PUBLIC OPINION.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 168, 6 February 1914, Page 1

PUBLIC OPINION.

A COLUMN FOR THE PEOPLE This column is "The People's Column." We invite them to express their views on all public questions and matters affecting the district. We do not identify ourselves with the opinions expressed bv our correspondents

School Stationery and the New Man ! TTO THE EDITOR. 1 , Sir,—With your permission I desire to write a few words on the discussion of my application for the opportunity to supply a dhare of the requisites to the knal tchoul. And so, sir, my simple applicaton hath truly drawn forth much talk atd evident feeling. Yta, truly, why hath the "stranger" within thy gates the audacity to expect to live? flow dare he, sir, even though he pay for the premises he doth occupy a gcud fat rent to one who hath grown up with the place," apply for (let alone expect to get) a share cf the Public's Money?

Away, thou stranger! We know naught of thee! Begone, sirra! Bath not the edict gone forth, long ages ago, that we, tbe cfcoen onea "who have grown up with the place," shall build a wall around and about this our town? And did not the wily Patter-on propose, and the gentle Blame-mire second, that the gates in euch wall should only open "outward ' as a sure safeguard that no stranger, not being a prupertyowner, could enter therein? And doth not the records show that if an audacious stranger should, by skill, or by any ether matner of means, gain access to this be-walied town, the "handler of doles and i'ocd etuft's," to wit, the Pert-kin, hath a eacred duty to perform by withholding from that audacious trespasser the wherewithal to eat? And who shall dare affirm, my dear sir, that the Pattsr-on, the Blamemire and the redoutable Pert-kins are not a mighty power in the land? Fot doth not the one, with high intelligence, stock hia might; emporium with literature for toe enlightenment of the inhabitants who have "grown up with the place"—also long* handled shovels for the less-favoured onea? And hath not the renown of the humble and Christian Blamemire spread throughout the lard for his expression of charitable vrews? And is it not widely known that the kind - hearted Pert-kin, the doler of foodstuffs, doth deal justly with all men? Then who shall question their edict: that the man of the Road-by-tne-lea must surely die because he hath dared to trespass within the precincts of this favoured and bewailed town? What matter it, Bir, if perchance he be a man of some substance, aa the humble Blamemite doth understand it, if it be not local substance? What matter it, air, that the "three score years and ten limit" prevents any man being a "permanent settler," if the dogmatic Patter-on shall say a guarantee of everlasting permanence of residence be necessary that ''one of low degree" and humble origin, the Road-by-the-lea, can be tolerated within the precincts of this wonderful town? What shall it avail, sir, if that renowned dealer in foodstuffs, the kind-hearted Pert-kins, in "week" moment, decided to allow the "new-comer" to purchase, for cash, a few common necessities, for hath not the "Patter" gone forth: "We must squeeze him out?'' •- And so, sir, the enlightened few on the School Committee do not like the new-comer and therefore do not consider him entitled to privileges equal with the man "who has grown

up with the place." Ho* nice! What a fine display of Christian precept! And this withal in the so-cslled "Free New Zealand," "God's Own Country." And surely the Patter-on must be a born humourist, tor how can the RoaC-by-ths-lea remain "permanent' f if the necessary "metal" for its up-keep be withheld? And yet, withal, we have the upright and fair-dealing chairman and tha milk-of-kindness humane Pilkington helping the "Car-to-fill" with "equare deals" for both the old and the new.

May I add, sir, that if my respected antagonists on the School Committee dearly desire to check all growth and progress in Pukekohe that they do forthwith and for ever close and eeal the sacred gates if this township against all newcomers.—l am, etc., CECIL KOADLEY. "fhe Bookery," King street.

We have received a "stronger" letter than the above from P. E. Humphries, of Whangarei, a recent purchaser of property in Pukekohe, which we prefer not to publish —Ed,