THE COST OF LIVING.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2741, 8 April 1916, Page 3

THE COST OF LIVING.

• , ( Sir,—Nobody having put.forward any i feasible solution to the problem of how i to reduce, the cost of living in New Zea- ' lqndj I- am tempted to air my views l upon the subject., By - recording some of the many causes that contribute to the present state' of chaos, that doubtless are plain to most .of us, I hops to be able to. suggest'a solution: If we can trace the causes successfully, remedies should suggest. themselves to us. ■ I will confine myself to what I consider, to be some of the important factors. The principal cause can. be indirectly placed at the door of the House of Parliament. I do not wisli to blame any particular Government-in power, but am inclined to blame tho general lack, of firmness and luentality that seems to have become conspicuous in the nation. ; For instance, a Government has no. business >to delegate any of its. powers to any one faction of tho community it represents, to the detriment of the ' otliers'. To sanction compulsory unionism would be to do that very thing, but to sanction it when tile aim of the unions is to rival the Government in power is' nothing short of evidence of alarming lack of mentality in the Government. We ; prpfess .to being,a .united, people. '. What .'we: term imionism ; is really anti-unionism. Unionists are seeking to gratify themselves at'the expense of tlie rest of tho community. I am prepared to-admit that unions have greatly bonefiteu the worker' in sonie_ respects. A union for the purpose of airing legitimate grievances of its individual 'members is a good thing, but there'is no necessity for compulsory and when compulsion is applied to political intrigue by unions, unions become'a menace and a curse to any country. I strongly sympathise with the self-respecting worker, so much so, that "this-letter is written as an endeavour on my part to help bring about better conditions for him. No doubt, to his limited vision, higher wages is the only remedy.' He finds limself in a turmoil of strikes, higher wages, and higher cost-o'f living, and his condition is verging lipon that of a wild animal writhing ill agony from the lashings of its tail. Tho wilder •the animal the more the lashing; just as the higher the wages and. ,the more the slacking the greater the cost of ( living. Wo are all workers, and nearly, all' capitalists. The owner of a house is a capitalist. Some of us call our-* selves waterside workers, some carpenters, some clerks, some engineers, some railwavmen, and some capitalists. The absurdity of the idea of there being class distinction liere is evident. Yet the unions keep-iostering the worn-out gag in the hope of being able to keep control of so much power for harm. ,' Their attempt to fleece the capitalist , has signally failed. With the intention of exploiting the emnlover +hev have made , a law that the loafer and slacker be . entitled to 'demand full wages from an . employer, or, in other words, the bad j ! worker is to get paid the same wage : as the good worker. This has entirely ( . eliminated incentive to individual s achievement, and the natural conse- • quence has been to raise the cost of ; production). The .employer cannot . reasonably be expected to sell the pro- ), ducts under cost, so we all have to pay i the higher price. Iji short, the indus- ; trious and conscientious worker pays the i wages of the loafer.. Tho unions are j exploiting each other. Every tradcs--3 man who spins out his job exploits b other workers. If it were hot for the

war, one could sympathise with the attitude of the railwaymen in threaten- ] ing to strike for higher wages. The railwaymen are. being exploited to death by the Labour, unions. It is really astounding when one realises that all this is actually connived at by the government in legalising cjompulsorv unionism, and in shrinking from interference. We can truthfully lay the blame for the high cost of living at Parliament's door. The union leaders and the Government* make a fuss over tho high cost of foodstuff, which plays only a very insignificant part as the cause," although in itself an important factor.. On top of all this muddle, the Government, at the bid _of single-tax agitators, and thoseowning enormous vested interests in improvements, submits to referendum' of the worker the intricate question as to whether rating on the unimproved value be adopted. It might just as well have been a rope to hang himself with. The worker in desperation grasps the rope. He is told that rating and taxing on the unimproved value of land will result in taxation being lifted from his shoulders

on to somebody else's shoulders. He

doesn't care whose, so long as he gets relief. Then he is led tfl believe that taxation'upon product of labour would exploit the labourer. Of course nobody .does enlighten him upon the. fact that taxing improvements actuijllv means taxing invested capital, and that therefore to tax upon the unimproved value of land and exempt improvements would he relief for capitalists, not relief for the worker. The war ha? nwalcned the masses to the. extent that- they now cr.v out for conscription of capita!. In adopting rating on the unimproved value, tb» worker has at last succeeded in completely tving his hands, in so much that_ lie' lias debarred himself fiom the right to oecunv suburban land ifor purposes of combating the tflnden-

cics towards the high cost of living. He is effectually prevailed from occupy, ing a sufficiently large area no enable

liim to - provide for himself, and so_ snap hi) fingers at high prices of food. In order to make doubly sure of his bondage, a law has be'eir passed prohibiting the 'sale of milk without a license, that effectually prevents him from selling his surplus milk if he ventures to keep a. cow. All tho thousands of acres fertile suburban land lying practically ldlo serve as a fitting monument of

grossly mismanaged legislation. In the suburbs, amidst large areas of land, we find' houses clustered together, built upon the smallest possible sections, with tho object of avoiding liability to pay rates and taxes on the land. Tho greater the family to support the smaller the scction occupied. Large families should not be discouraged. A largo family occupying, say, 3 acres of land would find itself in clover if it cared to cultivate tho land and keep a cow and fowls, and were permitted to sell the surplus produce, including milk. If the Government, that is supposed to comprise the brains of the country, continue to leave the administration ot the country's affairs in tho hands of the masses, we may safely count upon serious labour troubles in the future. Tho Government should make tho laws, not the unions make them. It should introduce a system of wages that, would encourage effort ant! efficiency on the part of the worker and discourage slacking. (No country could stand two Govem-

ments.) If that wero done and compulsory unionism were abolished, arid conspiracy by unions for political purposes were made illegal, and taxation computed upon productive- capacity of land and' rental value of improvements (cmpty houses to bo exempt), and a special tax put upon profit on sale of land and improvements, say, half of any excess in profit after allowing 25 per cent, net profit to the vendor, I think I can safely promise that cur conditions here would be greatly improved. Accumulative loss, of interest, together with the tax on profit, would insure quick sales of land at small profits. I would then suggest that markets he established for the sale of produce, restrictions be removed; from the sale of milk (even though the number of inspectors, had to be .increased), and horticultural and agricultural shows bo held annually, assisted by substantial prizes to ensure competition. The Government could start tho ball rolling by acquiring and opening up large areas of suburban land for settlement. in blocks of, say, three acres. The future of this country depends upon drastic remedies. Ita future relies upon the successful establishment, of manufactories. In our present condition we could not hope to Successfully compete against other countries, and if involved in a war of any kind without the assistance of the Mother Country, w'e simply could not hope to maintain ourselves. The power and the welfare of a country depends entirely upon cost of production. That means that the smaller the wage, in comparison to the amount of production, tho greater the prosperity of the.people, und the better are they. able to -compete with other countries. Thanking you for space.—l am, etc., C. F REEVES. Wellington, April 4, 1916.