CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 January 1918, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

WHAT Wli SHOULD AIM ATI, To the Editor. Sir,—No person, trying to reach the larger i>ulk ot the? readers, can treat important subjects in a few words, and if patriotism is to be thoroughly understood the Press can show it by giving space to subjects pertaining to the betterment of a country and its inhabitants, irrespective of the opinions of those who may be s;o minded a« to resent such liberty being given. The publication of treatisea qm economic subjects per pamphlet form is frequently forced upon thinking and clever men, and the public as a whole are robbed of a iust right because it cannot be rightly said that pamphlets can. get to tjie homes as can the ncwripaper.s,. .It is'a direct blow to our system q£ .education and economic system When, it .is. found that men who passed tftrougk .qut schools at 14 years of age have, .tod to go "all out" to lhanhood'so.that .they hardly understand iSnglish as it is written, and ,this is shown by the ig-norince' of important matters affecting their welfare, that of their children, anil the country as a whole. All they have time to think of is themselves. The Press is the only means thereby this can be obviated, but it does not step in, and therefore when trouble affecting a country does arise the very ones interested ask open-mouth-ed, "Wh&t for!" The whole crowd allow all sorts of injustices to be perpetrated, but because such do not, perhaps, hit them direct they put their noses to the grindstone in the old apathetic way of their fathers before them This should not be in a youiig country like New Zealand, which ie ..well supplied with means whereby rents are provided for expression of public opinion, but which, unfortunately, are handi.capped for reasons mentioned previously, Tvow, Sit, I maintain that no' fe'ah the right to be the author of population if he will not attempt : to "better ;tbe; conditions under which that population has to live, and, further, that if ea&i: unit of such population is of so much value to the State (that is, the rest pf the community) it shows to what an extent selfishness has on the community when instead of making proper provision we find the reverse, so much so that it take 9 war to bring home to it its duty. Truly wi are ir. a beautiful pickle, but it is what-ij we as a'ft&tlon aimed at, or in othef words whit w'e sowed. By the heart wrench of mothers, by the untold agonies of our splendid manhood and the prospect of a 'blighted future for hun-; dreds of thousands (may be millions yet) are we to have it borne to our under-

standing that our methods of the past have been wrong—that we thought of nought else but ourselves and the pleasures we; could get out »i this life at no matter whose expense, oven that of our o Wii; flesh and 'blood? A beautiful pickla! With the prospect of the diseased, tlio blind, the stunted and otherwise deformed being the future progeniour race is it set J farce to caclile about the glory of the British race beirtg perpetuated? There's not much satisfaction in'the old buffers pointing to past glories if they have not left behind the means and the methods of making such everlasting. That we need a, radical change is evident. The healthy life of the country lias to be put within reach of our population, especially those of families containing very young children; large families must be shown as a blessing and not (as is under present conditions) a hindrance and a curse; life in the co untry hair to be made mofe attractive to the mothers and the jshildren, and not, as at present, a constant drudgery in which human beings are forced to go to 'bed and get up with the fowls, too tired in muscle and brain to devote a fraction of time to healthful study. We'have wasted millions on education in New Zealand and propose to carry on the same game in the same old way because it has not yet been attempted to make the slightest provision for those we educate. We turn them adrift at 14, or perhaps encourage a few on technical lines and after that—well, what? Parents, hard pressed by the hand-to-mouth existence, are only too willing to get the boys and girls to work in order to help keep the pot boiling, and there's no getting behind the fact that the future welfare of the children suffers And, knowing what we know of the hustle fo live on the part of the many, we hove the impudence to ask educated mothers to "Save the Babies!" We English have thought more of our own selfish selves and pleasures than Of the permanent well being of the offspring we are responsible for. Some of us on the verge of the grave think we have done all we should when we have (irmly .placed the younger generation in the groove worn out by grandfathers, and the rest of the community can go We forget that by perpetuating Old time conditions where we met with competition, in tile, battle of life at the rate of five to one our progeny must combat 50 to one. We squabble abou , political parties and various proposals fpr bettering our race as are suggested under the name of progress, but in no case can it be said ultimate benefit accrues to the men with big families. The State says he must feed and clotlio them properly, that he must send them to school but takw. little account of the fact that ho ha? worked himself out providing for them, notwithstanding that they aro calculated as being of value £2OO to £3OO each to the State, The latter, when in trouble, steps in and claims of bodies of »uch independent l of the feelings of those who have gone through all sorts of trials to rear them, and, in the face of this, we appeal to educated males and females to let nature take its course, nnd yet we do not dovi«e any alteration to obviate the misery, hardships (call it as you will) that such abeyance under our rotten system entails. Wo ask this, and notice it is in a very weak-kneed manner that we oak, Will we get- it? Not much. Patriotism is gauged by £ «. d.; too manyhave the drudgery, the few all the pleasures. Education shows the former all it wants to know. Then Is it net "Downfall?"—l am, etc., JOE. B. SIMPSON. Durham Road. "i*i" • SAME WANTED. To the 'Editor. Sir,—lf the writer of the effusion in your issue of yesterday signed "21 Years Ratepayer" will forward his na>no a r«ply will bp given by— J. W. HAYDEN,