Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 296, 6 March 1928, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

ANCIENT ALMANACS Sir,— Mr. Dudley Higgs will not make a fortune from the sale of his almanacs. They would be worth three or four shillings each. Gadbury, Coley and Saunders were popular writers of this kind of literature, and their work was reprinted frequently. I.D. LET US HAVE LIGHT Sir, — According to a letter I read in The Sun last evening, some poor soul has been mad for four months, as he writes: “Now that we are back to sanity” (meaning the end of Summer Time). I hope Mr. Sidey is not “satisfied,” and that he will go for it again next summer with a lpnger duration. Of course, if I could tour the country I perhaps would not care about the extra hour of light, but as I leave work every evening at six o’clock and it is just past seven o’clock before I finish my tea, I have been very glad to have an extra hour of light in which to attend to the garden. I wish Mr. Sidey luck for the next summer, whether he is mentioned by future historians or not. WORKER. DAYLIGHT SAVING Sir, I have read “G’s” letter on Summer Time with some annoyance. I, too, hope Mr. Sidey is satisfied, but not in the sense that “G” implies. I think he has every reason to be satisfied with the results of the first year’s experiment in Daylight Saving, and I sincerely trust that New Zealand wall never take the retrograde step of returning to standard time all the year through. One thing I know from my own experience—England will never repeal the Summer Time Act. I think your cartoonist, Minhinnick, hit the nail on the head in his drawing last evening. “Miss Summer Time” was looking over the souvenirs of her first season. There were many bouquets and boxes of chocolate, but only one brickbat that I could see. EARLY WORM. AMERICAN HOSPITALITY Sir, Mr. C. H. Poole, an Aucklander who has spent much time in America, told Auckland Rotarians yesterday of the hospitality he had received everywhere in the United States, and warned citizens against friction between the English-speaking races. I heartily agree with all he has said. To a visitor from overseas—l speak as a New Zealander—the American hospitality can only be described as overwhelming. Every American citizen I met seemed to be imbued with the idea that he, personally, was the representative of Madame Columbia and had to extend to me courtesy on behalf of the nation. People should not get the idea that the United States is filled with Big Bill Thompsons. E PLURIBUS UNUM. MAORI GIRLS AND CHINESE Sir, I was pleased to see “Maori Wellwisher” draw attention to a scandalous state of affairs in our mSflst, to which, evidently, we are only too anxious to !t ut ° ur eyes * 1 refer to the case of the Maori girl who appeared in the Children’s Court on Saturday charged with theft. This child, who did not even know her age, as your correspon-

dent remarked, had been taken from a Maori and Chinese household at Panmure. Surely this is a matter that the Te Akarana Maori Association, a particularly live body, and one which has the purity of its race much at heart, might investigate. Why not ascertain the number of Maoris who are actually living in this manner in the vicinity of Auckland, and try and stop the practice? To the Maori woman the yellow man is by no means repulsive: he offers an existence of more or less ease, though the girl in question had to work exceedingly hard, I am informed, carrying water. This problem is a big one. It calls attention to the drift of the landless Maori to the cities. Surely we have a responsibility in this matter. First we take the land from the Maori, and then we are prepared to sit by and let his womenfolk consort with the Chinese coolie, a fate we consider pitiful even for the most benighted of our own race. The Maori people are worthy of something better than this.

In regard to this latest case, there was no representative of her people present when this girl was brought before the court, except, of course, the official Interpreter. In such instances the Te Akarana Association might well be represented. It might even be possible to find a good Maori home for the offender, rather than commit lier to the care of strangers, though in this case, one must admit, the only possible course was taken. MAORILAMDER. MOTORISTS* EYESIGHT Sir,— Is it right in these days of high motoring mortality that any man or woman requiring the use of spectacles should be permitted to drive a motorcar in busy thoroughfares? Excluding the persons who wear American eyehoops for “swank,” it is obvious that the wearing of glasses denotes weak or defective vision. When to the glass of the spectacles there must be added the plateglass of the wind-shield, it is obvious that a begoggled driver of a motor-car is a double menace to shortsighted pedestrians. It is amazing how many motorists wear spectacles in this open-eyed city. In my opinion those who cannot receive an A 1 certificate for eyesight from an expert optician, should not be entrusted with a motorist’s licence. PEDESTRIAN NORTHERN FISH WARY Sir, Such newspaper headings as “The Fishless North” and “Disappointed Launchmen” are misleading, and might tend to do incalculable harm to the big game fishing in the waters north of Auckland. I agree that during February the big monsters have not been lured by rod, line and bait in such large numbers as last year. This does not necessarily mean that the fish are absent. I know of an angler who has not been successful in landing his quarry, so I accompanied him out to the fishing grounds yesterday in order that I could better appreciate the position. We left our fishing camp in the launch at 8.30 a.m., and were soon alongside Piercy Island and caught sufficient bait for the day’s operations. We occupied ourselves by trolling with the tarporinos until noon, and certainty were not successful in getting a strike, although we saw a swordfish broacli twice, some distance from the launch. We decide then to adopt the drifting method and came within a mile of Piercy Island and fished. One line was baited with kahawai for a depth, of 20 feet or more, and the other rod