LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 992, 6 December 1910, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

SOME PEOPLE ARE NEV-R SATISFIED. Sir,— Aje j'Ou not rather unreasonable in suggesting that the Attorney-General should turn round "two or throe times"? Have they not all been revolving like .turbines lor the whole session, till sides, back and front, are merged in a misty nnd uudiitinguishable oneness? If driven faster they will disintegrate centrifugally, and once deceased we shall no longer be permitted to refer to them. Ami then! ...

Aud as regards language. Is not .your reporter somewhat inexperienced? The colloquial and written language of the people usually differ. In a mixed crowd the favourite colloquial and expressive expletives bubble forth interspersed with every utterance. Such words should be reported-with dashes. Then a Ministerial speech might read,in this fashion:—The lion, gentleman remarked "that the , s ought to be well ashamed of themselves for making such , —- statements, which were all , ——, 5, and if his Bill were carried they would be , sorry for themselves for daring to tell such s." If a correct system of. reporting were adopted, no .one could be offended. Obviously the newspapers are to blame.—l am, etc., VINDEX. December 3, 1910. THE COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE MOKAU PETITION. Sir,—ln a letter published in your columns on Saturday,. Mr.- Joshua Jones makes a number of statements which I will charitably describe as peculiar. The evidence is now in type, and will shortly be a-t the disposal of the public. Then JI-γ. Jones can be accurately judged. In the meantime, however, allow me to state that I'did not make the silly statement in paragraph one of Mr. Jones's letter. A perusal of the words carry their own condemnation, and, I repeat, were never uttered by'me. The evidence is. the best test. Regarding paragraph two, I again deny the statements made therein. ' In. paragraph three Mr. Jones states that ho was allowed to ask questions, but this -was iio good, as the witnesses were not on oath, a graceful compliment, surely, to the witnesses. Paragraph four states that I handed Mr. Jones's documents to the Hon. Dr. Findlay. This is absolutely false. Iu order to give Dr. Findlay an opportunity to sec. what the accusations were I alloAX'd him to see the evidence, holding that- this was no breach of the Standing Orders. I also wrote to Mr. Hiudmarsh, Mr. Jones's solicitor, telling him that he could tako a copy of the evidence. I believed that as Mr. Hindmarsh, acting for Mr. Jones, and the Hon. Dr. Findlay were materially interested, the fact of giving them- the evidenco did not mean publication, which' the Standing Orders forbade, and was fair to both. Subsequently, I showed Mr. Hindmarsh and Mr. Jones the Standin" Orders, and also informed them that I regretted I could not then give them a copy of the evidence, as it had been held that even showing the evidence to anyone constituted publication. I again ask 'that judgment should bo withheld until the evidence is available.—l am, etc., . . .T. H. DAVEY. TIME FOR ACTION. Sir,—To one. who has the welfare of the. people at heart it must have been a saddening and disheartening spectacle to see tho way in which the Supplementary Estimates wore rushed through in an almost;, ompty House. In a few hours tho huge sum of .£119,588 was disposed of as a mere trifle unworthy of any scrions debate! The only moniber who ventured any criticism was quickly brought to heel with the crack of the stock-whip in the shape of a vote struck out for his particular district! Think of it! A ,£5,000,000 loan negotiated at .£9B 10s. on short-dated debentures .of only three years' currency, so that three years hence wo have somehow to raise another loan to replace it at the usual loss in pommission, and other charges—and the money flung right and left in haudfuls as though it cost nothing, while the House sits by in silence! It is enough to bring a judgment upon us. Let us hope, in the interests of our country, the Opposition will fling over selfish aims and ambitions, and come ■ forward with a national policy. They will sweep New Zealand from end to end if they do, and clear the Augean stable of tho present set of plungers who are now damaging tho country for all time.—l am, etc.,

DISFIGURING THE CITY. Sir,—Allow me to endorse every word that your correspondent "Harbour View" has said in to-day's Dominion about the disgraceful action of the City Council in;disfiguring the landscape by opening out. two large quarries on the Thorndbn Hills, and thereby creating two huge eyesores similar to those* at Koseneath' and at. Mitchelltown. I do hope that some great power will be invoked, and put a stop to these disgraceful operations, which so glaringly contradict tho City Engineer's remarks about Kelburnc at the gathering of architects here the other day. Another procedure of the City Council tha't I should' like to see put a stop to is the practice of spreading coal tar over the streets and pavements of ttie city. I was in FeaUicrston Street to-day, and it was in a filthy, black, sticky state with fresh tar. I wonder how the'expensive dresses, of'the ladies looked when they arrived at home. Wherever this tar is used on.the streets it soon grinds up into a fine black dust or powder, and is constantly spread all over tho buildings and the city generally, and gives everything, a dirty, dingy appearance that is common to all towns and cities in what is known . as tho "black country" in England. I sincerely hope that every well-wisher of this city will rise up and prevent the. council in their efforts to destroy the natural and other beauties of the capital and give it a reputation as a "dirty hole."— V'"' Ck " THOHNDON. December 2, 1910.

"FLAPDOODLE," Sir,—l see that Mr. Jennings asked for a definition of the above term, but no one seamed to be able to give it to him. It is a wonder, too, for Sir Joseph Ward and Simc of his Ministers have a hugo stock of it on hand, which they ladle out on any and every occasion when they can get an audience to swallow it. Sir Joseph ■Ward literally shovelled it out on the occasion of his ad misrricordiam speech regarding "that wre'.ched pamphlet." But this is by the way. The term is American, and signifies "stuff to feed fools on."—l am, etc.,. ' GEORGE THOMAS. Nelson Street, Petone.