LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3104, 7 June 1917, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SECOND DIVISION LEAGUE Nil',—Your correspondent "Citizen," who evidently holds a brief for the Minister ol' Defence, is apparently one of the "sort" he- so pleasantly describes tho Second Division 1/eague as composed of. He tries to make us believe -thai as a citizen he is not entitled to the information asked for, and that it would Ire wrong to supply it. May I ask if lie thinks the Minister provides the men and the money. X take it the people are providing Iwth. and / hnve to pay in tears and sacrifices: therefore it is their right to have the fullest information supplied, so that they may have an opportunity of forming nn opinion as to whether the provisions of tho Military Service Act have been fairly complied with. The Press has already asked for_ this information. Why is it withheld for a single day? "We want it, and demand it. in ample time before Parliament assemble-, otherwise we must believe there is justification for the rumours n float that things are not as they should be. Let the authorities do 'lie obviously proper thing—take tho people into their confidence and put an end to the fcelim? of unrest which is spreading throughout tho community. What the Second Division League for is not only fair and reasonable, Tint it is right, and must be complied with at once or Parliament will be called upon to prove that New Zp.il.iihl is j.ot ruled by on" man, even if he is the Minister of Defence.—T am, ere.. JUSTICE. Wellington, .Tune i. THE CIVIL SERVANTS Sir,—T'nm glad to see that some at least of the Civil Servants do not endorse the'extraordinary request made by Mr. All port and his council to the Hon. the Acting-Prime Minister. Xs not the request ridiculous? Why should a small section of the community come forward and ask for such drastic treatment of another section which is doing its best lo keep supplies going not only for New Zealand but for the Old Country as well, and which has to bear the. troubles of increased nrices, increased cost of labour, as well as increased taxation. T am afraid the Civil Sen-ails have deteriorated from the time when T was in the Wellington Provincial Government Service, and when I did n little writing to the newspaners on their behalf. There were then Tor less than ?fl,oofl of them, but they .were strong, self-reliant men. and on one occasion when the finances of the colony demanded it. accepted a reduction of their salaries without asking that mtother class should be made to 'suffer. The only complaint made on this occasion. T believe, was bv Cnntnin pairchild, on lmlinif of his'boat. He complained: "How cn:i you expect her to keep up her speed wh-n- thev have taken ten ner cent, off her screw?"

Tn those days there was a more allround spirit of independence, nowadays people want even-thing done For them hv fhe Government.' . X think; Mr. .Allport has made a, grievous mistake. We must all bear the inconvenience and loss entailed upon us by increased prices due to the war, and no one particular class i.is any right to exceptional treatment. What' about those who=e incomes are uncertain, and made still more so by the war? Are they tn petition the Government that they mav be nlaced on the same footing as the Civil Servants with their certain incomes, m are the Civil Servants to be made to contribute out of their certainty to help the uncertainty of others? -X am., etc., CFIAS. P. POWX.ES.