Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 979, 23 May 1930, Page 10

Citizens Say —

COMPULSORY VOTING

Sir, — Strange that 5,000 electors failed to record their votes at the recent Parnell by-election. Maybe apathy or economic pressure was the cause—probablv'the two combined. We have compulsory registration of electors and it looks as if compulsory voting is also needed. WILLIAM PERRY. Great Barrier Island. INCREASED RATES Sir,— Again the ratepayers of Auckland are faced with an increase in their rates, the total now reaching 4s 2d in the pound. There seems to be no limit to these increases. Year after year the ratepayer is called unon to meet the demand of increased* rates without seeing very much in the way of increased facilities to warrant the increase. The burden falls upon the shoulders those that can least afford to bear it. It is safe to say that at least 70 per cent, of the people who are taxed through being ratepayers are working class. The economic position of the worker is such that further demands on the purse through increased rates must prove fatal to those who have purchased a home. The hospital and charitable aid rate j.as reached some magnitude, largely due to increased unemployment, which in the main is not a local responsibility, but a national responsibilitv. It is for the ratepayers to rid themselves of this extra burden of taxation by protesting against the increase in the city rates. A. M. CASSIE (MRS.).

CONSCIOUS CREATIVE POWER

This must be my final letter i i reply to •'Profanum Vulgus.” as my time is fully occupied in my business. Danvin says (page 613, ‘T>escent of Man”): “The birth both of the species and of the individual are equal parts of that j grand sequence of events which the ; siind refuses to accept as the result of j blind chance. The understanding rei volts at such a conclusion, whether or : not we are able to believe that everv ! slight variation of structure*—the union of each pair in marriage, the dissemination of seed, and other ; events, have all been ordained for some special purpose.’’ 1 To me this subject is extremely fas-

(To the Editor.)

cinating, and I lain would go more fully into the matter—devote mv whole life to it, in fact—if it would provide me with a livelihood. If. for instance, I could demand a fee, like a solicitor, for every letter I wrote on the subject, then my creditors would have no cause for complaint, but as it is, I must henceforth devote mv energies to trying to sell properties for my clients. If “Profanum Vulgus" wants to try and understand mv point of view he should read “Man and God Are One,” advertised in your columns C. P. W. LOXGDILL. f The correspondence between Mr Longdill and “Profanum Vulgus” is nowclosed. —Ed., The Sun.] OUR CROWDED HOSPITALS Sir, — bop© to goodness your editorial upon the rapidly increasing hospital population is going to do something toward making people sit up and take r.otice. No one in New Zealand has dono more toward this than I have during the past seven or eight years. J have had more than 100 letters pub- \ n , papers upon this and kindred subjects during- that I t . here is "Q doubt that the health policy ’ of this country is proving disastrous in the extreme, and is rapidly becoming a nightmare in national disease.

The Official Year Book proves this without a doubt. Taking only a few years 3 9-4-1928, inclusive, the posiV™ h ? s lj€come intolerably worse: 19-4: In-patients. 58.600 (434 for 10,000 P,?J : J3 jlaUOT })'■> 1928: In-patients. 80 407 (do_ per 10,000 population). This representsi an increase of 27 per cent ‘ P rf r , cent * Per annum. In 19-b New Zealand lost 200.000 weeks this score. For the year 1.-8 it was nearly 260,000 weeks' This represents more than one day for everv person in the Dominion: The aver c ' ach patient in hospital irom 21 days in 926 -

These figures, sir. show how Xew Zealand is slowly but surely drifting .oward disaster. The economic loss entailed must surely run into millions of pounds per annum. And this oilv for the public hospitals alone A does not include all the private hospitals a nd nursing homes, nor the rel.g.ous institutions. The sooner Xew Zealand institutes a rigorous sv,-,,,, wiii P V EV< r ntlVr ' cd ovation the betted it :. or f vor > onc concerned. And vhv 1 hi *vc always ..ca-'v. .hr iourd. ' : - n of r tif.r'.j humanist socle:;- vmlcrtake *=,l.-11 wor*. The motto of,such an organisa-

tion would be “Cure by Prevention: Prevent by Education.” All medical authorities agree that education is the only sure means f n ' keeping people well, and at the saffl# time an asset to the country, instra# .being an incessant recurrent liability, Xew Zealand, wake up! R. M. THOMSON 50Sa Queen St., May 20, 1930.

NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENT

A.J.n.-—There appears 10 be rather * miif-h bias in your letter. —Ed. »"• Sun.