Citizens Say

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 848, 17 December 1929, Page 8

Citizens Say

(To the Editor.)

CHRISTMAS CHEER APPEAL

By the generosity of the public I was enabled to give 85 men a Christmas dinner last year as well as giving relief to several cases of distress. i have several sad cases of distress to try and provide for this Christmastide. May I therefore be allowed to appeal to your many readers for donations to my Christmas Cheer Fund? All our work is supported entirely by voluntary subscriptions and donations. Donations sent to C. E. KNIGHT, Open Air Campaigners of X.Z. Box 1183.

WATERFRONT ROAD

Sir I read that at a recent meeting of the Transport Board an application was made to run a service along the. new waterfront road, and that this application was supported by the Tamaki ratepayers. This is not the case. Part of the executive of the ratepayers took upon themselves to support Mr. Keys, and they did this contrary to all rules of procedure or chairmanship, as anyone versed in such matters will at once know. The ratepayers had not given any powers to them to investigate or act in the matter; such a decision rests entirely on the wishes of the residents of the district. It is not what the executive thinks or wishes but what the people wish. Such high-handed dealings deserve severe censure, and the idea that a few can dispose of the people’s rights and opinions without their leave shows as much ignorance as it does foolishness. A public meeting of the Ratepayers’ Association was the only legal way of ascertaining the wishes of the residents of Tamaki.

RUBY E. WATSON. St. Heliers Bay.

DANGERS OF CANOEING

Sir, — It is far from my purpose to be a spoil-sport. On the contrary I wish to encourage safe, healthy sport. But I think there is something lacking in the supervision of young hoys canoeing along the Takapuna and Milford Beaches. The boys are apparently allowed to take the -canoes as far out from the surf as they wish, and to undertake as many risks as their small hearts dictate. At Takapuna yesterday an irresponsible youth, only one of many, spent at least 30 seconds be-

neath an upturned canoe as the result of a capsize and rose to the surface just when his friends were becoming anxious about his safety. If nobody is handy when incidents like this occur, there is likely to be trouble. I think there should be some restriction upon canoeing in the interests of safety. In this instance a. little prevention is better than all the cure after something has happened. BATHER.

BUSES TO THE BEACH

Sir,— As a visitor to your charming city, X never could understand why the buses do not run straight through from the harbour ferries to the beach at Milford. On Sundays and at rush periods one has to transfer from the regular bus to a feeder service from the main road terminus to the beach, but on ordinary week-days one is compelled to walk from the terminus to the foreshore. This, on a iiot day, robs the excursion of a great deal of the pleasure, particularly on the return journey. I think a small alteration in the bus routes would correct what must appear to other visitors also as a lamentable oversight in catering for excursionists to a delightful watering-place. SOUTHERNER.

COURAGEOUS ATTITUDE

Sir, — I feel I must congratulate the Rev. Charles Chandler, our assistant-city missioner and prison chaplain, for his protest against the gaol system as exemplified in Auckland’s ugliest building, Mount Eden Prison. Mr. Chandler has always impressed me us an extremely reasonable man in his public utterances, and, as it must appear even to those who have not concerned themselves greatly with prison systems, his criticism of ugly sanitary conditions and personal rules for the men is highly constructive, and not destructive as the authorities apparentlv are tryto represent Penal reform has progressed each century, and the New Zealand authorities are indeed optimists if they claim that they have attained the peak system of securing moral righteousness among among those who offend against the law. There is one very pointed question which has not yet been satisfactorily answered by our lauded high civilisatl°n: , w hy are comparatively mild offenders thrown into close association. under crude conditions. with thorough-paced criminals? On this question alone, penal reform movements are justified. Auckland will lose

one of its finest social workers vfrhe Mr. Chandler shortly goes to AustraltfIf his criticism has pierced the anßfl® of the prison authorities, his stay • Auckland has been merited. kandavl.

EVOLUTION

Sir.— Dr. French E. Oliver, who matte interesting remarks about Mr. Sinciju* Lewis in The Sun on Saturday, deu * ered an address at the Scots Hail 0Sunday. It was both erudite inspiring and touched, by no lightly, the subject of Evolutionwords must have been welcomed *2l who have at heart the of a pernicious doctrine. Dr. OUT demonstrated the fallaciousness : Evolution and I find myself h*. aCC Y. with practically the whole of bis sage. I think, however, he wa» taken in mentioning the ape’s lack morals. At worst the ape is amor* scarcely even that. One of Dr. most crushing arguments was ■■ avowed distaste for a belief -“L bestowed upon us relationship to brutes and beasts of the jungleexpressed a sentiment that appe&2 g . the hearts of all. How much * dignified and glorious was the cw tion,