Citizens Say

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 933, 28 March 1930, Page 8

Citizens Say

(To the Editor.)

RELIGION IN RUSSIA Sir, — Your correspondents*, the Publicity Committee of the N.Z.A.A.R., state that they receive no assistance from Russian sources. We accept that disclaimer and may say our statement that the “Anti-God” campaign organised by the Third International was world-wide, was a general statement of fact which is not in any way disproved by the existence of an independent activity. N.Z. WELFARE LEAGUE. MAORI DIALECTS Sir,— Mrs. Soljak in her dissertation does not, as asked of her, substantiate her contentions by giving specific examples in proof thereof. Whereas Messrs. Rukutai and Newton, both men of scholastic attainments and first-grade Maori interpreters, must be accep:ed as competent authorities of their mother tongue. They have given reasons based on grammatical and historical grounds in confirmation of their views. Mrs. Soljak accuses the gentlemen of hangareku (an expression which may be- classed as Maori “Billingsgate”). She makes also *at least two errors in orthography. The circumlocution she / also charges her contestants with is in fact her own failing, for she avoids the actual issue, proof of her assertions. Unless she can produce such, it were more appropriate that she discontinue the discussion. Mrs. Soljak also unduly criticises the Akarana Maori Association. It has already been explained by Mr. Rukutai that the discussion concerning Maori dialects at a meeting of the association was quite an informal one. and that the various opinions then expressed were merely the views of the several speakers. There are admittedly diverse Maori dialects —each having its peculiar beauty of idiom and diction. As such they are regarded affectionately by their speakers as the speech of their respective ancestors.- _ No one dialect actually claims superiority over others However, undoubtedly the Waikato dialect is that in which the translation ot the Bible appears. No competent speaker of the language can come to any other conclusion in that regard—even if he were not acquainted with the history of that translation which confirms the fact. HORI TAIAWHIO. TRANSPORT Sir,— I wish to enter, through your i columns, an emphatic protest against I the attitude of some of the members of the Auckland Transport Bboard who, !

at last week’s meeting, attempted to hand over to private enterprise the service about to be established along the newly-constructed Waterfront roadway, which connects St. Heliers with the City. Surely, sir, these members must have lost all sense of values to dream of such a thing. With their uncanny capacity for running services at a loss, these members are surely losing their optimism, which enabled them to. saddle the ratepayers (with a qualm) with those buses and services which have since proved such a heavy liability. They now wish to revert to the extreme depths of pessimism and hand over to a private firm what is bound to be one of the most popular services in the Dominion. The reasons given are interesting: The first is, that although the present service, in private hands, is paying, the best effort of the" Transport Board’s management (the last word in efficiency) would be to lose £B,OOO per ann um. The second is, that although the private company’s buses would find nc difficulty in running tire service, the road would not pi-ove strong enough to stand up to a service run by the board. Fortunately all of the members of the board do not think alike, and the strenuous fight put up by some of tile members to keep the service in the hands of the board, shows that there are still some men prepared to battle hard to conserve the interests of the people. In a few years’ time, when the land along the Waterfront Road is as thickly populated as Point Chevalier, the large numbers of passengers being carried to their homes there by t!A? eI T lce ’ A’ 11 undoubtedly owe much to the far-sighted councillors who put "P s ns h tu SP - I , enaid n ° ht the inter--3 ° f the citizens at the meeting of the Transport Board last week. cms. FEMININE MORALS Sir, — adnnt < ? oubt tlle Popular attitude to adopt in respect of Mrs. Phillips’s in dictment of Auckland girls is £> de-~ B°m n il there dy f° r her alle » ed diatribe in her fay™, s ° mechine to be said but are they any better? This much at any rate is certain: their iUGV 1 y irtue in their hearts, but it is not to be seen in their dress and deportment. They flaunt their sex ndth a biazen indifference to the highest moral standard in the modern rathe, than in the Victorian age, and re veil 1 much more silk than sensitiveness And is it not a fact that manv of them" because of their greedy love Of cock: tails and cigarettes, disgust even blase’ young men? Then the extent of social disease even for a sub-tropical port [ ln touch with lax islands of the Pacific

and foreign cities or immoral ces5 * pools is an appalling reality, not a exaggeration. Beyond doubt, thousands of Auckland girls are above suspicion, but hundreds of them equany indisputably have nothing to learn an everything to forget. All praise, «*. I. to Mrs. Pljillips for having spoken Plainly about a foolish flapperdonu JOHN BLUNT* J