LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 21, 19 October 1918, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"WELCOME HOME"

• Sir,—Now that our early contingent men aro arriving back in such numbers cannot something be dono to make their reception a little more alive, homelike, and. warm? Allowing that a cortftin amount of officialdom must hold sway, this need not necessarily excludo tho public altogether from expressing some sort of a "welcome home." At present tho receptions strike one as being too much civic and not enough public to worm the hearts of men who have been absent from the land of their birth for three and four years. It only requires a little analysis of human nature to realise just what good, rousing cheore, a band, and lavish bunting can mean to home-sick and hearthungry men after so long an absence. A public expression of welcome before the transports berth would not delay the longed-for next-of-kin meetings. It a givon point could be arranged where the publio know they could assemble for a cheer of welcome there would always bo a muster for every transport. This week, with all the hundreds of men arriving at Wellington, many of them Maiij Body, one could not but be struck by tho absenco of bunting about the town. Other than on the mercantile and commercial linns on the waterfront not a nag was visible from one end of tho town to the other. Must we believe

that the average business people are too busy raiting in the' bawbees to extend a Welcome (if only in outward show) to the lads to whom they owe thoir. prosperity? Tho boys' own paper, "Chronicles of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force." more than once has commented on the stereotyped receptions given them, and hpw thoy fall short of the dreams conjured up by them in consolation for their sufferings and hardships. If a land -welcome is not possible, then why not launches or ferries run excursions out round the transports for those who wish to give vent to their Cannot the girls of the city come to the rescuo and dovise some means of a novnl mature to break the coldness and stiffness of the present form of welcome ? Hours and hours are spent in decorating for bazaars, etc., why not expend some of the .energy in decorating the wharf gates, and 6ee the happy smiles it will

bring? May I still further trespass onVyour space' to comment on the after treatment of these suffering men? As on instance of the general apathy and callousness shown them, I quote the case of a four-years'-service man who returned with a recent batch, and two days after was walking—with the help of two sticks—along the Hutt road. Out of fivo motor vehicles that passed him on the road, not one had sympathy or thought enough to offer him a lift, and on the soldier's own acknowledgment tliie slight hurt him more than the.disappointing reception, coming as he did from a land of strangers who nevertheless would not see him walking five yards without lifting him. If peoplo would only realise that their duty is not done when they pay out their money, that there are things that count more, and gratitude and sympathy are among them, more- hearts would he made happy.—l am, etc., SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE.

TARANAKI ELECTION

Sir,—ln to-day's issue of Tnis Dominion there appears a letter over tho pen-iiame of "Success," in which the writer, by a series of questions (which he answers apparently to his own satisfaction), tries to discredit tho importance of the result of the recent'faranaki election. That Mr. Smith's return is tantamount to a vote of noconfidence in lie National Government there can be no doubt, for the Taranaki electorate has never, before been represented by a, member with any leanings towards the Labour Party or •the Labour Party's ideals. There has been a change in the political thought of the workers of tho Dominion, as th<v last threo T)j--ole<!tions' have _ proved, and .the National Government, is not so popular as some of its leaders seem to think it is; and wero tho peoplo given the , opportunity of voicing their opinions at tho ballot box I am confident that what happened in the Hoform stronghold of Taranaki will happen elsewhere. The electors have realised that we can still bring the war to a successful finish and attend to our own , domestio politics at the same time.—l am, e e., HALOROW gnft^m, Masterton, October 18.

THE BAPTIST CONFERENCE

Sir,—l regret having to bother you, but by a mechanical error nonsense was made of the last two or three sentences of my letter to you of this morning. After having pointed out that notwithstanding the growth of Prohibition in the United States I observed that • »<*• tween 1909 and 1916 the duty on spirits' and beer collected in tho United States increased by no less a sum than eleven millions sterling." This represents, I eaid, an enormous increase in the consumption, and this has been going on whilst the Rev. R. S. Grey alleges that Prohibition wae capturing the United States, and I concluded that in the United States, where they had so much Prohibition, the consumption of beer, wine, and spirits is nearly double per. head of the population what it is- in this Dominion. Thero is nearly double the quantity of beer coneumed iii tho United States, with all its prohibition, than there is in New Zealand; there is soventy-five per cent, more wino coneumed, and twenty-five per cent, more spirits—that is, per head of the population.—l am, etc.,

IRELAND AND THE WAR

Sir,—Your correspondent, writing under tho above bending, under pretext of critioising the address delivered by the Rev. J. K. Archer, goes out of his way to make an attack on the Homo Rule movement. I will now take, a sentence in the latter part of his letter, in which he says: "All tho wrongs of which England had been guilty of towards Ireland were inflicted before the union." If our friend refers to tho penal codes, I do i.vot think ho understands what he is talking about. As religious intolerance spread throughout Europe during the Renaissance, it was inevitable that it should swoop through Englnad, and thero it prevailed during the reign of Protestantism and Catholicism,", and it w_as also inevitable that it should find its way to Ireland. But tliq penal codes were not responsible for Ireland's degradation.' It takes more than religious restrictions to reduce the status of a people to the depth to which the Irish people were reduced. In another pr- 1 of his letter your correspondent ' : "Those wrongs have all boon r: ed since the union, and tho last tw< 'lenerations of Englishmon have tro--fl Ireland with unIxninded generosity." Now, > it is evident that our friend knows just nliout <ts munli about Home Rule ns lie does about Irish history. He tries to make us believe that the Irish Home Rulers are thirsting for the blood of their fellow-men across tho Chennel, and that the English Government, which, of course, -does not represent the people of England, is showering benefits on the discontented Irish rabble. Has your correspondent forgotten tho history of MG and '47? Does ho know that thousands of praplo were starving, whilo Lord John Russell was fiphtinji a sham battle with the English Torys? "Repeal the corn la.ws," says John Bright, "and you will free England." The of the corn laws, together with the failure of the potato

crop, accelerated the agricultural revolution in Ireland. The agricultural revolution threw the- peasantry on the roadside, aud thousands died of starvation. Aggregation went on with the consent of Lord John Russell, and coercion camo with tho famine to relieve the people's hunger. And every morning as the sun rose a ship, laden with corn their own hands had reaped, spread its sails for England. Would this have occurred jf Ireland had its own Parliament? Would tho landlords be freo to compel the people to expoYb cheese, merit, butter, and corn, while millions were dyiiis of starvation, if Ireland had its own Parliament? It is as plain as noonday that the natural resources of the two countries are different, and, therefore, a system of taxation that may bo good for England may ruin Ireland. As to the statement that Romanism will be in the ascendancy if Homo Rule is carried, I would remind him that the Homo Rule movement is composed of Anglicans, Presbyterians, Roman Cathloics, and atheists.—l am, etc., P. SOANLON. October 17. •.