LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1287, 16 November 1911, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

FORCED MILITARY TRAINING A WRONG. Sir,—The world seems to progress slowly from tho savage traits of earlier times, but war in these latter days, is more lioruble and cruel owing to the wholesale murder of tens of thousands in place of a few IDO warriors of olden times. Present war, then, must be-looked upon as part of the savueo stage.of man's development. Jt is contrary to all reason, morality, and ChrWt's teachings. It does not favour the righteous cailse, as war decides only in favour of the strong. Standing armies and Dreadnoughts arc thought bv .some- to be tho only safeguards for peace. Are they? I contend otherwise; and there are signs that portions of tho human race are 'advancing to more sensible and rational idea.', and are iuclined to discard tho old blatant military lighting foolishness.

Tako President 'faffs recent great scheme, in accomplishing the compact with America and England that they shall never make any difference that may arise between them a cause for savage war, but to submit even any question of national honour to arbitration. What if only Germany would come into such an agreement f Tlisn, with a combination of England, America, and Germany, the peace of the world would be absolutely assured, ajid tho Czar's proposals of some few years ago. regarding tho gradual disarmament of nations would be' quite a natural sequence..;' To show how' tho' civilised business world is. waking up .to; tho" fact that war is essentially siily, I quoto tho leader in a recent issue, of a joint stock company's journal, which is headed, "The -Polly "of Fighting":—

"All tho.groat Powers pay a big war indemnity about every ten years, That is to say, the amount that would probably bo exacted from any one of them at the end of an unsuccessful war is actually paid over and over again in preparation; and in the case of some countries defeat would be less costly to the taxpayer than the continuous expenditure on soldiers, .sailors, gnus, and explosives. If the democracy of Europe could-by sonio mental epidemic suddouly and simultaneously catch this idea that; they aro suffering the. consequences of war all tho time, without its compensating excitement, then the limitation of armaments would indeed become a live question.-' As it is, we all go on bearing our .burden, spending millions of money, employing millions of men and horse-power, interfering with .the flow of capital and the peaceful production of wealth, when flip opportunities exist for making a business-like bargain and securing permanent peace by treaty. Tho world must be very tired of these Governments which profess their fervent desire for peace, and in the same breath order a few more Dreadnoughts or another, army corps." . . It is a retrograde New Zealand law that enforces by its penalty clauses compulsory training-and should-never have' been enacted without a vote by referendum. , .'. It is impossible to outline in a brief letter all that oould bo said. on this subject, but I must thank yon for alloting mo so much of your vohiablo space.—l am, etc., :G.W.-MISTER.

"SACK THE GOVERNMENT!" Sir,—Every thinking person in this country will admit that tho greatest interest in this or in any other countries is the labour interest. I use the term "labour" to include all who arc under the necessity of working for their living. The question the labourer's.now have to consider is this:. Has their condition improved under the Ward .Ministry? Even 'Sir John Eiudlay admits that" it ha.s not. Sir John says that "the cost of living-has increased}-out of all proportion to increase of wages, so that tho last state of the workers'is worse than the first. -Now, I hold that this fact alone is sufficient to warrant the workers delivering judgment against tho Ward Government. Tho Prime Minister proposes to set up a -commission-to inquire into the cause or causes"of the higher cost of living. Why wasto time and money in this way, when he knows vcry well that land-monoply and the Customs tariff are mainly responsible for the increaso in the prices of commodities? Of course.wo all knoir that the larger output of gold and the consequent deprecia' : lion of its value has resulted in higher prices of labour products, but it has not resulted in any advance of wages proportionate to tho rise in the prices of commodities. If wo havo a commission it should be to inquire as' to why it is that wages havo. not advanced in the samo'ratio as tho rise-in the cost of living. But is thcro any need for such a commission while'wo havo .beforo us tho fact that during the ''time-: this 'Government has been in office, land values havo advanced from 200 to 300 per cent, -The product of labour is divided into three parts: Rent, or tho prico paid for tho use of land; interest, or the price paid for tho use of capital; and wages, tho remuneration of labour whether by profits or in fixed salaries.

;Now it .is quite dear that you cannot increase any ono of these three shares without proportionately diminishing tho shares of tho other two. Economic rent has advanced in this country by leaps and bounds, and consequently wages and "m, T et ! lrn ta capital havo declined. Ihis is as plain as a pikestaff. Therefore wo do not need a commission! What wc do need is an honest and courageous Iroyornmont fo appropriate tho advance in land values by taxation for the benefit ot tho whole people and' to remove as many as possible of the 700 taxes nowimposed upon commodities. This is tho only policy that will have tile slightest eftect upon wages. - But this is the policy that the Hard Government steadily re•i"i SC f, (lopt Tnt-roforc, it is responsible lor the present impoverished and unhappy condition of Labour, and therefor* the labour vote should go solidly against i i^", rd No Government should bo allowed to hold othco in the name of Liberalism, that has not (he courage to deal drastically with monopoly and privilege, for it fails to fulfil its true mission, it deludes the people and it .prevents reasonable pi-ogres--. I "cordially agree with your correspondent, Ldward I. Lyans that it would ho much better for all sections of labour to let he Opposition..take, offico thanto continue in power a gang of fat, strict,- office stickers, who, .ivliilo professing' Liberalism, havo no fixed principles, and •don t want any. It may truly be said of hem that they increased-.tho riches of he fat man and starved the poor, and their policy still is to benefit tho few at the expense of the many, and the many are sons and daughters of hard toil. Workers! Out with such a despicable Government.—l am, etc. • KEGINALD WILLIAM DI3NTITH. Auckland, November 11, 19U. THE SHIPPING DISPUTE, Sir,-fu your issue of yesterdav I read an artice concerning the conference atpresent, between our representatives and the shipowners. 1 should like to point out to you that there aro no "Jailer j„. creases in the demands, the increases that you refer to aro for men doing six-hour watches, lou state (he large demand of .£3 per month is for the six-hour donkeyrnan >- 0 «-, sir we would bo very thankful it you would state to the public clearlv what (his six-hour donkeyman means, as tho public are as much interested as wo are in tho;u demands. Now, the six-hour donkeyman (as you are pleased to term it) means that ho has to put in 12 hours per day to complete his day's work. Wo boast of Now Zealand being an eHithour country; it means that he worksfour hours per day overtime, which on an average per month is 100 hours (ono hundred) overtime, this time only at Is. per hour would be £">.

I will try to explain to-von how it is carried on nt.present, as I tliink you don't understand the positioii Ino well.' At present ho receives a, pound extra—to lirnmun working six-hour watches. This extra pound is for getting up strain. Now, getting: up steam means if steam is ordered for, say, C o'clock in the morning, the doiikeynmu may have to get up and start work at 1 o'clock or ;i o'clock to have the steam ready by six o'clock, anil all he receives is one pound extra. Now, ! sir, we would like your readers to judge for thcmselvi's, us we want, the public to ■ judge, us, and give us a fair hearing. Sixhour watches are no good in any stokehold or engineroom, and (.hero is a very simple way of getting out of this largo demand, (as yon are pleased to term it), and that is to do way. with six-hour [ watches and substitute four-hour vetches,

which, I am sure, would be more acceptable to the men. You state lie would have as much money as the chief officer. Even if he made as much money as the captain he would have to work the necessary hours overtime; lie would lose, his sleep and leisure; then why should lie not be entitled to it! J The officers sent their ease to the Arbitration Court, and when the Court gave them their award they would not siand by it. We have come to the end of our agreement, and worked twelve months over; we have given the. necessary notice and withdrew, su you see we are fighting- tlio owners on a fair and square principle. No, sir. we don't think our demands are anything out of the ordinary. Generally speaking, it means .£1 per month to seamen and firemen, extra overtime, rates, and a few minor concessions. We hope in all fairness to us and to the public you will place this in your columns.—l am, etc., FAIR PLAY. . [Our correspondent appears to assume that we have expressed an adverse opinion on the-demands of his union. We have not commented on the merit-? of the ease at all, but merely expressed the views of the parties.]

OUT WITH THEM! . Sir,—Our. Continuous Government has threo very marked characteristics—(l) It has no fixed principles, as the Hon. G. Fowlds testifies. (2) It does not. (ouch monopoly and privilege. (3) It sticks to office at. tho sacrifice of Liberal principles. Such a Government ought not to bo allowed to hold office in the name of Liberalism, for it is a hollow sham, and in its hands the interests of fhe many will ever suffer. No matter what tho consequences. Labour should rise, iind sweep away such, a Government. Wo are told that to do so would lx> to put a worse Government in its place. Better eo than to ' have in office a professedly Liberal Government that is afraid to face and fight monopoly to tho death. Hut tlio Opposition party daro not burden the toilers and increase tho riches of the rich as this' Government has done. To retain offico any time they would bo compelled to reduce the cost of living and.generally improve tho condition of the workers. But whether they did this or not, we should have a much healthier Liberal party, and that is the chief need of the country. Men who put olhco' before principle are no good. Governments that live without a- policy are no good. A professedly Liberal Government that will not touch monopoly and privilege is posi-. tively loathsome. But it the democracy will'not riso and oust this Ministry, then it is too good for them. Any kind or Government is too good for them. It is said that wo get the kind of Government .wo-deserve. This is true. But we may repent, and deserve a better Ministry ! than any we have had. | We have compulsory military training for boys, but not for men. What a cowardly measure! Greater political cowards than the present Ministers never held office in any country. It is tho moot marked feature in their Ministerial life. .. This Government has lived on the ignorance of the pebble, and it even stoops so low as to offer bribes of higher wages to .Civil Servants and railway employees on the ovo of a general election. Nothing could be mor'o despicable. But if those servants ever get fhe bribes paid to them will they be'any better off? Not a penny piece Why? Because economic rent and tho prices of commodities will advance proportionately 1 to the riso in wages. Therefore the money offered as bribes to catch the unwary may be truly said to bo.tiro counterfeit coin of a counterfeit Liberalism. • "Tho new evangel." .Absurdly moderate as are tho proposals of the Hon. G. Fowlds, they' are far too big for Ministers; but they are proposals which, if carried into effect, would benefit the industrial and commercial classes more than all tho legislation we have had for many years. ■ '-'-■ .There is, happily, every .indication that the main body of tho voters will quit themselves like men in this great campaign, aiid that in a few' .weeks the Wi>rd Administration will have ceased to bi —l-amf etc., - EDWARD T. EVANS. Auckland, November 12, 1911. ■:•'■ WAREHOUSEMEN'S UNION. Sirj—As a member of tho abovo union. X.-desire to .express my strong disapproval • of- tho unfair method adopted by the' employers. The warehousemen's dispute'was scheduled to appear before-tho Court of Conciliation on November .1. J''or some reason it was postponed till November 10. ■ It was again unaccountably put off till November 11, and now, to cap it all, appears the notice in vour issue of Tuesday, November 11, stating that tho dispute has been postponed indefinitely, owing to the absence from Wellington of two of the employers' assessors. ; This means, sir, that if the union bo" very lucky it may get a hearing about next March—always providing, of course, that all the assessors bo in Wellington. "It -is within the bounds of reason, though, that ono or more of the employers' assessors may again have cause to bo absent from Wellington, or, perhaps, contract a sudden "tummyacho" or suchlike indisposition, which will have the probable effect of again postponing tho dispute indefinitely. .It seems very obvious, sir, that the employers are relying solely on theso postponements to dishearten tho members of tho union, and think that by continually putting off tho hearing by one excuse and another, the members of the union will gradually drop off, and tlio union sink into oblivion. But let me state right here, sir, that the membership, instead of decreasing, has increased considerably, and I can confidently fnv that this union is not going to fall through simply because tho employers' won't "toe the. line," and they can rost assured that the procrastinating, dodge won't work much longer. Tho inevitable will have to be faced. In fact, if the employers could see an inch in front of their noses, they would understand that their unique method of opposing us—procrastination- has no oilier effect than to strengthen the union considerably. The Warehousemen's Union en's.ists of closn on -100 members. Now, ] honestly believe that wero the heart of the matter known by the public—if they understood tho miserly, low salaries the majority of us wero receiving, they (the public) would clamour for the Government to take tho matter up.—l am, etc. IMPRIMATUR. WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT. Sir,—At Mr. Wilford's meeting held last evening at Petouo the question was asked whether ho was in favour of removing the present disabilities the women were subjected to at the present time, preventing her from attaining tho honour of being an M.l', if she so wished. Mr. Wilford evidently did not appreciate tho question, and instead of answering in a courteous manner he treated if. as a jest, and said ho would suggest that the women have a seat in the Upper House, as he thought they would feel more at homo there. ■ At once tho inference was grasped which was not intended as complimentary. Mr. Wilford uses tho Indies very much to secure a return to Parliament himself. In fact he had a l,i<lv by iiis side on a public platform in the hope of gaining more votes. Evidently in that way he thinks them capable, a'nd has no objection to them being (o tho front to serve himself. Sorry to trespass—l am etc., RESPECT.