LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2706, 28 February 1916, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

9 NOT THE PROHIBITIONISTS. Sir, —The well-known local scribe who is officially employed by the liquor trade, especially at election times, to write down Prohibitionists has openly stated that the Prohibitionists are the citizens who recently met to promote the early closing of hotel bare. Will you allow me to state such is not the case ? While I ardently wish the movement every fuccoss, 1 think it only right to the promoters™'whoever they may bo —to say tiiey are not Prohibitionists. Being a momber, both of the Alliance and the Prohibition League, I know what 1 nm saying.—l am, etc., ANTI-HUMBUG. RAILWAYMEN AND THEIR GRIEVANCES.

Sir, —Are railwaymen responsible 'for a share in the cost of the war? Ap- j parcntly not! The practical effect of i their agitation is that the general tax- i payers should bear their.own share, plus ; the sharo which should fall on the rail- i way servants. They contend that the cost of living has gone up. So it has, I but not only to the public servants | but to everybody else in tho community. ; Tradespeople and others, who do not ; enjoy the privileges of public servants, i are bearing tho extra taxation without . a murmur. Many a struggling business i man would willingly, at tho present timo, be only too ghd to swap incomes , with tho average railway employee. I speak with some knowledge when I say that there is no railway servant in tho world so well off in regard to pay and privileges as tho Now Zealanders. Railway employees should realise that they have the same responsibility for the cost of the war as any other class of the community. It should also bo brought home to them that they cannot put a pistol at the head of the long-suffering New Zealand taxpayers with impunity.—l am, etc., DISGUSTED. February 25, 1910. Sir.—l see our Minister of Railways thinks it impossible in these' hard times to graut tho railway men ■ even Is. a day extra pay. I should like suggest an easy way to raise some, if not all, the amount. It is to let him and all the other Ministers of_ the Crown and M.P.'s pay their own railway lares. By 60 doing thoy would save the country a heavy expense, and, I dare say, themselves, or at least a good many of them, some travelling, as .they might find their constituents would not require the constant visiting they seem to at present.—l am, etc., ECONOMIST. THE NATIONAL RESERVE. Sir,—The falling off in the' attendances at weekly parades gives reason to ask: Why is itp The Reserve has failed to maintain the enthusiasm it possessed twelve months ago, when parades were well attended. What < is wrong? Surely gucli an organisation haa a unique" opportunity for useful work while this war wages. I have heard men say repeatedly: "Are wo doing anything worth while?" It must be admitted many men with families and dependents have learned useful military work, but here is the opportunity, the ability,' and the desire to do more for our great cause. The object set fprth by the National Reserve's Headquarters states the desire _ "to organise and do something to assist in the protection of the Dominion in time of emergency." Now, sir, this is not enough; it doc 6 not appeal to the man who cannot enlist, but who wants to do something to help end tho war or to assist our boys at tho front. Given an object more inspiring than the one I hav3 quoted, then every man who cannot enlist will surely and gladly lond his aid. There is a sad lack of grasping the opportunity afforded by this organisation. In my humble opinion there is an overplus of military business and military titles. Tho National Reserve is at present composed largely of city business men—it is thoroughly a democratic body except at its headquarters. I instance, Sir, tho fact that no opportunity is afforded to meet together in general meeting. In conclusion, I suggest that the objects of tho Reserve be altered to allow of more actively helping on the war and in assisting our soldiers before they go, when they have gone, and when they return. —1 am, et-c., A PRIVATK.