Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 857, 28 December 1929, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

SETTLING THE LAND

Sir,— At long last the Government, through the Minister of Lands, Mr. Forbes, has decided to try the experiment of placing unemployed men upon unoccupied land with a view to its ultimate cultivation and settlement. It has often been suggested that this be carried out as a long-sighted method of settling some of our second-class country, but hitherto the authorities have shrunk from the prospect of what might turn out to be dead expenditure. At the same time the same Government has been expending dead money in the employment of men upon relief works which could, by no stretch of imagination, be classed even as ultimately reproductive. If the unemployed men are out to treat these poor class lands under strict supervision of men who know something of the scientific handling of land, there should be reaped a rich benefit for the producers throughout the Dominion, and it should solve the problem—partly at least —of creating new and enthusiastic settlers.

The expenditure of large sums of money is required if the land is to be settled effectively, and it is only by looking far ahead that the best will be secured from any scheme of settlement. In this respect the present Government, I think, has shown more promise than any administration* BACK TO THE LAND.

BLAME AMERICA

Sirin the report of the Primary Schools Committees’ Association, a member is represented as having blamed the talkies and other American influences for the imperfect speech among our children —and indirectly among the adults —and in pointing this out to the members, he charmingly assures them that “it is up to the British to correct this,” because “bad speaking gets on one’s nerves.” Yes, it is up to us to correct it. But are we altogether just in blaming the influence of the talkies in this direction? Is the cause of this neglect of proper speaking not closer to home? Perhaps our own carelessness and indolence is responsible. My experience of the talkies has been the opposite to that suggested by the esteemed gentleman from Northcote, Mr. J. McDonald, who makes the complaint. I think that the speaking parts in some of the educational and news talkies are the finest that have ever been heard by an Auckland audience. The enunciation of the American speakers is perfect, and the choice of

words is such that would provide many lessons for members of the Schools Committees' Association Incidentally the boys and girls from the public schools would be edified were they to note carefully the fine points of the speaking that is to be heard upon the talkie films. Nobody wishes to have the American accent copied in our schools. But people do not succumb to a German accent, a Scots accent, an Irish brogue or to the pidgin English of the Chinese simply because they mix with people of these nationalities. Then why should we be more susceptible to the American accent or the American slang? New Zealand slang is bad enough. Let us clear that from our speech before we lay too much blame upon America. COLONIAL. MOUNT EDEN’S MAYOR Sir, — Some person calling himself “Mount Eden Ratepayer” has sent vou an attack on Mr. Potter for his activities on the Transport Board. "Ratepayer ” tf he really is, a ratepayer and has not merely assumed the name for the time being, has evidently every desire to be nasty without quite knowing howto manage it. He objects to Mr. Potter’s actions on the Transport Board but h « w ;> l hot find many to sympathise vi 11 * 1 -!? 1 ??' T he g ene ral opinion is that r ;, Po “ f ; r ha s. taken a more sensible °l the P_ 01lc y that should be pursued than the majority of his colleagues, and that he has tried in the face of many difficulties to bring out the real position of the board. The complaints about the condition of ? IO a n j 1 take to be detail intended to give verisimilitude to a bald and otherwise unconvincing narrative. It is certainly unconvincing Por tunately, Mount Eden is sufficiently wen known not to be injured by a s.de wind. The people of Mount Eden have for manv years nast tribute to Mr. Po'tter’s activities and administrative abilities, by returning hrni to the Mayoral chair at each 2Jic ceeding election. Enough sa?d D.M.M. AN EVANGELIST ATTACKS EVOLUTION THEORIES Sir,— ~~ Your report of an evangelist* s “°w st ir r evangelist in question would be rn^c

at home in Dayton, way down Tennessee, the inhabitants of which are held in ridicule by the whole world thinkers, not believers. With regard to Genesis this lecturer must knew that the two stories of Creation ar® irreconcilable, one with the other. Does he not know anything °* geology, of the Paleozoic, Meosozoic and Cenozoic ages, which began millions of years ago, with the pro?ess of the earth’s cooling. Every successive stratum of rock formed, in tb® successive geological ages, is knawn and named from the successive and forms of animal life which ar® embedded and preserved therein. This complete and irrefutable evidence cojj" and utterly destroys th® stupidity and ignorant story* attribute** to an ignorant semi-barbaric race. Starting from geological antiQU l *-/ there is found a progressive appro^ 1 ' mation of the organs which now and are completed by gradual and unbroken sequence, of beings more an more highly differentiated. It is Q ul *| true that theological modernists P°*. sessing the courage to do so, given up the self-stultifying atteEl JJ to question the knowledge of our env* that geology conveys. Every day jy find some fresh disciple of ism joining its ranks. Hence evangelist in question discr€d theology and its worn-out teacnin&»* There are many in this city who wou be quite ready to discuss the upon the platform. The eyange»L*_ self-confessed effrontery and ignora is so colossally biased . impermeable to reason, that any*-» u ment, however plain, cannot affe*mind so steeped in fundamental^^