CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8488, 16 July 1907, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—l am glad to see the Land Leaguers are pursuing a straight course for the attainment of their objects, neither deviating one way nor the other. It must be very amusing to those who understand the attitude' of the Minister and the Member on the question; it is like a red-hot potato to the one and a hedgehog to the other. They have evidently made pp their minds that we are not going to get this question settled without a stiff fight. It was chronicled in paper that Mr Hogg was going to have a great deal to say in the House on the question. So far we have had him complaining about his electors pushing him on the matter, and without this impelling force we may conclude he would have been dumb.. Now, Sir, to say the least of it, our member's attitude is a very unsatisfactory one indeed. He has been member for this disrtict for many years now, and it is a strange commentary that this, of all districts, is about the most backward in land settlement. Probably more aggregation has taken place here, for the size of the constituency, than anywhere else, and all this in face of his strong views on the Land Question. It is evident there is a screwloose somewhere. The latest phase —a precedent—is really farcical. To ask the Borough Council to state the lands they would like to see acquired is a new development in our land administration, and has been resorted to to defeat the object desired.. Where is Mr Hogg in this matter? Is he so unacquainted with his own constituency that he must invoke the aid of the Borough Council. This farce is too palpable, and the"*sooner the people wake up to the fact that it is they who are being fooled, the better for themselves. The matter has gone too far now, and is too serious for any hedging or shuffling taking place that will subvert the issue. All this subterfuge is only tending to focus those interested in their trueperspective. It allows of the cur - tain being drawn aside, and gives us a peep at the politician's astuteness, revealing the methods whereby the many donkeys have the proverbial carrots dangled at their nose, "at a distance safe enough from their being annexed. I must congratulate the League in this matter. They have been instrumental in bringing vividly before the people the neglect of their member and the Government. It is now a question of whether the district has to receive that msasure of justice extended to other districts by the Government, or whether they should return such a member to support such a Government .—Yours, etc., F. McD.G. Masterton, July loth, 1907. MR HORNSBY'S SOCIALISM. (To the Editor). Sir,—Mr Hornsby, having declared himself a Socialist, invites your readers to peruse "the literature of the Fabian Society" in order to ascertain what a Socialist is. I accept his invitation. Turning to the "Fabian Essays," I read: "What the achievement o ' Socialism involves is the transfer oJ rent from the clafs which now appropriates it to the whole people," (p. 179.) "The Socialisation of rent would mean the Socialisation of the sources of production by the expropriation of the present private proprietors and the transfer of their property to the entire nation." (p. 180). The process of expropriation is thus described: "The land will be purchased, and the purchase money or the interest thereon will be procured by taxing rent. In effect they (the owners) will be compelled at each purchase to buy out one of their body and present his land to th 3 municipality." (p. 192.) Now let me ask Mr Hornsby: Will he dare to go on to a Carterton platform and tell the Wairarapa freeholders that he is in favour of expropriating them and compelling them to present their lands to the municipality or nation? Has he not, on the contrary, declared both m and out of Parliament that he is not only in favour of freehold, but wou?d even convert the present]£tate leaseholders into freeholders? If Mr Hornsby replies that he does not recognise the Fabian test to which he has himself appealed, then he admits that he is no Socialist, whether Christian or heathen. As he is doubtless aware, for a politician to dub himself a Socialist is a well-known electioneering dodge. I once heard a very eminent barrister, who was contesting a Wellington election in the "Conservative" interest, solemnly announce from the platform his conversion to Socialism. The audience cheered rapturously. However, when the manager of a "Loan and Discount Company, " with tears in his eyes and a quaver in his voice, informed the electors that he was, and'had always been, a "Christian Socialist," they were so aghast that they did not know whether to cheer or to burst out laughing. But these gentlemen are outdone by Mr Hornsby, who is not only "happy to tell the House and the country that he is a Socialist," but fathers his Fabian principles, of which the above are mild samples, upon "the founder of the Christian religion." It would be interesting to know what passages from the Gospel have converted Mr Hornsby to the doctrine of compulsory expropriation, for their citation on public platforms would throw a flood of light on the perplexing problem of Freehold v. Leasehold.— I am, etc.,

X. RAILWAY FREIGHT ON COAL. (To the Editor.) Sir, —The farming community of this country has been much favoured, in many ways, by the present Liberal Government, more especially by the Railway Department, which practically supplies lime for manure to farmers free of freight for a distance of J one hundred miles. There are numerous other concessions made with other classes of freight. Re-

ferring to coal freight, the Masterton Workers' Land for Settlement League Committee, at a late meeting, agreed to, and sent an application to the Railway Department to reduce the present rates on coal, by having the one price for twenty miles and upwards. If this could be agreed to by the Government it would be a great assistance to the working class, who are now strained to the utmost in order to make both ends meei.—l am, etc., WORKMAN. -Masterton, July 15th, 1907. (To the Editor.) Sir, —Kindly permit me space in ryour valuable paper for a few remarks regarding Mr John Wingate's letter in your, issue of the Ist instant. Mr Wingate enjoins the ratepayers of Alfredton to be very careful in throwing in their lot with the Eketahuna County, at the same time informing them that he has been a ratepayer in the district for forty years. lam glad to learn that Mr Wingate has received so much satisfaction from the Masterton County, or, 1 should say, is so satisfied with small mercies, for I believe he must have been living there for over thirty years without a road to his place. Indeed, roads are a very scarce commodity in the Alfredton district. 1 wonder if Mr Wingate has ever th ;Ughtj)f what amount of money there has been collected in the Alfredton district as rates in those forty years he has been living there. Estimating the rates on the same basis as we are paying now, it will amount to about £50,000, and adding to this £20,000 borrowed money brings it up to £70,000. Now, what have we to show for this money? We have 87* miles of road of which about fifteen or twenty miles are metalled; and, besides, a good deal of the formation of these roads has been done with Government money. Mr Wingate informs us that the County has other responsibilities besides road maintenance, such as Charitable Aid, and \vith regard to the Public Health Act, and valuations, etc., which he says ~e cbubts the Eketahuna County can attc i to as cheaply and efficiently as the .Masterton County. But he gives us no reasons why this could be better attended to from a distance — thirty miles. Mr Wingate says he is much concerned about the ratepayers which he rperesented for a considerable time. lam aware that Mr Wingate was our representative on the County Council at one time, but I am r >t aware that he was much concern 3d for the ratepayers then. I am not aware that he has ever been in this part of the district, and I doubt whether he knows where the (Jjunty boundaries are even on the j main road, let alone the by-roads. A number of ratepayers in this part of the district were paying rates to the County for about ten years while their roads were being formed and kept in repair by the Government. After they were handed over to the County, and the ratepayers asked the County to repair them, they were informed that there was no money for them. Mr Wingate says, in alluding to the figures thr.t were given by Mr Wise at the meeting in Alfredton, that they ought to be received with great caution and proceeds to give other figures himself. But I think ; t is his own figures that ought to be received with caution, as I consider they are meant to hoodwink the ratepayers. Mr Wingate assumes that the salaries of the Clerk and Overseer amount to £331, which is 22 per cent, on the general rates of the Eketahuna County and £6BO, which is 9 per cent, of the general and separate rate of the Masterton County. But how is it that he takes the general rate only of one County and the general and separate rate of the other. If he takes the same rate in Masterton County as in Eketahuna, the figures for Masterton will be 13 per cei,.., not 9 per cent., but why should he out this iiem of the general ex;: ju.;e. Why not take the whole. Now, Mr Wingate knows that the Overseer of Eketahuna cannot be compared with the Engineer of Masterton, as the work he does is entirely different, and he also knows that the rates of the Eketahuna County are lower than those of Ma&terton. So the salaries must come proportionately higher. But I can single out another item which Mr Wingate would not mention because it shows the other way, namely, Councillors expenses, which show £7 or one-half per cent, for Eketahuna, and £ll4 [or 2 per cent for Masterton. I will ask Mr Wingate to look over the two-County bal-ance-sheets for the year 1906 where j he will find those items. Masterton re- j ceived under the heading of General j Account £8,401 4s lOd expenditure I on road maintenance £5,149 4s 9d, j leaving a balance of £3,252 for Charitable Aid and Hospital rate and general expenses of the County. In the Eketahuna balance-sheet for the same period he will find that the figures are £2,808 17s 8d and £1,965 14s, leaving a balance of £833 for Charitable Aid and Hospital and general expenses. Ratepayers, compare the figures. Mr Wingate states that the actual salaries which the Alfredton Riding has to provide are under £IOO, including the Engineer's travelling expenses. How he arrives at these figures I am at a loss to understand. Indeed, I do not know where he gets any of his figures : from, but one-fifth of all the rates is , collected in Alfredton Riding, and consequently the Alfredton share towards the salaries is one-fifth or £132. We pay towards the Engineer £7O, besides the allowance he gets on the expenditure of grants or money borrowed. The figures given by Mr [ Wise at Alfredton are practically cor- j rect. —I am, etc., ; A. K. HANSEN. Waihoke Valley. i