CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 28, 23 June 1914, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

TJJL DAND. .. (1° the Editor.) v,;::-*"* il " o,v space in. your »' I I t ' olu ' :,,ls to '•"Ply briefly to your I Mio-leader m .Saturdays issue, and to j p.ace tlie views 0 t ;he Hand before vour ieadeiu n ll,« lirst place, fcjir, we'ean- , "ot M! 0 that we came to any startling ■ conclusion- .is we contend that being purely a .volunteer organisation we have ! I'ig'ht to say if we are satwlied with J 0111- present < onduictor or not, and in Objecting to having another foisted ou Us against our wish. Is it reasonable ill my case, lor instance, as well as others in tlie Hand, that with over 17 years service in the Band tdmt we aire willing (and win still continue) to iattend our practices two nights a week j and often more, and satriliea all our I ""("I'lys with a <;ondiiotor who is inctlicientT Also do we not do our part ill providing tlie sinuws of war? Then, aigain, you say the Band has for siome time been giving very indifferent service. k that the conducta-'s fault'-' Certainly not. To-dtiy he lias the best JJUIUI lie Juw hiui .viiLcic coining to New Plymouth, au-1 now it is far from w.bat he would like, so we contend thtit he hiis not yet had a chance of showing what he is capable of, and it is condemning a mau before trial, w'liidh is certainly very un-Briti,,h, Whilst at the Auckland contest we had numerous applications fruni band'.-tnun "wishing to co'ijic to Neu- Plyuiioiiith, but not -one of whom were we able to get positions for, and even at the present time there, is a very nice cornet player in town, but' oven with the aid of the Citizens' Committee he i-j unable to obtain employ- ] liient. \\ ith regard to the 'Opinions of J musical men, I have also tad exprcs-J sions of opinion from local mu-iciansl (one in particular willh considerable ex- j perience in bandd, but at pre- J sent, not in any), and also from visiting | bandsmen, and they all express surprise j at the act of the committee. Now, with - r( gard to the Citizens' Coinimittoe, wliicih | was set up, we (juite 'understoo<l, to manage t'.'ie financial and general alfsairs j of the Band, a motion such as was i brought up at la.-.t we,ek'.v nii'etiivr -was j quite out-ide their province to deal with I unless first coming from the Band, which opinion .was also expressed to > me by the chairman about a fortnight ago, and 'his action at tlio meeting in ruling the motion, in order and a"iso seconding it was, to say the least of it, not consistent, and coining on top of his i-fjm.H'ks at the closing night of tilie j carnival, when, in pre.-enting medals to | the mo<t improved learners, he made ) culogklic references to Mr. OuiMnins' > ability, seems h:ird to understand. Til en,, again, the Citi/ens? Oonwuittee is . composed of eight citizens, the Bandmaster, Band Secretary .and t,\vo mem- i b: rs of tili-e fiand, but the meeting-was attended by only four citizens and three . Hand .representatives, the Bandmaster not having had a notic,?, of the meeting, and did not I'now anything of i.t until opening his japor the following day. .So, Sir, ymi can quite see that our indignation at the action of thnv citiwin is quite justified. Before concluding, 1 vvould iii;c to mention, thtit I have bidore me lio-v a large number of ,eulogistic refwenees to .Ur. Cummins' ability, wiliicii any who are interested ; | '..'in inspect, ar.d one of which i« from I Mr. 1. ijncliloii. w;io laid the foundation (two if whose leading instrumentalists are Air. Cummins' pupils), of the AVaiiganui Clarrison Ilami, in which he refers to the very line performance put up by Air. Cummins' Band at the Feilding contest, and eitlogi-iing Afr. Ciwnmins' ability as a conductor, and I have [also the judges' notes and the disposition of the points gained at the recent content at Auckland, wmich I propose to place in your i.anils for publication during this week, and wliich shows an excellent perform,:nc.e for live weeks' training. In condition, we are very ! sorry that this lias happened, mid it was not of our seeking, and during all my experience in the Band it has never been working with such an entire ab- i sence of discord as it is at present, and. I taking all things into consideration, and I the expressions of approval of our action which has heen freely offered, we feel quite justifieil in the action which we have taken up, and which' we propose continuing.—l am, etc.

FEED. A. COLEMAN'. Band Secreta.rv

DISLOYAL EMPLOYEES'.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—l don't know anything of the In<;Io\\ ( ood workers on the line! hut Mr. P. Joliens says of them will hold good of the gang near AYiiicngona.. They go to the Liberal League's meeting and try to get others to go with thonl and join, because tliey say it will only be one shilling a month. They make no secret of where jjiey are going, hut seem rather prowl of it. If Mr. Herries would only pay a Mirprise visit to the diffweaiit* meetings there would be a, good many dismissals in the morning. It seems the more pay they get the less work t'licy do, at least it ii so with the pang I Itave mentioned. I have been travelling around the Wniongona district between Leipperton and Inglewood, and ba<ve often noticed them when they were, supposed to be at work. Why, Mr. Editor, a boy of ten would do as much in hall an hour. One great. individual I noticed particularly. He lifted bis pick five and nut ii down again without making a markhe was «o deeply engaged in convers-ation with his mate! At the least sign of rain they make for the shelter filed. sUrt a fire, smoke, read the papers, wid have a happy time generally. It often makes a man like anyswlf think' of home ar.d mother. -I am, etc. T. YOUNG.