Citizens Say

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 311, 23 March 1928, Page 8

Citizens Say

(To the Editor.)

RETRIBUTION? Sir,— As a rule, it is bad form to laugh at misfortune, but I am not ashamed to say that I feel like cheering at the report concerning the total wreck of the Norwegian whale ship, Southern Queen, with the loss of £200,000 worth of oil. Grim Nature, in the shape of an iceberg, has done what Governments have failed to do in the direction of punishing whalers for their inordinate greed. . Their slaughter of mammals in the Antarctic Sea has been ruthless to a disgraceful extent. Personally, I hope that Nature will continue to exact retributory toll from these merciless foreigners. A NEW ZEALANDER.

“THE NIGHT BEFORE” Sir, The Hon. A. D. McLeod, speaking at Waiuku on Tuesday, March 20, said that the country was feeling the effects familiar to most of us, “the morning after the night before.” The morning after the night before, When the horizon all seems red, When the breeze has vanished from everywhere, And the world seems utterly dead; When we think of the lovely times we had, When we all borrowed money galore, And sold our farms three times a week, “Only the night before.” The morning after the night before, According to Mr. McLeod, Is always a pretty difficult time, For everyone in the crowd. When the Government’s blamed for all the mess, And you’re looking for somebody’s gore; “Remember the wonderful time you’ve had. “Only the night before.” J. REA. Franklin.

AFFAIRS IN SAMOA Sir, — It is to be hoped with the deepest earnestness that the appointment of a new Administrator for Western Samoa will not prove to be another case of the ancient law that “an Amurath an Amurath succeeds.” Another soldier has been selected for a delicate task. It may be assumed that LieutenantColonel S. S. Allen, formerly Commander of the Second Auckland Battalion in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at the World War, has beenchosen on the strength of his outstanding service as a brilliant soldier, and not because of his administrative experience in the comparatively obscure role of Mayor of Morrinsville, where the worst disturbances have been seismic shocks, beyond human control. Already commentators hail him as a great disciplinarian. Those who know Colonel “Steve” Allen would not hesitate to go on the witness stand at the Judgment Day and declare that he is a true officer and a gentleman in the real sense of the jargonated term. They would add, too, that he possesses the indefinable

charm of that rare gift known as "personality.” In my opinion, it will be by the exercise of this gift alone that the new Administrator will win over the discontented Samoans to tranquility and an enduring peace. The Prime Minister's naive statement in The Sun last evening showed clearly that military diseiplanarianism has failed completely in the mandated territory. The retiring Administrator, Major-General Sir George Richardson, leaves Apia in remarkable circumstances. The guns of a New Zealand warship gape at the little town, a'nd marines parade the streets, the ground dotted with quick-firers. And yet Mr. Coates confesses that the disaffected natives assert that “they are Christians with no intention of harming anybody.” Moreover, the Prime Minister declares that, with the exception of a few minor incidents of larrikinism, the natives have never given occasion at any time to cause the belief that they will resort to violence. This, mark you, Sir, is what your morning contemporary accepts to-day as convincing evidence of the justification for its sensational report a fortnight ago that the disloyal natives were openly insulting white women in the streets of Apia! What a Gilbertian story Sir George Richardson has to tell the Mandates Commission at Geneva in June! "Yes gentlemen, there have been no acts of violence in Samoa, and no reason for anticipating violence. The natives are professed Christians, and pray for guidance. But since they refused to kill the destructive coconut beetle boycotted the shops, hindered’ other natives from shopping, and refused to obey essentially drastic laws we deported several chiefs and agitators, and mobilised the New Zealand Navy for potential war.” Why, Sir, the neutral ?t? at ? eneva will laugh at fm S = D ° m nIOn ; Let us pray sincerely for a wiser rule m Western Samoa. ONLOOKER,

LIBRARY RESEARCH Sir, Is it the fault of past or present Councils that the New ZeaSknl of the Auckland Public Library is so poorly stocked? With the excention 'zeallinFZ- m; ° re of VOlumes . the New Zealand section is composed of State documents or trashy fiction only given ? hl ace because it happens to have ants p ® rpetrated h.v misguided inhabitw”rks n,° Ur coun , try - 01 historical works of any value there is a mini- ?} u ™; ft ? r s P end i n S profitless hours me to some thmg that would help Tnd aft k n°wledge of early Auckland, a ?„ d at ‘ er hunting in vain for the late Sir John Logan Campbell’s book—which surely should be here, if any. where—l am moved to utter this proNEW ZEALANDER.

DAYLIGHT SAVING Sir.— m T tht r T ti ” aCity of Hr. s idey resulted Ne 4? ° n the Statute Book of Zealand an entirely needless measure The writer's observations do P°t flnd -J ha * the general health of the community is improved. In fact he f an hi prod P° e . evidence to the contrarv m his district. No doctors appear to have ceased practice or chemists to sMm» f f ll fi a ' Hospital accommodation i U v! y taxed > and in one place a thf viV 1 ' 13 being compelled bv the Director-General of Health to erect another hospital. There is one direction in which the operation of the

measure has had a bad effect. value of the retailer’s evening trade on the late night has been largely I°® * Late night shopping is popular al * convenient to many, but trade is n begun until the artificial light turned up. Shoppers will not com out until then. Persona! reveals a great diminution of t>us , r J ~ on the late night during the past sum* mer in comparison with the two-L. ht _ vious periods. The extra cost of W, ing is more than offset by the trade. There is. of course, a wa> by extending the retail hour o® . late night until 10 pun., and A.i. if ment should make such proviato the Act should again (unfortuna be passed. In this temperate *°® 'j. balance of daylight afforded by ard time is adequate to proyw the needs of all reasonable sport and energetic gardeners. STRUGGLING JiLTAILi-*»