PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20498, 14 May 1938, 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 fadh. Unless this rule is complied with, their letters will not appear.

FACIAL ECZEMA

(To the Editor) Sir, —The disease amongst stock, though so serious, has no doubt some very simple cause. It was a realisation of things that prompted me, years ago, to publish "The Great Physician: Nature.’’ No doubt many will be disposed to blame the fertilisers that we use upon our farms. These may he accountable to some extent. But the first view I should take of this eczema epidemic is that it affects more particularly the inland district, that salt gales have not occurred much of later years, and that a locality such a 3 Walheke Island is immune. Rock salt used to be extensively used, and was undoubtedly beneficial for stock. Can such considerations suggest an explanation? —I am, eto., F. R. FIELD. Northcote, May 8.

VOTING SYSTEMS

(To the Editor) Sir,—The student of democracy, in practice, will find ample food for thought in the results of last Wednesday’s poll. Taking the figures from the board outside the Times office, and applying a few simple calculations, one finds that the twelve successful candidates hold collectively 26,646 votes, and the twenty unsuccessful ones 27,132. On this basis, can the new councillors claim to have the support of the majority of voters or not ? It is an open secret that many electors did not vote for twelve candidates, but "plumped” for two. three, four, or any number up to eleven. Now divide the total votes, 53.778, by 12 to get an average, the answer is 4482; halve this to allow for "plumping,” and one gets 2241. On this basis only the first five of the twelve have exceeded the quota. On the other hand, a general average. 53.77 8 divided by 32, gives 1681, which Messrs Gate, Bisley and Treloar exceeded, but which only qualified them for an "also ran” position. However, if one admits that 2ft out of 32 must be unsuccessful, there being only 12 seats, and multiplies 1681 by 20 and then divides by 12, the answer is 2802, a figure which only one candidate, Mr Findlay, exceeded. One could go on indefinitely proving anomalies under the present “first-past-the-post system.” The basic cause is. of course, the clumsy method of striking out all but so many names. Under the preferential voting system the elector would mark his preferences by writing 1,2, 3,4, etc., up to 32. against the names of the candidates in the order of his choice. After the first count—that is, a distribution of the ballot papers among the l’s —the bottom candidate would be eliminated and his 13’s distributed over the other 31. Next, the 31st candidate would be eliminated and the preferences on his ballot papers distributed, and so on. This would taka a little more time, of course, although extra staff could be engaged, but the ultimate result would be that the 12 finally elected would feel assured that they had secured the first or second preferences of their fellow-citizens, and that they really and truly represented majority opinion. Have our 12 here that satisfaction when there are 486 votes more against them than for them ? Finally, can this system be made to work in practice? Yes, because for the last 18 years elections for the Federal Parliament of Australia have been conducted by this method, the only difference being that for Parliament they have single-member constituencies.—l am, etc., ELECTORAL REFORM. Hamilton, May 13.

ELECTRICITY RATES

(To the Editor) Sir,—ln the Times of May 7 Mr Tidd refers to the loss in revenue due to the Waikato Valley Dairy Company ceasing operations. Admittedly the council has been rendering a service for which it has been well paid, but other factors present themselves which are important and suggest that it is a debatable point as to whether this revenue is shown on the right balance sheet. When the advantages to be obtained from the combination of the supply of electricity with that of steam-heat for process work, which apply 100 per cent, to the type of factory under discussion are considered, the foregoing service is found to be anything but competitive, and in justice to the man on the land 6ft per cent, of the £1438 could, and should be, added to his cream cheque. Why should he remain the chopping-block of supply authorities and those responsible for dairy-factory administration ? Australia, we must acknowledge, is nothing if not progressive in matters of industry. In the Northern Rivers dairying district wo find modern factories designed on the block principle, whereby duplication can be both economically and rapidly given effect to, and incorporating the most efficient plant., not only in lay-out but in routine work, the seemingly-simple operation of churn-washing, the method and accessories in use all pointing one way—an endeavour to reduce to a minimum the loss of any valuable product which may find its way into the factory effluent. This, outside the factory, is subjected to treatment which renders it both innocuous and harmless for discharge their production tests will constitute a startling challenge to the best figures obtaining in New Zealand.—l am, etc., ENGINEER. Cambridge, May It. THRIFT 'To the Editor Sir.—l noticed recently a letter from a correspondent. Mr John Svkes, under the heading of “The Sin of ; Thrift.” This letter very clearly shows the terrible effects of that disease "Socialism” 'sometimes called mental eczema . Mr Sikes need have no worry about the possibility of thrift becoming a universal habit amongst the general populace. Like the "poor,” the thriftless will always be with us.

Likewise always a few of the thrifty. Some are so constituted that they have not it in them to spend all they earn, and let "to-morrow” look after itself. Others are just the opposite, and no matter what their income is, it is sure to all disappear down their gullets, on their backs, or on the horse’s back. The sad aspect of this matter of thrift —or otherwise—is that nowadays the thriftless, having wasted all their substance in riotous living—and whatnot —no longer are content to "request” assistance from those who have saved, but bluntly "demand” that those who have put a little away for a rainy day shall share out "their savings. Our present Government appears to be by and for the thriftless, so Mr Sykes should really save his sympathy for the under-dogs, otherwise, the thrifty ones. Of course, "thrift” for its own sake is not of much social value unless the result of it—i.e., money, or capital—is put to useful work, such as building up new industries, or developing existing ones, or to any activity which produces goods, services, or conveniences which make life more safe and pleasant for all, I he thriftless as well os the thrifty. It has been the lew thrifty ones in each generation who have, by putting their mental energies (and savings' into useful channels, gradually dragged mankind up from the level of the cave-man. Take those two modern developments, the motor car and the radio. Were it not for the lure of Hie profits which thrift makes possible no one would have bothered to waste his life working his ideas up out of nothing and developing these industries, until now we have the spectacle of the world's "down-trodden workers” speeding home from their toil in their own carriages drawn by the power of fifty horses. They sit down lo dinner and consume food brought to i I hem from ail parts of the world, and are entertained by the world’s best orchestras and entertainers. Such a spectacle of luxury as our grandfathers would not have believed could exist outside of fairy tales, all due to tiie nasty habit some have for saving for a rainy day. All these advances in human comforts have been made possible only by I ho fact that a few thriftv individuals had saved a few hundred pounds which enabled them* to experiment until they succeeded in producing an article which the public I was waiting for. at a price the public could afford to pay. with the profits ! from the first models tiie experiments 1 were repeated and the equipment increased, until step by step and year

after year the product of their thrift was made available to the world in better and better and cheaper and still cheaper models. The benefits they have conferred upon mankind have been simply colossal.—l am, JOHN THOMAS. Frankton, May 11.