CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairoa Bell, Volume IV, Issue 145, 13 May 1892, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

[The editor is not responsible for opinions expressed by correspondents.] Oh for a forty parson power to cliant Thy praise Hypocrisy, (To the Editor.) Sir, —I was sui’prisod to see in a back nxxruber of your up-river contemporary that he is coming out in a new line and endeavouring to pose as a censor of morals. Now the man must think we have all lost our memories (like his kite medical protege), and has taken Hamlet’s advice to “ assume a virtue if you have it not.” I am, however, afraid this sudden assumption of virtue is “ all my eye and Betty Marthin.” Die is either throwing mud at someone who has crossed his path in the hope that if he throws enough some of it might stick, or he is joking. He must have his little j oke you know. Ha! ha! ha! Old Kaiiiu.

(To the Editor)

I think Mr Marmaduke rather hasty in expressing his opinion in public point. He should have taken a little trouble to enqixire before jumping- at conclusions. No one was authorised to offer this Mr T. Elliott work at the Kauri Company’s mill. Mr Marmaduke must xxnderstaud that the present agent for the K.T.Co. will not be influenced in the choice of workmen by football or any other entertainments ; these are not in his line. Marmaduke also alludes to young men walking about wanting work. I am not aware of any except those who left the mill without giving a moment’s notice. If these are the yoixng men alluded to I have no sympathy with them. Marmaduke sug-

gests that a full meeting should beheld, and I second it. Hoping that in future Marrnaduko and his coufed. i-.de.s • ili • ltie thenfootball disputes apart from the works.—l am, sir, MANAGER. LOCAL BODIES VALUATION. TO THE EDITOR. Sir.—Having had some amount of thoxxght on the above question I was pleased to read in the ‘ ‘ Weekly News ”of 7th inst, a leading article which if any of your readers (who may feel interested) have not seen I think it would be worth their while to hunt it up and carefully peruse it. It condemns the present mode of appointing valuators and suggests that they should be elected. Those who have carefully read their papers cannot fail but to have noticed that there has been a general cry all through the North during the last few months, at the excessive valuations placed upon the land by the pi’esent assessors, values which if the assessors were asked to buy at, they woxxld tell you straight that it was unreasonable. Take my own valuation for example, it was valued at between £SOO and £6OO. I at once sent away my protest to Wellington and in a short time without further ado my valuation was reduced by £l4O. I have seen the valuation papers of many around me and they have been treated in a similar manner. Again, properties that any reasonable man would say was of inferior value has been valued over and above others of in every way superior value The question comes in, why is this ? My reply is that it is because, as at present constituted, the assessor is only responsible to the Local Body, and so long as he can keep his valuations sufficiently high to bring plenty of bawbees into their coffers that is aboxxt all he thinks about, and the settler is never once thought of. I should like to see this question taken up by the ratepayers of the Colony, so that at the next valuation we may have an elected valuator who will be x-esponsible to the ratepayers, a,ml not to the seven men who comprise the Council. N®w, Mr Editor, I must have a thrust at you. I have been a subsci'iber to your valxxahle paper ever since it started and am of opiniou that it has done a vast amount of good for the Wairoa generally, by opening its columns without fear or favour in the cause of right and truth. But the one point iri which I have differed with you has been

chat of Taxation. 1 have noticed that the last 2years when our Council has proposedthe highest rate that the law will allow them to strike, your paper has seemed to say “ That is right tickle them up, give us town people good roads.” Then again, when it comes to general Taxation your paper has advocated Single Tax so that putting two and two together, methinks I hear it say if we could only manage to put all Taxation (local and general) off our backs on to the shoulders of the unfortunate landownei’S wouldn’t we townspeople have a glorious time. Trusting I have not trespassed too muehonyoxir valuable space. — I am etc., H. J. Slade. ]_Ed. We are in favour of a threehalfpenny County rate and woxxld also like to see a Colonial Single tax as oxxr correspondent infers. Our reasons for both are to assist the country settler, which we claim they woxxld do. We have discussed the matter on three or four occasions and have always gained the vote, and we think we could convince our correspondent of the correctness of our conclusions if he would debate the matter with us. Perhaps the North Wairoa Agricultural Society will take the matter up.]