The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY' 23, 1917. RECONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2984, 23 January 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY' 23, 1917. RECONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS

Though tlio wanning of tho war must be our supremo at tho present time, it is imperative, as Mb. Bonae, Law stated in bis recent speech at Glasgow, tbafc we should occasionally consider the problems of after-war reconstruction. If we are to be ready for effective action when the time for action comes, ovo must prepare our plans beforehand. The war is sweeping away old customs and old machinery, and new customs and new machinery of the right kind cannot bo created at a moment's notice. If these after-war problems are to be solved in the right way, a great deal of thought will have to be put into them. They deservo the attention of tho best brains of tho Empire. As far as Britain is concerned tho work of reconstruction has already commenced. The requirements of tho armies/of tho Allies in the shape | of munitions have been so great that the State has been compelled to go into business as manufacturer of war material on a vast scale. Tho Minister of Munitions (Me. E. F. Montagu) recently stated that the business over which he presides employs directly no lower than 1,850,000 men, and a, growing regiment of 400,000 women. Tho employees of this one Department of State are equal in number to twice tho population of New Zealand, counting every man, woman, and child. What is to become of this huge• business, its personnel, and its plant, after the war is over? This is -a matter which is receiving very serious consideration. Every rightminded citizen nmsb endorse Mrs. Montagu's hopo that all this machinery and organisation for rcsearoh will not be dissipated and dispersed in any careless or thoughtless spirit. It will bq the duty of the Government to decide, says Mj;. Montagu, "what is to bo done with the magnificent industrial factories and workshops which aro now the proud property of tho nation in order to achieve the groat task of securing ; the prosperity and _ the better consolidation of the British. Empire." Now is the time for politicians, masters of industry, and representatives of labour, to take counsel together for the purpose of ensuring that tho gigantic indostrial organisation which tho State has been compelled to create shall be put to the fullest and best use with the object of enabling the country to repair tho ravages of war, and to, be a successful competitor in the coming struggle for the world's trade, for which our enemies are already forming their plan of campaign. It is vain to expect that lift. Bonak Law's hopo that tho new conditions which arc now being created "will give full play to tho life of the country after the war" will be realised unless the British Government, urged on and supported by a strong body of public opinion, _ is ready when tho tirno comes with a, well-thought-out and courageous policy of reconstruction. ' Wonders can be achieved by wise planning; thorough organisssion, and perfect machinery; but real and lasting success ultimately depends upon' the human factor. Character is of more importance than mechanism. National life is fundamentally a matter of human relationships. These relationships must bo based on justice and regulated by. reason if stability and progress aro to be assured. All classes must learn to pull together. A State divided against itself. must fall sooner or later. Mb. Bonak Law realises that the work of reconstruction must largely fail unless all sections of the community are willing to cooperate harmoniously in order to promote the general welfare. He is convinced that the whole future of the Empire will depend upon the establishment of good relationships between tho representatives of Capital and Labour. Our national unity cannot bo complete unless and until we extirpate the false and pestilential idea, that the interests of tho employee are irreconcilable with those of the employer—that the welfare of the ono necessarily involves the "ill-faro" . of the other. Tho war has done much to bring all classes closer together. It has shown us all that the things that divide us aro of small importance when compared with the interests which bind us together. Before the outbreak of the war the industrial outlook_ was far from satisfactory. Capital and Labour were dividing themselves into two hostile camps, and a very serious conflipt seemed to be inevitable. After peace has been restored, * aro the two sides going to resume their old quarrels? Are the lessons of the war to be forthwith forgotten ? Tho late Proi'essoe Smart, of Glasgow, who was' both an employer and a teacher of economic:;, has left on record tlio opinion thai, if the relations between Capital and Labour arc not. to be regulated by a kind of martial law fr..ji above t must be regulated

by conscience. A writer in "The Bound Tablo"_ lays stress upon tie reconciling influence of mutual knowledge and understanding, and a sense* of common duty, and these ■cannot arise except as tho result of frank and opeu conference. "The first step to put into action the aspirations towards good will which tho sacred memories of tho war arc stirring on both sides is the establishment of representative committees in the various industries to meet and discuss the problems of their common work. While wo arc thinking of reconstruction and of re-establishing tho public law of Europe, Ictus not forget the work of constructive organisation on similar lines that awaits us at home. Every section of the people is bearing its share of the ourden of the wat, and all classes are being knit closer together by the sacrifices they are making for the one cause and the one Empire. The common danger has mado us all realise more deeply than over before that a Staifc and our own State in particular, is something nobler than a collection of hostile groups preying upon each other. It has made us see that the State is, or should be, a community—a body of persons having common rights, interests, and obligations. Without unity there can be no real community.