LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2389, 19 February 1915, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BE TRAMS DOWN MOXHAM AVENUE. Sir, —It is not my intention to take ud the columns of your valuable paper with a recapitulation of tho tramway time-table, which reads plausibly, and .can be purchased, for Id., and enjoyed at leisure. But surely the City Engineer must be joking when he suggests ' as the only remedy for an inadequate ' tram service that, after waiting fifteen 1 minutes for a car which comes along packed, we should exercise a little pati--1 ence. and wait another 7£ minutes, with 1 the brilliant prospect of hanging on by ' a strap in the next car. This is a peculiarly comforting suggestion for women with young babies and small children, who are, bo.it remembered, among tho least fitted to stand • aboutfor a long time, or to walk up to Hataitai. , . • I should like to make quite clear, that it is on behalf of such people, women with children, invalids, and elderly, persons—those .who cannot easily walk that I' write. I "am not concerned with the business "rush" hours detailed by the City Engineer; these are well catered for. and if we want a seat we can nearly always obtain one after 5 o'clock. My journeys are usually made in the afternoon, between 1 and 4.3o—the very time when women are urged to patronise the cars in order to avoid the crush, and to minimise the inconvenience'to business men. ■ The picnic and other traffic on'fine days needs to be experienced in order to realise the discomfort of'it. , , Might I also point out that the two intervals in the nour (mentioned by the City Engineer),' when; we have a 15minutes' wait between cars constitutes half the hour; during the other halfhour we have .a 7}-minutes' service through "to Kubirnie), - which service is usually. packed with, long-distance traffic. ■ • Far be it from me to suggest a shel-ter-shed for poor Moxham Avenue, but if, we might only 'revert to onr former two very necessary car stops, .at Gpa Street and the Anglican Church, we should, be able in wet weather to shelter under a 'battered tree and a paling fence. But I make this suggestion with bated breath, lest it I .result m some further "improvement/ s }J£k the deletion of the , Anglican Church stopping-place, which would be just about the last straw. . . As for the Constable Street extension—well. I have lived in Kilbirnie for over thirty, years, and am not a land speculator, consequently I do not look forward to that as any solution of the present difficulty.—l "am; etc., • STILL QUASHED. February 7, 1915 ; , IMPORTED RAILWAY ENCINES. Sirlt positively makes one sick to read'the silly piffle that has been and is being published by certain newspapers

in regard to tho importation, of railway engines from America. It is amazing how easily unthinking'people caji be lead astray at times, by the_ vapourings of a political party journalistic hack. For years past tho cry in this country has been "insufficiency of tolling-stock, utter inadequacy and inability of the management of the railway officials," etc., eto.; and now when the Government decides to make an improvement in 1 the existing state of affairs, , they are subjected to abuse and odium by those who should be amongst the first to offer encouragement and. assistance. All along the line, those who have complained the loudest about railway management have been the variops ohambers of commerce throughout the country, those who are considered to be (and who consider themselves,to .be) the mouthpiece of the' rommercial world in the Dominion. What a pretty spectacle to see one of these bodies holding a meeting and passing resolutions of protest against the action of the Government for having the courage to tackle this problem and import a few necessary engines from America. Surely the chief offioers of the mechanical branch of the Railway Department know whether they heed engines or not; and surely 1 they know whether ; they can build them in New Zealand.' Aid surely the Minister of Railways the General Manager, the chief mechanical, engineer and his staff thoroughly thrashed the matter well out before deciding to place an order in America. I ami only a layman, and I am quite prepared to trust to their - experience and advice. The greatest curse which the Railway DeDartment had to submit to in SeddonianWard days was political interference— and here we have the _ ugly monster trying to poke its nose in again. If the people of Wellington would carefully read over the list of names of those who took part recently in a Chamber of Commerce discussion on' the matter of imported engines, 'I am sure that a few moments'' analysis _ would produce quite an amount of "vivid colour. 1 And all'this under- a cloak of patriotism. Oh! Patriotism! Is thy name Liberal? Let me recommend all true Imperialists to stand for a few moments and gaze into the shop windows not a hundred miles away from the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce, and observe the quantity of 'cheap American ironmongery and tools displayed, and then go away and. talk of patriotism. In conclusion. Mr. Editor, I am thankful that we have at present in this country a few 'inen at the head of affairs who can place their Imperialism and patriotism on ,a plane a little higher than political party capital.—l am, etc., ANTI-HUMBUG.

RE THE HICH PRICE OF BOOTS I AND, LEATHER. Sir,—Twelve, months ago I drew attention, per medium of your columns, to the total disregard of the public to their own interests_ in supporting bootmakeirs, who made it a speciality to advertise that - they only used imported leather when .repairing boots. The sign outside boot repairers' doors "English leather only used here,"'proved; that the public willingly gave encourage-: rnent to these men, /who, in realilijr,, were,, and are, the worst type of civilians a young manufacturing country support. For the position the public now find themselves in they have no one to thank but themselves. '' They insisted,, by their support, of these men who got their living here, yet, who would not use the local tanned leather—on restricting the investment of capital by tanners in expansion of their tanneries. Now is the time the public should learn where their interests 1 lie. Had they dono. their duty and supported local manufacturers, the tanners to-day would have larger tanneries, and the increased output would have reduced the cost. Private inquiries I have frequently made as to the reason of the contempt for the local article always elicited tne reply, the Now Zealand leather was no good. Now, Sir, the public find themselves dependent on _ the local supply, and find it is not big enough. There will bo. demands to stop tho export of. leather and other demands. Why ? All because they, the public. instead of doing their duty when they could, now ory out against the punishment they so richly deserve. My experience shows, me that no better leather in the world for soles of boot? is thanned than the New Zealand ta ners turn out, at a price, and here 'ii the root of ovil of tne whole trouble. Bootmakers will not pay the local man the equivalent of English- leather. Tho moment h4 finds it is locally tanned he expects a lower price.' Wliy? It is impossible to say. The result lias been that taoiners are continually beaten down to the last penny, while they see English sole leather coining into tho country by the thousand of sides, and Irning greedily bought up to supply the public, who do not investigate, so long as the bootmaker tells them it is English leather they pay for. Pay for .what—well, /or the puniehmeofc thav,

deserve to get iioiv, and, a good and lasting lesson, I liope it will be for thom. Perhaps they will learn what everyone in the trade knows, and tlint is that tho bootmaker trades on their foolishness and gives them what tbny ask for. Let them, };'ftcr the war,, insist of having New ZeJand leather on 'their boots, j and we will seo tho tanner will invest more capital in his business, so that the severe lesson the public are learning now won'ft we to bo taught again. I emphaticaliy impress on thoso who have interest in .their own pocLict, to ascertain what is well-known, and that is that the tanners of Now Zealand for years past .have had absolutely to fight the lack o.iji patriotic feeing from .the very people who now look to them to relieve the situation. X/et them pay for, at tire same rate, and insist on gotting, the New Zealand leather instead of English, or Continental, and they will Lud that on eyen terms, the New Zealand leather, price for price, is not second to any leatheir.imported. If they expect to get equal quality, but New Zealand 'leather, sixpence per lb. lower than the English, then tlio tanner obviously must he put in the position he has been for, years, aud, that is, supplying and catering for a trado In which the public give Jlim no support. Unless the people are educated t-o xassist in self-support, even heavy duties will not. stop , them filling their fancies in prosperous New Zealand. Prohibit the export of hides hy all means, but force the people to llearn through experience, their duty_ by showing them how criminal it. was in. the past to give preference. to men who boycotted local feather in the past.—l am, etc., H.R.

ECCS. _ Sir, —Mr. Maston,. in his letter in today's Dominion, adntits that he is more or less seliisb, and argues that because meat, butter, etc., is up therefore eggs must go up too, ignoring the fact that these necessaries ought not to be the prices that now obtain, and would be much lower than they are but for) combines .and. rings. He also admits that owing to the. price, of feed, poultry' is being slaughtered wholesale. He, however, ignores the fact that the Dominion does not produoe sufficient , eggs to supply onr requirements, as.ill the past very large quantities have been imported from markets that are now closed, and unless facilities are granted for importation they will not be obtainable at any price at all during the coming winter in sufficient quantities. No reasonable person would object to reasonable prices being paid, but everyone knows that eggs are necessary .to the health of the community. What surprises me is that. fnore do not go into the egg business. No one knows better than Mr. Maxton that there is money in it. —I am, etc., . • , JAMES GODBER. Wellington, February IS.