LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 99, 21 January 1919, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE COAL SCARCITY, A SERIOUS OUTLOOK. , 'Sir,— Throughout l*he length and breadth of this country last winter will he remembered as the "black winter," aud most of us liave knowledge of cases of intense suffering caused by.the prevailing shortage of coal. .Although we are now in the middle.of. summer tho position as regards supply is very little better, and unless,something -is done tho sufferings of Inst winter will be | insignificant compared with what will lie experienced next winter. A rumour is: current that tho bulk of coal coming in is taken by the railways, aud with regard to screened coal this is quite true. Only two small lots liavo come ashore for householders sinco before Christmas. 1 recognise that .circumstances have combined to cause'the present acute shortage, the chief perhaps being the. lack of shipping space from Australia, but, Sir, a coal-producing country like ours should not bo dependent on outside coal. That ire aro so dependent is largely duo to the railways, whose policy for many years has been to prflcure'more than half their requirements from Australia. The railways aro the largest consumers' in the country, and had thov used nothing but New Zealand our coalfields would have boon in a more developed state, and we would be in a better.position to-day. However, the position must be faced, and at once, before it becomes abso-. lutely intolerable. Under the circumstances there 1 is only one remedy, and that is a curtailment of tha railway service. Surely wo have able men in our railways who can, as it were, cut their coat according to their cloth, and so anticipate what they ..will bo forced into doing should tho . position get worse, which it undoubtedly will do. In any caso it is not wiso from tha point 'of view of the public health (to mention only one aspect) that wo should he asked to face another winter like the last. The railways liavo cjbntributeu to the position and should face the music—l am, etc., . -■'_„■ CITIZEN. January 17, 1919,

BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION ,

Sir,—l am sorry I cannot- answer "Lower Hutt's" question "as to how a political leader feels when his position is being made too hot for him by his followers."'-■. As-being only one of the followers, it is impossible td tell a leader's mind. Anyhow, different men, different minds. Lthink it will be conceded by any fair-minded judge that Mr. A. J. Bulfour, up to his resignation, had the solid support of the Unionist Party. Now we come.to what "Lower Hutt' quotes from "Green, and another writer, on Orange ascendancy in Ireland. This sounds well in print, but when they are asked to name .where the ascendanoy comes in they aro generally silent. Legally, all parties in Ireland are on a footing of equality, andif there is an undue preference the Nationalists invariably gob the benefit of.it. Save in one particular point, any ascendancy" that may. exist is entirely':on;the sido of the Nationalists, for while they have their own fair share of the public offices in Ulster, in the other three provinces all appointments in the gift of local bodies are virtually closed to Unionists. The only ascendancy that Irish Unionists possess is that conferred on them by industry; and this .is something you cannot transfer by Act" of Parliament. But in all other respects they stand on a level with the Nationalists, with the scales slightly loaded in favour of the latter. • Irish Unionists have no ascendancy, nor do they claim any, but it is different: with;, the Roman Catholics. "Wo"- (that is, Roman Catholics), said Lord Emly. referring to Irish Protestants, "are . their equals in the North and their masters in the rest of the country. • "Lower Hutt" should study .the attitudo that the great majority of" Roman' Catholic Ireland have taken up these last four years. Not all'of thorn, to their honour be it said, deserted the Empire in her darkest hours. I wish to remind "Lowar H u ™ that thero was no conversion to tlie Ulster party in-Mr. • Henry's case, as no was a known, Unionist before he was chosen to contest South Derry. AS regards the Derry City:'election, he says this was considered ..a .safe seat for the Unionists. Now, Derry City has not been a safe seat since tho household franchiso was. in 1885. The by-election that was held in 1913 was won by Mr. Hogg, a Liberal j tho figures were: Mr. Hogg, 2699 ; Colonel Pnckcnham (Unionist), 2647; a majority of 52. I believe some of the majorities have been oven loss, but Mr. Hogg was not placed at the top (as "Lower Hutt" would infer) , by, Protestant Home Rulers. National* ist voters put him on top of the poll. Derry City has produced a keen fight shoe 1885.''"Lower Hutfß"-; refer* once to the P.P.A. .doos not concern me. The P.P-.A., I .believe, can 1008 after itself.' ■.?:?, ' Lower Hutt" says thai "the great political . Protestants never seem to darken a churclr door." This is a problem that want* solving. Can "Lower Hutt" give ii a little of his timeP He says he is a Protestant.' Why not try and reform his co-religionists to a better state oi Church observance?—l am, etc.,. • THOS. M. MILLIGAN, January 18, 1919.