Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 839, 6 December 1929, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To tbs Editor.)

ANTARCTIC CLAIMS Sir I was pleased to see that The Sun of yesterday outlined the legal position in respect to the virtual ownership of Antarctica, which seems to be agitating several nations at the present time. It is obvious that, for all practical purposes, there is no real value in the Antarctic lands, and that to suggest using them for commercial purposes just now is absurd. Some time in the far distant future is might become possible to extract some of the valuable mineral deposits that are reputed to be hidden there, but for the present dispute it seems that to continue the argument is simply to stir up enmity between Britain and America —which is still possible, despite the international parleys that are such a feature of present-day relations. STUDENT. TRAFFIC SENSE Sir,— So many newspaper correspondents devote themselves to criticism and complaint, of course all very well in their way. that a letter handing a bouquet to a public official must be something of a novelty. I should like to express my appreciation of Mr. G. R. Hogan’s campaign to teach school children traffic sense. Since his appointment to the office of chief traffic officer for Auckland City, Mr. Hogan has advanced many reforms and this, his latest effort, is a splendid work. My small son, who attends one of the schools visited by Mr. Hogan yesterday, has chalked out an intersection on the asphalt at the back of the house and is making and solving his own traffic problems with the aid of blocks of wood. His scorn for the careless pedestrian and his knowledge of what to do for safety is a revelation of the value of Mr. Hogan’s work. PEDESTRIAN. BOOKMAKERS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS Sir, — The statement published in the newspapers that half the operating staff in the Telegraph Department are involved in the betting scandal is probably an exaggeration, but it is notorious that the bookmakers have numerous clients in the Post Office and the Public Service. That is the reason why so many of them have a down-at-heel, shabby appearance, and look as if they rarely get a square meal. Their wives and children have my sympathy. Show me a public servant who is a punter, and I will show you one who is the victim of the loan shark, the time payment salesman, and who is the worst mark

on the debt collectors’ books. If the Hon. Mr. Donald is the man I think he is, he should be down on gambling. He can make a name for himself by having a clean-up in his department. Let him forgo the thousands of pounds of revenue he is getting from the bookmakers for telephones and telegrams, and notify his staff that anyone communicating with a bookmaker in office hours will be summarily dismissed. Besides putting scores of parasites out of an illegal business, he would also remove temptation from hundreds of his employees and bring prosperity into homes that are now being impoverished by the betting mania. The bookmaker is the most corrupting influence in the life of the community today. Mr. Donald and his colleagues have it in their power to restrict his operations by 75 per cent. Why do they stay their hand? CHIDE. DANGEROUS CHEMICALS Sir,— ' I read in the newspaper the other day that a youth conducting chemical experiments in his father’s garage nearly lost his life trying to ram potassium chlorate into an iron tube. It is not so long ago since a boy was killed by an explosion in a science room. Students should be carefully instructed by their masters before being allowed to handle dangerous chemicals that are likely to explode. I consider this a most important matter. CECIL, SWEET ALLEN. SPIRITS IN SWEETS Sir,— It amazes me to hear that certain organisations in Auckland are objecting to the sale of rum-flavoured sweets. I think it is ridiculous to suggest that such high-priced confections are within the reach of all. Although I do not object to an occasional drop of liquor myself. I say that it must be apparent to every unbiased person that there can be no great demand for the sweets There is too much intolerance in New Zealand. For a small country with its progress ahead, it has too many restrictions and there is a section of the community which, by its intolerance is not assisting New Zealand in tie-' veloping the broader outlook necessarv to progress. Prohibition, after all has not even the virtue of temperance which should be aimed at by every citizen. The constant arguments of church and ’temperance" organisations. avowedly in the interests of the community s morality, are not having then-effect really, and Auckland, whose people are splendid morally, has been by " sin parades ” and prayers for the community in the past year It is as outrageous as the objection to ) um- flavoured sweets. INDIGNANT MOTHER.