Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 958, 29 April 1930, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

THAT MANTLE Sir, Could you tell me who is responsible for letting 1 the mantle of Baliance and Seddon fall? According to the Labour candidate it has fallen on Labour. The United man swears it has fallen on the Government. As there is scarcely enough of the mantle to go round, the Reform Party says nothing. Perhaps the mantle won’t stretch over the three. No doubt, as all politicians are in the gas business, they will be interested in mantles, but for charity’s sake don’t let us cause Richard Seddon to stir uneasily in his grave by letting holders of every shade of political opinion try to climb to fame on his statesmanship. MANTLE PEACE. THE CAMPAIGN Sir.— The three candidates for the vacant Parnell seat arc making the same wildly optimistic statements about the unemployment situation as were made before the last General Election. It is all very well to point out what the Government has done since it has been in power, but with a hard winter ahead, the unemployed don’t “give a dump” about such involved subjects as land taxation or primage duties. What they want is work as Quickly as possible—and permanent work, too. If politicians can do nothing more than deliver optimistic speeches about the country turning the corner into an era of prosperity, then the sooner we get rid of them, the better. Mr. Endean rather impresses me as a candidate who is sincere in his endeavour to solve the problem of the unemployed. T.N.T. “A.E.C.” AND RATIONALISM Sir,— “A.E.C.” labours without success to prove that a sufficient differentia lies within his definition of Rationalism. His reference to the “knowable" is reminiscent of Herbert Spencer’s famous distinction between the “Unknowable” and the “Knowable” in “First Principles.” “A.E.C.” makes a stupendous claim for the human mind,

but he appears to be quite unconscious of the difficulties he raises for himself. It is enough, however, to say that his assertions about the “knowable” are self-contradictory. He declares that "everything that exists is potentially knowable,” and that “what Is beyond the confines of the knowable must he non-existent for all human purposes.” The limitation expressed here is fatal, hence the argument of "A.E.C.” is a pure sophism. In asserting that “everything that exists i 3 potentially knowable” an appeal is made, to faith such as oompletely annihilates the first principle of his own Rationalism. D. D. SCOTT. The Manse, Onehunga. CONTRACT V. DAY LABOUR Sir,— As a ratepayer, I would very much like to know what is wrong with our City Council's engineering department. Nearly all the local bodies, with the exception of our own council, call public tenders for works. As the Auckland City Council is asking the ratepayers to give their approval to a loan proposal of £115,000, it would behove the ratepayers of Auckland to obtain from the council an assurance that tenders will be called for such important proposals. The Mount Roskil! Road Board's experience is well worth quoting as an example of what a local body can save by calling tenders. It has let by contract the whole of its sewerage works, estimated to cost £60,000. for £43,740. Not bad, is it, for the ratepayers of Roskill? This will enable the ratepayers to get other important works executed for the balance of the loan moneys. All the large important works have been done by contract, and it is not an experiment, so why the City Council does not call tenders for its works is not easily understood by those who have to subscribe to the increasing cost of their annual rate charges. The council calls tenders annually £ or transport, materials and sundry small matters. J

With the exception of the Mount Eden reservoir contract let twelve months ago, I know of no other work which has been let by the council. Th<» r nn ol f,nSe nt t? ct let for some £3,1)00 under the engineer’s estimate,

which is quite a considerable amount* and surely worth while saving. The Auckland Harbour Board, tha Auckland Hospital Board, and all thn local bodies around Auckland invariably do all their loan-proposal works ■by contract, and effect considerable saving. The Auckland City Council* comprising mostly business men. should require no further intimation in this direction, and I trust will tak* the necessary steps to get the beet value for its moneys. RATEPAYER-

PRIMAGE DUTY

Sir.—■ Sir Joseph Ward’s financial review is delightfully vague on the very point on which the public wants information —primage duty. In verbose term*, the Prime Minister has set out the object of the increased primage, which, he says, was to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure, but be has omitted to enlighten the taxpayer* of the extent of that gap, and also the approximate amount by which the revenue has been bolstered up at the expense of the cost of living. I* J* obvious that the greater portion of the additional primage revenue must have been produced by the importation foodstuffs. The higher duty has been pooh-poohed by United Party members as being negligible to retailers and has been assessed as costing * man, wife and three children 6s a Nevertheless, no figures that woul® give even the remotest indication oi the truth or otherwise of this c*fl* mate have been adduced. Whil* U l * extra duty has been removed from foodstuffs, according to the Prime Minister, there is no indication when thl* imposition will be lifted from other articles. Of course, the extra re vena* derived from this source during next three months —and it will fully that before the financial posa.ls are considered—will enhance

the revenue during the first six month of the financial year very substant! ally. So this is high finance. WALL STREET.