its value.; The Fisher plan is to make' it an honest ponnd. i ■ .. , . „, Our pound to-day is constant iij, gpl<l v but variable in purchasing, power. The Fisher plan is to :mako. it in gold, but constant in purchasing.ptwer. We never see the,.gold thflyfche ponnd note ia. supposed to represent r and hATo very'little interest'in gold a 6 sjeßu What; matters to us, is what our pound note will ljuy. Under. th 6 , ,F&her .plan we would make up' a representative basketful of staple each in proportion to its importance to, fso community! and the whole '.'representing exactly what one pound would buy it the point at whidb we stabilised. Thereafter a pound would for the amount of gold'nepeasary from time to time to buj that basketful of commodities. ' a . ! ~- Am uur national income here, w bo much bound up with our export product trade, it would \ probibly MibeatV.'J* make up a basketful of woo)/ moatj tnjtter, cheese, etc., as u our basis- of tiß.9?"lation. ' As to the point at whi(&;Wg should stabilise;'No one obviously jnU, to perpetuate a pdsition'' with every-' thing out of joint as it is bilise in a period of deflation.,it s4ry to go back a .point before the deflation began, W,tho schema had- been adopted in "the Board of Trade At, would faa>e been liocosanry to select * point prior to thto ''tlsfr. period and to stabilise <m that lotpLr awsy; and m&e' mehfc all ■ plan ia -. that makes our <u4it value. can safely bjfolv raakc (ontrarts 1 in for fataze 1 nayincnCs of given «ihfa of dav nc.fuu do none of .theso tJuags'

filS $ * f iSam %M SJjSMSa %&£&''s and now irMmrefi' of the - 'to* taeeb it, r "When he bad >sloo ia «lear . > | and 1 free j t'o 'spend* "after"} paymg? in- ~'4 Hwcesb.; htfinow baa £9) oomin^ .and. I'only £l7 clear-'" TB»i is what is- * the famersttf this _ counter. *> That is where the JFisher scheme'will ,' save them, for it' Trill at restore * ' the proportions, to what obtained at. -; the 'par point. ' Adapted* on 'the basis suggested/ the plan will- mean that instead of the farmer instanced having £l7 gold pounds free to,spend he will •■ - have ~£33 gold poundß'free .(£66 Now Zealand pounds). Ihq free spendable 0 -; income ot "the' entire "c6HUBVmi?f— the ' > active producing ipaft <rf : "J® > ?imilaj:Jy .increased. That doubling ,of thespendahia gold , income of thV fanilers and others sittii- ;' lariy burdened in whafcwilJ compensate the importer, for. the, increased ex change. Jt givsa i»is' buying power wjwlosi'to them. His - % overdraft intertgt charges alsowill revert to 4 their old proportions, to his turnover. I» abort, as in the '.'United States Bjft»ker" declared iff January, -1989, the' Pjsher. , scheme, while,not * or cureall, will "directly, o& indirectly accomplish more than, any other "reform pro- " posed in the world - j?v, As I iitfonned ithe Nelson Farmers? IJnip^ t <.X have re-' - ceived a letter Professor. JfisTifer,. stating. .that: hie,' considers New,.. a-* land sould « quite .oat his . plan without ' ty, Other conn; , tries, ife>Would ;be£|sr get *the rest of the Empire mat once.. A direotor pf the Bunk of Ehgland "in response ''to,, enquiry, has advised me "• 'that while London ia >■ against^doing anything-..-but stick rigidlv to gold .fh<^e = .-is ■ always : : the- possibility theoretical/objection* to'a. cause" yjlt : 'J..■: be waived immediately .people * areO:!-N pushed by emergency. ,'Tm emergency surely .eicistii in this cotfntry. The -ful- - A'i lesti .inade". of I's the Usher compensated j money-unit-'^? out* THE AGE OF> CREPULITT. *i