PERSONAL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 285, 29 May 1912, Page 4

PERSONAL

I The Hon. G. Laurenson,' Minister of j Labor, left Wellington for Christchurch last night.

The Prime Minister left Wellington yesterday for Taranaki. He will deliver a policy speech at Opunake to-morrow night.

Mr. J. Cook, land transfer draughtsman at \ew Plymouth, has been appointed' to succeed Mr. H. Mackay as land transfer draughtsman at Wellington.

A Preste Association telegram states that Mr. A. D. Hart, a well-known Labor loader and member of the Christchurch City Council, died on Saturday night, at the age of forty-five years.

Mr. T. R. Fisher, of Dunedin, yesterday forwarded to the board of directors of the Standard Insurance Company his resignation of the position of general manager, which he has held for many years.

At its meeting yesterday the Taranaki Land Board passed a resolution embodying its sympathy with the widow and family of Mr. F. Simpson, a former Commissioner, in their bereavement, and recording its appreciation of the manner in which the late gentleman had conducted the business of the Board during his term of office.

The following resignations were accepted by the Taranaki Education Board last evening:—Miss D. Evans, assistant ait Pihama; Miss A. Crawford, assistant at Central; Miss B. Head, sole teacher at Lower Mangorei; Mrs. Dewhirst, head teacher at Egmont Village. Leave of absence was granted to Miss A. Lewis, sole teacher at Dudley.

The death occurred at Nelson yesterday of the Rev. John Crump, the veteran Methodist Minister, at the age of 84. He was a native of Kingsland, Herefordshire. Mr. Crump came to New Zealand in 1859, his first circuit being Manukau. During his long service Mr. Crump has been stationed in every part of the Dominion. He retired from active work some years ago, and has since resided in Nelson. He was twice married, and leaves a family of six daughters and two sons.

The death is reported by telegram froml Auckland of Dr. James Wallis, clergyman, surgeon, politician and farmer. The deceased represented Auckland City Welst in Parliament from 1877 to 1881. He was born in Aberdeenshire in 1825. He was educated at Aberdeen University and gained his M.A. degree in 1544. As a clergyman and missionary Dr. Wallis ministered at Dundee and Aberdeen and at Essequibo and DemeTara, in British Guiana. In 1863 he passed as a s>urgeon in Edinburgh with th(> object of becoming a medical missionary. He came to New Zealand in 1865 as surgeon of the vessel Rangitoto. After a few years as minister of the church known at Neuton Kirk he sold that property in 18811, and for some time carried on a farm at Riverhead, returning in 1896 to Richmond, near Auckland. In Parliament Dr. Wallis was a constant advocate of women's suffrage, and he took aa interest in political questions up to the time of his death.

Another of Canterbury's pioneers passed away at Wellington oil Monday in the person of Mrs. John Sandford, late of Heathcote Valley. Arriving at Lyttelton in the Hockhamption in March, 1858, with her husband and three small children, all the rough times incidental to pioneering came her way. For many years the late Mrs. Sandford J s house was the resting place of weary travellers who had negotiated the "Bridle Path" on their way to Cliristchurch via the old 'Terry" at Heathcote. More than one life-long friendship was started there, arid not many of her old friends were able to meet the old lady when her golden wedding was celebrated nine years ago in the presenco of a large number of friends, who held the old couple in the highest affection and esteem. Her hns'band and all but two of a large family of thirteen have predeceased her. Mr. P. W. fiandford, of New Plymouth, is a son of the deceased: lady, and much sympathy will be extended to him in hia sad log*.

CORRESPONDENCE.

REPLY TO HON. GEO. FOWLDS,

To the Editor. SuWpr.umevou will admit as aelfu,l'a public speaker either dot* or does not know what he k talking of and that a case of ignorance is also a cas.' of impertinence, but that where knowledge exists, truthfulness should accompany it. W, Sir, I am in a dilemma as to which class to place the effusion of the Hon. Geo. Fowhk on Saturday nighfc Jast, for it goes without saying that he grossly misled and sought to befool hi a audience by much' that he said, and more by what he implied With the delicious bathos by which he sought to capture the affections of the so-called "Labor' Party, I have nothing to do beyond expressing my appreciation, not being a politician I am happy to say, but when he gets on to "land" and "farmers." I bpgm to feel my feet, and 'having been engaged in farming pursuits in New Zealand ever since the year of grace 18CC, I begin to think I know something about pioneering. Mr Fowlds. made a great deal of enhanced land values, and after throwing overboard his one-time affection for land nationalisation and single tax, expressed his satisfaction with the freehold tenure, but advocated the imposition of a tax of not less than one penny in the £ on the unimproved value of all lands. Is it possible, Sir, that an ex-Min ister of the Crown does not know that such a tax lilas been levied for nvai)f~ years past, or was he trusting to the assumed ignorance of his audience? ]f any gentleman of that audience doubts my statement let him call at my house and I will show him a number of receipt* for payment of that annual tax. Then again Mr Fowlds referred to the prices obtained at Tlawera last week for land sold, and implied that it was fictitious, and in some mysterious way brought about by the community at large. He might as well say the same of horseflesh, because one horse realises £5 and an•other £SO. Let me say that the lands in question are better worth .€7O per acre to any farmer who knows his business, than much of the land where Mr Fowlds hails from is worth seventy pence. Land is worth just what it will produce, but there of course the farmer must look in. In common with most professional politicians (particularly the "Liberal" and "Labor" brand) Mr Fowlds- > trots round, industriously telling people how to suck eggs, and implying that the eggs came through the good offices of the Balance-cum-Seddon-cum-Ward crew, with this by way of variation, that the new model is an improvement on the somewhat antiquated and motley crowd now to the fore. Well, Sir, let us be thankful for small mercies, but the present prosperity of our Dominion has but a very remote connection with the politicians of any party, and if they had all gone down like the Titanic, we should still have prospered, only more so. The prosperity of our country is to be attributed to three inventions, viz., the freezing machine, the separator, and the milking machine. But for these we should not have emerged from the era of the blue jumper and moleskins. Can Mr Fowlds explain why in 1874 I could get £3 15s for yearly steers and in 1887 only obtain fis for similar cattle? Or why in 1875 breeding ewes were worth 35s and a few years later their progeny realised only 5s fid, or why butter was down to 4d per lb and prime legs of mutton at one time were hawked round Napier six for half-a-crown, or potatoes were advertised in Taranaki at 17s a ton f.o.b. rail trucks? Had the politicians anything to do with such a state of things ? Of course not, no more than with the present prosperity. We produced more than we could consume, and had no outside market for our surplus perishable products. The freezer came in and was gradually perfected, and heigh presto! the scene was changed. Taranaki gave up fungus picking for milking, the separator made the factory system possible and now the milking machine has still further enhanced the value of our fat dairy lands. Mr Fowlda was pleased to characterise the man who gave a high price for good land a« a fool who would look for a Iwgger fool to whom he could sell, but I submit. Sir, that the only fool in the matter, if there is one, is the man who talks of what he knows next to nothing. A crasser pandering to the gallery than Mr. Fowlds' address I have seldom listened to. He is evidently out to catch votes for the new party he would lead, and to do that stoops to tickle ouf>, palates with a lot of high sounding but vague generalities which can be made to mean anything or nothing. He talked about a land tax reducing customs taxation. Well, I have been a long time! here and seen much taxation put on quite easily, but found it a tough job to get any removed. A little while ago, under the plea of patriotism, a "preferential duty" of from 5 to 50 per cent, on foreign manufactures was imposed. Any preferential easement on British goods? Oh, dear no! simply another turn of the screw! I hope Old England appreciated the "concession." J quite sure we ought to. Mr Fowldß forgot however to point out that any remission on manufactured articles would probably bring some trade clamoring round the • Government for an increase rather tha* a decrease of duty, on the plea of protecting their industry. He also said that it was less easy now than formerly for a man to rise and prosper, that lcsa opportunity was afforded under existing conditions. This is quite contrary to my experience, .and I have no hesitation an flatly contradicting it. I can say this, that every man who has been in my regular employ during the last twenty years is prospering, with the exception of one whom I have lost sight of, and most of them are on their own farm* to-day, but then, of course, they did not stick to the eight hours ticket, or down tools" at the bidding of any union official. Mr Fowlds deplored the existing "unrest," but is his method likely to allay it, or in any way satisfy it? I think not. To go round the country characterising men aa "foola" and "shirkers" is not putting oil but sand into the social machine. I am also afraid that his handling of Scripture is about as reliable as his knowledge of fanning, judging by his reference to the Mosak land 'laws. The disposing of the land by lot under Moses did not, so far as one cam judge, satisfy one applio&nt, and send the other ninety-nine away to renew their scheming. Neither did it admit of dummyisra. Neither was it leasehold, or nationalised, but a freehold of the strictest order. I think we have had so much spoonfeeding from our maternal Government that our self-reliance has weakened, and that we have come to look up to our Government for everything we want and expect to have it done for us instead of doing it for ourselves.—l am, etc., N. T. MAUNDER.