BRITAIN’S ECONOMIC CRISIS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 34, 2 April 1948, Page 8

BRITAIN’S ECONOMIC CRISIS

Sir,—Certain vital aspects of Britain’s economic crisis are repeatedly emphasised on the air and in the press. Those near and dear to us in Britain have had to tighten their belts again and yet again, and austerity has been followed by yet more austerity. We are told that the British financial position is so precarious that the very foundations of British economy are threatened, and yet in the midst of this Britain’s national drink bill for the year amounts to £638,000,000! And a very sizeable portion of. this sum goes overseas. Because the British manpower problem is crippling the drive for more exports to save the British economy and way of life, Britain has had to ■consider reducing her defence forcesbelow the minimum essential for security, and yet over 1,000,000 are employed in the British liquor and gambling traffics! Coal is the subject of yet another national crisis for Britain. Industry has been rationed, housewives have wintered on extremely meagre supplies, but even though «(in Britain) it takes two tons of coal to .make 100 gallons of, beer, yet the Government says in effect, ‘‘You want beer; We want you to have beer! Never mind our national crisis!”

That which is made available for the drink traffic could have been directed into life-giving channels for the nation. The nation needs food rather than beer for its money; it desperately needs manpower in essential industries; the stomachs of waiting people are hungry for the huge quantities of foodstuff’s now allocated to the brewing of alcohol; it needs coal for essential industry and export rather than for the production of alcohol. In each of these vital crisis is it not misdirection of finance, of manpower, of foodstuffs, and of coal, rather than shortage?

Is this the best that Socialism can do in such a crisis? Some will remember the name of Keir Hardie, founder of the British Socialist Party. In Hamilton Fyfe’s book “Keir Hardie” we read: “Each socialist is by his creed under moral obligation to find his greatest pleasure in seeking the happiness and good of others . . . The man who can take a glass and let it alone is under moral obligation for the sake of the weaker brother to abstain.” We find present-day socialism failing dismally on this point, repudiating the high ideals of its founder, and making a mockery of its profession to hold a solution for the woes of the Empire. If such favouring of the drink traffic at the expense of food, exports, coal, etc., is socialism, then is not one justified in considering such socialism to be a subversive factor in national affairs? And does not this apply to any form of government which co-operates with the liquor traffic? From a Washington (U.S.A.) source I quote: “Sixteen European nations have requested 142,000,000 gallons of wine for 1947-48 under the Marshall plan. The request will be scaled down over a four-year period. Besides eating less bread and doing without meat on Tuesdays and poultry and eggs on Thursdays, you’ll help pay the taxes to provide this wine for the decadent nations of Europe. How do you like that?” How would we in this country like to be taxed to provide millions of gallons of alcohol for foreigners, when we know full well what they really need, and are dying for, is want of food, clothing, etc? Any traffic that takes life-giving finance, manpower, food, and coal from their proper use and uses them in the production of a narcotic drug is obviously one of the subversive forces seeking to destroy our civilisation, especially in such a time of national crisis as this. And any government that works hand in glove with such a traffic necessarily partakes of the ~ same dangerous nature.

Events of today are a clarion call to all to sift the facts as well as the propaganda for ourselves, form our own decisions, and act upon them. Let us not forget that the advice of Keir Hardie is still sound advice to all, socialists or otherwise. Yours etc., AWAKE.