PARITUTU OF OLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 5 April 1907, Page 4

PARITUTU OF OLD.

"Man marks tin* earth with ruin. v lUtoh. ! To the Editor. Xir.--Xnw lluit tile flirthov despoiling iof Paritulu lor harbor works purpose-? not an unlikely con!ingency. tho '(iK-stion might not be onintcr a:; io whether il hail ever heeii ihat'the old formation at I > aritui 11 or the <iothie bridge .joining the iMiinl.i'u! wiiii the seaward cliff. l>>:.',e! u.'i' with o| liiT adjacent ''<>ck combin-iti-ms and caves, whether lhe. possibiliiy was ever entertained 10 ;i)l not being wholly ilu' 0'" XaMllV. !>:' chl-s* in th:' ;* rt i« :*1 oi' Ilu- >"•! Front old fetches | hv lower. portion <>t' the conical outlying sibnd niiglit readily be fancied info a likelier of a colossal "sphinx,thoti.gli tln* M-alc probably of I'aritatu's past environments might preclude th- likelihood of anything but the agency of natural forces ill their produd ion. Monoliths of huge proportions are found on numbers of the islands of l'olyue: v.:, with other ruins mid lava statues, though in -New Zealand such remains .rerin hitherto conspicuous hy their absence. Exploiting or dynamiting Paritutu itself is not likely to bring to light or to disclose any prehistoric marvel, but the blowing up of the. precipitous archil eeime uf dills, arch, and rocks which oiici' girded its base, unless entirely unavoidable. can scarcely be considered to have hi en less than gross vandalism, if it were only on acounl of (heir scenic curiositv.—-J am, etc.. C.WWW ARISTOCKACY. WEALTH, AXi) ■ LABOII. To the Editor. Sir,—Your two articles this morning interested me much and agree with my ideas and experiences, .first, in regard to miners, their pay, their work, and their risks of life and liiul). Perhaps a compulsory insurance of their lives by mine owners or mining companies would be lair and right, for it "would put proprietors more on their guard to prevent accidents, and those proprietors might pay one-half of every premium, and the miner workman the oilier half. If the mining proprietors had an insurance department as part of their svstem. it ic well iilid safer nil rniniil. Sucli it sysieni of insurance would have lo lie compulsory on masters and men. Vo'ir other article' on tin- "Landed" and "Overlanded"' aristocracy lias my entire sympathy, but .Sir taiupbell-Bauuennan, who may be a large landowner, would look, smcly, with disgust at any system of spoliation which involved a kind of •■vindictive damages" against noblemen or commoners whose fathers or remote ancestcrs won by valor, intellect, or commercial ability those glorious properties, the stately homes of England. Wales, and Scotland. Those stately homes arc seen all over old England, and are Ihe glory iiiid beauty of it. Some "Dukerics"' .Mid seats of noblemen generally I liave seen and admired. Sir. it is rare tn liear i.f unkiiidness or tyranny exercised over their neighbors or laborers by these great, men. They are generally liberal and friendly, often philanthropic; their wealth is largely expended on laboring men. hospitals, and sueh like, and oil the Church of England and oil schools.Of coiuse a ]icer cannot help a noble relative dying without sons, and so iniiting two' estates in the ownership of one family. That is no fault or sin against anybody. Still, mijiiy are, anil always have been, too rich, at least in acres' of land. I often visited a scpiire ill Devon who has thirteen thousand aces of soil. Me told me that his nett profit was live shillings per acre per annum and his expenses were immense, his living simple. A gentleman in Essex told 111 c that he had a large estate. lnl if was useless for grazing, and would onlv produce grain at a loss, so he lived entirely on his private income. and his estate was unsaleable. The lion, .lolm Mieehan said, at Auckland. that- much land in New Zealand v.onid only starve a man, even if he had 211(1 acres. * Jt is often so in Kngland. The wild commons and heaths in Kngland, now inly lived on by Gypsies, rabbits, and binls. might lie cut up and divided I among the poor, but if they had no capitil what could they do with the land estcpt to starve 011 it. pay taxes, or sell it again to rich merchants-.' What, benefit would that be to the poor 'laborer-.' England is not favored by ils climate. New Zealand, Australia, and Russia can all beat England in wheatgiowing. That Ims ruined the British farmer's bv the. score. Clergymen's tithes arc 40 per cent, reduced. in Kn«hi'id clerical incomes are often half what tlicy were. I lived several times near to im Earl, whose estate income, had been .f2S,tKK) a year for ages. Reduction ill value uf wheat, etc., brought down his income to .£15,000 a year. The expenses of his estate left him but a tiny income for a nobleman. There is no telling what Tlritish pluck may do, and perhaps our aristocracy would' be no worse ol v with less land. For my part, Sir, 1 am in favor of compulsory sales of portions of large, estates, but the poor cannot often buy them. Hich merchants may, and will, buy them. Heaven help the poor owners of hud who have no capital to work it. —I am, etc., J.L. l'.S.—Several noble ladies' estates belong liow to rich commoners. _ Column's niusfard linn own an estate in Surrey once the properly of a widowed Countess. L olliciatcd at the church in the tills park.—.l.E. WAREA .MATTE US. X. (To the Editor.) Sir.—Re the proposal to form a separate Road Hoard at Warea, IwouM like to say that it is one that is bound 'to end ill smoke, as it deserve.s to. The proposal emanates from one individual or at the most, two individuals, who really do not know what tlicy do want. In the lirst place these individuals, in their perverse way, and with a total disregard of the facts of tile case, tried 1o create dissatisfaction with the l'arihaka Road lioard administration by alleging that *ihe- Warea and Newail roads were not receiving their due rates, when, as a matter of fact, the rates had been over expended to the extent of ;C!)1 odd. Howled out in this, they then allirmed that ilie rates accruing from sections that do not touch bye roads should be expended on tile Warea and Newail roads. This, of course, would mean robbing the other portions of the road for the Warea and Ncwall roads district. Hut. 110 one with a feeling of fair-play and equity would loleratc this proceeding. Kis true that the Newail and Warea roads lvipiire more money spent upon tluim. A special loan cannot he raised for maintenance or repairs and the only tiling to he done in the circumstances is to put a tax upon the timber waggons or for the ratepayer- to strike a, special rate for one or two years. Th.ratepayers have the matter in their own hands, hut ;is for forming another road hoard within a road hoard—well tin; thing is as impossible us il is ludh-rous. , —I am, etc., WILLI Ail. REV ELL.