Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1030, 22 July 1930, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

N.Z.-MADE GOODS

Sir,A correspondent in Saturday s Sun complains of manufacturers selling their goods at the show. lam surprised that they don’t go further and open a few “New Zealand-made” stores on their own account, for all the good the retailers are to them. My wife visited three shops last week before she got New Zealand-made socks for the youngsters. I tried twice on Friday evening to buy a locallymade patent medicine. We were both urged to buy imported lines as being “very well known.” FATHER. HOOD AND MONCRIEFF Sir.— Please allow me space m your columns to comment on the supposed messages received concerning the Hood-Moncrieff trans-Tasman flight, and the place these gallant airmen are said to have crashed. I wish to state that I believe I had the first spirit message received from those gal ant airmen. I received it the first night of their expected arrival in Wellington, when the many thousands were on the Trentliam Racecourse waiting. They had already crashed, and my message then was that Moncrieff was killed instantaneously. Hood lived for three davs. They gave me a place, far back, cailed Forty Milo Bush, and said that they would not be found for years. I told parties at the time who can confirm my statements. I wish “Searcher” the best of luck, and will be interested in liis quest, but north would be a more likely direction, and nearer to the era'-Ti —nn'd it will take a lot to convince me otherwise. SPIRIT MESSAGE. WRESTLING Sir, — As a late member of the New Zealand Wrestling Council, a member of the A.W.A- Committee, and a member of last season’s match committee, I was deeply interested when I read your article under the heading: “Auckland Wrestling Association v. The Sun.” When I moved to the South Island a few months ago, I made arrangements to have The Sun forwarded to me regularly, principally on account of my interest in wrestling and a knowledge from past experience that I could rely on true reports of this season’s meetings.

I have on more than one occasion expressed my personal appreciation to your sports writer on his excellent reports of contests and his comment on wrestlers and wrestling in general. I was on the council before and during the present boom and was one of the “faithful” four or five who rolled up five weeks in succession before being able to secure, the necessary quorum of seven members to enable us to carry on with our annual general meeting. Of course I know that the rules of

the association are so loosely formed that some of the officials can do as they please without consulting the president, the committee or anyone else. When such a tiling as a committee meeting is called ionce in a long, long while), they are (or were) allowed to vote on Questions at issue, notwithstanding that they were only honorary members and as such had no right to vote. To my knowledge, resolutions have been passed with a view to having the rules revised and brought up to date, but I have yet to learn that this has been done. * Probably such action would not be in keeping with the policv 1 have mentioned. I know all the members of the present executive personally, except one, and among them are businessmen of undoubted ability: but they are unable to give play to their knowledge. The reason is obvious. T. W. POTTS. Invercargill. POST OFFICE CARVINGS Sir, — I note by Saturday’s Sun that reference is made to the carved heads at the old post office, the sculptor being the late Mr. Anton Tutenberg. May I also be permitted to place alongside his, the name of Mr. William Batts, of Brown Street. Ponsonby ? At that period I was serving my apprenticeship with Mr. George Leahy, blacksmith, of West Queen Street, now Swanson Street, and one of my duties was to bring and return the stone mason’s tools for sharpening. I often stood and watched Mr. Batts at work. His son. Mr. William Batts, took on the business of carver after the demise of his father and carried on that calling for several years until the development of plaster cast work, which industry he still carries, on at Eden Terrace. In later years I became a personal friend of the late Mr. Batts, being associated with him in church work. HY. PHILLIPS. Stokes Road, Mount Eden. DEFENCE Sir. That a cut in the Defence expenditure was essential is apparent to all, but is the Government justified in smashing our defence system to pieces v We all deplore war, but a cursory study of history shows that preparedness is the 1 best guarantee of peace. As a cheap and I think an effective substitute for what is now gone. I would suggest: fl> Th© re-establishment of junior cadets in our primary schools, where our boys would learn elementary military evolutions under strict discipline, a characteristic sadly lacking in the youth of today. (2) The retention of the secondary school cadets as training grounds for junior officers and N.C.O.’s if needed in the future. (3) The establishment of specialist companies, such (Continued in next column.)

as engineers, signallers, machine-gun-ners and the like under a volunteer system and efficient instructors. The opening of free miniature rifle ranges in our cities where anyone could learn to shoot. <5) The encouragement of defence rifle clubs as potent ial musketry instructors. I may say that us one who has served from the primary school cadets till the time I was discharged from the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. I disgusted with the adverse criticism hurled at camp morals by hysterical people who have never, unfortunately, had any real experience of it. Thes" same persons have probably attended with reverence at the unveiling of memorials to our glorious dead. Do they realise in their narrow little souls that according to their own finding they are honouring the memory of men who, due to the awful contaminating influence of three or more years o* camp life, became so degraded, so mentally and morally debased, that unknown graves in a foreign soil is the only flt place for them? This reasoning probably accounts for the fact that those who are rot heroes, those living monuments of war in the form «n maimed and suffering ex-soldiers, un* to compete with tit men in civil life, are man?' of them finding it difficult to keep “dissipated” bodies and ‘depraved” souls together. As one of correspondents once sagely remarked“Honour the d rt ad. let the living b** humbled.” EX-DIGGER. THE POLL TAX - Sir, — I thank you for printing my short letter signed “Curious.” but you do not answer my question, and I can find none, either inside Parliament or outside, to do so. I presume therefore that the little matter of how men without cash can contribute to the 30s a year poll-tax has been overlooked. Therefore may I offer a few observations? Now. sir. I venture to predict that the result of this scheme will stagger the Government. I a® not against it, as something of the kind had to come, but the average man in the street, unemployed, does not really believe that the jobs will be forthcoming. «.* the money either. He may In* wrong, but there it is. He has lost faith in the politicians, also the parties. At any rate, his confidence is evaporating rapidly, so he is saying: ‘Why should 1 pay into * fund from which I shall get probably nothing?” He has a vision of being driven into relief camps, and so on. As for the sustenance funds, the Minis* ter of Labour is reported as saying

“that the funds would be used sparingly, and only for cases of dire distress.” Well, that gives the show away. If th© fund is not to be worked automatically, that is by right and not a« a charity, it is no good to Mr. Average Man. Anyway, the man who is in dire distress is no good at all as a worker. He is too far gone, and that is the condition of many today, mentally if not physically. I venture to say that the most astounding results will be when the figures go up—the enormous increase in the number of registrations and applications from hundreds who have never before come

to light as unemployed, although they are so. Finally, what is the Government going to do with them? As for a penalty of £IOO on a roan without cash —well, you might $s well make it a million: it would make no difference W.S.