LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 127, 22 February 1919, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

FRUIT PRICES article appeared in your issue of February 15, under tho heading "Over-curried Fruit," in which it was slated Unit the Government had agreed to pay compensation to I lie brokers lor the loss occasioned through the nuurantino and over-carriage 01 apples ex ,s.s. Makura. As the report has some j hearing on the local retail trade, 1 would i like to point out. that so. far as Veiling- l ton is concerned the prices are lnaccu- , rate; the average price realised by the brokers in the market here boing about 1011 per cent, more than Ihe figures quoted. , Jf the brokers receive this compensation, then why not compensate every business man who made a loss through the epidemic? Messrs. 1' ullor and Son re- [ cently estimated their loss through the compulsory closing of their I heal res at .£10,0(10. . , However, that is not my point. Recently, when an auctioneering firm ill this 'city held their lemons firm at .til tos. per case, a jump of 235. per case, because they 'were the only holders, and representations were made to them by my association, lluit the advance was excessive and not justifiable,.they raised the contention through the Press in your issue of February 8, that llie.y were justified In view of the losses I hey made, I presumably on -apples. Vet, they must I have had 'the matter of compensation in I mind when they made this statement, j Through, ihe efforts of the association i the price of the lemons was reduced to 705., and credits of ss. per case passed to members whose trade demanded they should buv at any price, and eventually thev were' offered at 50s. per ease. Now, Sir, I must leave it to an intelligent public to discern whether this is a case of exploitation of the people's food essentials .or otherwise—l am, etc., ,T. Jf. HANSON. Secretary, Wellington District Fruiterers"' Association (Incorporated).

THE DISCONTENT OF LABOUR Sir,—ls it not quite time that wisei' counsels prevailed in the ranks of Labour? Can the country progress with this constant demand for higher wages and shorter hours? Ever since the Socialist idea got in amongst the labouring classes it has produced a lot of lazy, discontented people. They are the first to complain about the increased cost of li.vin» when they are the main cause of it, ami as for exploiting they are the worst exploiters of anybody. If it was not the value of the products that the farmers produce what would be the financial state of the country at the present time? A great number of the labouring classes seem to have lost all sense of what their duty to the .country is, for, instead of assisting to get things in working order after the war, they are doing the very opposite, and as a conscientious worker I ant thoroughly disgusted ■ with their actions. It is quite useless trying to satisfy tho Red Fed portion of them, for their will is to keep things in a turmoil, and I hope the electors in any future elections will bear in mind who is the main cause of the shortage of coalat the present time. It is now mid-, summer. What is the shortage going to be in the winter?. It is ridiculous tho petty disputes i-itli the coal-miners. Fancv ceasing work because the doctor left the district! Could not they liavo had common sense enough to havo worked on till they could havo jot another doctor? It is quite time wo had a law to disfranchise all useless men and women who will not do their duty, and all who aro the causo of labour disputes and strikes. This might bring some of them •to their senses. Thanking you in anticipation,—l am, etc,, A 10s. A DAT, WORKER, Wellington, February 19, 1919.

] SURPLUS WOOL SCHEME j Sir—The resolution of the Marton ] Farmers' Union, quoted by Mr. Neiv- . man, M.P., in his speech at the Manga- 8 weka saleyards, has evidently not had , the desired effect, as only one-fourth of j the woolgrowers of the Dominion have < complied with the request to transfer , their surplus to the Sailors' Fund. This , is not to be wondered at, as many have already contributed to the Jutland Fund, , and few care to sign .blank cheques. The ; large majority are evidently of opinion that having been forced to pay an additional freight of something like 380 per cent, on their wool during the woi', which lias yielded shipowners such fabulous dividends, they have already paid their quota for the risks run, and therefore leavo the shipowners to recompense the sailors. Woolgrowers, unlike shipowners and weavers, who are waxing fat at the primary producers' exponse, and are not limited • as to price by Orders-in-Council, cannot pass on the extra cost to the public, and I dare say most of our primary producer? are feeling the pinch already, not only in the extra cost of every article they use and consume, but in heavy taxation and enormously increased cost of production. I have not heard that the freezing companies, who are deeply interested in shipping,, have been askea to sign away, their surpluses. The Marton resolution does not include them, but. Mr. Newman and those behind him in this scheme ought to know that the people who have really benefited .by theso commandeers of farming products are the middlemen between the fanner and the consumer. The freezing companies, by reason of the ibasic price of slipe wool being fixed by pre-war London prices, pay only prewar freights and charges, amounting to one penny, farthing pel' lb., while owners of greasy wool, i the basic price of which is erroneously fixed on Domiition "notion prices, pay nearer sd. per lb. shipping charges and freight, which is carefully deducted from 1 wool-growers' balances. The freezing companies have succeeded in getting their contract with the Imperial Government altered in such a way as to throw the increased freight and other war charges upon the buyer instead of the seller, as in the case of the less astute owners of greasy wool, and there- , by increase their returns for slipe wool to a corresponding extent. Nor is this all, as the parity of wool values in 1914, when 1 war was declared, was at least <td. per ll). 1 more in London than in tho Dominion, ' and slipe wool shippers benefit to this ■ -extent as well.

They are therefore reaping a rich liar-1 vest the commandeer, so also are ' the woollen mills; who get ilie raw material at a shade oyer commandeer price, and are charging 30s. per yard and over, as no Ordei3-in-Council their prices or. profits. Nor is the Imperial Government blameworthy, as their report for 1!)17 admits that the "New Zealand Government made the original contract" in 1916 at a price "which was then below the real value of the wool," and that contract regulates the price of our grewy wool still, notwithstanding enormously increasing values in the interval. It i-as the Dominion Government which erroneously accepted a very much less price than the Imperial Government offered them, and we ought to know who is responsible for a loss to the Dominion involving ft sum variously estimated at seven to ten million pounds per annum, which affects every man, woman, end child in the Dominion—l am, etc., WOOL-GIiOAVER.

A PLEA FOR MODERN LITERATURE "Sir —I noticed in a recent' issue of •vour'newspaper that Mr. von Haast lmd moved, at the University Senate, a resolution that a pew period extending from 1810-19 M should bo added to tlio English literature course, and ! heartily congratulate this gentleman 011 the stand which he has taken. Willi a range of vision like that of the late Andrew Lang, whoso subtle delicacy and charming en-* was the idvll of the child and the entertainment 'of Hie (idnlt, he can pass; from Homer to Theodore do Biumllo without feeling Ihnt Hie respect: and reverence that is due to the old tirenk makes it necessary for him .to ignore the young French-nit. To him. the idea of taking Beowulf to bed .for study is ns abhorrent as the semi-romantic rubbish that ruins its three thousand lines: he is mindful of the appalling ignorance of the mass of English people of their own literature, and. no doubt, shudders in realising the still more appalling methods adopted to instruct them in ;t. li tho entire literary university-ship were to run on a reef, lie would say. As! (hew is worn in ttie boats for only half tlio

passengers, throw the old fellows overboard—thoy have lived long enough. Conservatism in literature has given birth to that minotaur of modern times, tho novel, which depicts a stratum o. society to be placed, if anywhere, considerably lower than that of Dostoievsky's "Underworld"; just as conservatism ill painting has given rise to many of tho extravagances of Monet and J'isaro, Degas and the Port. Aven School. Mr. Italian wonders why the standard ot linglish is low,, and . why university graduates take to reading novels. But it is now some time sinc-o Mr. Hanan loft. . school.' Pope, who wrote the heroic couplet and never forgot the fact; Addison, who pleasantly satirises operas, manners, and Beau Brummeis, exposing his own age, but opening up to new vista in ours; ShaKespeare, who now only requires such a translator as Fitzgerald lo be ns generally understood as Omar; Tennyson, who exalted his muse high enough to wipe some of the dust off morality.; Maeaulay, who will prove accessible and readnbto when codilied—theso are a few of the favourites. Ail advanced form of a secondary school utilises the small time given to literature in'subjecting the miserable pupils either to wading chapter by . chapter, week after week, 'through Scott s "Wav- > erley," or else to learning by heart the | dates of the various publications of Ihe !J,ako Poets. Let me explain to Mr. | Jfoiian that students do not read, novels | of thoir own accord; they are driven to

t by forcu of circumstances. Popular prejudice is everywhere. Anj ntthorities, to whom it might be sug' ;csted that from a point of 'view of style iVilde and Paler'should he '• included ir .he curriculum, either in the cjise of tlu ir.st would sneer openly, tapping theii loads in a knowing manner to show, hov useful the gesture is where reason, is ticking, or,' in the case of the second 1" they had even heard of him, woulc uurmur "Too deep! Too deep!' as il it was a, question of drowning, or mat ier inaudibly something about pattei Mid the vaudeville atmosphore. Sug ;est Gautier's "La Tentation de Sainte \ntoine," riaubert's "Madame Bovary,'| md Huysmaus's "A Rebours" as ex pressing best the Erench spirit contem liorary with the abovenamed Englisl writers, and hear the screams of thesi mtraged souls in pain. Il' they desire it, let the lovers of stall latitudes continue to imbibe the sou syrup of Tennyson and Whittier, but le :'he lovers of humanity be instructed in Hid seek to comprehend the greatness o the doctrines (not only the lyrics) o Shelley, of Eugene Brieux, Ibsen, Shaw Maeterlinck, Turgenev, Tolstoi Potapeuko, Chekov, and tho Russial realists. Why leave the greatness o nil' own living fellowmen to be discuss 3d by posterity? Why not realise a Nietzsche did, "Where ye see idea things, I see human, alas! all too humai ;hings,. for I know men bet ter." Whom do wo loath and vilif; :nora than the person who raises thi loads from our backs, and more especi illy so, if he happens to be a modern ind what a fallacy it is! We have oui

pleasures increased every (lay by the beneficience of science; we are products of an ago that is increasing and improving with every hour, and yet do we cry: "Ye good old days! How wise was ■my grandmother's great-auut!" Literature is, and always ha 6 been, the mirror of English life and thought. That in itself should ]>e a sujgcient plea for what ia modern. An -understanding; of English. language, with all its associations is not to be gained through grammar or Anglo-Saxo'n manuals, but solely through this form of art: we find that knowing Chaucer helps us very little in getting to the bottom of present-day troubles, for explorers, chancing upon the 60uree of a gigantic river, do not rest here so long as that they go to sleep. Studies in such men as Francis Thompson. Alfred Noyes, John Masefield (not, I admit, the "Everlasting Mercy" and "The Widow of Bye Street"), Lionel Johnston, and Ledwidgo: as G. K. Chesterton, E. V. Lucas, and as Granville Barker, J. M. Singe and Galsworthysuch studies would prove not only comprehensive and interesting, but of good value in life after college, and would

leavo a sweet tasto on the literary palate. Is it to our credit that we allow such as Samuel Butler a New Zealander at heart, to lose money year after year publishing his books—to allow him to die and tnen turn around and hail him as tho greatest philosopher and thinker-v at any rate, by far the most genial, ,of tho nineteenth century? "In _ Sicily,' says Shaw, in his preface to Major Barbara, "there is a Via Samuel Butler. When an English tourist sees it, he either asks 'Who the devil was Samuel Butler?' or wonders' why the Sicilians should perpetuate the memory of tho author of 'Hudibras.' There aro living men whoso originality and power are as obvious as Butler's, and when they die the fact will be discovered."—l am, etc.',' W.E.L.

RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH SACRIFICE

AN INDIAN EXAMPLE. Sir,—We seem to have passed from one stage of conflict to another, and few seem to see the way out of the industrial strife and class conflict. All sides seem determined to gain their ends by talcing and holding. At present the mailed fist seeni6 to be a decadent power in international politics, but all parties in'the social'conllict seem anxious to nso it. _ How is this spirit of Prussianisni in social life to be overthrown? A fine example of.the wiser method may ho drawn from India. Mr. G. K. Gokhale, the Indian patriot, in 1905 founded the Servants of India Society with the object of "training men who are prepared to devote their lives to tho cause of the country in a. religious spirit." Three years' study and training are spent in tho society's home in Poona, and two more ns ordered, making a five years' probation. The following ,are the promises made:— (1) That tho country will always he first in his thought, and that he will give to her service the best that is in him. (2) That in serving the country he will seek no personal advantage for himself. (3) That he will regard all Indians as brothers, and will work for the advancement of all without distinction of caste or creed. ' (i) That he will be content with suchprovision for himself and his family, if any, as the society may bo able to make, and will devote no part of his energies to earning money for himself. (5) That ho will lead a pure, personal life. ' . - (G) That he will engage in no personal quarrel with anyone. (7) That he will always keep in view the aims of the society, and watch oyer its interests with the utmost zeal, doing ! all lie can to advance its work, and never ! doing anything inconsistent with its obi jcct'S- ,■ , ! The members are not yet numerous, but i tliey are a host in themselves, well trninI ed 111 knowledge and utterly devoted. Mr. I Gokhale passed away in 1015. and at pre- | sent 'Mr. V. S. Trinivasa Tastri is the ! chosen head. A similar movement might work wonders here.—l am. etc., 1 ! JOHN GRIFFITHS. • Johnsonville.

THE TITLE OF HON. •Sir, —In regard to the letter from "Corrigenda" in your issue of Tue*?day, criticising 111 v use of Hie term "Hon-." about Mr.- N.'.A. L. Fisher, English' Minister of Education, I can only say that 011 tho title-page of a book by Mr. risher I fintl the words, "The Eight Hon. A. L. Fisher, M.P."—I nni, etc., I'RKD. PIKANf.

Speaking on "The New America at tho niiddav meeting held in the City Temple, London, Dr, A. T. Glittery said, that the war had discovered a. ■ liew America. The old America of hustle, dollars, and boasting had become a land of great; ideas, solemn duties, and intense consecration. • And America, hud discovered a new Britain entirely different from the old Britain of Georgo lit and Lord North. Great empires rest on great faiths and great men. And this was tlio case, of America and Britain. Their union was close and vital; mil merely military or material, but spiritual, a union in common ideals and aims. The British Academy lias awarded a. Prize for Literature of the value of .010(1 to Miss Grace D. Dnvies,. (M.A., of Wales, and a student at King's Colliyo. London, for a work on the historical fiction of the eighteenth century. Tlio prize is offered annually to a woman of any nationality who has produced a work of sufiicient value to justify its award. The last award was made in 1016.