Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 598, 26 February 1929, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

COMMODITY COSTS Sir,— In congratulating you on your excellent and fair report of the meeting between the Farmers’ Union and the Manufacturers’ Association, may I explain that, although “wages’* were mentioned first in a reply of mine, both my colleagues and 1 are convinced that there must be a reduction in commodity costs before a reduction in wages can be looked for. lienee, in pai'tieular, our activity in combating the protective Customs tariff, which we are convinced is an important factor in increasing the cost of living. A. E. ROBINSON. PUZZLED Sir.—Permit me to take advantage of your fi-ank columns to say that I think, if another war eventuated, foreign Powers could be expected to take fine care to see that our scattered liinks of Empire are unable to co-operate. All the preparation we can make in New Zealand won’t count for much. People who look for fight always can find it. I had my share—and also lost two brothers—and I am still wondering what on earth we fought for. DOWN WITH WAR. TO STOP WAR Sir, —- I read the letters of both “Action” and and they axe very sensible contributions. I wish to intrude merely to say that I believe it possible that some form of preparation for war by comprehensive conscription is possible on a plan that will make war out of the question. I have heard that such a scheme has been prepai-ed, and according to my authority will create much national and international interest. Anyhow, if we know the causes, why can’t we stop war? HOPEFUL. SEfNE NETTING Sir,— A week or two ago the date arrived for trawlers and seiners to come as close inshore as they liked. We had several- —four or five seine boats working Onetangi Bay, and they continued to work for a week till they had thoroughly cleaned it up. The big trawlers worked only two miles from land Our shore was strewn with bunches of mussels dragged up and broken by these powerful engines. For every pound of mussels cast ashore, you mav estimate tons at sea. A commercial fisherman tells me that 50 tons of immature fish were dumped overboard between February 1 and 14. Just think for a moment . not five tons, but 50 tons of tiny fish numbering millions, destroyed because of the method of fishing. Is it nothing to us? This state of affairs is unique; no other country allows it. Tetters from the Fishing Department of Australia. inform us that these power nets.

are excluded from estuaries, bays, harbours and inshore fishing. Inquiring on board the Dana as to what were Danish regulations, we were told that there were none—they simply did not permit power nets in their waters, and stretches larger than the Hauraki Gulf are now closed against power-drawn nets. RUBY B. WATSON. BRAVERY Sir, — What a lot of brave men are advertising themselves these days. First we have a man who was too young for the war but says he deserves preference over any returned soldier, when seeking employment, because he’s done a brave thing in getting married. How Mussolini would welcome him. If my memory doesn’t fail me, it doesn’t take a brave man to get married. Quite a lot did it to dodge the war. I wonder would this super-man be brave enough to express himself before a body of returned men, preferably Australians. Then we have men and youths who declare “no war or gas for us.” You can take it that these undisciplined ones know no other country but this and know no worse horrors than being tied to apron strings. I wouldn’t be guilty of working in a country that I wouldn’t fight for. BRITISH. SCIENTIFIC SPIRITUALISM Sir,— The materialist, who denies the existence of spirits, is no philosopher, for philosophy is practical wisdom, but the one who asserts a universal negative, such as: There is no God; or there is no spirit, is guilty of the follv of assuming more knowledge than a true philosopher would pretend to possess. Of course, “A.E.C.” might call Spiritualism folly, but he would not so dispose of it. for he cannot prove it to be tolly as I have shown materialism to be folly. Spiritualists are not so foolish as to deny matter, as materialists are so foolish as to deny spirit. “The Analysis of Matter’’ is entirely beside the question. What I demand to know is the right of Bertrand Russell or anybody else to deny the reality of spirits. After reading Bertrand Russells book on China. no one need quote him as an authority to me on any matter requiring sound judgment. For bad judgment this book “takes the the author of “Materialism Restated has an argument worth a rap, “„“A-E.C” can give it to us! A.E.C. is still silent before the facts of Spiritualism to which I referred; Bradley's books and lue oom - As a lecturer on psychology m the United States of America, I made it my business to acquaint myself with the most ad°J psychologists, and it el °!i ld - be l ’f sldo the Point to waste undertaking a. scientific explanation of the well-known case of servant who was heard Hebrew (which she had formerly heard her master, a Hebrew a mori utterin S»- What I demand is fhJ S ® reasonable explanation than the Spiritualists give of such phenomena as psychologists cannot explain (Continued in next column)

on other hypotheses. The theory of fraud has been hard hit since the widow’ of _ the late Houdini claims to have received communication, in prearranged secret code, from Houdini himself, that erstwhile champion of the fraud theory. As a scientific investigator, I submit that the doctrine of personal survival best explains such things as are recorded in “The Blue Room. If “A.E.C.” can produce a better theory I shall be happy for him to do so. Fraud lias been suggested, but without a scintilla of evidence. A mighty wave of Spiritualism is passing over Britain, America and other lands under which materialism is being completely overwhelmed. J. G. HUGHES. "FOOD BY STRATEGY” Sir, As a citizen of Auckland, and of Zealand, and though quite unconnected with, professional charity, either as a mendicant or merchant, I feel called upon to voice an emphatic protest against the inferred humour of Mr. Scrimgeour as reported under the above heading in The Sun of the 25th inst. It seems to me quite unworthy of any educated man to scoff or sneer at the misfortunes, or the misdeeds, of any of his fellows. Might I suggest to the reverend gentleman that, in the somewhat privileged position he now holds, he might be more profitably employed in making greater efforts toward removing the cause or causes of the terrible plight of many worthy people, and less in showing how clever he is in detecting the tricks of the few. GEO. A. HARPER. Newmarket. Commenting on this letter, Mr. Scrim* geour said there was no humour of scoffing implied in his statement. It was only through the exposure of fraud that the greatest good could be done for deserving cases. It was right that the public should know* that his organisation was awake to the methods of tricksters. —Ed. The Sun. PREPARED

I would not hive entered into this controversy at this late date were it not that certain statements contained in a letter by “J.M.J.” are incorrect* He states that the last war found Great Britain unprepared. Such, however, is not the case. From 1873 to 1913 approximately £8,000,000,000 was spent by the six chief nations o*. Europe. France headed the list with an expenditure of £1,713,000,000;, Great Britain was second with an expenditure of £1,680,000.000; Russia, third, with £1,500,000,000, and then Germany with £1,480,000,000. From 3 900 to 1913 Great Britain spent £889,000,000, while Germany spent £765,000,000. Lord Haldane, speaking at Bedford College on November 29, 1918, said; —“At the outbreak of the war the fleet was in such a state of efficiency as never before, and we were two-to-one even then against the whole German Fleet. . . We mobilised at 11 o’clock on Monday, August 3 36 hours before we declared war. Within a few hours with the aid of the Navy the Expeditionary Force was across the Channel before any* body knew it.” J. T. CASLEb