PUBLIC OPINION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10612, 10 June 1920, Page 3

PUBLIC OPINION

INCREASED RATES

To the Editor “N.Z. Times." Sir, —Surely (he council will not pass Mayor Luke’s proposal to increase the rates. The policy which has been pursued for some years of paying for construction work out of rates, instead of out of loans, is essentially a bad one. It opens (ho door to abuse, enabling works which have not been approved by the citizens, or even works which have been rejected at a poll, to 1)0 carried out. Instead of placing the cost of the work in the form of interest and sinking fund upon the generation which will benefit by it, it places the burden wholly upon one or two years’ income. The whole thing is bad finance, to say nothing of an increase in rates, and consequently rents, at a time when the most of Wel-

lington’s salaried residents are having a bad time making both ends meet. ACCOUNTANT. OUR BLINDED SOLDIERS To the Editor "N.Z. Times. “ •Sir, —To the generous public who form your readers I owe much for the support they have given to St. Dunstan’s —the hostel which I established just five years ago in London for the care and training of the soldiers who lost their sight in the war. I think everyone knows now wlmt heroic effort the men have made to overcome their handicap: the amazing triumph which has been theirs in the closs-rooms and workshops of St. Dnnstan's; yes, and how in their leisure time thev have taken delight in dancing and rowing—all kinds of recreations at which they could excel —getting as close back to normal life as possible. Impressive as that fact is. the sequel is more so. More than a thousand of these men have completed their training, have been set up in some occupation they have mastered, and, having put their training into practice, arc able to speak not only of their interest in their work, not onlv of the most astonishing success in competition with sighted workers, but of real contentment, real enjoyment _ of life, of happiness and of hope—things which seemed lost to them for ever when first the news was broken to them that thev were blind.

These men who have already returned to something like their old_ life, _ while some five hundred are still in training; these men who have gone hack to their homes in this country or in the sister lands of the Empire, form the most remarkable body of blinded men that Ihe world has over known. Among these are a considerable number of New Zealanders. Tragedy Is inseparable from the word blindness —hut they have given to this word a new moaning—they have turned it into a distinction conveying the idea of great-hearted courage, of infinite resource, of such accomplishment as other men mar wonder at. They have made the appellation blind a mark of achievement. So long after the termination of hostilities, it might he thought that the work of St. Dunstan’s was nearing an end. May I tell your readers that more than ever now I need their support? _ With some five hundred blind men in training the hostel is almost as crowded as ever. And on the heels of the men blinded on the battlefields are coming to ns those others whom blindness has overtaken gradually (23,000 men were discharged from the army with seriously damaged eye-sight), and it is impossTolo to gauge how great the demand on our resources will be or how long continued. , . . . But apart from tins tragic fact we are dealing not with an exceptionally large number of difficult oases. The men who were physically fit passed through their course of re-education in an astonishingly short time; others cannot. They need the most careful individual attention, and though thev will will out in the end, their training must go slowly. Wo are hampered, too. by the difficulty of 'getting suitable shops and small poultry farms for the men who have completed their training, and who must, therefore, remain at St. Dunstan s instead of making room for others. We have Convalescent and Rest Hornes in the country and by the sea to maintain for the nae of those blinded soldiers who want change and special care. Meanwhile the organisation for the after-care of the men who have left St. Dunstan’s is rapidly becoming our chief concern. Because 1 they are doing so wonderfully well is exactly the reason why nothing must be neglected to keep up their spirits, to watch over their work that it does not unconsciously deteriorate, to see that they get the best materials and the best markets, to keep alive that bond of fraternity which had its beginning at St. Dnnstan’s. With this big programme before ns no have to face the fact that the cost of everything is still going up by leaps and bounds. Wo are not. going to -do things less well than before for our bravo blinded soldiers, and therefore our expenses must, bo greater. When you think of those men living and working in perpetual darkness yon will feel that money which can bring into their lives internal aunshtno is money with a power for good that, money seldom has. Contributions to iSt. Dilnston’s sent direct, or through this journal, will bo most gratefully acknowledged. Tours faithfully, ARTHUR. PEARSON, Chairman Blinded Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Care Committee. St. Dustivn’s, Regent's .Park, London, N.W.1., England.