PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21361, 4 March 1941, Page 7

PUBLIC OPINION

lAs expressed by corresponded .3 i whose lettei • are welcome, but for | whu ,; views we have no respon- ! sibility. Correspondents are rej quested to write in ink. It is | essential that anonymous writers ; enclose their proper names a? a j guarantee of good faith. Unless j this rule is complied with, their j letters will not appear. Ml' LADY NICOTINE (To the Editor) Sir,—l note that pipe-smoking for ladies is in the fashion in Melbourne. lam open to give any lady in Hamilton a box of chocolates if she can survive one of my 14 pipes of all sizes for ten minutes. Any acceptances can be made through your lady editor, and a competition can be arranged to suit all comers. The lady can choose her 'own 1 tobacco.—l am, etc., NICOTINUS. I Hamilton, Alarch 3. ENGLAND’S WAR EFFORT (To the Editor) ; Sir, —A letter received from London recently gives"an account of living conditions in North London. They are allowed two ounces of butter, one egg and three thin slices iof bacon per head per week. The head of the family works 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with one Sunday off in four weeks. At night time they might get sleep or else bombs. And all are cheerful and full of pep. Can New Zealand give an example of such war effort?—l am, etc., CATO. Hamilton, March 3. i LABOUR TROUBLES (To the Editor) Sir,—ln reply to “Retired Civil Servant,” I must say that he is keen enough to place me among the aristocrats and I am not ashamed of those people as confreres. He does not reply to my main question and, perchance, he is hard put to defend such conduct. j It is pleasing to note that we have a number of people like “Working Girl” and “Returned Soldier” who do not bow the knee to Ba-al. These are really the salt of the earth.—-I am, etc., KING HENRY V. Hamilton, Alarch 3. PRISON REFORM j (To the Editor) i Sir,—Prison reform in general and some of our criminal laws in particular require a thorough overhaul- , ing. In fact, Government effort and attention in these two important directions are long overdue. Why this demand for prison reform? Because, although all human beings have the same facilities, there is a great deal of difference in their physical and mental qualities, also in their respective degrees of capacity. This applies to the inventor right along to the criminal. This difference, especially the respective degrees of capacity, is the direct reflex of the persistency of hereditary transmission. Let us demand, then, in no uncertain voice, in season and out of season, that crime be scientifically ap- ; proached; that institutions take the \ place of prisons, teachers instead of warders, and that men and women who, because of some mental dei terioration, develop into criminals, j be instructed, not punished. I Many of our laws require a thor- ! ough overhauling. For instance, i flogging is but a reflex of brutality. Capital punishment is not an effecj tive deterrent to murder. The j Vagrancy Act, in the main, attacks I the victims of poverty, hunger and I want. The Habitual Criminals Act ! clashes with Clause 44 of the Great Magna Charta, the accepted founda- ! tion stone of British justice.—l am, HARRY WOODRUFFE. Auckland, March 1.