Citizens Say —

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 18, 12 April 1927, Page 8

Citizens Say

To the Editor.

CHEMISTS AND PRESCRIPTIONS I am interested to note from the letter in to-day’s SUN re chemists and prescriptions that public attention has at last been drawn to this practice. A medical prescription frequently costs the patient a guinea or two. and rarely costs less than ten-and-sixpence. Therefore, in retaining it the apothecary is, strictly speaking, defrauding the customer as deliberately as though he had possessed himself of any other piece of the customer’s property. Of course, he is free to keep in his register a numbered copy of the prescription and his only reason for retaining the original is to secure the customer’s return to the same drug store for a renewal of the 1 medicine should it be required. Your correspondent is right in declaring that the matter calls for the notice of the Pharmacy Board. H. K. A YOUTHFUL PHOTOGRAPH Sir, — In a recent issue of an Auckland journal I saw a picture. A line beneath it stated that it was the portrait of Mr. George Baildon, mayor of Auckland. But it was not Mr. Baildon. mayor of Auckland. It was Mr. Baildon ten or fifteen years before he became mayor of Auckland. The electors want to know what Mr. Baildon looks like to-day; not what lie looked like ten years ago. Besides it is not fair to Mr. Baildon himself to depict him as a comparatively immature youth. An up-to-date picture should reveal him in the maturer beauty of dignified middle age. A. C. GOOD FISHING Sir, — It may be of interest to deep-sea fishermen (sporting) to know that weather conditions are at present splendid for the sport oft' Cape Brett. Mr. David McDonald, of the city, Mr. D. J. Young, of Epsom, together with Mr. Puke Cross, of Deep Water Cove, Bay of Islands, had excellent results, coupled with perfect weather conditions, from Thursday, April 7, till Sunday, April 10. On Thursday and Friday we landed six King fish weighing from 60 to 1001 b, two Mako shark, one Grey Nurse shark. We were unfortunate after having played a large Swordfish for an hour to have the line severed, presumably by a similar fish. While in the vicinity of the Cape on Friday huge sunfish sported themselves on the glassy surface. These fish, fully 12ft in length, were leaping several feet out of the ocean, and at times were within a few yards off the launch. Groper and schnapper and all smaller fish were in abundance. Should similar conditions prevail during the Easter holidays, sportsmen may rest assured of plenty of sport. D. J. YOUNG. Epsom. SUITS AND TRUMPS Sir, — After reading the information in THE SUN I remarked to my mate that Mr. Paterson had resigned. All he remarked was: “Hm! Pity they didn’t all follow suit,”, but, of course, how could they, as nobody seemed to have trumps. One has heard quite a lot about this Dairy Control Board the last few weeks, and it has me wondering why it was formed in the first place. It was the farmers of this country after taking the considered opinions of their leaders (many of them paid officials) who thought a board was necessary so that they could obtain a fair price for their butter. I take it, the board being formed, they reviewed the position and it must have been obvious to them they would receive opposition from certain quarters at Home. A policy was decided upon, but on the first little bit of pressure applied from the certain quarters at Home, whimpering is heard in New Zealand, policy is altered, somebody goes “alone” and gets “euchred” and the game is lost. The game being lost, why carry on? There are many in New Zealand, including myself, who think that had the Dairy Control Board stuck to its guns it would have won the game. F. C. G. NEWMARKET AND FIRE-FIGHTING Sir, 1 am quite in accord with my fellow “Ratepayer” when he says that the only proper course for the borough council is to arrange with the Auckland Fire Board to take charge of the fire-fighting of the borough. With a property value of £1,500,000, it is sheer insanity to continue longer with a volunteer brigade. What earthly chance has a volunteer brigade of arriving at a fire even within a reasonable time of its outbreak? There are no fire alarms, and the members of the brigade are engaged at their ordinary occupations during the daytime, while at night they need their rest just like other mortals, so that when a fire occurs within the borough the building is usually doomed before the brigade can arrive on the scene. Then, although the existing firefighting appliances, such as they are. are the property of the council, it \yould appear that the council has no control over them, and dare not question the efficiency of the brigade men. Surely there has been sufficient proof of the uselessness of the volunteer brigade, and the absurdity of having th street hydrants of a size that prevents the city brigade from assisting. There is no comparison between a volunteer brigade and a permanent brigade, with complete, up-to-the-minute eoumment, fire alarms, etc. The map shows that our borough is right in the centre of the city, and what better arrangement could be made than to have the whole of the Fire Board’s staff and equipment at the disposal of the propertyowners of the borough should occasion arise either by day or night? It should be made perfectly clear that the city brigade is not controlled by the City Council, but by the Fire Board, and the annual cost to the borough would appear, from figures issued prior to the recent poll, to be less than the rejected proposal of the council. Why does the Newmarket Borough Council hesitate? Echo answers why! ANOTHER RATEPAYER. CHINESE PROBLEMS

Sir, — There was nothing in my former letter to warrant your correspondent,

“Right and Reciprocity,” assuming and stating that I deny him or others the right to his opinions and point of view. I agree with him that in the present state of China the Chinese, as well as the British, are l-eaping as they have sown. The laws of nature are inexorable and just. And I, for one, would not have it to be otherwise. If we ourselves are really alive and awake to the condition of awakening China, we shall inform men like Messrs Chen and Chiang that the most devastating wars and hideous crimes of modern times have been perpetrated under such slogans as “liberty,” “independence,” and “equality.” And when these highsounding terms are investigated they are found to conceal objectives which are utterly impossible of realisation. Only in very limited and unreal sense does any nation possess these things. Complete independence involves Isolation, which no nation can reasonably want or have. If independence of, or liberty from, “unequal treaties” is desired, this should be sought in a rati-

onal way and not by appeal to force. Each one of these “unequal treaties'’ came about by mutual agreement; and by the same way should they be revised or annulled, if that is desired. The present demand of the Powers for reparation for the recent Chinese outrage* at Nanking is an example of just how certain “unequal treaties” have come about in the past. Because “unequal” they cannot therefore be deemed to be unjust, nor may they be violated by one party without affording a casus belli for the other party. It is silly for Mr. Chen or Mr. Chiang to threaten to obtain his objective by the employment of every economic weapon in hi* power. China cannot get along prosperously without foreign capital and foreign trade. Britain, America, and other Powers stand ready to help to rehabilitate China and exploit her wealth of labour and natural resource*, and bring to China the greater blessings and higher standards of living which they themselves enjoy, as soon as China comes to herself. China must realise that her present condition i* justly merited, and proceed to sow the seed of the better future which she may reasonably hope to realise only in conformity with Divine law. In saying these things I feel certain that Confucius and the most enlightened Chinese would agree with me. RECIPROCITY IS RIGHT. SHOP RENTS Sir, — Seeing that land agents are decidedly of the opinion that house rents are coming down in value, I should like to put in a plea for the small shopkeeper Many of them are subsisting, not t< to call it living, on the smell of an oil rag, while the rent, out of all proportion to the shop’s takings, has to be produced week by week. Do the owners of shop premises, whose businesses are conducted per medium of estate agents and are therefore not immediately in contact with their tenant*, realise that, having reaped all tne benefit of the prosperous times, i* no behoves them to share in some measure the conditions which are P^ e88l “: so heavily on their tenants, who a making a brave stand to weather t storm ? Abundant proof of this is be found in the large number of empo shops which are multiplying “ Naturally the land agent is out: «» make the various properties as liable as possible, by spending H repairs, and taking as much ren posisble, thereby adding to his commission. _ Tnrt .« “LIVE AND LET LIVEBUSINESS MORALITY U When you come to think of from the very beginning of trace commerce there has been no - fluctuation in the tide of for this simple reason: ™^ronS ploitation of the weak b> . aithat tide must necessarily remau. ways at a low ebb. To I heartily endorse the is *i signee’s statements which hate Mor . a storm in a tea-cup. But • ■ ris, not content with facts as •. 0 „ goes further and expounds a. b" commercial morality which c maintained. Two hundred citizens are pictured as inL , ses sirS resembling angels and as n’ ns jdcomplexions in no way to gU iri ered pallid. Thus Mr. up the greater portion of nw that townsmen. Yet I » P such an obvious truth as 1 in Mr. Morris’ oration shouW . on his bead the opprobrium oi „ body, while such untruth as a contained therein ssr '!f '” per cent palliate the offence. That 9. P cfin . of any population is disholn * f ce nt not deny but that Among Vnia ■ [ or ity « 1 are naturally included the ro) al , bankrupts I cannot '■ >u *® on devoid argument incontestably gt anlogic. For. as must be patent rate to the elect, if we fr< ,m more intelligent have e\er> evil 5 the dawn of Time assumed. lar gelf ultimate triumph over v ?rtti« t h». a foregone conclusion, it i tllt . eat' a bankrupt irrefutably heal j marks of a sair £ LIFTON K . JIF-Tfl-