PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19899, 30 May 1936, Page 9

PUBLIC OPINION

AS expressed by correspondents, whose letters are welcome. but for whose views we have no responsibility. Correspondents are requested to write in ink_ it is essential that anonymous writers enclose their Proper names as a guarantee of good faith. Unless this rule is complied with, their letters will not appear.

i RAILWAY cßossme. ‘ (To the Editor.) I Sin—lt seems to me that “Crossing" ‘must have given much serious thousm ilo the problem of the crossing in Vic—!toria Street. it is unfortunate that lids thoughts should ramble and take the longest, and by far the most ex—lpensive, way round a simple difficulty. l in the town of iluntiy is to be ifound the most sen'Sihle and cheapest way out or the ditlleulty which is. 01‘ seems to be, causing so many 5100i?iess nights for our knowing ones. I refer to the railroad crossing JUSt south of the main shopping area 0f liiuntiy, which, with a few simple alterations, could be made to suit our crossing—i am, ete., F.ll. Frankton, May 28. m GARDEN PLACE. Sin—As one interested I should like to comment on your able corre—spondent Mr A. Bryee's sound, prac—‘tieal reasons for retaining this much—[disoussed Garden Place Hill. To take the long view and to serve the public lwith something that is beneficial is, most will agree, ultimately the best. I Probably many of your readers have been occupied with the Show at this period, but I am Sure those who read your correspondent's bene—lloial advice for retaining the hill, in Thursday’s issue, will come to the sober conclusion that from the educzr tive point of view, and from one of the qualities in man which makes for peace and goodwill, this suggestion lfor dealing with the problem of lGarden Place Hill was well stated in your cot-respondent's able words. -—-I am, ete., - A READER. Frankton, May 29. ‘ THE FREE CHURCHES. l . ‘ (To the Editor.) 1 Sin—Under this heading the Rev. B. urant Sutherland suggests that the sects which are not Church of En;‘land should be given a place in New Zealand military dedications. Possibly ithe padre forgets that such celebra—- ‘ tions are deep—rooted in a remote past, and that our traditions are Anglican land not Presbyterian. l May I refer your readers and Mr Sutherland to the utterance of a cele—brated lloyal Duke, the head of ‘the Army in early Victorian times? Speaking to a gathering oi Army chap—lains he said: “i do not see why anyhody who goes into the Army should wish to belong to anything but the established religion. When you go into the Army you give your consci—ence to the State, and the State looks after it for you, and provides chap.lains for the purpose. A soldier has got to believe in God somehow, or he couldn‘t believe in anything, couldn‘t do his Job either. You have to believe in God when it’s your duty to go out and ldli your fellow-creatures; it's your only excuse for doing it. It's harder sometimes to believe in your commanding ofiicer when he gives you an order that looks damned silly, and may be a mistake. And established religion is the best training for believing what you've got to believe. and not trouble your head too much about it, which is what makes a good soldier. It‘s the religion that has done most for the country, and if it's good enough for me it‘s good enough for those who are under me. It‘s foreign mlssiolns have helped to give us our colonies, at much less trouble and loss of life than we should have got them otherwise. And the mortality among missionaries, considering cannibals and all that sort ot‘ thing, has been remarkably small and promising. the Army having backed them up. There—fore I consider, and I say, that the Established Church has a right to be ‘the Church of the Army. Anyway, we can prevent the other denominations from becoming ofl‘icers."—l am, etc., HISTORICUS. Hamilton, May 28. “BECAUSE OF” OR "IN SPITE 0F"? (To the Editor.) Sir,—-—I am annoyed with myseltl l have missed a. splendid opportunity; the opportunity to say “i told you so." For some time past 1 have been in—tending to write to you prophesying that ere long one or the other of the supporters of the present Socialist Government would draw attention to the increasing prosperity which is evident. everywhere and claim that this is due to the recent drastic Labour legislniion. I had intended to point. out. that the signs of better times were in evidrnce twelve months or more before the ui'l'llrtion (iesrendetl upon us last i‘U(‘t‘llllit,‘i‘, and have been becoming lllUl'i‘ evident ever since. The steady iinproveineut-~roniiuued in spilt: oi" the ilood ol' repressive legislation—shows cleurly that we nro “round the corner," .is prophesied by .\ir iloutrs it couple of years ago. .\r‘. however, the improvements date hock well let'oru the rule of the Socialists, it should lie irrhh'nt that it is it matter of “in spite oi‘," not. “because of," My prupln'ry has no\\'l ('illitl} li'uo. .\ir sil\'llL—"i'. when opening the show the other «toy, stated that the value oi the exports haul iiupi'owd very nun-h ol' lxilt‘. lining increased prosperity nll roulnl. rldlnilu: that this \\‘us due to “routitlrurr in lizihour.” It would lH' just as (wisimor tundra lul‘ HH‘ 1.i.~| [in\i'|'lllll~‘lll to i'lnitn lilo rrwlil for the iiuprownu-ui: but it should ]H‘ ovinlrni Hull improved priwsi [or our |'\[lll|'l.\ .‘tro not illn' in :lu;.' \\.iy' to conditions hero, but to tho law oil “supply and demand" in l‘llu'ope. ' it |'-|lll|tt| lw 100 slronul} \ll'i“\l'tl'*—[ illlil should ln- sli‘o'ssi-il nonin .iinl‘ noninvil} lilill‘l',~ lllHl‘t' .ilrli- llmn my? soli' lo Ill.tl\l' it vlv-nr iil.it itiv- mop; lluuwl iinprowliu'ul horn \ilh in tip-i \\orld :onrrnll)‘ is not "low-.iiim- of”; llm‘ :-ill't.tii~lii‘ .iiul rwpri-“iw illi'.i\il:"'fi oi our prmoni rulers, lnit ' n >|rllCl ol‘."——~l .lill, i'li'.. l\ ri'i'i'i: ill". i'i'uiihion. .\io; 29. I

BURDENS AND BENEFITS. —-q' (To the Editor.) Sin—l thank Mr McMillan for his l‘eplt' to my request. Ills explanation of the difference between economic rent and taxation is a very clear one. I am glad that he accepts the fact, that the burden of taxation is borne in the final analysis wholly by those on the land. 1 find difilculty in understand—--1113 how a social benefit can also come down to the land. A burden (like taxation) is willingly, and even eagerly, passed on by those upon whom it is placed, it they are able to do so. They may not be so eager to pass on a benetlt. To give an instance that may shortly be demonstrated—benefits such as higher wages and shorter hours in the town industries will shortly come into effect. How will this benefit the exportin'; farmer T—l am, eto., G. HUNTER. Hot-sham Downs. May 28. MR NASH’S MISSION. (To the Editor.) Sin—“ Equity" (Hamilton) has not grasped the significance of the British price level, which stands at. 800, 35 compared with 1300 in New Zealand. it. is unreasonable to expect the price of butter in Britain to be the same as the guaranteed price here. Your correspondent ret‘ers to the possibility o! a “considerable loss." Where does the loss come in? All that the Government, through the agency of the Reserve Bank, gives for the dairy pro—duce is a book entry in an appropriate account. The bank actually gives no—thing for the butter, so what can it lose? It is absurd to credit an account with money that can only be spent in another country on the other side of the world; and then to debit the same account with New Zealand money is simply going to the ridicul—ous. How on earth is it possible to balance a money account with a price level of 800 on the credit side and 1300 on the debit side? The late Government attempted to knock down the 1300 level. The result was un—paralleled hardship. . tSome rise in prices is desirable, but when the level is reached where all classes are on “scratch,“ shall we say, then the Government must—and should now—«undertake an economic lsurvey of the country, to draw up a national account showing our,assets and liabilities. The volume of consumable goods should be the measure of the money issue. If money is issued for capital lworks, etc.. in excess or the production of consumable goods, then prices will rise and inflation take place. We are going to witness an experiment in dairy produce. Will “Equity" support the principle of a straight—out. subsidy by the State to the producers of wool and meat of an additional flve-eighths on sterling prices to bring their purchasing power up level with the New ‘Zealand price level of 'I3OO without State purchase of the produce? We would then have two experiments working side by side, and could Judge results—l am, etc.. H. G. YOUNG. Gordonton, May 26. 1 VOLUNTARY RENT. F..— (To the Editor.) Sim—Making bald statements without producing an iota of proof will not enable Mr Leo Kay to make an impression upon the critical readers of your correspondence column. As Ithe very name of the movement for which Mr Nicolnus stands is Land Restoration, it is nonsense to say that he advocated eontiscatlon. Neither ‘his education nor his power of logical lanalytsls would permit him to make such a. ridiculous contradiction in terms and policy. I may interpolate; here that a \V’cllingion daily paper, one not at all in favour of the Com—monwealth Land Party‘s policy, de—scribed Mr Nicoiaus as being easily ahead of all other candidates in mm cational attainments and knowledge or economics. It is not proposed to confiscate anything, but the policy will stop individuals from conflscating the social values of land and of natural products, as monetised in bare land rentals and royalties and wayleaves. On the other hand, it will also stop ‘the confiscation of the just fruits of labour by taxation on commodities ‘and incomes. .\ir Ray is quite wrong in saying ‘that whatever was spent on improve—‘mcnis would be refunded. Except, in the case where the State or local body ‘rcsumcd land for roads or other public works, the State would have nothing whatever in do with the improve—ments; the owners thercoi‘ will be attic to buy and sell these, or retain them. llust as they do now. .\ir Kay has obviously never taken the trouble to study the nmttcr, and is thus astray at every point. } Mr Ray snvs rent is a tax. but offers no lll‘llnillun or either the one or the other, or any argument on the matter, so this statement is worth—iless, too. He denies that rent is a voluntary payment. “'0“, i also have “laid rent for many a .\‘cnr, and never in lily life has it been pnld other than voluntarily. A certain house was sgoing to be vzn'nnt in .\lnlnnmin re— H'l'llll), and within in tow Il.t_\'.~' several pimple rnllml. all volunteering: thc rout cln‘crt‘ulli'. smut“ in ndvnnt‘c. lint they do Hui rush to [my [;[_\('_s in that spirit: ilivrc the rushing \\‘ili lw u last-minute iwrt'urmnnt-u to ii\'tltdt l‘tu'thl-r impusliiuns. livnt is emphatically [ml :i my; ”(me but the .\‘lnii', and local lmtlii-s ivviln: mics Iglm'al l.i.\l‘> ll_\ .L'llVCl'lHlll'llttll. duh-palm] lltl\\\‘l‘, can ll|l|nv>~u luxuliml, and to my itHlt'l'\\ihL' is Il.ttl_v untrue. [tint nut :"'\w'.tl.n: an} t.l\. singlt: ut‘ utiiy:l'\\i.~i‘. \\lll'lll'Vt'l' l ]mitl l't'[|[ [ not marlin-t \lllut' i'ni- ill) ll|1lltt')‘~7l]1‘il is. rrnt on impruwnn-nh, lll' inlmut' lll'tlttllt't>*'il l> Lill‘l I‘l-ut nlnuc lll.lt ||l\'.ill~‘ .\vrl'tl-uu ii [mill In lii-nutli indi\nluais. thus miliiu.‘ l.i\.alinn iiii;i\nl.l~ ,tllli‘, .tllll \[u'ruim’ \l' will «lllllllltlllttllf it. “in Irm- c-i-nnuuni- l'v'lll. l'ul-Ill:. t :‘v-ptutl. film: .il\\.t}~ ..iitl (\l'l'}\\ltl‘l"',l l:‘|t<' w'nnulmw i‘t'.ll is .l \niunlar) | [nijitti‘lll luv \tlllll' ; l'l\\'l.""1 .tln,V ‘l'. 1. .\lr.\lll.t,.\.\. i .\luiunidtc, .\ln; 2?. I