CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1918, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

• DEFENCE DEPARTMENT. To the Editor. Sir,—Your Wellington special correspondent's remarks on above I thoroughly agree with. Why not replace those who are in gold lace, drawing good pay, and anxious to go to the war, with some of our returned men? I asked the Hon. Sir James Allen the same question when he was m New Plymouth, but in his usual characteristic, autocratic manner he replied that "it would lower the efficiency of 'my officers.'" Our Defence Minister was a great critic when in opposition, and has proved himself to be a great failure with the public ribbons. I met n. man the other day who had been staying at one of Auckland's leading hotels, where the cuisine costs about 14s to 17s per day, and he informed me that "my officers" are always to be met there. No wonder the Defence "Minister was four million pounds out in his-estimate of defence expenditure. The next farce on t!:c public stage is a commission appointed to whitewash this Department manned toy a majority crew of "reform 'landsmen." What a lovely captain, officers, and crew are piloting the -national fleet! One of our boats called the "Railway" is manned hy an imported reform captain whose salary is only £3OOO per annum, and see how she overcomes the financial breakers! The admiral in charge of our State fleet 'is—oh) such a strong man! Taxation oil will be in great demand to lubricate the remains of the iNatio-wl Government fleet's machinery after stocktaking take-s . place.—l am., dc., DAN. J. HJfG'HES. CARTERS' CHARGES, To the Editor, 1 Sir,—Your paragraph commencing, "From time to time complaints are heard of visitors to New Plymouth being charged excessive rates by local carters for cartage work," is not in accordance with fact. Beyond the alleged overcharge under review at the Borough Council meeting last night, and for which a satisfactory answer ivlll proba'bly be. forthcoming, there have been no complaints. Charges for carrying are as low locally as most places in New Zealand, and certainly lower than in any of the four centres. The opening sentence of the paragraph is conventional, but it is conventional at the expense of truth.—l am, etc., E. ARMITAGE, Sec. Expressmen's Association. N.Z.'S POPOLATJON To the Editor, Sir,—lt is pleasing to read "Cogitator's" letter in your issue of yesterday. He asks: "Where is the true patriot who will demand that the Government will give concessions approximating to the benefits which parents of healthy children confer upon the State? 1 ' forgetting how near a true patriot he himself is in dealing with a problem the like of which has no equal in our time. The matter of concessions to paterfamilias is a topic upon the lips of most thoughtful men when they are confronted with the daily increasing expenses through rising of prices. How can we help but through the recognised channels of our members of Parliament? One, the Minister for Public Health (Hon. G. W. Russell), has outlined a scheme for the extension of our present hospitals by the addition of maternity wards. This, if carried out, and that promptly, would be the means of helping to build up New Zealand's population, provided it was carried out with a generous maternal mind. The cry with our newly-weds is, "No babies during the war," and even in peace times many say, "It's too costly on the present wages." Now, sir, those who are to be the parents of the future should have from our Government the most considerate maternal care and encouragement from other view-points than that of providing the future population at the least possible cost. If our Government cannot do so, the way is open for us by the use of our own municipality. The wastage of war, the most disastrous thing happening to our young Dominions, can only be made up by the "city fathers" taking upon themselves their true duties of sisting by every means possible to en* | courage the birth rate, first by a controller of food prices: second, by a fund provided either by taxation or voluntary gifts—as our patriotic fund (and what more patriotic?)— to enable all expectant mothers to be assisted prior to and after the birth of the child. Hoping that others interested, will furthei ventilate this most important subject, and that to a practical issue.—l am, etc., J. H. FORD. Stratford, 14/1/18.